Springwise points us to a new online marketplace with the descriptive name Home Equity Share matches home buyers with investors. To be exact: it brings together buyers who can afford monthly payments but not a 20% down payment, and investors who want to get into real estate but don’t want to become landlords or make monthly payments.

Potential home buyers post a profile listing their preferences, including the area they want to buy in, and the price range they’re looking for. [...]]]>

Springwise points us to a new online marketplace with the descriptive name Home Equity Share matches home buyers with investors. To be exact: it brings together buyers who can afford monthly payments but not a 20% down payment, and investors who want to get into real estate but don’t want to become landlords or make monthly payments.

Potential home buyers post a profile listing their preferences, including the area they want to buy in, and the price range they’re looking for. They’re automatically matched with compatible investors, come to an agreement and sign a preliminary commitment. This allows the buyer to become pre-approved for a loan, and to start looking for a property. Once buyer and investor agree on a property, the investor provides the down payment, the buyer arranges a mortgage for his home and moves in. At the end of a specified agreement term—usually three to seven years—the buyer can purchase the investor’s interest in the property, or they can sell the house and share its appreciation in value.

Home Equity Share provides the matching service and contracts at no cost to buyers and investors, but requires that they use a real estate agent who is registered with the company. Agents pay a referral fee of 20% of the commission earned on transactions referred by Home Equity Share.

Unlike P2P lending services we’ve written about in the past, such as Zopa and Prosper, Home Equity Share is targeting a very specific niche: real estate down payments. It matches the parties and provides them with contracts, but doesn’t facilitate the exchange of money. Other niche P2P lending matchmakers to follow?

Preparation, mental toughness and negotiating strategy play key roles in the home purchase process, and as a home buyer you need to master them.

The L.A. Times offers us some tips to help:

Knowledge is power. Before making a purchase offer, learn as much as you can about your local housing market and the homeowner’s motivations for selling.

Ask questions about the sellers, such as why they’re selling, how long the home has been listed for sale, how soon the seller needs to sell, [...]]]>

Preparation, mental toughness and negotiating strategy play key roles in the home purchase process, and as a home buyer you need to master them.

The L.A. Times offers us some tips to help:

Knowledge is power.
Before making a purchase offer, learn as much as you can about your local housing market and the homeowner’s motivations for selling.

Ask questions about the sellers, such as why they’re selling, how long the home has been listed for sale, how soon the seller needs to sell, the mortgage balance, how much the seller paid and any defects in the home.

As the buyer, you’re in the driver’s seat, so obtain all the knowledge you can.

But at the same time, be careful to reveal as little as possible about your personal situation, such as your income, maximum down payment, highest price you’ll pay for a home and how soon you want to move.

And caution your agent not to reveal any confidential information to the seller or listing agent.

Ask if the seller has a deadline.
Time is critical in negotiations. Find out if the other party has a specific deadline. If the seller is under time pressure, use it to your advantage.

Usually buyer or seller or both have deadlines. If the local home sale market is hot, the competition of other buyers might push you to act quickly once you decide on a specific home. But don’t be rushed into a purchase.

Keep a poker face.
No matter how much you want a specific home, avoid showing your emotions. Pretend you can take it or leave it. Once the seller (and the seller’s agent) discover you absolutely must buy a home, you lose your negotiation edge.

Adopt the “he who cares least wins” attitude.
Closely related to hiding your emotions is adopting the “he who cares least wins” negotiation strategy.

Ask yourself, as a buyer, “What will happen if I don’t buy this home?” The world probably won’t end. Maybe you’ll find a home you like better at a lower price. But don’t be afraid to walk away. There’s always another home for sale.

Watch out for real estate “auctions.”
If you are buying a home, watch out if the realty agent says, “If you want to buy this house, you’d better make your purchase offer quickly because there’s another buyer interested in this house.”

Assuming there really is another interested buyer, this is a setup for a real estate “auction.” Often, there is no second buyer. If there is, don’t let him influence you when making a purchase offer.

Make your offer based on your superior knowledge of the local home prices and the seller’s motivations for selling. If the other buyer gets the house, he probably overpaid for it.

Adopt a “win-win” attitude.
Buyers should avoid taking unfair advantage of the seller, even if the seller is facing a difficult situation, such as a pending foreclosure, divorce, unemployment or job transfer.

With a win-win attitude, the buyer offers a fair price that the seller can realistically accept. When you meet the other party and his or her realty agent, be sure to congratulate them on their successful negotiations.

What’s new in Puerto Vallarta condos? Want to see the latest San Diego high rise?

