Housing Prices Fall | Why Would Anyone Still Be A Realtor?

Okay, I get it, you’re not in it for the money. You’re on a second or third career and you’re just coasting now. You’re an empty nester and it makes you feel good to think you’re in business. You love the camaraderie of being around other real estate agents (i.e. read misery loves company)

Whatever you’re reasoning, it can’t possibly be sound if you’re in the real estate business to actually make money. Even if you’re involved in foreclosures and short sales, you have to admit the pickings are very slim.

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Sure, we still have a few cash buying whales that are buying properties to rent out, but other than that selling real estate in today’s economy is akin to selling Obamacare at a Tea Party meeting.

U.S. single-family home prices fell for a fifth straight month in November and could dive to all-time new lows very soon, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.5 percent in November from October on a seasonally adjusted basis, though it was not as sharp as the 0.8 percent fall expected by economists.

Prices have fallen 1.6 percent in the past year, sharper than the 1.4 percent predicted by economists polled by Reuters.

“Everything in this report is unfortunately still sagging and still pointing downward,” David Blitzer, S&P 500 Index Committee chairman, said in an interview just after the report was released. “The recent news across the board on housing except for existing home sales has been very, very disappointing. We still seem to be at best scraping along the bottom.”

Sixteen of the 20 cities showed annual price declines in November, while 19 of 20 cities showed monthly price drops.

The housing market has been struggling since home-buyer tax credits expired earlier this year. To take advantage of the tax credits, buyers had to sign purchase contracts by April 30.

Home prices are falling across most of America’s largest cities, and average prices in eight major markets have hit their lowest point since the housing bust.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday fell 1 percent in November from October. All but one city, San Diego, recorded monthly price declines.

Eight others sank to their lowest levels since prices peaked in 2006 and 2007: Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Las Vegas, Miami, Portland, Ore., Seattle, Tampa, Fla., and Detroit, which saw the largest drop at 2.7 percent from the previous month.

Millions of foreclosures are forcing prices down, and many people are holding off making purchases because they fear the market hasn’t hit bottom yet. Many analysts expect home prices to keep falling through the first six months of this year.

“A double-dip could be confirmed before Spring,” Blitzer added in separate remarks. Blitzer defined a double-dip as both the 10 and 20-city composite indices setting new post-peak lows.

He noted that the 10-city index is 4.8 percent above its April 2009 low while the 20-city index is just 3.3 percent higher than its low that same month.

Unadjusted for seasonal impact, the 20-city index fell 1.0 percent in November after a 1.3 percent decline in October.

“I find it hard to believe that if we get a double dip in home prices we could get the consumer back in a meaningful way. Right now it seems like a coin toss as to whether that’s likely. So I’m disappointed,” said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners in New York.

So you’re still a Realtor because…

Home Prices Fall In Major US Cities LOS ANGELES — Home prices are falling across most of America’s largest cities, and average prices in eight major markets have hit their lowest point since … 

Case-Shiller: Home Prices Continued Their Descent In November LOS ANGELES — Home prices are falling across most of America’s largest cities, and average prices in eight major markets have hit their lowest point since …

US Stocks Decline on Disappointing Earnings, UK Economy … stock futures maintained declines after a report showed that residential real-estate prices dropped in November by the most in a year, signaling housing … 

US home prices may be headed for double-dip: S&P/Case Sixteen of the 20 cities showed annual price declines in November, while 19 of 20 cities showed monthly price drops. The housing market has been struggling …

2011 Could Be The Worst Year In The History Of Real Estate

Man, am I glad that I don’t rely solely upon real estate for an income. In fact, I’m really glad we began to diversify when we did. By most accounts, 2011 might be the worst real estate market we’ve seen in a long time…if not the worst ever!

In 2010, banks foreclosed on 1 Million homes. The forecast for 2011 is a 500% increase. The numbers are scary as banks are set to foreclose on over 5 Million homes this year. That’s devastating for the housing sector.

Mortgage holders may take back more homes this year than any other since the U.S. housing meltdown began in 2006.

About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages and more will miss payments as they struggle with job losses and loans worth more than their home’s value, industry analysts forecast.

“2011 is going to be the peak,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac Inc.

The outlook comes after banks repossessed more than 1 million homes in 2010, RealtyTrac said Thursday. That marked the highest annual tally of properties lost to foreclosure on records dating back to 2005.

One in 45 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last year, or a record high of 2.9 million homes. That’s up 1.67 percent from 2009.

For December, 257,747 U.S. homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice. That was the lowest monthly total in 30 months. The number of notices fell 1.8 percent from November and 26.3 percent from December 2009, RealtyTrac said.

The pace slowed in the final two months of 2010 as banks reviewed their foreclosure processes after allegations surfaced in September that evictions were handled improperly. Under increased scrutiny by the government, lenders temporarily halted taking actions against borrowers severely behind on their payments.

However, most banks have since resumed their eviction processes, and the first quarter will likely show a rebound in foreclosure activity, Sharga said.

Foreclosures are expected to remain elevated through the year as homeowners contend with stubbornly high unemployment, tougher credit standards for refinancing and falling home values.

Sharga said he expects prices to dip another 5 percent nationally before finally bottoming out. The decline will push more borrowers underwater on their mortgages.

Already, about one in five homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their home is worth.

The pain likely will be the most acute in states that have already been hit hard. That includes former housing boom states Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California, along with states that are suffering most from the economic downturn, including Michigan and Illinois.

Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate in 2010 for the fourth straight year, despite a 5 percent decline in activity from the year before. One in every 11 households received a foreclosure filing last year in the state. In December, foreclosure activity increased 18 percent from November with a 71 percent spike in bank repossessions.

Arizona and California also showed sharp December increases in the number of homes banks took back, at 52 percent and 47 percent, respectively. Arizona, along with Florida, finished the year at No. 2 and No. 3 for the highest foreclosure rates.

One in every 17 Arizona households got a foreclosure filing last year, while one in 18 received a notice in Florida.

California, Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado rounded out the top ten states with the highest foreclosure rates.

More than half of the country’s foreclosure activity came out of five states in 2010: California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan.

Together, these states recorded almost 1.5 million households receiving a filing, despite year-over-year decreases in California, Florida and Arizona.

RealtyTrac tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions — warnings that can lead up to a home eventually being lost to foreclosure.

Despite this news, I’m sure we’ll see the obligatory response from the National Association Of Realtors and their ilk that now’s a great time to buy a home.

The same old tired mantra is really getting old. Just yesterday, Pete Flint from Trulia said he thinks that the overall real estate market is coming back.

So while 58% of those polled don’t see a recovery happeneing until 2012 and 20% not expecting a recovery until 2015…just who is going to buy all of this inventory?

More importantly, which doesn’t seem to get talked about by the NAR. Where are the buyers, who are willing to jump in, going to get the mortgages to make these home purchases?

Well at least from an investment perspective, there’s going to be a whole lot of prospective tenants out there. If you have cash and buy right you’re going to be able to make a serious ROI.

Hmmm…buying and holding. Now there’s something one might want to look into over the next few years. Just saying.

Good News! Less Homes Underwater | Bad News…Why?

From the “ain’t that a kick in the pants department”…there was some good news in real estate this morning. However it is borne of bad news and only serves to underscore the problems in the housing sector.

Bloomberg and CoreLogic are reporting that there were actually fewer homeowners underwater on their mortgage at the end of the third quarter than the second quarter. Don’t go dancing with sugarplums just yet. The reason that there were less homes underwater is because more properties that had severe negative equity were foreclosed upon. There wasn’t any uptick in home values

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CoreLogic said 10.8 million residential properties, or 22.5% of all U.S. homes, were in negative equity at Sept. 30, down from 11 million, or 23%, the prior quarter.

“Negative equity is a primary factor holding back the housing market and broader economy,” according to Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. “The good news is that negative equity is slowly declining, but the bad news is that price declines are accelerating, which may put a stop to or reverse the recent improvement in negative equity.”

Did you get that? Home prices are heading south…fast!

The data analytics firm said the number of borrowers who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth has decreased by more than 500,000 this year. Still, another 2.4 million homeowners had less than 5% equity in the third quarter, and 27.5% of all mortgages are in negative equity or near-negative equity.

