HomeRun Homes Rent to Own Homes Blog

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HomeRun Homes is a centralized marketplace which helps people Find or Sell a Rent to Own Home, both Nationwide and Globally to the thriving Rent to Own Market. http://www.lease2buy.com

December 27, 2011

Holiday Housing Cheer!

Hi Folks,
   I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a very Happy Holiday!

   Last week the New Residential Construction figures were released for November, and for two out of the three components, there was a pretty solid move upward.

   The two components that were on the rise were both Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits, and Privately-owned housing starts. The building permits for these Privately-owned housing units were up 5.7% over October 2011, but almost 21% from November 2010. The housing starts for these Privately-owned projects were up 9.3% over October 2011, but 24.3% over November 2010.

   The sole component that was down was for Housing Completions (for Privately-owned Housing), and the drop off was 5.6% from October 2011, and just 1.6% from November 2010. This should be reflective of a lower pipeline earlier in the year of both building permits and housing starts. If that is the case, however, let's just imagine for a second how promising the housing completions should be a few months down the road when these elevated building permits and housing starts come to fruition.

   As for Existing Homes Sales, these figures experienced a healthy bounce as well, with the completed transactions for single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, climbed 4% from October 2011, and 12.2% over November 2010. At a continued pace, we can only hope that the Shadow Inventory of homes can be devoured, so that we can truly experience the long-awaited Housing Recovery.

   What are your thoughts?

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #ResidentialConstruction #ExistingHomesSales #buildingpermits #housingstarts #HousingCompletions #ShadowInventory #housingrecovery

December 19, 2011

How The Heck Did I Become A Landlord?

Hi Folks,
   Hope all is well, and your Holiday spirit is brimming over the top!
   OK, I certainly agree, the title of this post may be silly, but the topic is anything but silly.

   Amy Hoak did a great job addressing the "Accidental Landlords" in her story for the WSJ. Hoak defined one such landlord as "a landlord not by choice but because of circumstances beyond control", namely, the real-estate crash, in which this particular homeowner was suddenly faced with a choice: "sell for $100,000 less than what she paid, or hold on and hope that prices recover." She chose to hold on, rent the property, and thus, became an "Accidental Landlord". The chaos that ensued was a nightmare, that was harassing neighbors, and made complaints about everything from loud music to dust on her mailbox.

   "Becoming a landlord when a property proves difficult to sell is also a gamble that housing prices will rebound fairly soon, and that the ultimate sale price will more than cover expenses incurred in the meantime.", says Hoak, but with that gamble also comes legal responsibilities, expenses, and "unforeseen headaches"

   Lisa Eckert, a property manager for Coldwell Banker Bain, in Kirkland, Wash, commented in Hoak's article that she thinks we will see "a lot more owners becoming landlords" due to the economy, and says that people are "turning to renting out as the last-ditch effort". For example, Rick Sharga, executive vice president of Santa Ana, Calif.-based Carrington Mortgage Holdings LLC, says that rents are rising and there are millions of potential home buyers who are unable to qualify for mortgages.

   If you find yourself at the threshold of becoming an "Accidental Landlord", there are some tips that were shared that can help you survive, such as high costs (such as taxes, insurance, possible homeowner association dues, maintenance, etc.). For some landlords, Hoak writes that they might be better off hiring a Property Manager. Basically, a Project Manager, who will handle the maintenance, along with collecting the rent and other related services to managing the property, all for a fee that varies regionally and locally.

   Some of the additional tips that will help both new and seasoned landlords survive, include having a strong and enforceable contract, as well as full documentation of all correspondence, expenses, etc, should they ever need paperwork to bolster the reason for an eviction.

   My favorite quote from Hoak's piece came from Jerry Arnold, who has been renting out a condo he owns in Seattle since 2009, and he said the following about renters; "Nobody treats a property like an owner".

   Mr. Arnold, you are correct. However, there is one other group of people out there that also will treat a property like an owner; tenant-buyers, who are signed on to a Rent to Own contract. Basically, why just rent out a home that you can't sell? Why not rent it out with an option to buy, or Rent to Own?

   Does that make sense? What do you think about that statement?

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #landlord #realestatecrash #rentproperty #risingrent #housingprices #PropertyManager #eviction #RenttoOwn #contract #renter #tenant

December 15, 2011

Real Estate Can Make You Do Crazy Things

Hi Folks,
   Hope you're having a great week.

   It's nothing new to any of you reading this that Real Estate is a great way to make a lot of money, if done right with a cooperating market. However, there is also an under-current of those that use fraud, manipulation, and other schemes to scrape funds from people with blatant disregard for the law.

   For example, there were 4 such incidents that popped up in the news this past week, one involving a Real Estate Broker, one involving an Internet Scam, another involving some Real Estate Investors, and yet another one overseas, just to show how far-reaching this issue goes.

   To be specific, a Real Estate Broker in Phoenix was convicted for evading over $3 Million in taxes from land sales and broker commissions, while some guy sold property in Alabama...property he didn't own and never gave up the Title for once he was paid! The story involving the Real Estate Investors was related to fraud and bid-rigging at Public Real Estate Foreclosure Auctions in California. The overseas one that I referred to above was in New Zealand, where a real estate salesman misled a buyer and failed to pass on an offer made by another buyer.

   I'm going to assume that overall, people are "good", however, with the markets the way they are right now, there are a lot of desperate folks out there, and a lot of people waiting to pounce on them like prey. Of course, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but the sheer spike in these stories tells me that this is a trend that will continue in tandem with the market woes.

   The lesson here: Caveat Emptor, or "Buyer Beware". Do you have any similar stories to share with our readers?

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #RealEstateBroker #RealEstateInvestors #taxes #landsales #bidrigging #RealEstateForeclosureAuction #California #NewZealand

December 12, 2011

Occupy Foreclosure Homes Hits Multiple Cities

Hi Folks,
   It's been a short while since we spoke, as I have had some unforeseen personal issues develop in my life over the past few weeks, but things are clearing up and the posts will start getting back on track for you!

   Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few months, I'm sure that when you turn on your TV, you keep hearing the same word over and over; "Occupy". Just slip a location after it, and you have Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Oakland, etc. Up to this point, the Occupy movement has been done in a Public fashion (Public Parks, etc), however, as it was recently discussed in a Newsday article from The Associated Press ("Occupy protests move to foreclosed homes"), Occupy protesters across the country are "reclaiming foreclosed homes and boarded-up properties", which they write, is "signaling a tactical shift for the movement against wealth inequality".

   These are not isolated incidents.

