Market Trends and Condition

http://money.cnn.com/gallery/real_estate/2013/01/30/million-dollar-forec...

and thinking outside of the box!

http://money.cnn.com/video/pf/2013/02/01/pf-uh-gas-station-home-new-orle...

Inman News had a great article about how your neighbors can negatively affect pricing....

Normally this is a bad thing, however when you're looking to find discounted properties to flip,
this are the areas you'll be able to find properties
and negotiate down the price...due to the surrounding
neighborhood...

When you are doing no money out of pocket deals, most investors are wanting distressed properties...so areas that have bad neighborhoods can be a positive for yourself or your investors!

Perhaps your area is starting to see the shift Dean has mentioned as of late. Here is an article on home prices.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/29/news/economy/home-prices/index.html?iid=...

Fellow DGers! So true! Let's continue to educate
ourselves.

Knowledge truly is power.

"Why are real estate investors making these devastating mistakes today?

Surf a real estate investing forum for 5 minutes today and you’ll find countless case studies in outrageously horrific missteps, which if they haven’t yet, will cost many their life savings and potentially a lot more.

The new surge in interest in real estate investing has infected the nation. In some areas, it’s like almost an apocalyptic picture of zombies running around with an unquenchable thirst for buying properties. It’s just the brains that seem to be missing from the movie.

Every foreclosure or motivated seller is NOT a deal.

This week the federal government issued more new rules for mortgage servicers. The rules are aimed at protecting homeowners facing foreclosure. However, as often happens, consumer groups say the rules don’t go far enough to help prevent borrowers from unnecessary foreclosure.

Mortgage servicers collecting payments and handling loan modifications and foreclosures have been swamped since the housing crisis began, and there have been abuses and in some cases unnecessary foreclosures as a result. The government says that the new rules are intended to ensure fair treatment of for all borrowers and establish stronger protections for those struggling to save their homes.

Good article I found about the current market:

By Paul Esajian
Where are the deals?

Some stats have suggested there is little housing inventory out there, with Realtors claiming just a handful of weeks’ of homes for sale in some parts of the country.

So where can real estate investors find enough deals to fuel the volume they desire for flipping houses or acquiring rentals without running into absurd competition?

A new Bloomberg report comments that almost $1.5 trillion of home equity was added last year. Now many homeowners are seizing on that and are beginning to sell. Ironically many are still selling at a loss. It appears the whole short sale opportunity has still been lost on them.

Inventory expected to remain at low levels... bidding wars to break out in certain markets... interest rates to remain low...
yet, there are still over a million homes across the country that are still in foreclosure...

if you'd like to read more, link is below
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/01/17/housing-market-in...

Healthy housing market gains are historically driven by increasing employment and income, not by lack of supply; the latter leads to price bubbles.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100397644

For homeowners with existing FHA-insured mortgage, or for home buyers looking to use FHA financing, the proposed amendment would limit your loan size; raise your loan costs; and, in some cases, lift the FHA's standard 3.5% downpayment requirement all the way to 20%.
http://themortgagereports.com/12028/new-fha-amendment-would-raise-downpa...