Links

Internet Links

We have selected an assortment of useful real estate websites that some of us have found valuable, organized by type. Anyone who would like to suggest a good site should contact Tom Coyne of the Practice Technology Committee.

Table of Contents

ACREL Substantive Committees

Airports

Appraisal

Architecture

Blogs

Brokers

Business Improvement Districts

Deferred Exchanges

Federal Government

Forms

General Real Estate Sites & Other Sources

Historic Preservation

Indian Artifacts

Insurance

Lending

Municipal Ordinances

Periodicals

Property Management/Real Estate Consulting

Rating Agencies

Survey

Title Companies/Escrow Agents

Trade & Professional Associations

ACREL Substantive Committees

Airports

Airports Counsel International -- North America

FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)

U.S. General Services Administration

Appraisal

American Society of Appraisers

Appraisal Institute: Provides database of appraisers across the U.S. based on MAI membership, SRPA membership, and SREA membership; also provides catalog of publications in its library.

Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council: Maintains National Registry of appraisers.

Appraisers.Com

National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers

Architecture

AIA (American Institute of Architects): This site contains architectural news and a list of members.

Cyburbia: Large number of land use, architecture, planning, local government and zoning links. Also has various municipal ordinance links. Formerly Planning and Architectural Internet Resource Center - PAIRC.

Blogs

Build on This: Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs Real Estate & Construction blog.

New York Zoning and Municipal Law Blog: Published by Silverberg Zalantis.

PropertyProf Blog: Authored by D. Benjamin Barros of Widener University School of Law.

Brokers

Conway Data, Inc. -- The Bridge Between Corporations and Communities

National Association of Realtors

Business Improvement Districts

A to Z of Business Improvement Districts: Provided by the Project for Public Spaces.

Business Improvement Districts and Innovative Service Delivery: 1999 report by Jerry Mitchell of The City University of New York.

Business Improvement Districts: Issues in Alternative Local Public Service Provision: By Mildred Warner, James Quazi, Brooks More, Ezra Cattan, Scott Bellen and Kerim Odekon (June 2002). Provided by Cornell University Department of City and Regional Planning.

Cities Within Cities: Business Improvement Districts and the Emergence of the Micropolis: 1995 New York City Council Staff Report to the Finance Committee. Has a chapter outlining the procedure in New York.

National Trust Main Street Center

New York City - Business Improvement Districts: Includes "Starting a Business Improvement District: A Step-by-Step Guide" and "Streetwise & Business Savvy: Best Practices and Accomplishments from New York City's BIDs".

USA BID websites (from the MIT Dept. of Urban Studies)

Deferred Exchanges

Investment Property Exchange Services, Inc.: General information regarding 1031 exchange, capital gains calculator.

Federal Government

Access Board Accessibility Guidelines and Standards: Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines, Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards

Americans with Disabilities Act Document Center: ADA statute, regulations, guidelines, related documents, and a summary of the ADA.

Bureau of Labor Statistics - Consumer Price Indexes: This page allows you to tailor the CPI to your needs.

Census Bureau

FDIC

FEMA

GovEngine.com

HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)

HUDCLIPs: Official forms, HUD Handbooks, Notices and Publications, Federal Register 1996 - current, Titles 12 and 42 of the U.S. Code, Titles 24, 41 and 48 of the CFR, Congressional Record, Guidebooks and Legal Opinions.

The United States White House

United States Code: Provided by Cornell University Law School.

Forms

Freddie Mac Forms: Provides links to Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide Forms; Uniform Mortgage Loan Instruments; Loan Perspector Forms; and Multifamily Guide Forms.

HUD Forms: Forms from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

General Real Estate Sites & Other Sources

Builder Online: Real Estate Builder Magazine

CNN News: Useful and complete current news reports from CNN.

Embassy World -- World Maps

FedLaw: Links to courts, codes, bar associations, etc. for state and federal information.

Findlaw Corporate Counsel Center - Real Estate

Global Real Estate Project: Provided by the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver.

Google Maps: Includes regular maps and satellite pictures.

Hieros Gamos - Land Use: Information about and links to government websites from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe; U.S. federal and state land use laws.

Hieros Gamos - Landlord & Leasing: Links to world government sites; federal and state statutes regarding landlord and tenant law; recent federal cases.