   Apparently, in excess of 25 cities were "occupied" by these groups who were protesting "on behalf of homeowners facing evictions". Jeff Ordower, one of the organizers of Occupy Homes, was quoted as saying that "It's pretty clear that the fight is against the banks, and the Occupy movement is about occupying spaces. So occupying a space that should belong to homeowners but belongs to the banks seems like the logical next step for the Occupy movement".

Some of the areas that the groups were protesting in were:
* Seattle: The article says that Seattle "has become a leader in the anti-foreclosure movement as protesters took over a formerly boarded-up duplex last month. They painted the bare wood sidings with green, black and red paint, and strung up a banner that says "Occupy Everything - No Banks No Landlords."

* Atlanta: At a Foreclosure Auction at a county courthouse, what was called a "boisterous rally", took place, along with "whistles and sirens to disrupt an auction of seized houses", per the story. The Occupy Atlanta spokesman, Tim Franzen, said that "We don't know how many homes we saved for one more month during the holiday season", and added that, "It was kind of a Christmas gift to the people."

* New York: Protesters marched through a residential neighborhood in Brooklyn carrying signs that read "Foreclose on banks, not people", per the Story.

* Southern California: In another familiar protest, the "protesters rallied around a family of six that reclaimed the home they lost six months ago in foreclosure".

* Portland: The home of a woman that was defiant about leaving that home, Deb Austin, was the site of a press conference. Austin, who's is facing foreclosure next March, per the AP Story, vowed to stay in her house until authorities take her out. The reason she fell behind was the result of both her cancer diagnosis, and also job loss.

   It appears that these protests will keep regenerating across the country, and perhaps the upcoming Election year will fan the flames even more. One such "desired result" could potentially be the use of abandoned foreclosed houses "that could be housing people", say the protesters.

   This will all remain to be seen, but it certainly is not a headline that will be dropping off the radar any time soon. What do you think?

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #OccupyWallStreet #foreclosedhomes #homeownersfacingevictions #ForeclosureAuction #residentialneighborhood #banks #Seattle #Atlanta #NewYork #Portland #Elections #California

December 5, 2011

Property Managers Thrive as Rentals Soar

Hi Folks,

   Hope you all had a great weekend, whether you were doing Holiday shopping or anything else to relax this past weekend.

   For quite some time, many honest and hard working Property Managers were being grouped into the same category as some bad apples in their field. However, since people are having difficulties purchasing homes due to mortgage rules, etc, rentals are soaring, and in conjunction, Property Managers are flourishing.

   If you are not sure of what the functions of a Rental Property Manager are, they "handle such tasks as screening tenants, helping landlords set rents, resolving disputes and ensuring lawns get mowed. They charge homeowners about 8 percent to 14 percent of the monthly rent, depending on the manager and city", as told by Hui-yong Yu on businessweek.com.

   Time for some hard facts from Yu in the article, "Once ‘Ugly’ Property Management Grows as U.S. Home Rentals Surge", Renter household formation "surpassed new owner-occupied homes in 2007 for the first time since 1985 and has held the lead since", per the U.S. Census Bureau data". Additionally, U.S. apartment vacancies fell to a five-year low in the third quarter, according to Reis Inc., a New York-based real estate research company. Supply and Demand - less vacancies means less apartments available, and thus, higher rents. Diane Castanes, a partner at Phillips Real Estate Services in Seattle, mentioned that “When rents go up, that gives people enough cash flow to hire professional management,”

   “There has been a dramatic shift toward renting,” Chris Herbert, research director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, and as Yu said, services for rental properties are thriving "following a surge in foreclosures and stiffening of mortgage standards". This led to an explosion in membership in the National Association of Residential Property Managers over the past five years, according to the Chesapeake, Virginia-based trade group".

   This is where this story becomes extremely interesting.

   "Property management may have a role to play in fixing the housing crisis", said Reggie Brown, chief executive officer of All Property Management LLC, a Seattle-based Web service, in a segment of Yu's article. A few months back, the FHFA, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was looking for ideas on "handling foreclosed homes held by the government", to the tune of about 248,000 as of June.

   Brown "filed a suggestion with the FHFA that the homes be put up for rent with property managers hired to oversee them", which was a fantastic idea. "What’s going to change is the percentage of U.S. households that are rental versus owner-occupied,” he said. “It’s now almost 40 percent, but that number is definitely going to grow.”

   From our standpoint, this is a great idea on many levels. With the proposal from Brown, coupled with our proposal to Rent to Own these homes (to generate immediate revenue), I definitely feel this would make a large impact on the Housing Market.

What are your thoughts on this?

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Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #PropertyManager #rentalproperties #foreclosures #RenttoOwn #screeningtenants #homeowners #owneroccupiedhomes #apartmentvacancies #FHFA #Rentals #mortgagerules

November 29, 2011

For a Smoother Closing Table Experience...

Hi All,
   Welcome back after the extended Holiday weekend.

   Last week, we touched on the things that can hamper a Closing ("Oh, Those Crazy Closings!"), and today, we are going to revisit the topic, since we are hopeful that more Closings will be happening, which would signify a robust Housing Market.".

One of the most respected Real Estate Websites, Trulia.com, has published a handout that provides 4 tips for Buyers to help them proactively prepare for the Closing. These tips are extremely crucial, and can make the difference between you and your new "keys"!

   Tip #1 - "Halt Major Money Moves". Basically, try to remain low-key in terms of deposits, credit limits, etc (any "money-related activity that could change your financial status in any way").

   Tip #2 - "Tell the Whole Truth". Everything that you do or say will be verified multiple times, i.e. credit, assets, marital status, employment. Getting a Mortgage is tougher than it was a few years ago, and the process has become much more strict than ever before.

   Tip #3 - "Closing Documents: Read Ahead". Know any corrections or changes in your documents before you get to the Closing table vs. the day of the Closing. This is so important!

   Tip #4 - "Watch the Calendar". Take control of deadlines for inspections, etc. Constant communication with real estate and mortgage brokers regarding dates is key to your deal (dates can impact interest rates, etc.).

   Overall, some great tips from Trulia. Is there anything else you can suggest?

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #closing #creditlimits #assets #documents #inspections #trulia #realestatebroker #mortgagebroker #mortgage #interestrate

November 22, 2011

Oh, Those Crazy Closings!

Good Morning,
   As we all get ready for Turkey overload, I'd like to welcome you back!

   Selling a home? If so, do you savor the day it sells? Is the thought of the sale going through as juicy a thought as the Turkey gravy dancing through your head? Not so fast. "Reaching an agreement doesn't mean your home is as good as sold", writes Margarette Burnette for the HSH.com website article, "4 weird closing glitches (and how to avoid them)".

