One question that I hear most from the people I meet during my travels around the U.S. is whether the deflation of the housing market has run its course. Housing is a very relevant and widely sought necessity, thus the state of the housing market is second only to the weather in terms of popularity as a topic of casual banter. The short answer to the question, however, is no.

While observed prices in many real estate markets are close to the bottom in percentage terms when compared with the peaks of 2005, this does not mean that “normal” volumes of transactions are likely to come back soon. Yes, markets like Arizona and Florida have tightened in some areas, but to use the Wall Street metaphor, this is a stock picker’s market. There are several negative overhangs still affecting behavior in the housing markets — factors are unlikely to change quickly because the numbers are so big and long term in nature.

I recently got a look at the latest presentation from Josh Rosner at Graham Fisher & Co. Rosner makes some downright scary predictions about the end of the U.S. real estate market as we know it. The changes in household formation by age is enough to make me bearish. During the past decade, did we really see up to 4 million households drop from the 35-45 age group of the market? Yes. Guess what that does for housing prices? Nothing good.

Even more profound than the decline in the number of households in the 35-45 age group is the drop in overall homeownership rates for all age groups, clear evidence of the structural changes in the real estate market and household composition that my fishing partner Rosner has been talking about for years.

The homeownership rate fell in the first quarter to the lowest level in 15 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is more than just post-bubble fallout, though, but rather is a shift in long-term demographics going back to World War II.

Rosner notes that homeownership rates peaked in 2004 and have been falling ever since, in part because more than one third of the pre-crisis market was driven by investors. “A home without equity is just a rental with debt,” observes Rosner, who also notes that Wall Street equities have replaced home prices as the key indicator of economic health among policymakers.

STRESSED OUT LENDERS

Inside the banking sector, the situation facing lenders is equally dire. Real estate owned, or REO, is just starting to liquidate, meaning that banks could be facing years more of above-normal administrative and credit costs associated with real estate. My rule of thumb is that whatever a bank is showing you in terms of REO on its balance sheet is probably half or less of the reality.

One of the most striking indicators of operational stress in the lending sector is the still-high rate of loan losses inside most banks. While charge-offs have fallen back from the crisis levels of 2008 and 2009, visible loss rates are still running two times the levels seen in the mid-1990s prior to the start of the mortgage bubble. Yes, loan losses have dropped to the lowest levels in four years — back to 2008 — but the visible level of loan charge-offs remains high compared to long-term averages.

Another indication of the stress being felt by U.S. banks is the steadily rising levels of expenses related to mortgage related activities. The efficiency ratio for all U.S. banks, which measures the portion of operating revenue taken by overhead costs, is now more than 64% for the entire industry, up roughly 10 points in the past six quarters. With operating income constrained by low interest rates and rising expenses related to foreclosures, many lenders are pinched and this does not make banks easier on credit. Quite to the contrary, banks view deteriorating operating leverage with alarm and generally cut front office headcount in response.

While much of the banking sector and the holders of residential mortgage-backed securities managed to charge-off the worst portions of portfolios, there is still a good deal more loss to be taken on bad loans, REO and litigation. As we’ve noted in these pages, Bank of America and Bank of New York are still trying to settle some of the put-back claims arising from RMBS created by Countywide Financial.

But these put-back claims are just a subset of the tens of billions of dollars in remaining claims against this one lender and securities dealer. The Merrill Lynch unit of Bank America, for example, still faces tens of billions in claims by investors arising from losses on collateralized debt obligations. Lenders like Ally Financial and JPMorgan Chase still face further pain from legacy mortgage exposures related to subprime RMBS from ResCap and Bear Stearns, respectively.

FHA foreclosures rose 73 percent in April, driven primarily by defaults of loans made in 2008 and 2009 vintage loans, raising new questions about the solvency of the popular government program, which accounts for about a third of all new mortgages.

New foreclosures on FHA-backed loans rose to 63,126 in April from 36,311 a month earlier, mortgage-data provider Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) said yesterday.

