Under new Treasury Department rules that take effecton April 5, short sales will be presented as the next possible step for homeowners who are not applicable for the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

By offering this option, the administration is acknowledging that the current mortgage modification effort "can't solve the foreclosure problem by itself," says RealtyTrac chief economist, Rick Sharga. He sees positive points in the new guidelines, such as easier, standardized paperwork, financial incentives for both homeowners and mortgage servicers, and limited payouts for second lineholders.

Short sales are not widely used. According to the National Association of Realtors, in January 2010, only 14% of home transactions were short sales. The new program is doubtful to make the short sale transaction any easier, and while it may increase the number of these transactions, some are saying it won't "live up to the hype."

Read more from RISMedia.

Posted in Real Estate Market Conditions, Foreclosure, Real Estate Industry, National News

HomeGain has released the results of their survey regarding the marketing preferences and plans for real estate professionals, the complete results of which are listed below.

The leading effective marketing strategy, referrals, is also the one in which most are devoting their time and plans for 2010. While social media is becoming more popular and used, traditional mailers and email campaigns are holding more weight.

The results are based on two surveys, conducted in December 2009 and February 2010, with responses from about 1,300 real estate agents and brokers. Respondents also indicated that they will be less likely to invest their marketing dollars and time on Twitter (3.4), outdoor advertising (2.7), banner ads (2.5), pay-per-click advertising (2.5) and MySpace (2.5).

Top 10 Effective Marketing Strategies for Realtors
(Cumulative Average Scores, 1 = Least Effective / 10 = Most Effective)

• Referrals (8.7)
• Featured Listings (4.8)
• Email Campaigns (4.7)
• Postcards/Mailers (4.6)
• Blogging (4.1)
• Online Lead Generation Services (4.0)
• Facebook (4.0) * LinkedIn (3.6)
• Outdoor Ads (3.6)
• Print Ads (3.6)

Top 10 Marketing Objectives for Realtors in 2010
(Cumulative Average Scores, 1 = Least Likely to Use / 10 = Most Likely to Use)

• Referrals (8.9)
• Email Campaigns (5.7)
• Postcards/Mailers (5.4)
• Featured Listings (5.2)
• Facebook (4.9)
• Print Ads (4.3)
• Blogging (4.2)
• LinkedIn (4.1)
• Online Lead Generation Services (4.0)
• YouTube (3.5)

Read more on the HomeGain Blog and Inman News.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Traditional Marketing, Blogging, Real Estate Industry, Real Estate Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Web 2.0 Marketing, National News

According to a report from RealtyTrac, national foreclosure rates dropped 2% in February compared to the previous month. In addition, one in every 418 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing.

"This leveling of the foreclosure trend is not necessarily evidence that fewer homeowners are in distress and at risk for foreclosure, but rather that foreclosure prevention programs, legislation and other processing delays are in effect capping monthly foreclosure activity -- albeit at a historically high level," said RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio.

Six states accounted for 60% of all foreclosure filings: California, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona and Texas. Nevada, Arizona and Florida are posting the highest numbers of foreclosures.

Read more about the report's finding and statistics on CNNMoney and RISMedia, as well as from the press release issued by RealtyTrac.

Posted in Real Estate Market Conditions, Foreclosure, National News

DocuSign has announced the release of DocuSign REALTOR Edition, specifically tailored for and available to members of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

The announcement followed an earlier statement from NAR declaring DocuSign the official and exclusive ESIGN provider for their 1.1 million REALTOR Benefits® Program member, late last year.

DocuSign Realtor Edition's enhancements and features include special NAR member-only branded signature and templates, an online dashboard, mobile signing, workflow optimization, and integration with real estate tools.

Read more at RISMedia and sign up for a free trial at DocuSign.

Posted in National Association Of Realtors, Real Estate Industry Trends, Technology And YOU, Home Selling Services, National News

Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services has launched a collaborative, virtual research and development laboratory dubbed PRECIPT, the Prudential Real Estate Collaborative Innovation Partnership.

The non-traditional lab is a combination of three facets: innovation, research and development, and collaboration between IT experts and real estate professionals. This virtual lab will focus on four areas: video gaming and sensory spaces, social networking and media sharing, mobile computing, and the application of semantic Web search engines research.

Prudential is partnering with virtual world developer Immersive Design Studio to create one of its top priorities, an immersive virtual tour.

"This is actually 'Avatar' meets real estate. We demonstrated ... how (two people) could both be in different rooms at opposite ends of the country and be holographically next to each other. Buyers can start to experience homes and what they would do with (a home) even before they actually see it," chairman and CEO Jim Mallozzi said.

In addition, the Prudential Real Estate Network is unveiling other tools and resources: a media center to help real estate professionals create listings presentations quickly and easily from one spot, a rent-to-own calculator for consumers, upgrades to the company's proprietary Online Seller Advantage(SM) customer-contact platform, including direct interface with more than 200 social media sites, and their mobile solution, PruRE.com.

Read more from Inman News or in the press release.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Real Estate Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Technology And YOU, Web 2.0 Marketing, National News