Current Real Estate Scams

Hi Folks,
   Hope all is well, and glad to have you with me.

   As we always like to do our fair share of Public Service, this installment serves as a Scam Advisory notice for the general home owning public, as well as a different kind of Scam involving Realtor-on-Realtor crime.

   If you receive calls from someone claiming that they can help you receive a piece of the $25 billion national mortgage settlement (between Government housing agencies and the nation’s top banks), you could be getting duped by "phone solicitations from scam artists who offer to get them assistance", writes Leslie Berkman in her article, "Attorney General warns of mortgage settlement scams".

   Berkman, in discussing the warning put forth by California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, warns homeowners to be "skeptical of third party phone solicitations and do not give your personal financial information to a solicitor such as your bank account number, social security number or even the name of the bank that is servicing your mortgage", and that "only the financial institution servicing your mortgage can help you get mortgage relief available from the settlement agreement". AG Harris also reminded the public that it is illegal to charge an up-front fee for mortgage modifications services in the state of California, and that this should raise a red flag if someone asks you for money upfront (Harris said these cases should be reported to the California Department of Justice).

   In another strange case, and perhaps a sign of the fierce competition amongst Real Estate Agents, a broker in Florida was caught with a trunk full of Realtor signs. However, "The problem was they weren't his", says Michael Pollick in his story about this incident ("Real estate broker accused of stealing competitor signs"), and he writes that the broker had 37 of his competitors' signs in his trunk. The result, of course, was the arrest of the broker.

   Now, I'm sure there have been other odd things happening in our vast Real Estate industry. We'd love you to share some of these odd things with us!

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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: #RealEstate #scam #realtor #mortgagesettlement #homeowners #mortgagerelief #California #AttorneyGeneral #Florida

Young Inventory Translates To Quick Markets

Good Morning Folks,

   As we all know, there are a wide variety of measures and indices that gauge the health of the Real Estate market. One of the most important of there are the New Residential Sales figures, which incidentally, were up 6.8% from July 2010 to July of this year.

   Another such measure, and quite an interesting one, is one that was recently discussed in an article on Inman News ("11 fastest-moving real estate markets in July"). As described in the article, "Realtor.com released a list of metros with the lowest median age of inventory at the site -- a measurement of how long a property from a given metro area typically spends on the site". Essentially, the logic is that if homes are not sitting in inventory for too long while waiting to be sold, this indicates quick turnover, and thus, a fast-moving market.

   The biggest winner in this category, per the Realtor.com site, was Denver (median age of inventory was 32 days, which was the lowest among the Metros). Additionally, 6 California metros appeared in the list, and Detroit made the list, which is a good sign for their struggling Housing Market.

   Now, the converse of this measure would be the Metros with the highest median age of inventory, thus, slow-moving markets. The slowest one? Naples, Florida, with the highest median age of 153 days. Naples was not lonely in the list, as 7 of the 10 Metros tagged as the slowest-moving markets were in Florida.

   Inventory data is definitely not a new concept, but when it is examined from this perspective, it certainly paints a picture of the markets that are moving, shaking, and in some cases, sleeping.

   What are your thoughts/comments on this?

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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: #RealEstate #NewResidentialSales #inventory #Realtor #California #Detroit #Florida

Homebuyers, Homebuyers...Please Come Back!

Hi Everyone,
   It's Friday, and I'm glad to have you back!

   Sometimes it fascinates me to see the ripple effect of the Economy (specifically, Housing and Employment). When Housing and Employment are in turmoil, some crazy things happen, for example...the creation of modern-day Ghost Towns...yes, Ghost Towns.

   According to a recent story on 247wallst.com ("The Eight States Running Out Of Homebuyers") by Douglas A. McIntyre, Michael B. Sauter, and Charles B. Stockdale, "Parts of Oregon, Georgia, and Arizona have become progressively more deserted.". As a matter of fact, they said that the "single biggest problem in the U.S. real estate market is simple: There are very few homebuyers.", and referred to a “buyers’ strike”.

   In order to find the hardest-hit states, 24/7 Wall St. used 6 factors which ranged from vacancy rates, foreclosure rates, unemployment rates, construction figures, population changes and price reductions.

   The Eight States that wound up on their list were Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, California, Illinois, Georgia, Oregon, Florida. Michigan had the worst Population Change (Decrease) from 2005-2010, which would have been substantially impacted by the car industry bankruptcies.