CoreLogic said five states – Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada – continue to have the largest number of underwater mortgages. Two-thirds of Nevada mortgages are for more than the property is valued.

Falling property values and unemployment near 10 percent have spurred a surge in foreclosures. The number of homes offered in foreclosure auctions averaged 110,000 a month in the third quarter compared with about 98,000 in the same period a year earlier.

“There are two ways to reduce negative equity,” Fleming said in a telephone interview today. “Price appreciation or disposition, which means people getting taken out of their homes. At the moment, there’s more disposition.”

Home prices may drop as much as 11 percent more through the first quarter of 2012 before finding a bottom, according to a Morgan Stanley report last week.

“House prices are going to fall more next spring and that will bring more negative equity,” Fleming said.

Negative equity discourages homeowners from maintaining their property or their payments, “because their financial interest (the equity) has disappeared and has only a small prospect of returning soon,” CoreLogic said.

Banks Can’t Foreclose Fast Enough To Keep Pace With Defaults

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the average person in foreclosure has not made a payment in 492 days! That’s the average mind you. That means that most who are in foreclosure have not made a payment in over a year and have found out that it’s easier to game the system than to try and remedy their situation.

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Banks simply can not foreclose fast enough to keep pace with all of the defaults taking place. Here’s a sobering and chilling stat for you. For every foreclosure lawsuit initiated, there are nearly 2 more borrowers who have missed more than 2 mortgage payments.

Let that sink in for a second. It’s a frightening image isn’t it? Because so many people have decided to stop paying their mortgages, the banks are taking longer and longer to foreclose. In other words, people who default on their mortgage, can expect to stay in their homes for free for more than 16-20 months.

As bad as that sounds, it’s only expected to get worse. The only way it gets better is if the banks can find a way to speed up the foreclosure process. With the robo-signer scandal and with attorneys filing motions for peanuts, a defaulted homeowner can stay in their home for years without paying.

In some instances the banks are okay with this. If the homeowner is staying in the home, at least it’s not vacant, more than likely being maintained (to some degree), and the bank is not incurring any real liability.

So what does this all mean? Well if you’re in the business you should see the writing on the wall. If you’re not…let me spell it out for you.

As a homeowner, you can probably expect your home values to slide even further. We’re going to be seeing more and more foreclosures come to the market. Imagine a giant assembly line pumping out more and more widgets and the widget sin the store still as of yet not being sold. What happens? Yep…you have to drop the price to make it a bargain to move the product. There is simply too much inventory.

Check out the video below and you’ll see what I mean. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have given the green light to start ramping up sales of foreclosures and some agents, and the media, think this is a good thing. Well it is for those of us who don’t mind picking the carcasses clean and turning inventory over for a profit…bad news if you’re trying to sell your home.

If you’re in the market to buy a home, make sure that you buy low enough to absorb the swelling inventory and the amount of new inventory that will continue to be dumped on the market. (.i.e see above). Otherwise you will be greatly overpaying and you will be upside down on your home very quickly.

If you’re a cash buyer..a serious investor with cash behind you…then start licking your chops. Stay away from short sales and start cozying up to asset managers and those agents out there who control the bank’s inventory.

If you’re a Realtor..well, there’s always ActiveRain…and Walmart…seriously. The good ole days are gone. I have one word for most Realtors. Diversification.

The Short Sale Is Dead! The Rocket Docket Rules!

Ok, I’m calling it and yelling it from the mountain tops…well from as high a roof here in South Florida as I can find as we are kind of lacking for mountains. But you know what I mean.

The Short Sale as a viable method of generating income is dead. Stick a fork in it and call it a day. Now understand, this is coming from someone who made a pretty penny teaching investors and real estate agents around the country how to effectively complete short sales, so if I’m saying it’s dead…it’s gotta be dead. Why? The Rocket Docket Rules!!

There’s no way I am one who leaves money on the table so if there was any viability whatsoever in short sales, I would never write such a post and most assuredly never make such a declaration.

But if there is one thing that I truly am, it’s a realist. We were WAY ahead of the herd in doing short sales successfully light years before anyone else was doing them. We were successfully executing short sales back when people actually had equity in their properties.

Aaah…the glory days. Twisting the arms of bankers and making them scream uncle and getting huge discounts so we could slam dunk Benjamins! Yep..those were the days.

So trust me, if there really was viability in short sales, I would be the last person lighting the funeral pyre. But it’s over. The Short Sale is dead. It’s functionally obsolete and it’s time to move on.

Sure, there are some Realtors around who “want to help people” and try and get a short sale approved and then 6 months later hopefully make some lame commission. That’s a sucker’s game.

Hey, I didn’t kill it, you didn’t kill it…it just kind of died a slow, agonizing, stupid death. Strangled by the ligatures of Realtor incompetency and bank rep ineptitude…with a little bit of legal chicanery to boot.

I was watching a movie with my wife last night and a line in it struck me. It said, “maybe a happy ending … {is just} picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself up for something better in the future. maybe the happy ending is just moving on”.

Ok, so it was a chick flick, but the quote is so true. If the mantra is that real estate is local then the extension of that mantra is that everything changes. Things don’t stay the same and that’s not a bad thing.

One day you wake up and you realize that what worked yesterday isn’t going to work tomorrow, and you either deal with it or you don’t. In business it’s called change or be rendered obsolete.

Don’t wait until it’s too late before you realize that things are passing you by. Ok, so have I done enough poetic waxing here? Maybe it was the aforementioned chick flick, but It’s seriously time to move on people.

No need to mourn. Adapt. That’s all you have to do. If you’re looking for a way to generate some serious moohlah in real estate, then roll up your sleeves, find some cash buyers and work the REO market for all it’s worth.

We’re seeing cash buyers from around the globe swooping in and buying deals like they’re the last Partidge Family dvd’s at Wal-mart. (c’mon…you know Laurie Partidge was smokin hot!!)

So what are you doing to tap into this frenzied pool of buyers? It’s time to become less of a Realtor and become more of a marketer. Did you catch that? That was the money shot!

Forget everything you know about selling houses. It’s bullshit and going to get you nowhere in today’s economy. Seriously, I had some guy comment on one of our posts saying that he was doing great because he was making $3k per month.

Note to self…if $3k per month is what gets you off…hit the delete button now. The rest of you, check out this video from CNN.

Okay…did you hear what they said??? The Court’s are hammering out foreclosure judgments at the rate of 25 per hour!!!!!!

Do you think there might be a lot of inventory coming that will be subject to the irrefutable Law of Supply And Demand?

Hell Yeah!! And you won’t have to wait 6 months to get paid. That is if you have cash buyers in your pocket.

So it’s time to diversify. Shed the blue “R” pin on your lapel and go get your “M” pin. If you are ready to become a Marketer then you’ll reap the benefits of the new real estate economy. Being adept at marketing will also afford you the opportunity for some serious diversification into other marketing endeavors as well.

So there’s nothing but upside in getting yourself up to speed and learning how to become a Marketing Master.

Go for it!

Questions could slow foreclosures in Florida But then an infusion of state funding created the so-called “rocket docket,” a mechanism for retired, senior judges to get paid to chip away at the backlog. … 

Faulty Foreclosures Blamed on Florida Courts Tom Ice of Ice Legal shared his insight on the term “rocket docket” with HousingWatch. “In our opinion, the term ‘rocket docket‘ is derogatory and harmful … 

Foreclosure Judge Will Open Up Courtroom … News…a local foreclosure court judge is opening up to the media after a scathing article in Rolling Stone criticized his so-called rocket-docket. …

 ‘Rocket docket’ foreclosure access probed The ACLU said it is seeking documents related to Florida’s so-called “rocket docket” – special court systems created to dispose of foreclosure cases. … 

Ninth Circuit Courts try to manage foreclosure backlog But then an infusion of state funding created the so-called “rocket docket,” a mechanism for retired, senior judges to get paid to chip away at the backlog. … 

A Better Bubble in California … Florida market is still deep underwater. Florida’s new, two-question “rocket docket” process may help—if not much in this crisis, then perhaps in the next. 

