RealEstateRama

San Diego, CA - October 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Create Your Own Wordpress Real Estate Lead Machine

Des Plaines, IL - October 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Weather and other disasters are unpredictable, and that’s why it’s important for homeowners to be aware of their options when disasters strike. Whether that disaster is wind-, water- or snow-related damage, negotiating with insurance companies, contractors and state officials can be difficult. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) is offering tips for homeowners affected by disasters to get their home back in shape and avoid home restoration scams.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing, which seeks to increase the availability of workforce housing in high cost communities by harnessing the power of the private sector, today announced Diane Leneghan Tomb, president and chief executive officer of Tomb & Associates, LLC, as the newest member of its national advisory board

Detroit, MI - October 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Parade Company and Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online mortgage lender, have partnered to create the first-ever “Where’s Clownie?” contest to promote the 84th America’s Thanksgiving Parade®. The promotion, which kicks off Sunday, October 24, will engage Metro Detroiters in a scavenger hunt leading them to some of downtown Detroit’s treasures along the parade route on Woodward Avenue to find hidden, large-scale Fatheads (life size wall graphics) of Clownie, the Parade Company’s mascot.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau today released new home sales data for September 2010. Sales of new, single-family homes increased 6.6 percent, exceeding private-sector expectations of a 4.2 percent increase. Sales have increased 8.9 percent from the historic low posted in May

WASHINGTON, DC - October 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the Urban Institute released a study, funded by NCB Capital Impact, which demonstrates that housing programs that keep homes affordable over the long term also lessen the likelihood of foreclosures and build wealth for homebuyers. While foreclosures are skyrocketing—the number of home foreclosures in September set a new record—the study found that consumers who obtained homes through long-term affordability programs defaulted at half the national average.

Jackson, MI - October 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- EastGroup Properties (NYSE-EGP) announced today David H. Hoster II, President and Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to participate on a panel at NAIOP's Development 2010: The Annual Meeting for Commercial Real Estate. Mr. Hoster's panel is scheduled for Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 4:15 p.m., EDT.

October 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), as regulator of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, today announced that it had agreed with the Board of Directors of the FHLBank of Seattle to the issuance of a Consent Order.

CLEVELAND, OH - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- County Prosecutor Bill Mason and the Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force operating under authorization of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Ohio's Organized Crime Investigations Commission announced that Jeffrey St. Martin, 38, of Chicago, IL plead guilty to 21 felony mortgage fraud-related offenses on October 20, 2010, for his participation in the purchasing of 21 houses with 3.1 million dollars in fraudulent loans. St. Martin’s wife, Ayanna Israel, 34, of Chicago, IL, Israel’s mother, Sandra McRae, 57, of Chicago, IL, and Deborah Nunoo, 49, of Cleveland, also pleaded guilty for their participation as co-defendants in this criminal enterprise. The Housing of Urban Development and investigators of the County Prosecutor’s Office were the primary investigative agencies on the case.

New York, NY - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Increased concern and scrutiny on mortgage foreclosure practices have created significant business and legal challenges that affect a broad range of institutions across the United States. As a result, international law firm Nixon Peabody LLP has expanded its Mortgage Finance and Foreclosure Team to offer additional resources to address clients’ growing needs during the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Nixon Peabody’s team includes attorneys from a variety of practices including banking and regulatory, securitization, finance, bankruptcy and restructuring, real estate, real estate litigation, class action litigation, and government investigations.

DALLAS, TX - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) is pleased to announce that it has awarded $6.2 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants, through certain of its member institutions, to help fund the purchase, construction, or renovation of 851 housing units in Mississippi.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Wednesday, October 27 at 10:00 a.m., the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) will hold a hearing in room 138 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The hearing will inform the Panel's upcoming November oversight report, which will evaluate the progress of Treasury's foreclosure mitigation programs and examine the impact of recently reported foreclosure irregularities on these programs and on the financial sector.

IRVINE, CA - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Benchmark Contractors, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Morley Builders, has completed the third and largest phase of UC Irvine’s East Campus Student Housing Project. Adding 1,198 undergraduate students (Camino del Sol Housing), 562 graduate students (Puerta del Sol Housing) and 1,800 parking spaces, these additional facilities will allow UCI to house 45 percent of its student body on campus, more than any other UC institution

EMERYVILLE, CA - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Some homes across the country at various price points are selling above asking price, according to the Q3 2010 Home Hunter Report released today by ZipRealty (NASDAQ: ZIPR)

San Jose, CA - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- PropertyMinder, Inc. and SmartZip Analytics, Inc. have entered a technology partnership which will integrate SmartZip Score investment ratings on listings on PropertyMinder’s AccelerAgent™ website platform. SmartZip, an emerging leader in real estate analytics, has analyzed and rated over 70 million U.S. properties based on both home ownership and as rental investments. SmartZip’s analytics bring transparency to the industry and help buyers make more confident, financially sound purchase decisions. Confident buyers and more realistic sellers, in turn, enable agents to sell more homes in less time

MILFORD, CT - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Total Mortgage Services, LLC, a leading mortgage lender and broker that offers some of the lowest mortgage rates available, announced today the hiring of Michael Dimech as the Company’s new head of operations. Mr. Dimech brings to this new position over 15 years of operation management and underwriting experience within the mortgage industry. His initial focus will be centered around efficiency modeling, operational scalability and team building. Mr. Dimech will play an important role in the Company’s risk management efforts and will be based in Milford, Connecticut.

