Periodically I hear from readers who want to make $1 million in real estate -- quickly and with no money down. Usually they want to know more about real estate foreclosures -- how to buy them and how to profit from such homes. I've participated in a couple of these deals, and I'm now working on my second million -- I gave up on the first.

Foreclosure properties can be a good place to invest for exponential growth (or loss). There are some deals out there for little or no money down, but potential investors should take precautions because foreclosed properties can involve significant risks. More http://www.commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com.

Look around at blogs and news sites around the real estate side of the Internet and you'll see there's a lot of buzz about hitting the bottom in the condo market in various regions of the country.

J.P. Morgan Chase economist James Glassman argues in a new report linked from the Wall Street Journal's Real Time Economics blog that "most of the necessary decline in home prices has already occurred. 'Given the present trends in income and house prices, real estate excesses of the past five years will have vanished by spring 2008'" he says. Read more at http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20080305_condotrends.htm

By Tim McLaughlin

According to a report released by CNN this past week, it may be the best time to buy a house in more than four years.

Valuations on home prices (the difference between what a home should cost and its actual price) are the lowest they've been since 2004, according to the report.

The Cleveland-based bank National City Corp, together with financial analysis firm Global Insight, revealed Tuesday that more than 88% of the 330 housing markets surveyed showed improved affordability during the last three months of 2007.

"Housing valuations are almost back to long-term norms," said National City's chief economist, Richard DeKaser. He called current affordability "the best in the past four years." Click for the rest of the story...

By M. Anthony Carr

Property line issues have suddenly cropped up in the emails I've received in the past few weeks. It appears that homeowners are more aware of their property lines (specifically if a neighbor is violating it) during the spring and summer months than at other times. As we get out there and trim limbs (from the neighbor's big oak tree), mend the fence (which is actually the neighbor's), and try to clean up unsightly encroachments on the line, we become aware that the guy next door hasn't kept up with his property and now the problem is personal. More @ http://commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com.

By M. Anthony Carr

Congress has spoken on the economic stimulus package and that means most of us are going to get a nice little check in the bank - complements of yourself (it's your money anyway, right?) Included in the package is a section that will increase the loan limits for conforming home mortgages. Without getting all financialezey on you, it means that higher loan amounts will come with lower interest rates. That will help more people to purchase in high-priced areas like here.

Where the loan limit used to be $417,000 for the Washington, D.C. metro area, it looks like it will move upwards to $562,500. (They will go into effect March 14, 2008.) Any mortgage below this amount is called a "conforming" loan - it conforms to established guidelines so that the mortgage can be sold on the secondary market (usually on Wall Street). Loan amounts above the $562,500 will now be considered "jumbo" loans, which are subject to more stringent underwriting guidelines and potentially higher interest rates. By raising this limit, loan amounts that were previously jumbo now come under the more affordable guidelines, making it easier for buyers purchasing in high-cost areas such as Northern Virginia.

When you're talking interest rates of under 6%, you're talking a lot of savings for many, many buyers. The catch is (and there's always a catch!) you must apply for the new mortgage BEFORE December 31, 2008.

So what? What does that mean to you? Three things: (more at http//commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com/)

In case you're wanting the loan limit info from the horse/elephant's mouth, here's the link to the language from the Library of Congress (complements of those who live in the shadow of the White House!).

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c110:1:./temp/~c110NdCQmZ:e19993:

Here's the Big Real Estate Story - Interest rates are headed in the 5-ish range again and prices have leveled. That's it. End of story. Sign here. In fact, the market is actually turning around. Despite what the two dailies have reported, homeowners and shoppers must look at pocket markets to determine how they're doing as far as the equity in their homes and in determining if it's time to hold or get sold.

In the Washington, D.C. area, headlines from The Washington Post and The Washington Times would make any mere human shake in their household boots - "Region's Home Prices Continue to Fall; Some Pockets Thrive," and "Overvalued Homes Discourage Buyers." The statistics tell a different story. Consider these numbers from http://www.mris.com/ (the local MLS web site):

December 2007 home sales prices of single-family homes compared to December 2006:

Washington, D.C.: +22%

Arlington County (VA): +21%

Alexandria City (VA): +12%

Fairfax County (VA): Even

 (By the Way -- Weichert Financial has a mortgage for 4.99% with 3 points!!!)

