Posts Tagged ‘nevada’

Property Tsunami

Thursday, June 7th, 2007

Investors are moving in for the kill. The lashing tidal waves surging through the entire country has taken its toll. Now is the time to buy and buy – most probably to rent it out and wait for the wave to subside. It’s a great time to shop for foreclosures.

The worst hit are the suburban areas. The hearts of the cities are yet to feel the pinch. But there is no doubt that temperatures are rising fast and developers are scrambling over each other to make hay while the sun shines – at least for them.

Statistics gives a grim picture. Since the first quarter of this year 3,605 houses in the seven-county metro regions have gone up for auctions. This gives the area the dubious distinction of continuing to rank first since the previous year in this matter. The total number is more than 34,000 and that does not include 9,000 single-family units about to be completed and lying vacant.

Condominium Opportunities Partners in Eden Prairie is a new group tempted to come forward to the beckoning call of rows of empty condos dotting the landscape of Twin Cities. At a guess there are bout 3,000 to 4,000 foreclosure and apprehended foreclosure listings in the seven-county metro region. For good reasons developers are trying to conceal the magnitude of the crisis.

The group plans to go for bulk buying of foreclosure units from the banks by offering steep discounts to the tune of 60%. Without disclosing details of the partnership the group says that more than $10 million has been invested – the funds coming from rich persons and few institutions. Already they have started opening a dialogue with lenders. They anticipate that it will take quite a number of years before the market makes a turn around and recovers.

Studying the area, Condominium Opportunities Partners opines that two problems are at the root – overbuilding and poor designs. About six heavy weight developers are in the red and many condo projects have gone into foreclosures. One cookie-cutter floor plan for all the units, expensive parking lots and thousands of square feet of unnecessary amenities like theatre rooms and libraries have driven up costs. Another reason has been wrong choice of location. Condos priced at $3000,000 and $400,000 came up in areas where homes were valued at $225,000. Some of the projects were losers in all respects from the very beginning.

Source

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Subprime Mortgage Crisis: Future Uncertain

Monday, June 4th, 2007

Bankers are watching and waiting with uncertainty the snowballing effect of the sub-prime tsunami crisis.

Even though April provided a breather by a dip of 1% in foreclosure listing, it was still up by 62% compared to last year. Even then it will be far above the average of last year. Statistics pouring in show a worsening of the situation. No one knows the actual number of active sub-prime mortgages, its source of origin or refinancing procedures in Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin.

Risky loans had triggered off this crisis. Some of the biggest sub-prime lenders like Ameriquest and New Century Financial are toppling down.

Some regions of the country have remained untouched by this virus – Wyoming, Vermont, North and South Dakota, Mississippi, Delaware and Washington D.C. Topping the list are 10 cities of which six are in California. These six ranks first among the group of notorious 10. Las Vegas comes first. Others claiming this dubious distinction are Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia. As a result of this fall out Michigan, Minneapolis and Ohio are reeling under massive layoffs.

Big national financial services are practically non-existent in some important regions. Yet sub-prime activity has been typical with apprehended results. Real estate businesses having taken a U turn, lenders are tightening loan conditions thus putting marginal borrowers in a soup. Their rates of mortgage interest are rising while the value of their property continues to plummet.

The situation is so alarming that Lutheran Social Services have come forward to provide pre-bankruptcy counseling in Minnesota and Douglas County. The sub-prime lending has hit not only the borrowers but also local banks and communities. A ‘teaser’ rate tempts the borrower to fall into the net. Later the net closes in on the catch with disastrous consequences to all but the lender-agent nexus. Sub-prime lending essentially steals business from smaller entities.

Authorities have come forward and tightening the belt of the law – a grim reminder that playing around with lending will attract felony charges coupled with compensation and damages. However it applies only to current frauds and does not extend backwards. Thus primarily the focus is on prevention.

Wisconsin is the only state that has no limits on interest rates. Pay-day lending has been rampant which many regard as an unhealthy drain on the economy. The heat is on to find a solution and save the people.

Via

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Nevada Foreclosures

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

Foreclosures on the rise, Nevada foreclosures, foreclosure, HUD, Fannie Mae, VA, hud home for sale, Real Estate Investing, va home, bank foreclosure, foreclosure listing, Real Estate Investment, real estate foreclosure, government foreclosure, hud foreclosure, reo, home foreclosure, va foreclosure.

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Property Values: What You Get for … $7 Million

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

Homes on the market in Greenwich, Conn., Kenilworth, Ill., and Glenbrook, Nev.

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Refinance Calculators

Friday, January 26th, 2007

When a person obtains a secured loan with the intention of replacing or consolidating other secured loans procured with the very same assets, the transaction is termed as refinancing. A home mortgage loan refinancing is the most common example of this. Such refinancing is invariably resorted to for a few reasons that provide some amount of financial relief to the borrower.

A debtor desiring to get his interest payment costs to be reduced goes in for refinancing. A person who wishes to pay off certain other debts owed by him plans for such refinancing. A borrower who wants to increase the period of repayment in order to reduce the monthly installments paid arranges for a longer-term loan. One who would like to dispose of a portion or the all of the property also resorts to such refinancing.

Interest calculation is one of the most important factors that has to be taken into consideration in refinancing process. There are several refinance calculators that are in practice. An understanding of these refinance calculators will provide the borrower with a clear idea of what he/she is getting into and plan for easy and hassle-free repayment. The effective interest rate is termed as annual percentage rate (APR). The APR also takes into account the total loan amount as well as the one-time fees like processing fee, documentation charges, etc.

