Friday, August 3, 2007
Metrocities Mortgage Rates for August 2, 2007
Rates below August 2, 2007
Search engine advertising a top choice for real estateResearch report reveals marketing trends among brokers and agents
Wednesday, July 25, 2007Inman News
Despite a weak housing market, nearly 47 percent of real estate brokers and agents said they plan to spend more money on marketing and advertising over the next year.
That's according to a new research report released today on "The State of Real Estate Marketing." The report from Inman News looks at online advertising and marketing spend habits of real estate professionals, as well as who is spending money offline in print publications.
Search engine keywords remain a popular form of advertising, the report found, with dollar amounts budgeted between zero and $5,000 for the next year.
The report also looks at the use of blogs and social networking sites as marketing tools. Nearly 22 percent of respondents said they had a blog, while an additional 30 percent said they planned to create one this year.
Loan Program
Loan Amount
Interest Rate
Points
30 Year Fixed
$417,000
6.500%
0
15 Year Fixed
$417,000
6.250%
0
7/1 ARM
$417,000
6.625%
0
5/1 ARM
$417,000
6.500%
0
3/1 ARM
$417,000
6.625%
0
6-Month Interest-Only ARM
$417,000
6.875%
0
1-Month Interest-Only ARM
$650,000
6.875%
0
30 Year Fixed
$650,000
6.750%
0
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ronald TennantSenior Mortgage ConsultantDirect Phone: 302.644.7964 Mobile Phone: 302.858.2289 Fax: 610.290.1937Email: rtennant@metrocitiesmtg.comWeb: www.ronaldtennant.com17316 Costal Highway Lewes, DE 19958
Click here if you wish to be removed from this mailing list.
Metrocities Mortgage, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company. Information is subject to change without notice. This is not an offer for extension of credit or a commitment to lend.
Metrocities Mortgage Rates for July 27, 2007
July 27, 2007
Loan Program
Loan Amount
Interest Rate
Points
APR
30 Year Fixed
$417,000
6.625%
0
6.720%
15 Year Fixed
$417,000
6.375%
0
6.440%
7/1 ARM
$417,000
6.625%
0
7.298%
5/1 ARM
$417,000
6.500%
0
7.291%
3/1 ARM
$417,000
6.625%
0
7.298%
6-Month Interest-Only ARM
$417,000
7.000%
0
7.324%
1-Month Interest-Only ARM
$650,000
7.000%
0
7.324%
30 Year Fixed
$650,000
6.750%
0
6.789%
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ronald TennantSenior Mortgage ConsultantDirect Phone: 302.644.7964 Mobile Phone: 302.858.2289 Fax: 610.290.1937Email: rtennant@metrocitiesmtg.comWeb: www.ronaldtennant.com17316 Costal Highway Lewes, DE 19958
Click here if you wish to be removed from this mailing list.
Metrocities Mortgage, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company. Information is subject to change without notice. This is not an offer for extension of credit or a commitment to lend.
Sussex County Sheriff busy with Cape Region foreclosures
By Rachel Swick
Cape Gazette staff
Sussex County is experiencing the highest number of foreclosures in years due to so-called exotic mortgages. The county sheriff’s office has been busy conducting the foreclosures throughout the county and Sheriff Eric Swanson says he plans to hire additional staff to help with the work.He is also considering holding sales twice a month, instead of today’s practice of holding them once a month. So far this year, there have been 511 reported foreclosures in Sussex County, most of them in June, reported the Office of the State Banking Commissioner. That’s 30 percent more than the previous high of 396 foreclosures reported in 2003.The highest concentration of foreclosures is in the Georgetown, Seaford and Laurel areas, said Gerry Kelly, Delaware’s deputy bank commissioner for consumer affairs. The increase in foreclosures is being blamed on exotic mortgages, which include subprime mortgages and quickly adjusting loans. Subprime mortgages and loan programs were being offered just to move houses in the past and now residents are paying for it.Foreclosure numbers are up on a nation-wide level too, with reports showing that more than 80 national mortgage lenders have closed or stopped loaning money. Housing counselors, bankers and realtors are also seeing the backlash of the increased foreclosure rate. The Sussex County Association of Realtors provides counseling and educational programs to teach homeowners and potential homeowners about the risks of predatory lending, said Ruth Briggs King, the association’s executive vice president. The old saying that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, rings true in this case. For more information, visit www.scaor.com.
