May Residential Construction Numbers - Friend or Foe?

Hi Everyone,

Another Friday is upon us, and we are thankful for another very busy week. As a rule, I try to look back at each week to see what I am thankful for. Let me tell you - some weeks it is tough to find anything, aside from being thankful for my family! However, this past week, we not only received some fantastic media coverage (http://www.familygoesstrong.com/making-rent-own-real-estate-deals-work), but we also had a few other interviews for popular financial and real estate websites that are on the pipeline to be published as well. Additionally, we received some good karma (priceless), by hearing some very kind comments from people who have used our website. Karma, that's what it's really all about !

OK, now on to the Real Estate market, our ailing friend ! The New Residential construction numbers will be released this week (on June 16th), and most importantly, these numbers will reflect the post-tax credit market, since they cover May 2010 (the tax credit ended on April 30th 2010). I, personally, am very curious to see these numbers, and I know a lot of real estate investors, economists, and builders, who are also interested in this. This could have a significant impact on the market. Could the numbers have dropped? Sure they could have...the major incentive expired...but the market has most probably discounted this information into the mix already. If the numbers pop upwards, that could have a dramatic effect on the market, and potentially, the Rent to Own Market, as well. For more information on these reports, please check here: http://www.census.gov/const/www/newresconstindex.html


We have a few infrastructure and marketing projects drawing closer to completion, and when they are finished, we will let you know. They involve ease of accessibility, traffic incentives, and an overall boost to site traffic to increase views to your Ads on our website.


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If so, we would love to hear from you in the comments section below. If you don't have time to read it and you would rather listen to it, we do 1-2 Podcasts per week, and you can download them in MP3 format in our Itunes Store, at: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=373351426


Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !!

Mortgage Horror Story...

Hi Everyone,

Friday is upon us, and it's another sizzling one, depending on where you are geographically!

Today, I'd like to share a mortgage horror story with you. When I purchased an investment home with some partners a couple of years back, we were assured an interest rate on an interest-only/balloon mortgage. However, once we got to the closing table, the rate showed up in the documents as higher by 1/4 point. Needless to say, we were all quite furious, and the fact that the mortgage broker was not at the closing didn't help the situation(he was on vacation), so we called him on his mobile phone to voice our disapproval over this rate discrepancy. There was quite an exchange of words, however, it was kept on a professional level and just short of using expletives.

Ultimately, it was a mistake on his part, and he made good on the difference with a check to us for the difference calculated out over an agreed upon period of the loan. In order to avoid delaying the closing to have new papers drawn up, we moved forward, and accepted the above-mentioned check from his closing associate to cover a majority of our "losses". The moral of the story: Make sure everything is in writing, whether it be an E-mail from the mortgage company, or physical documents, you just cannot argue with hard copy. In this case, we had done previous closings with this broker, so we know it was an error and not malicious. Either way, "in writing" is the key. May this little story and this tip save you tons of aggravation !

Economic News related to the Real Estate Housing market is quiet next week, but as we all know, any and all economic news that is released will affect the housing market directly or indirectly. Always keep your eyes and ears open!

We have additional items/upgrades and more new features rolling out next week, so be sure to check in on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and any other days in between for breaking news and updates. What would even be easier for you? You can subscribe to this Blog feed or you can subscribe for Blog updates via E-mail. These options are both located on top of the column on the right-hand side of this page where it says, "Subscribe To Posts" and "Subscribe by E-mail". Also remember to check out our Podcasts for Free Download in our ITunes Store at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=373351426


We hope you stay cool, and have a great weekend!
Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Top 6 Housing Features that Define Comfort

Hi Everyone,

Hope you have had a great week, and the Memorial Day Weekend is upon us. Literally...it's hours away !

We recently took a poll amongst people advertising their Rent to Own homes on our website, and we asked them a very specific question: "What do you consider the most attractive features of your home and neighborhood?". We posed the same question to people looking for a Rent to Own Home on our website, but we changed it slightly to say, "What would you consider the most attractive features of a potential new home and new neighborhood?" The results were tallied, and we have summarized the top 6 of them, since they were the most popular by a landslide. Here is what we found out:

6 Housing Features that Define "Comfort":
1. Ability to make the rental or house payments
2. Proximity to Employment
3. Proximity to Family
4. How easy it is to get around locally - bus routes, trains, etc
5. Amount of traffic in (1-mile) perimeter around the home.
6. Proximity to Houses of Worship

If you are all thinking the same thing I am, it is amazing that the majority is primarily concerned with being able to make the payments. I wonder if we had done the same poll 3 years ago, if the results would be different? We can only wonder. Incidentally, take note of #3 ("Proximity to Family") - my Mother-in-Law lives overseas - so I am living outside that particular rule (wonderful lady - but space is good, universally).


OK, this week, we have been syndicating our Blog across may more Social Media sites, and, we are very proud to announce:
Our Podcasts are now available on ITunes for Free Download. The exact link to our ITunes Store is:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=373351426.

We will try to make at least 1 or more Podcasts per week, coupled with our 3 +/- Blog Posts per week.


A few reminders: We offer very generous referral fees (contact us here for more information). Also, the Pending Home Sales index will be released next Wednesday, June 2nd, and it will cover the month of April. Keep your eyes peeled for that one.


May you have a fantastic Holiday Weekend.
And as always, Happy Rent-to-Owning !