“In 2008, when the loan origination market virtually dried up, the FHA stepped in to fill the void,” explained Herb Blecher, senior vice president for LPS Applied Analytics, which released the data of FHA foreclosures in its May Mortgage Monitor Report. “FHA originations tripled that year, and increased to five times historical averages in 2009. High volumes like that, even with low default rates, can produce larger numbers of foreclosure starts. That represents a lot of loans to work through – the 2008 vintage alone represents some $14 billion of unpaid balances in foreclosure, and the overall FHA foreclosure inventory continues to rise.

The FHA immediately challenged the data, saying its own numbers showed an 11 percent drop in April foreclosures to 18,975. LPS may have erred extrapolating numbers from its database of information on 40 million loans, said an FHA spokesman.

The LPS report showed that defaults for loans written from 2004 through 2010 rose in April, but the largest spike was in loans originated in 2008 and 2009. Since the 2008-2009 period, when FHA lending exploded as private lenders pulled out of the housing market, reaching nearly 2.5 million loans, FHA has instituted higher lending standards, including higher credit requirements and increased mortgage insurance premiums to reduce its risk. As a result, default rates on loans written after 2008 have improved significantly, according to LPS.

Though FHA foreclosures are still far below private lenders as a percentage of total inventory, the sheer dollar volume of LPS figures could have a significant implications for the agency’s portfolio, especially if the trend continues.

Q: We’ve just moved into an apartment complex that charged us a nonrefundable “initiation fee” of $200, plus a security deposit (the maximum allowed by law). We knew about this fee, but it seemed cheesy for the landlord to be charging us for the routine duty of processing a new tenant. Is there any legal way to object to this fee? –Scot S.

A: Your question is quite timely. In November 2011, a federal district court judge in Boston faced a very similar question (at issue was an “amenity fee” that covered use of the pool, gym and grill). The judge decided that, under Massachusetts law, the fee was illegal. (Hermida v. Archstone, et al., No. 10-12083-WGY, D. Ct. Mass. 2011.) That’s going to result in big refunds to Massachusetts tenants: According to the National Multi Housing Council, Archstone is the seventh-largest landlord in the nation, with close to 74,000 units spread across 12 states.

The federal judge’s decision is quite clear and simple. Massachusetts allows landlords to collect upfront fees that “are not in excess of” the following: the first full month’s rent; the last full month’s rent; security equal to the first full month’s rent; and the cost of buying and installing a lock and key. The term “amenity fee” isn’t on this list.

But lawyers for Archstone argued that they could charge this fee as long as, when added to any other monies collected, the total did not exceed what Archstone could have collected in first and last month’s rent, security, and lock and key charges. Because Archstone didn’t charge these tenants for last month’s rent, a security deposit, or the cost of rekeying ($50), the sum of all money collected (including the fee in question) was, in fact, lower than what Archstone could have collected.

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In short, Archstone read the law as limiting only the amount of money collected; the tenants said it limits both the amount and the type of fee. The judge sided with the tenants.

Not all states insist that upfront, nonrefundable fees be counted toward the limit of permissible upfront payments. Many states apply limits only to money collected to guarantee performance under the lease (in other words, to cover damage and unpaid rent). In those states, nonrefundable fees like an amenity fee are outside of these categories and probably legal. But in states that strictly limit the amount of money collected at the start of the tenancy, tenants might have a shot at arguing that a landlord’s imposition of any fee not on the approved list is illegal. (Tenants in California already won this fight.)

Q: I rent a single-family house to a tenant who wants to give music lessons in the home. It’s legal as far as zoning is concerned, but I’m concerned about liability in case one of the students is hurt. Is there any way I can protect myself? –Martha S.

A: You’re wise to be thinking of this possibility now. Although it’s unlikely, it is possible that a student could trip, slip or otherwise become injured on your property. You don’t want to be liable for the claim or lawsuit that could result. You can protect yourself in two ways.

First, consider placing an “indemnity clause” in the lease, which will make the tenant financially responsible for any injuries suffered by students while on your property, if the cause of the accident is the tenant’s failure to maintain the property. The indemnity clause simply says that if you end up being sued by the injured tenant (which often happens, because the property owner is the “deep pocket”), any loss you suffer (such as attorney fees to defend yourself or a judgment against you) will be paid by the tenant.