Matt Taibbi’s Devastating Portrait of Florida’s Rocket Docket Foreclosure Courts This is the dirty secret of the rocket docket: The whole system is set up to enable lenders to commit fraud over and over again, until they figure out a way …

Short Sales, Foreclosure, Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure, Strategic Default Impact On your Life and Credit

The economy is struggling back from the lowest point in our history since The Great Depression. The real estate market is 20 to 40 % off its highs in the year 2005. You purchased property and it is now worth a lot less than you owe on the mortgage. You have choices you can list the property for sale and try to get the bank to accept an offer, which is less than you owe them, which is called a short sale.

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You can let the property go through the foreclosure process and be taken away from you. You can ask the bank if you can sign over the deed to them, which is called a Deed In Lieu of foreclosure sometimes, called a strategic default.

Sounds like a simple way of eliminating the problem. Wrong!

Any of the above strategies will impact your credit to varying degrees. On a short sale you will not be able to get an FHA loan for 7 (Seven years). The short sale will be reported to the credit bureaus even though you may get a full release and satisfaction of the mortgage recorded publicly.

How is a short sale sellers credit affected?

Sellers may wonder whether doing a short sale would affect their credit less than completing a foreclosure and whether there are other advantages between the two. While in foreclosure, and depending on state laws, a seller could possibly stay in the property, essentially rent free, for four months to a year before being forced to vacate. But that fact alone does not mean a foreclosure is better.

Fair Isaac released a report that says credit scores are affected about the same, whether a seller does a short sale or foreclosure. Fair Issac says the average points lost on a FICO score are as follows:

• 30 days late: 40 to 110 points
• 90 days late: 70 to 135 points
• Foreclosure, short sale or deed-in-lieu: 85 to 160
• Bankruptcy: 130 to 240

Foreclosure or Deed-in-Lieu of ForeclosureBoth of these solutions affect credit the same, says David Steep of Vitek Mortgage. Sellers will take a hit of 200 to 300 points, depending on overall condition of credit. This means if a seller’s FICO score before foreclosure was 680, it could dip as low as 380.

Unfortunately, a low credit score virtually guarantees that you will pay higher interest rates on home and auto loans, credit cards or other forms of credit. How much more will you pay? Experts say that a person with a low credit score, below 600, will likely receive mortgage interests rates that are nearly 3% higher than someone with a score above 700. In a worst case, you may be denied credit altogether.

Your credit history is compiled by a credit bureau or consumer reporting agency (CRA). Currently, there are three major credit bureaus in the United States — TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. After gathering your information and storing it, credit bureaus, when authorized, provide your credit history to a number of different people and organizations, including banks, employers, landlords, creditors and insurance companies, all of whom need to know your credit history in order to make financial decisions about you.

So, please consider the loss of possible employment and higher costs to borrow on major purchases when making a decision about short sales, foreclosures or deed in lieu of foreclosures.

I recognize this does not solve the problem however I hope it provides important information to consider.

With the rapidly raising and deceasing value of properties over the last 10 years, a purchase or a sale of residential or commercial property is one of the highest value transactions that a buyer or seller will make in the life time.

Whether it is a residential, commercial, or a business opportunity transaction you must have professional representation and confidence in your agent to process the details and insure your best interests are cared for every step before during and after the transaction. You want and agent that will negotiate the best possible price in the shortest period of time with the least amount of problems.

My education and years of professional Senior Sales Management and high value complicated residential and commercial transactions has provided me the knowledge, discipline, tools and a team of experts to professionally represent your interests. Please feel free to contact me for the testimonials of my past clients. I would be pleased to provide you with the same expert level of service.

Visit John’s site for more information or give him a call at (561) 699-3004. His email is jkavazanji@aol.com and his website is www.palmbeachrealestatesource.com.

Are You Still A Real Estate Agent? If So, Why? And what’s your real job?

Seriously, this now has to be a question asked of many Realtors out there. It’s funny. When data that just hammers home the reality of the imminent housing sector collapse, where is the National Association of Realtors and Lawrence Yun?

Right now someone should be standing post lighting the bon fires and ringing the alarm bells. You know they give tsunami warnings when an earthquake happens in the ocean? Well someone needs to be sounding the alarm across the land right now telling everyone in the real estate business to head for cover.

It’s not just the agents who need to head to higher ground. If you’re trying to sell a house or complete a short sale you may want to don the life jacket and begin rationing the morsels that you have in the cupboard.

Don’t believe me? Mark it down. Take a note, put it in your wallet or pocketbook and then take it out in about 6-12 months and look at it. If you don’t take heed now, you’ll be wondering why you didn’t listen and why you didn’t jump head first into the lifeboat.

Why do I sound so ominous? Well, I get info, I get data, I see studies, and right now the storm clouds are as bad as I have ever seen them. But I’m not an economist so I’ll just tell you what the guys with the MBA’s are saying.

Maybe then you’ll stand up and take notice.

The third quarter reports from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA were recently released. In those reports it was stated that the combined Real Estate Owned (REO) inventory of the coven of debt rose 24 percent since the 2nd quarter and an unbelievable 93% over the same period last year.

For you math challenged, that’s almost a doubling of REO inventory! Let me pose it to you in a different way.

There are nearly 300,000 REO properties sitting on the books of JUST Fannie, Freddie and the FHA. That doesn’t even include the other lenders sitting on bad mortgages and REO’s.

So what does all of this mean? It’s really simple and something that I have been saying for years. Realtors don’t understand, or refuse to acknowledge the irrefutable Law of Supply And Demand.

Instead they go to flowery seminars and meet-ups where everyone speaks the same language and no one speaks the hard facts. Listen, if you were in the used car business… (as if you wanted to escalate up the food chain) and there were a bunch of cars on the lot and no buyers, would you hang around just waiting, hoping someone would eventually walk onto the lot?

Now imagine that same lot being on the route for 50 trucks bringing hundreds of more cars to sell. What would you do? Ya can’t even sell the ones on the lot now! Get the picture?

If you have a ton of savings and want to wait it out, ya might survive the real estate Armageddon. But how many real estate agents can actually do that?

Diana Olick from CNBC’s Realty Check said it best today when she penned an article about this very subject and closed it with a great, punctuating quip.

“We can talk prices, affordability, confidence, foreclosures, scandals, politics, whatever you want, but in the end it comes down to supply and demand.

We are looking at a ballooning supply coupled with dwindling demand. You do the math.”

Amen sister!

Smith Mountain Lake Real Estate And Why You Should Check It Out

An old college fraternity brother recently got married and I was in the wedding. It was held at a place called Smith Mountain Lake. Once I got back I felt compelled to write about it.

Smith Mountain Lake may not be newsy, but this is one time that I just have to stray a bit from focus and tell you about this place.

If I was going to relocate, I would most assuredly check out the Smith Mountain Lake real estate as it is absolutely beautiful. Stunning is the word that comes to mind.

Smith Mountain Lake dubs itself as the “Jewel of the Blue Ridge Mountains” and I might just have to agree. It is allegedly Virginia’s most popular lake, and although quaint, there’s a ton of stuff to do.

Now if you decide to look into this as a possibility for relocating, understand, you’re gonna need some duckets in the bank. It ain’t cheap, but then again, it shouldn’t be. This is someplace that should remain exclusive.

One of Smith Mountain Lake’s most appealing attributes is its visually stunning and diverse real estate opportunities. The lake offers a remarkable variety of residential options – from starter condominiums to expansive mansions – as well as building lots, many with lush landscapes and gorgeous lake views.

There is truly something for everyone among the properties at SML. While its coveted scenery certainly includes million-dollar accommodations, you’ll also find a wide array of more modest homes and maintenance-free neighborhoods.

Every housing style and taste is available, including traditional farmhouses, contemporary ranch homes, log homes, colonial two-stories and small-scale cottages. At Smith Mountain Lake, finding the home of your dreams is easy, and quality of life is increased dramatically by water frontage or access.

Now before I start sounding like a commercial, just do yourself a favor and look into Smith Mountain Lake real estate as an option if you’re thinking about relocating. And if you’re not looking to relocate, at minimum check it out as someplace to just get away to for some well needed relaxation.

If you want to go, now is the time to sneak away. During the winter months you pretty much have your run of the place and you can get lodging discounts as much as 50% off of normal rates.

Now that I think of it, that’s probably why my buddy had us all meet there. But it surely was a good call!

