Steve Cook, Author at The BiggerPockets Blog - Page 2 of 6

Archive of Steve Cook

Steve Cook is managing editor of Real Estate Economy Watch and UPI Real Estate, and provides communications consulting services to leading real estate organizations. Previously he was vice president of public affairs for the National Association of Realtors.

Steve has written 82 articles for The BiggerPockets Blog.

Real Estate

Where Not to Buy a Foreclosure in 2013

by Steve Cook February 6, 2013

Above: RealtyTrac’s Worst Places to Buy a Foreclosure Las Vegas? Phoenix? Stockton? Are you kidding me? Those are hallowed names in the history of America’s foreclosure nightmare, cities where subprime defaults set off the firestorms of foreclosures that brought the national housing economy to its knees. They were the markets where modern-day residential investing was born. [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

The Real Estate Market and You: Cloudy is an Understatement

by Steve Cook January 30, 2013

“While the single-family/real estate-owned rentals could grow in the short term — absorbing excess inventory through shadow inventory pipeline — the long-term outlook remains cloudy.” That assessment by HousingWire’s Christina Mylinski may be the understatement of the year. In fact, a lot of experienced investors I know see their world changing quickly. It’s a change [...]

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Real Estate

The Difference Real Estate Investors Make

by Steve Cook January 23, 2013

Perhaps the least appreciated contribution investors make is the virtually invisible role they play by renovating the nation’s deteriorating foreclosed housing stock and returning it to use, providing either affordable rental or ownership housing. For years, investors knew they weren’t getting credit for the positive impact they have on communities. (See Why Investors Were the [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

Are You Ready to Compete with Built-for-Rent?

by Steve Cook January 16, 2013

Say again? That’s right. Home builders are going into the single family rental business one nail at a time. They building new homes from scratch and either selling them to investors or renting them out and managing them through a subsidiary. With inventories of foreclosures and short sales at multi-year lows, their timing is perfect. [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

Don’t Cry for Thee, First-Time Homebuyers

by Steve Cook January 9, 2013

In the world of official real estate, a place populated by trade associations, economists, politicians, poo-bahs and other defenders of the status quo, the first-time homebuyer is sacred. First-time homebuyers inhabit the first rung on the homeownership ladder. Unlike repeat buyers, who sell a home when they buy one, a first-time buyer’s purchase is a [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

Forecast 2013: Foreclosure/ Short Sale Supply and SFR Rental Demand

by Steve Cook January 2, 2013

The answers to two critical questions will largely determine whether market conditions in 2013 will be friendly for small and individual real estate investors. The first question has to do with demand for single family rentals, which are increasingly recognized as a distinct rental category with a tenant quite different than apartment buildings. The second [...]

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Real Estate

2012: The Year That Changed Investing Forever

by Steve Cook December 27, 2012

In reviewing the year that ends next week, “remarkable” may not be an adequate word to describe the unforeseen events and fundamental changes that have taken place in residential real estate investing. “Awesome” comes closer to reality. A Look at the Past Consider the how things stood a year ago. Residential investors were gaining new [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

Hedge Funds Go the REIT Way

by Steve Cook December 20, 2012

Those hedge funds are clever. First they dreamed up a secondary market that would buy up bundles of the single family rentals they are busy buying up. All was going well until the ratings agencies weighed in (see Strike Three: Moody’s Weighs In on Rating SFR Securities and The Rush to Securitize Single Family Rentals: [...]

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Real Estate

The Link Between Rent and Mortgage Payments

by Steve Cook December 12, 2012

In recent years, the fortunes of residential real estate investors and owner-occupants have often diverged, creating the impression the two groups inherently conflict in the marketplace. However, a new analysis by CoreLogic’s Sam Khater suggests that both investors and owners can look forward to a profitable and harmonious 2013. Single family rents and owner-occupied mortgage [...]

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Foreclosures

Foreclosure Update: Looks Like We’ll Be Moist for Years

by Steve Cook December 5, 2012

It’s no secret that markets around the nation are so famished for foreclosures that discounts are shrinking and prices on distress sales are rising faster than they are for “normal” homes. Individual investors, hedge funds flush with cash and first-time buyers desperate for a deal are falling all over each other in some places. Distress [...]

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Real Estate Market

The Investor Swoon: Real Estate Non-event of 2012

by Steve Cook November 28, 2012

I suppose it’s not too early for year-end awards, so I would like to kick off the season with a nomination for Real Estate Non-event of 2012. I call it The Great Investor Swoon that Never Happened. About a year ago when foreclosure inventories started shriveling up and prices started rising, first in Florida foreclosure [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

How Single Family Rentals are Changing the Way America Rents

by Steve Cook November 21, 2012

It’s no secret that single family rentals have provided a haven for families who have lost their homes to foreclosure. Rather, relocating to substantially less-desirable neighborhoods or more crowded living conditions. They are not likely to live in considerably lower quality homes than they did before. Largely because investors have created an affordable alternative, foreclosure [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

Are Foreclosure Discounts Greatly Inflated?

by Steve Cook November 15, 2012

Are you realizing a lot less profit than you anticipated when you sold your last flipped foreclosure? Are inflated discounts conveying a false impression of the REO-to-rental return on investment that is attracting hedge funds like bees to honey? Have you been basing your business plan on foreclosure discounts reported by reputable sources like RealtyTrac [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

Why the Single Family Rental Squeeze Helps Landlords Sleep Better

by Steve Cook November 14, 2012

One of the great unknowns every investor/landlord faces is what the demand for single family rentals will look like one, two or three years out. With record numbers of apartments coming on line beginning this quarter and billion dollar hedge funds moving into the REO-to-rental space, fears are growing that the rental market might encounter [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

When the Greatest Investor in the World Meets the FHFA

by Steve Cook November 7, 2012

The long simmering dispute between the California Association of Realtors, and to a lesser extent, the National Association of Realtors, over bulk sales of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac foreclosures to well-heeled investment partnerships erupted into name-calling and calls for resignations Monday and Tuesday as the rest of the nation focused on electing the next [...]

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