Note that this might not work in many states if the cause of the accident is your faulty maintenance: Many states won’t allow commercial landlords to off-load their liability, and they may not allow residential landlords to do it, either.

Another way to protect yourself is to insist that the tenant obtain a liability policy, just as you’d demand of a commercial tenant in a commercial space. The policy, called “commercial general liability” (or CGL), insures the tenant against claims by injured customers or clients, and you can be added to the policy as an “additional insured.”

If a student sues, this means that the tenant’s policy will cover both of you. (Make sure that the tenant’s policy is described as “primary” to your own liability policy.) Demand proof of the policy (and your name on it) by asking the tenant for an “ACORD 25” form, which the insurance company will issue at no charge. The form will specify the type of insurance purchased, its coverage and limits, its expiration date, and that you’re an additional insured. Make a note of the policy period and be sure that you ask for an updated form when it’s time to renew the policy.

All three headline Case-Shiller composites fell to new post-crisis lows in the first quarter of 2012, wiping out all price gains realized since prices peaked in 2006, a decline of approximately 35 percent through March 2012.

The Case-Shiller national composite fell by 2.0 percent in the first quarter of 2012 and was down 1.9 percent versus the first quarter of 2011. The 10- and 20-City Composites posted respective annual returns of -2.8 percent and -2.6 percent in March 2012. Month-over-month, their changes were minimal; average home prices in the 10-City Composite fell by 0.1 percent compared to February and the 20-City remained basically unchanged in March over February.

In addition to the three composites, five cities – Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York and Portland – also saw average home prices hit new lows. This is an improvement over the nine cities reported last month.

In March 2012, 12 MSAs posted monthly gains, seven declined and one remained unchanged. Phoenix posted the largest annual rate of change, up 6.1 percent, while home prices in Atlanta fell the most over the year, down 17.7 percent.

Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit and Las Vegas were the four cities where average home prices were below their January 2000 levels. With an index level of 102.77 Chicago is not far behind.

Prices in the Case-Shiller national composite index peaked at 189.93 in the second quarter of 2006 and fell to an initial low of 129.17 in the first quarter of 2009. It reached a new low in 125.79 in the first quarter of 2011. Prices recovered during the second and third quarters last year only to triple dip to 123.33 in Q1 2012.

Beautiful Landing Pages: Tips and Examples

By Laura Moisei. Filed in Web Design

Hundreds of witty articles have been written around the topic of landing pages. We all know the basic facts – that these are the pages a visitor reaches after clicking on a banner ad or a promotional link, and that they play a crucial marketing role by converting leads into customers for the business. When it comes to designing a landing page yourself however, matters seem to be far more delicate than you would have expected after going through how-to documentation. This is why today, we have chosen to share a collection of actual landing page examples for inspiration.

According to a pretty scholarly classification you may find in Wikipedia, landing pages fall in two major categories: reference and transactional. If they are to be called reference, pages have to display information that is both appealing and relevant to the visitor (text, multimedia). “Transactional” landing pages are the ones who aim at immediate sales or at least in capturing strong sales leads.

As you will probably agree with me, all landing pages meet both criteria: they inform the visitor upon the offer as well as incite actions from his side. Otherwise we wouldn’t need calls-to-action on absolutely any landing page, would we?

What needs to be clear before launching any landing page in the www is the nature of the desired visitors’ action. Is increasing newsletter signups your goal? Then design a CTA with the message “Signup now to our newsletter”. Do you aim to have trial purchases from visitors? Say so. Generally speaking, the essential recipe is to make your landing page express this offer as clearly and as enticingly as possible.

Recommended Reading: Beautiful “Coming Soon” Page Design

Tips for Designing a Landing Page

Some quick tips to start from when designing a landing page:

1. Use the AIDA principle

This is a chain of events that we desire to happen once a lead reaches the platform displaying the promoted product or service. Mainly, the steps are:

1. Awareness – attract attention from the visitor
2. Interest – which can be aroused by highlighting the benefits to the customer
3. Desire – induce in customers the idea that they want the product or service
4. Action – customers performing the purchase process

2. Not too many distractions; leave A way out

The idea is simple. If the landing page has virtually no navigation option except for the CTA button, visitors will force their exit. Don’t think that if you don’t provide any navigation, they won’t find a way to leave – they will, maybe even by shutting down the browser. And these visitors will not come back.