Just to let you know, I’m not a real estate agent and I don’t have any business in Smith Mountain Lake, so this review isn’t about making any money. Just consider it an inside tip on a really nice place.

Pending Home Sales Slump Further In September

More bad news for the real estate market. Although these studies seem to run about 30-60 days behind, all you would have to do is ask a working Realtor (yes, there are some) if they are seeing any movement in the market. Chances are you’ll find that the recently released housing market figures are no surprise at all.

 The newest report says that pending sales of U.S. existing homes fell 1.8% in September.

What’s interesting is that the mainstream media is calling this “unexpected”. Really? Maybe that’s because most of them don’t have homes for sale. Otherwise they would know how tough it is to move inventory in today’s marketplace.

In what may be the understatement of all time, it has been widely reported that these numbers reflect a sign that the housing market will take a long time to mend. Wow…there’s no moss growing on their keyboards!

And then of course, you have the ever so lame National Association of Realtors chiming in blaming moratoriums on foreclosures and stricter lending requirements as the reason sales are slow.

Couldn’t possibly be anything having to do with the sheer volume of Realtors who don’t know how to do short sales or better yet, price a property to sell? Naw..that couldn’t be it. But maybe it is.

Pop Quiz for you. How long do REO properties sit on the market? Now compare that to the staleness of most conventional sales. Case closed.

So is it the job market that is slowing housing. After all if you don’t have a job, then you can’t get a mortgage.

The market “still shows a pretty slow rate of activity,” Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research in New York, said before the report. “The trajectory of the housing market remains very much tied to the labor market.”

So is this good news. Well if you are thinking about selling your home in two years it might. Why? Ever hear about someone getting approved for a mortgage with a current work history of one day? Ain’t gonna happen. So it will be quite a while before Mr. New Job can even think about buying a home.

Bad news for Realtors. Worse news for Obama.

Speaking of bad news, the NAR’s omniscient one, Lawrence Yun chimed in on the matter.

“The foreclosure moratorium is likely to cause some disruption and contribute to an uneven sales performance in the months ahead,” Lawrence Yun, the Realtors group’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Tight credit and appraisals coming in below a negotiated price continue to constrain the market.”

And this guy gets paid for this crap. How did he score such a cherry, do nothing job? C’mon, Paul the Octopus could have done his job, and actually could probably have done it better.

So, with this new bad news, does this mean that the proverbial bottom has been reached? Not hardly.

The foreclosure moratoriums at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other banks threaten to prolong the time it takes for the housing market and prices to fully recover as properties slated for repossession take longer to come to market.

“If what’s a hiatus turns into a moratorium, that’s quite problematic,” Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow Inc., a Seattle-based real estate data provider, said in an interview. “It will delay the ultimate bottoming process in the market.”

So I guess it’s time to buckle in Realtors. The ride ain’t over and it’s bound to get a bit more bumpy.

Pending home sales drop 1.8 percent in September ”Existing-home sales have shown some improvement but the foreclosure moratorium is likely to cause some disruption and contribute to an uneven sales …

What’s next for Pelosi and Democrats in Congress? .. out an economic program for the middle class that can be used as an umbrella for every vote they take, centered around housing, taxes and growth. …

Pending home sales drop 1.8 percent in September The setback highlighted the continued problems facing the housing industry as it struggles to mount a sustained recovery from a deep recession. …

Bank of America rejects call to buy back mortgages Bank of America, however, described the loan modifications as the “proper response to an unprecedented housing crisis and in furtherance of the stated …

30 Year Mortgage Rates To Be Affected By Federal Reserve Action

We’re getting quite a few requests from people in the business world who want to be guest contributors here on iNEWS. Today I’d like to introduce you to another new author here. Please welcome guest contributor, Mari Hethcoat.

The Federal Reserve today noted that the pace of economic and job growth “continues to be slow”.

Housing starts are “depressed”, and income growth is “modest”.

It noted that inflation is running lower than what’s optimal, hinting at the potential for deflation (A general decline in prices, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit).

With respect to its prior economic stimuli, the Fed deemed the recovery “disappointingly slow”. With this environment, it announced a new $600 billion support package it will be injecting into the economy by buying US treasuries and bonds over the next eight months. Some say this bold move is a hedge against the risk of deflation.

As interest rates will also drop by this action from the Fed, it is highly possible that short term and long term interest rates may begin to rise gradually as financial activity gains momentum with this bond buying spree.

Mortgage interest rates enjoying low rates today could start inching up making it more difficult for home buyers to purchase on top of lenders’ tighter borrowing requirements.

As the U.S. also wrestles with global current exchange rates affected by the economy, so does the U.S. housing market. But there’s always a silver lining.

According to new data from currency specialists, the currency market has a major bearing on the fortunes of U.S. realtors. The data indicate a clear correlation between the currency fluctuations of the USD and GBP (British pound sterling) against the number of Britons investing in U.S. property.

Last month’s National Association of Realtors (NAR) stats, which provide an overview of US home sales, indicated a recovery in the property market which was bolstered by a rise in sales from overseas investors. In particular, the British are investing more and more in US real estate in Florida and the West Coast being the destinations of choice.

While the NAR is cautious about the positive data as home sales are still underperforming from a foreign investment perspective, currency specialists and money transfer agents’ findings show an increasing number of Brits buying property in the US.

There have also been high home sales from Canadian and Chinese cash buyers in the past as some traditional home sales prices dipped to compete with bank-owned properties in the same neighborhoods.

Fed sparks investor binge on world stocks … for emerging sovereign debt increased and the dollar fell on Thursday as the afterglow of the Federal Reserve’s asset buying plan spread across markets. … 

TSX jumps morning after Fed cash injection … Stock Exchange saw big gains in early-Thursday trading in the wake of higher commodity prices and new stimulus measures from the US Federal Reserve. … 

Stocks gun for pre-Lehman collapse highs … as investors rush to buy stocks this morning on the heels of the US Federal Reserve’s US$600-billion quantitative easing plan to buy US Treasuries. … 

Bank of England leaves rates at 0.5 pct, QE on hold The BoE’s decision contrasts with a move by the US Federal Reserveon Wednesday to buy $600 bn of bonds with new money over the next eight months, … 

Stocks surge, Dow up 100 day after Fed meeting By DAVID K. RANDALL AP US stocks are rising sharply a day after the Federal Reserve announced a $600 billion plan to stimulate the economy. …

Mari Hethcoat

Realtor®, Real Estate Consultant and Team Leader with ZipRealty, Inc. ZipRealty, Inc. provides home sellers and buyers with an innovative real estate solution. By using the efficiencies of the Internet, we have streamlined the real estate process and are able to pass significant savings on to our clients. Email me to request my FREE monthly newsletter with subject as “Newsletter Request”: mari.hethcoat@ziprealty.com

Real Estate Brokers Finding Other Ways To Earn A Living

With our core background being in real estate investing and sales, we get a lot of emails and calls from Realtors as to what goes into doing what we do online. We operate over 60 websites and managing our little Internet empire has been both challenging and rewarding.

What started as a way to promote our real estate endeavors has now become a very fun and easy way to make money. It wasn’t easy to get here by any stretch of the imagination and it required a lot of hard work, perseverance and some very humbling online failures, but we navigated our way through the labyrinth of scammers and so called gurus and have come out of the tunnel doing really well.

So we have been coaching and advising others how they can do the same and with a little elbow grease and some learning, they too can become an online entrepreneur. What’s really interesting is no one we know ever looks back.

So today, we found it very interesting when we saw a story on HuffPo that talked about a real estate broker who decided to make a change.

Bob Bernstein, a 60 year old real estate broker decided it was time to leave the real estate business at the height of the recession in 2008. Bernstein says he had a feeling it would be a really long time before the market turned around. How insightful he was.

“Like everyone else, I asked myself, what do I do now?” Bernstein said. “The real estate market was going down, so I was not going to find another broker position.”

Since it was obvious that waiting around for short sales to get approved and hoping that there would be enough buyers in his market to support his lifestyle, Bernstein decided he was going to have to create an income for himself.

He had owned some retail clothing stores for about fifteen years, but he no longer had the energy to deal with landlords, bring in inventory, hire employees and maintain hours. So he decided to take all his entrepreneurial ideas to the web.

