Simply Junior

“There are no facts, just interpretations.” Friedrich Nietzsche

On a whole, I like honesty. I like it when people tell me what they really think (within reason). And if they don’t have anything interesting or worthwhile to say, omission works well for me too. I like things clear and easily understood.

So it came to my chagrin when I was reading a headline of an article this week that blared, “N.C. foreclosure sales drop 42%.” Wow!! 42%? That’s almost half! Is the job market trending up in our southern paradise? 2011 must be when the US economy really rebounds led by the Tarheels of North Carolina! Charlotte is ready to do its part! This must mean that home price stabilization is around the corner and real estate will start picking up and lead our country to another streak of prosperity!

But wait… I really hadn’t heard anything about the local real estate market getting noticeably better; rather I’ve continued to hear the opposite. Homes sales in Charlotte have continued to dwindle (I read another headline saying that Charlotte home closings were down 23% in 10/10 when compared to 10/09!). Well, I guess that has nothing to do with people actually staying in their homes. So less foreclosed homes equals better capitalized consumers, which equals more consumers with jobs, which equals a better economy, which equals a more robust (and rising!) real estate market? Cool!

And then I actually read the article. The 42% foreclosure decrease was due to the halting of foreclosures due to questionable bank procedures. That explains it! So, this statistic is artificial and misleading. We’ll soon see a headline in the coming months saying that foreclosures are up 42%+ to make up for the halted foreclosures now.

And now that I think about it, our firm did have some closings that were held up because of this foreclosure freeze. So what does that mean about the 23% decline in home sale closings statistic compiled from 10/10 (when compared to 10/09)? Does that make that statistic artificial and misleading as well?

The clearest answer is “yeah, probably.” Who can figure out what’s going on? Maybe this is what Wall Street legend, Peter Lynch, was talking about when he said, “The man who studies macroeconomics for 15 minutes a year wastes 10 minutes.” There are too many moving parts to get a true picture of reality!

It’s like the rock band that labors through the reading of their 2,000 word concert review in Rolling Stone magazine and only wants to know one thing: “Do they think we rock?” I just want the same type of clarity from the headlines I read.

Are things getting better or worse?

Lake Havasu real estate is a hot commodity. With surrounding attractions such as the London Bridge, English Village, Mohave Desert, and Lake Havasu, it’s no wonder that the place has become a popular place to live. When tourists decide to turn the growing city from their vacation spot into their hometown, local real estate agents are a great resource.

When purchasing real estate, buyers should consider the real estate market at the time of their purchase, builder reputation, local schools, and other neighborhood services. Most people find that securing a real estate agent to assist them in their purchase is the easiest way to go. Further, a real estate agent can also assist buyers in safeguarding their interests, negotiating prices, arranging financing, and managing the closing.

real estate agents can also help buyers with their home search, which is especially important for long-distance travelers who may not be able to frequent Lake Havasu too many times prior to making a purchase. By providing the buyer with photos, prices, and floor plans currently available, the buyer can save numerous hours that would have otherwise been spent searching newspapers and online advertisements.

Regardless of whether or not a buyer decides to use an agent, they will find many Lake Havasu real estate options available, regardless of their preferences. Golf lovers can choose between Gleneagles Estates, which offers a 17 acre single family home development that is adjacent to the London Bridge Golf Course, or the Refuge at Lake Havasu, which sports a lush golf course surrounded by beautiful homes, all inside a gated community. Canterbury Estates, Lakeridge Estates, and Sunlake Village also offer security-conscious buyers with gated communities. For buyers more interested in the area’s natural beauty, Lake Havasu Foothills Estates, a 640-acre development, sits in the Mohave Mountains.

From golf courses to mountains, lakes to historic bridges, Lake Havasu real estate offers buyers something for everyone.

That’s exactly what the media wants you to believe. Unfortunately their doing a great job convincing everyday hardworking Americans who are losing their homes that this is the current state of the Real Estate Market all over the United States. The fact of the matter is, real estate investors who understand market cycles are flat out creating wealth. You need to know how to identify cash cow REO deals in your market and capitalize on one of the greatest real estate investing opportunities in the history of United States.

First you must know what is that you are looking for. In most cases
we are looking for homes in bread & butter neighborhoods that are 20 years or older. These areas generally consist of a stable rental market with blue collar workers that have lived there for sometime. Some other signs to look for to determine if an area is good for rentals. Is simply to see how many of the homes within a half mile to a mile radius are owned by absentee owners. If you don’t know what an absentee owner is, that simply means someone owns a property, but it is not their primary residence.