Cape Gazette staff
Sussex County is experiencing the highest number of foreclosures in years due to so-called exotic mortgages. The county sheriff’s office has been busy conducting the foreclosures throughout the county and Sheriff Eric Swanson says he plans to hire additional staff to help with the work.He is also considering holding sales twice a month, instead of today’s practice of holding them once a month. So far this year, there have been 511 reported foreclosures in Sussex County, most of them in June, reported the Office of the State Banking Commissioner. That’s 30 percent more than the previous high of 396 foreclosures reported in 2003.The highest concentration of foreclosures is in the Georgetown, Seaford and Laurel areas, said Gerry Kelly, Delaware’s deputy bank commissioner for consumer affairs. The increase in foreclosures is being blamed on exotic mortgages, which include subprime mortgages and quickly adjusting loans. Subprime mortgages and loan programs were being offered just to move houses in the past and now residents are paying for it.Foreclosure numbers are up on a nation-wide level too, with reports showing that more than 80 national mortgage lenders have closed or stopped loaning money. Housing counselors, bankers and realtors are also seeing the backlash of the increased foreclosure rate. The Sussex County Association of Realtors provides counseling and educational programs to teach homeowners and potential homeowners about the risks of predatory lending, said Ruth Briggs King, the association’s executive vice president. The old saying that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, rings true in this case. For more information, visit www.scaor.com.
'Green' Lawns SpurNeighborhood Wars
RealEstateJournal
http://www.realestatejournal.com/homegarden/20070712-bounds.html
'Green' Lawns SpurNeighborhood Wars
By Gwendolyn Bounds From The Wall Street Journal Online
Finally the grass is greener on my side of the fence.
I've spent the past year converting my lawn to organic care. After some early setbacks, my lawn looks pretty great, and the only herbicide I've used is an all-natural corn substance that's safe enough for my dog to eat.
The same scene is playing out in yards around the country -- but it's not a peaceful transition. As the organic lawn movement grows, so are tensions in some communities. The latest front is over whether lawn-care methods are the horticultural equivalent of secondhand smoke: a choice that affects the whole community. Neighborhood activists argue that using pesticides on one lawn exposes everyone nearby to the chemicals, including kids and pets.
Related Links
Watch Wendy Bounds in a video about her efforts to have an organic lawn.
Podcast: Ms. Bounds with tips on maintaining a completely "green" lawn.
See a step-by-step guide to going pesticide-free.
Enthusiasts are trying to shame their neighbors into joining them with pro-organic lawn signs, prompting some residents to apply their chemicals covertly. Homeowners who want to stick with pesticides say how they groom their lawns is their own business. Even spouses are facing off over which comes first -- eliminating chemicals or creating a dazzling no-fuss lawn. The lawn-care industry, meanwhile, is walking a tightrope, hoping to profit from organics without turning against their traditional products.
In Wisconsin, the village of Whitefish Bay has become a microcosm of the new turf wars. Intent on switching the community over to an organic approach, a citizens' group is hanging tags on residents' doors urging them to lay off pesticides and posting "All Living Creatures Welcome" signs in their own yards.
"It's really dicey, and some people are receptive and some are hostile," says Sandy Hellman, age 37, a member of the Healthy Communities Project. "I look at it as the secondhand-smoke issue. Kids run back and forth between the yards and windows are open all the time."
Organic supporters say data are slowly building to cause concern. Last year, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that individuals reporting exposure to pesticides had a 70% higher incidence of Parkinson's disease than those not reporting exposure. The report notes that among individuals who are not farmers, the significant association is "most likely explained by use of pesticides in home or in gardening."
That study echoes findings of a Parkinson's-pesticide link in men reported last year by the Mayo Clinic. There have been other studies, including one in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, suggesting that exposing dogs to some herbicide-treated lawns and gardens may increase their chances of developing cancers.
The pesticides used in lawn-care products found on shelves nationwide are considered legal by government standards. But broader research on health risks from such chemicals has prompted general warnings. The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates pesticide use, notes on its own Web site that kids are at greater peril from pesticides because their internal organs and immune systems are developing.
In addition to the scientific debate, lawn care is also highlighting questions about personal-property rights. Some critics say the organic push is a nanny-state attempt to tell people what they can do on their own land.
Ms. Hellman's group convinced Whitefish Bay officials to stop spraying pesticides on medians near an elementary school, but didn't initially get funding for the pricier organic weed-control or fertilizer products. When dandelions returned in droves, neighbors balked, fearing the seeds would spread to their properties. Money was later approved to hire an organic lawn-care service, but not soon enough for some residents.
One year after switching to organic yard products, Gwendolyn Bounds has one of the greenest, lushest lawns on her block.
"I don't want those weeds -- that's the bottom line," says Gloria Tylicki, who has written Whitefish Bay town officials complaining about the organic results near her home. She hires a service to spray her lawn with herbicides three times a year, and doesn't like the trend of neighbors telling her what to do on her own property. "Can I not plant a certain flower because someone blocks away doesn't care for that?"
