home sales
Home Sales Weakest in 13 Years
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 | Real Estate Investing | No Comments
Existing home sales are on pace to hit the weakest level in 13 years, if the first half of this year is any indication. Sales numbers fell again in June by .8%, following a weak Spring, according to the National Association of Realtors. The news has been the same for four out of the past five years. The most recent decline represents the lowest number since November, and is the result in an upswing in cancellations of pending contracts. Last year only 4.91 million homes were sold and we’re behind that pace already. We’re not out of the woods yet.
Right now, the percentage of Americans who own their home is at 65.9%; the lowest rate on record is 62.9% in 1965. In 2004, the high was 69.2%. Families are losing their homes to foreclosure, unemployment and strict mortgage requirements. Home equity values continue to fall.
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Cities Still Registering Low Home Prices
Saturday, July 2nd, 2011 | Bank owned, Foreclosures, Pre-foreclosure, Real Estate Investing | No Comments
The housing market is not yet gaining the momentum it needs to recover. In the most recently released report from Case-Shiller. Robert Shiller predicts property values will continue to fall another 10-25% in the coming five years. Nineteen out of 20 major cities showed a year-over-year drop. Washington was the only area to show an increase (4%). Some cities actually hit new lows from 2006-2007, which Cleveland, Detroit and Las Vegas hit their lowest levels in more than a decade.
The housing market is not hitting its’ stride yet. Sales of previously-owned homes were down 3.8% in May over April. New home prices dropped for the first time in three months – by 2.1%. One factor in this is continued competition in the number of foreclosed homes on the market – sitting at an inventory of 1.8 million homes. That group alone will take years to move.
Borrowing is still difficult. People are feeling less wealthy and equity is shrinking. The unemployment rate is still hanging at around 9%. Developers are less willing to take risks on building new homes that will just sit vacant. The housing market is still a direct impact on the overall US economic recovery.
Amazingly, there are still huge opportunities for the educated real estate investor to capitalize on and thrive in today’s market. To find out more, click here.
Investors Rule the West Coast
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 | Bank owned, Foreclosures, Real Estate Investing, Real estate short sales | No Comments
If you’re a real estate investor on the West coast, you’re sitting in a great position these days. Why? Because according to ForeclosureRadar, “third-party investors are reselling foreclosure properties they’ve scooped up at auction at a rapid pace in states along the country’s western seaboard,” including California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon. Here’s the best part – investors are moving distressed homes faster than banks are.
ForeclosureRadar tracks foreclosures and auction activity in the states listed above, and has seen one consistent statistic in all those states in May – a decrease in the amount of time investor’s need to sell properties purchased at foreclosure auctions. For example, in Arizona, investors were able to sell properties in 95 days, versus 150 days for banks. In California, it took just 134 days, versus 227 for banks. Similar numbers were seen in Nevada, Washington and Oregon.
The reason for this gap is that investors have “become better at turning a foreclosure into a marketable property that attracts buyer interest,” according to the CEO of ForeclosureRadar.
To read more, click here.
To learn more about kicking your real estate investing into high gear, it’s easy to get started – just click on the “Click here to gain access” button in the box to the right – “Join Josh on the 4 Strategies That Create An Instant Cash Infusion Online Event.”
Finding Your Sweet Spot
Friday, September 17th, 2010 | Real Estate Investing, Short Sales | No Comments
Unless you narrow down the geographical range of where you intend to buy houses, you may be stuck in your car for hours each day driving from appointment to appointment. This really isn’t a good use of time. We call this finding your “real sweet spot.” You need to quickly identify those parts of town where you think you have the best chance of buying and selling houses. Sounds easy, right? It is, until you realize that while you put your office on the West Side of town because that was your planned target area, you now you find yourself making multiple trips every day to the East Side to see property! So plan on reevaluating every six months and adjusting your marketing accordingly. Here’s what we did to give ourselves a strong start:
- Through trial and error we identified our “sweet spot” – what neighborhoods, zip codes, what kind of houses, and what range of values would resell quickly. This took six months.
- We made a commitment to be specific about where we wanted to work and seldom deviated to chase long shot deals in parts of town that were unfamiliar to us; and
- We held firm on costs, eschewing bolder forms of advertising like television, radio and billboards that would have flooded us with unqualified leads at steep price.
