Designedge/Fastflyers Blog & Current News

Working with Search Optimization Companys

November 17, 2008 Search Engines | Comments Off admin @ 11:36 pm

Sometimes you do not get what you pay for: “The state of Washington is suing a search engine optimization and Web services company, based in Redmond, that has done business under the names Visible.net, Captures.com, and WebMarketingSource.com. In essence, the state says these entities have deceived mostly mom-and-pop sites through unfulfilled performance promises and financial shenanigans after charging up to $10,000 in up-front charges and more in monthly fees. About 90 complaints have been lodged over four years, the state says

Why the summer spike in homes listed?

October 9, 2008 Real Estate | Comments Off admin @ 4:46 pm

A preliminary study from the London School of Economics says that the idea that home prices surge in the summer and decline in the winter has nothing to do with the season or school year or weddings or weather. The reason for the surge in homes for sale and prices is because sellers believe that houses will sell for more in the summer. Buyers find that there are more houses available in the summer and are more likely to find what they are looking for that time of year. It becomes a self-reinforcing process. So much for what we thought we knew.

More Mortgage and Lender News

August 22, 2008 Real Estate | Comments Off admin @ 2:55 pm

I have not written in two weeks. In that time the picture has become clearer regarding the lending and mortgage situations.

Regular people are bailing out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as it seems more likely that these government sponsored private companies are going to be owned by the government. (Seems that the greed of unregulated markets is creating a socialistic rebound)

They lost $14 billion in the last year and are going to announce more losses soon, probably after labor day. They need to raise more money. The stock price is falling and raising money that way is not viable.

Last month’s legislation gave the treasury secretary the authority to pump billions into these companies.

Freddie Mac just issued $3 billion of five year debt and paid a steep amount to do so. They offered interest rates 1.13 percent higher than the federal government pay. If they pay more to borrow money then so do potential home owners and that is a vicious cycle.

Want to know how they got into trouble? Simple greed. During the bubble, highly paid executives knowing got into loans that they knew would fail (unless housing prices rose forever). Their policies, while enriching them, also were ignored by lawmakers who receive campaign contributions from the companies run by those same executives.

In 2004 the chief executive of Freddie Mac was warned that the firm was financing loans that could do in the company. The Chief Executive officer Mr. Richard Syron received $38 million in compensation since 2003 while taking the company into dangerous waters.

In defense of Mr. Syron, it was the Bush administration and members of commerce that put pressure on them to buy riskier loans.

The Second Wave is Coming

August 4, 2008 Real Estate | Comments (0) admin @ 11:40 am

The interest only loans that were popular for alt-A (alt-A loans were made for people with good credit scores and did not require proof of assets or income) and prime borrowers are about to be a problem for borrowers and lenders alike. As these loans “mature” into interest and principal many borrowers could see their payments become as much as 50% larger. This will leave them in the same place as many of the subprime borrowers. They may not be able to sell their properties for as much as they owe and may not be able to service the debt.

Some analysts are predicting that these prime loans will be bigger in impact than the subprime loans. It is predicted that the full impact of these loans may not reach a peak for a year or two. The reason for the delay is that alt-A and prime loans have a 5 to 7 year grace period before payments toward principal are required.

It is also important to note that the bulk of creative mortgages reside in states such as California, Nevada and Florida.

New Site for Clint Morgan

July 30, 2008 Websites | Comments (0) admin @ 10:30 pm

I am just finishing a site for a local musician Clint Morgan. He has a new album and hopes to use the website to help him get publicity for the album called “You’re Really Bugging Me Now”. We incorporated a purchase and download solution from Nimbit. See the site at lostcauserecords.com

Gas prices, suburbia, and unintended consequences

July 29, 2008 Real Estate | Comments (0) admin @ 5:38 pm

People are driving less. In May Americans drove 10 billion fewer miles compared to 2007. This is a month that historically is a big driving month because of the beginning of the vacation season.

The way in which our housing has grown since the 1950’s is outward. Out to the suburbs. This sprawl was partially based on inexpensive gas. With our transportation system centered on cars there is an added cost to living farther out that may be very difficult for some families to afford.

A trend is just beginning that factors in fuel costs to the location of a potential home.

The unintended consequence of less driving is going to show up in the state of our roads and bridges infrastructure. Since most road repairs are made from funds received from gas taxes at the pump there are going to be less funds available to update bridges and repair pot holes.

The tax revenue is dropping so fast that the federal government may not be able to meet commitments to states for projects underway.

Observations of a Broker and associate

Real Estate | Comments (0) admin @ 2:26 pm

I talked with a local broker and associate today. They said that the houses in the $200,000 to $300,000 were selling quite well. This because of the buyer group characteristics. These characteristics are primarily first time buyers. In the upper range homes the houses up to a million are selling about 15% and the range above one million around 5%.

The reason being a cautiousness because of worries about the countries economy. People are not confident about moving up to a more expensive property. If you look at the consumer confidence index compiled by Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index, it shows that consumer confidence has fallen from a 110 score in 2007 to a 51 score as of May 2008. That is a major decline.

The same report says that house prices dropped in May down 15.8 percent from May 2007.

The other factor is the rise in interest rates.

When no web page is better than having one

July 16, 2008 Websites | Comments (0) admin @ 11:10 pm

I love it when theories coincide with reality. Early this morning I went searching for Heating and Air-conditioning companies to service three heat pumps. In the end I considered two companies and will most likely hire the one without the web page. Isn’t a web page something that makes a company more professional than the next one?

Sometimes! Not always. The combination of phone interaction, webpage, and responsiveness to questions made important contributions to my decision process.

I was surprised how dated design and too slick (maybe schlocky) a presentation on the site influenced me. Professional websites are partially determined by the nature of the profession or industry. For example, an acceptable dentist site is generally far different from that of a car dealership. People expect these to be different. When too many elements of either show up in the other there is a perceptual disconnect that is dissonant to the synapses. It is not harmonious with the brain. It might make you leery without knowing exactly why.

Websites are a must today. Much more so if they are done correctly.

Most Searched for term on Google

July 15, 2008 Websites | Comments (0) admin @ 12:05 pm

I was doing some research and found that Real Estate is the most searched for category on the web. Who would have thought it would be bigger than Britney.

Web Usability and Stumble Upon

Websites | Comments (0) admin @ 12:04 pm

I love the web. Even more so I love sites that work well. There is this program called Stumbleupon. After using it for a couple of days I have a huge appreciation for what I would call the first impression road sign. (Stumbleupon is a program where you can pick categories you have an interest in. I chose web photography, web design, graphic design, and real estate. Click on the Stumble button up in your browser menu and it randomly goes to a page related to one of your categories. http://www.stumbleupon.com )

I have found several good sites on web coding I bookmarked. And, there have been many sites I just clicked the stumble button quickly. Did you know there just aren’t many good real estate sites out there. Either that or I’m really not that interested. Many sites in an effort to be cool are nearly incomprehensible as far as what they are about and many are just difficult to navigate. Some take so long to load that I am long gone before they would have.

Sometimes I wonder if designers ever find sites that are difficult for them.

Designedge/Fastflyers Blog & Current News

For Business & Realestate Professionals by Rick Ranum

Working with Search Optimization Companys

Why the summer spike in homes listed?

More Mortgage and Lender News

The Second Wave is Coming

New Site for Clint Morgan

Gas prices, suburbia, and unintended consequences

Observations of a Broker and associate

When no web page is better than having one

Most Searched for term on Google

Web Usability and Stumble Upon

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