One of the first homes that I ever listed (about 20 years ago) was in the Burnwood community in Millwoods. It was a cute little home that looked like every other home on that street. There was nothing special about  it but my clients kept good very good care of the property and kept it really clean. I listed it late one evening when it was especially dark out.

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While the real estate/mortgage meltdown is concerning, especially to all of us who make our living in this space. The real concern that we have to consider is the out of control spending in Congress. The earmarks and entitlements have blown away any increase in tax receipts from the prosperity of the last several years.

We threw out the last Congress for irresponsible spending and behavior. This Congress has doubled the last Congress’ already despicable deficit.

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Nineteen metropolitan areas are likely to notice a direct impact from an increase in conforming loan limits included in the proposed economic stimulus plan, according to a Washington-based policy research firm.

Seven of those areas are in California, six are in the greater New York area and two are in Massachusetts, according to Stanford Group Co. Others are in the greater Washington area, Boulder, Colo., the greater Miami area and the Seattle-Tacoma region.

The proposal, discussed by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) this week, permits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to securitize mortgages up to 125% of the local median home price, according to the research firm. The limit is capped at $729,750.

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Federal mortgage fraud convictions have more than doubled in the past year, and the FBI expects a growth in foreclosure scams as the crisis over substandard, high-interest home loans escalates.
Foreclosure rates for these mortgages, known as subprime loans, are at historic highs, according to surveys by the Mortgage Bankers Association and government records.

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Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial  (NYSE:PRU ) company, announced today that it will participate in Yahoo!  Real Estate’s new, online property listings program. The agreement will enable Prudential Real Estate’s affiliate companies to market their full catalog of property listings on Yahoo! Real Estate, and to capitalize on leading interactive marketing services.
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It’s not finished yet, but the Burj Dubai is now the tallest building in the world, according to its developer, Emaar Properties. Dubai has become a showplace for innovative buildings, and the Burj Dubai is shaping up to be an icon for wealth and progress. The unfinished skyscraper now rises 512.1 metres (1,680 feet), making it taller than Taiwan’s Taipei 101 which rises 508 metres (1,667 feet). When the Burj Dubai is completed in 2008 it will boast:

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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Entering an empty, unfamiliar house with a stranger is all in a day’s work for real estate agents, most of them women.

“You’re on your own,” said Nicholle D. Dagata, a real estate agent in Berlin, Conn. Cell phones are an obvious tool but cannot be used inconspicuously and can drop out of range in a basement, she said.

“Sometimes you feel queasy.”

Now, GE Security’s new wireless lock boxes, already designed to quickly notify a seller’s agent that a house is being shown, are being outfitted with a “panic button” agents can use in an emergency, starting early in 2008.

GE Security, a subsidiary of General Electric Co., expected to announce the feature Wednesday at the National Association of Realtors convention in Las Vegas.
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The private equity party may be over but the news hasn’t yet made it to the real estate buyout funds, which are seeking $105-billion (U.S.) in new capital, a sixfold increase from January, 2006.There are 206 real estate-focused funds in the market raising capital around the world, an explosion of growth in what was once a niche sector of private equity, according to data from London-based Private Equity Intelligence.

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NEW YORK, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — American Real Estate Partners, L.P. (the “Company”). On August 9, 2007, the Company announced that it would be changing its name to Icahn Enterprises L.P. That change becomes effective today pursuant to a Certificate of Amendment to the Certificate of Limited Partnership filed with the Delaware Secretary of State.

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