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Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin March 20, 2012

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Christian Science Monitor – ten best cities to buy short sales

10. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (average short sale discount – 24.5%)

Short sales took off in the Seattle area in the fourth quarter of 2011: 925 pre-foreclosure homes were sold. That’s a whopping 46% increase from the same period a year earlier and represented 7.4% of all home sales in the area, at an average price of $245,403. Buyers of short sale homes reaped a nearly 25% discount off non-foreclosure homes. Seattle is also among the top metros to buy foreclosure properties generally, at an average discount of 43%.

9. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (24.7%)

Phoenix is the sixth-most populous city in the United States. Known as the Valley of the Sun, the Phoenix metropolitan area had the second-highest number of pre-foreclosure home sales on the list, with 7,112 (up 43% from the fourth quarter of 2010). Short sales made up 20.3% of all homes sold in the area, at an average price of $122,212. As a state, Arizona saw one of the largest year-over-year increases in pre-foreclosure sales, up 48%.

8. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore./Wash. (26.1%)

The Pacific Northwest is a pricier housing market that Phoenix, with fewer homes available. The area sold only 679 pre-foreclosure homes in the fourth quarter, which is the third-lowest number on the list (the minimum for inclusion is 500 homes). Still, that’s up 37.2% from 2010, and a willing buyer can get a short sale home for an average price of $190,042, which represents an average discount of 26.1% below market value.

7. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. (28.0%)

The most populous state in the country, California saw short sales increase in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles led the charge, with the most short sale houses sold of any metro in the country, let alone the state, at an average sale price of $342,668. In terms of total home sales, Los Angeles also boasts the highest percentage of short sales on the list, at 22%.

6. Jacksonville, Fla.(28.8%)

Situated on the St. Johns river at the top of Florida’s Atlantic coast, Jacksonville is the largest metropolitan area in the country from a geographical standpoint. It’s cheap, too – 677 short sale homes were sold in the area in 2011′s fourth quarter, at an average sale price of $116,447. Jacksonville saw a 41.34% increase in short sales from 2010, with pre-foreclosures making up 12.4% of all home sales in the area.

5. St. Louis (29.6%)

The St. Louis area has by far the cheapest housing market of the short sale metros on the Top 10 list. Nearly 600 pre-foreclosure homes were sold there in the fourth quarter of 2011, at an average price tag of $96,131. Short sales made up only 5.7% of home sales in St. Louis (the lowest proportion on the list), but short sales increased 19.9% from 2010.

4. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (32.9%)

Georgia’s foreclosure problem has continued to worsen in recent years. Foreclosure sales made up 39% of total home sales for the state in the fourth quarter of 2011, the third-highest of any state. As a result, the Atlanta area ranks high in both short sales and foreclosure sales.  The area saw the biggest surge in short sales of all the cities on the Top 10 list, with 3,387 homes sold, up 63% since the same period in 2010. Short sales made up 14% of all home sales in the quarter, with an average price tag of $123,271.

3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Ill./Ind./Wis. (33.5%)

In addition to a deep average discount on short sales, the Chicago metro is one of the top places to buy foreclosed homes, with an average discount of 49.1%. Chicago sold 2,409 pre-foreclosure homes in the fourth quarter of 2011, at an average sale price of $156,349. That’s a 28.9% increase from the fourth quarter of 2010.

2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (37.3%)

Home to Silicon Valley, the San Jose metro area is located just south of San Francisco and is the third largest metro in the state. In the fourth quarter of 2011, 1,169 homes were sold in short sales at an average price of $398,413. That’s the highest price among the cities on the Top 10 list, even with one of the biggest discounts in the US. Short sales increased 34.1% from the end of 2010 and made up 18.6% of all home sales in the San Jose area.

1. San Francisco-Oakland-Freemont, Calif. (41.0%)

Discounts for short sale homes don’t come any bigger than this in major metropolitan areas: more than 40% in San Francisco. Such sales surged 50% in the San Francisco metropolitan area from the fourth quarter of 2010: Nearly 3,000 homes in pre-foreclosure were sold in 2011′s fourth quarter, at an average price of $330,733. Short sales made up 19.2% of all home sales. The city is not among the top markets  for deeply discounted foreclosure homes, indicating that lenders are taking measures to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Goldman Sachs cut jobs

Goldman Sachs has begun a new round of staff cuts in its trading and investment banking divisions, three sources familiar with the matter said, a sign of continued cutbacks on Wall Street.  The job cuts follow 2,400 positions Goldman eliminated last year, and further reductions are possible as the company continues to reduce costs to raise profitability, the sources said.  The latest round of cuts is part of Goldman’s annual employee review process.  The new job cuts are taking place in all of Goldman’s four main divisions, including sales and trading, investment banking, wealth management and investing and lending, according to one source familiar with the matter.  Many of the cuts are aimed at traders who can be replaced with new technology, or back-office, technology and operations staff who can be replaced with less expensive employees, the source said. The bank has been pushing aggressively to replace staff in high-cost areas like New York and New Jersey with less costly workers in Salt Lake City, where the company is building a sizable workforce.

Housing starts down

The Commerce Department said housing starts slipped 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 698,000 units. January’s starts were revised up to a 706,000-unit pace from a previously reported 699,000 unit rate.  Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts little changed at a 700,000-unit rate. Compared to February last year, residential construction was up 34.7%, the biggest year-on-year rise since April 2010.  New building permits surged 5.1% to a 717,000-unit pace last month, far exceeding economists’ expectations for an advance to a 690,000-unit pace from January’s 682,000-unit rate.  Housing starts last month were pulled down by a 9.9% drop in the construction of single-family homes — which account for a large portion of the market.  Groundbreaking for multifamily housing projects soared 21.1%. This segment is benefiting from rising demand for rental apartments, as falling house prices discourage some Americans from owning a home.  Housing starts in the South rose to their highest level since October 2008.  Permits to build single-family homes jumped 4.9% to a 472,000-unit pace — the highest since April 2010. Permits for multifamily homes increased 5.6% to a 245,000-unit rate.