Elsewhere, similar battle lines are being drawn. This spring, 7-foot billboards were erected on the platforms of New York area railroads depicting a young father standing on the lawn of his home, cradling his young daughter. The caption: "I've got one great reason not to use chemicals on my lawn." The ad campaign was part of a larger pesticide reduction program being pushed by the Grassroots Environmental Education organization, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based nonprofit.
Fundamentally, "going organic" simply means getting grass and soil healthy enough to crowd out weeds without pesticides, the umbrella term for chemical substances that destroy unwanted pests or weeds. (A herbicide is a pesticide targeting plants; an insecticide kills insects.) Pesticide opponents say homeowners unwittingly bring the toxics into homes via shoe soles and pet feet, tracking it into carpets where kids play. They also worry about runoff into streams, rivers and groundwater -- and into their own yards.
Organic supporters also advocate using natural fertilizers instead of synthetic ones. Most packaged fertilizers contain three key ingredients -- nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium -- which are listed in a familiar N-P-K ratio. In organic versions, the nutrients come from plant, animal or mineral sources, such as blood meal, seaweed extract, bone meal and sulfate of potash. Because the soil's microorganisms must first digest the organic nutrients to make them useful to the grass, it takes longer to get that dark greening effect many homeowners are accustomed to seeing after they fertilize. A 3,000-square-foot lawn costing $200 to treat traditionally might be double using organic solutions, at least initially.
Dueling yard signs in the pesticide battle.
Currently, nothing on the market annihilates existing weeds as fast as chemical solutions. So while many people like the idea of going organic, they don't so much like living with some weeds while they convert.
"We used to accept a few weeds," says Jay Feldman, director of Beyond Pesticides, a nonprofit group that runs the National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns. Now, uniform swaths of green, weedless grass are the standard. The rise of pesticides, says Mr. Feldman, "redefined our aesthetics."
In some cases, families themselves are split about whether to switch. Last year, Mary Beth Nawor of Highland Park, Ill., marched through town in a Fourth of July parade promoting safer pesticide use. "It was all the women taking the info we had and the men brushing us off," she says. But that wasn't the biggest surprise. When Ms. Nawor later recounted to her husband how a friend had marveled at their chemical-free lawn, he sheepishly admitted to putting down an herbicide.
"It's a point of pride for men," says Ms. Nawor, a high-school environmental-science teacher. "They like to be out there showing their grass off."
Andrew Sprung of South Orange, N.J., grew his lawn from seed and uses a four-step annual lawn program that includes pesticides and fertilizers. His wife wants him to stop using chemicals, he says, and he's moderated a bit. Still, he says, "I find it hard to believe that the legal chemicals I drop on my lawn in moderate quantities is harming anything."
Today the organic movement is a bright growth spot in an otherwise lackluster $24 billion U.S. lawn and garden market, growing at double digits over the last five years while overall sales stagnated in 2006, according to Marketresearch.com. This January, Scotts Miracle-Gro launched its first organic lawn fertilizer. It has a natural bio-herbicide in development and aims for half its product line to be naturally derived in coming years. The nation's largest lawn-care company, TruGreen-ChemLawn, this year shortened its name to just TruGreen, in part to deflect criticism about its pesticide use. Home Depot is carrying organic landscape products in every store, and executives insist they are here to stay.
But the split in public sentiment makes it tricky for companies to navigate the divide. Homeowners often tell professionals they want organic products, says TruGreen's chief marketing officer, Vic Yeandel, then complain when it costs more or takes longer. "They say, 'I don't want the weeds to grow -- do you have a weed control that is not a pesticide?' And the answer is, 'No, we don't.' That defines what the issue is.'"
To try to make everyone happy, In Harmony Sustainable Landscapes in Bothell, Wash., offers three tiers of weed programs: "No Weeds," "Minimum Pesticides," and "Completely Organic." When new customers call up, co-owner Mark Gile says he subtly encourages the latter two programs.
Community peer pressure is one thing. It's another to mandate organic care by law. In 2001, Canada's Supreme Court ruled that the nation's communities can restrict cosmetic pesticide use on private as well as public property. To date, more than 129 have done so.
That ruling mobilized the U.S. pro-pesticide movement like never before both on a grassroots and legislative levels, says Allen James, president of the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, a trade group representing makers and suppliers of pesticides and fertilizers. "Canada was the warning shot for us," he says.
Partly due to RISE's efforts, today all but nine states currently forbid local lawmakers from enacting such residential bans, because it would pre-empt state laws.
As a result, organic activists to date have instead concentrated on getting pesticides banned in public properties where municipalities have control. Just last month, Connecticut extended a ban on lawn pesticides through the eighth grade. Currently at least 20 U.S. towns have pesticide-free parks and several hundred school districts have laws or policies designed to minimize kids' exposure to pesticides.