3. Make it pass the blink test

Typically, a landing page has to catch the visitor’s attention in the first 3 seconds of entry. If the guest blinks, and can’t see clearly what he should find on the page or isn’t interested with what he saw, he is most likely to bounce away empty-handed.

4. Don’t create false expectations

The landing page has to be consistent with the hints provided by the original ad, or vice versa. Visitors have to find on the landing page what they were first promised in the ad they clicked.

As we have promised, let’s tour some nicely designed and effective landing pages of B2B and B2C. We will explore their strengths and inevitable weaknesses. Watch out for the following in the gallery below: visual communication, branding and trust indicators, content effectiveness, calls-to-action.

Showcase: Beautiful Landing Pages

99Designs

This is the version of a landing page targeted towards designers and students. 99Designs also has a landing page for the other side: businesses that need designs. As for this one, it’s very effective in terms of endorsement (see the bold testimonials) and truly speaks the language of the audience with figures and trust indicators (number of community members, amount of money they earned). Notice the bright red shade of the single CTA button – this usually is something to avoid, but in this particular case it’s not disturbing, as it matches the color of the logo.

123RF

123RF makes a clear statement of purpose in this landing page with the image slider and the four median boxes. You understand in an instant what the service is and how you can use it (Search, Sign Up, Pay-As-You-Go, Buy Subscription). The light grey background is unobtrusive and puts the highlight on the essence, that being the image. What I personally think they can improve on is the list of stock photography categories, it’s a bit stuffed. And the CTA is a bit too subtle for the clickable boxes.

Favomatic

I absolutely love the design of this landing page. There is contrast, good slogans in each section and it brings a lot of information without forcing you to read everything (the small font does it all). It does have navigation, but a vertical one, by scrolling, which considerably reduces bouncing rates.

BiznessApps

Strong calls-to-action, emphasized slogan and an impressive list of endorsements – this is the right combination for a landing page and this page has it. Plus, it includes a minimum amount of text and uses a demo video, as it’s a known fact that people prefer watching a short film than reading. The form is an element they can slightly improve on. Usually, you should give first before you can get, so if in exchange for submitting the form visitors can receive free treats, then the “Send message” button can say something like “Get your free stuff now!”

Brusheezy

Another proof less is more. This landing page looks very neat with a single icon and prominent header. Notice the two calls-to-action, at the top and bottom – this is a foolproof method to make the message persistent without overcrowding the page. Highlighting the benefits for the customers instead of the product’s features is another vanquisher.

JailBreak

This page may be a little too crowded, but it’s in the tradition of landing pages for apps. However, the decision to divide the page in segments makes it easy to navigate through all the elements. You can find everything you may be looking for: features, benefits, testimonials and even a guarantee of a refund if you are not happy with the result. The last one is quite risky, as it may raise questions on the quality of the service, and it was a good idea to place it all the way at the bottom

PageLines

Minimalism is the key concept here. I personally like that this page doesn’t tell you everything right away, but invites you to discover. What I don’t find so enjoyable, however, is a video that starts automatically (a feature I generally avoid) – even if Andrew Powers is not only skillful but also handsome! Also, the fact that there’s no immediate CTA may be a drawback for the website.

Pico

This landing page is simple yet powerful. The “greater than” red sign is salt and pepper to the overall appearance. The paragraph arrangement resemble a newspaper layout and is quite suggestive for the purpose of the CMS. The CTA buttons are a bit too weak, though, and the lady in the bottom right corner causes a mild distractin; with too much surprise on her face, does she look like she is able to negotiate a business matter?

Shoeboxed

The descriptive lines for each of the sections are an example of descriptive language use. You understand the message in a split second, as your line of sight quickly scans the first row and arrives at the CTA button. If you are still hesitating, there is a testimonial to help, together with strong endorsements – won’t you trust a company that’s featured in Forbes and Tech Crunch? I would.

