Foreclosures
by Winston Westbrook
| October 5, 2009
In today’s challenging real estate market where 30 offers on homes out here in Victorville, CA is the norm, (and I’m sure the same applies all over the United States) we need every little bit of information to help our offers stand out from the crowd.
I have made countless offers on REO properties including Freddie Mac deals, and these tips reflect my experience in dealing with them. These are the things that Freddie Mac always counters with and always wants flat out.
When making an offer to purchase a Freddie Mac or Home Steps owned property you should try and follow these guidelines to help your offer stand out from the crowd and help you save a day or two in negotiations with them.
The Top 20 Tips for Making offers on Freddie Mac, Home steps or FHLMC Properties
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Real Estate News
by Peter Giardini
| September 29, 2009
For many real estate investors, these past several months have brought a welcome sigh of relief as homeowners have come into the market in truly satisfying numbers. In many parts of the country the steady downward slide in prices has tapered off and we have been seeing what may be the bottom in terms of further price declines… or NOT!
Are Some Hyping Up the Real Estate Market Too Soon?
The numbers throughout the Summer have been promoted with great fanfare… the Schiller-Case Index and National Board of Realtors proclaiming that prices may have bottomed out and the worst is over. Great news if you can believe it!
While I am delighted that prices have stabilized and even increased in some markets and that home sales over these past several months have been solid and even matching sales volumes from 2005…I have been troubled and what I haven’t been able to put my finger on is this…
With all of the homes going into foreclosure, when will this inventory start to pull this “current” housing recovery down? This Bloomberg article is not good news… and suggests that we have a long way to go before all of the current and projected foreclosed inventory can be absorbed.
So the million dollar question is this… How long can lenders continue to hold their REO inventory?
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A Quiz You Can’t Fail: How Will You Make Money in Real Estate
by Tom Koziol | October 23, 2009As everyone knows, the real estate market is in the tank – at least that is the overall perception. On the other hand, we all have heard that there are people who are still making money in real estate. At least they say they are.
If it is true that people are making money, here is a quiz that should be a no brainer. By the way, this quiz won’t be graded. Not by me at least. You may decide to give yourself a grade just for grins.
The Setting
Lets say you live in a housing market that has been described by a national real estate forecast service as the country’s “weakest housing market.” It is projected to have the biggest decline in value in the next 12 months among all housing markets in the nation with a 12 percent median price dip for both new and existing single-family homes.
In making its determination, the forecast service looked at 260 metro areas using more than 50 variables, including housing supply, population trends, unemployment and inflation. And, speaking of unemployment, your area has just seen a full one percent spike upward.