All MLS October ‘09 sales at highest levels since 2004
Lowest on?market inventory levels in any month since January 2006 (42,785 in October 2009, 48,059 in January 2006)
NonForeclosure Sales Top Foreclosure Sales in Metro Detroit. For the month of October, the total nonforeclosure sales were 3,483 compared to 2,938 foreclosure sales….
…Months supply of inventory (MSI) has dropped by nearly 50% ? from 11.9 month supply last year to 6 month supply this year
I am an optimistic person and I know that the real estate market WILL turn around. This is great new, right? Well, any way you look at it, this is good news. Let’s just chose which points we look at to get that good news…
The first point above that you can look at for good news in the market are that October ‘09 sales are the highest they’ve been since 2004, which means there are buyers coming to the market. The second is that there were 3,483 non-foreclosure sales in October. The points about foreclosure inventory levels being low and foreclosure sales being low is an artificial statistic.
If you read my post in August about The False Real Estate Market Bottom in Detroit, you’ll remember that we are looking at a false bottom or an artificially inflated market. This all has to do with the foreclosure moratorium by mortgage companies and the State of Michigan. What this did is create a huge backlog of foreclosures that will be dumped on the market in the next couple of months.
In the post I predicted that the the foreclosure flood would hit Metro-Detroit in November of 2009 to January of 2010. It no longer looks like November will be that time but I feel confident on a January-February 2010 flood of foreclosures hitting the market (barring any government intervention, which would be a bad idea). Banks are not good at foreclosing on and getting REOs listed, which you’ve most likely seen working in real estate, and these foreclosures are no exception.
Per RealtyTrac, Michigan is still #7 in the nation for Foreclosure filings. Looking at the Wayne County information, which is what I used in my original analysis, foreclosure filings for August, September, and October of 2009 are the highest they’ve been this year. This all points to more foreclosures on the market.
Inventories are down but foreclosure filings are up. That points to future inventory growth and towards other intervention (the government), which created artificially low inventories.
Where’s the Opportunity? I’m a strong believer in finding the opportunity and not spreading doom and gloom like the national media. What you need to know is exactly what’s going to happen when a flood of foreclosures comes on the market. There’s going to be increased inventories, decreased prices, and lower buyer confidence in the market. This is only going to be temporary because sales are still strong and the inventory will get eaten up but all of them at once is going to cause these activities to occur.
While the market and most people are reactive, we need to be proactive and see this for what it is. A temporary phenomena. Taking action when these foreclosures come on the market in buying the foreclosures and fixing them up to rent out or flip is going to put you in a very good position. There will be plenty of inventory to choose from and by the time you get your property stable and rented for awhile, the rest of the market will catch up. By that time inventories could well be on their way back down.
We have a window of opportunity coming up that you will never see in metro-Detroit real estate again. What are you going to do when presented with this opportunity; take ACTION and invest or kick yourself later for not doing so?
As reported by Drew's Mortgage New's on November 6th, the first time home buyer tax credit has been extended through April 30, 2010. While there are some basic changes, everything is close to the same as it was before with one major exception. Current homeowners can take advantage of the credit as long as they have lived in their house for 5 years. Here are the two different buyer groups that can utilize this credit, as explained by Drew Sygit:
First-Time Homebuyers (FTHBs): First-time homebuyers (defined as not owning a home in the last 3 years) are eligible for up to 10% of the purchase price or a maximum of $8,000. Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.
Current Owners: The new tax credit program now gives those who already own a residence incentive to move to a new home. If they've owned a primary residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8, their eligible for up to a $6,500 tax credit. Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.
If you missed the inaugural meeting of TEDxDetroit, you missed something big. It was a meeting of minds from Michigan that talked about positive change, innovation in business, and good things going on in our state. Know what was missing from the meeting? Negativity, doom and gloom or any talk about something not happening. We need more positive ideas and people from Detroit and Michigan!
