Realty Times Real Estate News and Advice Updated July 9, 2008 Can You Rely On Your Home Equity Line of Credit? Lenders across the country have been lopping off access to home equity lines of credit. Now the government says such limits are okay, but only if lenders follow the rules. Columnist Peter G. Miller explains. FULL STORY-> Condo Trends: Panama City Booming Amidst Sales Draught Terms like "overbuilt," "condo craze," and "speculation," seem to belong in a real estate era of the past -- around 2005. But in Panama City, Florida, it's still the state of the market where it's estimated that up to 80 percent of the pre-construction purchases of condominiums is by investors and speculators.tba FULL STORY-> Three Ways To Turn Your Web Forms Into New Business Generators Your Website forms are the most direct way for your site visitors to contact and interact with you -- they are literally the doorway to new online business. Unfortunately, this door is slammed shut for most agent sites. Getting prospects to complete your Web forms (with accurate information) is not hard once you know how. In fact, here are three proven strategies that will have your visitors actually excited about filling out your forms. FULL STORY-> Realty Viewpoint: Location Has Never Been More Important The Labor Department says May is the seventh consecutive month for job losses. According to the Conference Board, leading indicators of employment suggest more trouble in the job market in the months ahead. FULL STORY-> HOA Nest Feathering When people are elected to positions of power, there is always the chance they may knowingly or unknowingly engage in a conflict of interest. Conflicts of interest come in several shapes and sizes. It is almost impossible to avoid them but how they are handled is critical. FULL STORY-> Free Credit Score, Credit Monitoring Services A class action suit settlement gives consumers free access to credit scores, but not the most widely used score which still costs a few bucks to obtain. Still, the settlement comes with a useful free credit monitoring service. FULL STORY-> American Dream Deferred Call it the "American Dream Deferred." Home prices are down, but not enough to offset shrinking incomes, higher interest rates, tight credit and the economic pressures of fuel and food costs. FULL STORY-> New Homes: Radio-Controlled Lighting Hits the U.S. Market For homebuilders, this new technology is a huge breakthrough. A lighting system that eliminates wires and batteries is the new wave of the future. FULL STORY-> Interest Rate Update Today's Interest Rates from Realty Times are based on a 30 year amortization rate, with good credit and no origination fees. With no major economic news today to report, mortgage rates remain the same. FULL STORY-> Realty Viewpoint: Housing Price Declines Flatten It looks like the beginning of the end to one of the worst housing markets ever. Although inventories are still rising, home prices declined only half a percent, and only eight-tenths of a percent for the past three months, according to the Real-Time Housing Market Report, published by Altos Research. FULL STORY-> Do Agents Gets Recertified? tba FULL STORY-> Market Conditions: Phoenix, Arizona Bob Stahl, market expert for the Greater Phoenix area, has good news to report for the region. FULL STORY-> Dump Your Slump Even top producing agents have slow days … or weeks or months. Maybe the economy is slow or it's that time of year. Perhaps you feel as though you have been saddled with some poor prospects or that you are just another victim of the mortgage meltdown. FULL STORY-> Recreational Market Slows in Canada, but Don't Expect "Fire Sales" Real estate sales are slowing down in Canadian cottage country, hurt by a tightening economy, high gas prices and competition from the U.S. But if you are looking for a cottage, don't expect bargain basement prices. FULL STORY-> The 5 Important Activities of Top Commercial Brokers: One-On-One With Dr. Jim Gillespie What exactly is a commercial real estate coach? When looking at commercial real estate agents, what are some of the other characteristics you see in the students who do well with coaching? These questions and more in Peter Mosca's interview with Dr. Jim Gillespie. FULL STORY-> Wild, Wild West: SF Shouts 'Solar!' From Rooftops Add San Francisco's new solar panel rebate to existing incentives and the cost for a typical $30,000 photovoltaic system is slashed nearly in half. A $0.00 electric bill also boosts affordability. FULL STORY-> More Real Estate News and Advice...