Friday, November 27, 2009

There is a differance: Income Property -vs- Single Family House

While it is nice to have growth in value of your home... That does not build long term wealth for you and provide for your financial security if you have just one home for your family to live in. What happens if you need to sell it? You need separate income property. And a savings account at a bank. And a bit of investment money in something like an investment in a growing business or with a stock broker (lettering them pick the business). And maybe a whole life policy if you do not just want a social security check to retire on.

This article is on point... Not all Real Estate is your House!

Nov. 22, 2009

View of home as investment needs to change, expert says
BY KATHLEEN M. HOWLEY BLOOMBERG NEWS

Kajal and Vishal Dharod paid $559,000 in 2006 for a new four-bedroom house built in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Today, it's worth about $360,000.

"We don't know how we can come back from a loss like that," said Kajal Dharod, 29, a first-time homeowner with a $4,200-a-month mortgage. "Buying the house was a mistake."

American homeownership, once considered a path to wealth, is now leading to disillusionment.
"We always talk about homeownership as being the American dream, but during the last decade, people forgot it's shelter and started thinking of it as a fast way to make or lose money," said Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies in Cambridge, Mass. "The quicker we move back to seeing real estate as a place to live, a place to put down roots, the quicker the housing recovery will strengthen."
Home-price growth in the next decade probably will average about 3.5% a year, based on …


and it concludes with

"After every major bust, there is a rethinking of that asset class," Carson said. "I think people will change their views about real estate and begin to look at it as a long-term investment that provides shelter, rather than a way to make a quick buck."





Dah! Real Estate for a Quick Flip has always been a very risky thing. Long Term Investment in income producing real estate is for the person that is looking for long term security.

And it irks me that when most think of Real Estate they only think of a Single Family Home. Or maybe a condo or townhouse. Well... Wake those folks up to the ownership of rental property as an asset class. Maybe start with a small Triplex or a 5 unit building. Then trade up. Sure it takes work. And patience.

As long as the business leaders in US Corporations look to just make enough to get a stock bonus to pay off we as a country will continue to fail. As long as real estate buyers look to buying a single family home for a quick profit we will have a messed up financial situation.

I believe in Long Term Investment in income producing real estate. If you do as well then please call me and lets get you in a good property while this is a buyers market.

Keith
310-391-0821

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving thoughts - Buyers be Thankful!


Something to be Thankful for. Balance.

Balance is a good thing. Today in the Los Angeles Times - Page B2 -
"Fannie Mae to tighten mortgage lending rules" Minimum 620 credit score and no more than 45% income to debt.

Followed by this story "Interest rates drop, matching record low" where the review how rates are now matching a record low of 24 years at 5.06%. But very few are applying.

If the system was not cranked wide open by too loose money we would not have had the blowout. Now the scarcity of banks willing to lend and the prevalence of regulators to be arbitrary and capricious leaves the lenders scared to actually extend credit.

So all you borrowers be prepared. Expect bigger down payments to be required. Prepare for slow responses. Prepare for delays. Be aware that the lenders are chicken for good reason. Sure it may be staffing reductions. And the hoops seem unusually silly.

But the reality is... If you do persevere you can take away some really terrific loan rates once you get approved!

So be Thankful. If you have the ability to buy right now you are likely to get better prices and the best rates for the money borrowed. Now that is leverage that will pay off for buyers with vision for long term profits.

Let me know if you need an introduction to a loan broker. I have two good guys that I can introduce you to.

Keith
310-391-0821

Monday, November 09, 2009

Time and Date. Back to 1983 Unemployment numbers

"TIME IS MORE VALUABLE THAN MONEY. YOU CAN GET MORE MONEY, BUT YOU CANNOT GET MORE TIME." Jim Rohn. And while this is certainly true, home buyers and folks receiving unemployment benefits both got the word that a bit more money and time is coming their way.

Just on Friday, President Obama signed into law a bill that extends unemployment benefits and the First Time Home Buyers tax credit, which is also being expanded to include benefits for homebuyers who aren't on the first time around buying a home. If purchasing a home is in the cards for you or anyone you know, you can get all the details of the homebuyer's tax credit in this week's Mortgage Market Guide View article below. But first, here are a few additional highlights from last week...including important job market news.

Last week's official Jobs Report showed that there were 190,000 jobs lost in October, higher than the 175,000 job losses that were widely expected. In addition the Unemployment Rate rose to 10.2%, quite a bit higher than the 9.9% expected, and the highest Unemployment level since 1983.

However if I think back to that time we had the growth of the personal computer and a few other technological changes to the world we lived in. Back then in 1983 a Cell phone was plugged into your car or as big as a lunch box. It was a rare business person who owned a personal computer of any type.

We may not be able to get back time but we are back to a time of High Unemployment. What will be the driving force of the work force of our next faze?

Movies are digital and FX is all in a computer. Technology is building remote controlled planes to drop remote controlled bombs. Pilots are so bored that they overshoot their destination by an Hour.

Banks and their regulators are being duplicitous and difficult to fathom. The Government is giving them money fast. Telling them that this money is so you can loan. Then the other department of the government is looking over their books with a fine tooth comb to make sure that they only make loans of the highest caliber that will surely not default.

So how do we Real Estate Agents sell anything if the loans are not going to be approved and funded?

What we need now is strong sources of Employment. Strong borrowers. And Strong Banks willing to make the loans. This we can all see as the three legs of the support for our marketplaces.

It is the Holiday shopping season next. Here is to hoping the numbers are good for us all.


Keith

Monday, November 02, 2009

Looks like it is getting healthier. Do you agree with the news?


Last week the Commerce Department reported the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 3rd Quarter. As you can see from the chart, GDP rose by 3.5% for the first gain in a year and the strongest reading in two years.

While most media outlets were giddy about the news and started the hype that the recession is behind us, it's important to remember that there's more to the economic data than just the headlines.

The temporary "Cash for Clunkers" program has now expired, but was a big part of last quarter's GDP gain. If we remove it from the total, the reading would have been a more modest 1.9%. But there is even more to the rise in the latest GDP number that is just temporary...

Also bolstering the economy has been the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit - which is set to expire at the end of this month. Many home buyers have been taking advantage of this program - and wisely so.

New Home Sales were reported last week, showing a 7.5-month supply of inventory. While that number is slightly worse than last month's 7.3 reading, it's still a big improvement from where we were in January. Back in January, inventory levels reached a high of 12.4-month supply! The improvement in housing inventories has been due in large part to the $8,000 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, which is set to expire on November 30.

There is a real possibility of an extension of this program through a proposed Bill, but it is not yet a certainty. The extension Bill still must be reconciled between the House and Senate, and then voted on for final approval. Under the current extension proposal, sales with signed purchase agreements by April 30th that close before June 30th, 2010 would qualify for the credit.

Another bit of news was the UCLA Anderson Forecast: "Recession likely ended this quarter"
In that report there is this line...
"Credit-impaired lower-income consumers can't spend the way they used to, and wealth-impaired affluent consumers won't,"

The Anderson Report further says that this Qtr marks the end of the recession.

Well now we all feel better knowing that this is the low point. Right? There are signs of activity. Some very good things. Maybe this is the low point and we are bout to begin the long slog back to normalcy.

Not the wild growth of the recent past but healthy productivity! We all will welcome that.

IMHO Keith