Homeownership declines in all but elderly in last 20 years, real estate auctions & customer service hell

Conforming mortgage limits are dropping at the beginning of October from $729,750 to $625,500, meaning that buyers looking for homes priced over that amount will have to seek out and qualify for a jumbo mortgage – generally at a higher interest rate and with a large downpayment. For most of the country, it is not that big of a deal. Buyers looking for million dollar homes generally have some financial flexibility. But in New York City, the change in conforming loan limits impacts a much broader swatch of the market. The New York Times has the details.

The blog Calculated Risk takes Census data to show some remarkable declines in homeownership over the last 20 years by all but the elderly. They attribute it to various factors including younger people waiting longer to marry, mobility issues, etc.

Jakob Nielson is the go to guy for user-interface/intuitive product design advice. His latest column talks in part about how the rise of mobile and portable devices doesn’t mean the end of the desktop PC. One invention rarely completely replaces another. Because of this, companies will need to design for multiple screen types – mobile, PC, TV and maybe more based on their product. What works on one, may not work on another. How is your MLS system responding? Is it keeping up with various formats and designs or is it trying a one-size-fits-all approach?

Real estate auctions, long used in the sale of foreclosed properties, are becoming more popular among wealthy homeowners to drum up interest for mansions that have languished on the market after the housing crash.

Google’s axiom: don’t be evil. Yet, many of us remain suspicious. Some insight into Google’s intentions. For up-to-the-minute tech articles and research from the National Association of REALTORS®, follow @nartech on Twitter.

Getting out of voicemail/automated calling hell. While you’ll never have this nightmare when calling us at Information Central, sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to bypass the auto prompts. The author suggests stomping on the ’0′ or ‘#” keys.

While you can’t ignore reality, you also can’t let financial anxiety take over your life. That’s no way to live. If you’re having a hard time keeping a sense of perspective, here are three suggestions to help you through trying times.

Just what you were waiting for: Facebook to launch music service.

Everyone have a great holiday weekend!