Such actions unnerve homeowners such as John Schmaltz in Cromwell, Conn., who fears private property could be next. He sees a hypocritical undercurrent to organic lawn enthusiasts' pleas. "People put on deodorant, perfume and cosmetics, and who's to say about those?"
Given homeowners' passions, things can get tense. Philip Dickey runs the Washington Toxics Coalition, a Seattle-based environmental health organization, and estimates his group has distributed nearly 5,000 Pesticide Free Zone signs with ladybugs on them. To get a sign, homeowners must promise to speak with at least three people about organic care. On the coalition's Web site are talking tips, including playing the kid card (they often run barefoot on grass) and avoiding a "holier-than-thou attitude."
Still, not-in-my-backyard brawls do surface, Mr. Dickey says. "I got a photograph back from a guy who put up a pesticide-free sign and his neighbor then put up a sign that said Hazardous Material Storage. There is no dialogue going on there." Nor in Harvard, Ill., where Andrew Cook showed his neighbor a note from his wife's doctor explaining she was highly sensitive to pesticides. No dice, his neighbor refused to change her lawn-care regimen. Mr. Cook then aimed one of the ladybug signs squarely at her house. "You can only lead a horse to water," he says.
To keep peace for now, some homeowners are brokering their own land resolutions. Tihamer Toth-Fejel uses no lawn-care treatments whatsoever on most of his Ann Arbor, Mich., yard, but throws down an herbicidal Weed and Feed product on the portion abutting his neighbor's property so "he won't think I'm trying to infect his perfect lawn." Jim McNicholas of LaGrange, Ill., asked his organic neighbor to tell him when she's going on vacation so he can spread fertilizer without strife. And in Lyndhurst, Ohio, city councilman Joe Gambatese agreed to hire Good Nature Organic Lawn Care to treat his own home turf for a three-year trial after residents there pushed for pesticide reductions. So far, he says, "my yard looks fantastic."
As for my block, a couple of acres separate me from my neighbors so they haven't had to witness my battle with the weed brigades. After a frustrating summer fighting dandelions and plantains, last fall I plowed up the lawn, replanting it with new grass seed and 1,400 pounds of organic compost.
That did the trick. My grass was among the first up in my area this spring, which helped choke back any weeds. I spread corn gluten meal, a natural pre-emergent herbicide, just as the forsythia began blooming and have spent only a few hours total hand-weeding. As for fertilizer, this year I'm trying a worm waste product from a company called Terracycle as well as Scotts' new Organic Choice lawn food. I left a swath of old lawn for comparison and so far the difference is notable. In the meantime, there's not much to do other than mow.
Dueling yard signs in the pesticide battle.
Email your comments to rjeditor@dowjones.com.
-- July 12, 2007
http://www.realestatejournal.com/homegarden/20070712-bounds.html
'Green' Lawns SpurNeighborhood Wars
By Gwendolyn Bounds From The Wall Street Journal Online
Finally the grass is greener on my side of the fence.
I've spent the past year converting my lawn to organic care. After some early setbacks, my lawn looks pretty great, and the only herbicide I've used is an all-natural corn substance that's safe enough for my dog to eat.
The same scene is playing out in yards around the country -- but it's not a peaceful transition. As the organic lawn movement grows, so are tensions in some communities. The latest front is over whether lawn-care methods are the horticultural equivalent of secondhand smoke: a choice that affects the whole community. Neighborhood activists argue that using pesticides on one lawn exposes everyone nearby to the chemicals, including kids and pets.
Related Links
Watch Wendy Bounds in a video about her efforts to have an organic lawn.
Podcast: Ms. Bounds with tips on maintaining a completely "green" lawn.
See a step-by-step guide to going pesticide-free.
Enthusiasts are trying to shame their neighbors into joining them with pro-organic lawn signs, prompting some residents to apply their chemicals covertly. Homeowners who want to stick with pesticides say how they groom their lawns is their own business. Even spouses are facing off over which comes first -- eliminating chemicals or creating a dazzling no-fuss lawn. The lawn-care industry, meanwhile, is walking a tightrope, hoping to profit from organics without turning against their traditional products.
In Wisconsin, the village of Whitefish Bay has become a microcosm of the new turf wars. Intent on switching the community over to an organic approach, a citizens' group is hanging tags on residents' doors urging them to lay off pesticides and posting "All Living Creatures Welcome" signs in their own yards.
"It's really dicey, and some people are receptive and some are hostile," says Sandy Hellman, age 37, a member of the Healthy Communities Project. "I look at it as the secondhand-smoke issue. Kids run back and forth between the yards and windows are open all the time."
