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Housing

Housing

Builders Now Getting Screwed By Banks; Obama Must Deal With Plight Of Home Owners and Builders At Same Time

by Charles Feldman | January 21, 2009

We are officially in the age of Obama now
The market was clearly waiting to hear more from the President on how he intends to fix the credit/housing crisis. And, since he really didn’t address it with any detail in his inauguration speech, investors drove the market way down yesterday.
While many wait to see whether [...]

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Commercial Real Estate

Buy an Apartment Building With a Tool Chest of Knowledge

by Ted Karsch | December 31, 2008

When people first decide to buy an apartment building it is common for them to make a few easily preventable mistakes. The most common error that I see new investors make is not having what I like to refer to as the “investor tool chest”.
For example, if you wanted to build a house you would [...]

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Financing Real Estate

For Real Estate Investors, Finding Good Loans Is Tougher Than Finding Good Deals

by Steve Heideman | December 29, 2008

With home prices falling across most parts of the country, investors in real estate are finding good value in certain rental properties. Unfortunately, they’re also finding it harder to get approved for a home loan.
After getting stung by defaults, conforming mortgage standards for non-owner occupied home loans tightened dramatically last quarter.
One major change was the [...]

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Foreclosures

New Data: Housing Crisis Gets Worse; Many Modified Mortgages Still Delinquent!

by Charles Feldman | December 23, 2008

Housing Bailout Programs Flop!
What programs there are–and there aren’t many–to bail out homeowners who are facing foreclosure are turning out to be total flops according to some new data reported by Reuters News Service.
Apparently, “the rate of re-default on modified mortgages is rising and may worsen as the economy deteriorates,” Reuters quotes banking regulators [...]

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Economy

Gas Prices Alter Housing Values

by Anwell Tsai | December 18, 2008

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the Obama administration is implementing a new energy program. As gas prices rocketed skyward 6 months ago, calls for energy reform were rampant. As the economy slides further into a recession, focus has shifted towards the financial markets, manufacturing, and stabilizing housing prices.

Economist have long argued that even with [...]

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Commentary

It’s The Mortgages, Stupid! Negative Equity Flu Spreads; Whole Town Falls Ill

by Charles Feldman | November 12, 2008

During the Clinton years, it was, “it’s the economy, stupid!” Now, without doubt, “it’s the mortgages, stupid!” Without a major fix, the global economic meltdown, most experts say, will only grow worse.
And, if you think that is not possible, just check out the value of GM shares! They’re so weak, you can almost [...]

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Housing

New Homes Sales UP! Begining Of End For Financial Crisis? Nope. But We Can Dream!

by Charles Feldman | October 28, 2008

Is it here? Has it finally arrived? Is it the much wanted, needed, begged for light at the end of a bankrupt tunnel?
Is it, at last, our collective salvation from a year and a half of financial flu that threatens to turn people around the globe–or their investments at any rate–into dust?
Probably not. But [...]

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Blogs

Dead Cat Bounce or Buying Opportunity?

by Richard Warren | October 20, 2008

When a cat falls, its innate sense of balance allows it to land on its feet, bounce up and prance away without ever losing that smug look of “coolness” on its face. When a dead cat is dropped it too will bounce up only to come crashing back down with a resounding thud. That explains [...]

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Commentary

Wow! A Great Plan To Rescue Homeowners Facing Foreclosure. REALLY!

by Charles Feldman | October 19, 2008

Every now and then, something comes along when I think to myself: Gosh (well, I would probably use a stronger word, but you get the drift), why didn’t I think of that??? I mean, I would have loved to have been the one to invent, say, the airplane, or television (maybe not television) [...]

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Blogs

A Bag Of Money To Buy A Loaf Of Bread?

by Richard Warren | September 29, 2008

As a little boy I used to ask my grandmother to tell me stories of her life as a young girl in Germany. She was always reluctant to talk about it, but I was usually able to coax something out of her. I didn’t understand until I was much older, but her reluctance was a [...]

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Economy

Housing Bailout Quotes of the Day. What Real People think of the Bailout.

by Joshua Dorkin | September 26, 2008

As our great and venerable (throat clears) leaders continue to debate the bailout of banks and millions who cannot afford their homes, I thought that I’d share some quotes that might bring some perspective to the issue:
On the value of money nowadays:

And to think, $50 billion use to sound like an unimaginable amount of money. [...]

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Blogs

That Fateful Day – November 12, 1999

by Richard Warren | September 22, 2008

The oldest among us may remember where they were on October 29, 1929, otherwise known as Black Tuesday, the day the stock market crashed. Members of the Greatest Generation, World War II veterans, will certainly recall where they were on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Baby Boomers have clear memories of [...]

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Economy

Paulson Seeks Congressional Authority To Spend $700B

by Rob K. Blake | September 21, 2008

Hank Paulson is not done asking for more authority to “rescue” us from the mortgage crisis. In his first round of legislative begging, he got Congress to pass The Housing Economic Recovery Act of 2008 which gave him the right to take over Fannie and Freddie putting taxpayers on the hook for their greed [...]

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Credit

BREAKING: Fed Rescues AIG with $85 Billion Loan (bailout) for 80% Ownership Stake

by Joshua Dorkin | September 16, 2008

The snowball that is the US and Global Financial Crisis continued to get larger Tuesday as American International Group (AIG), the nation’s largest insurer came close to collapse. Over the weekend, the Fed failed to provide a $40 Billion bridge loan that the company’s leadership had been pressing for, but late Monday night, the [...]

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Economy

Bond Giant Bill Gross Tells Treasury To Get Out Their Checkbook

by Rob K. Blake | September 6, 2008

Pimco manager Bill Gross is tired of using his fund’s money to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His commentary posted Thursday said the powers that be need to “open up the balance sheet of the US Treasury” which really means in my view “get out your checkbook, Hank, and take care of [...]

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