Pending Home Sales Rise

Pending home sales rose for the second month in a row but remain below year-ago levels, the National Association of Realtors reported

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/198083754/SB119729785587819345.html

Americans split on mortgage bailout

Americans are nearly equally divided on whether those facing defaults on their mortgages should get special help, with most believing the borrowers are to blame for their own problems.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/198564904/index.htm

Foreclosure filings: No slowdown

Three states, California, Florida and Ohio, continue to dominate new foreclosure filings, as most of the nation saw increases in the third quarter, according to a new survey.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/184589438/index.htm

Lower Ratings Would Hamper Countrywide

Countrywide warned in a securities filing that further cuts in its credit ratings to junk-bond levels could "severely" limit its ability to raise money in public debt markets and cause it to lose bank deposits.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/182477829/SB119465817460188744.html

Foreclosures: Moving on up

Foreclosure filings climbed during the third quarter of 2007 with no relief in sight, according to a report released Thursday.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/178157859/index.htm

Mortgage rates fall near six-month low

Signs that the economy may be slowing ahead helped push mortgage rates near a six-month low, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/178267386/index.htm

Countrywide, Critic Join to Help Borrowers

Countrywide plans to work with a nonprofit on a program that would help borrowers avoid foreclosure.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/173788386/SB119313946484168303.html

Countrywide Unveils Plan to Assist Borrowers

Countrywide said it will begin calling borrowers to offer refinancing or modifications on $16 billion in loans whose interest rate is set to adjust by the end of 2008.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/173788386/SB119313946484168303.html

Commercial real estate still strong - CNNMoney.com

Commercial real estate still strong

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The excesses that led to a bust in the housing boom havent spread to the commercial real estate market, where the outlook is cautious ...

http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/3-0&fd=R&url=http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/22/real_estate/bc.realestate.commercial.ap/%3Fpostversion%3D2007102207&cid=1122460954&ei=q5EcR6qiApKE0gHI3bzFCg

America's Richest Real Estate Billionaires - Forbes

Americas Richest Real Estate Billionaires
Forbes, NY - Oct 19, 2007
After all, becoming one of the countrys richest real estate investors seems to demand a certain type of proactive, ambitious and unwavering individual. ...

http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/2-0&fd=R&url=http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/realestate/2007/10/19/property-richest-investors-forbeslife-cx_kk_1019realestate.html&cid=0&ei=WKIbR8C2AaGcowL3kZWQCQ

Burned by Real Estate, Some Just Walk Away

More investors are making the drastic decision to walk away from their properties and ultimately send their homes into foreclosure. But this can leave credit scores and assets vulnerable to assault.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/171681079/SB119266868024662861.html

U.S. bubble bursts at best time

The bursting of the U.S. house price bubble is bad news, but it comes at the best possible time. The emergence of China and India and the slump in the dollar are keeping world growth up. That gives the US a chance of avoiding recession. Go to article...(read more)

http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2007/10/12/u-s-bubble-bursts-at-best-time.aspx

Capital One's Mortgage Chief Resigns

Capital One's home-loans chief is leaving the company amid the housing downturn. Capital One recently closed its other mortgage business, GreenPoint Mortgage.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/168604274/SB119213284249856343.html

Countrywide Lending Plunges

Countrywide disclosed that total mortgage loans it made or acquired from other lenders last month fell 44% to $21 billion.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/168421606/SB119210620581855929.html

Strip-Mall Vacancies Hit 7.4%

The strip-mall vacancy rate edged up to 7.4% in the third quarter, a 5-year high.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/167826059/SB119197598965354165.html

Countrywide Mortgage Funding Falls

Countrywide Financial said its September mortgage loan fundings fell 44% from a year earlier as the company was caught in the credit crunch. Average daily applications dropped 39%.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/168421606/SB119210620581855929.html

Fed's Warsh Quashes Bailout Talk

Fed governor Warsh cautioned against assuming that the Fed will prop up asset prices or protect individual financial institutions. (Remarks)

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/159565242/SB119039313742135405.html

E*Trade Hit by Mortgage Turmoil

E*Trade expects profit to come in 31% below its most recent forecast, saying it was hit hard by fallout in the mortgage fallout.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/157760626/SB119006126061630102.html

Federal Reserve expected to cut key rate (AP)

AP - The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its target for the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, for the first time in four years at its meeting today.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070918/ap_on_bi_ge/fed_interest_rates

Countrywide Loan Fundings Drop

Countrywide Financial said its August mortgage loan fundings fell 17% from a year earlier amid the ongoing credit crunch. The lender has arranged for $12 billion in additional borrowing capacity through new or existing credit lines.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/155934481/SB118968612623526308.html

Countrywide Beefs Up Financing

Countrywide said it obtained $12 billion in additional financing. WaMu said it would cut 1,000 jobs over the next two months.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/155934481/SB118968612623526308.html

Feeds on my BlackBerry

So this doesn't have anything to do with investment but I have a blackberry pearl and I use Blogglines Mobile and Viigo v2.2.55. So, here are my comments. Overall I think Viigo isn't really finished. I think they need to fix the following problems:
1) You can't use the blackberry standard pg up and down with numbers (ie 3, 9)
2) You can't mark a channel as 'all read' - In a channel I would like to hit menu > mark all read so I know what's really new and not what is just 'not read'
3) When a channel refreshes (intermittent) it will forget what you have read (ie. everything would be new)
4) When I upgraded my BlackBerry it lost all the channels I added

