January 2009

How Far Down Can My Savings Go for a Down Payment?

by Meghan Busch | January 13, 2009

A couple weeks ago in the post, “Would I, Could I, in a House?” we talked about the proverbial housing market stars aligning: Low Down Payments on FHA loans, Low Mortgage Interest Rates, and Low Housing Prices. On account of which I’ve been more purchase-minded. Inundated with “Information” Being a first-time buyer (or, house-hunter I should say), [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Economy

How are Mortgage Markets Responding to the Largest Job Loss since 1945?

by Steve Heideman | January 12, 2009

In 2009’s first full week of trading, mortgage bond markets traded back-and-forth, eventually closing the week improved overall. Weekly mortgage rates fell for the first time since mid-December. The most anticipated news of last week was Friday’s jobs report. According to government’s press release, the economy shed another 524,000 jobs in December, raising 2008’s total [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

BiggerPockets News

BiggerPockets Launches Real Estate Company Index: Free Profiles for Real Estate Companies

by Joshua Dorkin | January 12, 2009

One of the nice things about BiggerPockets, in my opinion, is that we try to focus on people interacting with one another. We don’t allow members to travel the site using a company avatar because it is just plain impersonal. The internet is impersonal enough, and we’re working very hard to change that, particularly in [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Blogs

A National GO Zone?

by Richard Warren | January 12, 2009

When portions of the gulf coast states, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Government stepped in to create the Gulf Opportunity Zone, or GO Zone. The idea was that the best way to attract private investors to the area was to create tax incentives that were too good to [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Market

Great Job Markets Usually Mean Great Housing Markets,

by Brendan O'Brien | January 11, 2009

Here’s a link to the best 30 job markets in the nation, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they include some of the 30 best housing markets in the nation as well. By that, I mean housing markets where the current prices are relatively low, and [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Commentary

The BiggerPockets Real Estate Show (sort of): Episode 4 – Countrywide Rant

by Joshua Dorkin | January 10, 2009

This episode features hosts Joshua Dorkin & Charles Feldman talking about predatory lending and how lenders won’t work with borrowers regarding pre-payment penalties unless they fall behind on their loan. The topic hits home with Josh and he tells Countrywide how he really feels about it.

5 comments Read the full article →

Commentary

Madoff Scandal Fallout: Do Investors Care?

by Matt Pitcher | January 10, 2009

This was a question posed by an editorial in a prominent financial news media publication recently. I have asked myself the same question. For those of us whose primary objective is raising capital and attracting authentic, unique, and compelling opportunities for that capital, the Madoff scandal could not have come at a worst time. Or [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Commentary

Shame on Barney Frank – Democrats No Help To Foreclosure Victims Either

by Rob K. Blake | January 10, 2009

I have written here on BiggerPockets extensively on the complete lopsidedness of the banking bailout and how the preference was given early on to helping Wall Street fat-cats over Main Street foreclosure victims. The bailout bill created the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP), funded it with $750 Billion of which about $350 Billion still remain [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Commentary

My Wish For You In 2009

by Tom Koziol | January 9, 2009

This 2009 wish isn’t original. I received it in an email from a friend but it seemed so appropo for us real estate investor types I felt the need to pass it on. Heck, it may even be called a real estate investor’s prayer. May peace break into your house and may thieves come to [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Mortgages & Lending

Is Private Lending Right For You?

by Rosie Nieto | January 9, 2009

More and more pension plan, IRA, CD, Stock Market investors are opening their eyes to trust deed investing because it allows them to be in charge of their money. Being a private lender is a way for someone to move from being a passive investor, which allows your stock broker or pension plan manager decide [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Economy

10 Economic Indicators You Should Know

by Anwell Tsai | January 8, 2009

1. Average workweek of production workers in manufacturing 2. Average initial weekly claims for unemployment 3.New orders for consumer goods and materials, inflation adjusted 4. Vendor Performance 5. New orders, non-defense capital goods 6. New building permits issued 7. Index of stock prices 8. Money supply, adjusted for inflation 9. Interest rate spread: 10 yr [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Commentary

Mortgage/Housing Crisis Hits Latinos: The Press Spins it Again!

by Joshua Dorkin | January 8, 2009

The Associated Press just released a troubling article regarding the Latino community and the housing crisis. If you were to glimmer through the headline and a paragraph or two, you’d think that Latinos are helping drive the housing crisis as a whopping 9 percent happen to be behind in their mortgage payments. Nearly one in [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate

How Speculators (Investors?) Dominate Real Estate Sales, and May be Blamed for Further Crashes

by Joshua Dorkin | January 7, 2009

According to to Bloomberg: As the U.S. housing recession enters its fourth year, there’s no sign of a recovery because speculators account for most of the rise in sales. While the purchases are trimming the inventory of unsold properties, most of those bought by speculators will likely return to the market when prices rise again, [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate

The Most In-Depth Real Estate Case Study-Part Cinco

by Jason Hanson | January 7, 2009

One of my New Year’s goals was to continue to read multiple newspapers every day. I read the Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Investor’s Business Daily. Recently, Investor’s Business Daily has become my favorite paper. On page two or three of the paper, they profile a successful person every day and also [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate

Real Estate / Financial Crisis Turns Deadly; Crisis-Related Suicides Expected To Rise

by Charles Feldman | January 7, 2009

The subprime mortgage turned banking turned credit crisis has morphed, as expected, into a killer. They may not be jumping out of Wall Street windows as some reportedly did after the 1929 crash, but they are walking in front of trains in Germany and slitting their wrists with box cutters in New York. Of course, [...]

6 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →