компютри втора употребаFannie Mae Announces Single National Down Payment Policy;
Replaces Policy Regarding Markets Where Home Prices are Declining

A friend of mine sent me this article the other day and I thought I’d share because it’s important information for where we are right now in real estate! This may help those of us in areas where our buyers have had a hard time getting financing for our deals and lenders have been scrutinizing deals with a microscope!

WASHINGTON, DC — Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) today announced a new, national policy on down payment requirements for conventional, conforming mortgages the company will purchase or guarantee. Starting June 1, 2008, Fannie Mae will accept up to 97 percent loan-to-value ratios for conventional, conforming mortgages processed through its Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) automated underwriting system, and 95 percent loan-to-value ratios for loans underwritten outside of DU, in all geographic locations in the United States. The new national down payment policy will supersede the policy the company adopted in December 2007 that required higher down payments in markets where home prices are declining.

Every time you turn on the news, it’s doom and gloom for real estate all around the country.

And certainly… the news is not good by and large throughout most of the country, BUT… believe it or not, there are pockets that are alive and doing VERY WELL, just like when most of the country was in vertical growth, there were pockets with record foreclosures!

The key is being able to know where those markets are BEFORE everybody else does (Click Here to find out how to find the best markets TODAY).

Let’s look at what could happen if you found the markets before your competitors did? (more…)

Listen to Lou Castillo’s “Online RE Empire HERE (In this 90 minute interview, Lou reveals how YOU CAN have multiple streams of income with real estate as the foundation)

I remember back about 5 years ago when the whole “Multiple Streams of Income” was all the rage. But, even then… I thought, “Hmmm. How in the heck is anyone supposed to learn 4 VERY DIFFERENT businesses at the same time?”

I consider myself pretty good at multi-tasking and taking on multiple projects at the same time, but when you’re trying to…

… Learn the RE business;
… Figure out how to write ebooks and put them online;
… Speak publicly;
… Understand the stock market; and
… Choose a network marketing company

all at once, it’s no doubt that you wind up running in circles, never really getting ANYTHING accomplished. I know from first hand experience. I would go to a seminar or an event and I would want to come home and do EVERYTHING! I remember starting (more…)

I’m happy to be ushering 2007 right out the door! Sure, we’ve had a great year in our business. I’ve worked with some of the best minds in real estate, marketing, internet, seminars, etc. But… we’ve also had our share of headaches this year too.

So… we are out with old and in with the new. We’re taking the next ten days to clean out, empty out and start fresh! So far, we’ve got over 9 bags of paperwork ready for the shredder, the house is being cleaned from top to bottom and the office is getting a MAJOR overhaul.

Plus, we’re putting the finishing touches on lots of new things that we’ll be rolling out in January for YOU!

So… What do you think is going to happen in ‘08? Here are a few of my own predictions!

Visit the blog to see Part I of our predictions (and by all means, please feel free to add some of your own!)

1. Increase in Foreclosures…
We’re absolutely going to continue to see a rise in foreclosures, but I think the lenders are going to start working with us…

2. Change in how ‘deals’ are structured
I think we’re going to seller financing and owner held mortgages coming back. We’ll see more and more lease options.

3. Lenders will start to ‘get it’
I think lenders are going to back down and start working with buyers and investors before they get in the business of property management.

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by Mark Klee & Caryn McKinney

Answer #1: Niche Marketing = Less Competition and Greater Profits.
As a real estate investor, perhaps you’ve figured out how easy it is to be unfocused in the real estate investment business. That being the case, my partner, Mark Klee, and I want to help you understand the incredible profits available to you by doing business in a NICHE market … particularly one that MOST investors are afraid to go after … bankruptcies. It’s not brain surgery to realize that any market with less competition will also offer you greater opportunities for amazing profits!

You should also realize that if you’re NOT in a niche market, you’re fighting all the other investors for the same FSBOs, MLS listings, and wholesale deals from whatever resources you have. So why not at least check out this bankruptcy niche that most investors are, indeed, afraid to tackle?

Answer #2: Market conditions are ideal
Check out the following basic facts on our current market conditions and you’ll start to see how ideally the stage is set to work with quality bankruptcy leads.

• In many areas of the country, investors are finding greater competition for fewer deals.

(more…)

When we were putting together the latest issue of the Real Estate Rant (www.RealEstateRant.net), Brandon recommended an article on “Going Green”!

I didn’t pay much attention to it because I didn’t realize just how much momentum the topic had gained! (So, with my tail between my legs, I must concede that he was on to something…) And because of that, I decided to write a little something on the topic with the Live Earth concert on 7-7-07.

Last night, I was watching the Live Earth concert and I was blown away by the magnitude of the event.

Plus, I learned lots of little tips that allow me to contribute my own small part towards helping the environment. These tidbits piqued my interest so I started to doing some research just to get a grasp on how big the “green” movement is.

Just go to Google.com and type in “green real estate”. There are 81,700,000 results at the time I’m typing this email… WOW!

So, why the sudden interest? Perhaps it was fueled by Al Gore’s inconvenient truth. Or maybe the rising costs of energy. Or possibly… that residents of planet earth realize that our resources are limited.

(more…)