Jason's Blog

How To Get Your Blog Posts "Viral" Exposure on Twitter and Facebook

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:20:25 -0500

Via Brad Andersohn ~ Community Manager (ActiveRain):

How To Get Your Blog Posts Viral Exposure on Twitter and Facebook

As important as Location, Location, Location is to Real Estate, so is the importance of Exposure, Exposure, Exposure to Bloggers. Some Bloggers offer their subscribers, readers, and visitors the ability to "share" their content with others via Twitter or Facebook. ActiveRain has the ReBlog Option, just like Wordpress and Blogger are doing now, but that only works for other AR members. Here's a way to help get your "Voice Heard" and your "Posts Seen" on two of the other Largest Social Networks in the World, and here's how others can help you do it.

"Tweets" and "ReTweets" are quite popular as is "Sharing on FaceBook." I've just discovered a way that you can now do both. I think you're going to like this. It's simple. Just create and add a "Tweet" button, or a custom "Share" graphic, then create a link to it just like you would any other photo or image. You can even use text with a hyper-link. Here's the secret: you just need to replace the "BOLD" URL below with your page that you want shared. You will need to keep the underlined portion of the code below for each button to work.

Tweet Code: http://twitter.com/home?status=http://PlaceYourPageURLHere

For A ReTweet Code: http://twitter.com/home?status=RT%20http://PutYourPageURLHere

Share on FaceBook Code:http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://AddYourPageURLHere

Now some of you may be thinking, why not just use the "Sharethis" or "AddThis" widget? Well you still can, and they do have more options, but the millions of Social Networking consumers out there are probably more use to seeing the Tweet, ReTweet, and Share on FaceBook buttons. Familairity may play more of a role here than we think. Not to mention, using this method is quick, easy, and only "one click" away from accomplishing the readers goal. To Share!

So starting right now, you can begin letting the 100 million members that logon to Facebook each day, and the 14,590,000 Twitter accounts (guesstimation) share your great content with others on Facebook and Twitter. Word of Caution: This will not work for "Members Only" and "Associates Only" posts on AR. It will work on any "Public" Blog, Post, or Website.

Taking the idea one step further. If you have an AR Outside Blog, make sure that the Link you provide to your "Tweet" and "Share on FaceBook" buttons go to the post on your AR Outside Blog and not to your Internal AR Blog. This will help increase exposure and traffic to your Outside Blogs. All your "outbound" links should always go to your Outside Blog posts. Getting SEO and traffic to your Blogs is a great thing, but letting others share, and making it easy for them may be just as powerful.

Now let's talk about the 35 million members on LinkedIn?!? :-O

"RainMaker" Special - Signup Here and Get New Member Discount

US Real Estate Sites Show Growth in Traffic

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:03:26 -0500

Via Ross Hair (Real Estate Advocate):

By now we've all read the NAR statistics that 84% of home buyers and sellers start the process online. I like to keep track of trends in the real estate industry and particularly like to look at how well the large real estate portals are doing.

Here's the latest figures from Nielsen on the welfare of the large real estate sites and trends in online real estate:

"Mirroring the rise in home sales in July was the increase in visitors to the top U.S. real estate Web sites. Traffic increased 11 percent month-over-month, from 20.7 million visitors in June to 23.1 million in July as year-over-year growth to the sites grew 18 percent.

Surprisingly, online advertising by these top real estate companies declined month-over-month, with online display ads decreasing by 42 percent, from 37.1 million impressions in June 2009 to 21.4 million in July.

Who's House Hunting Online?

In July, people living in households of just one or two were nearly 50 percent more likely than the average Web visitor to head online to check real estate listings. Potential home buyers between the ages of 25 and 34 were 29 percent more likely to visit the top real estate sites and those with no children were 32 percent more likely to check out these sites in July.

Surprisingly, despite the fact that lower home prices are affording a wider range of income levels to get into their first home, visitors to the top real estate sites over-indexed among the wealthy, those earning a $100k or more per year.

Growth Mixed Globally

While U.S. growth to real estate sites was notable, not all countries are experiencing the same uptick in real estate ventures. A few of the countries that Nielsen measure's, experienced month-over-month declines in unique visitors to the top real estate Web sites in July. In France, traffic fell 10 percent, while Spain experienced a 7 percent decrease and Switzerland a 4 percent decline.

On a positive note, the number of Brazilians who visited the top real estate Web sites increased by 30 percent month-over-month, growing from 2.1 million visitors in June to 2.8 million in July. Germany has the 2nd highest growth rate in July, increasing 19 percent.
Month-over-Month Growth in Unique Visitors to Retail Sites by Country CountryMonth-over-Month % Growth

Brazil 30%

Germany 19%

United States 11%

United Kingdom 8%

Japan 6%

Italy -2%

Switzerland* -4%

Spain -7%

France -10%

Australia NA

Source: The Nielsen Company
*Switzerland data is for Home only
**Data for Australia cannot be trended due to recent methodology changes

Social Networking is Viral

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:40:43 -0500

Via Ross Hair (Real Estate Advocate):

Social networks are built to be viral.

You can use its viral nature to rapidly build your own personal network within the greater social network

Step 1 of your social networking plan should be to make friends with other network members.

Step 2 is to go viral and make friends with your friend's friends.

Social networks are inherently viral in nature in that when you send a public message to a friend, that message can be seen by all your friend's friends. This means that your message to a hundred friends may be seen by a thousand people. That's an incredibly viral tool.

It also makes it very easy to become friends with your friend's friends because the network identifies you as a mutual friend. This makes it easy for your friend's friends to accept your friend request.

The cornerstone of your social networking marketing is to build a large friend list. Not only can you communicate directly with your friends but you can also send a viral message through each friend's network.

So step two of your social network strategy is to send public messages to your friends that can be seen by each friend's network of friends.

(I wish there was a word that meant friend's friends :)

2/2 Condo in Davie $600 Move In Special

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:28:14 -0500

Jason | All Star Realty | 772-341-3121

University Drive, Davie, FL

DAVIE CONDO FOR RENT - Like NEW

2BR/2BA Condo

$1,200/month

Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	2 full, 0 partial
Sq Footage	1,200
Parking	1 dedicated
Pet Policy	No pets
Deposit	$1,200

DESCRIPTION

2 Bedroom 2 Bathroom Condo in Davie. Close to Highways and Colleges.

This Property shows like it is new. It is MUST SEE if you want to live in the area.

see additional photos below

RENTAL FEATURES

Air conditioning	Central heat	Walk-in closet
Tile floor	Living room	Dishwasher
Refrigerator	Stove/Oven	Microwave
Washer	Dryer	Laundry area - inside
Cable-ready

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Swimming pool(s)

Lake

LEASE TERMS

$600 for the first Months Rent.
1 Year Lease
$1200 per Month

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Photo 1	Photo 2
Photo 3	Photo 4
Photo 5	Photo 6

Contact info:

Jason

All Star Realty

772-341-3121

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Apr 19, 2009, 1:04pm PDT

Governor Crist Encourages First-Time Home Buyers to Use Federal $8,000 Tax Credit

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:27:19 -0500

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ -– Governor Charlie Crist today met with Florida REALTORS® to discuss Florida’s housing market. Governor Crist encouraged first-time home buyers to take advantage of the tax credit made available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The $8,000 tax credit applies to primary residences as long as they are purchased before December 1, 2009.

“Even though today is Tax Day, first-time Florida home buyers can still claim the tax savings on their 2008 tax return – even if the closing is after today – by requesting an extension or filing an amended return,” Governor Crist said. “Or they can also claim it on 2009 tax return, which will be filed next year. Either way, I encourage Floridians and newcomers to Florida to take advantage of this tax break and bargain prices on Florida real estate.”

Governor Crist also discussed his continued commitment to reduce the tax burden on Florida homeowners and business property owners. He has proposes a set of property-tax reforms that builds upon previous legislation resulting in the largest property tax cut in state history.

The National Association of REALTORS estimates that the impact of the federal economic stimulus package and lower interest rates will result in approximately 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 compared to conditions before the stimulus package. According to Freddie Mac, interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.87 percent for the week of April 9, 2009, down significantly from the average rate of 5.97 percent in March 2008.