 Click for more...  http://commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com/2008/01/pocket-markets-reveal-pent-up-demand.html

by M. Anthony Carr

What do you do when the dishwasher has spewed soapy water across the kitchen floor and leaked down on your neighbor below? Who's responsible? The landlord or the tenant? Across the country, tenant law differs as much as the geography. Nevertheless, some principles remain the same regardless of the local nuances of tenant and landlord rights. One of the first places to visit is the landlord/tenant area posted online by Cornell University's Law School.

Commonly speaking (because the biggest problem I find with legal websites is that they don't speak in such basic terms) there are certain rights reserved for the landlord and certain rights reserved for the tenant. Tenants, says Cornell, have "a property interest in the land...for a given period of time." The lease reflects the length of the landlord/tenant agreement and what the tenant is allowed to do with the property. "The lease," says Cornell, though not historically or strictly a contract, may be subject to concepts embodied in contract law."

"Basic to all leases is the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment. This covenant ensures the tenant that his possession will not be disturbed by someone with a superior legal title to the land including the landlord," according to the site. Now, I bring Cornell's Web site to the forefront as it is an official sounding, and at most of all, reputable place, for all of us to seek out what the law says. However, a site based in Cleveland puts the responsibilities of landlords and tenants into simple language.

NeighborhoodLink is a product of Levin College of Urban Affairs, a part of Cleveland State University. An easily navigable site with plenty of information on rental laws in Cleveland, the site also includes form letters for tenants who must deal with unresponsive landlords. (This is a very cool part of the site -- check it out.

Nevertheless, the lists of landlord and tenant duties found here give a simple approach to who's responsible for what in a lease agreement and are generally relevant across the country.

Here are a few sample landlord duties from the site: Click for more...

http://commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com/2008/01/rental-game-what-are-rules.html

By M. Anthony Carr

I'm in the middle of jury duty. As you approach the courthouse entrance there is obviously a very long line to check in. In a post 9/11 world, those of us in the Washington, D.C. area have become accustom to security forces rifling through our bags, computers and the like for entrance into any public place, including courthouses and ball games. It's just a matter of life, these days. Yesterday, there were hundreds of us answering the cattle call from the district court. We had to walk through the metal detectors. You know the drill...open your bags, empty your pockets, remove your belt, turn on your computer-pda-cell phone.

As we came through the check-in, there were hundreds of us in line. We passed by signs in various languages directing those with cell phones that have cameras to turn them in to a sheriff's deputy for safekeeping. No phones with cameras allowed. Period. So by the time anyone got up to the metal detector you have read the signs and there have been plenty of verbal instructions from the security team that phones with cameras must be turned in. The security team was also directing people who were not potential jurors that they may not need to be in the long line, but could use another, shorter entrance to get to court.

So let me set the stage - signs - about 3 x 5 feet big - were hanging in the hallway; deputies (2 - 3 at a time) were constantly giving verbal direction to us all of these instructions. However, you would have been amazed at how many people were "surprised" when they were turned back from the metal detector to the cell-phone station or had their phones confiscated because they didn't read the signs about the limitations of camera phones. Were they illiterate? No, couldn't be - otherwise how would they be there with the Juror Summons in their hands? Could they not understand the instructions because of a language barrier - not with what I could observe. Were they just tuning out anything that they had no interest in? Ahhh - that's what it was. They weren't paying attention.

The same is happening with those on the side lines of the real estate market.

Let me ask you something - as a buyer or seller are you doing the same thing when it comes to the state of the real estate market? Are you ignoring the signs that are there screaming that now is the time to buy?

