Are REITs a key to real estate recovery?
Are REITs a key to real estate recovery?
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Can buying cheap foreclosures make you rich?
Can buying cheap foreclosures make you rich?
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Finding cash in a second home
Finding cash in a second home
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Home short sale flips nixed
Investors who negotiate an option-deal short sale and immediately sell the home for more will now find fewer lawyers willing to help.
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NEW REIT RULES TAXING
Holders of real estate investment trusts (REITs) feel the pain when they look at their investments this year.
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Fannie Mae allows investors to mortgage more properties
WASHINGTON – Feb. 9, 2009 – Fannie Mae modified a policy that allowed real estate investors to have only four financed properties. The number can now be five to 10, depending on whether certain eligibility, underwriting and delivery requirements are met. Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR) President Cynthia Shelton raised the investment issue with Fannie Mae officials last week.
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Investors not happy with 4-loan limit
NEW YORK – Dec. 8, 2008 – Some real estate investors are up in arms over a new Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac policy that limits to four the number of real estate loans that can be held by a single person.
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MONEY-SAVING ENERGY TIPS
Real estate professionals and others working from home need to be conscious of their energy use to keep utility bills from taking a huge chunk of their profits, especially since heating costs have risen as much as 20 percent since 2007.
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NICKELS AND DIMES
According to a study by Bankrate.com, Florida is No. 3 nationwide for closing costs, charging an average of $3,683 per transaction – only New York and Texas charge more. The study authors also note that a slowing housing market isn’t stopping closing costs from rising.
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DRIVE GENTLY
Real estate agents tend to drive at least 20,000 miles per year, and high gas prices hit them hard in the wallet. However, Edmunds.com reports that drivers can use 31 percent to 37 percent less gas by gently accelerating, and they can lower gas consumption by 12 percent to 14 percent by driving the speed limit.
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REITs fell in 2nd quarter, still outperform Dow
NEW YORK – July 7, 2008 – The Dow Jones Equity All REIT Total Return index fell 4.9 percent in the second quarter versus a gain of 1.4 percent in the first three months of this year.
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Researchers study Realtor competition in slow markets
WACO, Texas – April 2, 2008 – The Keller Center for Research in Residential Real Estate Marketing, a division of Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, is examining how Realtors handle competition during housing down cycles.
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Broadened RESPA plan attracting more critics
WASHINGTON – March 4, 2008 – The 271-page plan proposed by HUD to reform the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) is broader than a proposal considered in 2007, drawing more scrutiny from the real estate industry.
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Housing stocks become hot item
NEW YORK – Feb. 19, 2008 – Investors who bought housing stocks at the beginning of the year after two and a half years of steep declines are being rewarded for their prescience.
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10 best places for house bargains
ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 12, 2008 – The best place to get a bargain on a home is an area where there is healthy job growth and more houses available than people to buy them.
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Tax tips for real estate developers and investors
CHICAGO – Dec. 6, 2007 – As 2007 comes to an end and planning for 2008 begins, real estate developers and investors should consider some tax tips that could save money for companies in the long run:
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Government report: U.S. year-over-year home prices up
WASHINGTON – Nov. 29, 2007 – U.S. home prices marked a quarterly decline for the first time in 13 years in the third quarter, according to government data released Thursday that provide fresh evidence of the housing market slump.
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VULTURES CIRCLING?
Florida’s condominium market is beginning to attract “vulture investors” – speculators who snap up large numbers of properties during market downturns to reap the benefits of discounted prices.
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Sales tactics change if homebuyers are investors
WASHINGTON – Sept. 28, 2007 – Many Realtors focus on investors as a means of ensuring a steady stream of business since they tend to purchase multiple properties in a given year – as opposed to homeowners, who tend to move only once every few years.
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Real estate mutual funds hit rough patch
NEW YORK – Aug. 21, 2007 – Investors in real estate investment trusts (REITS) have enjoyed an average return of 18 percent over the last three years through the end of July, but it looks like the party may be over.
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The wealthy invest more dollars into residential real estate
NORWALK, Conn. – July 3, 2007 – The World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch and CapGemini reveals an 8.3 percent increase in the number of individuals across the globe with more than $1 million in investable assets – minus their primary residences – to 9.5 million last year from 2005.
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CLOSING IN ON FORECLOSURES
With foreclosures rising nationwide, prices falling and inventories swelling to historic levels, investors with a discerning eye and knowledge of the foreclosure process can build a profitable portfolio of distressed properties, says James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosure data. Saccacio offers this basic advice:
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What to know about using IRA money for real estate
NEW YORK – June 11, 2007 – Self-directed IRAs give investors lots more options than do traditional company-sponsored retirement plans, including the option of investing in real estate.
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1031 exchange firm declares bankruptcy
NEW YORK – May 18, 2007 – The bankruptcy of a national 1031 exchange firm has jeopardized some real estate deals. It’s also highlighted a problem in the like-kind exchange system – a lack of federal oversight on this legal way to shield capital gains from the IRS.
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Vacation-home sales rise to record in 2006, investment sales plummet
WASHINGTON – May 1, 2007 – Second-home sales were mixed in 2006, with the combined total of vacation- and investment-home sales accounting for 36 percent of all existing and new residential transactions – down from 40 percent of sales in 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors®. |
© 2009 Florida Realtors®