Our state and city have been through some challenging times and I know it’s not always easy to see past that. Dwelling on negativity, however, will just perpetuate a down economy and bad things. Focusing on positive change and what we can do to make a difference in our city and state will create the positive change that we need. I’m not talking about just saying that we’re in the best economy ever and that everyone can be millionaires just by saying that they are, I’m talking about actually focusing on positive change that you can create.
What about Dawn White, co-founder and President of Accio Energy (a Michigan based company that has multiple patents for wind energy) and her invention of wind energy without the blades (i.e. not a traditional wind turbine with loud moving blades)
TEDxDetroit wasn’t only about business and entrepreneur speakers; it was also about local performances. My absolute favorite was this poem (and I wasn’t a fan of spoken poetry) written and performed by D Blair “Detroit, While I was away” (found on Positive Detroit)
As Ghandi so eloquently put it, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Michigan needs positive ideas and positive people, is that you?
Investors in Detroit have noticed for a couple of years European investors coming to the market for great bargains on investment real estate. It seems that 2009 is no exception as we have seen more European investors than ever purchasing cash flow investment properties. Whenever I tell someone this they invariably ask me why because many of them aren’t involved in real estate at all or they pretty much think that investing in real estate is the same here as everywhere.
Detroit real estate offers excellent bargains that are very difficult to find in the rest of the world. Our price points are very low (around $40,000 for purchase and rehab) and these properties still rent out for $850-$950 a month. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s good for cash flow. If you add into that the weak dollar, which gives European investors another discount when purchasing our properties with the conversion from Euros.
Most of the European investors we talk to are investing for the cash on cash return and for the long term prospects of the investment. Unlike many U.S. investors, they aren’t looking for the “get rich quick” investment and are willing to invest in a solid property for the long term. This is going back to the way real estate investing used to be and I think it’s a great model. With Detroit foreclosures you get the best of both worlds. Monthly cash flow for a good cash on cash return and purchasing at 50% of the actual value of the house, which means great long term (10 years) prospects for value.
While there are some exception, for the most part European investor are finding successful real estate investors from Detroit so they can leverage their experience on how to create successful investment properties. Real estate investing is different than it is in Europe and Detroit is different than the rest of the United States or even Michigan. There are specifics in Detroit properties to watch out for like water, taxes, neighborhoods, specific streets, City requirements, ordinances, and other items. Working with a reputable Detroit real estate company will ensure that you know how to navigate through these. A good place for foreign investors to get more information is at our Detroit Real Estate International Questions page.
Our experience has been that more and more investors are coming to Detroit as it’s a great return on investment that doesn’t require a million dollars of investment capital. We have sold properties and made successful investors of European investors from England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France, and many other European countries. If you’re interested in investing check out our Detroit Real Estate site or leave a comment.
Detroit has great price points, excellent cash flow, and a tremendous return on your investment if you know what you’re doing. Too many times I see investors rushing into Detroit real estate because of prices without any knowledge of what they’re doing. They don’t work with anyone that has knowledge of the area and they don’t have any good contacts. They just figure that the prices are so cheap, it has to work. Well, I’m here to tell you that this just isn’t true.
The $1,000 Detroit House This is the single most frequent request I hear from investors. “I want to buy the $1,000 house that I heard on the news”. No you don’t and here’s why. Detroit has great prices but it has it’s limits. The $1,000 house is that price and still for sale for a reason. Here’s what I’ve seen with the $1,000 or for that matter the houses that are more than $1,000 but still cheaper than you usually see in Detroit:
They are in bad neighborhoods that are hard to rent, have very low rents, and have a high probability of vandalism and theft to the house.
They require so much rehab work you will end up spending as much as the other houses after fixing it up.
They usually have high taxes, back taxes or both.
I have seen people that invest in areas with some amount of success but for the most part I have seen them doing most of the work themselves, not fixing up the house to code, renting to anyone that walks by, knocking on the doors to collect rent, going to court often for evictions, and living close to the area. They may end up getting a good cash on cash return but they are spending a lot of time to get it.