Fact: The number of existing homes sold rose 0.4 percent nationally in November. (buyers are out there)

Fact: Month-to-Month prices have stabilized in most markets across the country. (Yes, they are down if you look year to year, but when you want to buy, you want to know when prices have hit bottom, not how much less they're selling for than last year.)

Fact: Job growth continues (meaning more wealth)

Fact: Population is still growing (more need)

Fact: Interest rates are still at historic lows (cheap money)

Fact: Inventory is dropping steadily across the country (Houses are selling, sellers are taking them off the market, builders aren't building as many houses)

Fact: Seller are providing buyers with closing costs so that buyers can move in with little or no money down (This is a temporary situation!)

Now let me ask the agents: Are YOU ignoring the signs? Do you see more buyers coming out to opens; more calls at the front desk; discussion coming up in social events...but are you armed to respond? Do you know the message? Do you know where you stand in your market? Can you answer immediately the condition of your individual market? Sales are down 11 percent for the year, but prices are at the same level? Can you say that? If not, you're not the agent of change necessary to help buyers get the best deal they're going to get in the next decade.

For more information on real estate investing, resources and news, check out my Commonsense Real Estate Blog at http://commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com/.

by M. Anthony Carr

If you've bought or sold a home in the past year, now is the time to go through your paperwork to find the forms, bills, and old checks you'll need in April -- and beyond. Having sold three properties within a 13-month period, I learned quite a bit about what records the IRS requires to claim certain deductions, gains, losses, etc., versus what records I actually could find.

The silver lining in all the cloudiness about taxes and your home is that the IRS has a great Web site, Digital Daily, filled with plenty of useful information. The site is easily navigable and searchable. To get started, click over to the site and take a look at Publication 552, Recordkeeping For Individuals. Here you can find several important issues to consider. Under Why Keep Records, the importance of the home as a strategic part of tax planning becomes evident when you notice the IRS advises that one of the reasons to keep records is to: "Keep track of the basis of property.

You need to keep records that show the basis of your property. This includes the original cost or other basis of the property and any improvements you made." With that said, every homeowner should start tracking the basis of his or her home from the day of settlement. Within Publication 523 there is, naturally enough, a section devoted to determining the basis of your home.

On the paper side, put together a folder that includes the records you'll need in the future to determine the basis of your home. (Reminder: The "basis" of your home is the cost of acquiring it, whether you pay cash, use mortgage financing, or a little bit of both. For real estate, the "basis" can include other items, such as recording fees and certain closing costs.

For details, review the IRS publications and confer with your tax adviser.) If you purchased a fixer upper, rehabilitation costs can be added to basis, with certain restrictions. Other additions to the property (such as that new deck) which added to its value may also be added to your basis. To add these to the basis, however, you must keep good records on how much you spent for each improvement. If you're faced with a big bill for capital gains, these dollar amounts can be added to the basis, which can reduce your tax bill.

When selling property, a single homeowner can exempt $250,000 from the sale of a house from capital gains taxes ($500,000 for married couples) as long as the ownership requirements are met. For example, a home buyer purchases a fixer-upper for $175,000 and puts $25,000 of rehabilitation into it. The basis is now $200,000. If in 20 years the homeowner owns the house outright and the property sells for $325,000 it would appear the homeowner would surpass the $250,000 exemption threshold. However, after reducing by the $200,000 basis, the gain is only $125,000 and no tax is due.

As you can see, hanging on to those settlement papers can save you big bucks later on when you decide to sell your house. While you're at the IRS site, take the time to look up other publications and forms that may be important when looking at real estate and tax matters:

Publication 521: Moving Expenses

Publication 527: Residential Rental Property

Publication 530: Tax Information for First-Time Homeowners

Publication 544: Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets

Publication 547: Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts (Business and Nonbusiness)

Publication 551: Basis of Assets

Publication 587: Business Use of Your Home

Publication 936: Home Mortgage Interest Deduction

As with any tax issues, forms can be helpful but it's always in your best interest to consult with a tax professional.

For more information on real estate investing, resources and news, check out my Commonsense Real Estate Blog at http://commonsenserealestate.blogspot.com/.