OBAMA ANNOUNCES HUD HEAD NOMINEE
Hoping to bring new ideas to the old problem of affordable housing, President-elect Barack Obama has nominated Shaun Donovan to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Donovan has worked in both business and nonprofit sectors and at HUD during the Clinton administration.
He later worked at Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. before being named commissioner of New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Today, Donovan leads the largest municipal affordable housing plan in the nation.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Read MoreWIN BATTLE AGAINST MOLD
People returning to homes flooded during Hurricane Ike should act quickly to combat mold. Experts with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service suggest doing the following:
-Open windows and turn on fans to get fresh air circulating. A dehumidifier can help remove moisture from the air.
-Take an inventory of the damage, using photos to document damage for insurance purposes.
-Make no permanent repairs until an insurance adjuster has reviewed the property and made a record of the damage.
-Remove anything porous that was soaked in the flood. Put moldy material into plastic trash bags for disposal.
-Clean all surfaces to remove mold spores.
-Seal off contaminated areas from the rest of the house as you clean.
-Before closing a wall, use a moisture meter to make sure wood has no more than 14 percent moisture.
Source: Texas AgriLife Extension Service
Read MoreENERGY AUDITS PROPOSED FOR HOME SELLERS
A task force consisting of real estate agents and mortgage brokers charged with finding ways to make existing Austin homes more energy efficient has proposed requiring energy-efficiency audits and incentives.
The task force’s final report will go before various city boards and commissions before reaching the city council for consideration later this fall.
If the council follows task force recommendations, home sellers would be required to have an energy audit, costing no more than $300, and include the results with other disclosure information when the home is listed on the market.
The audit would include a visual inspection and tests of mechanical and air-conditioning systems for leaks. The audit would inform potential buyers of improvements that would have a payback period of seven years through energy-efficiency savings.
The recommendation proposes goals for the percentage of homes that would be upgraded by their owners, such as 25 percent of all homes sold the first year of the ordinance. But the task force did not advocate requiring upgrades if the goals are not met. Instead, it urges the council to re-evaluate the program every two years to assess its effectiveness.
Source: Austin American-Statesman
Read MoreHUD ANNOUNCES IKE DISASTER ASSISTANCE
Federal assistance for homeowners and low-income has been promised to dozens of Texas counties and Louisiana parishes in the wak of Hurricane Ike.
The presidential disaster declaration triggered a variety of federal assistance, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from effects of the disaster.
In certain storm and flood-ravaged counties, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has granted a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of FHA-insured home mortgages.
Source: HUD
Read MoreMLS MOST ACCURATE SOURCE OF LISTING INFORMATION
Most popular consumer real estate search engines show homebuyers only a fraction of the homes that are on the market, according to a recent study commissioned by Roost.com and conducted by the WAV Group.
Real estate searches on popular sites in three sample markets — Miami, Dallas and San Diego — failed to provide users with as much as 92 percent of available listings in their home searches. In Dallas and Miami, both Trulia and Zillow displayed about 50 percent of the listings.
Top-line findings in the detailed study showed some aggregator sites with accuracy rates as low as 8 percent. In Dallas, Google fared best among aggregators by displaying 56 out of 81 possible listings (69 percent accuracy).
The study also found that many of the listings are inaccurate or out of date.
The most accurate source of listing information is the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the study concluded. The MLS is the real estate industry standard database for sharing information on local homes for sale and is available only to licensed real estate agents and brokers; all the listings on the MLS are derived from local agents and brokers.
Source: RISMedia
Read MoreBUSH TURNPIKE ROLLING IN
Groundbreaking took place this morning on the $1 billion, 9.9-mile stretch that will connect SH 78 in Garland to I-30.
The Bush Turnpike extension—along with the 2012 arrival of Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail—is expected to create about 13,000 jobs and $18.9 billion in economic impact over 20 years.
Rowlett’s two upcoming mixed-use projects will assist in the economic boost. Northshore is a 1,000-acre planned commercial and light industrial district along the northern part of the extension. The city also plans to develop a 300-acre retail and restaurant center along the turnpike just north of Lake Ray Hubbard.
Tolls will range from 40 cents to $1.50 for TollTag customers and from 65 cents to $2.20 for drivers without TollTags.
Actual construction will begin next month, with the extension scheduled to open in late 2011.
Source: Dallas Morning News
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