Small cars costing more

Across the board, prices for these cars are moving up along with gas prices.  KBB tracks used car prices week to week. For the week ending March 2nd, it found used car prices jumped 1.3% to $12,286. That should not come as a surprise given the way auction prices have shot up. Used car auction house Adesa says the average compact car sold for $6,942 (up 4.4%) on the wholesale market in February.  While automakers are moving as quickly as possible to ramp-up production of small cars or at least the small fuel-efficient engines to put in those cars, it won’t happen overnight. So expect the tight inventories for many small cars to continue for some time. Eventually, that could play out with small cars selling with a minimal discount to the sticker price. Perhaps even at a premium to the MSRP.  One thing is certain, we won’t see increased incentives or rebates for new cars anytime soon. Automakers don’t need to grease a market where buyers are coming into the showroom.

Olick – did a warm winter steal spring housing?

“As if we really needed a reminder that today’s housing market is still very fragile, the first installment in a slew of housing data to be released this week came in below expectations.  Home builder sentiment, as measured by the National Association of Home Builders’ monthly sentiment survey, was unchanged in March, and February’s reading was revised down.  This after five straight months of gains in builder confidence.  ‘Many of our members continue to cite obstacles on the road to recovery, including persistently tight builder and buyer credit and the ongoing inventory of distressed properties in some markets,’ said NAHB chief economist David Crowe in a release.

Most troubling was a big drop in sentiment out West, which is where the bulk of the nation’s foreclosures and distressed properties are. Banks are really ramping up the foreclosure process now that the so-called ‘Robo-signing’ settlement is behind them and new guidelines are in place. That means more foreclosed properties will be hitting the housing market, as the still-swelled pipeline finally begins to empty.  While the all-important South region, most meaningful for the builders, saw an increase in sentiment, it is still below the national average, and overall current sales were down and buyer traffic was flat. Only sales expectations over the next six months rose. That could have a lot to do with unseasonably warm weather.  With temperatures in most of the country hitting near record highs in January and February, it begs the question, did much of the Spring market start early, and did it steal from the historically strong months of March and April?  ‘We think it has pulled forward a useful amount,’ says analyst Stephen East of ISI Group. ‘It definitely helps breaking ground and has been a big help on the jobs front.’

In fact ISI studied weather in all four regions and reported that while favorable economic trends and specifically job growth are the primary driver of renewed housing activity, ‘We believe some demand was pulled forward from the later Spring months, implying the first quarter could be above investor expectations, while the second quarter could be below expectations.’  Weather cannot be discounted in home sales, especially sales of new construction, since builders can offer potentially faster turnarounds for new orders if they’re not hampered by frozen earth. February saw a big spike in the ‘current sales’ component of the home builder sentiment index. Buyer traffic in March was unchanged.”

House GOP wants to overhaul tax code

House Republicans will call for overhauling the US tax code by reducing rates as well as the number of income tax brackets as part of their 2013 budget proposal.  House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is slated to unveil today a tax and spending plan that would shrink the number of brackets to two from six with rates set at 25% and 10%. The top rate now is 35%.  Ryan’s proposal would also eliminate the alternative minimum tax while reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% now to 25%, according to documents provided by his office.  The plan may revive Republicans’ call last year for overhauling Medicare, though with a compromise Ryan has since written with Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden on the health program for the elderly and disabled. It may also spur a reprise of proposals to carve big savings from other safety net programs to drive down the government’s $1.2 trillion deficit.  Though the proposals probably won’t become law anytime soon, they are certain to inflame an election year debate over what to do about government red ink.  “We’re back with a budget that offers real solutions,” Ryan said in a video posted yesterday on his website. “Americans have a choice to make — a choice that’s going to determine our country’s future.”

Fast foreclosure bill may return

Florida’s quickie foreclosure bill died quietly in the Senate on the last day of the 2012 legislative session, and although homeowner advocates fear it will reappear next year, sponsor Kathleen Passidomo said it may not be her pushing it.  The Naples Republican is confident the controversial bill, dubbed the Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, would have passed if it had come up for a vote by the full membership. Instead, she said it got lost in the last minute hustle to hear dozens of proposals before the end of the session March 9.  The Florida Bankers Association agrees there were enough votes in the Senate to pass the nationally watched proposal, which flew through the House in a 94-17 vote on Feb. 29.  But Anthony DiMarco, executive vice president of government affairs for the association, said it’s too early to tell what kind of expedited foreclosure plan may materialize in 2013.

The association said in its end-of-session newsletter that it believes “internal Senate politics” led to the bill’s demise and that it will push for similar foreclosure legislation next year.  “I think there will be a foreclosure bill filed next year if the prediction of a huge glut of foreclosures in the courts holds true, but whether I file it or not, I don’t know,” said Passidomo, noting that she has other interests and that this was the second time she tried and failed to streamline the state’s foreclosure logjam with legislation. “This was a missed opportunity.”  Still, it was the furthest a bill aimed at reducing Florida’s mounting foreclosure backlog has made it since the real estate crash. An estimated 368,000 foreclosure cases are in the courts statewide, with more on the way.  February foreclosure statistics released last week by the research group RealtyTrac showed a nearly 53% increase in South Florida filings compared with the same time in 2011. The spike was 40% statewide.  “I would be very surprised if the bill does not come back,” Boca Raton attorney Margery Golant said. “The industry is pushing everywhere it can to be able to move faster on foreclosures.”

WSJ – Wall Street keys on rentals

Some of the biggest names on Wall Street are lining up to become landlords to cash-strapped Americans by bidding on pools of foreclosed properties being sold by Fannie Mae.  The idea is that the new owners would rent out the homes at first rather than reselling – potentially aiding a housing-market recovery by reducing the number of properties clogging the market. The fact that big-name investors are interested also suggests they anticipate sizable future profits in housing.  Currently, banks selling through regular real-estate listings are getting more than 90 cents on the dollar of their asking price, according to industry analysts. They could be reluctant to unload properties in bulk if it means selling for much less.  Firms considering bids include Austin, Texas-based broker-dealer Amherst Securities Group and a fund run by mortgage-bond pioneer Lewis Ranieri. Hedge-fund manager Paulson & Co. and private-equity investors Colony Capital LLC are also considering bids, according to people familiar with the process.  The sale consists of 2,500 homes divided into eight regional pools, ranging from 572 properties in Atlanta to 99 in Chicago. The total current market value is $320 million, according to an offering document prepared by Credit Suisse, which is advising Fannie.