The Great Looking House in a Bad Neighborhood I see houses come across my desk every day that don’t need much work, have reasonable taxes, and have reasonable prices. That is until you look at the location. Location is key in Detroit! You can have the best house but if it’s not in a good neighborhood, you will not be successful. Bad neighborhoods will leave you with a house that isn’t rented and will quite possibly be broken into and vandalized. This happens very rarely in the good neighborhoods. See our report on Detroit Investment Secrets for more on good neighborhoods.
The Great Neighborhood and Great House with No Contacts You must have great on the group contacts or be working with a company that has great contacts in order to be successful in Detroit real estate. Contacts like contractors, property managers, property security companies, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, and other critical contacts are a must. Make sure that anyone you’re working with has long standing relationships, documented processes, and a lot of experience working with everyone.
The Great House with High Taxes Taxes vary greatly from house to house, in the same neighborhood or even on the same street in Detroit. If you’re not checking taxes or taking them into account, you’re gambling with your investment. Taxes are our biggest qualifying factor after location. Taxes and location make or break a deal.
At Urban Detroit Wholesalers we take into account these factors and more in providing great deals to you. Don’t just take our word for it as we post all of the due diligence that you need to know on each of our houses. View our Detroit Foreclosures to see contractor estimates, a rehab checklist, public records, appraisals, pictures, video walk throughs and everything else you need to know to make a buying decision.
If you’re new to investing in Detroit, I suggest reading our Detroit FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). If you’re investing from out of the country, we have created many successful investors from a wide variety of countries. Our processes and contacts insure that you will be successful investing from abroad. Read our International Detroit Investing FAQ.
Here you are on a real estate blog and you see a post about small business technology. If you’ve been investing in real estate for awhile, you’re anxious to see what I have to say. If you’re new, you might be wondering what I’m doing. When you’re starting out in real estate, and many experienced investors for that matter, you must treat your real estate investing like a business and not a hobby. To that point, I’ll dive right in.
Technology is critical for small businesses. You don’t want to go overboard with it and you don’t want to spend a lot of money. I’m going to show you a couple of products that are going to help in both of these areas. I might not get to everything in this blog so subscribe to our blog and check out the other suggestions coming soon.
Google Apps Standard Edition I’ll admit that I’m a little late to the game on this but I was waiting for it to hit the critical mass. A year or more before and Google Apps was not something that would have worked for what we needed. What I’ve seen lately, especially with releases this year, is that Google has a focus on organizations and enterprise software. While you might not be a 2,000 employee shop, what it means is that Google is taking what they’ve learned from focusing on the individual to their enterprise software. That’s good for small and large businesses.
Google Apps Admin Panel What you find signing up for Google Apps Standard Edition is that it’s free! You get to add up to 50 users to your organization through and administration panel. This is much more than we need but it’s nice to know we can still grow. The administration panel is a big differentiating factor from regular Gmail and Google Apps. As an administrator, I can actually manage the accounts and settings for each user.
Gmail Alright, this isn’t your grandma’s Gmail. This is email hosting to replace Exchange hosting, which is exactly what my organization did. You get 7gb of storage for the Standard Edition and up to 25gb for the Premier Edition (cost of $50/user per year). 7gb of storage is much more than you’re going to find at any exchange hosting companies, especially for the price. I was a bit skeptical at first but I’m sold on everything now.
For a small business, the switch to Gmail should come with more options, not less. You can configure this to work with your domain so instead of CoolREICompany@gmail.com or “sent on behalf of jared@CoolREICompany.com” you can work just like you do in Exchange as jared@CoolREICompany.com.
Gmail is an amazing tool. They do provide tools for you to sync your calendar with Gmail so you can continue to use a desktop email product like Outlook or Thunderbird but after I got it all setup to sync, I ended up just using Gmail. Gmail is such a great interface with so many features (far too many to list here) that it’s all I use now. It’s easier to use and easier to manage a high email workload with their archiving feature, easy use of labels, and their grouping of emails in threads (this one is the space saver). If I have a single email sent out to multiple people that we then reply back and forth on it 10 times, it shows up as one email instead of 10 in my inbox. I can easily open it up to see everything else. This is a huge productivity builder!