The Glitches that Burnette writes about are:

1 Liens
2 Termites
3 Renters in residence
4 Parties don't have enough money for closing
* Bonus from my own personal experience - "In writing" !

   Liens, says Cynthia Jones, a real estate attorney with Horack, Talley, Pharr & Lowndes, P.A., a law firm in Charlotte, N.C., are "any unpaid bills you have from delinquent property taxes, homeowners association dues or even past remodeling work", in comments appearing in Burnette's article. For any such liens, Jones suggests that you can "try to work out an agreement with" the party you owe money to", i.e., a payoff.

   As for our wood-chewing nemesis, termites, Barry Hildebrandt, broker/owner of WCI Real Estate in Riverside, Calif, says that "Many home sale contracts are drafted with contingencies that allow the buyer to inspect the home before going through with the sale". What should you do? Make sure you inspect and clear out the little buggers in advance!

   If you have people residing in/renting your property, you will want them out by the Closing, and Jones suggests that you, "make sure your lease agreement provides enough time for your tenants to move before you close on the property and hand the keys over to your buyers".

   The next potential glitch can hit either the buyer, the seller, or both parties. Burnette suggests that buyers should still be "preapproved for their loans in order to help make the process go more smoothly", and warns that if the buyers have not "properly calculated how much they'll need to bring to closing", they could fall very short and it could impact completion of the deal, thus, the Closing.

   If sellers are underwater on their mortgage, says Jones. they may have trouble coming up with the funds to pay off their own loan at closing, however, she suggests that in order avoid such issues, make sure that both parties have a "clear understanding" of the amount of money that needs to change hands at the closing. Sound Advice.

   Here's my bonus tip, prefaced with a little story. When we purchased our home, we were quoted an interest rate 1/4 point below what the Closing papers said. You may scoff at a 1/4 point, but on $400,000, that's big money! To top it off, our mortgage guy was on vacation for the closing. I was able to have his secretary patch me through to him from the closing table, and I shed a piece of my mind on him. Short of delaying the closing (and delaying our movers, etc), we agreed on a compensation to us which turned out to be quite fair. Long story short; get everything in writing before the closing!

   Did we miss anything?

   May you have a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving, and I continue to be thankful for my family, friends, and the joy of writing these posts for your enjoyment. We will not be posting Friday, however, will be back with you during the following week.

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Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #closing #lien #termite #renter #realestateattorney #homeownersassociationdues #propertytaxes #payoff #underwater #mortgage #interestrate

November 21, 2011

Higher Home Sales and Lower Housing Inventory

Hi Folks,
   Hope everyone is doing well.

   The National Association of Realtors, or NAR, just released their figures for Existing Home Sales in October, and some the highlights were:

   * Existing-home sales rose 13.5% from October 2010 to October 2011.
   * Regionally, the Midwest had the highest increase (19.6%)
   * Over the September - October period, contract failures soared 18% to 33%
   * Unsold Housing Inventory is on the decline.

   With the solid 12-month figures, the shorter term figures were not as impressive, and as Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said; "Many people who are attempting to buy homes are thwarted in the process”.

   One of the major factors was the spike in contract failures, which can happen for any number of reasons, including declined mortgage applications, appraised value below the negotiated price, etc.

   One glimmer of hope, as I see it, is the drop in foreclosure inventory. If we see that inventory devoured, things will look even more promising, since there is a heck of a lot of it out there !

   What is your interpretation of this data?

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #ExistingHomeSales #UnsoldHousingInventory #contractfailures #declinedmortgageapplications #appraisedvalue #foreclosureinventory #NAR

November 15, 2011

Where Are Real Estate Investors Putting Their Money?

Hi Folks,
   Glad to have you back.

   Are Real Estate Investors buying homes? Condos? Apartment Buildings and Rentals? Well...kind of

   They are putting their money into real-estate investment trusts, or REITs (shares of professionally managed property portfolios), according to AnnaMaria Andriotis in her article, "Real-Estate Investors Target Neighborhood That Is Looking Up" on the wsj.com website.

   Andriotis cites data from Citigroup Global Markets, which shows that so far this year, investors have "poured roughly $6 billion into publicly traded funds of U.S. REITs which mostly buy commercial properties like apartment buildings, office parks and shopping malls". These figures are up 18% from all of 2010, 400% from 2009, and are at a "pace unseen since before the financial crisis" Further, she says that property REITs have compound annual total returns of 11%, compared to about 4% for stocks, over the past 10 years.

   Aaron Schindler, managing director at New York-based Wealth Advisory Group, says that REITs focusing on apartment buildings in particular have flourished, "thanks to tight mortgage lending, renters who have put off buying a house and foreclosed homeowners who are now renting instead". Further, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, tTotal returns on apartment buildings and self-storage properties average about 10% and 22%, respectively, year to date through Nov. 9.

   REITs also can serve as inflation hedge, since rents also tend to rise with inflation. P.J. Gardner, an adviser and founding partner at AGW Capital Advisors, an investment consulting firm, says that those increased rents get passed through to shareholders (and by law, REITs must pay at least 90% of their taxable income—rents less expenses—to their shareholders), and thus those dividends offset some of the risks.

   Real Estate Investor? What are your thoughts? Where are you investing?

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #REIT #RealEstateInvestor #ApartmentBuilding #Condo #commercialproperties #foreclosedhomeowners #renter #inflationhedge

November 14, 2011

Housing Scams Continue to Blind-side Homeowners

Hi Folks,
   Good Morning and welcome back.

   We are all familiar (perhaps even all too familiar) with Identity Fraud when trying to secure a mortgage, but this has been on the decline with all of the new regulations in place, as discussed in my previous Blog Posts. Those committing these fraudulent acts have now moved onto other shady tactics to take advantage of those impacted by the housing market’s downturn.

   With the surge in distressed homeowners and people with upside-down mortgages, a big window of opportunity exists for the scammers, says Amy Hoak in an article on Marketwatch. She said that some offer document preparation, loan modification, attorney services, etc, and they sound like the real thing, and are able to gain a homeowner’s trust.

   "They offer a service, take the homeowner’s money, then disappear", adds Yolanda McGill, senior counsel for the Fair Housing and Fair Lending Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, however firms are now prohibited from asking homeowners to pay before services are rendered per the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule, with an exception for attorneys. McGill says, however, that this is "causing some scammers to pose as representatives of law offices".

   Some other scams include a quit-claim deed, which McGill says, "transfers ownership of the home to the scammer, who promises the homeowner a situation where he or she will be able to remain in the house". Another one she mentions is when those who have already lost their homes are being approached to pay money to get the home back. The underlying lesson here is, "Don’t give anyone money to help you with this” she says, and suggests that you seek out a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counselor and your servicer.