Bulk sales, however, pose a trade-off. While the current approach of selling homes one-by-one has its own high costs and is sometimes inefficient, selling properties in bulk to large investors could require Fannie Mae to sell at a big discount, leading to larger initial costs. It is unclear which would be least costly ultimately to taxpayers, who are responsible for the big mortgage-finance company’s losses.  Purely in dollar terms, the sale would be small by Wall Street standards. But it could offer clues about whether investors are willing to pay prices high enough to entice Fannie Mae – along with its sibling Freddie Mac, federal agencies and banks-to do more bulk-sale deals in the future.

Bernanke justifies Fed

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke returns to his roots as a university professor today, seeking to explain and justify the existence of the central bank ahead of the 100th anniversary of its founding next year.  Bernanke will deliver the first of four hour-long lectures on the history of the Fed as part of what public relations specialist Richard Dukas called a “P.R. offensive” to buff the central bank’s tarnished image. The Fed is being attacked from both the left and the right, with liberals criticizing it for not doing enough to bring down unemployment, and conservatives blaming it for doing too much and risking faster inflation.  Bernanke’s return to the milieu where he spent more than two decades will give the Fed’s top policy maker an opportunity to “set the narrative” on the central bank’s role during and after the financial meltdown, said Princeton University professor and former Fed Vice Chairman Alan Blinder. “The question of who gets to write the history is an important one.”  If Americans lose faith in the Fed’s ability to manage the economy and contain inflation, that will rob monetary policy of some of its potency, according to Dana Saporta, director of US economics research for Credit Suisse Securities in New York. Policy has “less effect the less confidence the public has in the Fed,” she said.

HARP still a massive failure

Fewer underwater homeowners worked through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) in December than in any other month in more than a year, despite changes that removed previous barriers.  About 2,700 mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio between 105% and 125% received a HARP refinancing in December, down 47% from November and the lowest since October 2010. All HARP refis fell 36% monthly to 23,000 in December, hitting a low not seen since November 2009.  Total refinancings at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose 5% to 376,000.  The data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) included no loans with LTV ratios above 125% — now considered eligible. Those changes, dubbed HARP 2.0, took effect at the beginning of December.  Corinne Russell, a spokeswoman for the FHFA, said the agency’s data likely won’t reflect the changes until it releases numbers for the first quarter of this year. She said it typically takes 60 days to originate and close a loan and another 90 days from closing to loan delivery to Fannie and Freddie.

But with the changes, Russell said the agency is hearing that more lenders are refinancing loans with LTV ratios above 105%.  “Anecdotally, we know that lenders are embracing HARP 2.0, originating loans under the new terms,” Russell said in an email.  Analysts reviously predicted effects if the changes might not surface until February’s data.  HARP refinancings totaled 93,000 in the fourth quarter, bumping up the cumulative total 10% to 1.02 million over the life of the program.  Mortgage servicers closed 19,500 trials through the Home Affordable Modification Program in the fourth quarter, bringing the cumulative total to roughly 400,000. Active HAMP trials ended the fourth quarter at 36,391, down from 42,279 as of Sept. 30.  Short sales and deed-in-lieu deals increased 13% to roughly 35,000 in the fourth quarter, the highest total since the government placed Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship.  Julia Gordon, FHFA manager of single-family policy, said the agency is working to streamline policies in those programs.  “It’s not as if there’s some enormous gulf between the policies,” Gordon said. “Even small differences in policy can create frictions that are not necessary.”  Foreclosure starts at the government-sponsored enterprises declined to 218,000 from 224,000 in the third quarter, and mortgages 90-plus days delinquent dipped slight to 3.78% from 3.81% of Fannie and Freddie’s portfolio. Florida led states in those delinquencies at 11.5%, followed by Nevada and New Jersey at 8.3% and 6.3%, respectively.

See you at the top!
Chris McLaughlin

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About the author:
Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top
Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.

* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-
foreclosure expert, he oversees more than
100 short sale & REO closings each month

* Long-time authority on real estate investing
and rapid reselling of distressed homes.  Owns
portfolio of nearly 150 high-value, high-profit
properties

* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
running 4 different offices, supporting over
420 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
thousands of investors make money in the
biggest market opportunity ever!

* In 2011, Chris’ 4 Central Florida real estate offices
closed 3,336 sides for a closed sales volume of
$430,902,643!

* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and
seminar leader for current trends and hot topics
in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and
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Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin March 16, 2012

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Whistleblower wins $18 million

Attorney Lynn Szymoniak had spent a career investigating insurance fraud when a bank moved to foreclose on her Florida home in 2008. Almost four years later, the fraud she said she uncovered by combing through mortgage documents earned her $18 million.  Szymoniak, 63, is among six whistle-blowers who will pocket $46.5 million as part of a $25 billion national foreclosure settlement that state and federal officials reached in February with five banks, including Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), according to the US Justice Department.  Szymoniak’s examination, in which she relied on her experience as an insurance-fraud investigator, led to her claims against banks for submitting fraudulent documents to the federal government asserting that they owned loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, she said.  The national foreclosure settlement with the five banks, which resolves claims of abusive foreclosure practices, provides mortgage relief to borrowers, pays $1.5 billion to those who lost their homes to foreclosure, and sets standards for how the banks service mortgage loans.

As part of the agreement, whistle-blower claims are being settled for about $228 million, according to court papers filed in federal court in Washington. A group of six whistle-blowers will receive $46.5 million out of that amount, said Alisa Finelli, a Justice Department spokeswoman.  Szymoniak’s foreclosure case began in July 2008 when Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), as trustee for a mortgage securitization trust, sued to seize her Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, home, which was once worth $1.3 million. The bank couldn’t prove it owned her loan and claimed it had lost the mortgage note, she said.  Szymoniak said she was first alerted to problems in the paperwork on her foreclosure when Deutsche Bank said it acquired her mortgage note in October 2008, three months after the bank sued her over the loan.  “So I began doing what I’ve done for years — go out and investigate,” she said. “It was pretty obvious to me that the paperwork was fraudulent.”  Her work quickly uncovered widespread document fraud in the mortgage industry, she said, and eventually led to the filing of her whistle-blower cases in 2010.  The whistle-blower claims resolved in the national settlement include a case filed in Atlanta in 2006 in which banks are accused of defrauding military veterans and the US government.  The banks violated rules under a Department of Veterans Affairs program for refinancing mortgage loans by charging improper fees to veterans, according to the complaint. The banks hid those fees and obtained government guarantees on the loans, according to the complaint.

Inflation leaps, gas leads

The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% after advancing 0.2% in January. That was in line with economists’ expectations. Gasoline accounted for more than 80% of the rise in consumer prices last month, the department said.  Outside the volatile food and energy category, inflation pressures were generally contained. Core CPI edged up 0.1% after gaining 0.2% in January. The February increase was below economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.2% rise.  The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday that the recent spike in energy costs would likely push up inflation temporarily. Over the long-term, inflation was likely to run at or below the its 2% target, it said.

While the US central bank reiterated its expectation that overnight interest rates would remain near zero until at least through late 2014, it offered no clues on whether it would launch a third round of bond buying or quantitative easing, to keep borrowing costs low to stimulate the recovery.  Last month, overall inflation was pushed up by gasoline prices, which soared 6%, the largest increase since December 2010, after rising 0.9% in January.  Although surging gasoline prices are a strain on consumers, they have so far not caused a sharp pull back in spending, thanks to a strengthening jobs market.  Food prices were flat last month after rising 0.2% in January. Food prices were the weakest since July 2010.  Overall consumer prices rose 2.9% year-on-year after increasing by the same margin in January.  Core consumer prices were last month restrained by apparel prices, which fell 0.9% — the most since July 2006 — after rising 0.9% in January. There were also declines in the prices of tobacco, airline tickets and used cars and trucks.  But new motor vehicle prices rose 0.6% after being flat in January. While housing costs held up, owners’ equivalent rent rose only 0.1% last month after increasing 0.2% the prior month.  In the 12 months to February, core CPI increased 2.2% after rising 2.3% in January. This measure has rebounded from a record low of 0.6% in October and the Fed would like to see that closer to 2%.

Olick – Miami condos – bust or boom?

“South Florida real estate developer Martin Margulies has been sitting on prime ocean-front property for five years, waiting for the condo market to rise from the grave. When the market here crashed in 2007, amid overzealous speculators and an abundance of cheap and easy credit, condo construction ground to a halt. The joke had been that the unofficial bird of Miami was the crane, but that bird flew the coop. Apparently it is now swooping back in.  ‘This is the moment because we’re going to be delivering this property next year, and so by that time there will be good demand, there is good demand now,’ says Margulies, who began construction on a brand new high-end condo tower in December.  And he is right. Foreign buyers, largely from South America, but also from Europe, Russia and China, are flooding into the Miami area, and that has developers rushing to keep up with demand.  ‘The music started again in South Florida,’ says Peter Zalewski of CondoVultures, a Florida real estate data and investment firm. ‘We have an arms race of developers moving into the marketplace trying to put up condos or planned condos in anticipation of a recovery in the next two years or so.’

And they are doing it fast. Twenty five new towers with 5200 units are proposed while there are still 4200 unsold units left from the crash. Sounds crazy, but the foreign demand developers and real estate agents are seeing now is just that hot.  ‘The foreign buyer is coming in looking for wealth preservation or taking advantage of the weak US dollar, or coming in because of problems back home, whether it’s Venezuela or Mexico with the drug war,’ says Zalewski, who has been watching and working this market for the past decade.  Foreign buyers are investing as well as foreign developers, like the Melo group, a family business from Argentina. They began construction last August on the first new tower in Miami in at least four years. A lot of people thought they were crazy, but now the tide has decidedly turned. The Melo’s say they have pre-sold the entire building, and they required buyers to put 50% down. Most of their buyers, again, are foreigners with cash.

This new condo boom, while reminiscent of the recent one, is not built on easy credit. In fact, credit is still very tight here, especially for developers. Martin Margulies tried to get a construction loan for his Hollywood project, the Bellini, but could only get 50% financing along with putting up collateral. He called that ‘onerous,’ and instead took out a personal loan, using his massive art collection as collateral. He says he’s not concerned, as his buyers will be putting down 30% on one to four million dollar units.  ‘The kind of buyers we get they don’t need financing, they’re all cash buyers,’ says Margulies. ‘It’s a lifestyle they have, so they’re not reliant on a bank to give the money.’  Most of the foreign buyers in Miami are renting the properties to locals who have either lost their homes to foreclosure or whose credit is not good enough to get a home loan in today’s tough US mortgage market. The question now is, what happens to all these renters when Florida’s single family housing market recovers and credit opens up again?

Will all these foreign investors want to unload their units at the same time?  ‘You wonder if we’re not kicking the can, where we dealt with the problem at hand by dumping it off to foreign buyers, and now as the domestic buyer starts to move back into the marketplace, is that domestic buyer going to pay the same price that the foreign buyer is willing to pay or take the same chances that the foreign buyer is willing to pay?’ asks Zalewski.  It all sounds frighteningly familiar.”

