Due to level real estate values, declines in the stock market and commercial real estate market woes, more real estate investors and traders than before are beginning to batten down the hatches for an “extended pause” in the U.S. economy as a whole as well as the housing market. While optimistic analysts and the federal government’s PR team are calling Read full article »
Archives for August, 2010
Some Experts Replacing Double-Dip Predictions with Forecast of an “Extended Pause”
category: Real Estate News
tags: Batten Down The Hatches, Bush Tax Cuts, Commercial Real Estate, Declines, Double Dip, Election Year, Federal Government, Housing Market, Incumbents, Market 1, Optimistic Analysts, Pr Team, Real Estate Investors, Real Estate Values, Slowdown, Stock Market, Uncertainty, Unemployment Numbers, Woes, Wsj
Majority of Homeowners Opting Out of Loss Mitigation Entirely
While the news is full of climbing short sale rates and the “success” of the myriad federal programs in place to help homeowners deal with the housing crisis, a new report from the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group (SFPWG), a group that compiles and analyzes information from state attorneys general and bank supervisors around the country, indicates that fully 60 Read full article »
category: Real Estate News
tags: Bank Supervisors, Delinquent Loans, Delinquent Mortgages, Forbearance, Foreclosure Prevention, Foreclosures, Hundreds Of Thousands, Loan Modification, Loss Mitigation, Lot, Mainstream, Point In Time, Principal, Real Estate, Recruiting, Six Months, State Attorneys, Success, Two Thirds, Working Group
The Ethics of “Virtual Staging”
While any real estate agent or investor who informed a buyer that a home had granite countertops, fresh and fluffy carpet and beautifully hand-tiled floors and then attempted to sell them that home without any of those interior amenities would be justly considered an out-and-out liar, the magic of “photoshop” and something called “virtual staging” is creating an ethical uproar Read full article »
category: Editorial
tags: Advertising Marketing, Association Of Realtors, Beautiful Furniture, Code Of Ethics, Computer Technology, Crown Moldings, Digital Technology, Due Diligence, Fiasco, Granite Countertops, Home 1, Liar, National Association Of Realtors, Real Estate Agent, Realtors Code Of Ethics, Right Software, Staging, Technology Investors, Tiled Floors, Uproar
Bulk Residential REO Ready to Go
A recent panel of residential and commercial experts discussing a variety of market-related activities concluded that bulk REO investing is hovering on the verge of something big. The panel, which agreed that members would have expected large-scale REO liquidation prior to this point in time, believed that when loan modifications are exhausted, the current level of active bulk REO investors Read full article »
category: Real Estate News
tags: Bad News, Banks, Commercial Experts, Deluge, Different Ways, Flood, Influx, Investing, Large Scale, Lenders, Leverage, Liquidation, Lookout, Market Outlook, Mini Bulk, Necessary Capital, Panelists, Point In Time, Profitable Strategy, Real Estate Investors, Reo Property, Shadow Market, Taking Steps, Verge, Wholesalers
The Politics of Real Estate
Few industries are as profoundly impacted by the political machinations in Washington as the real estate industry. Whether it's old legislation like Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act or Barack Obama's massive mortgage bailouts, the U.S. political machine has a huge impact (usually bad) on the business of real estate.
Ideally, we could ignore politics. But here at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter, we insist on seeing the world with clarity - including the reality of Washington's aggressive involvement in every facet of our business, from mortgage lending to real estate sales license; from loan modification regulations to appraisal requirements... every piece of our business is profoundly impacted by politics. So rather than stick our heads in the sand and ignore reality, readers of the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter choose to be informed and prepared.
Mortgage Industry News
Few things change more rapidly than the mortgage market, and with the increasing dominance of GSE's Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the mortgage business, it's more important than ever to keep up. Here are a few recent mortgage news updates:
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Mortgage News
- HAMP Success Tally Slowly Growing
- Western States Working Through Foreclosure Backlog Quicker than Eastern
- Biggest Down Payments in the Country Found in New Jersey
- President Bypasses Congress, Appoints Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau
- Federal Reserve Recommends Expanding GSEs to Turn Housing Market Around
- Mortgage Rates Likely to Remain Low for a While Longer
- Top Former FDIC, Wells Fargo Execs Say Fannie and Freddie Must Go
- FHA Continues to Extend Anti-Flipping Waiver
- More Homeowners Using Delaying Tactics to Slow Down Foreclosures
- Now that It’s Passed: The True Cost of the Payroll Tax Cut
About Bryan Ellis
Bryan Ellis is an Atlanta-based real estate analyst and publisher of the widely read newsletter "The Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter". With over 200,000 subscribers - including real estate investors, agents, brokers, appraisers and other real estate professionals - the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter is among America's largest sources of unbiased coverage of politics and public policy for the real estate industry.
Bryan Ellis serves as editor in chief for the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter and is assisted by an extraordinary staff of writers, researchers and editors who are each real estate experts in their own right and who assure that the news we report is well researched, factual, and highly relevant to today's real estate industry.
Bryan is very happily married and has two wonderful daughters. He makes his home in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. You can contact the team at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter here.