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Home values down

by admin on December 10, 2010

Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin December 9, 2010

 

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Home values down

American homes are expected to be worth $1.7 trillion less in 2010 than they were worth last year, according to a report released Thursday by real estate website Zillow.  This year’s drop in home values is 63% larger than the $1 trillion dip in 2009, and brings the total value lost since the housing market’s peak in 2006 to a whopping $9 trillion. While the homebuyer tax credit helped prop up the housing market in the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010, home values continued their slide in the second half of the year. Almost $700 billion in value was lost in the first half of the year, compared to Zillow’s estimates of $1 trillion in the second half of 2010.  Only 24% of the 129 markets Zillow tracked increased in total home value this year. Home values increased $10.8 billion in the Boston metropolitan statistical area (MSA), and $10.2 billion in San Diego MSA.  The areas suffering the biggest drops in home prices include New York City, which lost $103.7 billion in value and Los Angeles, where home values fell $38.6 billion.  The steep declines in home values are pushing Americans further under water every year. In the third quarter of 2010, 23.2% of single family homeowners with mortgages owed more on their mortgage than their home was worth — up from 21.8% in 2009.

 Unemployment down 

The Labor Department says that the number of initial claims fell to 421,000 in the week ending Dec. 4, down 17,000 from a revised 438,000 claims filed the week before.  The figure beat analyst forecasts of 429,000 for the week.  The four-week moving average, which is calculated to smooth out volatility in the data, fell by 4,000 to 427,500.  The moving average has been inching lower over the last month, after being stuck in the mid- to upper-400,000s since last year.  Continuing claims also fell. The number of Americans who were filing for their second week of unemployment insurance or more — dropped to 4,086,000, in the week ending Nov. 27, the latest data available. That’s the lowest level of continuing claims in two years.  Employers are still jittery about hiring, as they struggle to forecast consumer demand into the next year, said Harry Griending, founder of recruiting consulting firm DoubleStar, Inc.  And while there’s finally more clarity about taxes after President Obama agreed to compromise, uncertainties about the costs of Obama’s health care and financial regulations still hang over employers’ heads, he said.  “There’s still a whole lot of uncertainty that clouds the future, and any company would be crazy to hire into a headwind of uncertainty.”

MBA – Launches Council on Residential Mortgage Servicing

 The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has assembled a task force of key MBA members to examine and issue recommendations for the future of residential mortgage servicing.  The Council on Residential Mortgage Servicing for the 21st Century will be led by Debra W. Still, CMB, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pulte Mortgage LLC of Englewood, CO and MBA’s Vice Chairman.  “The residential mortgage servicing sector has been operating in a time of unprecedented challenges, presenting us with a unique opportunity to explore potential improvements to business practices, regulations and laws affecting the servicing sector and consumers,” said Michael D. Berman, CMB, Chairman of the MBA.  “As the national trade association representing the real estate finance industry, we will bring together industry experts to take a comprehensive look at the current state and ongoing evolution of residential mortgage servicing and make recommendations for the future.” 

The Council will convene a one-day summit on January 19, 2011, in Washington, DC.  Titled, “MBA’s Summit on Residential Mortgage Servicing for the 21st Century,” this meeting will bring together industry leaders, consumer advocates, economists, academics and policymakers who will take a detailed look at the issues that have challenged the industry and identify the essential building blocks for the future of servicing.  In the coming months, residential mortgage servicing will face many more changes in an effort to re-tool the industry for the longer haul said Council Chairman Debra Still. “The Summit will serve as a forum for thoughtful, knowledgeable discussion around how residential mortgage loan servicing should be done in the future.”  Following the summit, the Council will meet on a regular basis to discuss the myriad of issues facing the industry and how the industry can and must change moving forward.

