Top 5 real estate posts of the day – Friday 5/15/2009

Top 5 real estate posts for 5/15/2009

1) Your word is golden…or not – There has been a lot of confusion over the last few days on the proposed program that would allow first time home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment on their purchase. But now there is even more confusion as the speech announcing the program has been pulled from the HUD site.

2) Home affordable report card and additional modifications – There was a lot of talk about the Obama housing plan and would it help save peoples homes from foreclosure? Zillow takes a look at a few cases and says so far its a no.

3) HVCC…I’m not making this stuff up – Another look at the new appraisal rules when it comes to conventional loans.

4) Skinning elephants: The lifelong salutary benefits of negotiating your compensation with your buyers – Greg Swann’s long post takes a detailed look compensation to real estate agents and how our clients deserve to know what they are getting for their money.

5) Homeowner confidence shrinks – Survey shows only 60% of homeowners think their home value has decreased over the last year while in reality 80% have.