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From Drew DeSilver at the Seattle Times: Reckless strategies doomed WaMu
Here is a section on loose lending at WaMu:
“The big saying was ‘A skinny file is a good file,’ ” said Nancy Erken, a WaMu loan consultant in Seattle. She recalled helping credit-challenged borrowers collect canceled checks, explanatory letters and other documentation that they could [...]

Brookline avg sales price of single-family homes 3rd Q comparing 2009 w/ 2008.
$1,339,938.00 – 2009
$1,196,270.00 – 2008
Brookline avg sales price for condos in the 3rd Q – comparing 2009 w/ 2008.
$521,376.00 – 2009
$476,396.00 – 2008
Source: MLS

The FDIC closed seven more banks on Friday, and that brings the total FDIC bank failures to 106 in 2009.
Looking to buy a condo, you should buy now. If you wait too long, there might not be any banks left to give you a mortgage.
File Under: Cash is King.

One of the first games I remember playing as a kid was Monopoly. It was just a game. I got to roll the dice. I got to pass “Go” , and every time I did I got 200 bucks. I bought property, built on it, and rented it out. Maybe once or twice [...]

The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) estimates that 6,000 residents are living in Downtown Crossing. In the next 10 years, based on projects that are planned, the BRA expects that the residential population of Downtown Crossing could increase to as many as 15,000.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any interest in moving to Boston Downtown [...]

Did the Bryant conduct the luxury condo auction because Vornado Realty Trust (developer/owner) needed the cash? Answer no way, no how. Check this out from The New York Post:
Vornado’s ‘hoarding’ its cash
Vornado Realty Trust has a $2.8 billion cash war chest readied to pounce on real estate deals. But like everyone else, they need to [...]

Scott Van Voorhris has an interesting article over at Boston.com regarding the Boston luxury condo market. Will Kaufman a market analyst for Otis & Ahern claims that the downtown luxury condos are a hot product.
There were 101 sales of condos for more than $1 million through the first six months of the year.
That’s about 16 [...]

More rumors. The word on the street is that Manny Ramirez changed real estate agents from Citylife Real Estate to Otis & Ahearn. I can’t understand why he would want to change agents….. it’s only been on the market for sale, err…………..
4 YEARS!
File Under: YOU’RE OUT!

Read more about Manny Ritz condo.
Poor Manny. I [...]

Well, I just heard that Michael Carucci, whose office is located on Newbury Street (ERA Boston Real Estate Group), has split up with the ERA francise, which resulted in a nasty lawsuit. Apparently, the rumor is that the ERA francise dumped him. Oh well!
File Under: Breaking up is hard to do…..