Market Trends and Condition

Big Brother Is Watching You, New (Bad) Legislation Coming Your Way
by Bill Bronchick

With 1 in 5 homeowners underwater, many pundits predict a flood of people walking away from their homes. Five readers talked to us about why they are - and are not - sticking around.

Fewer walking away than you think
Almost 20% of homeowners - or 8.3 million people - are "underwater" on their mortgages, owing more than their properties are worth. Another 2.2 million are near that drowning point, known as "negative amortization."

Reluctant would-be homeowners must do their homework before agreeing to build equity by renting.

In Depth: Rent-To-Buy Pros And Cons As home prices continue to drop, consumers are taking a harder look at rent-to-buy options, in which potential homeowners commit to a multi-year lease with a future option to buy the property.

In other words, it's nice to have an out. If property values plummet, the renter can remain a renter until the agreement expires. Should values rise, then the rental payments count toward a purchase of the home within the agreed-upon time period.

Your Investment In Rental Property How To Pick A Fat Cash Cow
By: Teo Z.
Submitted: 12:21AM on Friday 30 January 2009
The author has permitted the reprinting and redistribution of this article.

Picking the right investment in rental property is very crucial but it can be quite tricky if you are a new investor. Find out what separates a profitable cow cash and money sucking monster today.

Watch out for Major Property Booms and Busts in Your Area

Just getting started with Dean's Course. Now, tonight's news is saying banks aren't loaning money. What's in store for us as we've made this commitment to make this work? Not sure how to react or how to phrase my concerns. Somebody has to have money or For Sale signs wouldn't be coming down, albeit rather slowly. Have a real estate friend who is having problems selling houses because buyers can't find money; sort of substantiates what the news is saying.

Hey Everybody,

My Name is Gerard, and I would like to know how to determine what market is all the local, regional and national factors in?

Also, are there websites to go to, that can help determine the Markets cycles?

There is a reason Warren Buffet has people clammering to work with him. In my view, he is like the old EF Hutton. When he speaks, I listen. Here is a quote from a little OpEd piece in the NY Times back in October.

"THE financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary...

I would like for some advice.

I have been thinking long and hard and studying the market and what is going on with wholesaling. It seems today that everyone is looking for 50% below market value. What is Market value anyway everything is going down, down, down.

I live in NY and its so hard to locate a decent deal as prices are still high. I checked some deals on craigslist.com I'm suprised to see some home owners are still dreaming and not come to their realizsation it would be difficult for them to sell their home at those prices, at least thats what I think. Is there another reason or reasons for this trend in NY?

Why Soft Real Estate Markets are GREAT for Investors

by Wendy Patton

Investing in real estate has changed in many markets in our country. If you are like me, you live in a real estate market that has gone soft. There are still some areas in the country where homes are appreciating nicely, but nothing like it was a year or two ago.

There were a lot of self-proclaimed real estate gurus that popped up during the boom times telling you how to make HUGE PROFITS in real estate. Back then, during the up cycle, investing in real estate was so easy.