Industrial output down

The Federal Reserve said Friday that the output of the nation’s factories rose 0.3% last month. That followed even stronger increases in January and December, which combined for the best two month stretch since 1998.  Overall industrial production, which includes output by mines and utilities, was unchanged. Mining activity declined sharply and utilities were flat.  Factory output has risen 17.4% since the depths of the recession in June 2009. It remains 6.7% below its pre-recession peak, reached in December 2007.  Growth at US factories was a little slower in February because auto production edged lower after big gains in December and January. Manufacturers made more electronics, energy products and electrical equipment.  Still, manufacturing has strengthened substantially since last summer, when it faltered because of global supply disruptions caused by the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Factories are benefiting from strong auto sales and growing business investment in machinery and other equipment.

Sales up 14% in San Francisco

San Francisco Bay Area home sales grew 14.2% from last year in February with the region recording 5,702 sales, up from 4,991 a year ago, DataQuick said.  The San Diego-based real estate research firm said sales are up over year-prior levels for the eighth straight month, suggesting a tepid recovery could be under way.  New and existing home prices continue drag, with the February median of $325,500 down 0.3% from $326,000 in January and 3.6% from $337,250 a year ago.  Prices in San Francisco hit their peak of $665,000 in June 2007 before plummeting to $290,000 in March 2009 after the nation fell into a prolonged recession.  Much like the Southern California market, distressed home sales accounted for half of the Bay Area’s resale market in February. Foreclosure sales alone made up 27.4% of all resales in the market, while short sales represented 23.1%.  The average monthly mortgage payment in the Bay Area hit $1,225 in February, down from $1,233 in January and $1,440 a year earlier.

Obama to release emergency oil in front of election?

Britain is poised to cooperate with the United States on a release of strategic oil stocks that is expected within months, two British sources said, in a bid to prevent fuel prices choking economic growth in a US election year.  A formal request from the United States to the UK to join forces in a release of oil from government-controlled reserves is expected “shortly” following a meeting on Wednesday in Washington between President Barack Obama and Prime MinisterDavid Cameron, who discussed the issue, one source said.  Britain would respond positively, the two sources said, and Cameron said a release was worth considering.  “We didn’t make any decision, this has to be discussed broadly. We’ve got to look at this issue carefully, it’s something worth looking at. Short-term should we look at reserves? Yes, we should,” Cameron said during a meeting with students in New York.  “We’d both like to see global oil prices at a lower level than they are.”  Details of the timing, volume and duration of a new emergency drawdown have yet to be settled but a detailed agreement is expected by the summer, one of the sources said.  Other countries may also be approached by Washington to contribute, a further source said, Japan among them.   Rising world oil prices have pushed the cost of gasoline in the US up sharply, threatening to stall economic recovery ahead of Obama’s bid for re-election in November.

Renting jeopardizing affordable housing

More Americans are renting houses instead of buying them, a trend that could disrupt price affordability, analysts say.  With more homeowners unable to secure mortgages and uncertain about future finances, renting is the only sure-fire way to live in a single-family property, according to Capital Economics.  But as more Americans turn to home renting, the influx of demand is set to squeeze the nation’s rental supply, pushing monthly rents even higher.  Paul Dales, senior economist with Capital Economics said that rental vacancy rates will fall again in the future, pushing prices up. The median rent is already up to $712 per month—well above the average monthly mortgage cost of $647, Dales reported.  He estimates vacancies in the home-rental market will push average rental rates up as much as 5% by early 2013, compared to 2.4% in January.  “We expect the annual rate at which rents are rising will rise to 3% this year and remain at that level in 2013,” Dales said. “Assuming that the economic recovery gains firmer footing, in future years there is scope for rents to rise by around 4% a year.”

And as single-family renters head into the market, the supply of rentals is unlikely to meet new demand.  This reality is playing itself out in Denver, where the vacancy rate for home rentals fell from 3.4% in the third quarter to 2.1% in the fourth quarter. At the same time, the vacancy rate edged up slightly from the 2% level reported in the fourth quarter of 2010.  “The vacancy rate went up slightly year-over-year,” said Ryan McMaken, a spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing. “That doesn’t mean much, though, because when you’re looking at vacancy rates below 3%, the bottom line is that the market is tight. For many people, it’s not easy to buy a house right now, so they’re renting.”

See you at the top!
Chris McLaughlin

**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2011.
All Rights Reserved.

http://www.shortsalesriches.com

http://www.shortsalescoach.com

http://www.sixfigurebpo.com

http://www.reomillionaireclub.com

http://www.youtube.com/shortsalesriches

http://www.smartrealestatenews.com

(subscribe to this newsletter)

*************************************************

About the author:

Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top
Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.

* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-
foreclosure expert, he oversees more than
100 short sale & REO closings each month

* Long-time authority on real estate investing
and rapid reselling of distressed homes.  Owns
portfolio of nearly 150 high-value, high-profit
properties

* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
running 4 different offices, supporting over
420 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
thousands of investors make money in the
biggest market opportunity ever!

* In 2011, Chris’ 4 Central Florida real estate offices
closed 3,336 sides for a closed sales volume of
$430,902,643!

* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and
seminar leader for current trends and hot topics
in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and
Wealth Building

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mclaughlinchris

* Join my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.mclaughlinchris.com

Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin February 16, 2012

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FHA defaults rise

Defaults on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages increased in December for the ninth-straight month.  More than 711,000 FHA-backed home loans were in default at Dec. 31, nearly 19% higher a year earlier.  As defaults increased, a constricted and delayed foreclosure process is hurting the government’s ability to unload the properties once they are repossessed.  The US Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) held 32,170 REO in December, according to a recent report, the lowest level measured since the same month in 2007. The high was reached in March 2011 at 68,997 properties.  The FHA insures roughly one-third of the mortgage market, as private insurers have been struggling with capital shortfalls since the crisis in 2007.  But the FHA is in trouble as well because of the surging defaults. The capital ratio of the agency’s mutual mortgage insurance fund slipped to 0.24% last year, well below the 2% mandated by Congress.