According to the Florida Association of REALTORS, Florida’s existing home sales rose in February, making it the sixth consecutive month with an increase in sales activity. Existing home sales rose 20 percent in February 2009 compared to the number of homes sold in February 2008. Statewide, existing condo sales increased 25 percent over the total units sold in January.

About the First-Time Florida Home Buyer Tax Credit

For homes purchased before December 1, 2009, the credit does not have to be paid back unless the home ceases to be the taxpayer’s main residence within a three-year period following the purchase. First-time homebuyers who purchase a home in 2009 can claim the credit on either a 2008 tax return, which are due today, or on a 2009 tax return, due April 15, 2010. If the purchase occurs after April 15, 2009, home buyers can still receive the credit on a 2008 tax return by requesting an extension of time to file or by filing an amended return.

Information about the tax credit for first-time home buyers can be found at www.FlaRecovery.com in the “Tax Relief” section. For more information about Florida’s use of the federal recovery dollars made available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, please visit www.FlaRecovery.com

Jason Donn - Real Estate Open Networkers

Generation Y: Bullish on U.S. Housing Market

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:29:10 -0500

First major national housing survey during current downturn reveals surprising results

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The first major survey into Generation Y's perception of the U.S. housing crisis reveals a surprisingly strong sense of optimism about the future despite cautious near-term sentiment.

While the housing industry is readying for this wave of future homeowners (approximately 80 million strong), there is little data on what this influential buying group actually wants in their next home or how the current downturn has affected their future plans.

According to the national survey conducted by The Concord Group:

50% say they are likely to purchase a home within the next three years
50% say tax credits or lower interest rates would motivate them to purchase a residence sooner
70% believe home prices will be higher or at today's levels in two years
62% say wealth creation is a very big advantage of real estate ownership

Although economic conditions factor strongly in their decision-making process, survey respondents say that lower home prices and/or a raise at work would be the top motivations for buying a home sooner than planned.

"Generation Y is going to have more impact on the national housing market than any group since the early Baby Boomers. We wanted to better understand their preferences and expectations especially as they will have such an impact on our future," said Emma Tyaransen, Principal of The Concord Group, a national real estate advisory firm.

The majority of respondents to The Concord Group's survey say they are:

Willing to pay a premium to live closer to their job
Seeking out a larger space for their next residence
Interested in living near alternative modes of transportation
Likely to put down less than 20% on their next residential purchase
Planning to eventually abandon the cities for a life in the suburbs

"What's so interesting about this data is that it supports our prediction that transit-oriented development will command a premium in the near future. It also proves that suburban development will continue to play an important role in the housing market that emerges from the downturn," said Tyaransen.

The Concord Group is a premiere national real estate advisory firm with offices in Newport Beach, CA; San Francisco, CA; Portland, OR and Boston, MA. The Concord Group provides developers, investors and public planning agencies with vital analytical input throughout all phases of real estate financing, development and operations. www.theconcordgroup.com

Jason Donn

Sunrise Lakes Owner Financing Available

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:22:53 -0500

Jason | All Star Realty | jason.donn@yahoo.com | 954-892-6244

Sunrise Lakes Boulevard, Sunrise, FL

Sunrise Lakes Condo - 2/2 - Owner Financing, Lease Option, Rent to Own

2BR/2.5BA Condo

offered at $59,900

Year Built	Unspecified
Sq Footage	1,099
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	2 full, 2 partial
Floors	1
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	Unspecified
HOA/Maint	$314 per month

DESCRIPTION

Very Clean 2 Bedroom 2 Bedroom in Sunrise Lakes Condo. Quiet are in a 55+ community. Property is on a Lake.

Bring All Offers

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Central A/C	Central heat	Family room
Dining room	Refrigerator	Stove/Oven
Microwave	Washer	Dryer
Laundry area - inside

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Swimming pool(s)

Golf course

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Photo 1	Photo 2
Photo 3	Photo 4

Contact info:

Jason

All Star Realty

jason.donn@yahoo.com

954-892-6244

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Apr 9, 2009, 9:09am PDT

Housing foreclosures in South Florida: Cities have $104 million to find new owners

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:52:54 -0500

You can apply for a share of $104 million awarded to governments in Broward and Palm Beach counties in a national effort to find new owners for foreclosures

By Juan Ortega and Lisa J. Huriash |South Florida Sun-Sentinel

As many people are losing homes to foreclosures or can't afford to buy a home, Katie Cole thinks her prospects for becoming a first-time home buyer have never looked brighter.

In January the single mother of three from Sunrise got a job screening passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The steady job boosts her eligibility for an affordable-housing program targeting foreclosed homes.

"I feel confident that everything's going to go through," said Cole, 44. She applied for housing aid at Tamarac City Hall the month she got her job.

Cole is among the first South Florida residents to apply for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, a national housing rescue plan to help cities and states flip foreclosed homes, become landlords or dole out grants to first-time home buyers. In Broward and Palm Beach counties, dozens of local governments have been awarded a total of $104 million to stem declining property values and turn abandoned, foreclosed properties into occupied, tax-producing dwellings.

The program, benefiting low- to moderate-income residents, requires cities to allocate the aid within 18 months and finish programs within four years. Cities may have no trouble finding applicants eager for home-buying assistance or foreclosed properties to target.

Broward County had 47,387 homeowners in some stage of foreclosure last year, a 128 percent increase over 20,805 a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif. Broward had the nation's sixth-highest annual foreclosure rate.

In Palm Beach County, 23,399 homeowners faced losing their properties to foreclosure last year, up 97 percent from 11,904 in 2007.

So far, residents have converged on the few cities that welcomed applications. Coral Springs, Miramar, Tamarac and Sunrise, drew hundreds of applicants earlier this year. They have cut off applications and won't accept any more.

Pembroke Pines and Boynton Beach are the latest two municipalities to start letting people apply.

Pembroke Pines' deadline to pick up applications is today, but Boynton Beach has set no deadline, officials said.

Boynton Beach has set aside about $400,000 of its $2.9 million share of aid to help first-time home buyers purchase 32 homes in Ocean Breeze, a planned development, said Mindy Wooster, RTG's marketing director. RTG Construction, which partnered with the city, is accepting applicants' calls, Wooster said.

"Out of 100 calls, you might get 10 people who are really qualified," Wooster said.

Using its share of $4.3 million in aid, Pembroke Pines will use forgivable loans, or grants, to help low- to moderate-income people buy and spruce up foreclosed homes selling for up to $250,000.

"We've gotten hundreds of applicants," said Shekeria Brown, who works for Community Redevelopment Associates of Florida, the firm Pembroke Pines hired to help oversee its program.

Under terms of the grants, buyers can earn no more than 120 percent of each county's median income. For a family of four, it would be $91,800 in Broward and $83,050 in Palm Beach County. Some properties will be reserved for families earning as little as $38,250 a year in Broward and $37,700 in Palm Beach County.

Nechmaly Tapia, 32, a single mother of two boys who lives in Tamarac, earns less than $32,000 a year as an auto sales representative, she said.

For her application, Tamarac officials required her to obtain a pre-qualification letter from a bank, showing her credit was good enough for a mortgage loan. She spent hours compiling paperwork with her tax return, Social Security and employment information.

She's waiting for the city to tell her whether she qualifies. "I'm really optimistic about it," she said.

The earliest cities to take applications are among 14 of the biggest cities in Broward and Palm Beach counties that were awarded grant money directly instead of through the counties. The other large cities — including Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, and West Palm Beach — aren't taking applications yet. They say they're still firming up their programs but making progress.

For example, Plantation is poised to buy, fix and sell about 10 houses after it hired a nonprofit group called Broward Alliance for Neighborhood Development to help manage the project.

Smaller cities must rely on their county governments to decide how much, if any, aid their areas will receive. Officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties also say they haven't finished planning.

Cecile Julmysse, 44, a Tamarac resident who missed the city's deadline to apply in February, said she'll be watching for neighboring cities' programs to kick off.

"All my life I've been renting," said Julmysse, a home-care specialist with five children. "Paying rent, I'm throwing my money away."

