Real Estate Journal

Home-Builder Stocks Are Enticing,

Levi — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:55:16 +0000

With home sales slowing to a crawl and buyers unable to qualify for mortgages, some home builders are struggling to keep their operations going.

Already, Levitt Corp.’s Levitt & Sons unit has filed for bankruptcy-court protection, and a second builder, Tousa Inc., said it is considering several “in and out of court restructuring and reorganization” options, including a possible Chapter 11 filing. While those small Florida-based builders were partly crippled by company-specific issues, the make-or-break matter for most builders — and for those who may be enticed by their cheap stock prices — is the ability to generate cash to service debt and to pay for the construction of new homes. Such liquidity risks could trap investors.

“Liquidity is the No. 1 concern for builders, and rightly so,” says Nishu Sood, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. “It’s a matter of survival,” he says of the many builders that borrowed heavily for the land they stockpiled during the housing boom.

Real Estate–Ins and Outs

Levi — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:34:43 +0000

Through this Journal, walk with us, as we go through the various activities in the real estate industry, see through the unique characteristics of each parcel of land, the valuation of real estate and how transactions are facilitated. Initially, find out the activities that make up the real estate industry:

Appraisal- a valuation service carried out by a professional

Brokerages- provide assistance to buyers and sellers in their transactions

Development- improve the land by replacing or adding buildings

Property management- manage a property for its owner/s

Real Estate Marketing- manage sales of the property

Real Estate Investing- manage the real estate investments

Relocation services- relocate people or business to a different country

Real Estate Classes

Levi — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:48:02 +0000

People who wants to take on the lucrative real estate sales career has help coming up. The University of Cincinnati Clermont College announced the four required state of the art courses recently developed in consultation with local real estate professionals and experts in the business community. This is an great example of the academe and the industry working hand in hand. The course will offer accelerated real estate pre-license classes and will prepare the students in fast tract format to take the Ohio Real Estate Sales Exam.

Students will also earn up to 12 college credit hours through the UC Clermont College at no extra charge.

The spring session of classes is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, April 7 through April 25, at UC Clermont College’s site at Park 50 TechneCenter.

Risky Markets

andrea — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:39:43 +0000

Investing in real estate particularly in freefall areas are risky these days. Foreclosures are increasing rapidly and home’s aren’t selling either even at low prices. Up to now, the major threat that the real estate markets are facing is the prevalence of subprime loans and mortgages. Transaction volume, however, in particular over the next 12 months is an important gauge of a market’s health. The indicator that the real estate market is stable, how easy for it’s people to get loans and if mortgages are available. Assurance that confidence is back is when prices start to rise within three to six months.

Selling Despite the Situation

Robert — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:22:41 +0000

There’s been bad news brewing in the US real estate market. Instead moaning about it, one should rise above this problem and do something about it. So how does one sell despite the doom and gloom around us? According to Jennifer Allan, real estate broker, author and consultant, here are tips on making sure that what you sell won’t be sitting on the list forever:

Price is King. Properties must be priced more aggressively than their competition to even be shown, much result in an offer.

Condition is Queen. A home that evokes a negative or even a neutral first impression has little chance of selling.

Accessibility rounds out the top three. If a listing is hard to show, regardless of the reason, it will be passed over.

Source

Bank Owned

andrea — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:25:53 +0000

Some assets that are bank-owned are not publicly marketed. Other banks may have other unambiguous directions on how to advertise and not to advertise the standing of properties to consumers. If a property is too early to be labeled, it could catch the attention of low offers. On the other hand, a potential buyer would like to be familiar with the reference and status of the properties that they will eventually purchase. Although there won’t be any official guiding principle considered, there are scheduled sale auctions for those interested. Public sale or auction properties do not allow public annotations on this matter.

A Change of Strategic Selling

Robert — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:50:30 +0000

In order to survive, one must adapt. This is one thing the insurance agents of today have learned. What they used to keep near their chests are now out in the open for everyone to see. They have now freely posted previously withheld information in the Internet. This information provides the brokers with just enough information to give buyers a one-site stop for all their real estate needs.

“It’s a natural evolution of competition and what consumers want,” said C. Robert Hale III, chief executive of the Houston Association of Realtors, which operates the area’s M.L.S. “The consumer wants to see everything.”

Will this change the current way agents and brokers sell? We’ll know in a few months.

Source

Home Prices Rise – Not Enough

Levi — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:35:05 +0000

Yep, they rise and then fall as we all suffer from the effects of the economic crunch that still has us well in it’s grasp. But the rise is still not ample enough to get real estates experts jumping for it’s still a long way till recovery can be declared. Home prices have however stabilized even with low prices which means they have stopped going down which was a trend for the past few months as the recession raged. In related news, halted developments are suffering big time as construction companies wait for funds that are already tied up in homes that have yet to be sold. They have been left where they stand but any longer, they may settle into disrepair that would be a waste of a lot of funds spent on materials and labor, with only an unfinished shell of a home left as proof of it’s existence waiting for nature to reclaim them, till somebody claimed to shrinkwrap them to protect them!

Fraud on the Rise – FBI Says

Levi — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:14:06 +0000

The FBI has released alarming information regarding real estate fraud and a majority of these cases are related to identity theft. This comes as no surprise for as people get more desperate, they’ll try anything for an easy buck. Real estate fraud has become such a major crime that the FBI has taken notice and opened a group to deal with the rising crime rates. From the many scams and schemes that prey upon innocent buyers and sellers, they are after the biggest ones but are in fact doing more good for they are raising awareness of the many styles these crooks use to reel in their prey.

$70 Million Fraud Case Filed

Levi — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:35:54 +0000

Four people involved in a Ponzi scam that defrauded over a thousand people are being persecuted for their crimes for their involvement in real estate fraud and many other similar offenses. The Metro Home Scam took on the money of investors promising revenues unheard of in the market which instead went into their pockets, funding their lavish lifestyles, fleets of chauffeur driven luxury cars and more. To cover their tracks, they make lavish and public donations to charitable organizations to sweeten the stench that lies within.
They were caught when investors tried to claim the benefits they were promised, getting the $70 million headache that surfaced as the authorities began to piece together their criminal activities. The landmark case is one of many that have been filed by the government as they try to crack down into the dirty world of these fraudsters who prey upon recession stressed people who put their hard-earned money into such schemes only to get utter disappointment when they should have been earning a tin of cash.