Archive for February, 2010
Bulldozer Beats Foreclosure
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Volcker: Fannie & Freddie a Bad Idea
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
From The Huffington Post:
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said the nation’s home mortgage market is in trouble and will have to be “reconstructed.”
“It’s totally dependent, heavily dependent on government participation,” Volcker said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It shouldn’t be that way. That’s going to have to be reconstructed.”
Foreclosure troubles only hibernating
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
From Marketwatch:
Commentary: Seemingly positive data doesn’t mean it’s spring time for housing
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — You would like so desperately for our housing woes to end that you want to believe the latest numbers on mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures signal a turnaround in the fortunes of American homeowners. But the numbers just don’t ring true.
The Mortgage Bankers Association on Friday said the delinquency rate for loans on one- to four-unit properties in the U.S. fell to 9.47% in the fourth quarter from 9.64% in the third quarter, a sign the group said that the mortgage crisis is easing. The percentage of homeowners entering the foreclosure process also fell from the third quarter.
Commercial Property Investment Strategies
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
From the NYtimes:
Real Estate Looks Risky, but Less So for Bargain Hunters
EVEN a cursory glance at recent events in commercial real estate would make you think the next big collapse is upon us.
Modern Day Ghost Towns
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
- Jason Lankow on 2/12/2009
It may have seemed inevitable given the mortgage meltdown, but it is still shocking when you drive through a neighborhood that seems to be entirely filled with ‘For Sale’ signs. The cities here aren’t entirely deserted, of course, but they are examples of the cities that have been hit hard enough to lead residents to abandon their homes.
Detroit
Detroit’s economy has been hit hard in the last six months, with the Big Three automotive producing companies on the brink of bankruptcy and failure, and in need of government assistance. Due to the manufacturing industry, many experts estimate that the unemployment rate of the Detroit metropolitan area is at a generation-high 21%. Not surprising when 14% of automotive industry workers have been laid off in the last year. As a result of this highly localized recession, there are over twelve thousand abandoned homes in the Detroit area.
Cracking the Real Estate Code
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Is your agent really working for the enemy? A user’s guide to home economics (and how to beat the expert industry).
By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Can You Crack the Code?
Listed below are 10 terms commonly used in real estate ads. Five have a strong positive correlation to the ultimate sales price and five have a strong negative correlation. Which are which? See Answers on the following page.
• fantastic
• granite
• spacious
• state-of-the-art
• !
• Corian
• charming
• maple
• great neighborhood
• gourmet
It’s one of the biggest bets you can place on another person: You hire a real estate agent to sell your home.
She sizes up its charms, snaps some pictures, sets the price, writes a seductive ad, shows the house aggressively, negotiates the offers, and sees the deal through to the end. Sure, it’s a lot of work, but she’s getting a nice cut. On the sale of a $300,000 house, you’ll typically pay a 6 percent agent fee of $18,000. That’s a lot of money. But you tell yourself that you never could have sold the house for $300,000 on your own. The agent knew how to – what’s that phrase she used? – “maximize the house’s value.” She got you top dollar, right?
Hitler Gets Foreclosed
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Weekly Kickoff!
Monday, February 22nd, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
This Week’s Topics:
- $1.5 Billion in Aid Designed to Help Hardest Hit States
- New Home Construction Gains, But More is Needed for a Recovery
- Ohio Foreclosures on the Rise
- 5 Factors That Will Keep Housing Down in the Coming 10 Years
- Landlord Foreclosure Doesn’t Mean Tenants Have to Move
- US Looking to Foreign Investors to Help Fund Housing Market
- REI Clubs Help Expand Your Real Estate Investing Reach
Complete Transparency Eases Back-To-Back Short Sale Transactions
Friday, February 19th, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
Closing two transactions on the same day for the same property can be exhilarating to a real estate investor, but can be nerve-wracking for title companies. These back-to-back closings can give the impression of a shell-game, especially to those whose job it is to uncover fraud in the real estate industry – the title company. If a real estate investor doesn’t know what they’re doing in the short sale process, they can open themselves up to trouble. Short sales are linear in nature, but there are a lot of moving parts, and things can pop up at any point along the way that can threaten the deal. Knowing what to expect and how to adjust will make all the difference to your success. One of the keys to a successful quick-flip short sale transaction is complete transparency.
The Future Is Greek
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
From Slate:
Take a good look at the Greek financial crisis. America could soon face something very similar.
I have seen America’s future, and it is Greece.
By this I do not mean that the Midwest will soon be covered with ancient ruins or that Texans will swap hamburgers for feta cheese. I mean that the ongoing Greek financial crisis is the same kind of crisis the United States might face a few years from now if we continue to make the same kinds of mistakes the Greeks have made over the last decade.
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