No longer do you have to wait for a national road show to get a feel for new developments around the world. Cliff Bowman, the Vancouver, B.C.-based marketing expert who has turned pre-selling condominium buildings into an industry art form, has taken his online condo idea to retail stores. His Urban and Resort Condo Centers offer consumers a menu of popular destinations and in-city projects while [...]]]>

What’s new in Puerto Vallarta condos? Want to see the latest San Diego high rise?

No longer do you have to wait for a national road show to get a feel for new developments around the world. Cliff Bowman, the Vancouver, B.C.-based marketing expert who has turned pre-selling condominium buildings into an industry art form, has taken his online condo idea to retail stores. His Urban and Resort Condo Centers offer consumers a menu of popular destinations and in-city projects while providing developers and builders a downtown sales presence for a fraction of the cost of finding and leasing their own building. Full Story

Two and a half years ago, Zopa launched its social finance concept in the UK. Yesterday, they finally went live in the US. While the basic principle is the same—consumers lend to other people instead of banks, and both parties win—Zopa US deviates from the path taken by its British sibling.

While Zopa UK uses a number of methods to keep lenders’ money safe—extensive profiles include a potential borrower’s credit rating; risk is diversified by spreading money across a number [...]]]>

Two and a half years ago, Zopa launched its social finance concept in the UK. Yesterday, they finally went live in the US. While the basic principle is the same—consumers lend to other people instead of banks, and both parties win—Zopa US deviates from the path taken by its British sibling.

While Zopa UK uses a number of methods to keep lenders’ money safe—extensive profiles include a potential borrower’s credit rating; risk is diversified by spreading money across a number of borrowers; Zopa works with a collection—Zopa US takes security a step further by federally insuring all funds through credit unions.

Instead of lending directly to borrowers, lenders buy a Zopa CD (certificate of deposit). To buy a Zopa CD or borrow a Zopa Loan, members need to be a member of one of Zopa’s partner credit unions. If they’re not already a member, they can sign up online. After buying a Zopa CD, the member must pick at least one borrower to help. And this is where it gets interesting: by choosing the rate at which he or she ‘helps’ a borrower, the lender controls how much lower a borrower’s monthly payments will be. APY for a CD is currently at 5.10%, with APR for the borrower ranging from 8.75% to 16.99%, depending on credit history. Feeling philanthropic? Set a lower rate for the borrower. More of a Scrooge? Keep a larger portion of the spread to yourself.

This system not only sets it apart from Zopa UK, but also from the company’s main US competitor: Prosper. Both Zopa UK and Propser let their internal market of borrowers and lenders determine the going rates, and neither offers the security of a guaranteed loan. The safer route provided by Zopa US could help it tap into the very social market of loans between family and friends: the same audience that CircleLending focused on (now Virgin Money US).

According to Online Banking Report, a research firm, roughly $100 million in new person-to-person loans will be issued this year, mostly by Prosper, with new P2P loans expected to jump to as much as $1 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in 2017 (source: Wall Street Journal). Which makes it a very interesting market to watch, or to join if you’re in financial services.

(Spotted at Springwise.com)

There’s nothing like compelling content to engage potential customers, and the folks at Springwise point us to Realius.com who is doing just that with its Fantasy Real Estate suite of online games.

The first of these, Price Me Now, was demonstrated at the TechCrunch40 Conference in September and crowned Most Creative Idea at the Web 2.0 Summit a month later. Now in beta, the game challenges players to guess the prices of actual homes for sale in their market by viewing [...]]]>

There’s nothing like compelling content to engage potential customers, and the folks at Springwise point us to Realius.com who is doing just that with its Fantasy Real Estate suite of online games.

The first of these, Price Me Now, was demonstrated at the TechCrunch40 Conference in September and crowned Most Creative Idea at the Web 2.0 Summit a month later. Now in beta, the game challenges players to guess the prices of actual homes for sale in their market by viewing the photos and property details provided by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Players earn points based on their performance against the Realius price, an aggregation of previous player estimates and the actual list price; in the near future, prizes will be awarded to the best pricers. The game is free to users, but real estate companies and professionals can purchase in-game placement as “coaches” who guide players and make their own professional guesses. Licensing fees, referrals and market reports are also part of Realius’s planned revenue model.

Chuck Teller, CEO of the California start-up, explains: “Realius captures the synergies between the enormous popular interest in casual gaming and Americans’ obsession with real estate. Our games engage consumers as they dream about, search for, buy, furnish, remodel and sell their homes in ways that are incredibly fun-but also instructive.”

Other games in the works at Realius include Fantasy Flip, which lets homeowners give their homes virtual makeovers and then solicit opinions on how much the changes would increase their value, and Major League Investor, which pits players against one another as they build fantasy property portfolios. The games currently focus on the company’s home base of the San Francisco Bay Area, but they’re a nice example of marketing through content – which could be particularly important for weathering tough business climates such as the one faced by real estate today.