Viral video or not, the grand prize-winning YouTube video will earn its maker a check for $9,000 or roughly three months of mortgage payments.
Building product manufacturer James Hardie Building Products (JHX: 33.836 +0.79%) unveiled a new contest for consumers of its exterior home siding.
James Hardie asks contestants to submit a YouTube video no more than three minutes long, showing the front-facing exterior of their home and completing the statement, “I love my Hardie home because….”
The contest runs through October 26 and will grant the winner “three months of mortgage payments,” according to a press release, to be awarded as a check for $9,000.
“The idea grew from the company’s participation in social media,”... more»
In a world where Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans are processed without meeting all government verification requirements, a group of aliens come to planet Earth to save originators from themselves. Equipped with fraud detection software, the aliens keep the bad loans out and get good loans processed.
Sound like a nail-biting drama? It’s the plot to one of a series of videos Interthinx posted on YouTube to promote its fraud detection services. The videos take footage from old movies and dub them with new scripts to fit a number of FHA-centered storylines.
The four films are “Attack of the FHA Loan Files,” “Evasion of the FHA Vampire,” “The FHA Affair,” and “The Courtship of Donald’s Sister.”
Obviously, we’re not talking about Oscar-worthy cinematography here,... more»
During the course of my exploration of non-profit housing counseling groups, the efforts of which you can read about in the September edition of HousingWire, I learned a lot about the strategies of groups like the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN), its affiliate group ACORN Housing, the National Urban League (NUL), the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR).
I also learned about where these organizations hope to place their efforts as the country continues to navigate the recession.
Many readers have written in with strong opinions about these groups. A lawyer from Idaho called ACORN a “criminal enterprise” in response to a online story about the group’s protesting efforts.
It got me wondering what... more»
Auctioneer Williams and Williams is making television interactive.
The Tulsa, Okla.-based real estate auction house will auction 70 homes during a live television program on the ION Television network. The “absolute” auction means there are no price reserves on the homes and the highest bidder will be awarded the property.
“An ‘absolute’ auction provides the most transparent buying experience and gives bidders confidence that the high bidder will be the winner,” Williams & Williams president and chief operating officer Pamela McKissick said in a statement.
Homes from Ohio, Florida, Missouri, Indiana, Arizona and other states will be on the auction block. The auction will also be broadcast on the Internet, and viewers can join the prospective buyers at the auction by bidding... more»
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency this week announced an upcoming round of workshops for community bank directors in Charlottesville, Va.
The workshops aim to “expand directors’ skills and understanding of issues facing their banks” and cover topics like risk assessment and credit risk, according to a media statement.
It seems only natural that regulators like the OCC would host workshop events to address the troubles facing community banks. There may be no better time (except, perhaps, for four years ago before the height of the housing bubble) to educate community banks on risk assessment than when they seem to drop like flies every Friday with a new batch of bank failures.
The workshops might proactively prevent bank failures by educating directors. They come... more»
Angela Logan saved her New Jersey home from foreclosure with apple cakes.
According to a CNN report, Angela Logan, an actress, fell behind on her mortgage when her talent agency closed without paying her for commercial work. To make things worse, her entire second floor is bare except the beams and some plastic wrapping after a contractor took her money and never finished.
To catch up, she turned to her other talent: baking her family’s favorite apple cakes. She set a goal to sell 100 of her delicacy, named Mortgage Apple Cakes, in 10 days at $40 a piece, which would reach her monthly payment and qualify her for the Making Home Affordable (MHA) program.
Friends and family responded, and she sold 200 cakes to make the payment and qualify for the program. Her new mortgage decreased by 20%,... more»
The ads seem to circumvent anti-discriminatory laws, but the intent is still clear: “Perfect for two adults…seeking a maximum of two tenants…couples preferred…Christian atmosphere.”
Although the Fair Housing Act makes discrimination against families with children illegal, the classified ads still appear — not in newspapers, which have been held liable in the past, but on the Internet — all over the Internet, according to the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA).
The group is turning its attention to discriminatory Internet ads, which are so far allowed thanks to a loophole in the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which holds Internet advertising providers to a different standard than print media, according to NFHA.
“At a time when 2m children... more»
Corpus Christi resident Robert Sanchez found out his energy provider was doing more than providing him with power after opening his last bill.
The utility company, CPL Retail Energy, also decided to pick up a year’s worth of Sanchez’ mortgage payments, up to $40,000 in total.
At a time when foreclosures grip the housing market, some tend to forget the utility providers. After all, if foreclosed homes sit vacant with no one living in them, lamps stay dark, ceiling fans quit spinning and faucets dry up. Fewer owners means lower wattage, spawning creative promotions by utility companies like CPL.
The energy provider entered all residential customers who signed up with the energy provider as of March 31, 2009 into a drawing for the complimentary mortgage payments. Secondary prizes included... more»
You know the luxury penthouse might be overpriced in today’s market if the developer has to offer a $20m discount to attract buyers.
It also says something about the cash reserves of the developer if he waits around 54 weeks before cutting the price.
And that’s just what developer Donald Trump did when he recently cut the asking price of a four-bedroom penthouse at 502 Park Ave. A New York Post article has the scoop on the luxury apartment, which was slashed to $31m from $51m.
The 35% decline is not too out-of-line with national price declines from regional peaks, although the latter phenomenon occurred gradually over several years as the market adjusted and the former happened virtually overnight.
The cut 54-week hesitation indicates the luxury housing market may not be as insulated... more»