Jason Donn Real Estate Open Networkers

A shadow lurks in the housing market

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:22:26 -0500

A shadow lurks in the housing market

Apr 8, 2009 12:16 PM — Scott Jagow

This is scary. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that lenders are sitting on hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes that haven’t even been listed yet. If this “shadow inventory” hits the market, we’ll have a new definition of bottomless pit.

From the article:

“We believe there are in the neighborhood of 600,000 properties nationwide that banks have repossessed but not put on the market,” said Rick Sharga, vice president of RealtyTrac, which compiles nationwide statistics on foreclosures. “California probably represents 80,000 of those homes. It could be disastrous if the banks suddenly flooded the market with those distressed properties. You’d have further depreciation and carnage.”

The Chronicle suggests several reasons why banks might not be selling off their foreclosures:

— The “pig in the python”: Digesting all those foreclosures takes awhile. It’s time-consuming to get a home vacant, clean and ready for sale. “The system is overwhelmed by the volume,” Sharga said. “In a normal market, there are 160,000 (foreclosures for sale nationwide) over the course of a year. Right now, there are about 80,000 every month.”

— Accounting sleight-of-hand: Lenders could be deferring sales to put off having to acknowledge the actual extent of their loss. “With banks in the stress they’re in, I don’t think they’re anxious to show losses in assets on their balance sheets,” O’Toole said.

— Slowing the free-fall: Banks might be strategically holding back some foreclosures so prices don’t fall as fast. “They want to be careful about not releasing them too quickly so they don’t drive prices down and hurt the values,” O’Toole said.

And then, there are people scamming the system. Two dozen people have been indicted for “allegedly conducting a wide-ranging mortgage fraud based in San Diego and led by a street gang member.” From Reuters:

The defendants allegedly used straw buyers and inflated appraisals to purchase homes that had sat on the market for extended periods and had been reduced in price.

They submitted offers that exceeded the homes’ asking prices, and had the overage paid to a shell construction company that they claimed would make upgrades or handicap modifications to the properties, prosecutors said.

The defendants instead disbursed the “kickback amount” to members and associates of the enterprise as payments for their participation, the indictment said.

Lenders later foreclosed on the properties, taking “severe financial losses,” after the straw buyers failed to make payments, the indictment said.

Jason Donn - Real Estate Open Networkers

Government cracking down on mortgage scams

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:54:12 -0500

By ALAN ZIBEL and CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Business Writers

Top federal and state officials on Monday announced a broad crackdown on mortgage modification scams, accusing "criminal actors" of preying on desperate borrowers caught up in the nation's housing crisis.

Government officials say scammers are seeking to take advantage of borrowers in danger of default by charging them upfront fees of $1,000 to $3,000 for help with loan modifications that rarely, if ever, pay off.

The frauds often involve companies with official-sounding names designed to make borrowers think they are using the Obama administration's efforts to help modify or refinance 7 million to 9 million mortgages.

Officials say such operations almost always are fraudulent, and that help is available for free from government-approved housing counselors.

"These predatory scams callously rob Americans of their savings and potentially their homes," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. "We will shut down fraudulent companies more quickly than before. We will target companies that otherwise would have gone unnoticed under the radar."

The Federal Trade Commission has sent warning letters to 71 companies it says were running suspicious advertisements. The agency also said it filed three new complaints against Northridge, Calif.-based Federal Loan Modification Law Center LLP, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Bailout.hud-gov.us, and Clearwater, Fla.-based Home Assure LLC, and the operators of those companies.

The FTC last month filed cases against two other companies: Hope Now Modifications LLC and New Hope Modifications LLC.

Attorney General Eric Holder says the FBI is investigating about 2,100 mortgage fraud cases, a 400 percent increase from five years ago.

"If you discriminate against borrowers or prey on vulnerable homeowners with fraudulent mortgage schemes, we will find you, and we will punish you," Holder said.

Over the past year homeowners have been flooding state attorneys general with complaints about for-profit loan modification consultants. While some are legitimate, authorities say many are con artists.

"Stay away from anyone who says they will save your home in return for money up front," Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told reporters in Washington. Such claims, she said, "are almost always scams."

Homeowners do not have to pay anything to participate in the administration's Making Home Affordable program, which seeks to prevent foreclosures by making mortgages affordable through refinancing or modified terms.

Other signs of a mortgage scam, according to the FTC are: promises to stop foreclosure or modify a loan; guarantees that your home will be saved and claims of a "97 percent success rate;" and use of official-sounding names.

Roadside billboards in places like Las Vegas scream, "Save my property!" and radio ads promise "expert help." Some companies comb property records and send mail designed to look like it is from the homeowner's lender.

Some of those making the offers to help are former brokers, agents and appraisers who've seen their previous business evaporate. But it's difficult to gauge if even the legitimate consultants are more effective than nonprofit credit counselors who also work with lenders at no charge.

Some states recently have toughened penalties for perpetrating foreclosure scams, and some prosecutors have used existing fraud statutes to bring criminal charges. But many state prosecutors have not filed criminal cases, instead proceeding with civil lawsuits.

Homeowners can locate free housing counselors at http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov or by calling (888) 995-HOPE.

Real Estate Open Networkers

Jason Donn

CREDIT REPAIR - Closing more deals with the right Credit Repair Company

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:11:13 -0500

As many of you know Credit Repair Companies are a dime a dozen. Most of the credit repair companies I have come in contact with charge around $500 or some sort of monthly fee. From the feedback I have received, most of them are not very good.

In an effort to find a VERY GOOD credit repair company I started researching them and met with several. 1 or 2 seemed to be very good but charged an arm and a leg. I finally found one that was not only superb but were also reasonable in their pricing. In addition, they have a money back GUARANTEE. I have already referred them to many Real Estate Brokers and Mortgage companies with phenomenal results.

One of the reasons this company is so good is that the President of the company was a former high level executive with Experian.

I would love to share more information on this company with you. If you are interested, please email me at jason.donn@yahoo.com or call me @ 954-892-6244.

Jason Donn

Foreclosure nation

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:23:50 -0500

Posted by Scott Van Voorhis

Looks like the foreclosure epidemic is getting its second wind.

The first wave of foreclosures featured homeowners duped into buying homes they couldn’t afford with goofy, subprime loans. Not to mention a whole lot of small-time investors who bought units in hopes of flipping them for big profits, as well as a just outright fraudsters who used straw buyers to create artificial sales.

But much of that first wave of crazy subprime mortgages gone bad has already crashed into the housing market and economy. Now we are starting to see the second wave, regular homeowners who are losing their jobs and their homes due to the economic downturn, of course triggered in part by the subprime fiasco.

Anyway, that is the way some are reading the latest foreclosure stats, with the number of troubled mortgages rising to 7.8 percent of all home loans, the highest since 1972, Bloomberg reports. Loans actually in foreclosure now amount to 3.3 percent of all mortgages in the country, an all-time high.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is pointing to the deepening recession and job losses as a key factor behind the growing number of bad loans.

Let’s just hope President Obama’s $75 billion lifeline to homeowners in trouble works a bit better than the now long list of previous multibillion-dollar rescue plans rolled out by the federal government and several states, including Massachusetts.

Still, even the president’s ambitious effort won’t help you if you’ve lost your job and have no money at all to pay your mortgage.

Jason Donn

Citigroup to lower some mortgage payments

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:00:41 -0600

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN – 13 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup Inc. said Tuesday that it will lower mortgage payments for some homeowners to an average of $500 a month for three months as part of a new program to help the unemployed.

The struggling bank makes the move as President Barack Obama looks to lenders to adjust the way loans are handled.

Citigroup's new mortgage efforts also come on the heels of the latest attempt to bail out the company, which includes the U.S. government's exchange of up to $25 billion in emergency bailout money given to Citigroup for as much as a 36 percent equity stake in the company. The deal between the Treasury Department and Citigroup represents the third rescue attempt for the bank in the past five months.

Unemployed homeowners who may qualify for assistance from Citigroup under the Homeowner Unemployment Assist program include those that are 60 days or more past due on their mortgages or in foreclosure and can pay the reduced amount. Customers must also have a first mortgage loan that is owned and serviced by CitiMortgage Inc. and conforms to government sponsored enterprise limits. The house must also be the customer's primary residence, with homeowners meeting all insurer and guaranty requirements.

