Today's Links on real estate online: NYT blog shuts doors, 20 min. loan
"TODAY'S LINKS" September 12, 2006
“Today’s Links” is an eclectic round up pointing to noteworthy news and worthy analysis from all around the World Wide Web.
TODAY'S LINKS September 12, 2006 FOCUS ON REAL ESTATE ONLINE: NYT Real Estate Blog "Closes," Online Construction Tracking Tool, 20 Minute Mortgage, And did you catch…
NYT “WALK THROUGH” TAKES FINAL BLOG WALK
New York Times, New York Times: “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” Its real estate blog has not made it, however; its final post, “In closing,”: September 11, 2006
As you may have noticed, The Walk-Through has been awfully quiet lately. It had a good run, but we’ve decided to turn our focus to other parts of our real estate pages. We recently expanded the site with two new sections: Great Homes features a searchable database of more than 30,000 listings in popular second-home destinations…
The Home Finance Center includes tools and guides to help you navigate the process of financing a home. ..You might also enjoy the first issue of Key, our new real estate magazine.
TRACKING DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR HOME PRIDE AND JOY
Minnesota home builder Hans Hagen Homes announces online "central information mangement system," a 24/7 tool to track where luxury home dollars are going: "a new interactive website where home buyers can log into their personal account and access up-to-date status reports on the construction of their new home."
Hans Hagen Homes, a residential land developer offering luxury custom brick homes and brick townhomes, has launched a new website to serve as a central information management system for customers, realtors and vendors - all involved in the custom home building process...With realtors and vendors able to upload information directly to the website, the customer is able to check on the status of their purchase and home construction at any given time.
'Moving homes is traditionally a very stressful activity,' said Nate Smith, VP, Hans Hagen Homes. 'Lack of customer service after a home has been purchased, and especially during the construction process, can be very frustrating for new home buyers.'
HOUSING: NEXT IMPULSE PURCHASE?
“The 20-minute mortgage offer”, This is Money; 12 September 2006
One of Britain's biggest mortgage lenders claims to have been processing applications within 20 minutes since becoming the first to offer instant homeloans. Lender GMAC-RFC said it had launched its new ultra-streamlined online mortgage system last week in response to customer demand for quicker and more efficient offers.
The system uses automated valuations to deliver a quickfire response to people applying for its homeloans, which are only offered through financial advisers and mortgage brokers. Its launch followed speculation that same-day mainstream mortgage approvals were soon to arrive. Although the move towards quicker decisions was welcomed, mortgage experts warned that only straightforward cases were likely to benefit.
AND DID YOU CATCH...
In "Real estate deals online: U.S. Government fights for your rights" I present U.S. Government anti-trust actions against the leading association of real estate brokers alleging it restrains Internet competition in the real estate sector:
The U.S. Government believes you should get the best price on your next real estate transaction and is taking on the National Association of Realtors to help make sure you can use the Internet to get it....Sometimes, the U.S Government is on our side, and on the side of open Internet competition!
Real estate industry stats estimate that “77% of real estate sales start on the Internet.” MORE...
Know of any other noteworthy news or worthy analysis? SHARE: GET THE WORD OUT HERE!