“I thought that with the right domain name, whatever creative concept I could come up with could generate some income and maybe even compete against the big guys,” Bernstein told HuffPo in the article.

Since he lacked the technical skills to write all the code for a website, he teamed up with a web development company that makes it easy for people with ideas to create lucrative websites using drag-and-drop tools and a built-in network of web advertisers.

Since 2008, Bernstein has eked out a living for himself by creating twelve different websites. Bernstein’s most lucrative site to date, ZipQuote.com, is a place where users can type in their zipcodes and receive free insurance quotes based on their locations. The site was so successful that he is now treating his online network as a full-time enterprise.

“My focus and dedication to Zipquote is as if I’m opening a business,” said Bernstein, who is now in the process of trademarking the website’s name. “It’s only been in its current state for about five months, and it makes between $500 and $1000 a month. Hopefully, as I start to promote it, it will grow further and further.”

Now before you turn up your nose, understand one thing. In the online world, time equals more traffic, equals more money. It’s also the revenue from just one site. And most importantly, once the site is done, as his is now, it’s a 24/7 business that requires no real time maintaining it.

If he has things set-up as we would have it set up, it’s probably an hour or so per week to maintain. We have some sites that make us money that I only visit once every two weeks. how’s that for an automated income?

Bernstein added that it’s now so easy for him to create websites that he created one last week in the course of a day, and it’s made him $50 so far.

Now do the math people. If you had 10 sites making $500 to $1,000 per month, would that be some serious life changing income? How about 20 sites doing $500 to $1,000 per month…you see where I’m going with this?

Bernstein has 12. We have 60 or so and we’re adding new sites all of the time. And remember, once they are built (in a day) they’re done! Just this month we’re bringing in 5 figures on just 4 or 5 Halloween costume sites.

“You can literally open anything up online in a day,” Bernstein said. “It’s amazing.”

We help struggling Realtors and others who have been unemployed to start income generating online businesses. Heck, I even helped my Mom open a few sites, and she’s 72!

Bernstein loves what he is doing and having a great time in his new Internet lifestyle.

“I get to work from home, I’m totally focused on what I do because I know it’s all for my family and our future, and I’m building a business that is mine, rather than working for someone else and building their business,” he said. “It’s absolutely rewarding and totally satisfying. I could do this sixteen hours a day.”

Now you have heard what Mr. Bernstein has done. Do you think it might be time for you to make a change for the better?

What say you? Interested in learning how to take back control of your financial destiny?

Want To Know Why Your Home Isn’t Selling?

AOL Finance published a list of the 11 reasons that can most likely cause a home not to sell. It’s pretty interesting as the biggest reasons for a home not selling seem to involve Realtor incompetence. Imagine that. A Real estate agent not knowing how to sell a house in today’s market.

They cite the agent you choose and being able to correctly ascertain the value of the home as some serious concerns that need to be addressed when selling a home.

Many agents will tell a homeowner anyhting they want to hear to get a listing without being completely honest about pricing the property. Accurately pricing a property would require an appraisal (which they won’t pay for), and valid, accuarate, current, and relevant comparables.

There’s a definitive way to perform comparables but most agents rely on flowery listing and CMA presentations which often lack real validity.

The environment for home sales becomes more difficult with each passing month. Some estimates put 11 million mortgages, about 20% of the US total, underwater, meaning that homeowners owe their banks more than the underlying properties are worth. Home repossessions reached more than 100,000 for the first time in September. Rising foreclosures rates continue to further depress housing prices.

The federal government let its tax benefit for homeowners expire in April and has not renewed it since them. The program did boost sales earlier this year. Shoppers must now face a market without the credit in which many home prices continue to fall.

The clamor over flawed foreclosure paperwork and robo-signers could further chill the housing market. People who might buy have bought a home in foreclosure will now worry about obtaining proper documentation and effective transfer of title.

If you’re looking to sell a home, you may want to check out this article.

Attorney Generals Announce Massive Foreclosure Investigation

Remember the song by R.E.M with the line.. “It’s the End Of The World As We Know It“… well it might just be that for real estate! You see, the breaking news is that every Attorney General in the United States, except that of Alabama, have joined together in an unprecedented probe of the foreclosure process of the major banks. The AG’s however, have stopped short of calling for a national moratorium on foreclosures…for now. But it’s only a matter of time.

The multistate investigation will initially focus on whether Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Ally Financial and other large mortgage companies made misleading or fraudulent statements to evict struggling borrowers from their homes.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoellersaid investigators initially will focus on whether industry employees – so-called “robo-signers” – signed off on thousands of foreclosures every month without reviewing the files as legally required. Homeowner attorneys also allege that lenders forged signatures and improperly notarized documents.

Such actions might have violated laws against unfair and deceptive trade practices, which could result in civil penalties. Typically the laws have been used to protect consumers from false advertising, but state officials say they could also be applied to foreclosure.

Law enforcement officials said they also could use their findings to press lenders to modify more loans for struggling homeowners or change how the industry processes foreclosures.

The companies could face more serious consequences if the attorneys general find criminal acts or that high-level industry executives knew what the robo-signers were doing. About two dozen states have joined the effort, though more are expected to sign up, officials said.

The investigation comes as more lenders are stepping up their reviews of foreclosures.

J.P. Morgan said Wednesday that it plans to expand is review of home loans from 23 states to roughly 115,000 in 41 states, saying it had “identified issues” in foreclosure documents.

On Tuesday, Ally Financial said it would expand its own probe to all 50 states. Ally had initially halted evictions in only the 23 states that require a court order for a foreclosure. Ally’s move follows Bank of America’s announcement last week that it would freeze foreclosure sales.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the administration supports a multistate investigation. But he reiterated that the administration is wary that a freeze could cause “broader harm done to the housing market and to the housing recovery.”

That view is in contrast to other Democrats who have called for a national moratorium on foreclosures.

Mortgage servicers have sought to downplay the problems as minor technicalities, contending that nearly all of the files show borrowers missed their payments and deserve to lose their homes.

The states plan to share information and coordinate their investigations into improper foreclosures.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray is taking a harder line. Last week, he became the first attorney general to sue a mortgage lender, in this case Ally, for improper foreclosures.

“The most important thing that the lenders need to recognize is the seriousness of the situation. They can’t pretend this is a fourth-grade student not quite filling in the oval on a test. This is fraud,” Cordray said in a phone interview. Ohio has asked the company to pay $25,000 per violation.

Foreclosure Moratorium Will Destroy The Real Estate Market Foreclosure Moratorium Will Destroy The Real Estate Market The Obama Administration on Tuesday rejected calls for a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures because of concerns it could cause broader harm to the housing recovery. But a freeze on foreclosures is still widening. It’s like watching dominoes fall. One mortgage lender after another is …

J.P. Morgan Chase Freezes Foreclosures J.P. Morgan Chase Freezes Foreclosures The Washington Post is reporting that J.P. Morgan Chase is freezing foreclosure proceedings. Concerned with fraudulent filings and paperwork, Chase, one of the nation’s leading banks, announced Wednesday that it will freeze foreclosures in about half the country. This is a move that Wall Street analysts believe …

49 State Attorneys General Investigating Foreclosure Fraud By Annie Lowrey 10/13/10 12:40 PM Today, 49 state attorneys general — representing every state, save for Alabama — announced an investigation into the … 

Officials in 50 States Launch Foreclosure Probe The states’ attorneys general and bank regulators will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly. … 

States probe mortgage industry practices The 49 state attorneys general are investigating allegations some banks used shoddy paperwork to kick struggling borrowers out of their homes during a … 

Cuccinelli to investigate mortgage foreclosure practices in Virginia By Staff Reports | Times-Dispatch Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said today that he will investigate mortgage foreclosure practices in Virginia, … 

US states probe mortgage industry practices The 49 state attorneys general are investigating allegations some banks used shoddy paperwork to kick struggling borrowers out of their homes during a … 

Officials in 49 states launch foreclosure probe ”This group has the backing of nearly every state in the nation to get to the bottom of this foreclosure mess,” Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, … 

Blumenthal To Co-Lead Nationwide Foreclosure Robo-Signing Inquiry By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN, kgosselin@courant.com Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will help lead a 50-state investigation of foreclosure … 

Officials in 50 states launch foreclosure probe The states’ attorneys general and bank regulators will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly. …

Foreclosure Moratorium Will Destroy The Real Estate Market

The Obama Administration on Tuesday rejected calls for a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures because of concerns it could cause broader harm to the housing recovery.