"Our Homeowner Unemployment Assist program is intended to serve as a bridge toward a longer-term solution, helping homeowners stay in their homes and in their communities while they get their feet back on the ground," CitiMortgage Chief Executive Sanjiv Das said in a statement.

Citigroup predicts thousands of homeowners may be eligible for the program over the next two years.

Those that partake in the program and are still without jobs after three months will have their mortgages handled on a case-by-case basis to come up with the best payment option, Citigroup said. Others that find work within the three-month period can go back to paying their original mortgage amount or receive a long-term loan modification if qualified.

The program may also be expanded to include customers that are in early delinquency stages or are current on their mortgage at a later point in time once an initial evaluation of the program is complete.

Homeowner Unemployment Assist is part of the bank's existing Citi Homeowner Assistance, which tries to help customers avoid foreclosure.

One of the hardest hit banks by the ongoing credit crisis, Citigroup is in the process of shedding assets and cutting staff as it looks to reduce costs and streamline operations ahead of splitting its traditional banking businesses from its riskier operations. In January the company reached a deal to sell a majority stake in its Smith Barney brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley.

In premarket activity Tuesday, Citigroup shares climbed 11 cents, or 9.2 percent, to $1.31.

Jason Donn

Homeowners' rallying cry: Produce the note

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:48:57 -0600

By MITCH STACY – Feb 17, 2009

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) — Kathy Lovelace lost her job and was about to lose her house, too. But then she made a seemingly simple request of the bank: Show me the original mortgage paperwork.

And just like that, the foreclosure proceedings came to a standstill.

Lovelace and other homeowners around the country are managing to stave off foreclosure by employing a strategy that goes to the heart of the whole nationwide mess.

During the real estate frenzy of the past decade, mortgages were sold and resold, bundled into securities and peddled to investors. In many cases, the original note signed by the homeowner was lost, stored away in a distant warehouse or destroyed.

Persuading a judge to compel production of hard-to-find or nonexistent documents can, at the very least, delay foreclosure, buying the homeowner some time and turning up the pressure on the lender to renegotiate the mortgage.

"I'm going to hang on for dear life until they can prove to me it belongs to them," said Lovelace, a 50-year-old divorced mother who owns a $200,000 home in Zephyrhills, near Tampa. "I'll try everything I can because it's all I have left."

In interviews with The Associated Press, lawyers, homeowners and advocates outlined the produce-the-note strategy. Exactly how many homeowners have employed it is unknown. Nor is it clear how successful it has been; some judges are more sympathetic than others.

More than 2.3 million homeowners faced foreclosure proceedings last year and millions more are in danger of losing their homes. On Wednesday, President Obama will unveil a plan to spend at least $50 billion to help homeowners fend off foreclosure.

Chris Hoyer, a Tampa lawyer whose Consumer Warning Network Web site offers the free court documents Lovelace used to file her request, has played a major role in promoting the produce-the-note strategy.

"We knew early on that the only relief that would ever come to people would be to the people who were in their houses," Hoyer said. "Nobody was going to fashion any relief for people who have already lost their houses. So your only hope was to hang on any way you could."

Tom Deutsch, deputy executive director of the American Securitization Forum, a group that represents banks, law firms and investors, dismissed the strategy as merely a stalling tactic, saying homeowners are "making lawyers jump through procedural hoops to delay what's likely to be inevitable."

Deutsch said the original note is almost always electronically retained and can eventually be found.

Judges are often willing to accept electronic documentation. And lenders are sometimes allowed to produce other paperwork to establish they are the holder of a loan. Still, assembling such documents to a judge's satisfaction takes time, which to homeowners is the point.

Lovelace filed her produce-the-note demand last fall after the bank acknowledged that her original mortgage document had been lost or destroyed. Since then, there has been no activity on the foreclosure — no letters from the lender, no court filings.

The law firm handling the foreclosure for the lender refused to comment.

A University of Iowa study last year suggested that companies servicing mortgages are often negligent when it comes to producing the documentation to support foreclosure. In the study of more than 1,700 bankruptcy cases stemming from home foreclosures, the original note was missing more than 40 percent of the time, and other pieces of required documentation also were routinely left out.

The first big success of the produce-the-note movement came in 2007 when a federal judge in Cleveland threw out 14 foreclosures by Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. because the bank failed to produce the original notes.

Michael Silver, a lawyer for two of the families in that case, said at least one eventually lost their home. Still, he considers that a success.

"From the perspective of the person who's in the home, you may have kept them in the house another 10 or 12 months," he said. "If I can get a result with economic benefits to a client, then I think I won."

Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio endorsed the strategy in a fiery speech on the House floor during debate on the federal bank bailout last month.

"Don't leave your home," she said. "Because you know what? When those companies say they have your mortgage, unless you have a lawyer that can put his or her finger on that mortgage, you don't have that mortgage, and you are going to find they can't find the paper up there on Wall Street."

April Charney, head of foreclosure defense for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid in Florida, said the strategy has been so successful for her that she now travels around the country to train other lawyers in how to use it. She said she has gotten cases delayed for years by demanding that lenders produce paperwork they cannot find.

"This is an army of lawyers getting out there to stop foreclosures so we can get to the serious business of creating solutions," Charney said. "Nothing good is going to happen as long as we continue to bleed homeowners."

On the Net:

Consumer Warning Network: http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com
American Securitization Forum: http://www.americansecuritization.com

Coupon Web Sites: Never Pay Full Price Again?

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 07:14:43 -0600

by Melissa Korn

These days, it seems there’s no sense buying something unless you can get at a steep discount. That goes for big-ticket items like houses and cars, down to such smaller purchases as vacation packages, electronics and clothes.

According to research group comScore Inc., 27 million Americans visited coupon sites in October, up 33% from a year earlier. And from last January to September, the number of coupon-related Web searches doubled. So it’s clear more of us are hunting for deals.

Scores of Web sites aggregate coupons and promotional codes that help people shop online without ever having to pay full price. Some, like Coupons.com, are geared toward grocery and drug store staples. (Today, that site is featuring $1 off Velveeta cheese and $2 off Perdue Frozen Fully Cooked Chicken on its home page.)

But others, like CouponCabin.com and RetailMeNot.com, offer a wider array of discounts for popular retailers, usable in-store and online. CouponCabin claims to have more than 100,000 discounts from more than 20,000 merchants.

While some sites require subscriptions to get at the good stuff, most offer coupons for free. The sites make money by selling ad space or offering “featured discount” status to stores for a set fee.

Here’s how it works: I happen to be in the market for a new comforter, as mine was mauled by a pair of scissors (an arts and crafts project gone bad). At CouponCabin.com, I found a discount code for $15 off any order over $75 at Macy’s, which is having its own sale. I click the coupon link, which takes me to Macy’s site, find the item I want, enter the code upon checkout, and, voila — a new comforter for Melissa. CouponCabin.com even shows a screen shot of where to enter the promotional code on a store’s Web site.

Most coupon sites allow you to sort discounts by retailer, so if my comforter didn’t qualify for the minimum dollar amount of one Macy’s coupon, I could always check to see if it made the cut for another.

Coupon sites vary in breadth of offerings, but also in practicality. Users should scour these sites after picking out a specific item on a store’s Web site or when they want a certain item (say, a just-released DVD) but don’t care where they buy it. But if you’re tempted to buy things just because they’re on sale, steer clear, as these sites can turn your computers into a money pit.

RetailMeNot.com, for example, has shopping tips for certain stores, as well as a separate forum for shoppers to trade details on one-day sales and new markdowns. Sensible for people who have been eyeing those fabulous but otherwise too-expensive jeans. Not so much for people who just like to browse.

One nifty thing RetailMeNot.com does have is a downloadable browser application that alerts you to promotions and coupons when you are on a retailer’s Web site. If you don’t mind the extra software, it may be a good way to ensure savings even if you forget to consult a coupon site pre-checkout. RetailMeNot.com also provides success rates for coupon codes so you know whether that hot 30% off code at J.Crew is likely to work when it comes time to check out.

