November 2009
Commercial Real Estate by Ted Karsch | November 5, 2009 
The IRS has issued a new rule IRS Revenue Procedure 2009-45 IRS Revenue Procedure 2009-45 that eases the restrictions on modifications of commercial mortgages that have been packaged into commercial mortgage backed securities. This action allows borrowers to open discussions with the loan servicer prior to any default in an attempt to work out the [...]
Read the full article → Real Estate Wholesaling by Stephani Davis | November 5, 2009 
When I was just getting started as a wholesaler, one of my greatest fears was that I was not going to be able to estimate repair costs accurately for my end buyers. I had no prior rehab experience, and the thought of learning the costs involved in rehabbing an entire house was extremely intimidating to [...]
Read the full article → Entrepreneurship by Christian Russell | November 5, 2009Having a mission is important. To run a successful business, you need to be on a mission. Yet many of us small business owners (particularly real estate investors and professionals) skip writing a mission statement. Companies put their mission statement on the wall, not because it’s cheesy but because it’s important. Actually, many company mission [...]
Real Estate Investing by Shae Bynes | November 5, 2009 
(This blog post is for the newbies, but for those who have crossed the line into actual real estate investor, I believe there’s something in here for us all!) As someone who was an inexperienced real estate investor only two years ago, I can completely relate to the challenge of moving from an aspiring real [...]
Read the full article → Real Estate Marketing by Jason Hanson | November 4, 2009 
I was driving around Baltimore City earlier this week. At a stoplight I got stuck behind an SUV with a sticker on its back window that read “lose 10 pounds in 10 minutes, call XXX”. I immediately laughed and thought to myself, “yeah right.” Why did I think this? Because it wasn’t honest and it [...]
Read the full article → Housing by Peter Giardini | November 4, 2009The funny thing about bubbles is that sooner or later they burst. Once again I get to be the master of understatement. What fun! After having survived these past 2+ years as each of us has watched the housing bubble burst in most parts of the country and deflate everywhere else, we are being told [...]
Real Estate Marketing by Ben Roberts | November 4, 2009 
I’m a marketing director at a real estate firm. If I had to sum up what I do every day in three words it would be, “I generate leads.” It’s both much easier and much harder than you would think. Confused? Let me take you inside and show you why everyone in the real estate [...]
Read the full article → Commentary by Charles Feldman | November 3, 2009 
If there really is an economic recovery underway–no matter how weak–one sure thing that would kill it is a devastating collapse of the commercial real estate market. And, I’m afraid, that is exactly what appears to be shaping up in the not very distant future. A survey by the Real Estate Roundtable (which sounds like [...]
Read the full article → Financing Real Estate by Florence Foote | November 3, 2009 
One study of mortgages during the Great Depression found that almost half of urban, owner-occupied homes (on which there was a mortgage) were in default by 1934. The government’s answer was to sponsor the creation of Fannie Mae in 1938 (or as it is really called, the Federal National Mortgage Association), which was, and still [...]
Read the full article → Entrepreneurship by Ryan Moeller | November 3, 2009 
If something takes 5 minutes a day, but saves countless hours and drastically improves your success would you do it? 100% of you are saying yes right now . . . now I want you to commit one whole year to doing this before you have the chance to back out. You will be amazed [...]
Read the full article → Commercial Real Estate by Christina Inman | November 2, 2009In what is an interesting phenomenon, apartment vacancies have hit their highest point since 1986 in cities across the country. According to Reis Inc., a New York real-estate research firm that tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 U.S. markets, the vacancy rate reached 7.8% this summer, which is normally a strong period for [...]
Landlord Tenant by Brendan O'Brien | November 2, 2009I was astonished to hear these words coming from a seasoned investor – somebody I respect a lot. “I need to rent the place for at least $1,200,” he said. “I won’t rent it until I can get at least that.” The rental unit in question had been sitting vacant for about six months. It [...]
Mortgages & Lending by Kyle Koller | November 2, 2009Most real estate investors acquire income properties by obtaining a loan. As you are probably aware, maximizing loan funds (or OPM—Other People’s Money) maximizes leverage and, thus, maximizes returns. The right loan product can easily make or break a real estate investment deal. As such, exploring various loan characteristics is more than warranted. Lender Recourse [...]
Economy by Richard Warren | November 2, 2009 
Government efforts to stimulate the economy and prevent the recession from being as deep as it could have been have met with mixed results and that’s not a big surprise. When you spend $787 Billion on so many different programs you will have some that work, others that are so-so and some that are complete [...]
Read the full article → Real Estate Marketing by Peter Kolat | November 1, 2009In the last weeks, I wrote part 2 of my short series on 7 different internet marketing strategies for driving a lot of traffic to a real estate website without relying on search engines. Dozens of people re-tweeted that post and several commented on it. I wanted to thank you for your support here — [...]
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Joshua Dorkin
U.S. Commercial Real Estate At Death’s Door; Next Shoe Ready To Drop
by Charles Feldman | November 3, 2009If there really is an economic recovery underway–no matter how weak–one sure thing that would kill it is a devastating collapse of the commercial real estate market. And, I’m afraid, that is exactly what appears to be shaping up in the not very distant future. A survey by the Real Estate Roundtable (which sounds like [...]