Tampa, FL - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) today announced the grand opening of its multi-risk building science research center in Chester County, S.C

WASHINGTON, DC - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sluggish job creation and modest consumer spending continue to spur slow economic growth according to the October 2010 Economic Outlook released today by Fannie Mae's (FNMA/OTC) Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group. The economy is expected to grow at a rate below two percent in the current quarter before picking up modestly in the first half of 2011 and strengthening in the second half of next year. The current outlook remains clouded with uncertainty and has not changed materially from the previous forecast, with 2.2 percent growth projected for all of 2010, followed by a 2.5 percent pace for 2011.

Atlanta, GA - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute is pleased to announce that its founder, Dr. Marilyn Black—a world-renowned environmental health and indoor air quality expert—is a featured speaker at the first Green Schools National Conference Oct. 24-26 in Minneapolis, MN.

AVONDALE, AZ - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents supports efforts by the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to simplify the mortgage process for consumers. The CFPB is charged with combining and simplifying two disclosure forms, under the Truth in Lending Act of 1968 and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974. One form is required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the other by the Federal Reserve, and in some areas the forms overlap

AVONDALE, AZ - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real estate images can be misleading, warns the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA). Home staging has become a common practice in which experts make the property attractive to the highest number of potential homebuyers by enhancing its visual appeal. Taking that staging element to the dramatic editing of online photos is a relatively new tactic and can be misleading.

Oakland, CA - October 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Speaking today alongside Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the Director of the US Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), Donna J. Gambrell, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Small Business, Community Development and Housing Policy, Don Graves, Jr., announced $80 million in awards for the development of affordable housing in low-income communities at an event today in Oakland, California. Held at St. Joseph's Senior and Family Housing, a historic landmark currently undergoing rehabilitation as an expanded affordable housing development, the event celebrated the 23 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and nonprofit organizations that received awards

WASHINGTON, DC - October 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has distributed more than $1 billion in funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, agency officials have announced. Recovery Act funding is being used to modernize and replace existing VA medical facilities, make improvements at national cemeteries and award grants to states for Veterans homes.

Washington, DC - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- It has come to the attention of the DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) that gross irregularities seem to exist in the processing of some home foreclosures in the metropolitan area. These include the use of improper paperwork, flawed and fraudulent documentation, “robo-signing,” excessive attorney fees, illegal mortgage registration, and transfer and wrongful foreclosures.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Five outstanding developments have been selected as winners of the 2010 Urban Land Institute's (ULI) Global Awards for Excellence competition, widely recognized as the land use industry’s most prestigious recognition program. The winners are: LA LIVE, Los Angeles; Miasteczko Wilanów, Warsaw, Poland; Rouse Hill Town Centre, Rouse Hill, Australia; The Southern Ridges, Singapore; and Thin Flats, Philadelphia.

Irvine, CA - October 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jamboree Housing Corporation today announced that H.O.M.E.S., Inc. (Helping Our Mentally Ill Experience Success) will become affiliated with Jamboree on an ongoing basis. According to Laura Archuleta, Jamboree’s president, the decision came after months of discussions between the two organizations’ boards of directors and takes effect October 1, 2010. Like Housing with HEART, Jamboree’s resident services group, H.O.M.E.S. will continue to operate as a separate 501(C)(3) organization under the Jamboree name and governance.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The real estate industry must accept its "proper share of the blame" in the series of missteps leading to the global economic recession and the housing and commercial property decline, according to Urban Land Institute (ULI) Chairman Jeremy Newsum

Detroit, MI - October 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online home lender, and among the top-five overall retail lenders in the country, reported its largest monthly closed volume in the company’s 25-year history in September 2010.

Scottsdale, AZ - October 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender and fifth largest retail lender overall, and Fathead LLC, the leading brand in sports and entertainment graphic products, today announced they will serve as the official sponsors of Scottsdale’s Walk to Defeat ALS, the ALS Association’s annual fundraising event on Sunday, October 24, 2010. This will be the second year Quicken Loans and Fathead have participated in the event. The two companies have pledged to make the 2010 walks in Scottsdale, Detroit and Cleveland — where Quicken Loans has offices — record-breaking fundraisers for their respective ALS chapters. Quicken Loans’ family of companies employs nearly 450 team members in the Scottsdale area

Washington, DC - October 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- After three years of dislocation and unprecedented loss, commercial real estate industry investors and professionals hint at hopeful signs of tempered commercial real estate market improvements, according to respondents of the Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2011 report, released today by PwC US and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).