Of course, coupon sites aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be in terms of actual bargains. Some ask contributors to send in those alphanumeric codes they get after making purchases, the ones that promise a percentage off the person’s next purchase above and beyond other promotions. But they also include nothing-special “savings.” Right now, AnyCoupons.com (along with a half-dozen other sites) lists free shipping on purchases totaling $150 or more at Banana Republic. But the store’s own Web site advertises that one, and has done so for at least a few weeks. Because so many stores are discounting deeply and offering incentives, make sure to check out the sidebars on retailers’ own sites for discount codes.

Readers, what are your favorite coupon Web sites? Why? Do you find them helpful for online or in-store shopping, or both?

Jason Donn

Even Once-Strong Housing Markets Stumble

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:43:12 -0600

Formerly resilient areas like Charlotte, N.C., and Boston are struggling, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index

Home prices in 20 major metro areas nationwide fell 18.2% in November -- a record annual pace -- as the deteriorating economy pulled down previously resilient markets, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released Jan. 27.

All 20 metro areas in the index saw annual price declines, 14 of which were double-digit drops and 11 of which fell by record rates. Only Denver and Dallas experienced a drop of less than 5%.

The index, which is a three-month moving average ending in November, captures the impact of the financial crisis following Lehman Brothers' collapse in September. The November decline was terrible, but it wasn't much worse than the October drop, said Patrick Newport, U.S. Economist for HIS Global Insight.

"There is so much inventory," Newport said. "Prices are going to continue to drop for quite a while."

Bargains in Worst Markets

But in the worst markets, including Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas, the year-over-year price declines -- though deep -- have remained relatively flat since the summer. A wave of foreclosures has depressed prices so much in those markets that investors and other first-time home buyers have moved in to scoop up bargains. According to a survey released on Jan. 26 by the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing single-family homes jumped an unexpected 7% in December from November's seasonally adjusted annual rate.

In Los Angeles, for example, the annual decline has stayed between 25% and 27% since June, according to the index. In Miami, the annual declines since may have remained in the 28%-to-29% range.

"If you buy a home and rent it out in these markets, you can have a positive cash flow just because prices are so low," said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla. "Even though the economy is crummy, some investors are willing to nibble when the price is right."

Other resilient markets were feeling the impact of the economic downturn. Year-over-year declines have been accelerating in Minneapolis, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Washington, Detroit, San Francisco, and Charlotte, N.C

Charlotte Market Stumbles on Banking Woes

In Atlanta, for example, the year-over-year declines increased steadily each month, from 2.12% in November 2007 to 11.25% in November 2008, according to the 20-city index. In Charlotte, the banking capital of the South, home prices fell 5.33% in November 2008. By comparison, prices jumped 2.9% in November 2007.

The Charlotte housing market was relatively stable until the summer because the area had benefited from a population boom and a strong job market. But buyers grew cautious as problems worsened in the financial sector. Charlotte-based Bank of America plans to eliminate up to 42,500 jobs worldwide as a result of mergers with Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch. And Wells Fargo also is expected to cut local jobs as a result of its acquisition of Charlotte-based Wachovia.

"People don't know how many layoffs there will be in Charlotte," said Professor Steven Ott, director of the Center for Real Estate, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. "There's a lot of uncertainty."

Charlotte appraiser Steven Stone said Charlotte's problems have worsened since November. Home sales were off 40% in December compared to the previous December. And prices are now down 15% to 20% for homes above $600,000 and down up to 20% for starter homes, he said.

The financial crisis is the "main reason Charlotte took the last punch compared with other markets," Stone said.

Gopal writes about real estate for BusinessWeek in New York.

Jason Donn

Fannie: Renters Can Stay in Foreclosed Home

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:28:25 -0600

Fannie Mae announced Tuesday that it would allow qualified renters of foreclosed properties owned by a government-controlled mortgage company to stay in their homes.

Under the National Real Estate Owned (REO) Rental Policy, renters of homes acquired by Fannie Mae will be offered a new monthly lease at market-rate rent or if they desire, financial aid to help them move.

The properties must meet state and local building and safety codes.

Fannie Mae also said it will hire real estate practitioners or property management companies to manage the properties while the units are for sale.

America's 25 Weakest Housing Markets

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:10:16 -0600

Last year was brutal for real estate markets in Florida, California and Arizona. This year won't be much better.

In Palm Bay, Fla., a 563,000-person metro area on the central Florida coast, it's not just lush palm trees dotting the landscape--foreclosure signs are all over.

Partly to blame? The area's median home sale price has fallen by half since 2006, from $238,000 to $110,000, according to Trulia.com, an online real estate data provider. This has left many homeowners owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

As a result, almost 1,800 homes are in the process of being repossessed by lenders--twice as many houses as were sold in the six months between May and November.

And more foreclosures are inevitable as homeowners cut their losses and walk away from their mortgages. There are already so many empty homes that the city passed an ordinance two months ago requiring lenders to identify which abandoned properties they owned.

In Depth: America's 25 Weakest Housing Markets

Farther south in Miami, it's a similar story. Online real estate data provider Zillow.com estimates that 96% of Miami's houses are losing value. Median sales prices were 22% lower than last year in the third quarter.

Out West, in Las Vegas, a crushing 98% of homes are losing value and foreclosures account for 45% of all transactions, according to Zillow.

All three top a list of the country's top 25 worst housing markets in 2009. Provo, Utah, and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., round out the top five.

Behind the Numbers
To find them, we asked Moody's Economy.com to compile a list of the country's real estate markets that are furthest from recovery. Moody's looked at the country's Census-defined metro areas--including metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas--with populations over 500,000 and prepared forecasts through 2011. They then compared them with prices in the second quarter of 2008, the latest figures available, to calculate how far prices will likely fall before reaching bottom.

In Palm Bay, real estate values are expected to fall another 41.4% before bottoming late next year. Miami could be in for a similar decline, and Fort Lauderdale is forecast to drop another 30%.

There are more familiar names on the worst-off list: Los Angeles and Phoenix where foreclosure signs and half-built exurbs serve as constant reminders of the real estate frenzy that lead to this crisis.

In Las Vegas, where speculation moved out of the casinos and into the property market, prices have another 43% to lose, according to Moody's.

In Phoenix, too many houses and too much speculation sent property prices into a tailspin two years ago. But the bottom may be in sight late this year--after another 31% drop.

Tucson, Ariz., also looks like it's close to flattening out--after an estimated 33% fall by the end of next year.

For other towns on our list, there's still plenty of time to get 'em while they're cold. Most of these troubled markets--including Santa Ana, Calif.,Orlando, Fla., and Jacksonville, Fla.,--won't even start to recover until next year or the year after.

That's even though real estate prices, on average, across the country should hit bottom by the end of this year, according to Moody's forecasts, after an average 15% drop. (Click here to see the nation's strongest markets.)

It's not just the cities already facing massive foreclosures that are poised to further stumble; this year the gloom is spreading to the country's second-home markets.

Many of these places were doing well until recently as retiring boomers and investors bought property where they played. But the market for second homes followed Wall Street into a deep dive last year. Because the downturn hit many of these markets late, the worst is yet to come.

Just over a year ago, for example, property prices in Salt Lake City were still rising, even though they were falling just about everywhere else.

By the third quarter of 2007, the median home sold for $247,000 versus $203,000 in 2006. Prices haven't fallen much yet; the median price in late 2008 was $230,000, according to the National Association of Realtors.

But Salt Lake City, which is surrounded by some of the best ski resorts in the West, is just starting to feel the effects of the drop-off in second-home buying. Prices are set to fall 29% over the next two years, according to Moody's forecasts.

Provo, Utah, and Boise City, Idaho, are also headed down with the drop in nearby ski home sales, says Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com.

Honolulu hurt by the drop in buyers from Asia and California, is beginning a long and slow descent, with real estate prices forecast to drop 31% before hitting bottom in 2011.

There is another region where the worst may be to come: New York City-area metros. Housing values in Newark, N.J., could fall 26%.

Likewise, Edison, N.J., is also among the mid-sized metro areas expected to see the steepest drops this year. But the worst could be over by the end of 2009 for New York's satellite cities.