Organic supporters say data are slowly building to cause concern. Last year, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that individuals reporting exposure to pesticides had a 70% higher incidence of Parkinson's disease than those not reporting exposure. The report notes that among individuals who are not farmers, the significant association is "most likely explained by use of pesticides in home or in gardening."
That study echoes findings of a Parkinson's-pesticide link in men reported last year by the Mayo Clinic. There have been other studies, including one in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, suggesting that exposing dogs to some herbicide-treated lawns and gardens may increase their chances of developing cancers.
The pesticides used in lawn-care products found on shelves nationwide are considered legal by government standards. But broader research on health risks from such chemicals has prompted general warnings. The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates pesticide use, notes on its own Web site that kids are at greater peril from pesticides because their internal organs and immune systems are developing.
In addition to the scientific debate, lawn care is also highlighting questions about personal-property rights. Some critics say the organic push is a nanny-state attempt to tell people what they can do on their own land.
Ms. Hellman's group convinced Whitefish Bay officials to stop spraying pesticides on medians near an elementary school, but didn't initially get funding for the pricier organic weed-control or fertilizer products. When dandelions returned in droves, neighbors balked, fearing the seeds would spread to their properties. Money was later approved to hire an organic lawn-care service, but not soon enough for some residents.
One year after switching to organic yard products, Gwendolyn Bounds has one of the greenest, lushest lawns on her block.
"I don't want those weeds -- that's the bottom line," says Gloria Tylicki, who has written Whitefish Bay town officials complaining about the organic results near her home. She hires a service to spray her lawn with herbicides three times a year, and doesn't like the trend of neighbors telling her what to do on her own property. "Can I not plant a certain flower because someone blocks away doesn't care for that?"
Elsewhere, similar battle lines are being drawn. This spring, 7-foot billboards were erected on the platforms of New York area railroads depicting a young father standing on the lawn of his home, cradling his young daughter. The caption: "I've got one great reason not to use chemicals on my lawn." The ad campaign was part of a larger pesticide reduction program being pushed by the Grassroots Environmental Education organization, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based nonprofit.
Fundamentally, "going organic" simply means getting grass and soil healthy enough to crowd out weeds without pesticides, the umbrella term for chemical substances that destroy unwanted pests or weeds. (A herbicide is a pesticide targeting plants; an insecticide kills insects.) Pesticide opponents say homeowners unwittingly bring the toxics into homes via shoe soles and pet feet, tracking it into carpets where kids play. They also worry about runoff into streams, rivers and groundwater -- and into their own yards.
Organic supporters also advocate using natural fertilizers instead of synthetic ones. Most packaged fertilizers contain three key ingredients -- nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium -- which are listed in a familiar N-P-K ratio. In organic versions, the nutrients come from plant, animal or mineral sources, such as blood meal, seaweed extract, bone meal and sulfate of potash. Because the soil's microorganisms must first digest the organic nutrients to make them useful to the grass, it takes longer to get that dark greening effect many homeowners are accustomed to seeing after they fertilize. A 3,000-square-foot lawn costing $200 to treat traditionally might be double using organic solutions, at least initially.
Dueling yard signs in the pesticide battle.
Currently, nothing on the market annihilates existing weeds as fast as chemical solutions. So while many people like the idea of going organic, they don't so much like living with some weeds while they convert.
"We used to accept a few weeds," says Jay Feldman, director of Beyond Pesticides, a nonprofit group that runs the National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns. Now, uniform swaths of green, weedless grass are the standard. The rise of pesticides, says Mr. Feldman, "redefined our aesthetics."
In some cases, families themselves are split about whether to switch. Last year, Mary Beth Nawor of Highland Park, Ill., marched through town in a Fourth of July parade promoting safer pesticide use. "It was all the women taking the info we had and the men brushing us off," she says. But that wasn't the biggest surprise. When Ms. Nawor later recounted to her husband how a friend had marveled at their chemical-free lawn, he sheepishly admitted to putting down an herbicide.
"It's a point of pride for men," says Ms. Nawor, a high-school environmental-science teacher. "They like to be out there showing their grass off."
Andrew Sprung of South Orange, N.J., grew his lawn from seed and uses a four-step annual lawn program that includes pesticides and fertilizers. His wife wants him to stop using chemicals, he says, and he's moderated a bit. Still, he says, "I find it hard to believe that the legal chemicals I drop on my lawn in moderate quantities is harming anything."
Today the organic movement is a bright growth spot in an otherwise lackluster $24 billion U.S. lawn and garden market, growing at double digits over the last five years while overall sales stagnated in 2006, according to Marketresearch.com. This January, Scotts Miracle-Gro launched its first organic lawn fertilizer. It has a natural bio-herbicide in development and aims for half its product line to be naturally derived in coming years. The nation's largest lawn-care company, TruGreen-ChemLawn, this year shortened its name to just TruGreen, in part to deflect criticism about its pesticide use. Home Depot is carrying organic landscape products in every store, and executives insist they are here to stay.
