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First Time Real Estate Investors? Excitement and Fear
2008-02-05 23:52:00
When the decision is made to start looking for that first investment property it can be exciting and frightening. Both excitement and fear are good teachers if we do a little analysis to discover how they affect decisions. When you arrive at the level of investing it?s wise to understand emotions. I could give ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Investing , Time , Fear

Getting Started In Rehab Real Estate
2008-02-05 12:00:00
You want to rehab houses, but where do you start? We see the fix-and-flip “reality” shows that, somehow, manage to have no basis in reality. How hard can it be to buy a house, rehab it, sell it, and retire to a life of luxury on the French Riviera? On TV, it all happens in ...
More About: Rehab , Estate , Real Estate , Real , Flipping Houses

A Disgruntled Developer Tries to Get Back Commissions Already Paid to Agent
2008-02-05 01:23:00
A Miami-Dade County, Florida developer, Related Group, has filed multiple lawsuits in the past month against real estate brokerages seeking the return of commissions on deals that fell through. The amount in controversy, which exceeds $460,000.00, is tied to commissions advanced by Related Group to the named-defendant brokerages on at least 19 sales contracts ...
More About: Agent , Real Estate Investing , Developer , Commissions , Paid

New York Rental Rates Fall! When Was The Last Time You Saw That Headline?
2008-02-04 18:40:00
It was bound to happen sooner or later. The real estate bust of 2008 is finally having an impact on one of the last hold outs, New York City. Manhattan, in particular, seemed all but immune to the current subprime mortgage mess mostly because foreign buyers were able to take advantage of the declining value of ...
More About: Rental , Time , Rates

Managing Tenants, Part Two: Steering Clear of the Fair Housing Act
2008-02-02 13:02:00
“No person shall be subjected to discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, age, or national origin.” Housing discrimination isn’t a joke. It’s against the law and narrow-minded landlords who refuse to rent to those belonging to protected classes can find themselves on the wrong end of a well-deserved lawsuit. Of course, you’d never find such low-life scum around here, ...
More About: Fair , Part , Clear , Tenants

Homeowner Bankruptcy: When Lenders Hope for it
2008-02-01 18:47:00
Bankruptcy, or the ?B? word, is one of the few words that lenders fear. It usually means that it will take several months before they will begin to see any money from a homeowner. When a homeowner is in foreclosure and they file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, it effectively freezes the foreclosure and costs ...
More About: Bankruptcy , Hope , Mortgages , Lenders , Homeowner

How I can fix the mortgage mess
2008-01-31 22:38:00
I wanted to give a prospective look into fixing the mortgage mess from a variety of view points. Below is the position I would take if I were given the chance to make the decision: If I were the Federal Reserve, I would help fix the mortgage mess by lowering interest rates. Both the Prime ...
More About: Commentary , Housing Bubble , Mortgage , Mess

Short-Term Fix, Long-Term Worry?
2008-01-31 16:46:00
Okay, NAR, we understand what you?re trying to do. You?re a big organization, and you?ve obviously got some congressional clout. Included in the recently proposed Economic Stimulus Plan, the NAR has lobbied for higher loan limits from both Freddie Mac and Fannie May; higher loan limits will also be applied to FHA loans, which are ...
More About: Economy , Real Estate Market , Worry , Short-term , Long

How to Score Big! The Truth Behind Credit Reports and Your Credit Score.
2008-01-30 21:37:00
As interest rates continue to plummet millions of Americans will flock to their lender to refinance and many of those will find that their credit scores prevent them from taking any real advantage of those new low rates. Borrowers that financed when rates were low previously, and their credit scores higher, were able to get ...
More About: Truth , Credit , Score , Ruth , The Truth

Foreclosures Way Up In 2007. A Time For Professional Advise
2008-01-30 16:49:00
Foreclosures are up 79 percent! Now that’s something. And that is exactly how much the foreclosure rate in this country increased by in 2007 from the year before. The latest figures from RealtyTrac paint an even darker picture for the near future: apparently lots of folks just began falling behind on mortgage payments since November, ...
More About: Foreclosures , Time , Professional , Fess