Manhattan, now at the epicenter of the financial crisis, is noticeably absent from the top 25 weakest markets list. So far, the city has been isolated from the popping bubbles in the rest of the country.

Property prices were rising in Manhattan until early last year. Zandi believes Manhattan could be spared a steep drop. He expects a fall of around 20%. Even if big bankers lose their bonuses, "Manhattan is still supported by international demand," he says.

That prediction may prove conservative. The value of new contracts signed have already dipped 15% to 20% in the fourth quarter, according to a Beige Book report from the U.S. Federal Reserve last month.

The report said much of the activity came from "desperate sellers," so it may not be a fair gauge of where prices will go from here.

Of course, that depends on how many more sellers become desperate.

Foreclosure crisis: The $4 billion fix

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:47:25 -0600

Washington will give funds to states and cities to rehab houses. Proponents say it will help stabilize neighborhoods, but others say it's too little to do much good.

By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney.com senior writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- City officials and community activists can't wait to get their hands on nearly $4 billion the federal government is about to inject into blighted neighborhoods suffering from record foreclosures.

Opponents of the measure say the paltry sum won't do much good considering the number of vacant homes on the market - one million families are expected to lose their homes this year - and will more likely turn into a political boondoggle.

It remains to be seen which side is right. But the program - part of the massive housing rescue bill Bush enacted last month despite his own misgivings - will serve as one test of Washington's ability to mitigate the foreclosure crisis.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected in late September to come up with a formula for how to distribute $3.92 billion to states and cities nationwide to turn foreclosed property to affordable housing for sale or rent.

The funds are intended to help communities deal with the flood of vacant homes, which drain public resources and drag down property values of neighboring houses.

"This money will help get neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosures back on their feet again," said Jeff Falcusan, policy advisor for the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, a trade group.

Congress mandated that the money be allocated based on the number and percentage of foreclosures, homes financed with subprime loans and homes in default or delinquency in the community. Once the formula is set, HUD has 30 days to dole out the funds. Government officials then have 18 months to put the money to use in their neighborhoods.

In addition to buying and fixing up homes, municipalities can use the money to demolish blighted structures and redevelop vacant land. The foreclosed property must be bought at a discount from its current appraised value to avoid bailing out the lenders.

Local governments could rehab the properties on their own or with the help of public housing authorities. They could also partner with community groups.

The program is also designed to increase the affordable housing stock in the community. The law mandates that the homes be sold or rented to families at or below 120% of the area median income, with one-quarter of the funds set aside for families at or below 50% of median income.

Communities "will have the opportunity to put these houses back into productive use," said Steve Adamske, communications director for the House Committee of Financial Services.

Vacant homes = trouble

Vacant properties can cause big problems for municipalities. As the number of abandoned homes multiplies, property tax revenues fall. Yet, the vacant houses often require more public resources, including frequent visits by police, health department and code enforcement officials. And they hurt property values of surrounding houses.

In Tucson, Ariz., which has been hit hard in the housing slump, abandoned pools have been a particular concern because they attract West Nile-carrying mosquitoes, said Emily Nottingham, the city's community services director. Neighbors also complain about dilapidated houses and overgrown gardens.

"It can really become an eyesore for a neighborhood," she said. Vacant houses "can attract squatters and if the weeds are overgrown, it's harder for adjoining houses to be sold. Pools turn green and attract mosquitoes."

Foreclosures are a widespread problem in Tucson. It already has 4,000 foreclosed properties on the market and is expecting the number to grow. The city is projecting 8,000 homes to enter foreclosure this year - some of which are already up for sale - and another 8,000 in 2009.

The key to using the federal funds most effectively is concentrating efforts in particular neighborhoods rather than scattering the money around town, experts said.

"Target neighborhoods where it can make a difference," said Buzz Roberts, senior vice president for policy at Local Initiatives Support Corp., a national non-profit group which focuses on rebuilding low-income communities.

Local rehab efforts

Rehabbing blighted communities is nothing new for many municipalities and community groups, experts said. Numerous efforts are underway to address the mess left behind in the foreclosure crisis, said Ali Solis, vice president for public policy and industry relations at Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit group that develops and finances affordable housing.

For instance, Living Cities, a collaboration of corporations and philanthropies, is doling out $10 million in grants to renovate foreclosed properties. The initial recipients include Dallas, Detroit, New York and Washington, D.C.

In Cincinnati, local officials are hoping to use the federal funds to augment a $1.25 million revitalization effort already in the works, said Michael Cervay, director of community development.

The funds should allow the city to demolish or fix up hundreds of vacant homes. The city has about half of the 5,600 homes that went into foreclosure in Hamilton County in 2007. Even more foreclosures are expected this year.

"It will make a significant impact on the problem in Cincinnati," he said.

A drop in the bucket

Some foreclosure experts, however, said that the funding is too little to have any real effect, especially in the hardest hit areas. California, for example, had 209,000 homes go into foreclosure over the past year, said Sean O'Toole, founder of foreclosureradar.com, a foreclosed properties website for real estate professionals.

"$4 billion is kind of a meaningless sum," O'Toole said. "It can't possibly make a difference. You've brought a pistol to a nuclear war."

Converting foreclosed houses into livable homes may prove a big challenge for many municipalities, said David John, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. He foresees a lot of the funding going to waste in poor planning or fraud.

Also, because of the weak housing market, local officials might find themselves unable to unload the houses once they are renovated at a price the recoups the repair costs, he said.

"The money could be better used for other purposes," John said. "State and local government have a rather bad record of managing this kind of activity. They don't really have much expertise in retail housing."

Radical cheap: $1,000 homes

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:24:11 -0600

Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

The real estate market is so awful that buyers are now scooping up homes for as little as $1,000.

There are 18 listings in Flint, Mich., for under $3,000, according to Realtor.com. There are 22 in Indianapolis, 46 in Cleveland and a whopping 709 in Detroit. All of these communities have been hit hard by foreclosures, and most of these homes are being sold by the lenders that repossessed them.

"Foreclosures have turned banks into property management companies," said Heather Fernandez, a spokeswoman for Trulia.com, the real estate Web site. "And it's often cheaper for them to give these homes away rather than try to get market value for them."

In Detroit for instance, Century 21 Villa owner Randy Eissa has a three-bedroom, one-bath bungalow of about 1,000 square feet listed at just $500. It's a nice place with lots of light, but it needs a total rehabilitation inside, which Eissa estimates will cost between $15,000 and $20,000. But that's not bad, considering that the home last sold for $72,000 in late 2007, according to Zillow.com.

With prices this low, lenders aren't looking to make any money on these deals. They just want to get these houses off their books, so they don't have to bear the cost of maintaining them and paying property taxes.

In fact, the $500, $1,000 or $3,000 that a buyer forks over often goes straight to the real estate brokers as a commission. And often the lenders have to kick in extra cash to make it worthwhile for a realtor even take the listings, according to Eissa.

"Usually these homes are bank repossessions that the lenders have already tried to sell on the market, perhaps then put up for auction without success and then re-listed," he said.

Fixer uppers

These houses are almost always small fixer-uppers. Wiring, plumbing and heating systems have to be replaced, walls and ceilings sheet-rocked, plumbing and light fixtures installed and new kitchen cabinets and counters put in. Few come with working appliances.

Often buyers are legally required to rehab these homes to bring them up to code. In Detroit, buyers are required to sign Affidavits of Compliance Responsibility, which obligates them to make repairs outlined in an inspection report. Only after that can a certificate of occupancy will be issued, which makes the house legal to live in.

But even factoring in these costs, they're still bargains.

And as the housing crisis drags on, there are more and more four-figure listings popping up, as lenders try to unload their repossessed properties.

Cleveland is another city with many incredibly inexpensive homes. On Ardenall Avenue, in East Cleveland, McMullen Realty has a listing for a four-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath house for $1,900. It's been vandalized inside, but the outside is in good shape.

It features a deep front porch with Doric columns, double dormer windows and a separate garage. It's an excellent opportunity, according to agent Tonya Stoudamire. The last time it sold was in March of 2008 when it went for $16,677, according to Zillow.

"East Cleveland has a beautiful housing stock," she said. "These houses just need someone to come in and love them a little."

