June 2009

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that the pace of economic contraction is slowing. Conditions in financial markets have generally improved in recent months. Household spending has shown further signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Businesses are cutting back on fixed investment and staffing but appear to be making progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales. Although economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time, the Committee continues to anticipate that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will contribute to a gradual

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Ask friends for referrals. Friends can give you a starting point, but don't hire an agent solely on a friend's recommendation, says Brenner. Don't choose an agent based on personality alone, but make sure you can get along well.

Choose the broker or real estate agency first, and then ask the agency to recommend a couple of their best agents. Then stick with her. If you see a house for sale and call the agent listed on the sign, that agent's first concern will be representing the seller, not you, the buyer. "Sometimes the broker is associated with a franchise, such as Century 21," says author O'Hara. "If you select a franchised broker, you have the advantage of national name recognition and usually a strong national advertising campaign." But beware.

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The real estate industry has a fever and the only cure is more internet! The internet has revolutionized real estate, buyers and sellers can now see what agents see, an industry that was once opaque is now transparent. Buyers can now further due diligence what they hear from their agents and agents have to be conscious of the importance of internet marketing and the fact that over 80% of all buyers start their search on the internet. That being said, the internet has caused some major problems in the real estate industry and we thought, “What better way to start a new blog on a new ultra-advanced real estate site than to start with a word of caution?” Below is a brief overview of what parts of the internet revolution have been blessings, and what parts…