Housing Bubble Morphs into Soft Landing

Economists and bloggers alike seem to see the housing bubble morphing into a soft landing.
For all the doom and gloom of housing sector prognosticators and talking heads last summer, general sentiment now indicates the view that residential real estate and the economy as a whole are more likely to enter a Cinderella phase. That is, not too hot, not too cold.

The following article from Matrix displays a graph of blogs mentioning either "housing bubble" or "soft landing" in their titles and a few other noteworthy links: http://matrix.millersamuel.com/?p=318.

Real Estate Hot Buttons

Knowing what we want and why is the first step to getting it. The best Realtors are keenly interested in people; they ask perceptive questions and carefully listen to their client's responses.
This article from Mortgage News Daily talks about Real Estate Hot Buttons and hits the nail on the head. Real Estate Hot Buttons Can Impede Your Home Search

Matchmaking Realtors

"Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match." As a Realtor, I have had my share of clients setting me up on dates - usually unexpectedly. Occaisionally with good results.
At a dinner celebrating a recent closing, a client brought a girlfriend from the office (it was their regular girls' night anyway) who liked to cook and happened to play tennis. Oh, really, perhaps we should hit sometime.

The brother of a noted Dallas broker met his wife through a real estate transaction; my neighbor, Liz, who owns Starfish Creations, told me her sister in Austin married her Realtor! Hmm...

Often it seems to work the other way around. A good Realtor can hook you up with the perfect architect, mortgage broker or handyman. Why not Mr. or Ms. Right? Here is an interesting take on the Realtor as matchmaker dynamic: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/realestate/01cov.html.

Claude A. Choate