But a freeze on foreclosures is still widening. It’s like watching dominoes fall. One mortgage lender after another is putting the brakes on foreclosures and the foreclosure mills that they have been using to fast track the repossession of homes.

Maybe Obama should have thought about this earlier. Anyone who had half a brain or any experience in real estate should have understood the possible repercussions. Hello..McFly!!!

While a forced moratorium may help some consumers in the short term, the impact it will have long term could be disastrous. In some markets we may see a false rise in prices. Why? Well what happens when 30-40% or more of the inventory is taken off of the market?

Then what do you think will happen when all of the “shadow inventory” comes back online? I’ll tell you what happens. We will probably see a significant price correction downward hurting everyone at once. Well..maybe not everyone. Those of us who make our money on opportunities like this are licking our chops.

Can you imagine the deals that you’ll be able to make once all of this junk comes back onto the market? It’ll be like a real estate Christmas. Banks and defaulted homeowners will be begging us to take this inventory off of their hands. And if you’re a buy and hold landlord type…can you imagine the cash flow? Salivating yet?

Just hold on…it’s coming. Just don’t look to anxious. Am I being facetious? Not at all! Who do you think is going to be needed to clean up this mess? Realtors..puhleeze…first time home buyers? Yeah right. The cash having Investor is going to be the White knight…so saddle up!

Nevermind that these delays in foreclosures will be costly to banks; Freddie Mac could charge servicers for costs and fees, such as maintenance upkeep, for each additional day a home foreclosure is delayed, says Freddie spokesman Brad German. Those servicers could also lose Freddie’s business if it turns out they were fraudulently carrying out foreclosures.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs did say the White House supports a multi-state investigation into foreclosures and the mortgage industry, however.

“We’re supportive of getting to the bottom of the process and ensuring that these banks are following the legal process for making these decisions,” Gibbs said.

Attorneys general from dozens of states, led by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, are expected this week to announce a joint investigation into banks and flawed documents used in the foreclosure process. Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray has filed a lawsuit against GMAC, claiming it used fraudulent affidavits and documents to foreclose on homeowners who were in default.

Banks say the problems with foreclosure documents are technical and that homeowners are still in default and should be foreclosed upon. Lawyers representing homeowners say filing flawed foreclosure documents with the court is fraud, and homeowners who’ve been foreclosed upon could assert they still have a property claim on the home.

“The industry is minimizing this, and even the Obama Administration is,” says Tom Cox, a lawyer in Maine. “I’m just outraged by there overlooking a fraud upon the court. It really is serious.”

Some housing advocates say it’s not clear how much federal regulators knew about the paperwork problems.

“These practices were widespread in the industry,” says Diane Thompson, with the National Consumer Law Center. “So anybody who was paying attention knew what was going on.”

JP Morgan Chase said Tuesday that it’s expanding a review of foreclosure paperwork to include some states that don’t require a court approval to foreclose, the latest sign that delays are growing.

Chase will examine foreclosure documents in more than a handful of states besides the 23 that require judicial approval for a foreclosure — expanding on its earlier review of 56,000 foreclosures.

GMAC Mortgage is expanding its review of foreclosures to all 50 states and for the first time looking at all U.S. foreclosure-sale files nationwide to ensure there are no errors.

A unit of Ally Financial Inc., GMAC Mortgage was among the first companies to review affidavits used to foreclose in 23 states where court approval is required. Several other banks have initiated similar examinations in light of allegations that certain documents could be incorrect.

The new step announced by GMAC Mortgage Tuesday involves “several legal and accounting firms” that will conduct “independent reviews” in all 50 states. A “specialized team” will look at the foreclosure-sale files nationwide, the company said.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Co. revealed that it has started a review of all pending home foreclosures where affidavits are required, a spokeswoman said.

She wasn’t aware whether that review covers all 23 states. It was the first admission from the San Francisco bank that it has taken additional steps in the wake of revelations that banks use so-called “robo signers” to approve hundreds of foreclosure documents a day.

Bank of America Corp. last Friday agreed to halt all foreclosures and foreclosure sales, the first bank to do so.

A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said the additional review began “around the first of October or the beginning of last week.”

“Given the public debate, we felt like it was important to begin looking at this.” The bank, she added, wants to assure ‘customers” and “elected officials’ that “we are doing all we can to ensure their affidavits are accurate.”

What the rest of the Country is saying about this..

Obama Administration Opposes Foreclosure Moratorium By Claude R. Marx There should be a thorough investigation of problems with the foreclosure process but no moratorium, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs … 

Ally Expands Foreclosure Review Process to All Fifty States The remarks reinforce comments by White House senior adviser David Axelrod, who said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program Oct. 10 that a moratorium may damage … 

GMAC will review foreclosures in all 50 states The moved stopped short of a nationwide moratorium on foreclosure sales like Bank of America announced last week. GMAC previously announced it was halting … 

NAR Says Families Will Suffer If Foreclosure Freeze Continues … that the moratorium is already creating some anxiety among purchasers as transactions are being delayed and that some foreclosure listings are being … 

Attorneys general expected to check foreclosures Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at foreclosurelisting service RealtyTrac Inc., said a blanket moratorium could hinder a housing market trying to …

Ally Expands Foreclosure Review Process to All Fifty States The remarks reinforce comments by White House senior adviser David Axelrod, who said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program Oct. 10 that a moratorium may damage … 

NC atttorney general is talking with lenders, as Ally increases scrutiny The San Francisco-based bank, which acquired Charlotte’s Wachovia Corp. in 2008, doesn’t plan to implement a foreclosure moratorium, Adams said. … 

NAR Says Families Will Suffer If Foreclosure Freeze Continues … that the moratorium is already creating some anxiety among purchasers as transactions are being delayed and that some foreclosure listings are being …

The Top 10 Cities In The U.S. Where It’s Cheaper To Rent Than Buy

Trulia has come up with a list that is sure to rile the feathers of Realtors in these markets, but the numbers don’t lie. It’s simply cheaper to rent than buy. Given the economic climate, it may be this way for quite some time. Maybe that’s why so many real estate agents are not renewing their licenses and so many brokerages shutting their doors.

With top lenders like Bank of America and PNC issuing far-reaching moratoriums on foreclosures, now may just be a better time to rent than buy.

A simple calculation called the price-to-rent ratio can give you an indication of whether it’s a better move to rent or buy a home. Trulia, the online real estate data provider, evaluated the price-to-rent ratio in the 50 largest U.S. cities by population.

By comparing the average purchase price of a 2-bedroom home — including mortgage fees and maintenance expenses — with the average rental price for 2 bedroom apartments, condos, and townhouses, Truilia came up with a handy, back-of-the-envelope way to gauge a local market.

Cities with price-to-rent ratios between 16 and 20 indicate that it is cheaper to rent than purchase a home, but certain financial situations may make ownership a viable option. In cities with price-to-rent ratios of 21 and above, it is much more expensive to buy than rent.

1. New York City
2. Seattle
3. Dallas / Fort Worth
4. Omaha
5. Sacramento
6. Kansas City, Missouri
7. Portland
8. San Diego
9. San Francisco
10. Boston

Trulia.com: Renting in Kansas City is cheaper than buying a home Kansas City is one of the top 10 cities to rent instead of buy a place to live, according to Trulia.com, a website for renters and sellers. …

The Housing Market: Is it Time to Rent or to Buy? Buyers who are eyeing condos and townhomes in particular might want to check out Trulia’s latest rent-vs.-buy index, which tracks 50 of the country’s …

Real Estate Website: Now Is Time To Buy in Ariz. The real estate website ‘Trulia‘ answers that question for savvy investors across the country, and this quarter’s investment map of America says the smart … 

Should You Rent or Buy a Home? In August, 72% of people said they feel that homeownership is part of their American dream, down from 77% in January, according to a survey by Trulia.com. …

Miami-Dade Pending Home Sales Continue to Rise

You know how I always get accused of beating up on Realtors? Well today they are all a flutter down here in South Florida. Absolutely giddy over sales numbers. So instead of ripping apart their data, I’m simply going to state what they told me.

