The real estate blog.

There’s a part of the American psyche dictates that for any event or phenomenon a specific cause has to be identified – and all the better if that cause can be pinned on particular actor. Accountability is a good thing, but unfortunately it often segues into a “who’s to blame?” attitude.

Case in point: as the sub-prime market melts down, housing prices drop and inventory levels creep towards historic highs much of the mainstream media coverage has been devoted to figuring out who is behind all of this. The banks? Builders? The Fed?

Real estate investors (and in some cases, speculators) get an unflattering light shone upon them in this environment; witness today’s Money.com article with the musically alliterative title Flippers Fuel Foreclosures  which claims that investors are “…driving defaults in four of the states with the fastest rising default rates in the nation…” The article sites statistics from Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida.

(more…)

The more I’ve been travelling & investing, the need for quick money has been evident more than just once…In case you have this need too…you may find this interesting…

There are many uses for cash advances and most of them entail financial burdens that have urgent need.

The ability to stretch payments makes the payday loan a versatile financial tool, yet one to use only responsibly and in a dire time of need, especially when you think about the loan fees and interest rates.

However, the payday loan can be used in otherwise non-emergency roles, for instance, in the purchase of a new home. There are many unforeseen expenses when buying a home and the availability of a payday loan can really help out in a pinch.

(more…)

I’m not an electronic gadget guy (I didn’t run out and get an iPhone) but I am a fan of well made mechanical things. I’ll probably be the last guy shooting film while the world around me goes digital; I love my Leica rangefinder - the feel of those hand-assembled German gears pulling the film though the camera’s perfectly engineered sprockets.

But things like this are expensive, so they’re an occasional indulgence. When I glance down at my wrist I see my daily watch: the venerable Casio W-201. Date, time, alarm, stopwatch, water resistant to 50 meters. Accurate to fifteen seconds per month, and the battery lasts ten years without changing.

(more…)

I’d written here before about how there has never been a national correction in the history of the U.S. real estate market. Well what we’re facing now is not exactly a national correction, but it is a notable occurrence nonetheless: we’re about to mark the first year-on-year decline in national median home prices since federal housing agencies started collecting statistics on pricing.

The reason that this doesn’t represent a national correction is the fact that even though the national median is down, there are still some regional markets that are flat or rising. Investors know this and we’re watching our local markets.

(more…)

Now that major lenders, especially in the subprime space, have declared bankruptcy or shuttered operations, more and more people are calling for a bailout of American homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages or payment option ARMs with negative amortization.

How likely is this to happen on a wholesale basis? Nobody knows for sure, but I have a few ideas and already we’re seeing them come into play.

1. It’s about to get political -

With the 2008 Presidential race heating up, candidates and the sitting President, are turning to housing as a pain point. Senator Chris Dodd is lobbying the Federal Reserve to do all it can including raising the amount of loans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government sponsored enterprises that manage the bulk of home mortgages,
(more…)

Real estate investors in Salt Lake must be the envy of the country. First of all, appreciation remains in the double digits for Salt Lake and much of Northern Utah real estate. In fact, Salt Lake led the nation in appreciation during the second quarter.

Now a recent report shows rents are rapidly rising as less borrowers qualify to purchase homes and more people fearful of a real estate decline wait on the sidelines.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported today -

Rental rates in Salt Lake County have risen by a hefty 6.7 percent over the past year - the highest rate in more than a decade - to an average rent of $697, a new report shows.

The higher rents stem from a dwindling supply of available units, according to the Greater Salt Lake Multi-Family Report, published by Apartment Realty Advisors-EquiMark.
(more…)

If you read the mainstream media headlines lately, you’d think the American money supply and credit lines for mortgages have all but dried up. Headlines even claim that borrowers with good credit and down payments will feel the effects.

It’s true the foundation of the risk mitigation that has driven mortgages for the past five or so years is at risk. However, this risk is based mainly on speculation at this point - speculation that all subprime mortgages are going bust.

The Washington Post ran a great story Sunday with the worst case scenario of this credit crunch. The conclusion?

The credit system is losing its, well, credibility. People no longer trust the triple-A ratings that many complex debt securities carry. The risk models used by rating agencies, hedge
(more…)

With the recent credit crunch for real estate and changing lending standards being enforced some people are finding it harder to get mortgages from the places they used to.

Sunday’s Salt Lake Tribune recounts the story of one such borrower.

Max Johns of Salt Lake City should not be having a problem qualifying for a mortgage.

His financial house is in order, and his credit score is well above the minimum most home-loan providers have had in place for years.

But Johns, a construction contractor, is having problems qualifying for a home loan. He’s one of a growing number of Utahns caught up in one of the biggest, swiftest, nastiest shakeouts the mortgage- lending industry has ever seen - one that’s suddenly making it more difficult for many to buy or refinance a home because of heightened requirements.
(more…)

The Salt Lake City skyline has permanently changed. Early Saturday morning, the Key Bank tower (pictured on right) was imploded. This planned demolition was one of the last steps before new construction can begin on the new City Creek Center.

City Creek Center is a billion dollar mixed use project that will revitalize the old heart of downtown Salt Lake which has currently been replaced by the Gateway Center…another major mixed use development that has been highly successful.

See a video of the implosion here.

I’ve had the question of real estate purchase timing posed to me in several emails I’ve received as well as in comments throughout this site and on other real estate blogs. “Is now a good time to buy real estate?”

The short answer is, “it depends.” I’m not going to leave with a short answer. People are either optimistic or pessimistic about their personal financial life and they are the same way about more macro economic topics like housing and jobs. Each month, surveys are conducted to measure consumer sentiment to try and get a reading on the likelihood people will purchase in the near future.

The topic of real estate is a pretty split camp. There are rational and compelling reasons to be optimistic or pessimistic about housing and it doesn’t really matter what part of the country you live in.
(more…)