Home Appraisals Receiving Tighter Scrutiny
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010 | Bank owned, Foreclosures, Real Estate Investing | No Comments
The days of quick home appraisals seem to be coming to an end, even at times being problematic. Lenders are becoming more demanding, and often calling for second appraisals on a home before giving the green light. Where does this stem from? Of course, from the problematic home loans of the past that got us into this housing crisis in the first place. Lenders and buyers are being more cautious. For example, a lender may scrutinize an appraisal if a borrower has a marginal credit score or high debt level relative to income, or if the property was in foreclosure and was fixed and flipped by an investor. Appraisals are based on historic data, and therefore often lag behind home values. Inadequate comps might present a problem – if the comps are deemed too far away from the subject house, or the sale happened too long ago. A second appraisal starts from scratch, and involves a whole second set of costs, traditionally paid by the buyer. Finally, lenders might order a second appraisal if the first one is based on factual errors or the appraiser wasn’t competent in the area.
Pending Home Sales on the Rise?
Thursday, September 9th, 2010 | Real Estate Investing | No Comments
Is this truly a good sign or just a diversion from what’s really going on? It’s good news, and for now I think we have to take what we can get. The National Association of Realtors reported last week that pending home sales have actually risen 5.2% over last month’s numbers. This number reflects contracts, not closings. Many think this increase represents an end to the post-tax credit lull in home sales. Pending sales are up in every part of the country. The Northeast saw an increase of 6.3%; the Midwest’s index rose 4.1%; the South posted a 1.2% gain; and the West was the big leader, with an 11.6% increase. Even though this is good news, the economic climate is not strong enough to indicate a recovery. It’s still going to be a waiting game, and sometimes a painful one, at that.
Urgent Industry Update
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 | Foreclosures, Pre-foreclosure, Real Estate Investing, Short Sales | No Comments
My Partner Jeff Watson, and real estate investing industry advocate John Grant are holding an urgent industry update call this Thursday night at 8:30pm Eastern, 5:30pm Pacific.
Their mission: to make you aware of and education you on the latest information regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and help establish a voice for real estate investors in Washington.
If you’re an active real estate investor or just getting started in the industry YOU NEED TO BE ON THIS CALL. The information they plan to share directly affects you and the future of real estate investing as we know it.
This isn’t hype, I’m frighteningly serious.
Jeff and John will discuss potentially disturbing changes happening in Washington regarding real estate investors.
Click here to register for the call.
Point blank: This WILL RESHAPE REAL ESTATE in America – the ownership of property, and how it is bought and sold. This will directly impact what we do as real estate investors.
Get on this extremely important webinar Thursday to get all of the details.
For more information and to register, click here.
Talk soon,
Josh Cantwell
P.S. This will be the most important thing you do this week.
Tips to Make Your House Stand Out to Buyers
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 | Foreclosures, Real Estate Investing | No Comments
If you’re trying to sell a house on the retail market, you’re likely up against a lot of competition.
So, what’s it going to take to get the attention of buyers? You need to make your house stand out from any other on the market. We’ve heard the statistics and know what we’re facing – sluggish sales of new homes, and plunging sales of existing homes. But, that doesn’t mean you have to give up. There’s things that you can do to make your house as attractive to buyers as possible, including the following:
- Price competitively – research similar homes in your area that are for sale and set your asking price as competitively as possible. Buyers won’t want to haggle if they can get a comparable house down the street for less money.
- “We’re Not in Foreclosure!” – making it known that you’re a traditional seller means your house is probably in better condition than ones in foreclosure – things are being maintained and the lawn is being mowed. Sellers can also offer little perks like credit towards closing costs.
- Best foot forward – curb appeal matters. Showcase the property as best you can inside and out.
- Professional photos – consider hiring a professional photographer to spotlight the best features of the house, in photos and video.
- Consider renting – renting or leasing can be a great alternative in a tough market.
Existing Home Sales Plunge in July
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 | Bank owned, Foreclosures | No Comments
We’ve hit another record, and not a good one.
In July, sales of existing homes plunged to the lowest levels in 15 years, despite super low mortgage rates and bargain home prices. In July, sales fell by more than 27%, marking the largest monthly drop since 1968. Of course, fears in the housing market magnified fears about the broader economy. With the inevitable double-dip, things may only get worse. The housing market is undermining the faltering economic recovery. The hardest felt range was lower to mid-priced houses. In the Midwest, homes prices between $100,000-$250,000 fell by 47%. This record comes off a strong spring, when the government-sponsored tax credits provided a much-needed boost. Slower sales means more houses being added to the inventory levels, resulting in a 12.5 month supply of homes at the current pace of sales. Also adding to the plunge is high unemployment rates, increasing foreclosures and a standoff between buyers and sellers on price. Sellers are reluctant to lower prices too far, and buyers are reluctant to purchase, fearing prices will continue to drop.
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