Analysis from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget released this week showed the fund would actually fall into the red this year and need an unprecedented bailout from the Treasury Department.  Bank of America will send roughly $500 million to the FHA as part of a settlement reached last week over past countrywide origination problems. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said more settlements would be announced soon, sending between $900 million and $1 billion to the FHA.  The agency will also be raising insurance premiums above the hikes set to take place in 2012 as a result of the payroll tax cut extension reached last year.  Donovan said this week that new loans written this year and last are proving to be more profitable than expected. But the market remains fragile and another downturn in housing could put the fund in further trouble.  “A very significant piece of what determines the actuarial value of the fund is what we project to happen to home prices,” Donovan said. “The better than expected performance of the new loans can be offset if home prices perform worse than we expect.”

Tax cut deal announced

A payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans, set to expire at the end of this month, would be extended through December under a bipartisan deal announced early today by US congressional leaders.  The accord would also renew expiring jobless benefits for millions of others and prevent a pay cut for doctors of elderly Medicare patients.  Economists say the tax cut extension and renewal of jobless benefits should provide a lift to the US economy, certain to be a key issue in the battle for control of Congress and the White House in the run-up to Election Day.  “We have reached an agreement and we’re moving forward,” Republican Representative Dave Camp, who headed the negotiating committee, told reporters shortly after midnight EST.  It was not immediately clear when the House of Representatives and Senate would vote on the deal, but lawmakers hoped to do so before they leave Friday for a week-long recess.  Many Republicans had initially balked at the extension while others insisted that its cost had to be offset by spending cuts to prevent an increase in the US deficit.  House Speaker John Boehner and fellow Republican leaders cleared the way for a deal on Monday when they dropped their demand that there be spending reductions to pay for the tax-cut extension.

Olick – foreclosures up again

“After a year-long reprieve from rising foreclosures, the numbers are going up again.  One in every 624 US households received a foreclosure filing in January, up 3% from the previous month, according to a new report from RealtyTrac.  Foreclosure activity froze in many states in 2011, due to processing delays after fraud, or so-called ‘Robo-signing,’ were uncovered in the fall of 2010.  The thaw is now on.  ‘We expect the pattern of increasing foreclosures to continue in the coming months, especially given the finalized mortgage and foreclosure settlement reached in early February between 49 state attorneys general and five of the nation’s largest lenders,’ said RealtyTrac’s CEO Brandon Moore in a written release.  ‘Foreclosure activity increased on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than 12 months in Florida, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania, following a pattern we saw in late 2011 in states such as California, Arizona and Massachusetts.’

While states that do not require a judge to preside over foreclosure proceedings, like California, saw a jump in filings toward the end of last year, judicial states have all but stalled. That will now change, thanks to the $26 billion dollar government-lender/servicer settlement. There will still be some delays on individual state levels, but the wheels are turning again, and that means more bank repossessions and more foreclosed properties heading to the re-sale market.  Bank repossessions, the final stage of the foreclosure process, increased at least 30%  year-over-year in several states, including Massachusetts, which saw a 75% spike.  Bank-owned or REO (real estate owned) activity hit a 16-month high in Illinois and a 15-month high in Indiana.  Default notices, the first stage of foreclosure, were flat nationally in January, but spiked in judicial states, like Connecticut and Pennsylvania (up 112%) and even in non-judicial states like Maryland (up 100%).

Nevada still posted the highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 198 households receiving a filing, despite an 8% drop in foreclosure activity. Nevada is a non-judicial foreclosure state, so the foreclosure backlog has been clearing for the last several months.  The situation is the same in California, where foreclosure activity dropped to a 50-month low, but the state still posted the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation. More than 51,000 borrowers received a foreclosure filing in January. California cities still account for nine of the top ten metro foreclosure rates, according to RealtyTrac.  As optimism seems to abound for the spring, at least among the nation’s home builders whose sentiment index jumped to the highest level in four years this month, foreclosures still stand in the way of a robust recovery.  Distressed property sales lower the value of homes around them, and that pushes more borrowers into a negative equity position, owing more on their mortgages than their homes are currently valued. Until banks work through the enormous backlog of foreclosures, which number in the millions, home prices will not hit a firm bottom, especially in the most troubled local real estate markets.”

Jobless claims down

Jobless claims slipped 13,000 from an upwardly revised 361,000 the previous week and beneath economist estimates that actually saw the number rising.  The drop in jobless claims marked a near four-year low, suggesting the labor market was finally strengthening.  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the Labor Department said, the lowest since March 2008. The prior week’s figure was revised up to 361,000 from the previously reported 358,000.  Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 365,000. The four-week moving average for new claims, seen as a better measure of labor market trends, fell 1,750 to 365,250 — the lowest since April 2008.  Considerable slack still remains, with 23.8 million Americans either out of work or underemployed. There are no job openings for nearly three out of every four unemployed.  A Labor Department official said there was nothing unusual in the state-level data and no state had been estimated.  The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid tumbled 100,000 to 3.43 million in the week ended Feb. 4. That was the lowest level since August 2008.  Economists had forecast so-called continuing claims falling to 3.50 million from a previously reported 3.52 million.  The number of Americans on emergency unemployment benefits rose 16,568 to 3.00 million in the week ended Jan. 28, the latest week for which data is available.  A total of 7.68 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under all programs, up 18,304 from the prior week.

Housing starts up

The Commerce Department said today that housing starts climbed 1.5% to an annual rate of 699,000 units.  Initial estimates for housing starts can be subject to large revisions and the government revised the December reading significantly higher to a 689,000-unit rate.  The Commerce Department initially estimated groundbreaking in December advanced at a 657,000-unit rate.  Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts rising in January from the initial reading to a 675,000-unit pace.  Starts of multi-unit buildings, which are often rented, jumped 8.5% last month. New construction on buildings with five units or more increased 14.4%.  Groundbreaking on single-family units, which make up a much larger portion of the sector, fell 1.0%.  Permits climbed 0.7% to an annual rate of 676,000 units.