Online sales strong

So far, more than $17.5 billion has been spent online in the first 35 days of the holiday shopping season through Dec. 5, a 12% increase over the same time last year, according to comScore, an online analytics firm.  For the week starting with Cyber Monday, four separate days topped $800 million in aggregate sales for online retailers.  Shoppers kicked off the week by spending $1.03 billion on Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record. That was followed by $911 million on Tuesday, $868 million on Wednesday and $850 million on Thursday.  Overall, sales for the week ended Dec. 5 were up 9% from the year-earlier period — a little below the rate of growth for other parts of the season.  Promotions such as free shipping increased in popularity this year, with each of the most recent three weeks seeing more than 50% of all transactions including the incentive.  “Without a doubt, free shipping has become a critical driver of e-commerce purchasing, with the majority of consumers indicating that they will abandon their shopping carts if they get to check-out and find that free shipping is not included,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.  Online retailers might have even more to anticipate. Fulgoni said he expects to see activity continue to pick up in the middle of December, when online buying typically peaks.

Housing market braces for rate change 

The U.S. housing market — reeling from the economy’s worst downturn since the 1930s — is struggling to recover despite government stimulus that has included tax credits and foreclosure prevention programs, on top of super low interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve.  As these programs sputter and mortgages become less affordable, analysts expect housing could dampen economic growth through 2011.  The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has climbed nearly a half-percentage point since early October to 4.66 percent last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said yesterday. 

 The MBA said its refinancing index last week plunged to its lowest level since June 4, and the impact doesn’t include the bond market’s rout that has sent the influential 10-year U.S. Treasury note’s yield soaring by a quarter percentage point since Friday, Dec. 3.  The rate increase has effectively closed the door on $1 trillion in loans, and another quarter point would add another $600 billion to that number, said Scott Buchta, head of investment strategy at Braver Stern Securities in Chicago.  Put another way, half of all borrowers with 30-year fixed-rate loans would be “out of the money” on a refinance, compared with 90 percent eligible for interest-rate savings in October of at least 0.4 percentage point.  Also worrisome is the impact on rates offered through the Federal Housing Administration’s guarantee program, whose low down-payment requirements have been an important crutch for home sales, Buchta said. The FHA rates, excluding points, have already climbed above 5 percent, according to the MBA.  “Should rates rise higher from here, you’ll start to have an impact on a purchase market that is just starting to recover.”  That could adversely affect the sales of higher-priced homes that lagged the nascent recovery in the housing market in some U.S. regions.

 Now for our real estate education section…

 Dealing with No-Shows

Anyone that has been in the real estate business, rental properties or even investing for any period of time has had to deal with a no-show. Not only is it a complete waste of time but no-shows can drain precious time away from other productive activities. Learn how to deal with no-shows without letting them ruin your life with this quick checklist.

1. Screen Better – Understand the client and who you are working with. For example, if you are showing a home for the first time to a new client it is important to make a first impression…assuming they ever arrive on the scene. Long time clients tend to be more reliable or at least have the courtesy to call if they are going to be late or need to reschedule. Impress upon new clients the need for proper communication and then make it easy to reach you even on short notice. Don’t schedule too far in advance or be sure to provide a follow-up call and/or email to confirm the time and date.

 2. Accept It – If you have taken all the right steps and are still stood up, don’t get upset or assume the worst. Sometimes emergencies happen. Depending upon the travel distance, allow a 5 minute delay for each 30 minutes of travel before calling to confirm. Allow up to 15 minutes delay for each hour of travel before leaving if you were unable to reach anyone by phone. One simple call is typically sufficient; don’t start calling everyone like a stalker. Instead, stay cool and calm then allow the client to reschedule on their own terms with an emphasis on the need to remain in contact prior to meeting again in the future.

3. Have a Back-up Plan – One source of no-shows is actually the professional or investor. Listen carefully to when the client desired to have the meeting then book the time and date based upon their availability not yours. If you simply cannot show up at that time, send a replacement instead. Oftentimes the client or business associate ends up missing the appointment by trying to be two places at once; don’t create your own stress. Have a back-up plan in place and use it when needed.

 4. Multi-Task – If you really aren’t sure about a new client or contact, schedule the first meeting during lunch or another “down-time”. If they fail to show, you have a full hour to yourself for lunch and can engage in a bit of reading or catching up with calls. If they do show, you have a valid write-off for the lunch.

5. Track the Time – Depending upon your market, many no-shows will exhibit a certain pattern. For example, week-days could be a major challenge if your work in a predominantly blue collar area where child-care and work schedules often conflict. In that case, plan to work weekends in order to accommodate the primary time-off available to your market.

