My friend Matthew Shadbolt alerted me to this editorial by Ken Harney, a columnist for the Washington Post, that was published on The Real Deal. Harney believes that the not-yet-fully-formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can’t get here fast enough, and that the days of wine and roses will soon dawn upon us: The financial reform bill … Read more
In part 1, I laid out some hints of what the Obama Administration has in mind for a new federal housing policy that would “reset the rules of the market” and engage in a “fundamental rethink” not just of the mechanics of housing finance, but of the objectives of housing policy themselves. The Treasury now … Read more
In part 1, I laid out some hints of what the Obama Administration has in mind for a new federal housing policy that would “reset the rules of the market” and engage in a “fundamental rethink” not just of the mechanics of housing finance, but of the objectives of housing policy themselves. The Treasury now … Read more
There was, apparently, an earthquake in Washington DC not too long ago. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and no serious property damage occurred as the 3.6 magnitude tremor rolled through. Mere days later, however, I learned that another tremor — this one not registered on any geological survey — centered around Washington DC occurred. From … Read more
A while back, I wrote on Inman (subscription required) that the single greatest asset of realtors was political power, and got mixed comments about that position. Well, the time to find out is upon us: The popular tax break for mortgage interest, once considered untouchable, is falling under the scrutiny of policymakers and economic experts … Read more
Ah, Spring… a time when a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love… and respected real estate market analysts voice cautious optimism… For example, here’s Lawrence Yun of NAR voicing cautious optimism: Yun expects a slightly stronger demand for housing and a fairly even level of foreclosures entering the inventory pipeline before easing … Read more
In Part 1, I explored how large law firms and big brokerages are similar, based on the forthcoming paper by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor and blogging pioneer. Then in Part 2, we looked at how they’re different in some fundamental ways, particularly compensation models, that makes the size of Big Brokerage appear to be … Read more
Starting a few years ago, I’ve been hearing a lot about how the Gen-Y or Millenials (people aged anywhere from 18 to 30 today) are going to change everything — but particularly in real estate. A random sampling of opinions about how the Millenials will affect real estate, from a Google search I just ran, … Read more
I think I might have fallen in love with Larson/Sobotka. I haven’t the faintest idea who they are, but it looks like they combine some business consulting with legal work with something else involving MLSes and such. Bears looking into more. But they have done a great service for the RE.net by compiling a guide … Read more