Banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac you are ripping the American consumer off. In the last 4 weeks, we have had 4 short sale offers declined by banks. WHY?

           

            I will tell you why. Banks are getting refunds from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to cover their losses. When a bank takes a loss of $50,000 the government gives it back to them. Check out this YOU TUBE site and it helps explain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssl5yb7FewA&aia=true

            I hopes this link works because it clearly illustrates the banks getting money behind the scenes. Why else are so many short sales being denied? Why are banks not processing offers? I believe it’s a racket and that is why the banks are showing profits.

 

            Spread the word. Lets complain and stop this travesty.

 

Thanks,

 

Brian

  Sellers are you smoking Hopeium? Homes will sell if they are priced right and in good condition and staged to show. I recently went showing some homes in the Woodmoor/Tri Lakes area. I was amazed how poorly homes were showing between $300,000-$400,000. We saw peeling paint, weedy yards, run down carpet, heavy pet odors and busy streets.

            The people I was with dropped their price $100,000 to get it to the right price. I then had it staged and we sold it for $575,000 in month. I have sold 20 homes this month. I would like to publicly thank my SELLERS in Briargate, Downtown, Fountain , Powers, Norwood, Black Forest, Rockrimmon and Broadmoor for listening to my pricing strategies and applying our staging services.

            The market is what it is. Sellers you need to get real and understand that buyers know value and will not overpay. Get real and prepare and your hope will sell.

            Quit smoking HOPEIUM and get a clear view of the market and you will see success!

 

Thanks,

Brian

                I for one say enough with tax credits to help the housing market. It’s time the real estate market deals with the issues that ail it. The market is over supplied still with homes that are overpriced and over loaned. We need to deal with this head on to get through it

 

                Yes the tax credit was a good thing, but now, the buyers are waiting again for it to come back. If we as a government eliminate it, the buyers will come into the market to enjoy great interest rates. The sooner buyers quit waiting, the sooner we get through the inventory and the sooner to a balanced market.

 

                The tax credit is a crutch that we need to forever more leave behind. Loosen mortgage guidelines. Give people loans with 5% down payment and lower the credit score requirements. Over 40% of the public is having financial distress. Loosen the guidelines and allow people to stay in their homes and eliminate ½ of the foreclosures. Banks get off you *** and work with sellers and homeowners. If banks would work faster and efficiently through the defiencies, it would solve lots of our problems. But, NO, they keep taking the government bailout and pocket it themselves.

 

                Bottom line! Government get out of real estate. Then lenders and investors might start solving all the loan issues that plague us.

 

Thanks,

 

Brian

This week Forbes Magazine rated Colorado Springs the 9th Best Bang for the Buck city in the United States. The top city was Omaha NE. This is more good news for our little city. Last week Forbes rated us 14th most likely city to rebound from the housing slump.

I believe Colorado Springs is a good value. In affordable housing, most of our prices hover between $90-$110 per feet. In the heyday it rose to $130-$150 per foot. The one golden thing that has happened with the housing slump is that it’s made housing affordable again. In Colorado Springs you can find decent housing around $100,000. In markets like Florida, Arizona, Las Vegas and California home prices dropped 50-70% from the peak. Now there is value in owning a home.

I also think now is the time to buy and invest in real estate. Many people catch it when its on its way up. Almost always people buy into the frenzy when it’s peaking. Now is the time. We have been at bottom for about 8 months. I think we will stay here for only a couple more months before we start increasing values. Fact is, sales this year in 2009 are equal to 2006 and inventory is down 1800 units. That spells relief and increasing values.

Yes, buy into the fact that Colorado Springs is a good value. Say yes that Colorado Springs is rebounding. Get on board the bus before it passes you by.

Thanks,

Brian

This is part 3 of the investment series I’ve been blogging about. The previous 2 installments were about pure rental investment and fix and hold. This part is about fix and flip.

 

Fix and flip is where an investor/contractor buys a home that needs dramatic improvements. The hope is to make all the improvements to make it “Model Ready” and then sell it for a profit. This is not a bad business but I see more people get burned by this than those who are successful. So what separates success from failure? It’s knowing the numbers!!

 

Knowing your numbers is the key to success in a fix and flip, the main number that needs to be considered is what will the market allow for a sales price. By this I mean, that the market will only allow a certain price on any home. Many investors fail to realize this and make a price based on what they invested in it. Many people think they can create a value and a market and that is simply not true. The second biggest mistake is underestimating the repairs, the carry time, loan costs and exit expenses. Many inexperienced investors team up with inexperienced agents and don’t consider all the costs. There are several costs as I’ll outline that need to be considered. Here is an example: 

 

Let’s assume from our previous 2 blogs that you find a fix & flip for $130,000. The first number that needs to be considered is what will the market let the home sell for. The scenario I will outline happened earlier this year for one of our investors. The market said the high price was $210,000-$220,000 and $195,000-$200,000 for a fast sale. We used $200,000 as our end number. ALWAYS use the end number and WORK BACKWARDS:

 

                        Future Sales Price                                $200,000

                        Repairs                                                  $23,000

                        Exit Commissions                                   $12,000

                        Carry Payments and Insurance                 $2,100

                        Entry Closing Costs                                 $2,600

                        Exit Buyer Closing Costs                          $6,000

                        Exit Seller Closing Costs                          $2,000

                        Misc                                                        $2,000

 

                        NET                                                    $150,300

                        ORIGINAL SALES PRICE                $130,000

                        NET PROFIT                                        $20,000

 

Our investor in this scenario actually made $24,000 for 2 ½ months work. We did not use the miscellaneous expense and repairs and carry time were slightly less. This investor made 10%. This is a reasonable expectation.

 

In summary, know your numbers particularly the end sales price. Work backwards and work with an experienced agent. One other thing is if you are using a contractor, get a price commitment very early and hold them accountable. Please call me with your questions @ 719-593-2963

 

Thanks

Brian