The Luxury Institute has just released its 2009 Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey, which identifies the top brands based on the ratings of wealthy consumers.

Which luxury home appliances
brands deliver the best combination of quality, exclusivity, customer
experience and peer prestige?  High net-worth consumers rated Wolf, Viking and Sub-Zero the "Best of the Best" among the 20 brands that were rated.

On February 17 of this year, our MLS made some changes in order to be in compliance with NAR’s Mandate Ruling for VOW (Virtual Office Websites). If you input your own listings, you have undoubtedly noticed some additional fields that needed to be filled in under Listing Maintenance, including options regarding Internet exposure, displaying physical addresses and access to blogging. FAR has also amended eight listing agreements to comply with NAR's VOW policy.

Do-Not-Call Program:
Effective May 7, 2009, the do-not-call program will no longer be offered as a member benefit of the Florida Association of Realtors.

Get in gear and research those tech products!

It’s a get-out-and-go world for real estate professionals on the road. So of course, you want the best performance products. Use this list with links to product reviews, then choose the best buys and products.

Cell phone technology brings the world to you

Cell phone applications circa 2009: The choices seem endless, which begs the question: Which ones should you buy? Check out this list of top-of-the-line cell phone add-ons to simplify life on the road.

WASHINGTON – April 24, 2009 – At a House Financial Services Committee hearing, NAR President Charles McMillan testified that the mortgage lending system needs reform to restore consumer confidence and the housing market. He said that the recently introduced “Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009,” H.R. 1728 contains many of the reforms NAR wants, but McMillan also cautioned against overregulation.

“Historically low mortgage rates and a significant tax credit for first-time home buyers have begun to bring people back to the housing market,” McMillan said. “However … we must strike an appropriate balance between safeguarding consumers and making sure they have access to mortgages at a reasonable cost. Undue regulation of the mortgage market could be as harmful to consumers as the lack of regulation that led to irresponsible lending and other abuses.”

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – April 24, 2009 – In every crisis, a handful of unsavory characters will take advantage of worried homeowners. Yesterday, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a consumer advisory against “experts” offering help with Chinese drywall problems.

At least two types of fraudulent activity involving the defective drywall have been reported to the Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s Office by individuals in the building industry: bogus tests to determine the presence of the product and quick cure remedies that falsely claim to remove the corrosive properties of the drywall.
 

WASHINGTON – April 24, 2009 – Rates on 30-year mortgages fell slightly from last week but remained just ahead of record lows posted this month, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages dipped to 4.8 percent from 4.82 percent last week, Freddie Mac said. Last year at this time, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage was 6.03 percent, and it has been below 5 percent for six straight weeks.

The all-time low of 4.78 percent was recorded on the week of April 2. Freddie Mac’s survey dates back to 1971.