Inflation up

US producer prices outside food and energy recorded their largest increase in six months in January, but are unlikely to ignite inflation pressures given the slack in the labor market.  The Labor Department said on Thursday its seasonally adjusted core producer price index rose 0.4% last month, the largest gain since July, after increasing 0.3% in December.  Economists polled by Reuters had expected core PPI to rise only 0.2%. In the 12 months to January, core producer prices rose 3.0 after increasing 2.7% in December.  But overall prices received by farms, factories and refineries edged up 0.1% after dipping 0.1% in December.  The rise, which was smaller economists’ expectations for a 0.4% gain, reflected declines in food and energy prices.  In the 12 months to January, producer prices increased 4.1%, moderating from 4.8% December. That was the smallest increase in a year.  The Federal Reserve last month viewed inflation as largely contained and said it expected to hold interest rates near zero at least through late 2014.  Wholesale prices outside of food and energy were pushed up by a drugs costs, which accounted for about 40% of the increase. Higher prices for light motor trucks and household appliances also contributed.  Passenger car prices fell 0.8% after rising 0.5% in December.

Student loans drain retirement savings

Student loan debt amassed by parents is growing faster than loans taken out by the student.  Parents’ loan debt has more than doubled over the last decade — exceeding $100 billion dollars or 10% of all outstanding student loan debt, according to the independent research firm FinAid.org.  “Parents of every income level are increasingly borrowing for their children’s college education. It doesn’t matter whether the parents are low income, middle income or upper income. There’s been dramatic growth in the percentages of parents who’ve been borrowing,” says FinAid.org founder and publisher Mark Kantrowitz.  Many parents who co-signed loans or borrowed money on their own for their children’s education now face the loss of their retirement nest eggs, homes and other assets. As student loan debt has topped US credit card debt, “America faces the very real possibility of another major threat on par with the devastating home mortgage crisis,” according to a new study by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA).

Piling up student loans in middle age is “troublesome”, says NACBA vice president John Rao, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. “Parents who take out loans for children or co-sign loans will find those loans more difficult to pay as they stop working and their incomes decline.”  But, parents’ need to borrow has grown as their savings has declined and plummeting home values have made it difficult for many households to tap what was once a common financial resource — the equity in their homes.  Parents have an average of about $34,000 in student loans and that figure rises to $50,000, including interest, over a standard 10-year loan repayment period. Interest rates on the most common parental loan – the federal Parent “PLUS” loan – is fixed at almost 8%. So the return on parents’ investments needs to average at least 8% just to break even.  The fixed-rate PLUS loan is often a better choice for families than private student loans, whose rates may vary. But the need to borrow private or PLUS is often a sign of over borrowing, Kantrowitz says.  “Parents should borrow no more than they can afford to pay in 10 years because they have to worry about their own retirement. By the time they retire, they should have no debt remaining since they will have no income to repay that debt.”

Southern California – January sales up, prices down

Southern California home sales rose slightly last month as investors snapped up the region’s lowest-priced properties, sinking prices to the lowest levels in more than 2 1/2 years, DataQuick, a research firm, reported yesterday.  More than half of existing homes sold were foreclosed on in the previous year or short sales — transactions in which the price is less than what is owed on the property.  There were 14,523 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in the six-county region in January, up 0.4% from the same period last year, DataQuick said. Sales plunged nearly 25% from December, reflecting a typical seasonal decline.

Last month, 669 new homes sold, the lowest monthly tally since DataQuick began tracking sales in 1988.  The median price was $260,000, down 3.7% from $270,000 the same period a year earlier and from December. It was the lowest price since $249,000 in May 2009. During the current cycle, prices peaked at $505,000 in the middle of 2007 and bottomed out at $247,000 in April 2009.  John Walsh, president of the San Diego-based research firm, said January is typically a poor gauge of future sales but that the mortgage market “remains dysfunctional.” Nearly one-third of homes sold last month were paid for fully in cash for a median price of $199,000.  Absentee buyers — mostly investors and second-home purchasers — bought 26.8% of homes sold, paying a median price of $193,500. Absentee buyers were especially active in the Inland Empire, which has Southern California’s lowest-priced homes.  Homes that sold for at least $500,000 accounted for 16% of sales, down from 18.3% a year earlier, DataQuick said. During the last decade, a monthly average of 27.2% of homes sold for at least $500,000.

See you at the top!
Chris McLaughlin

**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2011.
All Rights Reserved.

http://www.shortsalesriches.com

http://www.shortsalescoach.com

http://www.sixfigurebpo.com

http://www.reomillionaireclub.com

http://www.youtube.com/shortsalesriches

http://www.smartrealestatenews.com

(subscribe to this newsletter)

*************************************************

About the author:

Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top
Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.

* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-
foreclosure expert, he oversees more than
100 short sale & REO closings each month

* Long-time authority on real estate investing
and rapid reselling of distressed homes.  Owns
portfolio of nearly 150 high-value, high-profit
properties

* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
running 4 different offices, supporting over
420 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
thousands of investors make money in the
biggest market opportunity ever!

* In 2010, Chris’ 4 Central Florida real estate offices
closed 2,786 sides for a closed sales volume of
$392,912,927!

* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and
seminar leader for current trends and hot topics
in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and
Wealth Building

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mclaughlinchris

* Join my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.mclaughlinchris.com

Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin February 15, 2012

Forward this e-mail to your friends!
Then they can subscribe directly at the following link:

http://www.smartrealestatenews.com/

*** Join Chris’ Facebook Fan Page–>

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************************************************************

MBA – applications down

Mortgage applications decreased 1.0% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 10, 2012. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index was essentially unchanged compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 0.8% from the previous week to its highest level since August 8, 2011. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 8.4% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.3% compared with the previous week and was 7.6% lower than the same week one year ago. The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.45%.

The four week moving average is down 3.87% for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 0.21% for the Refinance Index. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 81.1% of total applications from 80.5% the previous week. This is the highest refinance share since January 20, 2012. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.4% from 6.0% of total applications from the previous week. The average loan size in the United States in January 2012 was $226,000. Average loan size has been increasing in recent months, up from $225,000 in December 2011 and up from $207,000 in January 2011. The District of Columbia has the highest average loan size in the nation at $375,000 while Indiana had the lowest average loan size at $143,000. Across the country, the average loan size was $217,000 for home purchase applications and $228,000 for refinances in the month of January.

