Market Trends and Condition

Housing experts at Barclay’s Capital are convinced that the worst of the housing market decline is over. A look at the 4th quarter earnings documentation from 20 national and regional banks provided the data that led to Barclay’s conclusion.

The banks all seem to agree that the housing market has stabilized in all but a few parts of the country. The weakest areas where further declines may be seen are Arizona, Nevada and parts of Florida.

Housing still constitutes an area where troubled asset portfolios still trouble many banks, but the number of new problem loans is going down and the credit strangle-hold is beginning to loosen.

I'm in the military and I'm soon to move again since I've done my time here in Hawaii. I'm thinking of going to Arizona or California, if I go to Arizona Im going to be located in Fort Huachuca, AZ which is about 6hrs South of Phoenix, but if I go to California Im going to be located in Fort Irwin, CA which is about 3hrs East of Los Angeles. Now, I know the market has hit pretty hard in these two states, so I wanted to take advantage and make opportunities happen around here. The thing is, I'm taking into consideration the restrictions and limitations banks, agents, etc have for Real Estate in these areas. With that being said, which would you think is best to go to?

why is it that none of these appraisal websites are close to each other? The listing price is $8.9. I went to zillow and the FMV of the property was $6.9m, I went to dean's appraisal and it came up to be $3.1M. I went onto a realtor's website to get an appraisal and if came up as $2,000,000 - $2,500,000. what do I do?

Thanks

The rich and famous now have something in common with hundreds of thousands of middle and lower-class Americans: The bank is about to take their homes.

Houses with loans of $5 million or more will likely see a sharp rise in foreclosures this year, according to a RealtyTrac study for The Wall Street Journal.

Just this week, a Tudor mansion in Bel-Air belonging to film star Nicolas Cage was in foreclosure auction and reverted to the lender. On Wednesday, Richard Fuscone, a former top Wall Street executive, declared personal bankruptcy, forestalling a foreclosure auction that had been scheduled this week on his 14-acre Westchester mansion. Last month a Manhattan condominium owned by Italian film producer Vittorio Cecchi Gori was sold in a foreclosure auction for $33.2 million.

Why are Banks holding on to REO's? I think this might
have something to do with it. Maybe there trying to sell in bulk first or waiting for price to go up who knows? Check out this website G8cap.com There is some good info. If your looking for a new market to Invest in you might want to follow there lead. Go where they go. Just a little out of the box thought []?
Tell me what you think?

I know that Phoenix is an unusual market, but let's talk about what's happening here. About a year and a half ago, I purchased a property for less than 65% of CMV. I thought that I was in great shape. The market could never eat up that equity. I had $65K in equity. Now, 17 months later, the value has dropped about 50%. I am upside down, but still have a positive cash flow. I set up a lease purchase, but I can not sell the property for the price we agreed on. I can not even sell it for the amount I bought it for. The thought at the time that I purchased, was that the market would possibly drop another 20% before bottoming out. Values are still dropping in Phoenix, with no end in sight.

Hey everyone, I was searching around for other websites that provided information similar to city-data.com and stumbled upon this one. I haven't spent much time on it, but I really like the layout and the amount of information it provides. Coupled with a other resources, I think it would be a great addition to anyone's Due Diligence protocol.

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jon Daurio, chief executive officer of mortgage investor Kondaur Capital Corp., recently offered a $4,000 check to Barry Culver for the deed to his Bryan, Ohio house.

With the exchange, and a pay-off to a second-lien holder, Culver was freed of $120,000 in crushing mortgage debt on the house, said Daurio, who had bought the right to cut the deal when he purchased the mortgage months earlier. The house, after repairs, is now on the market for $47,500.

"It got me out of a bind," said Culver, a former Kmart employee who has since relocated near his in-laws in Tennessee where job prospects are better. "I got a little cash out of it and was able to pay off other stuff I owed."

One of the hurdles in this market is to know where to invest. It is so important to do your due-dilligence and make informed decisions. This article is an example of the kind on information you need to use.
Charlie

10 Cities to Invest In

The real estate crisis has gutted house prices, tipped millions into foreclosure, and rattled the global economy to its core. But for many would-be home buyers, the historic boom and bust have been a blessing in disguise.

The “Oracle of Omaha”
Billionaire Warren Buffett said the U.S. residential real estate slump will end by about 2011, predicting that’s how long it will take demand for homes to catch up with the supply.

“Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us,” Buffett wrote yesterday in his annual letter to the shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Berkshire, which owns a real-estate brokerage, a business that constructs pre-fabricated houses and units that make products used in homebuilding, has suffered amid the slump. Profit at Clayton Homes, the pre-fab housing business, fell about 9 percent to $187 million before taxes, while earnings at carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries fell 30 percent.

‘Deeply Invested’