BREAKING: Subprime Debacle Goes Criminal. FBI Investigates 14 Companies
2008-01-30 01:00:00
It was bound to happen. The subprime mortgage fiasco is now the target of investigations by several law enforcement organizations. The FBI today announcing it is looking at 14 companies—companies that may have committed fraud in the handing out of loans to mortgage borrowers who should not have gotten loans in the first place because of ...
More About: Companies , Criminal , Breaking , Subprime

Getting Your Own House in Order
2008-01-29 12:00:00
I see so many people who are just itching to be real estate investors. However, a common theme seems to be “I want to buy and rehab a house but I don?t have any money.” Not only are they lacking funds for investment, they have little or no income and are hopelessly in debt. Then ...
More About: House , Credit , Blogs , Order

Real Estate Closing Costs and Good Faith Estimates
2008-01-28 23:04:00
When I ask “Do you know what it will cost to buy your home?”, I’m not referring to the amount of your mortgage or interest rate. I’m talking about the closing costs, escrows and pro-rated reimbursements that you will have to pay out of your pocket at the closing table. If you are working with ...
More About: Faith , Estate , Real Estate , Real , Good

Managing Tenants, Part One: 5 Favorite Lease Clauses
2008-01-26 18:49:00
Like every other landlord, we’ve had a few tenants with Special Needs. My favorite story (given a healthy amount of hind-sight and a Valium or three) involves a well-qualified, newly single business manager who moved into our quaint ?40’s style garage apartment. On paper, she looked like a dream tenant–stable job, good income, decent credit. ...
More About: Part , Lease , Favorite , Tenants

The Real Estate Storm: Who is it hurting and why is it here?
2008-01-24 18:21:00
This ?Real Estate Storm ? as I call it, is getting worse. While there are many aspects involved as to what caused the current real estate mess we are in, this article will take a look at the sub-prime mortgage aspect and I will offer my take on the situation. From 2002 until early 2007, lenders issued ...
More About: Commentary , Real Estate , Foreclosures

Beware of Fraud Peddling Real Estate Scam Artists, Consultants, and So Call
2008-01-23 19:10:00
There never seems to be an end to the crooks and con artist that prey upon people. I?ve been telling friends and associates for many months that I feel the bulk of the mortgage crises blame falls on scam artist (many posing as mortgage consultants). As the crisis continues, the crooks will undoubtedly come crawling ...
More About: Commentary , Estate , Fraud , Real Estate , Artists

Real Estate Agents: Are Litigious Clients Out to Get YOU?
2008-01-23 12:00:00
If you are a real estate agent or lawyer you MUST read this; if you are a recent home buyer you MUST read this. Why? Because we are about to take a trip through the looking glass into a weird world never before explored, a world in which home owners who feel they overpaid for their ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Agents , Clients , Real

Lipstick on a Pig
2008-01-22 12:00:00
Who hasn?t had the rehabber?s fantasy? Let?s buy that run-down house, fix it up and make a fortune! The problem is that most new investors venture into this arena unarmed. There is the usual problem of paying too much or grossly underestimating the time or money that is needed, but there is another problem as ...
More About: Lipstick , Blogs , Flipping Houses

Asian Stock Markets Collapse for Second Day. US to Follow their Lead
2008-01-22 06:25:00
With the US markets closed on Monday, stock markets around the globe were busy losing an average of 5% of their total value. If traders in the US thought that might be an impetus for a selloff on Tuesday, it only got worse as markets in Asia opened today (Tuesday). According to Yahoo Finance, “Japan’s ...
More About: Economy , Collapse , Markets , Stock , Asian

5 Reasons Why You Need a Real Estate Attorney
2008-01-22 01:15:00
True Story: Jim and Susan Jones were selling their home in Florida and relocating to Pennsylvania. They had entered into an agreement of sale with a buyer for their home simultaneous to signing an agreement of sale to buy a new home in Pennsylvania. After packing all of their belongings and getting ready ...
More About: A Real Estate , Estate , Real Estate , Attorney , Real

Why Interest Rate Drops May NOT Be a Good Thing
2008-01-21 18:53:00
In a recent post on our forums, one of our members noted that she was hoping for a major drop in interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Richard Warren, one of our resident bloggers and real estate geniuses had a great bit of insight on the situation that I thought merited sharing: Don?t be so ...
More About: Economy , Interest Rates , Interest , Good , Thing

