Real Estate blog

Archive for the ‘Deals’ Category

AUTHOR:

Absorption Rate is defined as: An estimate of the rate at which a particular classification of space - such as new office space, new housing, new condominium units and the like - will be sold or occupied during a specific time frame.

This is an important number for Buyers because it gives you a general ideal of the market conditions in a given area. Equally important for Sellers as it is a good indication, (when used in conjunction with our pricing grid) of what to expect in terms of “Days on Market”. Higher rates are an indicator of better market conditions.

1/1/2007 through 1/31/2007

(more…)

So you’ve decided that you are going to sell your home. At this point the first thing you need to do is to stop thinking like a home owner and start thinking like a home seller.

There is a big difference, a home owner wants to continue on with their life, they want few to zero disruptions in their day to day world.

A home seller on the other hand realizes that until the deal is closed they will have to make significant changes in their day to day life. Things like de-cluttering, keeping things picked up, vacating the property for showings and more.

(more…)

OK…we are definitely in a “Buyers Market”…right? But that doesn’t mean it’s all bad news for home sellers. There are still buyers in the marketplace and homes are still selling.

Our purpose here is to show you how to sell in a reasonable amount of time for top dollar. When we say top dollar, we don’t mean last years top dollar but today’s top dollar.

Step #1- Determine if selling is what you really need to do. Do you have to move or do you just want to move?

(more…)

This is a quick “mini-series” that we will do over the next month or two that will give you a quick World Tour of the best real estate investing blogs around.

Quick disclaimer…

The internet is full of billions of websites and a ton of blogs. Don’t get your feelings hurt if your real estate investing blog is pretty darn good and not included. Either we don’t know about it yet (let us know about your blog so we can review it)… or it just doesn’t muster up to the others according to our “scientific” formula for rating the blogs.

(more…)

Wait, I am serious with that question.

On most of the housing doom and gloom blogs like housingdoom.com, housingpanic.com and literally hundreds of others, you see the blog author as well as those posting comments say they are smarter to rent than to buy and buyers are stupid and landlords are idiots, etc.

Well, you get the gist of it. It all comes down to them thinking their landlord was a total moronic idiot who didn’t understand basic economic principles for buying and renting to them for “pennies on the dollar.”

Aside from the fact that penny on the dollar rentals are the exception, I wonder why they would rent from someone they think is that stupid?

(more…)

There’s no getting around it; investing in real estate means dealing with people. Building skills as a negotiator is the most important part of being successful as an investor.

Philosophers from Machiavelli to Rousseau have debated human nature, and although I’ve run across more than my fair share of jerks in my time I nonetheless reject the Machiavellian view of human nature as fundamentally dishonest and mean spirited. The guy you’re negotiating a sale with isn’t out to get you. That contractor you’re haggling with isn’t stupid or evil. People might act in ways that are fearful or greedy, but in my view most people aren’t bad.

The Options Market at the Chicago Board of Trade is predicting an increase in the funds rate by the Federal Reserve. They see a 41% chance the rate will increase 0.25% to 5.5% in December of this year. Interestingly, as late as a month ago they were predicting a possible decrease in the rate!

But, inflation is steady and within the comfort zone of the Fed Governors. It is at the high end of that zone but the Governors are not panicky about the current inflation numbers. They are aggressively adjusting the money supply in an effort to avoid rate adjustments up or down. It is clear from the recently released minutes they would like rates to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future, meaning twelve to eighteen months.

(more…)

It is a very valid comparison. See, CDO Hedge Funds = Enron?

But, what does it mean to the larger market and especially to small to medium real estate investors?

It depends.

If you are using these hedge funds as part of your investing strategy, you probably have a lot to worry about.

If you are heavily leveraged in your real estate holdings and were counting on an easy refinance this year or next, you really have something to worry about.

If your holdings are not heavily leveraged and you have ample room for a price correction and are looking for the long term results from your investing strategy, you probably sleep very well at night and have little to worry about.

(more…)

The Creative Real Estate (CRE) Online bulletin board is a good reference for real estate investors.