Apartments: Invest or not to invest that is the question

3/12/2010

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With the residential real estate debacle, comes the commercial free fall. A great opportunity also exists in the commercial market, with refinancing not working and more and more properties becoming abandoned by owners that simply can't deal with them any longer.

The LA Times had a great article on getting into this arena.

Some of the points I really appreciated were:
- Having plenty in reserves
- really ge to know the area
- understand the problem with the property as to why it is not currently profitable
- do your own homework
- see if the property is up to current code.
I comented on that:

Thanks so much for this article.
I appreciate the insight on making sure the property is up to code. That applies to all areas of real estate. With any properties that violate codes the city/county may view it as a dangerous building and look upon it with even more scrutiny. That can increase your repair amounts by a large margin and can even put a halt to work while the necessary permits are pulled.
Not a happy thing.

I would advise to start with apartments that are owned by mom and pop owners. You can get some nice deals here and work out owner finanicing as I have done. It's just a step above residential, and many of your current techniques work in this lower range of commerical properties.

Thanks

Dennis
Real Estate Investing A-Z
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Can Millions of houses be saved from foreclosure?

3/4/2010

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The Housing Predictor came out with an article claiming that stronger measures will be needed to prevent millions of homes from going into foreclosure.

The approach recommended is something similar to the New Deal approach FDR took during the Great Depression.

Are we at that point yet? Maybe not, but we're definitely getting there. Recent Obama initiatives may place a hold on foreclosures until banks have proven that they have assisted homeowners via the current programs available.

With 5 million homes foreclosed on already and another 15 million at risk of foreclosure, something has to happen. Banks are taking a wait and see approach since they don't know what Obama will do.

Home sellers and real estate investors can work together on loan mods and other creative ways to sell homes quickly should that be what the home owner wishes to do.

Dennis

Wholesaling
REI A-Z
Bird Dogging
Rehabbing
Tax Lien Investing
Deal Funding
Loan Modification
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Investors- don\\\'t get caught upside down on your next deal!

3/4/2010

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Now the question is, how do you do that?

Folks have been getting appraisals for years. While they are helpful and many times necessary, real world real estate investors know you have to do your homework as well.

You can make sure your numbers on the value of the property you're buying by doing this. It's quick, easy, and FREE.

Here's what you do:
Find the "area specialist" for the neighborhood your prospective investment property is in. You do this by finding the person that has sold the most houses in that area in the past 6-12 months. Contact them and put them on your side, possibly hinting at letting them sell your home when you're ready.

These folks are the experts. They know what the neighborhood is like, and the price changes from street to street. You can't get much more accure than that.

Hope it helps

Dennis

Wholesaling
REI A-Z
Bird Dogging
Rehabbing
Tax Lien Investing
Deal Funding
Loan Modification
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The housing collapse. Sub prime not to blame?

3/2/2010

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Housing watch posted an article showing that although the sub prime meltdown had a role in the housing collapse, it was actually downfall of REPO - Renew Sale and Repurchase. This is a $20 trillion unsecured market in charge of collateralizing securities.

Once things started going down hill, REPO who is tasked with keeping money flowing took a dive as well.

Either way, as the author brings out- knowing what may have caused the collapse still doesn't make anyone feel better.

The problem is that all of us have a part to play: from bankers, to buyers, to real estate agents, appraisers, brokers, and real estate investors.

Everyone was just thinking that things would always continue on the way it was going, when in fact it was too good to be true. People were lying about how much money they made, appraisers were puffing up the actual value of the properties and builders were over building and everything was over hyped.

It really is time to live below our means and think before we make large purchases such as these.

For now, homeowners to have options and real estate investors do have an important role in moving all of this housing inventory.

Dennis

For real estate investors, handling your business the right way is essential to prevent your own mini housing collapse.
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Buy more debt instead of real estate?

2/23/2010

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Here's the situation:

While Houston and Dallas rank 6 and 1 in the nation for commercial real estate growth, the commercial real estate field is very bleak.

North County times reports that: Banking analysts warn that the nation could be swept by a wave of foreclosures of apartment buildings, retail outlets, industrial space, and office complexes in the coming year.

So we just lowball and short sale all these properties right?

Sam Zell who made billions of dollars in commercial real estate doesn't think that will work, especially with apartment complexes not having much equity at all.

His suggestion: Invest in the debt!

Same can be applied in residential real estate as well. This is different from a short sale. Here the note is actually being sold for a discount. Different department all togethe
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Domino Effect of Housing Crisis

2/17/2010

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Well, we all knew the housing dream of a few years ago was too good to be true.

We were right and it turned into a nightmare.

According to Housing Predictor:
The new wave of foreclosures is already impacting markets in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada where the crisis triggered some of the worst housing deflation in the country. A new crop of ALT-A loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA are showing high levels of default. Nearly 4-million other mortgages are at risk of foreclosure in 2010 from subprime and what were newly created mortgage products developed by bankers that helped trigger the crisis.

Additionally, equity in homes have been slashed in half! and Bank of America is foreclosing on folks left and right.

An estimated 15 million more foreclosures are due in the next 5 years while current government measures have only helpd 66,000 people modify their existing loans.

There are solutions we can provide as investors:

From Forbearance, Loan Modifications, Short Sales, and SubjectTo Techniques that can save homes, protect credit, or even give homeowners a fresh start.

The Key is having the knowledge about these options at your disposal to provide the needed help

Dennis
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