   Some other facts regarding the other states that were analyzed: Nevada had the worst 2010 Foreclosures, the worst Unemployment, and the worst decrease in Building Permits 2006 to 2010. Florida had the 2nd worst vacancy rates. Two states that did not make the list were Colorado (had one of the worst foreclosure rates) and South Carolina (one of the worst vacancy rates), but they stated that the populations in both states have "rebounded enough to make a strong case that their housing markets may recover moderately over time."

   What happens now?

   As we discussed the other day in "Really? They Are Doing THAT To Foreclosures?", this story also mentions that some homes will be "torn down in these pockets of high foreclosures" to drop supply and boost prices. Outside of that spark of hope, they don't feel overly optimistic regarding these areas, since, "jobless rates may never recover" and little chance that the "populations in these areas will ever rebound." Thus...Ghost Towns for now, and who even knows how long.

   Do you live near a newly-deserted region? How does it feel? What are your thoughts from your first-hand observations?

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


TAGS: #GhostTown #vacancyrates #foreclosurerates #unemploymentrates #constructionfigures #populationchanges #Michigan #Nevada #Florida

Running Out of Homebuyers? Are We Really?

Hi Everyone,

   Welcome back and hope you had a great weekend. This is a pretty big week, with four major housing indicators that are due to be released, which are as follows:

* 1/25 (Tuesday) 9:00 AM: S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices
* 1/25 (Tuesday) 10:00 AM: FHFA Monthly House Price Index
* 1/26 (Wednesday) 10:00 AM: New Residential Sales
* 1/27 (Thursday) 10:00 AM: Pending Home Sales Index

   We'd like to thank everyone for their fantastic feedback regarding our Blog Post from Friday January 21st, titled, "A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to a Real Estate Deal". As we have mentioned to several of you, we will be planning a new edition of that story line with all new "Funny Real Estate Stories" (we are accepting submissions via E-mail)

   I came across a very interesting story to share with you, and the title really grabbed my attention; "The Eight States Running Out of Homebuyers". In this 24/7 Wall St article (written by Douglas A. McIntyre, Michael B. Sauter and Charles B. Stockdale), the authors state that, "The devastation in some regions will never be repaired.", and they point to population desertion, jobless rates, and the eventual possibility that, "Some homes will be torn down in these pockets of high foreclosures in the hopes that reducing supplies will boost prices."

   The states listed in this article were Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, California, Illinois, Georgia, Oregon, and Florida, and in the article, the full breakdown of each state along with the sources for the data are provided.

   This is indeed a very frightening and an eye-opening story. It is also a sad story to hear of towns literally "dying".

   Do you live in any of the states mentioned? If so, what is your take on this story? We'd love to hear an inside scoop from Realtors, investors, homeowners, and home buyers.

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


TAGS: #homeprices #realestate #realtor

Real Estate Contracts from a Legal Perspective

Hi Folks,

   Friday is upon us, and most of the leaves have already fallen here in the Northeast. The trees are bare, and this can only mean one thing - bare trees. OK, so the secret is out - I'm not a comedian.

   One thing that is not a laughing matter in Real Estate are the contracts that are used for the different flavors of deals. Today, we are going to take a look at these contracts from the perspective of Rent to Own, with input from Attorneys from 3 States; Florida, Ohio, and Texas. We will preface this with the caveat that this is not legal advice, we are not attorneys, and thus the title word, "perspective", and not guidance.

   In the State of Florida, which is always a hotbed for deals, we spoke with Charles P. Castellon, an Attorney and Counselor at Law in Florida. Castellon tells us that it is important to realize that, "The applicable protections depend on whether you’re entering the deal as seller or buyer.", and he says that from the seller's side, especially in Florida, that, "it’s helpful to draft 2 separate agreements — a residential lease and option agreement.", as, "the rationale is the buyer/option holder could more easily force the owner to file a foreclosure action rather than a simple eviction if both sides of the deal are integrated in one agreement." Castellon continues to say that, "In the latter situation, a court could deem the buyer to have equitable rights giving the buyer/tenant the same rights as a mortgage borrower, thus requiring a more costly and complex foreclosure rather than a relatively simple eviction." From what I personally understand, if a rent credit is being applied to the down payment each month, the tenant is building up equity.