Today I received an email from Lynda Fernandez from the MIAMI Association of Realtors. I guess she must be in the marketing or communications department as she is actually working. (I couldn’t resist taking just one jab).

She decided to include us in the press communications she is sending out and i want to publicly thank her for that. Although until today’s news I never received anything from her. But, nonetheless, I am happy to be corresponding with someone in the South Florida real estate market who is a part of a local Realtor board.

So what’s all the hoopla about? Well the sun peaked out from behind the clouds and shed some light on the South Florida real estate market.

Total pending home sales – including single-family homes and condominiums – in Miami-Dade County increased 33.7 percent in August 2010 compared to August 2009, from 7,570 to 10,119, and increased .06 percent, from 10,113 to 10,119, compared to the previous month according to the MIAMI Association of REALTORS and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS).

The South Florida real estate market continues to strengthen, primarily due to the highest concentration in the U.S. of international buyers, contrary to national trends, which show near-term home sales noticeably lower since the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit.

“The pending sales figures for August coupled with strengthening single-family home prices are good news for the South Florida real estate market, but there are still attractive opportunities for prospective buyers,” said Jack H. Levine, 2010 chairman of the board of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS.

“Pending sales rose month-over-month and year-over-year, showing that this is still a great time to purchase a home, especially in the local market. Interest rates are at a record low and expected to remain that way for the remainder of the year while inventory is still plentiful, giving buyers many properties to choose from. Furthermore, the local market is expected to outperform other markets throughout the U.S. due to its international appeal, resulting in strengthening home values into the future.”

Pending sales of condominiums in Miami-Dade County continue to perform better than that of single-family homes. In August, condominium pending sales increased 49.7 percent compared to the previous year, from 3,848 to 5,759 and increased 0.7 percent, from 5,720 the previous month. Pending sales of single-family

homes in August increased 17.1 percent from the previous year, from 3,722 to 4,360, and decreased a slight 0.8 percent from the previous month when pending sales totaled 4,393, showing a preference for condos in August.

Pending Sales Indicative of Strengthening Market

Monthly home sales in South Florida increased dramatically for a period of 23 months since August 2008, while condominium sales continue to surge. Increased pending sales are an indication of increased future sales. A sale is listed as pending when the contract is signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

“We expect home sales to continue to increase in South Florida for the remainder of the year and headed into 2011, provided the job market continues to improve,” said Oliver Ruiz, 2010 residential president of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS. “International buyers in particular continue to positively impact the local market, creating short- and long-term demand for South Florida properties and contributing to strengthening home prices.”

I won’t editorialize here other than to say, I hope that this really is the change many have hoped for. We’ll certainly see if it is.

Miami-Dade pending home sales jump 33% over last year  Pending home sales were up 33.7 percent in Miami-Dade County in August compared to the same month last year, according to data released …

Upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Is On The Way For Online Gamers New Mode Wager Matches

A new Call of Duty~ Black Ops multi-player video showcases Wager Matches—a special game mode that allows players to wager in-game currency and one that should especially appeal to competitive players online.

Activision and studio Treyarch unveiled the first details on collectors editions for the first-person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops.

This is a special multi-player game mode which allows you to gamble the game’s in-game currency used to purchase items in the store from the game. And you wager against other gamers saying that you will be in the top 3 In The Money. Four Wager Match game modes are in the game, and each are described below.

* One in the chamber—Everyone gets a pistol, 1 bullet, and 3 lives. Kill someone and you get to take their bullet. Miss, and fisticuffs will be your only recourse—at least until you can pummel someone to death for another bullet.

* Sticks N’ Stones—Every player starts with a crossbow, tomahawk, and ballistic knife, and if you hit someone with a tomahawk, you automatically bankrupt the player.

* Gun Game—Every player starts with the same weapon, and with each kill advances to the next higher weapon. If you get knifed, however, you drop down a weapon level.Upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Is On The Way For Online Gamers New Mode Wager Matches

* Sharpshooter—All players start with same the randomly chosen weapon, and after a set period of time the weapon cycles to another randomly chosen weapon.

Momentum is building for Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, developed by Treyarch and launching on November 9 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and PC.

While multiplayer details are to be unveiled next week, Game Hunters recently had a single-player campaign walkthrough at a Microsoft media event in Toronto.

The highlight of the game’s Prestige Edition, which will be available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, is a collectible RC-XD surveillance vehicle.

“With a range of up to 200 feet, the RC-XD Surveillance Vehicle has a fully-functioning remote camera that transmits both TFT color video and audio to its operator,” reads a statement from Activision.

It also includes a Hardened Edition of Black Ops, which features a limited edition medal, avatar outfit and four playable cooperative maps. The Hardened Edition will also be sold separately.

Both collectors editions, along with standard copies of Black Ops, will debut November 9.

Activision has not disclosed details on price. For the release of last November’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the Prestige Edition cost $149, while the Hardened Edition sold for $80.

Let the Gaming Begin!

Call of Duty: Black Ops – Coming 11.09.10 Official site. Includes trailer, wallpapers, features and fan-site links for each game.

IGN: Call of Duty: Black Ops IGN is the ultimate Call of Duty: Black Ops resource for trailers, screenshots, cheats, walkthroughs, release dates, previews, reviews, soundtracks and …

Call of Duty: Black Ops Video Game | Reviews, Trailers … View Call of Duty: Black Ops video game trailers, exclusive features, and online reviews. View exclusive interviews, actual Call of Duty: Black Ops gameplay …

Call of Duty: Black Ops News Get the inside scoop on all things to do with the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops!

Call of Duty: Black Ops Multiplayer Premiere Live Blog Live updates from Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer event.

The Typical Realtor Spin Of Buying A Home In Today’s Market

While just about every well known economist, with the exception of NAR’s own Baghdad Bob, Lawrence Yun, is telling people to hold off in buying a house right now…Realtors are still screaming the mantra that it’s a great time to buy a house and that we’ve reached bottom. (I’m Starting To Feel Sorry For Lawrence Yun )

Realtors hate the fact that I challenge them and they’re always asking me for back up…maybe this will help? But I doubt it. Instead we’ll hear the usual rhetoric about real estate being local and why am I treating things with such a wide brush and blah..blah..blah…

C’mon people. Aren’t you tired of hearing people at the National Association Of Realtors saying the same thing over and over again? Hey even a broken clock they say is right twice a day but the people at the NAR aren’t even as effective as a broken clock. It’s absurd!

Today I received an email from Realtor.org (yes..I do get their emails and my do they probably wish that I don’t) and in the email they try to summarize a recent article from the New York Times.

In their newsletter, they espouse the virtues of buying a home by saying that there are basically 5 good reasons to jump in. Most of the reasons they state have nothing to do with economic sensibility, they are basically ridiculously positioned anecdotes.

I’m not making this stuff up. Here are the 5 reasons they say it’s a good time to buy a house.

1. Be your own landlord. The bank can only kick you out if you don’t pay; a landlord can be much less dependable – deciding to sell the property or choosing to live there themselves.

I’m guessing that the people over at the National Association of Realtors have never heard of a legal document called a lease. If you are smart and negotiate a well written lease their argument is baseless as you will be more than protected. And oh yeah…you can download one yourself or ask an attorney to draw one up and not even involve a Realtor if you or the Landlord / property owner choose not to.

One down…four more to go…let’s see what’s next.

2. Paying the principal is forced savings. Yes, it’s possible that home prices will fall further. It is also possible that your 401(k) will lose value. But over the long haul, both are likely to enjoy modest gains in value.

Possible?? Again, with millions of homes slated for foreclosure and with over 11 Million homes upside down, meaning the owners owe more than they are worth coupled with high unemployment, the odds aren’t looking all that promising for the appreciation of property values. By the way…what does the NAR consider the “long haul” to be?

3. Fixed-rate mortgages never rise – and eventually you pay them off. With mortgage rates at record lows, people who buy now are locking in real bargains.

So when that $300,000.00 mortgage I’m locked into is on a house that is worth $250,000.00 next year because there are a ton of foreclosures and short sales closing am I still looking at that great bargain?

Also…I’m pretty sure that banks have gotten pretty stringent on their lending criteria and I’m thinking that you have to have pretty darn good credit and a decent downstroke or they don’t want to talk to you right now.