   When a lender accepts a lower mortgage payoff than the home is currently worth, this "short sale" can be a "lifeline for a distressed homeowner heading for foreclosure", writes Hoak. However, this opens another window for fraud.

   Hoak writes about one such scam when a seller or a representative doesn't submit the best offer to the lender, and "A middleman purchases the short-sale property at the lower price, then turns around and resells the property to a legitimate buyer at a higher price — often on the same day", and effectively, "The middleman pockets the difference, sometimes sharing it with an accomplice", and she cites a recent Federal Bureau of Investigation report on mortgage fraud.

Another fraud mentioned in the story is “reverse staging", where the scammers try to "manipulate the price lower by encouraging the owner to make the house look worse than it is". This approach eventually results in the property becoming run-down and possibly even an eye-sore, which would reduce any appraised value or price evaluation.

   There are many other scams that can involve multiple players in the Real Estate market, and there are new ones springing up all the time. Be wise, be wary, and ask a lot of questions.

   Have you seen any scams that we should all be aware of?

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #shortsale #foreclosure #reversestaging #realestate #distressedhomeowners #MortgageAssistanceReliefServices #mortgagepayoff #IdentityFraud

November 10, 2011

The Foreclosure Machine Cranks Up Again

Hi Folks,
   Welcome to 11/11/11. Crazy date! But it's Friday!

   You know, there are countless folks out there who have been breathing a little easier for quite some time, due to the halt in Foreclosures (if you recall, the "robo-signing" crisis a while back), however, it appears that the Foreclosure starts are on the rise once again.

   “Rising foreclosure start rates are likely a sign that servicers are playing catch-up on actions that have been delayed over the past year,” states Diane Pendley, managing director of Fitch Ratings, in a recent article on DSNews.com ("Foreclosure Starts Rise as Servicers Process Backlog of Delinquent Loans"), written by Krista Franks.

   Fitch reported that the Foreclosure start rates for severely delinquent private-label residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) loans have "stayed above 10 percent since September — a rate they have not reached since November 2009", with an even larger amount since then. Additionally, the article mentioned that the foreclosure starts for loans delinquent for six months or more "have almost doubled in the past five months". What will happen with the increase of distressed properties? You guessed it - pressure on the Housing Market.

   Further along in the Foreclosure process, the actual Foreclosure completions in judicial states "hover near their historic lows", the article says, to which Fitch says is due to "servicers’ continued loss mitigation efforts, a backlog in court foreclosure filings, and weak demand in the housing market.” Diane Pendley, managing director of Fitch Ratings, says that about a year after "deficiencies in the foreclosure process were brought to light", that Mortgage servicers now generally feel they have "implemented the corrective actions that they determined were needed".

   With the backlog, Fitch says that the effects of rising foreclosure starts may take more than a year to be evident, however, any way you look at it, there will certainly be more distressed inventory going on the books and will certainly impact the Housing Market.

   What are your thoughts?

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Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #foreclosurestarts #distressedproperties #housingmarket #inventory #robosigning #mortgagebacked #RMBS

November 8, 2011

Commercial Real Estate Loans Crushing The Banks

Hi Folks,
   A lot of our readers are either owners of, investors in, or curious about Residential Real Estate. We are all too familiar with the Housing Bubble, so we don't need to rehash it, but did you know that following fact; "Troubled commercial real-estate loans accounted for more than 65% of problem loans among the 11 banks that failed in October" (Data from Trepp LLC)?

   "Construction loans turned into a particular albatross, and even the commercial mortgages have turned into a problem area for a lot of banks", says Matthew Anderson, Trepp's managing director, in a recent WSJ article titled "Commercial Real Estate Continues to Weigh on Banks", written by Jacqueline Palank. Further, Palank writes that Commercial real-estate distress "shows few signs of abating and continues to push U.S. banks to—or past—the brink of collapse".

   The data from Trepp shows the bank failures due to Commercial Real Estate loans are trending towards the smaller banks, and have a "regional tinge". Anderson stated that in the Midwest and the Southeast, "there are still a lot of smaller banks that have high exposure to commercial real estate, including construction and land loans". He also adds that "It's generally been smaller banks that have been failing," since "For a large number, the exposure to commercial real estate still is very substantial."

   The interesting thing here is that there had been a growing fear in the background among those familiar with the industry, which was a "waiting for the other shoe to drop" type of fear. What I mean is that when the Residential market tanked, many experts were watching and waiting for the Commercial Real Estate Market to follow.

   Have we moved beyond the worst of it? What are your thoughts?

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HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #CommercialRealEstateLoan #Constructionloan #commercialmortgage #bankfailure #ResidentialRealEstate #Midwest #Southeast

November 7, 2011

Here Comes The Cuban Real Estate Market

Hi Folks,
   Hope all is well, and glad to be with you!

   For many of us, the "Free" Cuba that we know about comes from history books or stories that have been passed down. For those of you who lived through Fidel Castro's takeover, this story will be quite interesting to you.

   In a recent story on the PropertyWire.com website, they broke a story that sums it all up; "New Cuban law will create a property market for first time since 1959". Property Sales have been banned since shortly after Castro took power in 1959, who wanted to stop the "absentee ownership by wealthy landlords", and gave title to whoever lived in a home. The result was that if you left the island, you forfeited your properties, says the website PropertyWire.com.

   For years, since a property market was illegal, the only way to swap houses was via black market deals, "complicated barter arrangements", "sham marriages" (to make deed transfers easier), as well as other mechanisms listed on the website.

   The new reform, which is a very important one by President Raul Castro, comes after a reform that permitted buying and selling of new cars, going into business for yourself, as well many other progressive reforms.

   As the website says, "Cuba has a population of 11 million people and a housing shortage", and that it is not unusual to find "three or four generations crammed into a small apartment or divorced couples under the same roof". Now, as we anticipate the approval by the Cuban National Assembly on November 10th, "Buying and selling property is to be allowed in Cuba with new rules coming into effect next week", which PropertyWire.com says us the "first official move to allow the creation of a real estate market".

   Additionally, the website says that it is not yet known if there will be restrictions on the number of properties a person can own or about how flexible the new property market will be, and says that "The effect of creating a housing market in the stagnant Cuban economy is uncertain".

   What does this mean? It means a stronger, more self-sufficient neighbor in our Hemisphere that can perhaps become a part of the Global Economy, which would mean a stronger influx of money, a potential repeal of sanctions, and an influx of tourism from not only the United States, but also from around the world. With Raul at the helm, Cuba might see the sky as the limit. Havana holds it's own future in it's hands...