Google Docs This part of Google Apps replaces your Microsoft Word suite (Word and Excel) and puts it all online. You may wonder how these apps work online and I was definitely skeptical. Google delivers here with very stable apps that auto-save, which negates any Internet connection issues. This is definitely what you need for collaboration within or outside your company. Nothing else comes as close to making it easy to share and collaborate with others.
Some cool features include the ability to share any documents in a folder (new feature) with anyone or even make it public and the ability to make your spreadsheet easy to fill by your users. Do you make the spreadsheet easy to use by just sharing it? Well, I’m sure you know that spreadsheets aren’t always easy to fill by non-spreadsheet users. That’s why Google offers a very easy to create form that integrates with your spreadsheet automatically. You can literally have the form created with a website address for users to submit their answers to the spreadsheet easily in 10 minutes. This is great for an event sign-up or a questionnaire.
Google Calendar This calendar does a great job of making it easy to use, some cool new features, and the look and feel of a calendar that everyone can instantly use. This is great for events as you can chose to have people share comments and see who else has accepted. In this one way they’ve done a better job than online invitation companies like eVite who have been doing just that for 10 years. Google calendar has all the options you need.
Google Contacts Although this is still listed in Beta, it functions very well. You can upload your existing contacts, create groups, and this all integrates with your calendar, mail, and Google Talk.
Google Talk When I was an IT/Business Consultant, I used chat all the time for quick questions/answers. Lately I tried using Skype but it was using up all the resources on my computer, which made it pretty unusable. I just recently installed Google Talk and I have to say, this is the best chat software I have used! It’s fast, uses almost no resources, and it’s intuitive. I can video chat, call people, send voice mails, and even send SMS messages. This all integrates with my Contacts so it already has all the information.
If it sounds like I’m a salesman for Google Apps, I’m not but I easily could be. What makes a great salesman is when they are selling something that they truly believe in and I truly believe in Google Apps as a solid product. They provide the most intuitive interfaces that I’ve ever worked with, the performance is great, and they provide everything I need for free. This is definitely a good base to build your real estate empire!
Do you have a sense of urgency with your investments or are you taking the lackadaisical approach that most people take with them? Well, I think I looked at my 401k last year and it was down. FAIL. If you haven’t been around, the days of not actively creating or seeking out new investments and methods is gone. Your 401k will NOT be all you need for retirement. Our last meeting had a great speaker and topic on the Infinite Banking Method. Does anyone think that Scott is sitting back and letting someone else manage his retirement? I think not.
Be active in your investments and take action on them right now. Be accountable to yourself. There are great investments everywhere right now and most people are just sitting on cash because they’re scared of losing it. Well, sitting on anything that’s not making at least 6% (conservative) right now is a losing proposition with inflation. Add into that your opportunity cost and you’re losing thousands of dollars each month on your money. You can’t afford to sit on your hands right now.
Where do I invest my money? Well, I did say a sense of urgency, not mass hysteria. Don’t just go plop your money down on the first investment that comes your way. Do your due diligence. Make sure you’re working with reputable company that has experience, can provide references, and has a clear path to returning your principal and interest. There are many conservative investments in real estate and other businesses right now that will leave you well protected with assets. There’s no need for speculation.
Talk to someone that is making money investing and find out what they’re doing. Do you need help? Jeremy, Jeanna, Drew, and myself are currently investing and making money. We will help you with getting started investing and will even partner on deals with you if that’s what it takes to get you going.
You now have no excuse. Create that sense of urgency with your investments and get started. I’m holding you responsible right now! Serious, post a comment and let me know what you’re doing today to make this happen.
Currently the deadline for a buyer to qualify for the first time home buyer credit (maximum of $8,000) is November 30th. This means that closing has to occur before December 1st with the title dated before that date. Anything later and the buyer is out of luck. There has been a lot of speculation that the first time home buyer program would be extended but this WSJ article brings to light quite a few things that tell us otherwise.