   Castellon says that an owner can, "write into the agreements a waiver by the buyer of any claim that the buyer may be entitled to equitable rights requiring a foreclosure case and instead agree that a breach of the lease agreement would be litigated in an eviction case only.", and that, "Buyers should seek to have a portion of all rent payments credited toward the purchase price. Building equity for the buyer and a greater stake in the rental property is beneficial for both sides, as the buyer will think more like an owner than a tenant." Additionally, he says that, "Buyers should also insist that all cost responsibilities are clearly spelled out. For example, either side can be responsible for costs such as taxes, insurance and association fees and everything is negotiable. The buyer may want to seek some kind of protection of his/her interest in the property in the event the owner fails to pay property taxes and thus risks the loss of the property to the tax collector."

   In the State of Ohio, we spoke with Troy Doucet, a foreclosure defense and consumer litigation attorney, who says that, "Ohio law requires the inclusion of about 15 different terms into any land contract in order to make it valid. Someone unfamiliar with these requirements could generate a void contract, and cost themselves statutory damages in addition to having to refund money paid." Doucet says that, "Creating a lease that provides for the ability to purchase later creates other hurdles under Ohio law, especially with regards to recording any kind of security interest in the property", and says that his recommendation is to, "always consult an attorney in drafting these types of contracts because they can be considerably problematic for the seller and buyer if not drafted correctly."

   Finally, in the State of Texas, we spoke with Attorney Patrick E. Hudson, who says that, "Rent to own laws vary from state to state", and that "In Texas, sellers used to take advantage of rent to own buyers by taking the house back when the buyer missed the first payment, even if the buyer had paid on the home for years.", but that, "the Texas legislature stepped in and put burdensome regulations on rent to own sellers.". Hudson says that the regulations, "generally provide that the buyer has to be provided notices and opportunities to cure any default before the seller can take the property back.".

   Hudson says that the state regulations are so difficult to comply with that, "many law firms advise their sellers to avoid rent to own contracts". He does, however, mention an alternative, where, "A seller can lease the property and give the renter/buyer an option to purchase the home at the end of the lease for a good price.", which, "avoids all of the hurdles of a rent to own transaction.".

   We are looking for some additional input from real estate attorneys in other states, and we welcome your comments on this post.

Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
HomeRun Homes Blog http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Website http://www.lease2buy.com

Which Style of Home is the Easiest to Sell or Flip?

Good Morning,
   A happy Friday to all of our readers - whether you are reading this on our Blog, in your E-mail, or in your RSS Feed Reader !

   Regional differences in markets and in tastes are what makes the Real Estate market so intriguing. One question we often hear is, "Which Style of Home is the Easiest to Sell or Flip?", and the answer is, "It Depends".

   Jamie Goldberg, who works with Realtors and investors on updating their listings, says that the answer will vary by region and price point. Goldberg says that in San Diego, Craftsman homes are very popular in certain neighborhoods (North Park and Hillcrest), Contemporaries sell well on the coastline and downtown, while in San Francisco and other historic areas, Victorians are hugely popular.

   Real estate investor Clint Gordon states that in South Florida, a Cape Cod would linger on the market as an oddity, and that, "There is a reason certain styles of homes are prevalent in a region and most often, they are practical, functional reasons", and that investors should stick to the prevalent style in a community.

   Indeed, this is confusing, but it does answer the question: know your market. Research the area and know which style sells. If you are a Realtor and you need to sell a style of home that Gordon called an "oddity", then spruce up the interior and make sure the MLS shows plenty of the interior.

   Any questions or comments? We would love to hear from you.

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

It's Still Rent to Own to Me

Hi Folks,
   News and trends spread fast in our global economy. One of the housing trends that has reached well beyond the borders of the U.S. has been that of "Rent to Own".

   As I often say, when I started this business in 2002, “Rent to Own” and "Lease Option” (and hybrids of the two) were alien terms. Over the 8+ years of managing the business, we have had our eye on the global markets, and we have seen some interesting developments.

   Now, the devil is in the details, but there are slight variations of Rent to Own all around the globe. For example, Australia uses the terms "rent to buy" and "vendor finance", and the UK and Ireland use "buy to let" (as well as lease option).

   Do you know what the two largest markets for Rent to Own are outside of the U.S.? It's Canada, and also, the Philippines. I bet you didn't guess that? Yes, often, this blows people away. In addition, the Philippines actually refer to it as "Rent to Own", as do our neighbors to the north. The Canadian market also uses some other variations, such as Vendor Take Back, or "VTB". Some other countries that use Rent to own or variations of it, include New Zealand and some of the Caribbean Islands .

