Real estate round-up: September 26

Check in every business day for the latest edition of Real Estate Round-up, where we post a list of our favorite real estate news stories from DC and beyond.

Headlines from the DC Metro Area: What happened to the proposed 20-percent down payment rule? Washington Post The 20-percent proposal is still alive, but it's temporarily bogged down in agency reviews of the roughly 12,000 comments filed by interest groups and individuals. It almost certainly would not be ready for adoption until the first quarter of 2012. Historic celebrity homes attract tourists Voice of America Elvis Presley's Graceland and George Washington's Mount Vernon are two of the most popular, but there are also small houses devoted to preserving the memories of the celebrities who once lived there.� In spots, buyers gain edge again Washington Times Sales chances are calculated by dividing a month's sales figures by the inventory on the last day of the month, resulting in a percentage. A figure below 20 percent indicates a buyer's market. Higher figures mean we're in a balanced market or a seller's market.

National real estate news stories: 5 steps to creating a property website with Wordpress Inman News The ability to create a unique property website is not only a fantastic listing tool, but an effective way to compete in search with national syndication sites, including Trulia and Zillow. Quick refi may ding credit Bankrate.com You can comparison shop mortgage lenders in a relatively short (two weeks) time period, and that will only count as one inquiry on your credit score because it's clear you're shopping for a mortgage. Don't drive yourself crazy, consider the commute HSH.com When you buy a home, you buy neighbors, amenities, a lifestyle…and a commute. If you're about to commit to a home purchase, apply the brakes until you understand the implications of the home's location, location, location.

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