Martindale-Hubbell

Oddens Bookmarks -- Maps and Cartography

PlainVanillaShell Research Center: Provides access to the Retail Tenant Directory, 50 Top Market Reports, and the National Research Center's directory of shopping centers. A free registration is required.

Real Property Practice Page - Westlaw

RefDesk.Com: Search Webster’s Dictionary, Roget’s thesaurus, Encyclopedia Britannica, and many other reference materials from one site.

Retail Tenant Directory: You can search by square footage, geographic area, location type and retail category. A free registration is required.

Rominger Legal Research: A useful compendium of research tools and sites.

TerraFly: Given an U.S. address, this site will provide an aerial image with the ability to change the focus and display level on the fly. Once on an image of interest, click, and you will receive information (census, business, etc.) about that particular location.

TerraServer: Finds satellite photos of your next development site or your own backyard. Download the images or order prints of the aerial photos.

The 'Lectric Law Library: A site providing legal forms and research tools.

Weather.Com: Weather reports for virtually any location.

Zagat Survey: Dining and travel information.

Historic Preservation

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Environmental and Historic Preservation (FCC)

National Register of Historic Places: National Register Collection of more than 68,000 historical properties and National Register publications.

PreservationDirectory.Com

Indian Artifacts

Guide to Law Online - Native American Peoples

Indian Burial and Sacred Grounds Watch: Provides information on state and federal laws as well as active and inactive sites.

Kappler's Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties

National Conference of American Indians: Includes information on legislative developments and gaming.

National Indian Gaming Commission: As an independent federal regulatory agency of the United States, the National Indian Gaming Commission (Commission) was established pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.

National Indian Law Library

Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project: Hosted by the University of Oklahoma.

Tribal Court Clearinghouse

Tribal Law Journal

Insurance

California Department of Insurance

Captive.com: Provides captives, insurance companies, self insureds, risk retention groups, purchasing groups, associations, reciprocals, and public entity pools with an Internet Virtual Community for the exchange of alternative insurance information and services.

Independent Insurance Network

Insurance Information Institute

Insurance Services Office, Inc.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners

National Underwriter Company's Industry Resource Center: This site covers a wide range of topics with weekly updates, as well as contains many links to other insurance organizations.

The American Risk and Insurance Association

U.S. Treasury - Office of Domestic Finance - Terrorism Risk Insurance Program

Lending

Fannie Mae

Freddie Mac

Government National Mortgage Association (GinnieMae)

Historical Mortgage Rates: National monthly averages rates and trending information for the past 20 years.

Municipal Ordinances

American Legal Publishing Codes of Ordinances on the Internet: Some codes of ordinances from 35 different states.

General Code Publishers

Municipal Code Corporation

Seattle Public Library - Municipal Codes Online

Periodicals

American Real Estate Exchange: With a free registration, provides a vast compilation of real estate news and information.

CoStar Group: Current real estate news on national and state level. Market stats/indicators by city.

DIRT: E-mail/Internet discussion group for real estate lawyers; daily updates.

International Real Estate Digest

Loopnet: Real Estate Industry News; lists commercial properties for sale or lease; additional member services.

Real Estate Forum Online

REITNet: Includes industry news, a REIT locator, market trends and a database of 16,000 real estate journal abstracts.

SNL Real Estate Securities Daily: While visiting SNL Interactive, you can retrieve news updates throughout the day, SEC and non-SEC corporate filings, complete market data including index performance and individual stock highlights, and in-depth financial information on individual companies in the real estate industries.

Property Management/Real Estate Consulting

CB Richard Ellis - Local Reports Worldwide: Virtually every one of the hundreds of markets served by CB Richard Ellis is covered with one or more of these local reports, which provide concise information on the local area's recent economic, vacancy, absorption, rental rate and construction trends. Office, industrial, retail and multi-unit housing real estate segments are covered. Regional reports are also available.

Colliers International: Shows real estate conditions in markets around the world from a global, regional and local perspective.

Grubb & Ellis: National real estate market research.

Rating Agencies

A.M. Best Company: Includes insurance company ratings, insurance guide, directory of government regulators, insurance e-news, company profiles and links to Best's Review.