But the split in public sentiment makes it tricky for companies to navigate the divide. Homeowners often tell professionals they want organic products, says TruGreen's chief marketing officer, Vic Yeandel, then complain when it costs more or takes longer. "They say, 'I don't want the weeds to grow -- do you have a weed control that is not a pesticide?' And the answer is, 'No, we don't.' That defines what the issue is.'"
To try to make everyone happy, In Harmony Sustainable Landscapes in Bothell, Wash., offers three tiers of weed programs: "No Weeds," "Minimum Pesticides," and "Completely Organic." When new customers call up, co-owner Mark Gile says he subtly encourages the latter two programs.
Community peer pressure is one thing. It's another to mandate organic care by law. In 2001, Canada's Supreme Court ruled that the nation's communities can restrict cosmetic pesticide use on private as well as public property. To date, more than 129 have done so.
That ruling mobilized the U.S. pro-pesticide movement like never before both on a grassroots and legislative levels, says Allen James, president of the Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, a trade group representing makers and suppliers of pesticides and fertilizers. "Canada was the warning shot for us," he says.
Partly due to RISE's efforts, today all but nine states currently forbid local lawmakers from enacting such residential bans, because it would pre-empt state laws.
As a result, organic activists to date have instead concentrated on getting pesticides banned in public properties where municipalities have control. Just last month, Connecticut extended a ban on lawn pesticides through the eighth grade. Currently at least 20 U.S. towns have pesticide-free parks and several hundred school districts have laws or policies designed to minimize kids' exposure to pesticides.
Such actions unnerve homeowners such as John Schmaltz in Cromwell, Conn., who fears private property could be next. He sees a hypocritical undercurrent to organic lawn enthusiasts' pleas. "People put on deodorant, perfume and cosmetics, and who's to say about those?"
Given homeowners' passions, things can get tense. Philip Dickey runs the Washington Toxics Coalition, a Seattle-based environmental health organization, and estimates his group has distributed nearly 5,000 Pesticide Free Zone signs with ladybugs on them. To get a sign, homeowners must promise to speak with at least three people about organic care. On the coalition's Web site are talking tips, including playing the kid card (they often run barefoot on grass) and avoiding a "holier-than-thou attitude."
Still, not-in-my-backyard brawls do surface, Mr. Dickey says. "I got a photograph back from a guy who put up a pesticide-free sign and his neighbor then put up a sign that said Hazardous Material Storage. There is no dialogue going on there." Nor in Harvard, Ill., where Andrew Cook showed his neighbor a note from his wife's doctor explaining she was highly sensitive to pesticides. No dice, his neighbor refused to change her lawn-care regimen. Mr. Cook then aimed one of the ladybug signs squarely at her house. "You can only lead a horse to water," he says.
To keep peace for now, some homeowners are brokering their own land resolutions. Tihamer Toth-Fejel uses no lawn-care treatments whatsoever on most of his Ann Arbor, Mich., yard, but throws down an herbicidal Weed and Feed product on the portion abutting his neighbor's property so "he won't think I'm trying to infect his perfect lawn." Jim McNicholas of LaGrange, Ill., asked his organic neighbor to tell him when she's going on vacation so he can spread fertilizer without strife. And in Lyndhurst, Ohio, city councilman Joe Gambatese agreed to hire Good Nature Organic Lawn Care to treat his own home turf for a three-year trial after residents there pushed for pesticide reductions. So far, he says, "my yard looks fantastic."
As for my block, a couple of acres separate me from my neighbors so they haven't had to witness my battle with the weed brigades. After a frustrating summer fighting dandelions and plantains, last fall I plowed up the lawn, replanting it with new grass seed and 1,400 pounds of organic compost.
That did the trick. My grass was among the first up in my area this spring, which helped choke back any weeds. I spread corn gluten meal, a natural pre-emergent herbicide, just as the forsythia began blooming and have spent only a few hours total hand-weeding. As for fertilizer, this year I'm trying a worm waste product from a company called Terracycle as well as Scotts' new Organic Choice lawn food. I left a swath of old lawn for comparison and so far the difference is notable. In the meantime, there's not much to do other than mow.
Dueling yard signs in the pesticide battle.
Email your comments to rjeditor@dowjones.com.
-- July 12, 2007
American Home Mortgage's survival in Doubt
American Home Mortgage's survival in doubt
Shares crumble 90% after troubled prime mortgage lender said it may liquidate, retains investment banks to help it consider options.
July 31 2007: 5:03 PM EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. said on Tuesday it can no longer fund home loans and may liquidate assets, putting its survival in doubt and sending its shares plummeting 90 percent.