Viigo is overall faster on EDGE do to load times of web sites. Viigo is better because it loads an overview and only loads the full article when you drill into it. Blogglines will time out loading images and will build pages to big for the mobile browser. Then you can reload easily because it has marked it as read. I like Blogglines directory much better because you can see how many users use the same feed and you can manage it on the website. For each feed you can make it as available on mobile so not everything shows up on you blackberry. So, the funny thing is that I end up using both. Blogglines for friends and comics: Viigo for basic news and some tech stuff.

8.6 percent drop in home sales predicted

Sales of existing homes in 2007 are forecast to drop 8.6 percent from the previous year, a trade group for real estate agents said Tuesday.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070911/ap_on_bi_ge/housing_forecast_realtors

Fed Chorus Out of Tune on Rates

Fed officials appear divided in assessing risks from the recent credit crunch and employment report, suggesting there may be some disagreement about whether or how much to cut rates.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/154625737/SB118943650388322613.html

Crombie REIT set to expand: analyst

Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust ( CRRu/TSX ) could grow by as much 70% over the next few years, according to one east coast analyst. Michael Mills, a Halifax-based analyst with Beacon Securities, believes that Crombie's relationship with Empire Co....(read more)

http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2007/09/11/crombie-reit-set-to-expand-analyst.aspx

Weak Jobs Data Boost Likelihood of Rate Cut

U.S. payrolls fell by 4,000 in August, the first employment drop in four years. The data suggest damage from the severe housing slump is beginning to ripple through the economy and makes it likely the Fed will cut rates. (Text of jobs report)

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/153422914/SB118916737881920585.html

Countrywide to Cut up to 12,000 Jobs

Countrywide plans to reduce its work force by as many as 12,000 jobs, or 20%. The largest U.S. home-mortgage lender sees its loan originations in 2008 dropping 25%.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/153610942/SB118919813950820850.html

Home loan demand slumps despite lower rates

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage applications fell for a second consecutive week, reflecting a drop in demand for home purchase and refinancing loans even as interest rates sank, an industry group said on Wednesday.

http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/businessNews/~3/149609496/idUSN2829165820070829

Fed Weighed Action Well Before Rate Cut

Fed officials considered taking policy action 10 days before cutting the discount rate, meeting minutes show. (Full text)

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/149305908/SB118832349767011156.html

July new home sales and durables orders rise

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of new single-family U.S. homes unexpectedly rose in July and new orders for durable goods posted strong gains that underlined the economy's strength just before a credit crisis socked financial markets.

http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/businessNews/~3/147727970/idUSN2433591220070824

Countrywide CEO sees recession ahead

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo said on Thursday the U.S. housing downturn is likely to lead the country into recession, but that the largest U.S. mortgage lender will survive.

http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/businessNews/~3/147361423/idUSN2324489320070823

How FHA Could Help Borrowers

The White House is looking to the FHA to help homeowners who are at risk of falling behind on their mortgage payments.

http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7014/~3/146821997/SB118774225399404746.html

Accredited Home selling $1 billion mortgage loans

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Struggling subprime mortgage lender Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co on Tuesday said it agreed to sell $1 billion of home loans to an unnamed investor, a move it said would limit its exposure to margin calls.

http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/businessNews/~3/146537457/idUSN2135313820070821

July foreclosures up 93 percent vs year ago: survey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home foreclosures rose 9 percent in July from June and soared 93 percent from a year ago as states that once enjoyed a white-hot housing market are now seeing the greatest number of loan failures, a real estate survey reported on Tuesday.

http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/businessNews/~3/146505223/idUSN2030024220070821

Sunnybrook - Weekend 1

Well, this was a rollercoaster weekend. It started with busting up a cast-iron tub and took way to long and ended with a one-piece tub/shower that wouldn't fit in our bathroom. With all that we did get a ton done. The main bathroom is completely gutted and a new tub is installed with almost all of the green board around the tub. Now we have switched to tile. Funny how things change so fast! Painting starts this week so I really need to take some intermediate pictures.

Opportunities for this week

• Kitchen floor isn't quite level
• Bathroom sub floor is a little spongy

Sunnybrook - Day 2

Just cleaning up the walls and taking off light switches. Not nearly the change as ripping up the carpet.

Sunnybrook - Day 1

Closed today at 3:00 and was taking out some UGLY carpet by 3:30. The whole house is cleaned out and we even started taking out cabinets. Making great progress for the first day.

Starting a flip today

Close on a flip today, I think I will blog the progress so everyone can see how it goes. We think we already have a buyer so the pressure may be off.

1314 S Arago St Peoria (Update: Sold)

Just hit the market today: 1314 S Arago St is a clean 4 beadroom - 1.5 bath property ready for your tenants at a price of 29,9. That's hard to pass up!

-Update: Sold

Happy Easter

Just a note, this website was to stagnate so we are moving to more of a journal site so keep your eyes open for deals coming.