Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Get Smarter Agent, or smarter agents?
I was quoted in this week's New York Magazine regarding Smarter Agent, a new location based cell phone service for searching properties, using the phone's GPS location cross-referenced to a database of listings. I know there's something attractive about an advertising medium distributed on ubiquitous mobile phones that are aware of where and when I'm accessing the system— especially if I own the local MacDonald's and it's lunchtime. Beyond lunch, the jury is still out on people finding it to be a very useful way to find a home.
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It certainly may. There is a particularly important down payment threshold with respect to financing. With a penny less than 20% down, you are in different territory. For many years, less than 20% down meant that the borrower had to pay PMI (private mortgage insurance), in addition to the principal and interest payment on the loan. This PMI is insurance for the lender, but is paid by the borrower and can be hundreds of additional dollars per month. It depends on the loan amount, down payment, and specific loan program. Note that as of January 2007, PMI is tax deductible, subject to some qualifying requirements, as is a portion of your mortgage payment. 
Last week, the New York Times ran a Real Estate section cover story called 
There are a few stories I've want to share this month that got away until now; and maybe that's good as it gives me a moment to step back to form a larger context in which to place them. They all took place on January 18th and involved things which I've blogged about recently. It was more of a personal day for me, but there is a common thread running through these three stories of buildings as the focal point of larger personal and public dynamics. On that day; I sold the home I grew up in, saw Doug Aitken's 'sleepwalkers' at MoMA, and heard a radical vision for the redevelopment of ground-zero.
