Lashinsky foresees it working something like this:

1. A home shopper drives by a property and calls a practitioner on his cell phone.

2. The practitioner qualifies the buyer through banking contacts, then sends him an electronic key that allows him to tour the home.

3. An electronic tracking system monitors his tour while the practitioner answers questions via cell phone.

4. Closing will be managed through an electronic meeting.

Lashinsky believes the real estate industry has been slow to embrace change, but customers will demand it. “Those [practitioners] who don’t make it happen are going to fall by the wayside,” he says.

Source: Orange County Register, Jeff Collins (06/08/2010)

The unadjusted purchase index decreased 27 percent compared with the previous week and was 24.1 percent lower than the same week a year ago. This is the lowest level of applications for home purchases observed in the survey since May 1997.

“The data continue to suggest that the tax credit pulled sales into April at the expense of the remainder of the spring buying season. In fact, this drop occurred even as rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continued to fall, and at 4.83 percent are at their lowest level since November 2009,” said Michael Fratantoni, vice president of research and economics for the MBA.

Mortgage rates are at bargain levels:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.83 percent from 4.96 percent.

15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.19 percent from 4.32 percent.

1-year ARMs decreased to 6.81 percent from 6.86 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (05/19/2010)

On an unadjusted basis, the purchase index rose 11 percent compared with the previous week, but was down 5.2 percent from the same week a year ago.

“Purchase applications continued to increase coming out of the Easter holiday, as we approach the end of the home buyer tax credit, and are up modestly over last month.” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics.

Declining Treasury rates pushed loan rates down from the previous week:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.04 percent from 5.17 percent.

15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.34 percent from 4.45 percent.

1-year ARMs decreased to 6.95 percent from 7.02 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (04/21/2010)

In the process, the contractor took home owner Angela Iannelli’s 11-year-old Blue and Gold Macaw, Luke — a loss that she said caused her to worry so much that she had to take prescription medicine for anxiety.

Initially, Bank of America was not helpful in finding the lost parrot, and a bank representative allegedly hung up on Iannelli, telling her that they were “tired of hearing” from her.

Iannelli, who is suing for $50,000 in damages, was ultimately able to drive 80 miles to the contractor’s office and rescue the bird.

This week, Bank of America apologized for the incident.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (03/11/2010)

Other factors that should spur buyers:

Low mortgage rates. If the Federal Reserve stops buying mortgage-backed securities at the end of March, 30-year rates will almost certainly rise to more than 6 percent.

Rising prices. About 30 percent of markets are already experiencing price increases. Prices are falling in 12 percent of markets, says Fiserv (but that only helps if you want to live there).

Source: Money Magazine, Beth Braverman (03/02/2010)

The first $7,500 tax credit was passed in 2008 and required first-time buyers to repay the credit over 15 years. A few months later in 2009, Congress expanded the credit to a maximum of $8,000 that didn’t have to be paid back.

At the end of last year, Congress extended the benefit again until April 30 with an extra two months on top of that to close. A new credit of $6,500 was added for move-up buyers, too.

Now representatives of the housing industry are lobbying for another extension. Some experts, including Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, who supported the earlier credits, think the time has come to let it go.

“It’s worn out its benefit,” he says. “If you extend it again, it isn’t going to do much, and what you’re doing is providing a tax break to folks who bought anyway.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (02/22/2010)

Sell low and buy low. Because all property values are down, the loss on the property a home owner sells is really only a paper loss because the next property he buys also will be a bargain. If he buys smartly, when prices come back up in a few years, he’ll be in better shape.

Down-payment help is widely available. While nothing-down loans have disappeared, it is easy to find down-payment assistance for lower-income and first-time home buyers. Programs vary all over the country, but one good way to find them is to search online for “down-payment assistance programs” and the name of your region.

Your uncle has money to share. Besides the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and the $6,500 move-up credit, there are an array of energy tax credits that can make home improvements pay off in cash.

Good help is available. Really talented real estate practitioners, contractors, and designers are available and eager for business.

Source: McClatchy Tribune, Kate Forgach (02/07/2010)

Sales of properties at the Cliffs, priced from the high $400,000s to $3 million, have been slow since the kickoff in August 2007 with only 39 property transfers as of Jan. 26. Five more homes are under contract. The developer had hoped to sell 1,200 homes by the end of 2010.

Founder and CEO of Cliffs Communities Jim Anthony says Woods is still the greatest golfer in the world and his problems are incidental to the community’s difficulties.

“Our timing could not have been worse,” he says. “It’s been a tough year and a half, but we can see the marketplace beginning to turn.”

One of the early buyers in the development, Francie Black, sees it another way. “It’s not likely [Tiger Woods] is going to be doing another course anywhere” in the U.S., she said. “It will probably make it a more scarce product, which, in turn, increases its value.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Dawn Wotapka (01/27/2010)

Analysts say that if builders could acquire finished lots, that might help. But banks that own these mostly foreclosed lots that are building-ready also are reluctant to sell them because prices are so depressed.

Tax rules that are allowing builders to claim a profit in 2009 aren’t going to be much of a help in coming years because they only allow companies to write off losses against profits for five years. Many builders haven’t had a good year since 2005.

The upshot, according to many analysts, is that despite signs that real estate is rebounding big builders aren’t able to climb out of a hole and continue to hold construction to depressed levels.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, John Jannarone (01/18/2010)

The two-story Greenwich Village property is 9.5 feet wide and 42 feet long and has two bedrooms and two baths.

The townhouse was listed last August for $2.7 million by Alex Nicholas, senior vice president of the Corcoran Group. It last sold in 2000 for $1.6 million. It is now for rent for $10,000 per month.

Source: The Associated Press (01/13/2010)