Thursday, August 20th, 2009
CNBC’s Senior Futures Editor, Albert Bozzo wrote an article today discussing the dichotomy of housing’s budding rebound and the overall real estate market. Mr. Bozzo lists items such as government intervention, evidenced in the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, as reasons for some apparent life in the housing market. The overall housing market (which includes commercial, retail, service industries, suppliers and so on) remains in a fiscal slump due to the recession at large. He subsequently identifies an expansion of the government tax credit program as a driver for continued growth in housing sales. I can see Mr. Bozzo does not understand basic macroeconomic theory.
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Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
The U.S. is facing a foreclosure crisis. We are about to enter into a commercial property crisis as businesses can’t afford monthly rents. But, for the newbies out there, let’s just stick with residential property in this discussion.
Did you know homeowners do not always have to go through foreclosure when problems arise?
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Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
Nationwide, prices of new and existing homes are now only about 7% away from being as affordable as they were during the 1980s — when the housing market was booming. At that time, median home prices equaled 2.9 times median household incomes.
To put this in perspective, at the height of the bubble back in 2006, median home prices sold for about 4.5 times median incomes. In some markets they were actually twice as high — clearly an unstable level that required creative lending and a bubble mentality among buyers and bankers alike.
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Thursday, December 11th, 2008
It’s a good thing many of today’s investors aren’t back in elementary school. In no time, they’d be diagnosed with ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder-handed a Ritalin prescription and told not to return until they popped a few pills.
Whys that? Because today’s investors have notoriously short attention spans. Read the rest of this entry »
Friday, December 5th, 2008
Today, our current president, George W. Bush, finally used the r-word. (Recession)
With massive job losses, financial institution collapses, auto industry implosions and a credit crunch not seen for many years, Real Estate woes are merely a small portion of America’s troubles right now.
But fear not! Read the rest of this entry »
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
It’s getting pretty interesting out there! Rates are down again, but still no one is buying. Oh, wait a minute. No banks are lending…
Folks, debt reduction and smart investing are the two things that will save your Real Estate business and your sanity. Lease option agreements, cashflow positive properties and cheap acquisitions should be your focus during this trying time. Home builders like Beazer Homes USA are trying everything they can to book profits or “acceptable losses”. Creative tax reporting is also on the table. Go figure. Make sure your tax guy or gal knows real estate investing and not just 1080EZ forms.
Here is another idea for you: You may find gold by selling your cashflow positive properties to another investor. Some larger investors will even owner-finance some of these properties just to get another business in the door and the property out of their portfolio. Even at historically low interest rates from the Federal Reserve, banks are really stingy. It may be up to private firms, investors and “hard money” lenders to bail out the hard working business owners who did everything by the book and without excess.
Keep the Faith and Reduce your Debt! Trust me on this…
-Richard – The FlipBoard.com
Monday, October 6th, 2008
While looking over my businesses and investment holdings this morning, I experienced an epiphany. I carefully gazed up at the television screen and noticed a huge run on Wall Street to the tune of 500 points. (The DJIA actually fell over 800 points before recovering.) There was panic in the news reporters giving the scoop. Panic was found on DrudgeReport.com. There was Panic everywhere.
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Friday, September 26th, 2008
Small to midsize businesses have really taken the brunt of the national economic slowdown, much more so than their Fortune 500 counterparts. The banking, construction, auto and retail sectors are hardest hit, while other areas like health care, education and the federal government are doing better. Business leaders are closely watching existing assets and ensuring they are getting the best use out of them. This includes real estate, both commercial and residential. The difficult period we are in currently has caused us to become better stewards of what we buy and use. Just look at the number of forced sales of real estate across the board, if you want proof. Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
America’s out of control, drowning in debt, gorging: $75 trillion and getting worse. Now we’re dumping Fannie and Freddie on America’s balance sheet. Every year we pile trillions more on future generations. Can’t trust McCain? Obama? Time for new leadership! The best qualified for president is the same great American hero we picked as our favorite write-in candidate for the 2006 elections: David Walker, former comptroller general, chief auditor of the U.S. Government Accounting Office for a decade before resigning last spring. He is ready. Read the rest of this entry »
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Not making the money you want in the stock market? Vacancies up in your properties? Try REITs! Read the rest of this entry »