 See you at the top!

  Chris McLaughlin
**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2010.

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 100 high-value, high-profit
     properties
    * Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
     running 4 different offices, supporting over
     400 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
     thousands of investors make money in the
     biggest market opportunity ever!
    * 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
–

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Economy “muddling along”

by admin on October 29, 2010

Smart Real Estate News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin October 29, 2010

Forward this e-mail to your friends!  Then they can subscribe directly at the following link:  http://www.smartrealestatenews.com/

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DSNews.com – home prices up

Third quarter home sales weren’t exactly vigorous, but, according to ZipRealty’s Quarterly Home Hunter Report, Q3 home sales in upscale and starter communities were more robust than they have been in many months.  According to ZipRealty, California has five of the nation’s “hottest” ZIP codes. ZIP codes are ranked by determining which average home sale price is most above the average list price by percentage.  The report said that some homes in various price ranges were selling at around 5 percent above asking price, though this time last year homes in the country’s hottest ZIP codes were selling at an average of 13 percent above asking price.

The Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois was the country’s “hottest” ZIP code last quarter. Homes in this area sold for an average of nine percent higher than the asking price.  Also on the “hot” list are ZIPs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Covington, Washington; and North Las Vegas.  In contrast, in the “coldest” ZIP code, located in Durham, North Carolina, homes sold for an average of only 81 percent of the asking price. Even so, these numbers are still an improvement. The “coldest” ZIP code in Q2 was located in Winchester, Connecticut, where homes sold for an average of 72 percent of the asking price.

Economy “muddling along”

The Commerce Department said today that the economy expanded at a 2 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. It marked an improvement from the feeble 1.7 percent growth in the April-June quarter.  Consumers helped boost last quarter’s economic growth with 2.6 percent growth in spending. That was better than the second quarter’s 2.2 percent growth rate and marked the biggest quarterly increase since a 4.1 percent gain at the end of 2006 before the recession hit, but quite pathetic historically.  “We’re just muddling along,” said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. “I think it is going to be hard to break out of this sluggish-growth rut.”  With consumers spending more, they socked less into their savings. They saved 5.5 percent of their disposable income in the July-September quarter, down from 5.5 percent in the April-June quarter. That’s still a high savings rate. Before the recession, people saved only about 1 percent of their disposable income. 

Growth in the October-December quarter isn’t expected to improve much. A new AP Economy survey estimates a 2.4 percent pace.  If that’s that case, the economy will end 2010 on weaker footing than it started. In the January-March quarter, the economy expanded at a 3.7 percent pace.  Under one rule of thumb, the economy would need to expand by 5 percent for a full year to knock the jobless rate down by a full percentage point.  For all of this year, the economy is expected to grow 2.6 percent. That would mark an improvement from 2009. The gross domestic product shrank that year by an equal amount, the largest annual decline since 1946. GDP measures the values of all goods and services — from machinery to manicures — produced in the United States.

Olick – unexpected cities hit by foreclosures

“Yes, the four states that we always talk about are still leading the nation in foreclosure rates. Okay, Florida, California, Arizona, Nevada…if you’ve been trapped under something heavy for the past few years. But for the past few months a new trend is emerging, and some numbers released today really put it into perspective.  Foreclosure ‘actions’ in Q3, which include anything from default notices to bank repossessions, rose in 65 percent of the nation’s top 200 housing markets.  In Seattle, they jumped 71 percent, in Chicago up 35 percent and big double-digit jumps in Houston and Atlanta too. 

These are not cities that saw enormous price jumps during the housing boom (maybe Seattle, but not the others) and they definitely did not see the kind of investor activity that the fab four saw during housing’s heyday.  Not in the general release, but in a little side-bar that Realty Trac sent me, you see really big jumps in bank repossessions, which are the final stage of foreclosure when the bank takes the house back and evicts you. Quarter to quarter, Seattle saw a 65 percent jump, Philadelphia a 38 percent jump, Boise, ID up 71 percent and even Richmond, VA taking a 28 percent leap. One word: Unemployment.  Of course the logical question next is, what happens to home prices in those cities, as foreclosures hit the for-sale inventory.  Sure, there are buyers out there looking for deals, but with the foreclosure robo-mess hanging over the market, some sales frozen, some not, there’s not a whole lot of buyer confidence out there to take the leap into the ‘distressed’ market.  That just means the prices on those homes have to go lower.”

