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Non-Tech : Investing in Real Estate - Creative Opportunities -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: peter michaelson who wrote (558)	5/6/2012 12:17:29 PM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2722

Lenders have become very sticky. Demanding large down payments, credit scores of 775 and higher, proofs not only of income but of the source of the down payment (no loans; explicit guarantees from relatives or friends that any help is an outright gift), anything else they can poke their noses into. The ridiculous thing is that lenders are neglecting the disastrous position they will be in if they make 30-year loans at less than 4% and after a while find themselves having to pay over 5% on short term money. And at some point inflationary expectations will start to force interest rates up. Everything could get a LOT worse. But I am tired of acting out the old New Yorker cartoon cliché of the bearded guy on the street carrying his sign, THE END IS NEAR.

To: peter michaelson who wrote (558)	5/6/2012 12:29:14 PM
From: Smart_Asset	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2722

<<As the bottom appears to be in, generally, I think the buying is about to begin. What do you guys think?>> Mr Kinchen has an opposing view on both counts. huntingtonnews.net " Instead foreclosure processing delays in 2011 have artificially exaggerated what would have been a slow, natural decrease in foreclosure activity off the foreclosure peak of 2010. This artificial trough in foreclosure activity in 2011 will result in a corresponding double-peak in 2012." "Resurging foreclosure activity in 2012 will look less like a tsunami and more like a series of smaller waves rolling into shore over the course of the year — which should allow the market to absorb this inventory without another 20 or 30 percent hit to home prices. Still, the steady influx of foreclosure activity will also keep home prices from appreciating substantially during the year." My own near term experience(owner/broker) in sales and property management indicate that both Fannie and Freddie have streamlined the process resulting in a very low inventory coupled with historically low interest rates that make a market that currently favors the seller but, given the raw numbers suggested in the article above, could swing violently in favor of buyers again. IMO the possibility of sustained monthly increasing home values is very low. A mix of foreclosures with distressed properties with baby boom demographics(selling) with the effects of gasoline prices and high unemployment is a bitter recipe.

To: peter michaelson who wrote (558)	5/6/2012 4:01:39 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 2722

A thought on home prices. If people become confident that the bottom is in, there could be a rush to buy. They will realize that with interest rates this low, the cost of ownership will never be more attractive. As the bottom appears to be in, generally, I think the buying is about to begin. What do you guys think? Unfortunately, bottoming is a process; not an event. As prices firm and start to go up, you will see inventories start to grow again. Right now, most metro areas have less than a 6 month housing inventory.......the level at which housing is in equilibrium between buyers and sellers. As owners see prices firm and start to go up, they will come back into the market and trade up. While inventories will grow, they will be buying more expensive properties which should keep a platform under the median even as banks release more foreclosure properties into the market. The good news is the worst appears to be over.