Jobs in real estate finance totaled 494,700 in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The latest number is lower than the prior month, the data indicate. Mortgage jobs are also below the level a year earlier.
Author Archive for Mortgage Insider
More Great News: Twin Cities Have 10th Highest Instance of Mortgage Fraud
Published by February 15th, 2007 in Mortgage. 0 CommentsAt the risk if turning this space into a mortgage and real estate fraud blog, we point you to another example of how ugly the underbelly of the real estate and lending business actually is, courtesy of the Star Tribune’s Jackie Crosby and Jim Buchta. This time, it’s not one or two crooked realtors/lenders out to screw one individual, but a group that created a process to systematically defraud lenders and funnel millions of dollars in illegal payments to buyers, sellers, brokers, title companies, and more. They did this by inflating sales prices and creating sham companies (among other fraudulent…
Transforming Your Digital Camera into an Electronic Measuring Tape
Published by February 15th, 2007 in Mortgage. 0 Comments
iPhotoMEASURE Standard Edition is a revolutionary software tool that enables you to measure anything in a photo taken with your digital camera. This is very useful when physical measurements are difficult or unsafe to perform.
The iPhotoMEASURE program comes with DigiTargets, which are placed in any area you want to photograph/measure. The DigiTarget provides the software with an accurate scale to base its measurements on.
All that’s required is to:
1. Take a digital photo.
2. Open the photo in the iPhotoMEASURE program and select the DigiTarget in the picture for reference. The software automatically measures anything in the photo with 95% to 99.5% accuracy (depending on the angle of the photo).
3. Save, print, share and/or archive the photo with the measurements embedded.
How Precise? Just how accurate are measurements taken from a photograph? According to their website, from 40 feet away, the program has about 93% accuracy. From 30 feet, that increases to 98%, and only gets better the closer you get to the target. “The software is always 100% accurate — but it’s the quality of the camera lens that will determine the true accuracy."
There is also a quick video you can watch to see how the software works. Website can be found here.
Thanks to Jim Amorin’s, MAI, SRA blog Appraisal Podcasts for the tip on this product!
4. Rates remain below 6.5% for most home loans
Published by February 2nd, 2007 in Mortgage. 0 CommentsAffordable mortgages are turning the winter into a good time to buy or refinance a home.
DataPlace - One-Stop Source for Housing and Demographic Data
Published by February 2nd, 2007 in Mortgage. 0 CommentsDataPlace aims to be your one-stop source for housing and demographic data about your community, your region, and the nation. The site not only assembles a variety of data sets from multiple sources, but it also provides tools and guides to assist you in analyzing, interpreting, and applying the data so you can make more informed decisions.
DataPlace lets you view tables, charts, and maps of data about states, counties, cities, zip codes and census tracts in the United States, from sources such as Census, HUD, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, and Section 8 Expiring Use.
DataPlace is a KnowledgePlex® initiative sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation. KnowledgePlex was created five years ago by the Fannie Mae Foundation and a distinguished team of founding partners. It provides a wealth of resources including documents, news, online chats, discussion forums, multimedia, and an industry calendar.
While KnowledgePlex provides a comprehensive source of housing-related information from all over the United States, DataPlace complements this broad-based resource by providing easy access to highly targeted, local information. Both tools advance the mission of sharing knowledge with those who are engaged in the work of providing affordable homes and building communities.
Click below to learn more about this mapping and data resource, how to get started using the data, and even a webinar style seminar on it’s use!
The DataPlace web site is very well laid out and probably one of the best places to begin is their General Help section - Getting Started on DataPlace. From that page you’ll get a general tour and tips on searching places and data. You’ll also find links on:
- Area Overview - Gather summary information on any U.S. location.
- Data & Charts - Learn how to create charts and scatterplots.
- Rankings - Compare rankings on locations using DataPlace indicators
- Affiliate Tools - Host any DataPlace map on your web site.
- Uploading My Data - Learn how to create maps and charts from your own spreadsheet data.
- Maps - Learn how to create, manipulate and add data to maps.
- Scatterplots - Compare many locations and data at the same time.
- My DataPlace - Learn how to save pages, locations and data to your personal account.
- My Geographies - Create your own geography using places on DataPlace.
If that is a bit tedious, I can recommend using an archived webinar style demonstration that Fannie Mae Foundation presented for members of the media. The demonstration includes a brief overview of why DataPlace was created and what information it includes, followed by a detailed demonstration of the DataPlace features and how they work. The demonstration concludes with questions from the participants. Please click here to download the archive of the demonstration.
Looking for information on the latest data releases on housing and related topics? Want to stay abreast of changes in major housing data collection programs? Housing Data News, brought to you by DataPlace, aims to be your first-stop source for news related to housing market data. Look to this page for the latest information on newly released data, links to Federal Register Notices related to major housing data collection programs, and highlights from relevant reports and research.