Hmmm…again, with rising unemployment, and a volatile workplace with layoffs looming, how many people can actually qualify for those so-called “bargain rates”.

4. Good schools. Family-sized rentals are harder to come by in areas with excellent public schools.

Really? So you’re saying that people who rent don’t have access to good schools..seriously? Where do these nut jobs live? I’m not even going to dignify this statement. You know the neighborhood that you live in and you already know what kind of schools are nearby.

5. Spacious properties in pleasant neighborhoods. Sizable homes in attractive communities are almost always owned – not rented.

I find this to be a very odd statement for a couple of reasons. First, go ahead and ask a Realtor what is or isn’t an “attractive community” or a “pleasant neighborhood”. I challenge you to do so.

You see it’s funny as we have heard for years that they can’t talk about neighborhoods for fear of violating some mythical Fair Housing BS…yet they want YOU to now believe that neighborhoods that have renters in them are less than “attractive” or “pleasant”. Can’t have it both ways people.

Another aspect of this statement that is comical is the predisposition of knowing what YOU as a prospect considers “attractive” and “pleasant”. Hmmm…how does one do that?

In any event, Realtors are continuing to grasp at straws to get people to buy a product that is getting stale.

Why not come out and give a prospect great financial information. Above they compare a home to a 401K. And while they are correct in one regard…that a 401K can indeed go down, One has a lot more pertinent info at their disposal in investing in a 401K than they do in buying a home.

And the liquidity of the comparison makes the statement baseless on the surface.

Bottom line is this. If you want to buy a home in today’s economy, do your homework. Ask the Realtor involved some very pointed questions. If you don’t get satisfactory answers, then simply move on. You’re dealing with an incompetent.

This is your livelihood and the livelihood of your family. Don’t entrust your financial future to someone who has a week’s worth of education and hasn’t sold a house in a year.

There are some very…very competent, experienced and knowledgeable Realtors out there. All you have to do is find them.

And if someone emails you something like the NAR emailed me this morning, you’d better run.

Obama Mortgage Foreclosure Program A Complete Flop

Obama’s program to stop foreclosures is failing miserably. Nearly 50% of those seeking help are realizing the hopelessness of the program and are opting out.

Many who are in foreclosure are realizing that the Obama administration had little more than a campaign pip dream of an idea and the reality of what they are seeing is that the banks are taking forever to foreclose so many simply are living for free.

Coupled with the steady decline of housing values and a industry of practitioners that don’t know how to deal with foreclosures, the failure of Obama’s program is seemingly inevitable.

I guess this is Bush’s fault too!

Nearly half of the 1.3 million homeowners who enrolled in the Obama administration’s flagship mortgage-relief program have fallen out.

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The program is intended to help those at risk of foreclosure by lowering their monthly mortgage payments. Friday’s report from the Treasury Department suggests the $75 billion government effort is failing to slow the tide of foreclosures in the United States, economists say.

More than 2.3 million homes have been repossessed by lenders since the recession began in December 2007, according to foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. Economists expect the number of foreclosures to grow well into next year.

“The government program as currently structured is petering out. It is taking in fewer homeowners, more are dropping out and fewer people are ending up in permanent modifications,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

Besides forcing people from their homes, foreclosures and distressed home sales have pushed down on home values and crippled the broader housing industry. They have made it difficult for homebuilders to compete with the depressed prices and discouraged potential sellers from putting their homes on the market.

Approximately 630,000 people who had tried to get their monthly mortgage payments lowered through the government program have been cut loose through July, according to the Treasury report. That’s about 48 percent of the those who had enrolled since March 2009. And it is up from more than 40 percent through June.

Another 421,804, or roughly 32 percent of those who started the program, have received permanent loan modifications and are making their payments on time.

RealtyTrac reported that the number of U.S. homes lost to foreclosure surged in July to 92,858 properties, up 9 percent from June. The pace of repossessions has been increasing and the nation is now on track to having more than 1 million homes lost to foreclosure by the end of the year. That would eclipse the more than 900,000 homes repossessed in 2009, the firm says.

Lenders have historically taken over about 100,000 homes a year, according to RealtyTrac.

Zandi said the government effort will likely end up helping only about 500,000 homeowners lower their monthly payments on a permanent basis. That’s a small percentage of the number of people who have already lost their homes to foreclosure or distressed sales like short sales – when lenders let homeowners sell for less than they owe on their mortgages.

Zandi predicts another 1.5 million foreclosures or short sales in 2011.

“We still have a lot more foreclosures to come and further home price declines,” Zandi said. He said home prices, which have already fallen 30 percent since the peak of the housing boom, would drop by another 5 percent by next spring.

Many borrowers have complained that the government program is a bureaucratic nightmare. They say banks often lose their documents and then claim borrowers did not send back the necessary paperwork.

The banking industry said borrowers weren’t sending back their paperwork. They also have accused the Obama administration of initially pressuring them to sign up borrowers without insisting first on proof of their income. When banks later moved to collect the information, many troubled homeowners were disqualified or dropped out.

Obama officials dispute that they pressured banks. They have defended the program, saying lenders are making more significant cuts to borrowers’ monthly payments than before the program was launched. And some of the largest mortgage companies in the program have offered alternative programs to those who fell out.

Homeowners who qualify can receive an interest rate as low as 2 percent for five years and a longer repayment period. Those who have successfully navigated the program to reach permanent modifications have seen their monthly payments cut on average by about $500.

Homeowners first receive temporary modifications and those are supposed to become permanent after borrowers make three payments on time and complete all the required paperwork. That includes proof of income and a letter explaining the reason for their troubles. But in practice, the process has taken far longer.

The more than 100 participating mortgage companies get taxpayer incentives to reduce payments. As of mid-June only $490 million had been spent out of a potential $75 billion the government has made available to help stem the wave of foreclosures.

US foreclosure scheme faltering … so has the Obama administration’s main programme to ease home foreclosures. Only 36695 homeowners received permanently lowered mortgage payments in July … 

USA: the US Treasury says housing market is improving The Obama administration launched a series of programs to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosures in April 2009, including the Home Affordable … 

Nearly 50 percent leave Obama mortgage-aid program The program is intended to help those at risk of foreclosure by lowering their monthly mortgage payments. Friday’s report from the Treasury Department … 

Nearly half leave mortgage-aid plan … enrolled in the Obama administration’s flagship mortgage-relief program have fallen out. The program is intended to help those at risk of foreclosure by … 

State-Based Efforts On Housing Crisis Hoped To Better The Number Of Foreclosures New state-based efforts on helping the housing crisis and minimizing foreclosures are being implemented by the Obama administration. … 

Nearly 50 Percent Leave Obama Mortgage-Aid Program The program is intended to help those at risk of foreclosure by lowering their monthly mortgage payments. Friday’s report from the Treasury Department …

AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel in Washington and Alex Veiga in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

The Scam Of Homeownership

Ok, I’m telling you right now, Realtors are going to immediately disagree, but is it possible that the Dream of Homeownership is actually a scam being perpetrated upon the American public? It may indeed be evil!

Don’t be so quick to say no. Today’s economy may be reason enough to avoid homeownership. The dream that I had as a young man and the dream that my parents had before me, may not be what I now wish for my children.

Real estate is a commodity. Say it and let that sink in. Real estate is an investment. Would you want to buy an investment that had little prospect for growth in the coming years? Putting the money that you would need to buy a home in a simple interest bearing CD may do you better than owning a home in today’s volatile real estate market.

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I can hear the questions already…”but wait, aren’t you a real estate investor who promotes the virtues of real estate investing?”

Well, you’re absolutely right. Let me make a very, very strong distinction. There’s a HUGE difference…like Grand Canyon size divide, from investing in real estate and buying into the crock of homeownership.

The former is based upon prudent due diligence and predicated upon the premise of making money. Hence the word “investment“. My sole reason for being involved in real estate is to make a profit.

The latter is based upon choosing a place to live. It is much less of an investment decision and more of a personal or emotional choice. So with that being said, a lot of economists are saying that right now is NOT a good time to buy a home…but is indeed a great time to be investing in real estate.

Check out the video below and hear what a financial advisor is saying about the scam that may be cloaked as the American Dream.