Why Real Estate Social Networking Has Never Been So Important
2008-01-20 23:23:00
If there ever was a time for real estate investors, and even those just interested in real estate, to social network, this is surely it. The current economic crisis, and it is that, was not caused by geo-politics, or war, or famine–it was caused by banks and other lending institutions lending money to people who could ...
More About: Social , Commentary , Social Networking , Estate , Real Estate

The Mortgage Crisis Has a Silver Lining (?and other truths you won?t hear o
2008-01-19 18:34:00
We’re living in exciting times. Folks all over are blowing the trumpet of doom and despair concerning REI. In fact, the mortgage crisis has almost reached cliché status (we’re anxiously awaiting Rosie to expound on her blog before declaring this a done deal.) Granted, it all sounds pretty bleak and while I’m not trying to ...
More About: Economy , Real Estate Investing , Silver Lining , Housing Bubble , Mortgage

Earning Your Keep: What Makes a Good Real Estate Agent
2008-01-18 18:25:00
In the last few years I?ve noticed much of the public has lost respect for Realtors and view them as overpaid ?salespeople? that get a lot of money for simply showing a house or two and writing up a simple contract. For some, that perception will never change simply because they see it as a ...
More About: Agent , Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Agent

Here?s How You Write a Real Estate Ad
2008-01-18 18:08:00
In the world of real estate marketing, getting people to see a property is half the battle. Assuming you can get them to look, you are much more likely to get them to buy. After all, why wouldn?t they see all the many benefits the given home offers, benefits that made you invest in the ...
More About: A Real Estate , Estate , Real Estate , Write , Real

New BP Review: BiggerPockets Goes Wild!
2008-01-17 23:27:00
As promised, we’re going to share with you all of the reviews we get about BiggerPockets, both here on the blog and on our press page. Today, I found out about a fantastic review of BiggerPockets on TheWild Investor.com, that you must read! Check out: How ?bout them Bigger Pockets Remember, if you’re interested in writing a ...
More About: Review

The Grass is Green Right Here!
2008-01-17 17:35:00
I have been contributing to the BiggerPockets Blog for nearly five months now. I have to admit that it has been a challenge to come up with a new article every week. I don’t like to write “fluff� or make something sound easier than it is. Thankfully, the owner of BiggerPockets (Joshua Dorkin) has made suggestions about how I present the content of my articles but his suggestions have come after I asked for his opinion. Overall though, I have been encouraged to write about whatever I think readers will like and if they learn something as well, then I am happy. To summarize…Being a contributor for BiggerPockets has been fun and best of all, I have been able to reach more people than before. Being a teacher at heart, that is a rewarding thing. A little over a week ago I was contacted by the President of a marketing company who represented what many would call, a “real estate investing GIANT.� They had seen some of my articles and liked the fact that I tell it like it is whi...
More About: Green , Grass

BiggerPockets Becomes a Killer Startup!
2008-01-16 19:32:00
I found out late last night that BiggerPockets was nominated to be a Killer Startup by KillerStartups.com, recognizing that we’re an upstart company that is going to make waves out there! KillerStartups introduces new startups to their readers and helps spread the word for those companies. One of the coolest features on their site is ...

Weak Retail Sales As Mortgage Crisis Puts Freeze On Consumers
2008-01-16 19:13:00
It is amazing how what started out as a subprime mortgage crisis has morphed into such an enormous economic mess around the world. On Tuesday alone, the three major U.S. stock indexes went south by more than 2 percent. Citicorp, the nation’s largest bank, had to write down $18.1 Billion for loses—loses stemming from the subprime crisis. Tighter ...
More About: Commentary , Sales , Retail , Mortgage , Freeze

Goodbye Pentagon: Introducing the Newest World?s Largest Building
2008-01-16 12:01:00
For decades, the Pentagon has had the distinction of being the world’s largest building, but that is about to change . . . Let me introduce to you Crystal Island, soon to be located in Moscow, Russia. This building is not just big, it’s enormous! This building, according to Nubricks, “will cover a staggering 2,670,000 ...
More About: Building , Architecture , World , Goodbye