SquareSpace

Professional looking landing page, this is. A bold slogan, CTA buttons that you can’t resist clicking and a very good endorsement, this is the combination to success. I also like that they put their context of use in the center of the page, with a screenshot of the way their pages look and infographic-like indications. The 3-element structure of the page is another strong point.

More:

You may find below some more examples of interesting landing pages.

• StockFresh
• Wix
• XHTMLchop
• Cubender
• DailyRazor
• FireCore
• Fotolia
• Inkd
• iPage
• LightCMS
• Odyssey
• P2H
• ShortStack

Suggestion:

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You may know it by any of its many names—drywall, gypsum, gypboard, plasterboard, or the familiar brand name, Sheetrock. Whatever the label, it can be heavy, cumbersome, and tedious to work with. Yet over 400 billion square feet of the mineral-based material have been wrestled into place in homes and buildings in our collective lifetime.

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Gypsum—the earthbound sulfate of calcium to which plaster of paris owes its existence—has been around forever. But it’s been only since the turn of the century that an enterprising soul named Sackett developed a method of layering it between sheets of felt paper to produce a “plaster board” that made the hand-troweled wall a thing of the past.

Plasterboard has come a long way since that time, but one thing hasn’t changed: It still looks best when installed or repaired according to Hoyle. And even though you may not know a putty knife from a plaster pan, you can learn how to install drywall with a small investment in tools and an honest go at it. Actually, gypboard is well suited to those who expect to make mistakes, simply because it’s relatively inexpensive.

Even if you didn’t know it at the time, you’ve probably seen an unfinished drywall sheet somewhere. Its face (the side that goes toward the interior of the room) is finished in a cream- or natural-colored paper. The back is usually gray, and the edges are trimmed with folded tape to protect them.

Typically, you’ll see 1/2″-thick paper-faced panels measuring 4′ × 8′ or 4′ × 12′, though they’re available in lengths up to 16′ . In better-quality construction, 5/8″ board is used; conversely, 3/8″ panels are suitable for economy or two-layer work and when bending radii, while 1/4″ drywall is reserved for surfacing existing plaster walls.

But the choices don’t stop there. Aside from the standard drywall, there’s also a 5/8″-thick fire-rated sheet (used on walls common to the garage and house and in commercial work), a water-resistant board with specially treated facings and core (for bathrooms, and as a backing for tile and plastic wallboard), and a foil-backed gypboard that incorporates a vapor retarder.

If you sight down the long edge of a drywall panel, you’ll notice that the face is tapered toward the edge. That’s to allow a slight recess to accommodate the tape and reinforcing compound, which makes a smooth, strong joint. You could still use the older style of square-edged panel, however, if you’re planning to cover the surface with wallpaper, since the joints won’t show.

There’s also a special round-edged tapered board that’s used on walls and ceilings that might be exposed to high humidity and temperature swings during construction. Conditions like these often cause ridges and beading in the joints; the design allows for an initial filling of setting plaster, which bonds permanently, without shrinking, in an hour or two. Afterwards, a regular joint compound would be used to finish the job.

Home sales in the San Francisco-Bay area grew to their highest year-over-year level in six years during the month of April, real estate analytics firm DataQuick said Thursday.

The region had 7,675 new and resale home sales in the nine-county Bay Area last month, compared to 7,694 the previous month and 6,789 a year earlier.

DataQuick said sales last month were at their highest April level since 2006 when 9,129 homes were sold in April.

“It appears that the market is taking a step in the direction of normalization, but only a step,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. “We’re still watching technical indicators more than top-line sales counts and median prices. The mortgage market is critical, as is market mix and the receding importance of foreclosure resales.”

The median sales price also edged up to $390,000 April. Over last year, the median price increased 8.3% from $360,000 in April of last year. 

The market’s low point hit $290,000 in March 2009, which is well below the current median price. However, the median remains well below the $665,000 level reached in June and July of 2007.

Foreclosure resales accounted for 21.7% of resales in April, which is the lowest amount on record since January of 2008.