   What are your thoughts?

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TAGS: #Cuba #Havana #RealEstate #FidelCastro #RaulCastro #propertymarket #reform

November 4, 2011

Short Sale Caveats for Realtors

Hi Folks,
   Welcome to your weekend !

   The "Wild West". This conjures up thoughts of lawless times and renegades going from town to town and old fashioned "Shoot-em ups". When using the terms "Wild West" to describe Short Sales, this should indicate that dangers abound, and everyone, including Realtors, must be wary.

   Sarah Stelmok writes on Truliablog.com that listing a short sale is a "little like venturing into the wild, wild west", and says that there's only "a little order, lots of imposters, and laws are broken without much penalty."

   Stelmok outlines 3 primary things agents should know about Short Sales in her story, titled, "3 Things Agents Should Know About Short Sales":

1. "Market Value Matters" - Short sales sell for market value, says Stelmok, and adds that a bank will "typically agree to a short sale if the numbers make sense".

2. "Only Real Hardships Get the Help" - "Strategic default is never a good idea", Stelmok says, and adds that banks actually analyze hardships that are reported by a seller, and ones that are acceptable are financial/economic issues, "medical issues, divorce, disability, significant loss of income, death, unemployment, and relocation."

3. "Laws are local" - Since there are currently no national short sale laws, Stelmok says that it's important to "know your state’s foreclosure laws",

   As Stelmok summarizes, "This type of transaction is constantly evolving; however there are a few things that remain the same, and that every agent needs to know when working with short sales."

   What's your experience with Short Sales? Do you have any tips from the trenches (or should I say, from the Wild West?)?

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TAGS: #shortsales #foreclosure #realtor #strategicdefault #marketvalue #agent #laws #hardship

November 2, 2011

What is ROI and Why is it Important to You?

Hi Folks,
   Hope you're having a great week!

   Today, we are going to look at a very important calculation used by Real Estate Investors to gauge and measure potential investments. The calculation that we are going to look at is Return on investment (ROI), with which some of you may already be familiar. At the risk of going too deep into formulas, we are going to just touch on the topic, and provide you a good framework to decide if you want to research it further.

   ROI, which is expressed as a percentage (%), is the % of money that goes back to the investor (after taking into account the actual cost(s) of the investment), or Gain from Investment minus Cost of Investment, divided by the Cost of Investment. This is a very basic way of figuring ROI, but there are more complex ways to compute it, taking into account repairs, etc, but this is outside the scope of our basic discussion here today.

   What are some of the complications in calculating ROI?

   As Marc Davis writes in his article, "How To Calculate ROI For Real Estate Investments", for the Investopedia website, there are complications in Calculating ROI (some more complex than others). Some examples he provides are if the property is refinanced, if the property was bought with "an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) with a variable escalating rate charged annually", and if there is an increase in maintenance costs, utility rates, and property taxes,

   Davis points out the following tip; "For income tax or capital gains tax purposes, however, real estate property owners are urged to get professional tax advice from a reliable source before filing". Sound advice.

   Do you use ROI when making a decision regarding your investment(s) in Real Estate? We'd love you to share your comments.

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Rob Eisenstein
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TAGS: #ROI #RealEstateInvestors #Returnoninvestment #ARM #adjustableratemortgage #propertytax #capitalgains #property

October 31, 2011

Is Owner Financing In Jeopardy?

Hi Everyone,
   Happy Halloween. Yes, today I turned 40...black cat is out of the bag. To stave off any possible jokes; NO, I was not born with a mask on!

   One thing that does frighten Real Estate Investors, however, is the fact that there is a new Government Act that jeopardizes the Owner Financing Investment vehicle. Taking a step back, Owner Financing is exactly what it sounds like; the owner of the property (or another company such as an "Escrow Company"), handles the payments, which is referred to as "servicing" the payments. Dolores Demers, the president of the Las Cruces Association of Realtors (and works with Re/Max), says that, "Owner financing has worked well for generations in this country", and that it has been a great option for, "innumerable buyers who are capable of making regular payments on an amortized loan, but who don't qualify for traditional mortgage loan products". However, as DeMers writes in her article, "Real Estate View: Dodd-Frank Act puts owner financing at risk", for the Sun-News, "parts of the Dodd-Frank Act will severely restrict owner financing and will do harm to buyers and sellers"

DeMers points out a few highlights from the Dodd-Frank Act that will raise eyebrows:

* The seller cannot be the builder of the home being financed.
DeMers ask the following question: "Why would the government want to restrict a builder from selling his own product" on terms that are "satisfactory to the buyer"?

* The loan must amortize fully with no balloon mortgage allowed.
DeMers says that most sellers offering owner financing are "older than 50", and asks rhetorically, "How many are going to outlive a 30-year note?". There must be a short term balloon in case the seller wants to sell to another party (and not have to "steeply discount the note".

* Buyer has three years to rescind the sale. The seller must document the buyer's ability to pay using underwriting requirements consistent with the Truth in Lending Act.
"If the seller makes even one small error, the buyer has up to three years to rescind the sale and demand back all the money that has been paid to the seller", says DeMers, regardless of "the benefit the buyer has gotten from the use of the property during the time he had it". This is, in no uncertain terms, "Not Fair".

* Only buyers who are already eligible for conventional financing will be able to use seller financing. The seller must determine in good faith the buyer's ability to repay the loan.
Wait...isn't Owner Financing supposed to help those who cannot pass the "underwriting scrutiny of the Truth in Lending act". As DeMers says, "The buyers who need the helping hand of owner financing won't be eligible."

* Seller limited to three installment sales per year. A seller must become a licensed mortgage loan officer if more than three properties are sold in a year using owner financing.
DeMers says that there are many people in her state of New Mexico that have, "helped the people in their communities get started on the path of home ownership through owner financing", and asks what difference does it make "how many properties are offered as installment sales in a year as long as the seller has determined each buyer has a reasonable ability to repay the loan?". Very good point.

   The summary of this is that DeMers is trying to stir some action against this "sweeping rule change", and we agree. These alternate means of buying (or selling) a home are what gives people hope and a chance to move forward. She adds that the "Dodd-Frank Act treats owner financing as if it were predatory lending", which it is not. She also recommends that you contact your elected officials to protest the Act. I agree. Good point. Stand up and be counted !

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #OwnerFinance #Financing #realestateinvestors #DoddFrankAct #balloonmortgage #TruthinLendingAct #Escrow #Realtors #installmentsales #Halloween

October 27, 2011

How Can a Seller Keep a Buyer Interested in their Home?

Hi Everyone,

   Hope you are all ready for the Halloween weekend, and may your baskets get filled with Treats, but no Tricks !