The issue comes not with the first time home buyer program but with FHA backed mortgages. The FHA guarantees loans with as little as 3.5% down and with falling prices in many areas, that leads to them insuring properties that are upside down on the mortgage. With FHA loans in default at a record 7.5%, that leaves the FHA with prospect of dwindling reserves and an increased liability for the future. The FHA has a government mandated minimum reserve and if it doesn’t have that reserve, drastic measures could be taken.
Officials worry that the resulting losses will help push the FHA’s reserves below the level required by Congress. The value of those reserves will be revealed in the agency’s annual review due Sept. 30. If they have fallen below the minimum, that could prompt a new round of questions about the role government should play in stabilizing the housing market.
With the prospects of the FHA falling below their minimum reserve amount and mounting pressure from lawmakers to not only have the FHA meet that reserve but decrease spending, it looks like the first time home buyer credit is an easy target for the chopping block. It’s the easiest and most likely as law makers will just have to do nothing with it (i.e. it would have to come up for a new vote to get extended).
What I think about the first time home buyer credit Overall I feel that the government should not be giving money to people for specialized programs and that less government spending is better. At first this is how I felt with the first time home buyer program but a recent conversation has me thinking the tax payer isn’t getting such a bad deal with this program compared to the millions of other tax payer dollars that are spent each day.
The first time home buyer credit equals more house sales. Increased house sales means more jobs for local regions but that isn’t enough to make it worth while. Increased house sales in an area like Detroit means that there are more foreclosures that are going from vacant non-performing assets to fixed up, lived in houses with people that are paying property taxes and everything else that a person pays for owning a house. There are many dollars that are invested in local regions and governments with this program.
What this means to you is that you have a limited time to let your buyers take advantage of this tax credit. Whether you want to invest in a house and resell it our invest in our program. Our First Time Home Buyer Program helps the buyer utilize the tax credit to use as a down payment by reducing their principal owed. What this means is that you get more money up front on the program. It’s an excellent program to use in Detroit or anywhere in Michigan without the tax credit but it’s a no-brainer with it. Contact us for more information on it so we can get everything closed by November 30th!
We’re officially rolling out our first time home buyer program to our investors. I know. I know. Many of you have already been working with us on the first time home buyer program but this is the official roll-out!
In addition to our traditional program where you purchase the house from us and we manage the whole process, we are also making the program available to any property YOU own in Michigan! (ask us for details)
What do you need to get started? For our traditional program you will need a $45,000 investment and for our new program where you bring your own house, you just pay for licensing the program (rehabilitation of your property and rehab management are also available)
We have brought together the best brains in the business to not only give you the most profitable first time home buyer program but also the most secure and legal program. Visit First Time Home Buyer Program & Tax Credit Information for more information
Successfully Yours, Jared Pomranky Detroit Market Expert
What’s the one thing you can do for your business today that will have a huge impact on your business? I know, you’re busy. You’re working hard every day but are you focusing on what needs to be completed or are you just completing what comes your way? I could spend the whole day responding to e-mail and doing other low value activities that may add some value to my company but really don’t.
Identifying the high-value activities in your business and completing them is crucial to becoming very successful and moving your business on to the next level. So I ask you again, what is the one activity or project you could start or complete today that would have a huge impact on your business? This is probably a project or activity that you’ve been pushing off because you don’t ever seem to find the time or you always get interrupted with less value adding activities. This is the project that would hands down leave you with a better more well functioning business. You know what I’m talking about.
When looking at projects that are going to make the biggest impact on your business, look at the ones that are going to increase sales, increase your exposure, decrease expenses, decrease your time involved in the business or all four. Make it a point to tackle this project at the beginning of the day and don’t stop until it’s completed. Do you need to check e-mail or make phone calls? Setup two times to check your e-mail and voice mails at 11:00 and at 4:00. Outside of those times you don’t check them and you don’t surf the Internet. Focus.
I know that if you focus on high value projects for your company and don’t spend as much time on the fluff, you’re going to see dramatic results. It may not be easy at first but focus and be determined!
A blog about my real estate adventures, advice, and education. I'll talk about Detroit Real Estate, foreclosures, detroit investment properties, cash flow properties, michigan, and my company Urban Detroit Wholesalers.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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