Carnival of Real Estate #38 (1st International Edition)

We're honored to host the 38th edition of the Carnival of Real Estate, which we're dubbing the "1st International Edition" since we blog from London.
Of all previous Carnival hosts only one was not US based and with this "internationalization" aspect in mind, we would like to give this weeks top honours to Dan Harris of China Law Blog, whose post on the Real Estate Investments in China Seminar, was educational to the degree that it highlighted the fact that the recent changes to property laws in China will no doubt have significant impact on the ever expanding globalization of real estate markets. Dan and other influential bloggers and journalists as well as investment and legal analysts will be participating in the seminar which takes place May 3-4 in San Francisco. Anyone who is interested in Chinese real estate is urged to attend. No doubt Dan will have follow up posts on his blog to keep us informed.

Another post we found quite informative from an internationalization aspect, was Adam Samuel's "Investment Property in Morocco: 6 Reasons it’s a Smart Buy". Adam highlighted the fact that the Moroccan government is aggressively targeting foreign investment via King Mohammed's "Plan Azure Vision 2010", offering tax incentives to overseas investors. Adam described Morocco as the "perfect holiday destination", reminding us that Morocco is "cheaper than neighbouring Spain".

One aspect of real estate investment that is impacting global markets is the current sub-prime meltdown in the US. Because of the sub-prime industry's direct relationship with Wall Street and international institutional investors such as pension and hedge funds, the impact of the US based sub-prime crises is not only having serious repercussions in the US housing market, but is also currently being absorbed by investors and financial institutions worldwide.
With this in mind, "Real Estate Educator" Jillayne Schlicke submitted "This Just In: Zero Interest Loans, at a Cost of Zero, with a Monthly Payment of Zero (APR 0%)*" a case study of the real estate and mortgage lending industries; juxtaposed against the tragic 1986 Challenger accident which killed 7 astronauts. Jillayne reminds us that the Challenger accident "has frequently been used as a case study in the study of engineering safety, the ethics of whistleblowing, communications, and group decision-making." Jillayne promises to follow up her series offering "a wide range of possible solutions" to the current crises.
Adding to the debate, Nigel Swaby opines on whether or not there may yet be Hope for Subprime Mortgage Sector.
Of course, savvy investors make money money whether the market is up or down, as the ancient saying goes, the only constant is change. "Mega-Producing Realtor" Russell Shaw submits (via Greg "Bloodhound" Swann) "Russell Shaw at the StarPower Summit: 'What the hell are you thinking?'" an informative and humorous podcast on how brokers can and should be making money in the current market conditions.
Joshua Dorkin of Bigger Pockets has a very informative interview with mega-investor Richard Warren, who has been investing in real estate since 1985 and has no immediate plans to slow down. Richard offers sound strategic advice and given his background as a certified financial planner, his advice is well worth paying attention to.
John at Queercents submits "When Renting is Better Than Buying a Home"; admitting that the "outrageous rent" he and his partner are currently paying in San Francisco may actually be a bargain, and that "greater expenses come with owning a house", but by saving down payment money now "will allow us to be prepared to buy a home when the housing market is healthy again."


Of course, reaction to Zillow's new features still dominated this weeks carnival, with Cliff Jacobson speculating on whether Google is going to buy Zillow, although he offers no insight as to whether he thinks Zillow is prepared to sell.
Still on Zillow, Kevin Boer acknowledges why the real estate industry can't respond effectively to Zillow; Jonathan Dalton ponders on whether Zillow's new Q&A feature was "a buyers’ tool detrimental to home sellers" .
Ironically, Zillow's very own Graham Doran adds to the debate, with instructions on how to kill a varmint. I'm serious, the guy actually goes to war trying to kill a varmint, complete with poison, explosives, traps and er "stabbing instruments".

Well thats it for this edition of the Carnival. We hope you enjoyed it and found it informative. Thanks to Drew Meyers and the Zillow team for giving us the opportunity to host; thanks as well to everyone who submitted quality posts this week. Next week, the carnival continues over at Trulia.
See you there!