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Richard Warren

Economy

Real Estate, The Stimulus And…Golf Carts?

by Richard Warren | November 2, 2009
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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 [...]

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Mortgages & Lending

Nevada’s Home Loan Modification Law Ignored

by Richard Warren | October 26, 2009
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What if you had a home modification law that everyone ignored? In its 2009 legislative session the State of Nevada passed a law requiring loan modification companies to be licensed. The law, which recently took effect, not only required a license but the companies were also required to post a $75,000 surety bond. It seemed [...]

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Real Estate

Las Vegas’ Biggest Cheerleader

by Richard Warren | October 19, 2009

I had the opportunity to speak with the Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, a few nights ago. He was the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the Real Estate Insiders Club. In an era of much pessimism about the Las Vegas real estate market, Mayor Goodman is the voice of unbridled optimism. It was a refreshing change.

Mayor Oscar GoodmanThe meeting was held on the 24th floor of the Newport Lofts high-rise condominium in downtown Las Vegas. With breathtaking views of the Las Vegas strip as a backdrop, Mayor Goodman gushed about what the future holds for the City of Las Vegas. While one would expect any incumbent politician to exude optimism, Mayor Goodman could back it up with facts and accomplishments.

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Economy

Déjà vu All Over Again In The Mortgage World

by Richard Warren | October 12, 2009

FHA Logo3Where have we seen this before? A major backer of home mortgages may need a bailout. Oh yeah, that was right here. Wasn’t it only a year ago that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed a bailout to save them from themselves? They had so many bad loans on the books because of lax rules and loose oversight.

Now it seems that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is in trouble. According to an article in the New York Times (article) 20% of loans insured last year and another 24% of those from 2007, are in serious trouble.

Didn’t They Learn?

Banks all across the country have tightened lending standards requiring that the borrowers actually have the ability to repay. Imagine that! It seems that just throwing money at anyone who can fog a mirror is not good business. While people complain about how tough it is to get a loan now, they are better off in the long term.

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Social Media

Networking Your Way to Real Estate Success

by Richard Warren | October 5, 2009

networking meetingAre you hiding behind your computer or are you out there? Lately there have been a number of articles touting the benefits of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and, yes, BiggerPockets. While those sites can be a great benefit to your business, they are no substitute for being ‘out there.’

I’ve written articles before touting the benefits of networking (article) but thought that it was time to revisit the subject. The holiday season is fast approaching and that will give you many opportunities to network. However, many people view networking as a chore, but it doesn’t have to be.

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Real Estate

Selecting a Realtor in a Small Town

by Richard Warren | September 28, 2009

Any real estate investor knows that having a strong real estate team is an essential part of the business. You need your attorney, accountant, title officer, lender and real estate agent. The last two are probably the most important. Today we’ll talk about selecting an agent.

Ely, NevadaIn a city or a large town it’s fairly easy. You probably have hundreds of agents to choose from and you just keep going until you select one that meets your needs.  Choosing someone to work with in a very small town is a horse of a different color. You may need to choose from a very small number and it’s possible that none of them will seem to fit the bill. I was recently faced with having to make that choice myself when it was time to list a property.

Defining the Parameters

Most of my properties are in the small mining town of Ely in northeastern Nevada. It is actually a very good real estate market with a strong demand for rentals. When I first started rehabbing there several years ago I had the opportunity to work with a truly outstanding agent. She knew the market and understood rehabbing and investment. Unfortunately after watching me make a lot more money than she did, she decided to go into rehabbing with her contractor husband and she left the business.

When she left I started working with the first agent’s associate. That worked out well until that agent left the area because of her husband’s job transfer. It was back to the drawing board for me. I defined what I was looking for in an agent and began my search.

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Economy

How’s the Economy? Check Your Underwear

by Richard Warren | September 21, 2009

underweareconomyThere are a multitude of economic indicators to use as a barometer of the economy. Many are extremely complex, while others are fairly simple. One of the more unusual ones actually seems to make a lot of sense. Look at your underwear drawer!

I was recently reading an article in the Washington Post (article) and assumed that it must have been a slow news day. The reporter was talking about how consumer confidence can be gauged by the underwear you keep. It seems that there is even a Men’s Underwear Index (MUI), and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sees it as a credible means of tracking consumer sentiment.

Replenishment Item

The theory behind the index is that men will replace their underwear as it wears out. However, when times are tough they will wait longer than usual before purchasing a replacement. So when money is tight the sales of boxers and briefs are in the toilet. When people feel better about the economy again you will see the sales rise.

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Commentary

Las Vegas: Record Sales & Dwindling Supply – So Why Are Prices Still Falling?

by Richard Warren | September 14, 2009

Welcome_to_vegasThe economic law of supply and demand says that when demand increases and supply falls, prices are sure to rise. Apparently that law has an asterisk that says “except for Las Vegas.”

For months now I’ve been hearing about how brisk sales have been, especially in the REO, or foreclosure, market. Looking at the numbers you will see that the available supply has been steadily trending down and sales have been setting all-time records. A bank puts an REO on the market and within days there are multiple offers on the property. So why are prices still falling?

