Bric-a-brac - something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting

Just some things that caught my eye.

In a letter to the editor of Inman News today Stu Siegel CEO & Founder of eNeighborhoods Inc. in writing about leads and contacts, "So, are these "leads" or are they "contacts"? That's a great question that we don't attempt to answer. Instead, we use science to score these consumers, based upon their behavior as they navigate the Web site. For example, if they are searching haphazardly, they get a low score. If they are focused in their search (e.g., specific neighborhood, specific price range, specific housing characteristics), they get a higher score, making them a "hotter lead." The system is also built around automated tools to do everything in our power to drive the consumer to increasing his/her score and becoming a hotter lead over time. So we don't distinguish between "contacts" and "leads." To us, they are ALL leads, just some are warmer and some are colder than others."
A good thing to remember next time someone calls you wanting to sell you a lead.

RIS MEDIA reports that Pat Vredevoogd Combs, National Association of Realtors® president-elect testified recently before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.  In the most recent NAR survey of home buyers, 77% reported that they used the Internet to search for homes. The report also found that of those home buyers who use the Internet to search for a home, 93% of them still use a real estate agent.

MORTGAGE FRAUD - Reports of all mortgage fraud nationwide have tripled since 2003 to nearly 22,000 last year, the FBI says. In the past five years, appraisal fraud has been involved in up to 40% of fraudulent mortgage reports, according to the Mortgage Asset Research Institute. In Colorado, mortgage fraud is “a significant factor” in the rising number of foreclosures, and “bogus appraisals are a big, big part of it,” says Colorado Attorney General John Suthers.  One of every 436 Colorado homes was in foreclosure in May, 2.8 times the national average, according to RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures.  The state ranks fourth in the nation for mortgage fraud based on dollar loss and cases under investigation, says Denver-based FBI agent Jean Andersen.

FREE DICTIONARY Over the last six months RealtyU added 800 new terms and definitions to it’s free online real estate dictionary, www.realestatewords.com, expanding the total number of quick-reference real estate terms to above the 2,000 mark.