You also want to check the comparable sales in the area as well as the rental rates to make sure that the houses you are making offers on will be able to have a positive cash flow. You can usually contact a local real estate agent to get this information. If you don’t have access to any realtors leave a comment on my Blog or send me an email, and I will send you some great resources for that information. Now that you have identified the rental rates and the value of the property its time to start submitting offers.

Now when it comes to dealing with banks you have one of two choices, A. uses a buyer’s agent to represent you or B. deal directly with the listing agent for the bank. I personally would choose B. and simply put the selling agent will be more motivated to get your offer accepted knowing they get to keep the full commission for themselves and not have to split it with a buying agent. The only caveat with that is they technically do not represent you unless you do a duel agencies agreement which is beyond the scope of this article. Plain and simple use the selling agent to make your offers.

Now when we want buy REO deals from the banks or other wholesalers we do not want to pay no more than 60 cents on the dollar minus the repairs. I generally offer much less than that when negotiating with banks, usually around 45 cents on the dollar minus repairs. You just want to be able to get a dialogue going between you and the bank. Hopefully the selling agent will do their job and try to get your offer accepted, once your offer has been accepted now its time to close deal.

In part 2 of this article we will discuss how to finance these deals, and even flip REO property. Until then take care and happy investing!

There are a number of Houston real estate brokers who are all willing to help interested clients. Major Houston real estate players include John Daugherty Realtors, Martha Turner Properties, and Greenwood King. Although most real estate companies are closed by brokers from these companies, there is no question that other real estate brokers may also offer great deals. Still, there are deceptive real estate brokers who are only keen in making money out of every business deal they make.

Houston has a local real estate brokers association of which credible realtors and realties are members. The association protects both real estate brokers and prospective buyers alike from fraudulent brokers. Consumers are free to check on the list of real estate brokers made available by the association on whether or not their brokers are deceptive. The local Houston real estate brokers association also offers free home ownership assistance as well as counseling to low to moderate income generating individuals searching for real estate deals in Houston. The association also encourages friendly competition among Houston realtors through healthy exchange of selling strategies and ideas that amount to reasonable and popular real estate deals.

Houston real estate brokers all believe in the founding goal of their association: Every consumer must be ensured of equal housing opportunities, and all possible buyers must not be subject to discriminatory real estate practices. This springs from the fact that minority races were banned from equal housing opportunities in earlier days, confining them to insubstantial properties at unfavorable locations. The founding of the real estate brokers association improved the then unjust treatment to African Americans residing in Houston and provided them opportunities to better qualify themselves and make it good in the real estate industry.

Certified Houston real estate brokers continue to promote equal housing opportunities by offering the best real estate deals. Consumers are sure to find contentment in the properties acquired from these brokers.

If you’re like most real estate investment wannabes, you’ve taken seminars, read books, watched infomercials and DVDs, and have spent considerable amounts of money to learn about the ins and outs of the field. If you’re still struggling with how to get started, here are some of successful investors favorite ways to make money in real estate.

The first has become popular with the advent of several television programs. It’s popularly known as flipping houses, which just means buying, fixing up, and reselling a property for a profit. It sounds simple enough. Find a rundown house, spend what can be a considerable amount of time and money to upgrade and repair it, and then recoup that investment, along with a sizable profit, when you resell the property.

Other investors like to buy homes that are in need of the repairs and upgrades you see so often portrayed on television and sell them WITHOUT doing the repairs. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. All it involves is buying a property by contract, structuring that contract so that you have the right to sell the underlying to a building contractor or other investor who will have the means to be able to subcontract out the work.

This process is sometimes called bird dogging or wholesaling. Investors don’t make as much per transaction, but the turnaround time is much faster. You don’t have to deal with the 101 things that can and do go wrong, as you well know if you’re a fan of the various television shows that follow the ups and downs of investors as they try to flip their homes.

Real estate investors have always looked for houses that have the potential to be fixed up and upgraded and then resold at a profit. That’s partly because, depending upon how hot your local real estate may be, the potential profits can be in the five-digit range for each transaction.

There are dangers, of course, since many projects have at least one hidden problem that throws a giant monkey wrench into the process, reducing profits and lengthening the time to finish. Therefore, it’s important for you to know your market and how much things will cost to repair before you start working this popular investment strategy.

Lease options can also be a profitable way to get into a rundown house, bring it up to standard, and then either resell or rent it, depending upon your taste. This allows you to generally get into a house without the real estate agent’s fees, which can be considerable. Once you’ve got the property up to standard, you can then sell the home on a lease option to someone else, which is generally good, because they’ll have more incentive to keep it nice.

There are many other ways to make money in real estate, of course, but these are some investors favorites. The main thing is to pick a strategy you’re comfortable with and stick to it until you’re an expert at it!

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