The large U.S. mortgage provider and real estate investment trust said its lenders cut off access to credit, leaving it without cash on Monday to fund $300 million of loans it had agreed to make.
Video
More video
The dream of home ownership has become a nightmare for millions of Americans. CNN's Bill Tucker explains. (April 3)
Play video
cnnad_createAd("308674","http://ads.cnn.com/html.ng/site=cnn_money&cnn_money_position=220x200_ctr&cnn_money_rollup=business_news&cnn_money_section=quigo¶ms.styles=fs","200","220");
It also expected to be unable to fund $450 million to $500 million of loans on Tuesday.
Melville, New York-based American Home (Charts) hired Milestone Advisors and Lazard to help evaluate options and advise on "the sourcing of additional liquidity, including the orderly liquidation of its assets."
With the developments, worries about credit quality and homeowner defaults have spread beyond subprime lenders, which lend to people with weaker credit, to lenders that make higher-quality loans.
American Home offers "Alt-A" mortgages, which fall between prime and subprime in quality, and recently held a roughly 2.5 percent share of the U.S. mortgage market.
"The chances are pretty high that the company either goes bankrupt or materially restructures, leaving little value for shareholders," said Bose George, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. in New York.
Prime borrowers catching subprime ills
"The business model of non-bank, mortgage lenders is challenging, and may be unstable, because they are so dependent on the willingness of the capital markets to fund operations," he added.
Mary Feder, a spokeswoman for American Home, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Her telephone mailbox did not accept messages.
American Home did not return calls on Monday, after it delayed paying a scheduled common stock dividend and announced "major" writedowns.
American Home shares closed down $9.43 at $1.04 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. They traded as high as $36.36 last Dec. 6.
Margin calls
Many U.S. mortgage providers have struggled with a housing slump that has caused home prices to stall, borrowing costs to rise and defaults to soar. Dozens have tightened lending policies, quit the industry, or gone bankrupt.
American Home relies on bank financing to help fund home loans.
In its statement, American Home said it could not borrow from its credit lines and had "substantial" unpaid margin calls pending to lenders, even after meeting "very significant" calls in the last three weeks.
According to its most recent quarterly report, American Home had obtained financing from several lenders. Among them were Bank of America Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500), Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. (Charts, Fortune 500), Credit Agricole SA's Calyon affiliate and UBS AG. None immediately returned calls seeking comment.
If it sought bankruptcy protection, American Home would join New Century Financial Corp. and several other home lenders in seeking protection from creditors this year.
Most of those lenders, however, catered to subprime borrowers, rather than borrowers considered better credit risks.
More traditional lenders, such as Countrywide Financial (Charts, Fortune 500), and banks, such as Wachovia (Charts, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (Charts, Fortune 500), have been hurt by weakness in the housing market caused in part by subprime loans.
Foreclosure filings skyrocketHome prices continued slide in May
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Shares crumble 90% after troubled prime mortgage lender said it may liquidate, retains investment banks to help it consider options.
July 31 2007: 5:03 PM EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. said on Tuesday it can no longer fund home loans and may liquidate assets, putting its survival in doubt and sending its shares plummeting 90 percent.
The large U.S. mortgage provider and real estate investment trust said its lenders cut off access to credit, leaving it without cash on Monday to fund $300 million of loans it had agreed to make.
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The dream of home ownership has become a nightmare for millions of Americans. CNN's Bill Tucker explains. (April 3)
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It also expected to be unable to fund $450 million to $500 million of loans on Tuesday.
Melville, New York-based American Home (Charts) hired Milestone Advisors and Lazard to help evaluate options and advise on "the sourcing of additional liquidity, including the orderly liquidation of its assets."
With the developments, worries about credit quality and homeowner defaults have spread beyond subprime lenders, which lend to people with weaker credit, to lenders that make higher-quality loans.
American Home offers "Alt-A" mortgages, which fall between prime and subprime in quality, and recently held a roughly 2.5 percent share of the U.S. mortgage market.
"The chances are pretty high that the company either goes bankrupt or materially restructures, leaving little value for shareholders," said Bose George, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. in New York.
Prime borrowers catching subprime ills
"The business model of non-bank, mortgage lenders is challenging, and may be unstable, because they are so dependent on the willingness of the capital markets to fund operations," he added.
Mary Feder, a spokeswoman for American Home, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Her telephone mailbox did not accept messages.
American Home did not return calls on Monday, after it delayed paying a scheduled common stock dividend and announced "major" writedowns.
American Home shares closed down $9.43 at $1.04 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. They traded as high as $36.36 last Dec. 6.
Margin calls
Many U.S. mortgage providers have struggled with a housing slump that has caused home prices to stall, borrowing costs to rise and defaults to soar. Dozens have tightened lending policies, quit the industry, or gone bankrupt.
