Real Estate Market

HUD Raises Limits on Negative Balances for Real Estate Refinance through HARP

by Steve Heideman | July 7, 2009

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this past week extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program to borrowers who are up to 25 percent upside-down on mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The previous threshold was 105 percent, or owing 5 percent more than the value of the home. To qualify for [...]

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Blogs

Pity The Retail Seller

by Richard Warren | May 25, 2009

Home sales in many markets are dominated by bank REOs, or Real Estate Owned as foreclosures are called after they have gone back to the bank. Generally these REOs will sell below market and can be a great deal for the buyer. However in areas that have an overabundance of REOs they do not sell [...]

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Commercial Real Estate

Apartment Building Foreclosures Create a Buyers Market for Apartment Buildings

by Ted Karsch | May 19, 2009

Many apartment buildings are now facing foreclosure because of falling prices, stricter underwriting guidelines and 5 year mortgages becoming due. For the astute buyer of apartment buildings these apartment building foreclosures could represent an investment windfall. Image via Wikipedia As a glaring symbol of the burst bubble in national residential real estate prices, the National [...]

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Blogs

When A Lender Reneges On A Pre-Approval

by Richard Warren | April 27, 2009

It has become common for builders and real estate agents to require a pre-qualification or pre-approval from a lender prior to working with them on the purchase of a home. This is done so that the builder or agent doesn’t spend a lot of time with someone who will not be able to get [...]

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Economy

Obama’s Making Home Affordable Plan Update

by Steve Heideman | April 20, 2009

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Sean Donovan was on Bloomberg this morning discussing the state of housing and the Obama Making Home Affordable Plan. There are some signs that the program is starting to work.”I think we have a good balance of carrots and sticks” said Donovan when asked about banks and servicers working [...]

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Economy

Outsized Economic Stimulus Packages can Cause Long Term Harm to Mortgage Rates

by Steve Heideman | January 20, 2009

After a strong start Monday and Tuesday, mortgage markets suffered alongside stock markets in the latter half of last week, leaving mortgage rates higher on the week overall. Market losses were especially steep Friday and mortgage rates headed into the long weekend on a strong uptick. Regardless, the reasons that mortgage rates rose last week [...]

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Real Estate Market

Great Job Markets Usually Mean Great Housing Markets,

by Brendan O'Brien | January 11, 2009

Here’s a link to the best 30 job markets in the nation, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they include some of the 30 best housing markets in the nation as well. By that, I mean housing markets where the current prices are relatively low, and [...]

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Economy

10 Economic Indicators You Should Know

by Anwell Tsai | January 8, 2009

1. Average workweek of production workers in manufacturing 2. Average initial weekly claims for unemployment 3.New orders for consumer goods and materials, inflation adjusted 4. Vendor Performance 5. New orders, non-defense capital goods 6. New building permits issued 7. Index of stock prices 8. Money supply, adjusted for inflation 9. Interest rate spread: 10 yr [...]

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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 [...]

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Landlord Tenant

Current Market Conditions and Rental Cash Flow

by Troy Schuricht | October 16, 2008

The perfect storm is underway to help landlords cash flow on their rental purchases in certain market places. The dramatic decrease in home prices, underwriting guidelines that require larger down payment, low interest rates and the increased number of renters can lead to more cash flow for investors. Market places across the country have seen [...]

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Commentary

Newspeak or Bankspeak?

by Ted Karsch | September 16, 2008

The parallel I find most striking between the language used by financial executives and the language used by the fascists in 1984 are what Orwell referred to as “Newspeak”.

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Real Estate Investing

“Doom and Gloom” Media Good For Real Estate Investors

by Rob K. Blake | August 31, 2008

The media reports of late are all “doom and gloom” focusing on foreclosure numbers, price declines, and inventory levels. One might start believing real estate as an investment class is a bad pick and could stay that way for a long time. Don’t believe it for a second…but before I make my case, let’s start [...]

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Economy

Greenspan Gives Guidance on Housing Market

by Rob K. Blake | August 16, 2008

Alan Greenspan, the controversial former Fed Chairman, in an interview by the Wall Street Journal’s David Wessel gave us a few pearls of wisdom to ponder about the state of the housing market. He starts out with a prediction calling for a stabilized market by summer of 2009. Greenspan admits depending on the size of [...]

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BiggerPockets News

On the Brink of Rebellion: National Priorities and the Housing Crisis

by Tom Koziol | August 8, 2008

A friend of mine sent me to this website: National Priorities Project The headline on the page reads: National Priorities Project analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent. There is a link titled Affordable Housing Units on the page that tells you how many [...]

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Commentary

The Mortgage Crisis: Watch Out For The BIG Wave

by Charles Feldman | August 5, 2008

It’s NOT over yet! In fact, it may have only just begun? We have already seen the economic destruction wrought by the so-called sub-prime mortgage crisis, as foreclosures escalated in many parts of the country, contributing greatly to putting the credit market in a tailspin from which it has yet to recover and may not [...]

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