   The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) released their numbers for the September "Pending Home Sales" Index. The figures came in 4.6% below the previous month, and according to the NAR chief economist, Lawrence Yun, the housing market is being excessively constrained, and he pointed to “A combination of weak consumer confidence and continuing tight lending criteria held back home buyers...". This makes me wonder...If you are selling a home, what can you do to avoid losing buyers, and to convert your own pending home sale into a sale?

   "In today’s down economy, sellers simply cannot afford to neglect anything that makes their home less attractive", writes Vera Chinese for the TimesReview.com Website, in an article titled, "Pay attention to buyer turnoffs in your home".

   Kristen Rishe from North Fork Real Estate Inc. reminds sellers "to be anywhere but home when potential buyers come to look", since this might make the buyers feel hurried and hesitant. On the material side of the same point, Tom McCarthy of Thomas J. McCarthy Real Estate Inc. in Southold suggests that buyers "get rid of all their junk and clutter before putting their homes on the market", since you want the buyers "imagining themselves" in the home (difficult if it is filled with "the current owner’s belongings"). McCarthy admits it's painful for owners to purge years of memories, but that “Emotionally, it is not your house anymore once you put it on the market,” he said.

   "Mildew, mold, pets and cigarettes"..."Don’t forget the buyer’s nose. Smells can be critical", advises Jill Dunbar from Century 21 Albertson in Greenport. Dunbar says that some smokers, for example, "refuse to give up smoking in their homes", but says that "it’s the only cure".

   Internally and structurally, McCarthy suggests you make repairs, and that "What might seem like a small repair to a homeowner can represent a huge burden to a buyer". Some of his tips, which the owner might walk by every day, are the "missing trim around a door, a chipped countertop or peeling paint". As a final caveat, he warns that, "loud or particularly bold colors and paint can scare off some buyers".

   Do you think if these tips were implemented, we would see a spike in Home Sales? Perhaps...why not give it a shot !?!

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TAGS: #housingmarket #repair #paint #Realtors #NAR

October 25, 2011

Battle of The Home Price Indices

Hi Everyone,
   Glad to have you back with me here today!

   This week, there were two separate Home Price Indices released that reflected Home Prices in August as compared to the previous month, along with a comparison to the previous month one year prior. However, both the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Index and the FHFA Monthly Home Price Index differ in their report.

   For the period covering July through August, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed increases of +0.2% for both the 10- and 20-City Composites. On the flip side, the FHFA House Price Index Fell 0.1%, which they deemed the "First Monthly Decline Since March".

   For the period covering August 2010 through August 2011, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index said that "Annual Rates of Change Continue to Improve", with Atlanta and Los Angeles continuing their drop, however, with the Midwest acting as a shining star, Detroit is named as "the healthiest when viewed on an annual basis" (possibly due to renewed strength in the Auto-Industry?). Once again we turn to the flip side, and we see that the FHFA House Price Index reported that U.S. prices fell 4% from August 2010 - August 2011.

   For the sake of Apples to Apples, the FHFA monthly index is calculated "using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac", and the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index is a Weighted value composite of "single-family home price indices for the nine U.S. Census division"

   Did you find this interesting. Which of the figures would you place most of your faith?

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TAGS: #HomePrices #FannieMae #FreddieMac #mortgage #FHFA #Detroit #Atlanta

October 23, 2011

Costly Mistakes When Mortgage Shopping

Welcome Back, Folks,
   Fall has fallen, but it's not the only thing that has fallen.

   The mortgage market is in a baffling state, which has been referred to as "Irony", in comments from Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), a which we discussed in last Friday's Blog Post ("Snapshot of September New Construction and Existing Home Sales"). Yun points to the paradox of historical affordability conditions with more creditworthy borrowers, but contract failures that are at elevated levels, regardless of the favorable conditions.

   Could it be partial accountability on mistakes that the borrowers are making? It's quite possible, and in a recent article on the Inman.com new website, titled, "3 mortgage mistakes you can avoid", Tara-Nicholle Nelson (of rethinkrealestate.com) lists these mistakes along with some suggestions to overcome these personally-set obstacles.

   If your mortgage amount that you owe outstanding is greater than the value of your home, you are considered "upside-down", and if you fail to try refinancing because of that, it's a mistake, says Nelson. She writes that approx 23 percent of all American homes are upside-down, and that you should not feel "trapped" with high interest rates. As a matter of fact, Nelson writes, "multiple options abound for lowering your interest rate and monthly payment if you're upside down on your home loan", and says that banks are increasingly "amenable to simply modify existing mortgages to render them less prone to default and foreclosure", especially if the homeowner is trying to recover from financial hardship. as long as you have not missed any payments, she says that "many banks offer refis on mortgages as much as 25 percent underwater", and also mentions HAMP (Home Affordable Refinance Program) as options. Seek out help from Mortgage professionals to review your options.

   Nelson points to the potential for low satisfaction, low speed, and low assertiveness from just walking into a bank to get a mortgage, however, if you go with a mortgage broker or a private mortgage banker through referrals of your close friends and relatives, says Nelson, "chances are good you'll get someone who understands that the long-term health of their business depends on you and clients like you getting a deal closed in a timely manner".

   The third mistake that Nelson points out is when you think that you are stuck with your mortgage for 30 years, and says that she has head people say they didn't want to buy a home "because they were depressed by the thought of a debt that would last 30 years". She adds the following piece of wisdom: "you control when you pay your mortgage off, and it doesn't take a lottery or inheritance windfall to pay yours off sooner than later", and says that paying a little extra towards the principal can go a long way in shrinking the time it takes to pay off your mortgage.

   To summarize; You do have control and power to make changes to your mortgage, which can have a positive outcome on your entire financial bottom-line. What other mistakes have you seen borrowers make, and what can they do to avoid those pitfalls?

   On a personal note...a very special shout-out to a very special lady. Danielle, Happy Birthday. Love you, honey !

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TAGS: #mortgage #realestate #upsidedown #refinance #interestrate #mortgagepayment #mortgagebroker #bank

October 20, 2011

Snapshot of September New Construction and Existing Home Sales

Hi Everyone,
   Welcome back to a beautiful Fall day with the potential for a substantial amount of pumpkin picking in the forecast.

   The September figures for both New Residential Construction and Existing Home Sales were released this week, and aside from fluctuations over the past few months, things look solid when compared side-by-side with the same time 12-months ago.

