Real Estate Investing
Foreclosed But Back to Homeownership
Sunday, May 20th, 2012 | Bank owned, Foreclosures, Real Estate Investing, Short Sales | No Comments
More and more, Americans aren’t letting a foreclosure, bankruptcy or short sale prevent them from becoming homeowners again, and quickly. In year’s past, the only option seemed to be renting. But today, as rental prices are on the rise, they want to take advantage of low home prices.
So where is the help coming from for these Americans? The government, in the form of FHA loans. “The number of FHA-insured home loans has soared in recent years as subprime loans have disappeared and fewer Americans have qualified for conventional mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were rescued in 2008 by the U.S. government after loan losses.” Even Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, agreed that banks have become so restrictive that many homebuyers are being squeezed out of the market. By the close of 2011, FHA-backed loans accounted for 30% of loans for home purchases. Critics argue that the FHA loans are putting people right back at risk for default, possibly leading their second chance to yet another loss.
For the full article, click here.
Mortgage Delinquencies at Lowest Since 2008
Sunday, May 20th, 2012 | Bank owned, Foreclosures, Pre-foreclosure | No Comments
Mortgage delinquencies have hit their lowest point in 4 years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, down from 7.58% to 7.4%. This includes mortgage payments that are at least one payment behind, but does not include loans already somewhere in the foreclosure process.
The peak number was over 10%, during the height of the housing crisis. This ease is reflected in mortgages that are one payment behind, as well as those that are more than 90 days behind, which is considered seriously delinquent.
Read the full article here.
Increase in Short Sales Helps Lower Foreclosures
Sunday, May 20th, 2012 | Bank owned, Foreclosures, Pre-foreclosure, Real Estate Investing, Short Sales | No Comments
For the first time since 2007, foreclosure filings were at their lowest for a month in April 2012. This includes default notices, auctions and bank repossessions. Any increases in foreclosure activity were masked by the decline in the three large, hardest hit states of California, Nevada and Arizona.
They were more efficient in processing their foreclosures, therefore have fewer waiting in the wings. The increase in short sales is also helping stem the tide of foreclosure filings. According to Brandon Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac, “Our preliminary first quarter sales data shows that pre-foreclosure sales – typically short sales – are on pace to outnumber sales of bank-owned properties during the quarter in California, Arizona and 10 other states.” Despite this, 26 states still saw an increase in foreclosure starts, while REO activity dropped in 37 states.
Read the full article here.
It’s My Turn To Give Back… Won’t You Join Me?
Friday, May 18th, 2012 | Uncategorized | No Comments
I’m so excited and honored to be a part of an incredible event in about a month – the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s PurpleStride Cleveland. Taking place on Saturday, June 16 at the beautiful Cleveland MetroParks Zoo, PurpleStride is an event to raise awareness, support and funding for pancreatic cancer. This is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. This year, over 44,000 Americans will be diagnosed with the disease, and of those, only 7,000 are expected to survive.
At this year’s PurpleStride, I will be one of the featured speakers and will have the chance to share my story of survival with the thousands of attendees and participants. Last year, over 2,500 people attended, but there were only 14 survivors. The rest were there to support someone or to walk in their memory. I’m one of the lucky ones.
I’ve shared with you that today I’m healthy and 100% cancer free. I will continue to get regular screenings, but have returned to a normal, albeit busy, life. I couldn’t be more grateful for that.
Join me in supporting this cause that is so near and dear to me. Log on today to www.purplestride.org and click on Cleveland from the list of Upcoming Events. There, you can either Register to Attend and join me at the event, or Donate to a Participant/Team if you can’t be there in person. Search for me, Josh Cantwell, or my team, Team Cantwell.
Let’s do this together – join me, my family, friends and staff at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo on June 16 or send in a donation to help me reach my aggressive fundraising goal.
Thanks for your support!
I Lost Big Bucks On This!
Thursday, May 17th, 2012 | Real Estate Investing | No Comments
Dang it.
My pockets are lighter today thanks to a friendly round of golf.
Yesterday I teed off with my friend, local real estate investor, SREC-follower and coach, Matt Rd. Matt specializes in lease option deals, and because of this expertise, he helps teach and train my Sharp Concepts Realty agents everything they need to know about rent-to-own properties – including how to rent and flip them.
Matt and I made a friendly wager on our game, and I’m sad to say I came up short. So, I had to open my wallet and pay up… $2.
