Here is today’s list of top real estate posts of the day.

1) How To Shop For Mortgages And Keep Your Credit Scores High – Just a wealth of information in here I did not realize. A must read for agents and home shoppers.

2) 7 Expectations of Real Estate Investors – Beware of Potential – Thinking of getting involved in real estate investing or working with a new investor who is looking for some tips? Here are some tips that you need to be aware of.

3) Socialist need not read –> Like Big Oil –> Big Expired Program; windfall profits – Looking for a new marketing program, but expired listings are not your thing? Check out these numbers.

4) Homes for Sale in Denver Face Scams from Craigslist…Still. – I had this happen on one of my listings a few months ago. Beware of this scam. Seems to have hit Tallahassee too.

5) Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Needs a Good Flipping – NAR has their ideas for reforming Fannie and Freddie. What I don’t understand is how an organization I usually agree with in their political endorsements can be wrong on so many issues like supporting HAFA and even further federalizing Fannie and Freddie.

6) Taking a Short Sale Listing: ‘To Be or Not to Be?’ – I couldn’t agree with you more Melissa. Before I even take a short sale listing I make the seller gather all the required documentation, that way I know there will not be a problem and I know they are willing to do what it takes.

7) Squatter Claiming Adverse Possession in Puyallup – Ohhh if only it were that easy, I would have a new house next week.

8) Real Entrepreneurship – GREAT read. Real estate agents are true entrepreneurs.

9) Twitter 101 – Some basic Twitter tips for those who may not be getting what they hoped out of the social networking platform.

10) Keep those Garlic Fries to yourself – Those of us who do not play the Mafia Wars and Cafe World usually don’t want to see those continuous updates from others playing the games. Here is a good tip on getting rid of those updates.

1) FHA Rulebook Changes : Higher Fees, Bigger Downpayments, And More Mortgage Insurance – New FHA rules continue to be the talk of the industry.

2) Are You the Worst Type of Client a Realtor Can Have? – Dave discusses some of the challenges agents face working with clients.

3) How not to price a home – One of my favorite topics, how not to price a home. Just because you want a certain amount does not make the house worth that. I like this topic so much I did a video of it myself yesterday on how to price a short sale.

4) Rob Hahn vs Tom Ferry on Using Social Media – Loved watching this, both social media gurus talk about the good and bad of social media for real estate agents.

5) 3 Things You Should Know About Buying a Short Sale in the Charlottesville Area – Some things buyers should be aware of before buying a short sale. I would also add in there trust your agent if they talk to the sellers agent and believe this is the selling agent’s first time doing a short sale, it may be a good idea to keep looking.

6) Is There Any Way to Reduce Closing Costs – Buyers look to you to help with advice. The only little problem with this post is the new GFE does not have total closing costs on it.

7) Life after Foreclosure or Short Sale – Many agents are helping people facing foreclosure or a short sale, but one thing you do not see addressed much, what next for the home owner?

8) Why Blogging Is Important For Real Estate Agents – If you are an agent reading this you are probably already blogging. If not, you should be and here are some good reasons why.

9) Luxury Real Estate Branding: A Headshot Is Not A Brand! – Personal branding should be something that stands out and catches their attention and something they can remember.

10) Short Sale: Credit Score – Yes a short sale is going to effect your credit score, but most of that damage comes from your late payments.

1) How bad will foreclosures hurt your credit? – What I find most interesting about this is how things effect your FICO score different based on where your FICO score starts.

2) Carpeting – It’s time to add it as a disclosure topic to the AAR seller property disclosure statement – Lorti makes a great case on why carpet and other flooring should be added as something the seller discloses to the buyer.

3) The move-up buyer’s gameplan – So much attention has been given to the first-time homebuyer market because of the $8000 tax credit. With the addition of the $6500 move-up buyer credit we could see more people looking to get a bigger house with today’s deflated prices.

4) Climategate posts – With the news this week that climate scientist were fudging the numbers to make the data say what they want on climate change, here are two posts on the effects of the climate change debate and real estate. Climategate & you: The real estate edition and a video Will fraudulent climate changed revelations effect housing?

5) How to safely text and email while driving – What does this have to do with real estate? Nothing, unless you are a real estate agent who spends as much time as me a day in the car and finds yourself wandering daily because of texting and emailing.

6) 640 is the new 580 – 580, 620 now 640, minimum FICO scores continue to rise for a mortgage.

7) President Obama Calling Lenders to the Carpet Today – Obama is expected to try to shame banks into moving faster on saving houses from foreclosure (they are talking about you Bank of America). My take is just stop giving them my money (TARP) and if they don’t want to approve loan mods or short sales and would rather make the poor economic choice of foreclosure let them sink.

8) A question that needs to be asked more often… – When deciding how long you are going to live in your home are you considering the variable of what interest rates may be then?

9) Should we put our home on the market during the holidays or wait until spring? – One thing is for sure, anyone looking at your house during the holiday season is very likely a serious buyer.

10) Evaluating professionals: Imperfect solution for an imperfect world – Agent ratings, always a fun and popular topic.

1) Summarizing the new, stricter FHA Streamline refinance program – In one month the FHA will be changing guidelines on FHA Streamline mortgage refinancing. As with everything else in the lending industry right now, it is not getting easier.