Another property for sale in Birmingham Ala. is priced at $1,900. The one-bedroom, one bathroom home was built in 1923 and has major fire damage, according to its listing broker, Tom Murphy Realty. The listing states that "Rooms are hard to distinguish."

But it's on a nice-sized lot, about 0.38 acre, close to downtown and transportation and has all utilities. Nearby, comparable homes in good condition sell for about $100,000, according to Zillow.

Rehab money

Most of these $1,000 homes can be renovated relatively inexpensively, and buyers can actually get government help to finance these repairs. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a special loan program for just such purchases.

Its rehabilitation mortgage insurance, available through FHA-approved lenders, was designed to encourage banks to issue a single, long-term loan to buyers that covers both the acquisition and rehabilitation of a property, according to HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan.

He adds that there may also be grant money available from the $4 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was a part of the massive housing rescue bill passed by Congress in July, to assist buyers with grants for down payments.

Buying homes like these is certainly a leap of faith; they're generally not in the best of neighborhoods and they're often surrounded by many other vacant and deteriorating homes. Still, some of these neighborhoods may turn around and provide residents with good, dirt-cheap housing.

"It's a sad time," said Stoudamire. "But it's also a time of opportunity, especially for low and moderate income people."

Deals on houses are around, but money isn't

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 05:25:25 -0600

By Michael Braga

BRADENTON - Joseph Kandel is itching to get hold of serious cash so he can take advantage of real estate deals he sees every day as an agent with Horizon Realty in Bradenton.

A 50-year-old entrepreneur who has written a book on dating, Kandel formed a company called 1st & 10 Properties in early 2008 and is trying to raise at least $10 million through a public stock offering.

Kandel wants to use the money to buy as many as 80 luxury homes and mid-range vacation properties at bargain-basement prices and hold those properties until the values appreciate by 50 percent.

"Ultra-luxury homes are expected to increase from $1 million to $1.7 million in the next four to five years, while multi-family properties in the $200,000 range are expected to appreciate to approximately $300,000 within four to five years," Kandel says in his registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "It is for those reasons, 1st and 10 Properties will purchase as many units in those price ranges as possible."

Throughout the 51-page document, Kandel expresses what a lot of investors and market watchers are feeling right now -- that this truly is the right time to buy.

The problem is that turmoil in global financial markets is making it difficult for investors like Kandel to raise money and is prompting others with cash to hold back for fear the economy will deteriorate further.

"There were a lot of players that were looking last year, but the prices were not right," said Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach-based real estate consultant who correctly called the housing downturn. "This year, a lot of players have fallen by the wayside due to the economic crisis, but others are coming out of retirement for what should be one of the greatest buying opportunities for distressed properties in a generation.

"I would say 2009 really will be that year."

Big dreams, big obstacle

In 2007, another Joe appeared on the Southwest Florida real estate investment scene.

Joe Long, a New Jersey entrepreneur who built a New York elevator company into one of the biggest in the country, tried to raise $700 million to buy 1,500 homes from Southwest Florida builders and developers for about 70 cents on the dollar. But Long was unable to raise to the cash from hedge funds and other institutional investors. He got in the game much too early and was offering too much money for properties, real estate experts say.

Hedge funds and other larger institutional investors are no longer the primary actors in the vulture game, said Peter Zalewski, founder of a Miami-based consulting firm that caters to vulture investors. These big players, which deal in the hundreds of millions of dollars, prefer to let smaller players take the lead.

"Institutions are reminding us that the first settlers usually get the arrows and the second ones get the land," Zalewski said. "That's why we haven't seen them pull the trigger."

The result is that smaller players will be the ones that dominate the market in the short term, Zalewski said.

In Southwest Florida, it is people like Elizabeth and Michael Thrasher, Michael Averbuch and Peter Arguelles who have started buying.

The Thrashers have spent $11.6 million to buy seven properties on Anna Maria Island since April. Averbuch spent hundreds of thousands more to buy condos and raw land in North Port and Sarasota. Arguelles has paid $1.6 million to buy 19 houses in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

"If you can buy houses where the cash flow more than covers the operating costs, why wouldn't you buy?" Arguelles said. "We are able to do this now. We can buy houses for less than the freakin' cost of nails and wood. If you can buy dollars for dimes, then you should buy all you can."

Realtors say investors like these are rare and the growing financial crisis has made them more uncertain about parting with their cash.

"The whole Wall Street thing has unnerved people," said Jo Rutstein, an agent with Premier Properties of Southwest Florida. "We had three investors ready to buy, but when they saw their stock portfolios drop 25 to 30 percent, they decided to hold on."

Everybody is frightened, agreed Steve DuToit, an agent with Keller Williams in Sarasota.

"They don't know what is going to happen, whether this thing has bottomed out," he said. "But once they realize that this is a great time to buy, they will come alive again."

Opportunities abound

Kandel is eager to buy. The real estate firm he works for -- Horizon Realty -- is seeing investors and end users close on 35 bank-owned properties every month and another 25 short sales, in which buyers negotiate with banks to buy properties for less than what banks are owed by the former owners.

Kandel's problem is money.

Though he bought and sold five properties for $440,000 more than he paid during the boom, his fortunes changed in the bust. He has defaulted on four loans totaling $2.4 million since the beginning of the year.

But that apparently is not stopping him from going ahead with his public offering.

"I was flipping and made a nice living for while, but I got caught with my pants down like everyone else," Kandel said. "The problem now is there is just too much inventory and not enough end users. So the same investors who were buying up properties during the boom are needed to help with the resurrection."

The model for his new company is different than the model he operated under during the boom, Kandel said. Then, it was all about flipping properties for ever higher amounts. Now, it is about buying and holding for four or five years.

"Each property we buy will be self-sustaining," Kandel said. "It will generate enough rent to cover the carrying costs."

Unable to borrow from banks because of his worsening credit, Kandel hopes to persuade investors to buy shares that may one day be traded on the over-the-counter penny stock exchange, or pink sheets, in which stock generally trades for less than $5 per share.

"I know there is a lot of money out there," Kandel said. "Unfortunately we're running into resistance from spineless people who have money but no vision."

A history of failure

In his effort to sell stock in a fledgling company that has no profits or operating history, Kandel has called on the experience of Kenneth Brand, a Sarasota entrepreneur who spent 2002 through 2006 as the chief executive of Central Wireless, a perpetually money-losing cell tower builder that also traded on the over-the-counter exchange.

Central Wireless built a total of 12 cell towers at $30,000 each and ended up accumulating more than $5.5 million in losses. Brand is now one of four directors, including Kandel's sister, who sit on the board of 1st & 10.

In his registration statement, Kandel does not oversell his company's prospects. He clearly points out there is a good chance 1st & 10 will have to punt.

"Since the incorporation of 1st & 10 Properties, we have not generated revenues. With limited financial resources, we may not be able to continue as a going concern," the registration statement says.

Despite those very strong negatives, Kandel remains optimistic. "We're at the bottom," he said. "Anyone who knows real estate knows this is a great time to get in."

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Great Quotes for Success

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:51:01 -0600

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.
David Brinkley

Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.
Dale Carnegie

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiam.
Winston Churchill

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
Albert Einstein

Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.
Arnold H. Glasow

Failure is success if we learn from it.
Malcolm Forbes

Residential building lots getting cheaper

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:43:51 -0600

Banks that were heavily involved in lending for residential subdivision development are taking a hit all over Georgia. Due to the downtown in the market and the supply of building lots in several metro counties, banks have had to foreclose on these developments. And, as a result, some are reducing inventory at dramatic decreases in prices.

It seems that the private sector, in good ole' capitalistic fashion, is swooping in to invest in these properties. One member of one of these "vulture funds," as people are starting to call them, says he expects an 18-month to 24-month hold period for the lots.

Due to the overwhelming supply of lots to the existing demand, he expects that development of some of these subdivisions won't begin until sometime in 2010. So, to factor in this hold time, many of these investors are calculating two years' worth of interest in their development proformas.

Of course, most often, they are cash buyers, since financing has continued to be difficult to obtain. And, when cash is king in any market, the product becomes cheaper due to the lack of leverage and fewer buyers.