   However, to find variations, we don't have to look far. While Chicago, the major cities in Florida, and North Carolina are some of the places that use the term, "Rent to Own", other places such as Atlanta and Phoenix use, "Lease Purchase" (varies in definition, but extremely similar).

   Please don't take this as the musings of a Real Estate Blogger, but as a primer for your entry into multiple national and international markets outside of your regular niche focus. Perhaps you could even consider it a small education on the real estate naming conventions across our big blue marble that we call Earth.

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

Homes Sales Up, and Addressing a Reader Question

Hi Folks,
   Hope you had a nice fall weekend.

   Hot off the Press: The National Association of Realtors (NAR) just released the latest data showing that "Home Sales are Up". Per the Realtor.org website, the Pending Home Sales Index rose 4.3 percent from July, "but is 20.1 percent below August 2009".

   Now, just to make you aware of what this really means; The data reflects the sales contracts (not the physical closings), so the buyer(s) still need to be approved for financing, however, that is a different index.

   Look, many moons ago when I was in the stock market, there was a saying that, "The Trend is Your Friend". I'm sticking by that!

   A few of our readers who have Ads on our site have asked how they can upgrade their Ad(s) to the top of the page ("TOP SPOT"). For example, if you have a home listed on the Florida Rent to Own Homes page, it is listed alphabetically by city. If you want the Ad to also appear on the top of the page in it's own box with extra images and space, you can log into your Control Panel (http://www.lease2buy.com/login.php), click "View Ads", and then you can select the Upgrade/Feature option.

   For those of you who like to "Go Big" from the start, you can skip all of that and create your Ad and upgrade it to the top of the state page ("TOP SPOT") via these links:

If you are Looking for a Rent to Own Home, create your "TOP SPOT" Ad here: http://www.lease2buy.com/top_homeswanted.php

If you are Selling a Rent to Own Home, create your "TOP SPOT" Ad here: http://www.lease2buy.com/top_homesavailable.php

   Please remember that due to the size of the upgraded Ad, we can only offer one per state page (so it is extremely limited, as you can imagine).

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

UPDATED: Right Time to Buy? Top Real Estate Investing Markets

Good Morning,


Happy Friday! With the dreaded humidity taking a swan dive here in New York, it should make for a nice and dry weekend...finally !

As we discussed on Wednesday, we had a ton of requests for us to discuss the hottest markets for Real Estate investments. Keep in mind that these requests were NOT for the hottest housing markets for the standard property buyer, however, for the top Real Estate investing markets.

We warn you - this is a long post - but there is valuable information here !

We have turned to some experts in their given regions, and we have summarized these markets below. However, keep in kind that they are not in any specific order, and we would need to compare apples to apples in order to put them in top to bottom order, which for our purposes here, is outside of the scope of this Blog post. However, some corroborating reasons are given along with each city/region listed below.

Detroit: We had two experts weigh in on the Motor City. Dennis Fassett, a local investor, tells us that, "Nice brick houses in the suburbs with three bedrooms, basements, appliances, garages, and fenced yards can be bought for $40-50,000 or even less in some cases depending on the area. And the properties I have bought like that rent for $1000 per month and up. The ROI is off the charts.". Fassett says that he currently has, "11 houses and 43 apartment units here, and two more deals in process, and I'm looking to buy as much as I can while the market stays depressed."

Drew Sygit of The Lending Edge at First Michigan Bank , concurs, and states that, "Detroit the city is pretty hot. Meeting today with an Australian CPA who's clients all want to buy $30-50k properties they can rent for $900/month. We've got more foreign demand than domestic!"

Memphis: We spoke with Ryan L. Hinricher, a Senior Housing Analyst with Investor Nation, and he said that, "In Memphis an investor who's looking for income property can purchase pristine investment homes at or near median home prices of $115,000, which offer a positive cash flow, or properties as low as $5000 in areas typically higher in crime and lower in income for section 8 rental purposes". Hinricher also reminds us that, "Memphis was recently named one of the 5 best housing markets for 2010 by MSN, Realty Tracs best places to find a foreclosure in 2010, US News and World Reports #1 place for real estate steals in 2010, and Smart Moneys 5 markets expected to fare best in 2010. This is primarily because the transportation industry is one of the first to lead an economic recovery.".