Roubini – “fiscal train wreck”

The U.S. economy is a “fiscal train wreck” waiting to happen that risks ushering in a period of stagnation featuring by minimal growth, high unemployment and deflationary pressure, U.S. economist Nouriel Roubini wrote today.  In a commentary for the Financial Times, Roubini — one of the first economists to predict the housing crash in the United States and known as ‘Dr Doom’ for his pessimistic forecasts — said fiscal and monetary stimulus had prevented another depression.  But he said that further quantitative easing likely to be announced by the Federal Reserve next Wednesday will have little effect on U.S. growth in 2011, “so fiscal policy should be doing some of the lifting to prevent a double dip recession,” he said.

He said the U.S. remains on an “unsustainable fiscal course” and the likely make-up of Congress after elections next Tuesday, in which the Republicans look set for strong gains, virtually takes fiscal reform off the agenda.  “The risk … is that something on the fiscal side will snap … The trigger could be a debt rollover crisis in a major U.S. state government,” he wrote.  “The worst of the coming fiscal train wreck will be prevented by the Fed’s easing. But the risk is (Obama) … will then preside over … a Japanese style stagnation, where growth is barely positive, and deflationary pressures and high unemployment linger.”

LPS – no defects, no fee-splittin 

Lender Processing Services began reducing its foreclosure signing services back in 2008 and stands by its mortgage processing services. Further, when the firm caught a manager robo-signing foreclosure documents, the only such case it says it found, that manager was immediately dismissed and documents remediated.  “We believe we have taken appropriate steps and we do not believe it resulted in any wrongful foreclosures,” said LPS CEO Jeff Carbiener in a third-quarter conference call to investors Friday. “We no longer provide foreclosure document services.”  Carbiener also said that his company does not participate in fee-splitting or revenue-sharing with lawyers, another recent charge against the company.  “We are not an equity owner in any law firm,” he said.  LPS, a mortgage and real estate technology and services provider, reported net earnings of $78.7 million or 85 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2010, up from $75.5 million or 78 cents per share, in last year’s quarter. 

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo also now use LPS desktop management software for dealing with clerical issues when it comes to mortgages, the CEO said.  This means that nearly all of the top 20 mortgage servicers use some form of LPS desktop systems.  “The trend towards outsourcing lender processing continues,” said Carbiener in a third quarter conference call to investors Friday. “We continue to gain market share across all key businesses.”

Now for our real estate education section…

Friday File – 15 Minute Resolution: Prepare Today for Bing-Yahoo Moves

In what may initially sound like just another search engine strategy, Bing and Yahoo are actually positioning to make major waves in the market. The Yahoo/Microsoft alliance is designed to switch the way results are viewed and rated. While this may not initially impact Google, who remains the single largest search engine in the nation, it does have the potential to impact ALL (including Google at a later time) search results in fairly dramatic ways. Savvy short sale and real estate professionals should take note and begin putting a plan into action sooner rather than later. One of the first steps you can take to prepare is to use your social media network…not only will it help with the Bing/Yahoo campaigns but is very likely to increase your Google ratings as well. Here’s what you need to know to get started:

Facebook Meets Search

Facebook is often viewed as only a social networking site and indeed, word of mouth marketing is terrific especially when used to get the word out about a great property or stay in touch with prospective clients….but it’s also much more.

By now everyone has seen the “like” buttons on Facebook but what you may not know is that Facebook can count the number of “likes” posted by your personal network and use those results to make suggestions to your friends and family when they perform a search. A combination of location, social network “likes” and other criteria may soon become a major push toward filtering the search results derived from the data. Evidence of this trend is now becoming increasingly clear with the Bing-Yahoo connection where items that were “liked by your friends” may appear on the actual search result page.

How to Prepare

Although the “like” button has been around for awhile, the majority of results remain unliked or not noticed by people. Start making a concerted effort to request that friends “like” your results as often and frequently as possible. Of course, the first step to making sure information is “liked” is to keep it relevant, interesting and engaging. Request information to be share with others and make it simple for readers to save, share and spread the word.