BUT, what came out of our game of golf was so worth the cost. We spent the whole round brainstorming. We’re working on incredible upgrades to our lease option training, including Instant Cash Infusion and the Accelerated Investor Pro training program. We focused on ways to deliver cool, unique content while working our way to the greens.
So stay tuned for the results of our brainstorming and training course improvements and you’ll soon be on your way to being a lease option expert.
Here’s proof that I paid my debt. Thanks for a great round, Matt!
200 Banks at Risk to Fail in 2012
Sunday, May 13th, 2012 | Bank owned, Foreclosures, Pre-foreclosure, Real Estate Investing | No Comments
According to a recent report released by Trepp, there are more than 200 banks earmarked for likely failure in 2012. Three have already failed. Georgia has the largest concentration of those identified (41), followed by Florida (32), Illinois (24), and Minnesota (12).
The stats represent a slowdown from this same time last year, with 22 at the end of April 2012, compared to 39 at the end of April 2011. Why the slowdown? Struggling banks are being given more time to course correct, raise capital and improve performance. But, that could mean closures filtering over into next year. Bad commercial real estate loans account for over 70% of non-performing loans at the failing banks, followed closely by residential real estate loans with 25% of the total.
For the full article, click here.
Fannie Mae Avoids Q1 Bailout
Sunday, May 13th, 2012 | Foreclosures, Pre-foreclosure, Real Estate Investing | No Comments
Taxpayers are getting a little breather as Fannie Mae turned a profit at $3.1 billion, passing the $2.8 billion required Treasury payment. This is the first time since going into conservatorship in 2008 that the GSE hasn’t required a draw.
Fannie’s CFO, Susan McFarland, is anticipating continued strong performance results. “Our credit performance is headed in the right direction with significant improvement since 2009, and we expect that the reserves we have built to cover future credit losses on the pre-2009 legacy book of business have reached their peak.” Fannie lowered their reserve for credit losses by $2.3 billion, and the rate of serious delinquencies continues to drop. As for new mortgages? Tighter restrictions such as a 763 FICO score and loan-to-value ratio of 70% ups the screening process.
Read the full article here.
Rentals Overshadow Retail
Sunday, May 13th, 2012 | Foreclosures, Pre-foreclosure, Real Estate Investing | No Comments
The latest numbers from Zillow’s Rent Index are out, and rentals are up across the country. The rent index rose 2% in February 2012 over 2011, while the Home Value Index fell by nearly 5%. In February, foreclosure sales accounted for 20% of all home sales.
“The rental market remains especially strong in areas that continue to experience consistent home value declines,” such as metro Chicago and Philadelphia. There are still problems in the housing market that are getting in the way, such as high negative equity and tons of foreclosures (including the shadow inventory). The increase in rentals is good news, however, especially for real estate investors who are attracted to distressed properties and will decrease overall inventory.
Read the full article here.
My Life in Real Estate – Heights Drive
Saturday, May 5th, 2012 | Real Estate Investing, Real estate short sales | 1 Comment
Take a look at this short video I recorded a couple of weeks ago. It’s an exclusive look into my personal real estate investing business. In the video, I talk about how I was able to raise private capital to fund my real estate transactions. This is a strategy that you can use in your investing business. I received $80,000 from one of my contacts to fund a rehab project. Bought the property on auction.com for $45,500. The remaining money will be used to rehab the house. We anticipate a net profit of $40,000 and 4-5 months to complete. The investor will earn about $8,000 in 6 months. In this video I go through all the paperwork and steps involved in this transaction.
Watch the entire video here.
2012 Could Be a Record Year for Short Sales
Sunday, April 29th, 2012 | Bank owned, Foreclosures, Pre-foreclosure, Real Estate Investing, Real estate short sales, Short Sales | No Comments
Short sales are on the rise. Compared to a year ago, the number of short sales being done increased 33%, according to RealtyTrac. In fact, short sales beat out REO sales in 12 states. In all, 32 states saw an increase in pre-foreclosure sales, typically short sales.
There are also signs that lenders are more willing to accept aggressively priced short sales, as evidenced by the decline in pre-foreclosure home prices. In January, a short sale sold at an average 21% discount, as compared to the price of a non-foreclosure home sale. While the average time it took to complete a short sale actually tripled since 2007 when the average was 113 days, recent efforts have been made to streamline the process. Beginning in June, the GSEs will require servicers to reach a short sale decision within 30 days of receiving an offer.
For the complete article, click here.
Just enter your first name and email in the
box below for free immediate access!
Recent Posts
Categories