Let us consider an example of an effective annual interest rate of 10% to understand refinance calculators. This interest rate can be expressed in more than one way. A lender might say the effective monthly interest rate is 0.7974%. Otherwise, he might mention that the annual interest rate compounded monthly is 9.569%. Alternatively, he might reveal that the advance annual interest rate is 9.091%. It has to be understood that a few lenders would try to express the effective interest rate as 9.1% annual rate in advance, to make the rate look cheaper. In cases where the interest rates are much higher, such a way of mentioning could give the impression of a large difference in the actual rate charged. The borrower should not get led away by this and be very clear about refinance calculators.

To cite a few more examples to clarify this, let us assume that a loan of $100,000 is repaid in 12 monthly installments of $8,771.56. The total amount paid would be $105,258.72. This does not mean that that effective APR is 5.26%, simply because the principal amount was being repaid every month and not at the end of twelfth month.

Further, let us assume that the loan of $100,000 includes a $1,000 processing fee, and that the monthly installments are $946.01 for 240 months at an interest rate of 9.569% compounded monthly. In such a case, the effective APR works out to 10.31% and not 10%.

From the above, it is obvious that a borrower should make a careful analysis of the various interest rates offered by understanding the underlying principle of refinance calculators to arrive at an informed decision.

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Repossessed Properties

Thursday, December 28th, 2006

Buying right is probably the best way by which you can make a high profit in real estate. Moreover, by doing lots of research on available properties as per your requirements, needs and normal parameters like listings, distress sales, foreclosures, repossessions etc. will take a long time to achieve this goal. The following are the guiding principle to evaluate and buy repossessed properties.

As we know, the value of the repossessed properties in the market is usually considered inversely proportional to the situation of economy. Repossession occurs when the owner or borrower cannot afford to pay his mortgages, which mean that his or her finances are unhealthy. The factor of this unhealthy finance is usually caused by business downtrends, job losses, laid off etc, which are the consequences of economic downtrend. Booming these repossessed properties in the market will bring gloom in the economy even though this is not necessary.

Keep the following rules in mind when you are viewing repossessed properties in the market.

  1. You can find lots of good bargain from the sale of real estate agents, Veterans Administration (VA), bank’s real estate owned (REO’s), and housing development companies.
  2. No matter what, real estate agents mostly will try to discourage you from repossessing and they will persuade you to multiple listed homes.
  3. Find other agent if your real estate agent try to prevent you from repossessing a property.
  4. Do not listen to any negative remarks about how hard it is to search a good deal property.
  5. It is still possible to find great bargains during the boom times.
  6. Examine the repossessed properties at all aspects before you decide to take opinion from repairing contractors.
  7. To find listing of repossessed properties, the Internet will be a very good resource.

Never ignore other sources of information if you want to squeeze out more profits from buying these repossessed properties. Bargains can be held for buying these repossessed properties through fixer houses, distress sellers, for Sale by Owners, Multiple Listings, REO’s, VA, Housing development companies, and other resources.

On the other hand, you must be prepared immediately whenever you find a good deal. Moreover, being approved with a lender who can close the deal quickly will benefits you in making a bargain and good bargain. Do keep in mind that you will need lots of good intentions especially to the seller to fulfill his needs.

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Foreclosed Home Listing

Sunday, December 24th, 2006

Foreclosed Home Listing is all about foreclosed homes and their lists.

It is quite evident now to know about foreclosure. A foreclosure happens when a homeowner couldn’t continue paying heir mortgage. But, the lender still needs to recover the debt. In order to do so the lender files for foreclosure. It is a public notice and is called a Notice of Default.

Usually the foreclosures are sold in the open market, by public auction. But, at times the bank, which has taken the repossession, also sells it privately.

There are varieties of foreclosed homes. We have foreclosed homes from the banks, mortgage companies, HUD (Housing and Urban Development), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Government.

But, going ahead to buy the property, you need go through the following routine:

a) Finding the home
b) Have your offer accepted
c) Finance the purchase amount and lastly,
d) Close the deal

Just a word of caution!! Before buying the property get the property inspected by a professional. And also calculate the cost of repairs and renovations required for the property, since they are usually not in their best shapes.

Now the question arises where to find such homes. This is where the lists come to help. As mentioned earlier we have different foreclosed homes from banks, mortgage companies, HUD etc. Such lists are available with the property agents. Advertisement in papers also has lists of such homes. Even, the local lender can provide you with a list of a few foreclosed homes. Bu, apart from these traditional ways, you do have the Internet at your service. Here you can view houses sold online, even can take a virtual tour. This service comes handy especially if you are relocating to another city.

There are a number of local and nationwide home listings sites along with sites from the brokerage houses. A few of them are here for your reference:

  1. www.realtor.com: The website for The National Association of Realtors has more than 2 million listings
  2. www.ired.com: The International Real Estate Directory
  3. www.homegain.com: Use this website to search by the state and the area.

Among all these information the good news is that the cost of foreclosed homes are at least 20-50% less than similar houses. Hence, it is a great opportunity to buy large properties at reasonable costs and enjoy the benefits of a owned house.

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Nevada Foreclosure Rate Sees Drastic Rise

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006

New statistics show that Nevada may have the fastest grwoing rate of foreclosure in the country. With roughly 2,000 homes in foreclosure in the state during the month of August, the state has shown a 400% increase since the same time one year ago.

Now could be an excellent time to invest in Nevada foreclosures.

[via KVBC]

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