Deadline Newsroom Feed 10/26/07

Compiled by Broderick Perkins
© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

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Deadline Newsroom Feed – From the previous week, all the news that really hits home from DeadlineNews.Com and elsewhere. Includes some amazing California wildfire stories, reports from the Silicon Valley and California housing markets, updates on the mortgage market, consumer and business news and much more. Some week.

FROM THE DEADLINE NEWSROOM

California's First Home Price Decline Since 1997
Deadline Newsroom – California home prices fell year-to-year for the first time in 10 years in September.

The Legacy of Living In A Hot Spot
Deadline Newsroom – For those who insist on living in fire-prone areas, building fire-resistant homes may be a more pragmatic, long-term approach.

Housing Woes Dampen Home Improvement Activity
Deadline Newsroom – Home improvements expenditures are falling along with home sales and are expected to drop by 4.2 percent or more in 2008 as housing and economic worries grow.

Silicon Valley Bullish On Buying, Not Selling
Deadline Newsroom – Silicon Valley consumers are more bullish about buying homes in the current soft market than they are about selling and probably for good reason.

APR Not Good Judge of Mortgage Character
Deadline Newsroom – You need more than the annual percentage rate (APR) to really get to know your mortgage.

Deadline Newsroom's Week Long Haunted House Series
Spooky Season For Under-Insured Homeowners
Deadline Newsroom – Before you put out the Halloween treats and deck the walls with the specters of the season, the trick is to make sure your home is safe and that your homeowners insurance policy will cover any claims that might arise from the season's spirited activities.

Ghosts Have To Live Somewhere
Deadline Newsroom – As if the current housing market isn't frightening enough to scare the dead presidents out of your wallet, real estate Web pages offer some deliciously devilish fun with real estate served up with a side of fright.

Haunted Home Movies
Deadline Newsroom – From Amityville Horror and Cold Creek Manor to Pacific Heights and Monster House, here's a group of flicks that will make you squirm and squeal with horror and good humor.

© 2007 DeadlineNews.Com

DeadlineNews.Com's Editorial Content Is Intellectual Property - Unauthorized Use Is A Federal Crime

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News from elsewhere...



The Psychological Effects of Disasters
When disaster strikes, how do you cope? Columnist, and San Diego resident, Dak Kopec gives disaster planning tips.

Global Warming Not Factor In Wildfires – Yet
Scientists said it would be difficult to make that case, given the dangerous mix of drought and wind that has plagued the region for centuries or more. But they said the extreme conditions that stoked the wildfires could become more common as the world warms.

Warmer Temperatures Tied To Wildfires, Scientists Say
Huge wildfires, such as the ones that have charred more than 460,000 acres this week in Southern California, are becoming more common in the Western United States, and scientists say warming trends and other climate factors may be responsible.

Building Patterns To Blame For Fire Loses
It's time to rethink where homes are built in San Diego County, several scientists, environmentalists and politicians said yesterday as wildfires continued to carve up the region.

Exclusive Homes Emerge Unscathed
A disputed land-use strategy designed to protect new developments from devastation in the county's exurban, fire-prone areas appears to have passed its first and most critical test this week.

California Wildfires Could Be Largest-Ever U.S. Wildfire Catastrophe/
Insured losses from wildfires continuing to spread in Southern California could likely become the costliest catastrophe insured loss event this year and may potentially become the costliest wildfire catastrophe insured loss event ever for the property-casualty insurance industry.

Rich Get 'Concierge-Level' Fire Protection
Bryce Carrier's cellphone rang at 3 a.m.: Help! The fire is almost to my house. Carrier hopped into his heavy-duty red Ford F-550 and sped to northeast Poway, dodging fallen eucalyptus and heading straight toward the wind-whipped blaze.

Fire Expert: State Needs To Change Ways
The catastrophic damage and loss of life from wildfires in California will become a costly way of life unless land-use policies significantly change as the state's population grows, a fire ecologist warned Wednesday.

Housing May Get A Lift From Rebuilding In The Aftermath Of CA Wildfires
However, the upshot is that the destruction caused by the fires could give a lift to the lagging construction industry as rebuilding gets underway with insurance and government funds; roughly 28,600 jobs were lost last year due to the housing slump.

CONSUMER

No More Hanky-panky with Real Estate Appraisals
New legislation introduced last week would make interfering with appraisals or intimidating appraisers a violation of federal law subject to heavy fines.

New California Law Aims to Take the Heat Off of Appraisers While Protecting Consumers Too
Earlier this month, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law, SB 223 -- making it illegal to pressure appraisers to arrive at a predetermined property value that's been set by mortgage brokers or homeowners to ensure a sale goes through.

A Lasting Simulated LifeDeadline Newsroom – Before there were avatars and Second Life and other sorted virtual realty realities, The Sims lived, loved and sometimes loathed in homes and communities you developed.



Feds Offer Assistance For Those In Disaster areas
Federal housing officials are offering assistance they say will make it easier for Southern California homeowners to rebuild and pay their mortgages in the wake of the wildfires this week.

Lenders Slow to Rescue Failing Mortgages
Wells Fargo & Co., with a mortgage servicing portfolio of $1.41 trillion at the end of June, declined to say how many home loans it has modified.

Countrywide Offers Borrowers $16 Billion Bail-Out
The move to help borrowers with $16 billion worth of outstanding home loans represents a victory for the US government.

Foreclosures Up Nearly 100% From Last Year
RealtyTrac® released its September 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 223,538 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported during the month, down 8 percent from the 32-month high in the previous month, but still up 99 percent from the number reported in September 2006.

MARKETS

Housing Holds Back Economy
The area is adding jobs despite the housing market, not because of it.

DeadlineNews.Com: 'Best Repurposing Of A Realty Journalist'
"Fun, credible, astute and up to date."

TRENDS/COMMENTARY

Home Auctions New Boom in Real Estate
In real estate is the home auction business, which is sweeping the US by storm at an unprecedented pace, according to a new report by Housing Predictor.

We've Seen This Housing Market Before, And Here's Why
As I understand it, you are basing your prediction on previous real estate cycles, but this market is very different.
HeraldNet - Everett,WA,USA

Mortgage Security Bondholders Facing a Cutoff of Interest Payments
For all the pain in the mortgage market, investors who hold bonds backed by risky home loans have continued to receive their monthly interest.

The One-Day-Only Sale
Walk through any mall and you will see a thousand so called "sales," discounts on items from kitchen towels to doggy sweaters that will expire in just a few days or hours unless "you act now" or "buy today"! But hold on, if these sales are really sales shouldn't they end at some point?

BUSINESS/COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Best Markets For Landlords
Whether they're waiting out the housing storm, or smack in the middle of it, an increasing number of Americans are choosing to rent, not own. And that's good news for landlords and investors.

The Holidays Are Coming Fast. Is Your Housing Client, Professional orFriend On The List? St. Joseph The Home Seller kits. Clock houses. Monopoly. House warming gifts. Come 'n' get 'em.

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

DeadlineNews.Com's Editorial Content Is Intellectual Property - Unauthorized Use Is A Federal Crime