Tentative deal on payroll tax

One day after House Republican leaders said they would offer a bill to extend the $100 billion payroll tax rollback for millions of working Americans without requiring spending cuts to pay for it, the Congressional negotiators struck a broader deal that would also extend unemployment benefits and prevent a large cut in reimbursements to doctors who accept Medicare. A vote on the measure would most likely happen by Friday, when Congress is set to recess for a week. But senior aides warned that negotiators still had to sign off formally on the agreement and that obstacles could surface given the long-running tensions over the measure.

Democrats, elated after winning the Republican tax concession after months of clashes, said they had also been able to beat back new conditions that Republicans had wanted on jobless pay, like requiring beneficiaries to seek high school equivalency degrees, and had found middle ground on Republican attempts to significantly reduce the number of weeks in which the unemployed could draw benefits. Republicans did make Democrats pay for the added unemployment benefits through changes to federal pensions, aides said. More important, Republican leaders and their advisers said that they had removed an election-year hammer from the hands of President Obama and Congressional Democrats, depriving them of the ability to keep pounding on the idea that Republicans were resistant to tax cuts for the middle class.

Inventory declines temporary

Crucial housing market metrics are beginning to look better to start the year, but the recent uptick may only be the result of a delayed foreclosure process. At the end of January, most metro areas saw prices stabilizing, even picking up in some of the hardest hit areas like Miami and Las Vegas, according to Altos Research. The average home price in Miami was $465,068, up more than 7% from the previous three months. In Vegas, where prices were cut by more than half during the downturn, prices increased 2% over the same period, cresting more than $140,000. Inventory is also declining in these cities. “In many markets, tight inventory of quality properties is another contributing factor keeping a floor on home prices this spring,” Altos said. In the 20 metro areas the company covers, inventory declined more than 14% from November to January. Vegas, especially was making progress. The city held fewer than 11,000 properties in its inventory at the end of last month, down more than 38% from November levels. Declining inventories do not necessarily stem from higher home sales these days but may rather be a product of fewer REO hitting the market. Completed foreclosures in Nevada dropped 26% to 6,328 in 2011 from nearly 8,000 the year before, according to RealtyTrac. From November to December alone, inventory declined in Vegas by 27%, a change Altos called “staggering.” With mortgage servicers putting the AG settlement behind them in January, the process may be rebooted soon, pushing inventories higher by the end of the year.

Manufacturing highest in years

The New York Fed’s “Empire State” general business conditions index climbed to 19.53 from 13.48 in January, topping economists’ expectations for 15.0. It was the highest level since June 2010. The index has bounced back strongly from a summer slump as the region contracted alongside a broader manufacturing slowdown. The survey of manufacturing plants in the state is one of the earliest monthly guideposts to US factory conditions. US stock index futures added to gains immediately following the data, though investors were also focused on efforts by Greece to salvage its needed bailout deal. “It’s better-than-expected and consistent with the idea that the US economy is picking up steam as the year gets started,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington. “The question is whether or not the data will have an impact on the market or take a back seat to developments in Europe. For now the focus is on Europe.”

The new orders index slipped to 9.73 from 13.70, while inventories dropped to minus 4.71 from 6.59. Employment gauges were relatively steady, with the index for the number of employees dipping to 11.76 from 12.09 and the average employee workweek index rising to 7.06 from 6.59. Manufacturers were slightly less optimistic about the coming months with the index of business conditions six months ahead falling to 50.38 from 54.87.

Fixed rate on a roll

More than 95% of refinancing borrowers chose fixed-rate loans in the fourth-quarter of 2011, Freddie Mac said in its quarterly product transition report. The government-sponsored enterprise said refinancing borrowers overwhelmingly continued to prefer fixed-rate loans even if their original loans were adjustable-rate mortgages. Of those borrowers in a 30-year, 43% decided to refinance into shorter loan terms of 15- or 20-years, Freddie’s report said. Meanwhile, 58% of borrowers with hybrid ARMs moved into fixed-rate loans during the fourth quarter, while the remaining 42% chose to refinance into the same type of loan product they held earlier. “Fixed mortgage rates averaged 4% for 30-year loans and 3.30% for 15-year loan products during the fourth quarter,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac. Borrowers wanting lower refinance rates were able to get them even when shortening their loan terms in the fourth-quarter. The interest rate on a 15-year, FRM was only 0.7 percentage points lower than the 30-year, FRM during the fourth quarter, Nothaft said. “And for borrowers who plan to remain in their current home for only a few years, the hybrid ARM allows for even a greater interest-rate savings. The initial interest rate on a 5/1 hybrid ARM was about 1.1 percentage points lower than on a 30-year fixed-rate loan.”

See you at the top!
Chris McLaughlin

**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2011.
All Rights Reserved.

http://www.shortsalesriches.com

http://www.shortsalescoach.com

http://www.sixfigurebpo.com

http://www.reomillionaireclub.com

http://www.youtube.com/shortsalesriches

http://www.smartrealestatenews.com

(subscribe to this newsletter)

*************************************************

About the author:
Chris McLaughlin is widely known as America’s top
Real Estate Attorney and Investment Consultant.

* As the top Florida foreclosure and pre-
foreclosure expert, he oversees more than
100 short sale & REO closings each month

* Long-time authority on real estate investing
and rapid reselling of distressed homes. Owns
portfolio of nearly 150 high-value, high-profit
properties

* Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
running 4 different offices, supporting over
420 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
thousands of investors make money in the
biggest market opportunity ever!

* In 2010, Chris’ 4 Central Florida real estate offices
closed 2,786 sides for a closed sales volume of
$392,912,927!

* Highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and
seminar leader for current trends and hot topics
in Real Estate Investing, Entrepreneurship, and
Wealth Building

* Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mclaughlinchris

* Join my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.mclaughlinchris.com