   New Residential Construction, as you might be aware, is broken down into 3 parts; Building Permits, Housing Starts, and Housing Completions. Housing Starts (Privately-owned housing starts), were up 15% from August, and 10.2% Above September 2010. This is very encouraging, especially for the Western Region of the U.S., which had figures that were substantially higher than the average (over both the 1-month and the 12-month periods). Building Permits and Housing Completions were also up over the longer-term, but not at the elevated levels as were the Housing Starts.

   Existing-Home Sales, which includes completed transactions for single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 3% from August, but are up over 11% from September 2010, per the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In terms of regional variations, the long-haul big winner was the Midwest, checking in with in excess of a 17% jump in Existing Home Sales from September 2010 through September 2011.

   The chief economist for the NAR, Lawrence Yun, said that, “Existing-home sales have bounced around this year, staying relatively close to the current level in most months”, and he calls it "Irony" that the "affordability conditions have improved to historic highs and more creditworthy borrowers are trying to purchase homes", but, "the share of contract failures is double the level of September 2010", and he interpreted this as pointing to "an unfulfilled demand". Contract failures, incidentally, can result from a declined mortgage application, appraisal values below the negotiated price, issues resulting from the home inspection report, job loss, etc.

   In sum, Housing Starts up 10.2% from a year ago, coupled with a 11% increase in Existing-Home Sales from a year ago, would tend to point to improving market conditions. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Please explain - we'd love to hear your angle on these figures.

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TAGS: #NewConstruction #ExistingHomeSales #Residential #Housing #Building #Permits #singlefamily #cancellations #townhome #condo #Realtor #appraisal #NAR

October 18, 2011

Shadow Inventory As a Lurking Threat to Recovery

Hi All,
   There happens to be a very real threat lurking out there. One that hangs over us like the sword of Damocles. Indeed, I will most certainly elaborate.

   "Officially, there are 3.5 million homes for sale nationwide. But there are millions more lurking in the shadows", writes Toluse Olorunnipa for The Miami Herald, in her article, "'Shadow inventory' of homes could topple real-estate recovery" (Sacramento Bee reporter Rick Daysog contributed to this story). Additionally, Olorunnipa says that this ballooning shadow inventory stands as the most "menacing problem" for the Housing Market, and it is "threatening to stifle recovery for several years".

   "The question that you might be asking is; "Well, what is Shadow Inventory?".

   Basically, Shadow Inventory falls into 3 categories, as broken down by Olorunnipa; Real-Estate Owned (REOs), which are repossessed properties which are not for sale, properties in the midst of the foreclosure process, and "severely delinquent" properties that are headed for, but not yet in foreclosure.

   The national supply of homes is officially listed at about 3.5 million, or nine months' worth of homes (home sales are on track to reach about five million this year), writes Olorunnipa, but adding shadow inventory more than doubles that to "at least 7.5 million", but a "healthy housing market", writes Olorunnipa, has about six months' supply of properties, which would be about 2.4 million.

   South Florida has one of the nation's largest collections of unseen inventory. "A lot of people don't understand how much inventory is set to come online in the next 18 to 24 months," said Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach. "When you compare what the Realtors show is inventory to what's out there, you realize we have a long way to go."

   Economists say that the housing industry "will not normalize and recover" until most of the foreclosures work their way through the system (several years, writes Olorunnipa).

   However, if mortgage lenders were to list and sell these homes and flood the market, it could be a disaster (due to the deep discounts and also the potentially poor condition of these homes). Selling off these REOs would basically crush their bottom line due to write-offs, and thus, Olorunnipa writes that "a growing number of vacant homes have idled on banks' balance sheets for several years."

   Going forward, things are looking to remain bleak due to the "robo-signing" chaos (false or incomplete foreclosure documents were signed), leaving banks "struggling to prove that they have legal standing to foreclose", writes Olorunnipa, who cites info from the data firm Lender Processing Services, which found that it now takes an average of nearly two years to repossess a property.

   Nearly two million homeowners who haven't paid their mortgage in three months or more have not received a foreclosure filing, writes Olorunnipa, with 800,000 of those that haven't made a payment in more than a year, (according to LPS). As Olorunnipa writes, there is a "lesser-of-two-evils" option at work here, where Lenders are basically letting delinquent homeowners stay in their homes (quick foreclosure would mean empty homes, additional maintenance costs, and more documentation woes).

   With the slow pace that banks are selling off homes, they would not be able to keep pace if they start aggressively foreclosing on homes, and Olorunnipa writes that even at the currently slowed pace, "national foreclosure starts are three times higher than foreclosure sales". Some struggling homeowners are doing "strategic defaults" to take advantage of this precarious situation for the banks.

   The alternatives to foreclosures? Short sales have been on the rise, and additionally, some banks are "cutting deals with homeowners who agree to hand over the keys to a house, rather than go through a legal battle.", writes Olorunnipa (basically, "lenders are forking over wads of cash to convince troubled borrowers to leave their homes amicably.").

   With some ugly options on the table, it looks like Lenders will need to be creative to ride out the storm, and to walk the balance sheet tightrope. What would you suggest to the banks?

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TAGS: #shadowinventory #foreclosure #reo #housingrecovery #mortgagelenders #robosigning

October 17, 2011

The Crystal Ball of Future Homes

Hi Everyone,
   Hope you had a nice Fall Weekend, wherever your travels took you.

   Have you ever wondered to yourself what homes will look like in the future? If you were in the 1970's wondering what homes would look like in 40-50 years, you would have probably thought about homes in outer space with all robotic features, or as Erika Riggs of Zillow puts it, "something akin to The Jetsons’ home complete with Rosie the Robot and other space-age appliances that dressed and fed the family", as she discusses in her story, "A Look Ahead at New Homes of 2015", featured on Yahoo! Real Estate.

   Home Size...This might surprise you!

   Rather than space-age technology, says Riggs, "the biggest thing that is expected to change in future single-family homes is the size", and “Homes will get smaller,” adds Stephen Melman, Director of Economic Services at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in Washington D.C..

   The NAHB asked builders, says Melman, "what do you anticipate the new home size would be by 2015?", and the average reply was 2,150 square feet, which is a decrease from the current single family home average of 2,400 square feet. Is this recession-related? Yes, but as Riggs adds, "many believe that the real estate changes will stick around even after the economy and home values get back on solid ground". “Although affordability is driving these decisions, smaller homes are a positive for builders,” says Melman, and adds that it is an opportunity to deliver a better home", allowing for "more creative design, more amenities, better flow".

   What else will change? The living room is expected to merge with other spaces such as the family room and become a "Great Room". Riggs says that 30 percent believe that it will vanish completely to save on square footage. Riggs says to expect spacious laundry rooms, master suite walk-in closets, porches, eat-in kitchens, two-car garages, and ceiling fans. She says to expect to see less of mudrooms, formal dining rooms, four bedrooms or more, media or hobby rooms, and skylights.