Orlando: Phil Peachey, a Realtor with Regal Real Estate Professionals in Orlando, Florida, says that, "I have apartments at present at $20,000 and 4 bed 3 bath homes with pools near Disney for $100,000. These were 3 times the price a couple of years back.", and that, "Savvy investors are snapping these up in large numbers as they know the market has to come back at some time". I have to concur, as we got our start in the Orlando/Central Florida market, and that seems like a perpetually favored region.

St. Louis: Adam Kruse, a St. Louis Realtor of The Hermann London Group, advises that a lot of the investors are making their own rules on the purchase criteria in that city. Kruse says that, "There are areas of St. Louis where people just don't really buy as primary residence, but they buy them all the time to hold for rental",and says that he has a client who advises him to, "Take the purchase price, subtract off the last 2 zeros, double that number, and I want to be able to get that for rent.", and that they have helped him buy at least 15 places with that criteria. (example: purchase price $35,000, rent amount $700+ per month.)

California: Griff Straw, President of Solidifi, a technology-based appraisal management company, tell us that in California, "Coastal areas continue to offer good opportunities for investors, especially in California, where San Diego has been among the strongest areas in the country. The more remote coastal areas like Oxnard, north of Los Angeles, are less of a sure thing for shorter term appreciation, but may offer potential.

Some Additional Areas that show promise for the Real Estate investor have been identified by Alfred Miller President of Private Lending Solutions, LLC. Miller has, "identified the discount and cash flow properties as well. These are investor friendly markets". The markets he mentioned are Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (Texas), Houston (Texas), Tulsa (Oklahoma), San Antonio (Texas), Salt Lake City (Utah), Phoenix (Arizona), Indianapolis-Carmel (Indiana), Denver-Aurora (Colorado), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), and Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord (North Carolina/South Carolina)

We hope that this list will be of significant help to you. We welcome your comments on any and all of the cities mentioned above.

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


UPDATED: Top 5 Blog post for 2010 (For more information, CLICK HERE)

Toxic Asset Fraud...Does it Upset You?

Good Morning Everyone,


   I hope you're having a great week ! Thank you for your comments on our 3-part series on the home-building process, and to those of you who have asked about turning a pre-built home into a Rent to Own arrangement, we mentioned in our last part of the series that, "...there are many builders who build homes and will then Rent them with an Option to Buy (Rent to Own Homes), so it requires a little bit of homework on your end to find these builders." It will be on a hit and miss basis, but for those builders that read our Blog, please feel free to raise your hand if you would be amenable to a Rent to Own on your properties.

   The other day, I heard an insane story on NPR (Public Radio), about an investigation that was done by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where they looked at 19 Million Real Estate Transactions in Florida and found that, "...more than 50,000 Florida properties flipped under suspicious circumstances from 2000 through 2008", and they commented that, "Those flips artificially drove up housing prices and tax bills and contributed to the crush of foreclosures".

   NPR took a closer look at this investigation and purchased a piece of the bonds that are backed by these "toxic assets", and with the help of the Herald-Tribune (and reporter Michael Braga), they were able to see some of the people behind their toxic purchase (as part of those 50,000+ suspicious deals). This massive amount of suspicious deals included one attorney who defaulted on 5 loans totaling 3.6 Million dollars! Additionally, some of the other loans were tied into a group of investors who lied to banks to get loans. Overall, it was a frightening glimpse of what was going on under our noses.

   Can this happen again? We certainly hope not. But mankind is funny; there is good and bad. The bad are always finding new loopholes and ways to get around the rules. So it takes diligence and we need to always keep fresh in our memory the disaster these people have caused, the homes that have been lost, the livelihoods that have been lost. This has changed the Socio-Economic landscape for everyone for a long time to come. OK, time for the punishment to be be handed out ! We welcome your comments and thoughts, since this is a hot-button topic that irritates a lot of people (like myself)...

   Side Note: The full copy of our past few months of Blog Posts is available to download for Free ! You can use the following link (CLICK HERE) to download and save your copy today (it is in .pdf format). Enjoy !

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

Dad's Day, Secrets Winner, and Big Housing Numbers...

Happy Monday to All,

A Happy Belated Father's Day to all of you Dads out there. Our son is not at the "tie-buying" age, yet, but he is still in the "make-a-present-for-daddy" stage, which is absolutely wonderful. The walls of my office are decorated with his masterpieces and it adds color to every day. I know you're too young to read this Blog, but thanks buddy !