American Home relies on bank financing to help fund home loans.
In its statement, American Home said it could not borrow from its credit lines and had "substantial" unpaid margin calls pending to lenders, even after meeting "very significant" calls in the last three weeks.
According to its most recent quarterly report, American Home had obtained financing from several lenders. Among them were Bank of America Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500), Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. (Charts, Fortune 500), Credit Agricole SA's Calyon affiliate and UBS AG. None immediately returned calls seeking comment.
If it sought bankruptcy protection, American Home would join New Century Financial Corp. and several other home lenders in seeking protection from creditors this year.
Most of those lenders, however, catered to subprime borrowers, rather than borrowers considered better credit risks.
More traditional lenders, such as Countrywide Financial (Charts, Fortune 500), and banks, such as Wachovia (Charts, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (Charts, Fortune 500), have been hurt by weakness in the housing market caused in part by subprime loans.
Foreclosure filings skyrocketHome prices continued slide in May
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Changes Ahead for Boomers; Fall Board Schedule
Big Changes Ahead for Boomers, Symposium Speakers SayBaby Boomers will see their family structures change as their parents age, according to experts who spoke at Building for Boomers & Beyond: 50+ Housing Symposium 2007. [more]
Make Your Plans for Fall Board in Seattle! [more]
Make the Most of Your 50+ Housing Awards Win [more]
How to Earn CAASH [more]
Offer Residents an Alternative to Security Deposits [more]
Around the Industry [more]
AARP Names Five Great Places to Live [more]
Member Advantage: Hertz Goes Green [more]
New-Home Sales Slide 6.6 Percent In June [more]
For more information or to contact us directly, please visit www.nahb.org
Make Your Plans for Fall Board in Seattle! [more]
Make the Most of Your 50+ Housing Awards Win [more]
How to Earn CAASH [more]
Offer Residents an Alternative to Security Deposits [more]
Around the Industry [more]
AARP Names Five Great Places to Live [more]
Member Advantage: Hertz Goes Green [more]
New-Home Sales Slide 6.6 Percent In June [more]
For more information or to contact us directly, please visit www.nahb.org
Economic Update - 07/30/07
The economy grew at a 3.4% pace in the second quarter, a big
> improvement over the 0.6% showing in the first three months of 2007
> and better than the 3.2% growth rate economists were expecting, the
> Commerce Department reported July 27. Also in the second quarter, core
> prices -- excluding food and energy -- rose at a rate of just 1.4%, sharply down from a 2.4% pace in the
> first quarter and the smallest increase in four years.
>
> Meanwhile, consumer sentiment registered 90.4 in July, a shade below
> the median forecast of 91.2, but well ahead of June's reading of 85.3,
> a 10-month low. The gain was tied to consumers' favorable outlook
> about the economy, particularly regarding future employment and income prospects, the
> Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers said July 27.
>
>
> Orders for durable goods -- manufactured to last three years or more
> -- increased by 1.4% in June, the best performance in three months,
> the Commerce Department reported July 26. Soaring demand for commercial
> airplanes helped fuel the rise.
>
> Sales of new single-family homes dropped by 6.6% last month, a decline
> more than triple what analysts had expected, the Commerce Department reported
> July 26. New home sales are 22.3% below the level of a year ago.
>
>
> Sales of existing homes fell 3.8%, a decline about twice what had been
> anticipated. Yet the median price of an existing home edged up to
> $230,100, 0.3% more than a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said July
> 25.
>
> improvement over the 0.6% showing in the first three months of 2007
> and better than the 3.2% growth rate economists were expecting, the
> Commerce Department reported July 27. Also in the second quarter, core
> prices -- excluding food and energy -- rose at a rate of just 1.4%, sharply down from a 2.4% pace in the
> first quarter and the smallest increase in four years.
>
> Meanwhile, consumer sentiment registered 90.4 in July, a shade below
> the median forecast of 91.2, but well ahead of June's reading of 85.3,
> a 10-month low. The gain was tied to consumers' favorable outlook
> about the economy, particularly regarding future employment and income prospects, the
> Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers said July 27.
>
>
> Orders for durable goods -- manufactured to last three years or more
> -- increased by 1.4% in June, the best performance in three months,
> the Commerce Department reported July 26. Soaring demand for commercial
> airplanes helped fuel the rise.
>
> Sales of new single-family homes dropped by 6.6% last month, a decline
> more than triple what analysts had expected, the Commerce Department reported
> July 26. New home sales are 22.3% below the level of a year ago.
>
>
> Sales of existing homes fell 3.8%, a decline about twice what had been
> anticipated. Yet the median price of an existing home edged up to
> $230,100, 0.3% more than a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said July
> 25.
>
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