FLORIDA RESEARCH – A lot of Florida government information is online – if you can find it. An agreement signed yesterday with Google, however, could make a search easier if you’re looking for state business information or doing research on a property listing.
FLORIDA HOME BUILDER – Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corp. may be in a slightly better position to weather the current downturn than other builders. The company sold land in eight states at about 40 cents on the dollar, giving the homebuilder a $525 million influx in cash as it continues to pare down inventory.
MORTGAGES – H&R Block’s mortgage subsidiary, Option One Mortgage Corp., will lay off about 620 employees, close three offices and take a $75 million restructuring charge. The company has stopped accepting new mortgage applications but will honor $30 million worth of existing commitments.
SUBPRIME MORTGAGES – It turns out that people with sketchy credit aren’t the sole victims of the subprime mortgage meltdown. In 2005, 55 percent of these loans went to people with credit scores high enough to qualify for conventional loans.
REMODELING – Many buyers judge a house by its exterior, or so it seems from the results of the 2007 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report. Three of the four projects that returned value when a home was sold were exterior upgrades, such as upscale siding that recouped 88 percent of its costs, according to a report by Hanley Wood and National Association of REALTORS®.