2) Trust – It seems to be the theme of the week. Here is another one from the last 24-hours on earning trust.

3) Like Moses from the mountaintop, make manifest your values – Marc has another post on trust and branding. This is why his posts are always a must read… Folks, many of you look at the market and blame it for your woes. The truth is, the plague of a down market is welcome. It isolates your faults and concentrates the mind.

4) What is title insurance? Don’t worry, most professionals don’t even know – A short basic introduction to what title insurance is and what it may cover.

5) What info makes up your credit score – One of my favorite segments is Tuesday Morning Coffee with John Jones, and this morning he breaks down the credit score.

Top 5 real estate posts of the day for 7/21/20091) It could be more difficult to get a loan soon – New Fannie Mae guidelines could make it even hard soon to get that loan for the new home.

2) Here’s an update on the HVCC – appraisal issue – So how is going to be determined if an appraiser is “familiar with the local market?”

3) Consider a seller-paid rate buy-down rather than price reduction – This is a must read! Basic, but great advice!

4) Really big cost for low credit scores – Keep in mind how that credit score can effect the cost of your loan.

5) Loan modification cornucopia – A) How do banks profit from mortgage modifications B) What to look for in a loan modification C) Are loan modifications worth the hassle

Top 5 real estate posts of the day for 7/17/20091) Side effects of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) and what you can do about it – Increased costs, increased delays, questionable appraisals, what can be done?

2) Obama urges lenders to move it on loan modifications – For those lenders who signed up for the Making Homes Affordable program they are now being urged to move quicker.

3) 10 Inman Connect San Francisco passes are up for grabs – Not going to Inman yet? Here is your chance.

4) No-doc loans returning? – Experts seem to think no-doc loans will be returning, the only question that seems to remain is when?

5) Really big costs for low credit scores – How much does your credit score effect your loan?

1) Do big screen TV’s fin into shopping carts – Justin McHood gives some solid advice about some things that may kill financing deals. If you are buying a house, read it! Glad I could provide so much ammo for Justin’s post.

2) Understanding credit reports and FHA Mortgages – A good look at how credit effects your ability to get a loan and what really effects your credit score.

3) My “talking” Good Faith Estimate – Want to understand a Good Faith Estimate better? Rhonda Porter does a good job explaining one in this video.

4) The importance of a final walk through when you are buying – Rhonda Duffy takes a look at why the final walk through is important and something you do not want to skip.

5) 50 do-it-yourself marketing ideas for your real estate business – From offline to online NikNik takes a look at 50 ideas you can use to improve your business.

One thing many sellers want know is “will a short sale damage my credit as much as a foreclosure?” The short answer is it will damage your credit, but not for the period of time a foreclosure will.

Last year Fannie Mae updated their guidelines on how short sales will impact your ability to buy a house. Why should you care about what Fannie Mae’s guidelines are? Because they are the biggest mortgage holder in the country. Fannie Mae’s new guidelines were issued because of the large number of foreclosures and short sales in the market today. Here are some highlights to Fannie Mae’s new policy on purchasing a mortgage in the future:

• Bankruptcy will prohibit you from obtaining a mortgage for at least four years.
• Foreclosure will effect your ability to obtain a mortgage for 5-7 years.
• Short sale will prevent you from obtaining a mortgage for 2 years.

So as you can see, a short sale is going to effect your ability to obtain a mortgage on a new house just like a foreclosure, but for less than half the time. If you are facing foreclosure and are hoping to be in position to buy another home in the next five years you should consider talking to a short sale agent and a real estate attorney to see if a short sale may be a better option for your future.

Top 5 real estate posts of the day for 6/4/20091) Big Manhattan broker closing its doors – A large Coldwell Banker firm in Manhattan closes its doors, a victim of the financial meltdown.

2) An example of video blogging creating positive results – Kyl Grace is one of the few real estate agents who uses video extensively for his blogging, he shares here why he thinks it works for him.

3) Who needs a broker? – Bill Lublin takes a good look at why agents and brokers need each other.

4) Advanced networking -  Trying to expand your network on a daily basis? Kim Wood has some good advice here on how to spark conversations.

5) FHA Kiddie Condo Loans: Credit score required – Just last week I was working with a medical school student looking to purchase a home in the Tempe. He found a short sale he was interested in, but had been told by a few agents he could not get a home because he had no steady income. A FHA Kiddie Condo Loan was a viable solution for this buyer.

Top 5 real estate posts of the day 5/29/2009

1) Foreclosures: Read the fine print – Heather Barr takes a look at some language in bank addendums which accompany every foreclosure sale. I agree as agents we need to be careful and read these addendums closely, but the bad part is if you want to amend it, the bank would rather just cancel the deal.

2) Buyers twice as likely to search for open houses online than in print – We all felt it, but here is evidence.

3) Credit score key to mortgage – Some good basic credit score advice for buyers.

4) Words to avoid in real estate – A fun list of some short phrases you may find yourself saying.

5) Case Shiller Index – Price reductions reflect continued decline – Some good information, but one thing to remember is Case Shiller numbers tend to be a few months old, and at least in the Phoenix market, things have changed a lot in the last two months.

BONUS

6) Friday Fun – Not real estate related, but on a real estate blog and its worth a watch.