   "Going Green" is driving a lot of these changes, says Riggs, which lead to energy efficient windows, etc. Additionally, with the aging Baby Boomer population, says Melman, "they’re empty nesters, so they don’t need five bedrooms".

   What do you think about homes of the future?
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HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #singlefamilyhomes #HomeBuilder #NAHB #squarefeet #recession #greatroom #babyboomer #zillow

October 13, 2011

What Makes Buying a Home So Special?

Hi Everyone,
   Friday is here, and glad you're here with us today !

   If you're a Generation X or from a time even before that, you might remember your parents saying that owning a home is the pinnacle of success in life, and over time, that thought was ingrained in your head. What made them say that? Why does it still hold true today (for a majority of folks)? With all of the chatter surrounding home prices, mortgages, and the housing market, what are the real mental, emotional, and lifestyle benefits of owning a home?

   It's all about the "Roots"

   Carla Hill writes about these roots in her story, "The Joys of Homeownership", on the RealtyTimes.com website. Hill says that you put down roots by becoming part of a neighborhood and community (as opposed to renters, who "come and go as quickly as leases renew"). These roots can potentially develop lifelong relationships, and Hill says that during your time in the home, the home "will see you through many of life's important milestones".

   The image of a young couple buying a home and building a nest, with a plan on starting a family, will make these homes become "the container of countless memories", as Hill says. The "realm of homeownership", as she says is not limited to just young families seeking homeownership. It also encompasses growing families needing more space or retiring adults "seeking out warmer climates or smaller, more manageable homes".

   Roots can also pertain to planting trees and shrubs. Hill explains that While Renters are rarely afforded the luxury of gardening, as a homeowner you are able to "create your own green oasis".

   The pride factor, as Hill says, is that this little piece of property and land is yours, and no one can take that away from you. This security allows people to form deep attachments and spurs many owners to make improvements and additions, which makes it more comfortable and usable (and "improves neighborhood values and overall curb appeal.").

   So, people may initially be motivated by a major life change, such as a new job or a new family, says Hill, ultimately, people buy based on emotion. They want a home they can fill with memories of Christmas mornings, summer vacations, and other happy moments. Hill tells us to, "Remember this sentimental side of homeownership" the next time we read about stocks, bonds, and housing woes.

   Do you own a home? What is your happiest memory of owning a home? If you do not own a home, does the prospect of owning one sound exciting?

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HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #buyingahome #Homeownership #pride #stocks #bonds #housing

October 11, 2011

5 Tips to Protect Your Home from Robbery

Hi Folks,

   As the Holidays are fast-approaching, we'd like to focus on one of the hottest trends this Holiday Season (and all Holidays Seasons); Home Break-ins and Burglaries. As a matter of fact, the FBI says that a home is robbed every 14.6 seconds and the average dollar loss per burglary is $2,119.

   Now, however, even though burglaries were down from 2009 to 2010, writes Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman for the Consumer Reports Website, in her article, "Break-ins are down, but your house may be screaming 'rob me'", locking your door and windows is not the only thing you should be doing to protect yourself. Lehrman names 5 things that she says you are, "probably doing that make your home a target, and what you should do instead".

   One of the first tips provided by Lehrman, in light of the explosion in popularity of Social Media, is in regards to posting vacation photos on Facebook, as she says that, "Burglars troll social media sites looking for targets". The suggestion is to post the photos once you get back, or to tweak your Security Settings to allow trusted friends only to see your adventures.

   Lock your garage from the inside! Lehrman says that if you don't, a burglar can gain entry to your home via an internal door by using "any tools you haven’t locked away" to break into your home "out of sight of the neighbors".

   Hiding Spare Keys is a bad thing. "Burglars know about fake rocks and leprechaun statues and will check under doormats, in mailboxes, and over doorways", says Lehrman, who suggests that you give a spare set to a neighbor or family member.

   Ladders should be kept stored away and out of sight. Lehrman says that they can be used to "reach the roof and unprotected upper floor windows".

   Let's not overlook the home security alarm factor. Silent alarms are great, and noisy alarms are irritating, However, noisy alarms are also irritating to burglars, but the smart thieves, says Lehrman, know that "it can take as long as 10 to 20 minutes for the alarm company or cops to show up after an alarm has been tripped", and she suggests using both silent and audible ("noisy") alarms.

   One bonus tip for you; beware of people calling with a survey in which they ask if you have an alarm system. They could potentially be "casing" your home as a target. Additionally, an answering machine saying you are not home is also bad (instead, make it a generic message).

   Do you have any other tips? We'd love to hear.

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Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
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TAGS: #HomeBreakins #Burglaries #homesecurity #homealarmsystem #socialmedia #Facebook #Consumer Reports

October 8, 2011

Evaluating Your Home For Sale

Good Morning,
   Happy Columbus Day to those of us residing in the USA. If you are lucky enough to have the day off from work, enjoy your day, and thanks to all for checking in with us.

   When you are selling Real Estate, whether it be your own home, or, the home of a client, it is important to take various factors into consideration, such as price, condition, and location.

   In regards to price, you will want to look at the most recent closed sales in your area (and the data must be less than six months old). You want to confirm that your price is right, no pun intended. As Chris Griffith recommends in her story, "Reevaluate your real estate to sell this season", on the Naples News website, you should also ask your real estate agent (or the agent you’re interviewing) to "list your real estate for an absorption rate", and that you'll want to check how much "inventory your home is competing with neighborhood wide or even in your home’s price range" (this should be checked periodically for any changes/adjustments).

   When it comes down to condition, the old adage of "you never get a second chance at a first impression" holds true here. As Griffith says, "There is little opportunity for a second chance to get them back through the door once they’ve been turned off by something negative", and calls it a "a downright shame" if it was a correctable negative condition like cleanliness or neatness that was toxic to your potential buyer. One interesting point Griffith makes is that sometimes, "homeowners are a little too close to the forest to see the trees", and need to take a long and hard look (or get a second opinion) about their home, the cleanliness, etc.

   Location, Location, Location. We've all heard that before when discussing Real Estate. Griffith suggests that you, "Compare apples to apples and be prepared to adjust the price to correct the differences", and provides the following example; "two nearly identical homes, one on a lake and one backing up to a sound wall next Interstate 75, sport very different values". Location "can influence buyers positively or negatively", adds Griffith.

   These 3 factors are a huge component of your potential sale. Can you think of anything additional? Perhaps the demeanor of the homeowner or the agent? The weather during an open house?

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TAGS: #sellingRealEstate #absorptionrate #inventory #closedsales #price #condition #location