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
Showing posts with label phoenix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phoenix. Show all posts

May 10, 2011

Big Discounts Equal A Pending Buyer Frenzy?

Hi Folks,

   Welcome back!

   With the housing bust, it makes logical sense that there are bargains to be found out there, of course, however, I read an article that I'd like to share with you that shows just how large the discounts are !

   There was an article on Yahoo Real Estate titled, "Cities With the Biggest Home Discounts", which was compiled using a Home Offer Report that is generated by Trulia (for nonforeclosure properties). The analysis was broken down based on price cuts and organized into 4 metrics: "average number of days on the market before first price reduction, average discount during the price-cut period, probability of a second price cut, and the total percentage of for-sale properties of which prices have been reduced at least once.". Using the breakdown, Forbes ranked 50 cities to determine largest activity in terms of overall price reduction.

   The "biggie" was Phoenix, Arizona, with, "residential prices down nearly 45% since 2006.". When you add in the high foreclosure rates and the large vacancy rates, sellers are certainly in a pickle, which gives homebuyers the upper hand. Overall, Arizona fared the worst, with Phoenix, Mesa, and Tucson all included in the top 10 for largest discounts.The other cities after Phoenix that round out the top 5 with the biggest discounts are Mesa, Minneapolis, Long Beach, and Baltimore.

   One of the factors, how long a home sits on the market at the original sale price before the first price cut, was just 48 days for Phoenix, but 80 days for New York City, which was coined as a "robust" market.

   What does this all mean for us? Well, if you are selling a nonforeclosed home, you need to cut your prices to compete with the distressed properties that are selling for a "15% to 50% discount". Las Vegas, which is referred to as, "the nation's foreclosure capital", made the list at #7.

   If you are selling a home in one of these areas, you have decisions to make. Do you slash and burn your price, do you site on your price and wait, or do you look into a Rent to own agreement? This decision will be based on your position in life; are you sitting on a ton of equity, or do you need to cut and run fast? Can you rent out the home with an option to buy, while covering your mortgage payments monthly as you wait for the market to turn around?

   What are your thoughts and comments on this extremely interesting story?

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

TAGS: #realestate #renttoown #Phoenix

October 13, 2010

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 !

September 27, 2010

Homes For Under $800/Month? Bargains Are Everywhere !

Hi Everyone,
   Hope you had a nice weekend, and if you're a football fan, I hope your team won (as long as it wasn't against my team !).

   I cannot believe that I read this, but I came across a list of some of the top cities in the country, in which you can purchase a median-priced home (assuming a 20% down-payment) for under $800. Once again, I really cannot believe it!

   Luke Mullins of U.S.News, wrote an article titled, "Where to Buy a Home for Less Than $800 a Month", and I read the article on Yahoo Real Estate. The lowest priced city on the list was Atlanta, which assumes a $123,000 median-priced home, with, "a 20 percent down payment--or $24,600--monthly payments for mortgage principal and interest", or $488 per month. Is that amazing? The only issue would be the 20% down-payment for a lot of folks, nowadays. It would be interesting to re-work the numbers with a 10% down payment, but this would probably alter other factors in the calculations and type(s) of applicable mortgages.

   The next cities listed after Atlanta are Pittsburgh, Boise, Columbia (South Carolina), and Phoenix, all of which clock in at under $600/month, using the same calculation methods. Rounding out the Top 10 are Austin, Sarasota, Albuquerque, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Columbus (Ohio).

   I would be interested in seeing what some of the Eastern Seaboard cities (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington) would come in with for an average monthly payment. In addition, I would also be curious about the major cities in California. These locations would more than likely be above the others (substantially) due to the higher property prices, but however, it would be interesting to see it and compare it to what the figures were perhaps 2-3 years ago.

   If anyone of our financial/technical readers can re-work these numbers, please feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

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

August 6, 2010

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)