David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association,
and Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy

Housing market experts remain divided over the Obama administration’s proposal yesterday to sell government-owned foreclosed properties and convert them to rentals. The administration’s suggestion would involve teaming up with private-sector partners, who may be willing to purchase pools of similar properties for conversion, in order to clear the foreclosure backlog and meet increasing demand for rental units. Yesterday’s request for information by the government, was primarily aimed at potential investors, the Journal said.
Solutions that rely on investors to clear the overhang of foreclosures have “extraordinary value,” said David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, who previously served as the commissioner of the Federal Housin [more]

A vacant lakefront lot at 1348 North Lake Way has sold for approximately $5.17 million, according to a warranty deed recorded Monday by the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office. With 156 feet of frontage on the Intracoastal Waterway, the lot is 253 deep, the Palm Beach Daily News reported. Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate had listed the property at $7.495 million on behalf of owner the TAJA Realty Trust. Jim McCann of Corcoran Group Real Estate represented the buyer, an anonymous limited liability company. The property’s 2010 appraised market value was $5.1 million, county tax records show, down from $10.61 million in 2008. [Palm Beach Daily News]

With the stock market picking up steam and the worst of the recession apparently in the rear-view mirror, high-end home purchases are on the rise. According to CNBC, sales of homes worth more than $1 million nationwide have risen in most states and real estate professionals say people are bidding up the price for expensive homes for the first time since the market crash. Pamela Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group, told CNBC that the firm saw sales of luxury co-ops double in the first quarter of 2011. [more]

From the New York March issue: In 2001, given the choice between money and fame, Barbara Corcoran chose money. The self-made Queen of New York Real Estate cashed out — selling the Corcoran Group to NRT for $66 million — but quickly regretted losing her personal brand.

In “Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business,” out last month, Corcoran writes of her post-business period as “secretly miserable” and without purpose. She missed, she writes, her legions of “adoring brokers.”

Now a “Shark Tank” judge, Corcoran — never one to miss a publicity opportunity — timed her book’s launch with the beginning of the TV show’s second season. The “Today” show contributor shares her best self-branding tips in “Shark,” co-written by Bruce Littlefield and published by Portfolio/Penguin.

The Real Deal combed the new sections (the book was previously published as “If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails” in 2004) for gems. [more]

Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, is back — and this time, she’s lending her expertise on the best homes available nationwide for less than $200,000. In this “Today” show video, Corcoran reviews some choice — and cheap — residential listings in Phoenix, Ariz., Saginaw, Mich., Mission, Kan., Murfreesboro, Tenn. and Tuscumbia, Ala.

With the U.S. residential market still in the process of stabilizing, Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, has some tips for homebuyers looking for deals across the country. In this video, Corcoran unveils some choice properties with asking prices of $450,000, in Montour Falls, N.Y.; Palm Springs, Calif.; Louisville, Ky.; Seattle, Wash.; and elsewhere.

The millionaires are back for a new season of “Shark Tank,” a reality show featuring Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, and other tycoons, as they face entrepreneurs looking for capital. In a preview trailer from Entertainment Weekly, Corcoran appears to be a mediator among the other sharks, as they fight over investment opportunities with robots and other gadgets. The team is joined by comedian Jeff Foxworthy and eccentric businessman Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Click here to see the trailer.

Wondering how to up a home’s curb appeal? Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, has some advice. In this video from the Today show, Corcoran weighs in on when it makes sense to landscape a fixer-upper and how sellers can spruce up less appealing parts of their property.

Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, co-star of reality show “Shark Tank” and a regular contributer to the “Today” show, admits that she wasn’t always on top of things — personally or professionally. In an interview with the Bigger Pockets blog, Corcoran said she got “straight Ds” in high school, which she describes as “charity Ds” in lieu of Fs. But while she said there was no “turning point” in her life, Corcoran said that consistent effort got her through tough years of waiting tables and working odd jobs. [more]