Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
I recently received a press release from ServiceLive.Com announcing their company had joined forces with National Fix and Flip Network to help real estate investors that are buying homes to “Fix and Flip save time and money on home repairs and improvements”.
I was not familiar with either of these companies but I was intrigued by what I was reading. For starters, the idea of a national network to provide services to real estate investors sounded like a great idea and something that investors could benefit from. Then, the idea of a company that could help investors easily find quality, competitive contractors in their local market sounded great as well especially since the rehab part of the transactions appears to present some of the largest challenges to many investors.
However, if you have been reading my blog posts for a while you have probably figured out that I am somewhat of a skeptic though in many ways, particularly when I read a press release from a company touting it’s own product or services. Therefore I decided to dig into this a little…I went to the website for National Fix and Flip Network and spent some time checking it out. I have to say, I was immediately impressed. Read more…
By Shae Bynes
As a newbie investor it is easy to be overwhelmed as you’re getting started. You’re trying to determine what type of investing you’re going to focus on, trying to get some cash saved up to use as earnest money deposits or for marketing, and trying not to be distracted by weekly real estate investing webinars selling you a new dream, another course, another service, another mentoring program.
I understand.
Having a vision of what you’re looking to accomplish with your real estate investing is key, and hopefully you have already put together a 90-day action plan to build your business. A key part of that action plan is networking. It’s been noted by top success and achievement experts that working together with others and establishing relationship is vital to reaching your goals – it’s hard to be successful operating in a vacuum. Networking with others is going to help you move faster, smarter, and plus it can be fun to meet new people. So like James Brown famously sang “Get up off of that thing!”…. and network!
So who should you be networking with as a newbie investor?
At some point you will have an extensive network of people: other investors, realtors (brokers and agents), real estate attorneys, mortgage brokers, escrow (title company) officers, general contractors, accountants, property managers.
As a newbie investor, I suggest you immediately start with other investors and realtors (brokers and agents). Through these contacts you will begin to extend your network further as needed. For example, another investor can tell you which title company to use to do simultaneous closings if you’re a wholesaler.
8 great ways to get started networking Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Florida is definitely a state that has felt the impact of the declining real estate market. It has been one of of the top four states in number of foreclosures, biggest declines in values and a few other statistics a state would just as soon not be associated with.
The tides may be turning though. The Florida Association of REALTORS(R) reported today that existing home sales in their state rose again in May…the ninth month in a row that sales activity has increased in a year-to-year comparison. Home sales were up 16% in May and condo sales were up 21% for the same period.
Home and condo prices in Florida have taken a big hit over the past two years. Last month the median home price for existing homes was $144,400, a year ago it was $203,800. However the median price in May for Florida was higher than the prior four months. Condo prices have followed suit as well: May’s median condo price was $113,400, down almost 40% from a year ago when it was $181,700. Like single family homes, condo prices are showing signs of “bottoming out”. May’s median condo price was higher than the prior 3 months and about equal to four months ago.
These stats would lead me to believe that the prices in Florida have fallen to 
the point where home owners and investors are perceiving value and stepping up to the plate and buying. For investors that have been wanting to take advantage of the lower prices in Florida but cautiously waiting for the “bottom” I think these statistics should tempt them to wade out in the water.
Having said that I want to do a little CYA. With the way our federal government has been printing and spending money and the relative instability of the economy, things could change for the bad quickly and this could end up being a “false bottom”. The problem is it is really impossible to determine the “bottom” of a market until it has passed.
By: Dennis Norman
RealtyTrac(R) released it’s Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report for the first quarter of 2009 showing nationwide foreclosures are up 23.63% from the first quarter of 2008.
According to the report, the 26 metros with the highest foreclosure rates were in just four states: California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona. Las Vegas had the highest metro rate with one out of every 22 homes receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter over 7 times worse than the national average of one in 159 homes. Read more…
By: Dennis Norman
Today the Federal Reserve Board, in it’s monthly Beige Book, said about Real Estate and Construction that “housing markets remained depressed overall, but there were some signs that conditions may be stabilizing.”
