The Mortgage Man
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When Is The Best Time To Buy A Home?
The best time to buy a home is when buyers have more power in the transaction than sellers do.
Buy low and sell high is a simple concept, and it is the most important rule for investing. When the market was “hot”, I have closed more than one real estate deal (dozens in fact) where the competition was so tight that they bought the unit sight unseen. I found this fascinating at the time. And while most transactions like this where done on vacation properties, it was still a bit surreal to see buyers buying a $500,000 condo unit entirely over the phone. It was like a game of musical chairs, and those who were still speculators when the music stopped are either in foreclosure or bankruptcy or both.
That market is long gone, and that is a good thing. When there is so much competition among buyers that they are willing to buy a condo over the phone, it is clearly a seller’s paradise. It appears as though the opposite is true today. In a time where sellers are giving aware cars and vacations and plasma TV’s as incentive to buy their home, there is no question that the tables have turned.
While I write this post from Pensacola Florida, it is near impossible for me to make a blanket statement that anyone reading this in any area of the country should run out and buy something now. What I can say is that real estate is highly localized, and because it is localized, it is important for you to get the facts about your local market. Over the next year, we will see a nationwide bottom in the housing market. During that time, some savvy buyers are going to get into property at the lowest price they will ever see. Real estate has not dropped in value this much since the great depression which was almost 80 years ago. To think that this buying opportunity will repeat itself in your lifetime is unlikely. Even one of the most famous real estate investors, Donald Trump, said on Good Morning America this morning that this may be the best buyers market that has existed ever.
If you are even considering buying a home to live in or for investment property, you need to get your finances in order now, TODAY, to be prepared when the right deal comes along. Lenders are more restrictive on credit criteria today than they have been in years, and the days of buying a home with no money down are virtually dead (with the exception of VA and USDA Rural Housing loans). Check back in the coming days as I will be adding more buyer resources such as how to save money for down payment, and how to improve your credit scores.
Celebrities In Foreclosure – Latrell Sprewell
Even though he once turned down a 3 year deal for $21 million, Latrell Sprewell might re-think that deal today.
MILWAUKEE — Former NBA star Latrell Sprewell‘s home is up for foreclosure and his yacht sold at auction to help pay off the $1.3 million he owes on the boat, according to court filings.
Sprewell, who once turned down a three-year, $21 million contract extension saying, “I’ve got my family to feed,” has apparently fallen on tough times.
SprewellRBS Citizens NA, or Citizens Bank, filed a foreclosure suit last week in Milwaukee County for the $405,000 home Sprewell bought in the Milwaukee suburb of River Hills in 1994.
In court documents, the bank said Sprewell owed $295,138 in outstanding payments plus interest.
Sprewell failed to make his mortgage payments of $2,593 per month from September 2007 to January 2008, the documents said.
The Associated Press tried to reach Sprewell for comment Monday but a telephone number in his name was disconnected. A message to one of his attorneys, Robert A. Gist of Atlanta, and an agency in New York were not immediately returned.
The 37-year-old Sprewell played 13 seasons in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors. The Milwaukee native was a four-time All-Star, but perhaps best known for choking coach P.J. Carlesimo during a Warriors practice in 1997.
He hasn’t played professional basketball since turning down the $21 million extension from the Timberwolves during the 2004-05 season. He was making $14.6 million at the time.
Last month, Sprewell’s 70-foot yacht, named “Milwaukee’s Best,” was sold at auction for $856,000 to a man from Milwaukee.
It was originally worth about $1.5 million. The bank holding that mortgage, New York-based North Fork Bank, asked that it be seized to pay off $1.3 million in debt.
Sprewell’s firm, LSF Marine Holdings, hadn’t made its $10,322 monthly payments on time or maintained the necessary insurance on the boat, the bank said. Sprewell bought the yacht built by the Italian firm Azimut-Benetti in 2003, according to court records.
A federal marshal seized the boat last summer in Manitowoc, about 80 miles north of Milwaukee, where it was in storage.
The sale price means the bank is still owed about $500,000, and it said in court filings it plans to go after the rest.
Last week, prosecutors in New York said they’d drop their case against Sprewell, who was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their children. Prosecutors in Westchester County said the charges will be dismissed in a year if Sprewell stays out of trouble.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Foreclosure Filings Continue To Soar
Foreclosure filings for last month were up 48% over the same period last year.
According to a recent article on MSNBC, 261,255 homes received some sort of foreclosure filing in the month of May. This is an increase of 48% over May 2007, and a 7% increase from April. Additionally, a report by Credit Suisse has predicted that as many as 6.5 million mortgages will fall into foreclosure over the next five years totaling 8% of the entire housing market.
Estimates are that between 50 and 60% of home owners in foreclosure will lose their homes. The rest will be able to either sell or refinance. Many of those sales will end up being “Short Sales”, meaning that they will sell for less than what is owed on the property in order to avoid foreclosure.
The Mortgage Man 
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