Inman.com
Bad loans to friends and family may be tax deductible
Inman.com
Are you a soft touch? Have you lent money to relatives or friends and never been repaid? If so, you may at least be able to get a tax deduction for the bad loan. As far as the bad debt deduction is concerned, there are two types of debts: business and ...

Carrington introduces 21-day loan closing program
Inman.com
Carrington Mortgage Services LLC is upping the ante in its ongoing push to streamline loan closings. The wholesale lending division of the company recently announced that it is expanding a program that guarantees a loan closing within 30 days to ...

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Michael McClure joins The GoodLife Team
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Michael McClure, founder and CEO of a small brokerage in Michigan and the moderator of the well-known Facebook Group “Raise the Bar in Real Estate,” has joined the Austin, Texas, brokerage The GoodLife Team as chief content officer. McClure will post ...

N-Play launches advertising service baked into Facebook
Inman.com
N-Play, a provider of real estate Facebook applications, has launched what it says is the first real estate advertising service built entirely into Facebook. READ ADvantage enables agents to create listing and promotional ads on Facebook that lure ...

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Fannie Mae debuts short-sale tool for agents
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In order to help it work with mortgage servicers to streamline short sales, Fannie Mae is now asking listing agents to register accepted short-sale offers on Homepathforshortsales.com, where they will be prompted to provide information such as the ...

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Xavier Zang takes helm of growing referral network
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Tech-focused brokerage ZipRealty Inc. has brought in former Microsoft marketing executive Xavier Zang to take charge of its growing Powered by Zip referral network. Zang, 48, who was with Microsoft for five years most recently as senior director of ...

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Vendors rally around daily themes at Amsterdam real estate conference
Inman.com
I walked around the trade show floor at the Provada real estate conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday and a few things became immediately apparent. First, the booths were amazing — great color, great shapes, great use of signage and surface.

US's largest Realtor association to dotloop: 'Hands off our forms'
Inman.com
Singer told Inman News that retaining control over CAR's forms allows the association to protect its members' legal interests in the very litigious state of California. CAR spends a lot of resources making sure the forms are up-to-date and legally ...

Inman.com
Do video right, or don't do it at all
Inman.com
Not very many real estate agents are using video. A lot of people seem to have a problem with that. We are told over and over that we need to use more video. I have watched some really bad video made by real estate agents, and I have seen it used as an ...

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Real estate broker opens office as 'lounge and design center'
Inman.com
What sets a small, local real estate broker apart from larger competitors and a glut of information available online? Karen Hall, principal broker of @home Real Estate in Alexandria, Va., asked this question before she opened her new office last year ...

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Down Payment Resource launches public-facing website
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Down Payment Resource (DPR) has made its large database of down payment assistance programs available to the public by launching the website DownPaymentResource.com. A winner of Inman News' 2011 “Most Innovative New Technology” award, ...

Inman.com
Mortgage servicer taps Fannie Mae tool to prevent foreclosures
Inman.com
National mortgage servicer RoundPoint has adopted a Fannie Mae tool designed to help servicers work more quickly and consistently to prevent foreclosures, RoundPoint announced today. Fannie Mae's Servicing Management Default Underwriter will allow ...

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Mortgage refinance applications take 'huge hit'
Inman.com
A jump in mortgage rates last week appeared to drive refinance demand down to its lowest level in well over a year. Applications for refinance loans dropped 15 percent for the week ending May 31 from a week earlier, reaching their lowest level since ...

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Online auction platform Hubzu expands into short sales
Inman.com
Real estate and mortgage software provider Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. has added a short-sale option for servicers and buyers to its online auction platform, Hubzu Real Estate Marketplace. The company said the Altisource Assisted Short Sale ...

Are branded apps worth the investment?
Inman.com
This post explores a marketing tactic submitted by Edina Realty Home Services, the most recent winner of #madREskillz, a weekly Inman News Twitter conversation. Every Thursday, Inman News invites real estate professionals and companies to tweet offbeat ...

Foreign investors snapping up iconic US office buildings
Inman.com
This year foreign investors have bought the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, the West Coast's tallest office building; the tallest tower in Minneapolis; and acquired a 40 percent stake in New York's General Motors Building, valued at $3.4 billion.

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Haiku Deck update integrates Getty Images
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Users of Haiku Deck, the free iPad application from the Seattle-based firm of the same name, now have access to 1 million photos from Getty Images at their fingertips. As part of the app's update, announced today, users can purchase an image from Getty ...

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Inman.com
Short sales may show up on credit reports as foreclosures
Inman.com
Here's some good news for the large numbers of short sellers whose transactions have been classified as “foreclosures” by the credit reporting system: There is a new code on the launch pad that could bring more accuracy to the process, separating out ...

RealtyTrac adds 2 Oklahoma brokerages to referral network
Inman.com
Foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac has signed up Oklahoma City-based Prudential Alliance Realty and Tulsa, Okla.-based Prudential Detrick Realty to its referral broker network. Firms in the RealtyTrac Network, available to only one firm in each market, ...

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In digital era, don't forget to brand
Inman.com
Google, Facebook, Zillow, Trulia, realtor.com. When it comes to managing an advertising budget as a broker or agent, don't forget the old-school outlets like newspapers, magazines, billboards, TV, radio, (hot air balloons), even bus benches. That's ...