The Cost of Waiting

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I’ve been doing a little reading lately, and a little listening too. There is this guy named Stephan Swanepoel, who is supposed to be the Grand Pooba of real estate forecasting. Most people have never heard of him, which makes him even more mysterious. Like most of the gurus, he never seems to remember when he was wrong, but he is right most of the time. There is another guy named Dan Forsman, who happens to be the CEO of our company, and is also a CPA and pretty shrewd number cruncher. If you pay attention to them you can learn some things. (more…)

Posted In: Commercial Property, Investment Property, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Uncategorized, foreclosure, land, mortgage, short sale on February 20, 2010 Comments (0)

Change Affecting Home Buyers & Sellers

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Everyone knows there are a ton of foreclosures and other “distressed” properties that mortgage lenders are coping with lately. I have written about using a short sale, one of the methods employed by many to deal with their crisis. In summary, (more…)

Posted In: Investment Property, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, foreclosure, mortgage, short sale on February 3, 2010 Comments (0)

I’m From the Government and I Want to HELP YOU …

Obama wants to makes changes to the $75 billion loser program “Making Home Affordable” that might make things even worse. http://tinyurl.com/yh9agzn 

Personally, I am fed up with this administration throwing money away for nothing. As the article states (from the typically liberal New York Times), the changes will likely shift the focus of the program from those who might be able to get back on their feet with a little help, to anyone who can fog a mirror with their breath. It will only prolong the foreclosure crisis by temporarily reducing the number of active foreclosures, which will no doubt be heralded as a major victory by the White House Administration.

We need to remember that the current economic crisis was caused by fifteen or twenty years of government intervention into banking and finance. In the name of votes and ego gratification, that will apparently never go away, unless we vote them out. Thank you Massachusetts!

Posted In: Mortgage Protection, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Uncategorized, Unemployment, foreclosure, mortgage, short sale, tax on January 23, 2010 Comments (0)

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

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I was going through some papers last week (okay, I was cleaning up my junk pile) when I came across an article written by John Adams in the AJC. It was called “Inside Advice” and titled “2008 prognosticators show existing home sales going up”. (more…)

Posted In: Investment Property, Mountain Living, My Listings, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Uncategorized, foreclosure, land, mortgage, short sale on December 12, 2009 Comments (0)

“OK … Now What’s Your Excuse?”

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Our job as professional Realtors® these days is to listen to all the excuses people use to put off buying a new home. “The market will keep going down. The interest rates are staying low. The windows are a little dirty. There is no reason to hurry in a buyer’s market. I’m looking for a $350,000 home for about $140,000.” I’m sure my fellow agents can come up with a few more. It would be hilarious if it were not so tragic, watching people wring their hands in “analysis paralysis” while the deal of their lives slips away before their eyes. (more…)

Posted In: Investment Property, Mortgage Protection, Mountain Living, My Listings, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Uncategorized, Unemployment, foreclosure, horse farm, land, mortgage, short sale, tax on November 9, 2009 Comments (0)

Making Home Affordable

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If you, like many people today, are faced with a mortgage which is delinquent or about to become delinquent, you may qualify for help from Uncle Sam. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was enacted in February 2009 (more…)

Posted In: Investment Property, Mortgage Protection, My Listings, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Unemployment, foreclosure, land, mortgage, short sale, tax on October 24, 2009 Comments (0)

Governor Perdue Severs Georgia ACORN Contract

state seal

STATE OF GEORGIA

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

Sonny Perdue
GOVERNOR

For Immediate Release                                               Contact: Office of Communications

Thursday, September 17, 2009                                                                               (404) 651-7774

Statement of Governor Perdue Regarding the Department of Human Services Contract with ACORN (more…)

Posted In: Commercial Property, Investment Property, Mortgage Protection, My Listings, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Uncategorized, Unemployment, foreclosure, land, mortgage, short sale, tax on September 20, 2009 Comments (0)

“HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM”

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        The most astute appraisal of President Obama’s performance to date. If anyone sees an error or an exaggeration in the below please bring it to my attention.

One of Bob Oster’s CEO friends wrote this. Bob respects him highly. (For those on this list who don’t know Bob: he was CFO of Oracle when it went public, also CFO of Syntex, and holds a Ph.D. in economics from Berkeley. Since 1987, he has been an angel investor and private VC. He is on the Board of Overseers at the Hoover Institution.) (more…)

Posted In: Commercial Property, Investment Property, Mortgage Protection, Mountain Living, My Listings, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Uncategorized, Unemployment, Water Front, foreclosure, horse farm, land, mortgage, short sale, tax on September 17, 2009 Comments (1)

Understanding the “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act”

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The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 signed into law on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-22) provides a 90-day  notice requirement and additional protections for tenants in foreclosed properties.  (more…)

Posted In: Commercial Property, Investment Property, Mortgage Protection, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Uncategorized, foreclosure, mortgage on September 3, 2009 Comments (1)

Short Sale Q & A

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Short sale is a term that really had little if any use during the period when real estate was spiraling out of control in many parts of the country. Many people still ask me questions about short sales. Here are a few of them: (more…)

Posted In: Commercial Property, Investment Property, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Values, Unemployment, foreclosure, mortgage, short sale on September 2, 2009 Comments (0)