On The Street

One realtor that I know specializes in these REO properties. What he sees are a lot of cash buyers from other areas stepping in. That would seem to mean that investors are seeing the value while local buyers are still gun-shy. Are they missing a golden opportunity?

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Real Estate Market

A Tale of Two Real Estate Cities

by Richard Warren | September 7, 2009

It was the worst of times and it was even worse than that. A recent Case-Shiller housing report finally showed some hopeful signs recently. The report showed that housing prices for the second quarter of this year were up for the first time in three years for 18 of the 20 markets that were tracked. The two that were down? Detroit and Las Vegas.

The two markets were very much the same, yet so different. The same in that they are still showing price declines but the future outlook for each is like night and day.

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Blogs

Has the Real Estate Supertanker Finally Turned?

by Richard Warren | August 31, 2009

For the past several years it seems that every time you ran into a real estate agent he would proclaim that the market was at the bottom and it was time to buy. Of course, that was nothing more than the agent’s vested interest speaking. The market continued to slide in just about every city. Some fared worse than others, but few areas of the country were spared.

Supertanker

Many inexperienced and even some veteran investors have an expectation that the real estate market can turn on a dime in the manner of a speedboat. Perhaps they think it’s more like the stock market, which can swing wildly from one trading session to the next. However, real estate is more like a supertanker in that it takes a long time to change course. The reason for that is simply the lack of instant liquidity and the time it takes to complete each transaction.

Recent Data

There is good news. The latest report from the Case-Shiller U.S National Home price Index shows that real estate prices have shown their first quarterly increase in three years. Does that mean that the bear market in real estate prices is over? Not by a long shot. There are many foreclosures on the horizon and the national economy is still hurting. However, it’s a start.

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Real Estate Investing

The Best Real Estate Deal Might be the One You Never Do!

by Richard Warren | August 24, 2009

Sometimes your best real estate deal may be the one you don’t make. As realDSC00838 estate investors we are always looking for the next “perfect” opportunity. You look around and see potential everywhere and are afraid of missing out. If you aren’t careful it can lead to a fatal case of gotta-do-a-deal-itis.

In your quest to stay in the game you may convince yourself that a marginal deal is one worthy of your attention. Even worse, you may find yourself ignoring warning signs about the potential investment or the market as a whole. When you are knee-deep in the investment world it isn’t always easy to remain objective but your long-term survival depends on it.

Case in Point

A couple of years ago I was offered the opportunity to partner on a rehab deal. Another investor had found what seemed like a great opportunity but was short on cash. I had cash looking for an opportunity so I looked at the deal. It was an REO (foreclosure) in a blue-collar section of Las Vegas. It was an area that had reasonable demand and there was enough of a profit margin in the deal to make it attractive. I was in and we moved ahead with the plan.

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Blogs

What If We Had A Mortgage Mediation Party And Nobody Came?

by Richard Warren | August 17, 2009

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.

Nevada CapitolTo 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?

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Real Estate

Pterodactyls, Dodo Birds, & Hard Money Lenders

by Richard Warren | August 10, 2009

Is the hard money lender (HML) extinct? At the height of the boom they were everywhere and they couldn’t give away money fast enough. We know what happened to conventional lenders, they tightened their credit standards to the point that it can be almost impossible for even qualified borrowers to obtain financing. Wouldn’t this make HMLs even more valuable? Couldn’t they command even better terms for their loans?

Dodo Bird

They certainly are more valuable and could command better terms if they had money to lend. Just who are these HMLs and where are they hiding? The majority of these lenders are no longer in business. They had companies with fancy sounding names and nice websites, but many of them were no more sophisticated than the novice investors they were lending to.

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Blogs

Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

by Richard Warren | August 3, 2009
Dog Tunnel
There are plenty of mixed signals on the economy today. Each bad report is followed by something good only to be followed yet again by something negative. This is actually a good thing. It wasn’t that long ago that the news was almost universally bad. The mixed signals are actually a sign that things may really be improving.
The housing numbers for June were positive in terms of sales with new construction reporting a gain of 11% and re-sales posting a 4% increase. The flip side shows that prices were still falling. Some of these sales can certainly be attributed to the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit, but they’re still sales. So we have the good and the bad, but it is nowhere near as ugly.

More Pain to Come

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Blogs

What The Yellow Pages Can Tell You About The Economy

by Richard Warren | July 27, 2009
 
“The new phone books are here, the new phone books are here!”That was a line from Steve Martin in the movie The Jerk, heDex YP was finally “somebody” because his name was in the phonebook. Well, today I received the latest edition of the Dex yellow pages directory for Las Vegas. Without even opening it, I saw a snapshot of the local economy.
 
 Las Vegas was a city that was growing so fast that the yellow pages were published twice a year, January and July, the only market in the country to do so. There were so many new businesses opening up that the publisher, R.H. Donnelley, felt that they couldn’t make someone wait as long as twelve months to advertise. With each edition the book was bigger and heavier as more and more businesses advertised.
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