Real Estate Dispatch - 2/15/07
Author: Joshua Dorkin • URL: http://www.biggerpockets.com/February 15th, 2007 •
Its time to hunker back down and kick this blog off with a bang! In our absence over the past week, the world has continued to turn, and inportant information has continued to emerge. We’re back and ready to bring it all to you!
Real Estate Bubble News:
Former Boom Cities going Bust
The Washington Post is reporting that in the final 3 months of 2006, sales fell in 40 states and median home prices declined in close to half of the metro areas surveyed. The biggest percentage decline occurred in Nevada, a drop of 36.1 percent in the sales pace in the final three months of 2006 compared to the same period in 2005. In other former boom areas, Florida saw sales drop by 30.8 percent, in Arizona sales were down 26.9 percent and they fell 21.3 percent in California.
Regional Real Estate:
Wisconsin Residents Could Face 4% Increase in Property Taces
Governor Doyle proposed as much as a 4 percent increase in property taxes in his State Budget address earlier this week. This courageous move should anger many residents, but will likely result in an improved fiscal situation for the cheese state.
Real Estate Radio:
NPR story Is Housing Market Squeezing Out the Middle Class? is worth a listen. In a time when minority homeownership is on the rise, find out why the middle class is in the big squeeze.
Real Estate Junk Rag:
Real Estate Agent & Husband Accused of running $12 Million Drug Ring
Drug agents in Fayette county, Georgia say ReMax agent Blanca Botello helped close the sale on at least a dozen homes used in the operation. The drug ring supposedly used the basements of these vacant homes to grow and traffic marijuana.
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Joshua Dorkin
Charles Feldman
Ted Karsch.
Richard Warren
I knew the real estate business was bad in some areas, but not so bad that the agents resorted to the “drug” business. Even though it’s a serious situation … it is kind of funny tho!
Funny, but sad. Its just another example of a real estate agent showing a lack of ethics. I’m starting to think that the NAR might need to create a higher standard for membership, considering all of the crap seedy agents have been undertaking lately.
And, it doesn’t seem to stop there, there’s also some real issues with mortgage fraud. Ralph Roberts is quoted in the 2007 edition of the Swanepoel Trends Report by saying that more and more people are being sent to jail on charges of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud. This is a major concern to me. What do you think?
Very good information … Good Article.