This is encouraging and is consistent with my recent comments in posts that I think perhaps we are nearing the bottom of the market. As I have said before I think it is going to be a slow recovery, but stabilizing the market would be a huge step in the right direction. Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Are you are tired of dealing with tenants, notices from the city about property maintenance code violations and the like? Still like real estate though and think it is a good place for your money? Then you may be in luck.
There is now a new way to invest in real estate. Well actually it’s probably more gambling than investing (although the last couple of years I think have shown that all real estate investments are gambles to some extent) and it’s really betting on the real estate market itself, rather than actually investing in real estate.
What I’m referring to is the new MacroShares Major Metro Housing Product which is an Exchange Traded Fund (EFT) and is the brain child of Robert J. Shiller (Case-Shiller Report) and is being done in a partnership with Macro Markets. Basically this is like an index fund and is tied to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Composite 10 Home Price index (which I have written about several times-(see Case-Shiller tag)) that follows the home prices in 10 metro markets in the U.S. If you feel prices are going to fall buy the “down” shares, if you think they are going to rise you buy the “up” shares.
A quick disclaimer and CYA: Neither myself, Real Estate Investor Daily nor anyone else affiliated with either, or anyone that I know for that matter, are making any recommendations of investing in this fund or any other fund or index for that matter. This article should not be construed as investment advice in anyway. I just think it is an interesting twist on things and a unique way to gamble on the real estate market. Before considering this type of investment or any other investment I would recommend that you contact investment and financial professionals to fully explore the risks of any investment before you make it. OK, hopefully that covers my butt. Good Luck!
By: Dennis Norman
Yesterday the National Association of REALTORS(R) issued their Pending Home Sales Index report for February which showed, for the U.S., a 2.1% increase over January.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said “Pending home sales have a way to go for there to be a meaningful increase, but recent increases in shopping activity are hopeful indicators that we’ll see additional sales gains.”
Pending home sales give us a peak into the future as to where sales may be headed since most of the pending sales will close in the two months following. Therefore the expected result would be increase existing home sales for March and April provided the sales activity continues.
We will have to wait until the National Association of REALTORS(R) releases its report on existing home sales for March on April 23rd to see if this holds. I will remind you, that as I wrote about in a post last month, existing home sales for February was up so if March does in fact show an increase as well it will be the second month in a row and perhaps the beginning of a trend.
If you are an investor wanting to take advantage of the opportunities out there but have been sitting on the sideline “waiting for the bottom” now could perhaps be the time to consider doing something.
By: Dennis Norman
I am going to be cautiously optimistic about the housing data I’ve been seeing and say that if the trends continue maybe, just maybe, we are near the bottom.
I’m saying this because of the increase in existing home sales report that I wrote about yesterday and the report released this morning by the U.S. Department of Commerce showing the sale of New Homes in February increased 4.7% over January sales. For my complete story on this report see the post on Real Estate Consumer News.
While it is going to take more then one month of increased sales to make a meaningful trend I think the reports for February are very positive. Even if we are “nearing bottom” I don’t think we’ll see much appreciation for some time and instead will probably spend a fair amount of time plodding along on the bottom. This fact should allow investors ample opportunity however to take advantage of some of the attractive deals out there.
By: Dennis Norman
Dennis Norman
How many times have you heard something like this from an agent or seller trying to convince you how good a deal is?
I find it funny how often people will base their definition of a “good deal” on the relationship of the price you can buy it for to either what the price the seller was asking or to what it sold for before.
I just don’t see how these two things come into play with regard to the value of a house or whether or not it is a “good deal”.
Case in point: Yesterday I was sent a list of a dozen homes that could be bought for a small percentage of what they previously sold for. One was a house I was told could be bought for $3,000 – $5,000 that sold for $82,000 at the end of 2005 and the other could be bought in the same range and sold for $80,000 in late 2005. Read more…
By: Dennis Norman
Dennis Norman
I think of myself as a pretty clever and creative guy. Having been a real estate investor since 1979 I have had to deal with tough market conditions on several occasions…including 18% mortgage rates back in 1981.
During those periods of tough market conditions I worked to come up with some clever ways to market my homes or to find niches that enabled me to continue to sell homes in spite of the current market conditions.
Well, I’ve been trumped! Read more…
