The Nevada State Legislature recently passed the mortgage mediation law great fanfare. The law was expected to save as many as 17,000 Nevada homeowners from foreclosure. The law, which went into effect July 1st, allows homeowners in default to request a mediation hearing with the lender.
To be eligible a homeowner must have received a notice of default after July 1, 2009. The homeowner must pay a fee of $200 if they request a hearing and the lender is also required to pay a $200 fee. In anticipation of a flood of requests, the state has trained in excess of 100 lawyers and ex-judges to handle the cases.
Where is Everybody?
The official estimates were that between 1,250 and 1,500 homeowners per month would participate in the program. However, after six weeks there have been a total of ten requests. Not ten per day or ten per week, just ten total. That amounts to 1.67 requests per week! How did they get it so wrong?
Have you caught yourself lately thinking, “The sky is falling!”? I sure have. Against my own better judgment, I find myself compelled to make decisions that are based on fear, which is no way to make decisions (no matter how rational that fear may be).
It’s no secret that there are some great deals available on the mls right now in the form of REOs and short sales. I’ve been wholesaling REOs off of the mls for the last two years, and have learned a thing or two about what the banks are looking for in an offer.
As the residential real estate market has seen a massive level of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures over the past twelve months the commercial real estate market so far has not seen the same kind of fallout. However, this could soon change. In fact, 
Last year I had a gas bill for $1400. That was almost one-third of my entire rent for that property for the month. This year, however, I could get bills that are even higher. Meteorologists are predicting the coldest and snowiest winter for the Northeast in years.
Investing in real estate is just that—INVESTING. Risk comes with the territory. The key to successful real estate investing lies in the analysis and due diligence of a potential income property. When done prudently and methodically, the investor’s risk is not only greatly mitigated, but he or she should have clear line of sight as to the property’s return potential. Sounds relatively straightforward, right? Well, this task becomes much harder when the seller tries to make a monetary gain by feeding on the inexperienced investor’s lack of knowledge or inadequate due diligence. Luckily, we’re all savvy investors at BiggerPockets.com and we know how to spot these seller exaggerations and fallacies. Let’s examine some of the common ones.
Joshua Dorkin
Can you Scratch your Way to Success?
by Brendan O'Brien | August 15, 2009$25 is actually a pretty useful amount of money. You could fill the gas tank of a small car, buy a couple of pizzas, or take your honey to the movies, complete with popcorn. $25 feels pretty comfortable in the old wallet.
However, you can’t afford to have fun with your $25. You have to live on it. It’s all the money you have in the world until you can make some more. What’s more, nobody’s going to loan you any money. You don’t have a credit card or any friends or family members you could squeeze for a few extra bucks.