While the big land deals will be purchased by well-funded investors, there may be opportunities for future homeowners to buy a building lot for their dream home. Since there are so many lots on the market, the investment funds tend to overlook the smaller one- and two-lot deals. There's just not enough time in the day for them to look at the smaller deals. This may provide some opportunity for a cash buyer to buy a lot at a discounted price.

So, if you have interest in building a new home, contact your local banker and see what they have available. You might find a deal that's too good to pass up.

•••

Brian Patton, CCIM is the founding broker of Capital Realty Advisors, LLC of Alpharetta. He is an author and lecturer on real estate issues and can be reached via his company Web site at: www.CapitalListings.com.

Lennar fights back in housing freefall

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:36:53 -0600

Lennar's CEO said there's no end in sight to the housing bust unless the government steps in, as the homebuilder reported a loss and joined the vulture investors.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN

MiamiHerald.com

The housing market is getting worse, not better, the leader of Miami-based Lennar said Thursday as the homebuilding giant announced its second straight year of billion-dollar losses.

Lennar CEO Stuart Miller said home prices are in ''freefall,'' and the only way to break the downward spiral is a federal government stimulus package.

''That bright light at the end of the housing market's dark tunnel will be government action,'' Miller said in a conference call with analysts.

Like other developers, Lennar is trying to navigate an ugly downturn at the root of a broader economic recession, a plunge that has sent Lennar's stock plunging 80 percent in the last two years and put several Florida developers such as WCI Communities into bankruptcy court. Lennar has major operations in Florida and California, the two states hit hardest by the housing downturn.

Lennar's strategy includes hoarding cash -- it had $1.09 billion in reserves as of Nov. 30 -- and establishing a fund aimed at buying distressed residential properties.

The $1.1 billion Lennar lost in its fiscal 2008 is a remarkable reversal of the $1.4 billion in profit Lennar earned in 2005. That year, the height of the housing boom, was the first -- and only -- time the company cracked a billion in profits.

On Thursday, Lennar said revenue in fiscal 2008 dropped by more than half to $4.6 billion. The $1.1 billion in losses -- $7 per share -- was actually an improvement from the $1.9 billion in 2007, but still among its worst years ever. For its fourth quarter, Lennar lost $811 million, or $5.12 a share.

Orders for new Lennar homes dropped 46 percent to 2,563 in the fourth quarter, and the number of homes the company delivered to buyers declined 34 percent to 4,484. The rate at which customers canceled contracts also rose, while the average price of Lennar homes fell from $291,000 a year ago to $262,000 as the company offered discounts.

Company stock responded mildly to Lennar's earnings report, closing down 1.3 percent to $10.12.

Miller said Lennar's primary moves remain generating cash by selling off its inventory of unsold homes, reducing land purchases and building fewer homes.

In the conference call, Miller said Lennar not only had $1.1 billion in reserves -- up from $642 million a year ago -- but it received a $230 million tax refund, further fortifying its cash stash.

''In 2009, cash generation will continue to be our top priority,'' Miller said.

UBS analyst David Goldberg wrote in a note to clients that ''we continue to believe Lennar has the requisite liquidity to withstand the downturn.'' Goldberg rates Lennar's shares ``neutral.''

Meanwhile, Lennar is planning for an eventual upturn by launching a fund aimed at buying distressed residential real estate. Miller said the move was similar to a highly successful effort in the 1980s when, during a previous downturn, Lennar created a real estate investment and finance arm -- which also invested in commercial properties -- it later called LNR.

That firm, based in Miami Beach, was subsequently spun off as a stand-alone public company before being taken private by New York-based investment giant Cerberus Capital Management and entities controlled by Miller.

Jeffrey Krasnoff, LNR's former CEO, is heading up the new fund, called Rialto Capital Management. Miller, who would not provide many details about the new fund, said it will have to substantially raise its own money and will be segregated from Lennar, though it will still benefit shareholders.

A long line of real estate developers and investors have already announced funds to buy everything from raw land and unfinished residential developments to delinquent loans. So far, however, there have not been many deals.

''The reality is that they are highly experienced and the timing is right,'' said Lew Goodkin of Goodkin Consulting in Miami, referring to Lennar. ``I think there will be a real break in distressed properties. Everyone has been waiting for the miracle but it hasn't happened, so I am expecting a break by second quarter.''

But Miller said the big remedy remains an economic stimulus package by the federal government. In the latest quarter, the CEO said, broader economic pressures continued to undermine the housing market ``as rising unemployment, falling home prices, increased foreclosures, tighter credit and volatile equity markets further eroded consumer confidence and depressed home sales.''

He said a fix must stem the flow of foreclosures and keep people in their homes. But he said demand must also be stimulated by measures that shove mortgage rates further downward and push wary buyers back into the market.

Miller expressed hope the incoming Obama administration will push a housing stimulus package, since the problems are clear and the new administration is not saddled with having created the downturn.

''I fundamentally believe that things always look darkest just before the fix,'' Miller said. ``And things are looking adequately dark right now.''

7 Tips to Writing a Press Release

Jason Donn (eRealEstate) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:32:25 -0600

7 Tips to Writing a Press Release

Los Angeles, California, December 15, 2008, - Publicity and press release are the most affordable way to market any business. A press release is a news story reported by an editor or reporter from the media. Press releases add credibility to your business because is issued by the third party reviewer or columnist. A startup company can have an edge over the competition for having publicity. Here are some tips on writing a press release:

1. One must THINK like a reporter.

What news coverage do media need? Since these publicities are free, one must have a newsworthy story to tell. Just pick up a copy of the daily newspaper, and you can see what kind of news is being reported.

2. One must WRITE like a reporter.

Sound professional, keep it all business. Don’t talk about your personal issues, or bash the competitors. Just concentrate on promoting the news or event and the benefit of it. Remember: You are the third party reporting the story.

3. HEADLINE: Have something that grabs people’s attention.

Just like marketing or advertising, the title grabs people’s attention. Go to Yahoo or MSN and check out their story headlines. The headlines are usually one sentence in length. Find out what headlines make people look into that news.

4. BODY TEXT: Keep it simple, and get to the point.

Editor from the media gets many press releases a day. They may only have few seconds to scan through your press release. Write something less than a page long, around 400-500 words for the body of your text.

5. Promote without selling

In the movie Bruce Almighty, Jim Carrey played a reporter that couldn’t get the anchor job. Instead, he went around and reported the special interest stories. So he went to a promotional event to report the news about the biggest cookie in Buffalo city. The bakery store made a BIG cookie that’s newsworthy, so the mom and pop shop got their publicity.

Another example: One of the major insurance companies trains their agents to promote Children’s Digital IDs at a fair. During these events, children can get their photos taken and made into an ID. At the same time, there’s a questioner that people HAVE to fill out on their insurance needs. Of course, the agents will follow up on how the ID is working, with the questioners in hand.

6. TARGET the right audience or newspaper.

It’s always better to target your audience. It makes no sense to market your fashion designer cloth in the supermarket meat section. You are probably better off doing a fashion show in the mall, or advertise in the fashion magazine. You can get FREE targeted media contact lists from my website.

7. Do care about the Format and Style

All Press Releases are done in certain format and style. Remember in school that your term paper must be submitted in APA style; otherwise you will get a failing grade? Same thing is true with press releases. Have you notice that this blog is written using press release format? Here is the format:

a) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (upper case, first line on left, editor will know it can be published)
b) Contact info: (contact / company / phone / fax / email / web )
c) Headline (Don’t use all caps)
d) Dateline (City, State, Date in first paragraph)
e) First paragraph (intro: who, where, when, why, how)
f) Body text (detail info: 400-500 words)
g) Last paragraph (wrap up with additional contact info)
h) Finally put ### at the end

Press release tips offer by Realty Inner Circle. For media editor contact list, Click here, or to promote your Real Estate related biz, visit: http://www.realtyinnercircle.com (Real Estate Social Network and Realty Listings)

Brazil	30%
Germany	19%
United States	11%
United Kingdom	8%
Japan	6%
Italy	-2%
Switzerland*	-4%
Spain	-7%
France	-10%
Australia	NA
Source: The Nielsen Company Switzerland data is for Home only *Data for Australia cannot be trended due to recent methodology changes