Now, on Friday, we announced our contest question; "What city did we begin investing in when we first started our business?". To all of the people who answered correctly and won their free copy of, "Secrets of Rent to Own", Thank You! Now, for the answer to that question, the winners of the contest checked out the "About Us" section (http://www.lease2buy.com/rent-to-own-homes.php), and you found out that the answer was Orlando, Florida.

We officially opened the doors of HomeRun Homes/Lease2Buy.com on June 8, 2002, so we are now officially into our 9th Year. We will continue on with more contests and giveaways, so make sure to tune in here. Want to make life even easier for yourself? Choose one of the "Follow" options on the right-hand side of the page !

This is going to be a very big week in terms of Housing Market data. Today, the Loan Performance Housing Price Index numbers will be released. On Tuesday, some hefty data will be released: NAR Existing Home Sales and the FHFA Monthly House Price Index. As if these major factors weren't enough, New Residential Sales will be released on Wednesday. This is quite a contrast to last week, which was a lot quieter in terms of Housing.

We will check back with you on Wednesday to take a look at what these numbers were, what they mean for you and I, and to take a look at how they can or will impact the Rent to Own Homes market.


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

Great Real Estate Deals, Home Staging, Rehabbing....

Hi All,

Happy Wednesday to everyone.

It's been an exciting week at the HomeRun Homes campus, and to all of you who have thanked us for bringing you such a deluge of quality responses to your Ads...you are quite welcome. Our goal is to bring traffic to our website so buyers or sellers can find you, and you can Find a Rent to Own Home or Sell a Rent to Own Home. Basically, we are just doing our job, since we work for you!

We wanted to re-emphasize a fantastic article, called: "7 Cities With Great Real Estate Deals", which runs down some of the hottest returning markets. If you read through the article, you'll see that there are a lot of unpolished gems out there. Further, you will see our name mentioned in the article for Atlanta, and also for Orlando, Florida (and Central Florida), since we believe that these are two of the hottest markets right now.

This leads me to the next item, which is that our 8-Year anniversary is around the corner. We originally got our start buying and rehabbing homes in Central Florida (Read our full background here: http://www.lease2buy.com/rent-to-own-homes.php). One of the first homes we renovated is this one:



We will tell you more about this in the coming weeks, as our June anniversary approaches, along with some fantastic offers...stay tuned for your exclusive opportunities to be announced here in our company Blog!

The last item that we wanted to discuss is Home-Staging, which has gained quite a bit of momentum in the recent market. For example, I have a neighbor who was stuck in his home for 8 months, he could not sell, and he was not in a position to Rent to Own the home. I had a Home-Staging company get in touch with him, and they came in and revamped his entire home. During his next Open House, he got a few offers, and he is actually in contract now. This is a handy service. Are you a Home Stager? If so, please tell us more about your work.


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

Troubled Cities, Creative Real Estate, FHA Tax Credit, and more

Happy Monday to Everyone,

We hope you had a great weekend, and were successful in wherever your ventures took you, whether it was looking for a home, selling a home, or just enjoying some time with your family. On a personal note, we spent the weekend with our toddler going from Chuckie Cheese to a few of those inflatable bouncy places. I've had enough pizza and gummy bears to last me a lifetime !

I came across an interesting story that I wanted to share, and it is worth taking a look at. It's titled, "10 Cities Facing a Double Whammy of Default Risks", and it lists cities which are not only in the throes of major home value declines, but also have other dominating economic issues as well. For example, the top city on the list was Las Vegas, and the article cites speculation and wild loan-types as the contributor to the decline in housing prices, construction, and jobs in the Metro area. The other cities listed are Merced (California), El Centro (California), Port St. Lucie (Florida), Fort Myers (Florida), Bend (Oregon), Ocala (Florida), Detroit (Michigan), Rockford (Illinois), and Toledo (Ohio). Although they are all different cities, some of the issues read like a script. This is an important read if you live in these metro areas, or if you are considering a move there. On the flip side, if you are an investor the specializes in rent to own or creative real estate deals, you might have a ground-floor opportunity in helping to revive these areas !

A side note - This Friday, 4/30, the Tax Credit for new home buyers (of up to $8,000) will expire. We wrote an article on this earlier, and you can read it here:
http://www.blogging.lease2buy.com/2010/04/details-on-fha-tax-credit-for-home.html

OK - back to working on our website and getting more traffic to your ads !
Have a great day, and we'll chat again on this Wednesday !

Happy Rent to Owning !