Housing.com News, Analysis & Opinion: Sunday Housing News

Downer: His main reason for trying to sell the property, Mr. Klein says, is that the interest rate on his mortgage eats into his profit... His mortgage rate might increase in late December 2007 -- to 13%. Even if he raises the rents, he might not be able to make an operating profit on the property.

Upper: Mr. Klein does not anticipate paying listing fees, as he is marketing the home as for sale by owner.

I can't stress enough how important that "upper" is...Klein is potentially saving himself a good chunk of change simply by applying his own hard-earned knowledge (including the mistake of using an ARM) and bypassing the realtor protection racket.

Actually, there's an interesting debate going on over at Inman's blog about the virtues and vices of an open MLS system. Money quote:

Consumers have options now. This open MLS is like doing a ballor initiutive to have Mercedes build a $9800 car. If you want one buy a KIA. If you want FSBO go to one of the thousands of FSBO sites. If you want to be on the MLS pay for it. This is not negative, this is commerce.

That's really the key right there. The data has to be accurate, and MLS sites still have the stranglehold in terms of most accurate valuations. Having FSBO, discount lender, and other such listing services nip at their heels works more from a transparency and openness perspective than it does accuracy...for now, anyway. But the best of all three is the way to go. This seems to be the model that Zillow is favoring, and it's certainly one we here at Housing support.

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The Real Estate Journal has a really cool anatomy of a real estate investment from the 28th. This is the kind of thing we need to see more of--nuts and bolts, in-depth calculations of exactly what it will take to make a profit off investing in property. I particularly like this one because it illustrates both the downers and uppers of the modern market. Downer: His main reason for trying to sell the property, Mr. Klein says, is that the interest rate on his mortgage eats into his profit... His mortgage rate might increase in late December 2007 -- to 13%. Even if he raises the rents, he might not be able to make an operating profit on the property. Upper: Mr. Klein does not anticipate paying listing fees, as he is marketing the home as for sale by owner. I can't stress enough how important that "upper" is...Klein is potentially saving himself a good chunk of change simply by applying his own hard-earned knowledge (including the mistake of using an ARM) and bypassing the realtor protection racket. Actually, there's an interesting debate going on over at Inman's blog about the virtues and vices of an open MLS system. Money quote: Consumers have options now. This open MLS is like doing a ballor initiutive to have Mercedes build a $9800 car. If you want one buy a KIA. If you want FSBO go to one of the thousands of FSBO sites. If you want to be on the MLS pay for it. This is not negative, this is commerce. That's really the key right there. The data has to be accurate, and MLS sites still have the stranglehold in terms of most accurate valuations. Having FSBO, discount lender, and other such listing services nip at their heels works more from a transparency and openness perspective than it does accuracy...for now, anyway. But the best of all three is the way to go. This seems to be the model that Zillow is favoring, and it's certainly one we here at Housing support.