 For those that haven’t yet taken the time to establish a Facebook or social network…the time is now. Make it a priority. In fact, take 15 minutes and set-up your initial Facebook page today then start sharing news and information on a regular basis. It’s simple, free and increasingly effective.

See you at the top!

Chris McLaughlin
**************

Copyright Loss Mitigation Institute LLC 2010.

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 100 high-value, high-profit
     properties
    * Owner of one of Florida’s largest Real Estate firms,
     running 4 different offices, supporting over
     400 agents, uniquely positioning him to help
     thousands of investors make money in the
     biggest market opportunity ever!
    * 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
–

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Depression, Deflation & Short Sales

by Chris McLaughlin on December 8, 2008

  • Mid-Day Market News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin, December 8, 2008
    http://www.shortsalesriches.com/welcome.html

    ——
    What if there was someone who would lend you money for 24 hours, regardless of your credit, your income, and whether you just filed bankruptcy?   What if you could then re-sell a property in that time and make a fortune?  Join us for our amazing webinar tomorrow!  We’re holding this again because of the tremendous demand that jammed up our servers last week … Right now there are only 17 spots left:

    Recession Proof Investing Webinar (Tuesday, 9 PM EST, 6  PM PST):

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    —–

    The financial markets were in better shape this morning as investors were optimistic that the enormous infrastructure spending plan proposed by President Elect Barack Obama over the weekend will help the economy.  The investment is the largest since the 1950s, when the interstate highway system was built.   And investors appeared to be pleased with a possible $15 billion bailout for the Big 3 automakers.

    At 11:20 AM, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 303.22 to 8,939.03 and the Nasdaq was up 49.57 to 1,558.

    Today’s Commentary: Depression, Deflation & Short Sales

    The media is beginning to compare the current economic downturn with the Great Depression; whether or not you believe the comparison is warranted or not any prudent short sale investor would be wise to evaluate the wisdom of buying real estate in a deflationary economic situation. After all, if history repeats itself we may see housing starts drop by up to 80 percent as they did during the Great Depression.

    Today, we will take a few minutes to examine both the similarities and outcome of real estate during and after the Great Depression…then make up your mind whether or not Short Sale investments make sense. The first thing to remember is that the Great Depression actually took place over several years; the stock market hit its peak in 1929 then continued to drop until 1932…a total of three years. During that three year period of time, housing starts dropped by 80 percent. Likewise, housing starts hit their recent peak in 2006 and have dropped by nearly 70 percent as of this writing at the end of 2008. Notice, during the Great Depression actual sales prices of homes continued to rise even as housing starts declined; likewise, the same pattern is demonstrated in recent trends as housing prices reached their peak between 2006-2007…nearly a year after housing starts began to decline.

    The next similarity concerns speculation; immediately preceding and during the 20’s massive speculation took place in the real estate market especially in areas such as Florida which resulted in the skewing of data for other parts of the nation. Today a similar pattern can be discerned as speculation in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona lead the way in both price appreciation and more recently; foreclosure filings. In fact, these four states alone represent over 50 percent of all foreclosure filings nationwide.

    Despite the financial pain resulting from price declines and plummeting housing starts, savvy short sale investors would do well to notice that during this same period of time, the wealthiest 1 percent continued to purchase land, farms, homes and other assets so that by the end of the Great Depression they owned a full 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. Many of the same states impacted the most by falling prices and speculation became the new growth areas during the decades after the Great Depression; California and Florida experienced immense population explosions which made many wealthy.

    Finally, it should be noted that those who invested in stocks during the same period of time had to wait until 1954 before the stock market reached its former high (not adjusted for inflation!) whereas farming, natural resources and real estate recovered long before that period. Bank loans all but evaporated creating a situation where real estate was only available for purchase by those who could pay cash or other high net worth individuals able to obtain loans in a restrictive market. Meanwhile, the average citizen attempting to work for a living found high rates of unemployment (by some estimates 20 percent or greater), an actual decline in wages and increased productivity quota of over 40 percent.

    In a nutshell…

    1.     Those that depended solely upon a job for their income faced falling wages, high unemployment and back-breaking production quotas.

