Maria Gudelis

Secret phone calls being made by federal regulators to determine if Credit Suisse has pulled the remaining life line of a credit line from Lehman?  Found this from a Great Site - “Your Mortgage or Your Life” about Lehman Brothers…yet another 800 pound gorilla stumbling hard in these times. 

From the Financial Times:

“Lehman Brothers, the beleaguered US investment bank, held secret talks to sell up to 50 per cent of its shares to South Korean or Chinese parties in the first week of August but failed to reach agreement with either.

The South Koreans and Chinese walked away after concluding that Lehman was asking too high a price, said New York-based people familiar with the potential buyers. Lehman declined to comment.”

  

“The talks reflect the growing pressure on Dick Fuld, Lehman’s chief executive, to raise capital ahead of the mid-September earnings report, which, analysts said, could include more writedowns of $4bn (£2bn), bringing the total so far to $12bn. Lehman shares have fallen nearly 85 per cent since early 2007 and its market value is now about $9.5bn.

One of the basic “Real Estate 101″ things to know is supply and demand cycles.  This is taught and mostly forgotten in realtors’ pre-licensing courses:  The Principles of Value.  If anyone can really understand the main principle of value in real estate:  YOU must know SUPPLY AND DEMAND, then you will make money.

Some experts say that 98% of real estate agents don’t understand or grasp basic supply and demand cycles.  The 2% that do will be all stars in their field.  In addition, as a real estate investor, you will then know what type of real estate investing to do based on supply and demand in your area.  Click more to read on… [Read more]

Foreclosure is just one of those areas. It was Robert Allen who said “More bargains are available in the area of foreclosures than in any other area of real estate.” (Multiple Streams of Income - p.157)

Well - one may really ask that since we keep seeing real estate in the U.S. declining in value.  I’ve seen just in the last two months, one home go down $20,000 in value.  One of the key things hurting the values in a given neighbourhood are the short sales that then bring in the comparables down quite a bit.

For instance, if you see a home worth $300,000 and in the neighbourhood 2 short sales happened where the bank accepted an offer of $250,000 for a $300,000 worth home - they did so as they are motivated to get it off their books as no bank wants to keep a non-performing asset.  So the downward spiral into Dantes’ inferno of real estate price declines keeps on going because the foreclosures are steadily increasing in this economic environment and the ‘teaser’ rate loans that are adjusting to ‘fixed’ rate, omg I can’t afford this mortgage payment anymore!

So what is real estate investor to do when the equity you think you may have might keep going down?

The key is to know what the demand is for property in that area and that is not as easy to discover as the supply of homes are.  If you have a qualified buyers list wouldn’t that make you feel much safer in your real estate investments and take your risk out if you have a buyer before you even contract that property?

If that is of interest to you, check out how to get your real estate buyers’ list going by visiting virtual real estate investing and marketing system

There are a few key factors to consider when writing a press release for your business.  Keep in mind, a press release is a great way to get traffic to your real estate business as well.  I’ve seen some great press releases drive qualified buyers to ebay real estate auctions! [Read more]

I came across via ‘in the public domain‘ (translation - you can copy, swipe use without any legal issues) a fantastic ad in the San Francisco Chronicle from 1909…now…

Why the heck am I looking at 1909 newspaper ads? 

[Read more]

This is a rating that you assign to the property under consideration to help evaluate whether the property is a good candidate or whether you should pass it up and keep looking. A property potential assessment form is provided for your use in determining this score.

†Determining fair market value — fair market value compares the property you are considering to similar properties in that area. The comparable properties should be similar in location, size, and age to your subject property. Choose properties from the same subdivision and record the same information you did about your subject property. I have included a fair market valuation form on the following page for you to record this information. You can obtain comparable data from local real estate agents, the local tax assessor’s office, or possibly online from public records as described previously.

Basic property information — Begin your analysis by collecting the following basic property information:

Property Address: ________________________________________________

City, State, Zip: __________________________________________________

Property Appointments: Sq. Ft.: __________ Year Built: __________

# of Bdrms: _______ # of Baths: _______ Carport/Garage/None (circle one)

Type of construction: Brick/Block or Frame (circle one)

Property Contact: ______________________ Phone: ____________________

Property Owner: _______________________ Phone: ____________________

Why is this property being sold? _____________________________________

Any offers? _______________ How long on the market? _________________

What do you feel are the best price and terms you can accept for a quick sale?

________________________________________________________________

What is the fair market value† of the house? ____________________________

What is the property potential assessment score‡? _______________________

†Determining fair market value — fair market value compares the property you are considering to similar properties in that area. The comparable properties should be similar in location, size, and age to your subject property. Choose properties from the same

Even though I rely a lot on my Power Team appraiser and realtor, using a system will make you successful in analyzing properties.
Once you find a property that appears to be a good candidate, you need to analyze all the data you collect to make the most informed decision about proceeding with this transaction. Collect basic information about your subject property and record it on the form on the following page. Then collect data on comparable properties in that area and record it on the fair market valuation form.