By Dan Melson on February 4, 2008 7:00 AM |

For the second time, Searchlight Crusade plays host to the
Carnival of Real Estate.

I want to mention that Searchlight Crusade is also the keeper of the list
for the Consumer Focused Real Estate Carnival, which appears on alternate
Wednesdays and highlights the best (non-commercial) posts aimed at
individual buyers and sellers and owners of real estate.
Guidelines for submission are here. Please consider submitting any
appropriate articles you may write, and we could also use some future
hosts.

With that said, on the the carnival submissions. Let’s start with the
ones that “made the cut” In no particular order:

Silicon Valley Real Estate Guide talks about Licensee Working for
the Know-it-All Client, or Not: “Sir, How Long Do I Have to Keep
Making You Look Good in Front of Your Wife?”. We’ve all had the
client with misinformed opinions that completely armor their skull,
rendering it completely impervious to real information.

Investment Property Insider submits Create Personal Wealth Beyond
Your Small Business, Part 3, discussing the decision to lease versus
buy commercial real estate.

Sacramento Real Estate Gal sends us REO Buyers: Three Things to
Watch For, discussing dealing with lender owned property.

Best Home Selling Tips sends us HUD 1 Form - Real Estate Settlement
Statement Explained, discussing the only form in the whole process
with a real requirement to be correct.

Minneapolis Luxury Real Estate Blog talks about why Why City Councils
Should Stick to Business, or rather their own business, rather than
trying to make life difficult on lenders.

Real Sage Advice asks the burning question: Senior Housing Wish
List-What do Boomers Want? The answer is everything, but only
when they want it. Nor do they want to pay for it.

Single Guy Money submits The Real Cost of Homeownership,
discussing costs of home ownership.

Salt Lake Real Estate Blog sends us Fed Rate Cut Fallout, which
is really more of a discussion of macroeconomics and psychology.

The second level of the ziggurat is next. Now we get to the posts
that might have been worthy of consideration as top post of the
week. Again in no particular order:

Mortgage Rates Report sends us A Nation of Subprime Borrowers?.

I disagree with Brian about the state of the southern California
economy - I see a lot of very strong indicators on the state of
the local economy. A large part of it seems to be major media
spin - they were reporting worse numbers as wonderful a very
few years ago when a different president occupied the White
House (really - check for yourself!). But let Brian make his case.

Fiscal Musings sends us Why I Like Real Estate, Part II: Leverage.

Leverage can either help you, as illustrated in the article - or hurt
you, as many people are discovering now. Usually it’s helpful, though.

Your host presents Dealing With Looming Foreclosure - Get Out of
Denial, from my other site. The sooner you face the reality, the
less it’s likely to damage you.

Columbus Real Estate Voice with 4 Ways Buyers Sabotage Their
Perfect Home Purchase
Next we come to the hardest decision I had to make, between
two excellent articles on entirely different subjects. Unfortunately,
I could only choose one, but silver is still excellent:

Real Estate Radio USA brings us The Five Competitive Forces That

Shape Strategy, a look at the factors controlling competition in the
real estate business, and how the NAR may not be the best body
for determining the future of the industry.

We’ve all been waiting for this moment, and now I’m happy to
announce that we have a winner!

Up2Date talks about Rent Control - The Property Owners “Right to
Life” Issue. One consequence he doesn’t mention is that with rent
control, there is little incentive to maintain rental property, or to
build more of it. In fact, property owners begin looking for
alternative uses for the property - causing a further constriction
of the rental supply. In short, the “cure” only makes the disease
worse.