    2.     High net worth and/or wealthy individuals that purchased stocks had to wait nearly 25 years for their investments to reach former highs.

    3.     Those able and willing to purchase real estate lead the recovery with renewed wealth.

    Your Personal Plan of Action

    1.     Take the Big Picture Approach. More than one investor has been led astray by taking a narrow perspective that blinds them to the full possibility and potential of real estate.

    2.     Don’t Ignore your Instincts. It takes courage to act when others are fearful but that is exactly what creates opportunities. Whether you believe the market is rational or motivated by fear and greed the basics of supply and demand hold true. Those who own what others want and need will benefit; during tough economic times, everyone goes back to the basics. Sales of big LCD TV’s or the latest iPhone might suffer but food, safety and shelter never go out of style.

     

    More on Tuesday!

     

    See you at the top!

    Chris McLaughlin
    http://www.shortsalesriches.com/blog

    P.S.:   Investors who truly leverage the power of Internet and “Web 2.O” strategies BEFORE everyone else jumps on the bandwagon will have an opportunity to set themselves up for a lifetime.  I’m not talking about you being able to do a few more deals this year… I’m talking about a complete lifestyle change.  We promise to blow your mind!  This Thursday at 9 PM! 
    Implement “Web 2.0″ strategies in a way that will have a profound impact on your business.  Just register here today:

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Top 5 Growth Markets for Short Sale Investors

by Chris McLaughlin on November 6, 2008

Mid-Day Market News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin, November 6, 2008
http://www.shortsalesriches.com/welcome.html

We knew it was coming, but the negative news from retailers today weighed on the markets, sending stocks tumbling for the second day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 443.48 to 8,695.79.  Department stores like Penney reported a 13% drop in same store sales, Macy’s dropped 6.3%, and Target Corp. slid 4.8%.  But the luxury stores were hit the most, with Saks Inc. declining 16.6% and Nordstrom slipping 15.7%.

There was one bright spot for most US consumers, especially Realtors who drive clients around: crude oil plunged 7% amid concern of a global economic slowdown.   U.S. crude prices dropped $4.53 to $60.77 a barrel, well below the high of $147 a barrel reached in July.  The decline, while bad news for oil companies, will mean further relief at the pump for many Americans and a possible uptick in sales for large SUVs.

Now, on to our real estate investor section…

Top 5 Growth Markets for Short Sale Investors

Ever wonder where people are moving? According to recent data published by the US Census, the top projected growth markets for the nation between now and 2030 are as follows:

1.     Arizona

2.     California

3.     Florida

4.     Nevada

5.     Texas

The first thing any short sale investor should notice is that “Growth” is ranked – not total population. Growth represents the percentage of population increase rather than existing population. This is an important concept when it comes to the purchase of any real estate investment because growth is equal to demand. The greater the demand the greater future appreciation and future value of the land and property. When deciding where to buy your next short sale investment property select a combination of affordability and growth potential for a win-win combination.

If growth markets are where the future values lies then it should come as no surprise that dying markets should be avoided at all cost. According to the same data, there are three areas actually losing people even while the rest of the nation shows an increase in population due to birth rates, longer life-span and immigration.

Think twice before investing in real estate in these states; you need to be cautious as there are more people leaving the area than coming in. Less people means less demand and less demand will eventually lead to lower prices and little to no future appreciation. To add insult to injury, property taxes are likely to increase on those remaining property owners in an attempt to provide basic services with declining revenue base. Dying markets include:

1.     Washington DC  (although this could be reversed with a new Administration coming to DC)

2.     North Dakota

3.     West Virginia

While selecting a growing or contracting market is one piece of the puzzle when it comes to making an informed real estate investment decision, it’s not the only one. Price, location, return and more are each important aspects to consider before purchasing any short sale property.

See you at the top!

 

 

Chris McLaughlin, J.D., M.B.A.
web: http://www.shortsalesriches.com/welcome.html
e-mail: info@shortsalesriches.com

Phone: (800) 452-7627

P.S.:  Want to learn how a 27 year old kid makes six figures a month flipping short sales?  Join us TONIGHT, Thursday, at 9 PM EDT and 6 PM PST by registering for our fr’ee webinar:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/387995435

 

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