Zillow and Brady Bunch
See how much Zillow values the Brady Bunch house:
11222 Dilling St
North Hollywood, CA 91602
Weekend Highlights
As the real estate market slows down, you should expect fewer and fewer articles in the newspapers especially during the final quarter (October, November, December). However, this part weekend, there were numerous devoted to real estate:
- The Rocky Mountain News articled titled Let the bidding begin is about the penthouse condominium of deceased auto dealer Kent L. Rickenbaugh that will be sold during an auction Tuesday.
- Al Lewis of the Denver Post discusses the duplex scam.
- Small cities seeking urban vibe Boulder, Golden, Fort Collins and Loveland are in the midst of creating high-density communities.
- Yahoo via AFP discusses the benefits of staging in Staging’ homes with works of art gets them sold faster
- Yahoo via Reuters discusses Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) as a strong investment vehicle in Real estate is still a real value.
To learn more about REITS:
http://www.nareit.com
http://www.investinreits.com
http://www.reitnet.com
Fraudulent Friday?
The Denver Post three articles devoted to real estate and mortgage fraud:
- 3 men named in real estate scam
- Big profits oil the wheel of loan fraud
- FHA program key in surge of foreclosures
The indictment claims the men solicited investments in duplex projects in Colorado, Texas and Florida that were never built.
Former prosecutor Anthony Accetta cleaned up mortgage fraud 34 years ago - or at least, he tried.
Accetta said nobody in the lending industry cares about mortgage fraud, because nobody in the lending industry suffers when a loan goes bad. The mortgage industry is a financial game where all of the players are covered against losses.
A key factor in the state’s record-setting wave of foreclosures, critics say, is an FHA program that allows people to borrow more than their houses are worth with little or no money down.
Created to extend the dream of homeownership to first-time buyers, the so-called FHA gift program instead has led to rampant foreclosures. Nearly 6,000 FHA loans have wound up in foreclosure in Colorado in the past two years, and during that time the program allowed more than 25 percent of FHA buyers to use gifts as down payments.
To read more about mortgage and real estate fraud check out these two blogs:
Tags: colorado, denver, fha, foreclosure, lending, mortgage, real estateTop Five Fridays - Nintendo Games
The Nintendo video game system was all the rage when I was in my teens. My friends and I would spend hours playing video games. For us, it was an upgrade over Atari. The 16 bit Nintendo system was more interactive and realistic.
Here are my top five games:
- RBI Baseball: A true classic, when I hit college we’d have RBI Baseball tournaments in the dorms. It includes my favorite team of all time, the 1986 NY Mets.
- Legend of Zelda: One of the most mesmerizing games ever. You could spend an entire day trying to save Princess Zelda.
- Dr. Mario: Whether you played solo or against a friend, this game offered a never ending challenge.
- Mike Tyson’s Punch Out: If you didn’t remember which combination of punches works, you’re toast!
- Double Dribble: My friends and and I would play this video basketball game then head to the park to play the real thing.
Fantasyland
Here it is, my Fantasy Football team for 2006:
- Edgerrin James (RB-ARIZONA)
- Domanick Davis (RB-HOUSTON)
- Roy Williams (WR-DETROIT)
- Santana Moss (WR-WASHINGTON)
- Jeremy Shockey (TE-NY GIANTS)
- Thomas Jones (RB-CHICAGO)
- Ben Roethlisberger (QB-PITTSBURGH)
- Marion Barber (RB-DALLAS)
- Heath Miller (TE-PITTSBURGH)
- Jason Elam (K-DENVER)
- Dallas DEFENSE
- David Carr (QB-Houston)
- Ashley Lelie (WR-Atlanta)
- Troy Williamson (WR-Minnesota)
Be Cool
The housing market is in a cooling off phase:
- Rocky Mountain News: July Home Sales Slump
- Denver Post: New Home Sales Keep Falling
- Denver Post: Real Estate Slump Felt Nationwide
- New York Times: New Signs of Cooling in Housing
- Real Estate Journal: Housing Slump Proves Painful For Some Owners and Builders
Luxury housing taking a toll
Luxury-home sales woes slow to arrive by John Rebchook of the Rocky Mountain News talks about how the Toll Brothers, not to be confused with Nestle’s Toll House, builders of luxury homes has seen a decline in sales.
Tags: denverToll Bros. is a small player in Denver - ranked No. 33 out of the top 40 builders - but it is considered a bellwether for the direction of expensive homes because the Horsham, Pa.-based company is the only national home builder that builds luxury homes exclusively.
“The housing market is getting weaker much faster than anybody expected,” Alex Barron, senior housing analyst with JMP Securities in San Francisco, told The Associated Press. “What’s hurting Toll is just the fact that they build luxury homes. Luxury homes are very discretionary. People who want to live on the golf course, they can do so today or they can wait a year. There’s no hurry.”
When banks won’t compete, where do you go?
Everyone has heard the line, ‘When banks compete, you win!” Well, not really when it comes to a second mortgage or home equity loan. These loans rely on credit score and equity. If you have bad credit, you better have equity. If you have no equity, you better have good credit to get a 115% or 125% loan. If you have bad credit and no equity, sayonara.
So where do you go when banks won’t compete. Enter person to person lending at www.prosper.com. Featured in Inc, Newsweek, Business Week, Entrepreneur, et. al. prosper has grown exponentially.
The premise is simple: People who need money request it, and other people bid for the privilege of lending it to them. Prosper makes sure everything is safe, fair and easy. You can borrow anywhere from $50 to $25,000. Seems like an interesting lending alternative when no else is willing.
Tags: credit score, home equity, lending, mortgage, second mortgageAren’t all homes 100% financed?
Last Thursday night I was at a mixer. Going to mixers or networking events can be a hassle but they’re a decent way to get out and meet people. I struck up a conversation with a guy and the topic of 100% financing came up. He basically regurgitated something he read that stated 100% financing means no equity and eventually leads to foreclosure.
My response was simple, “aren’t all homes 100% financed?”
You hear about 80/20, 100%, 5% down, 10% down, etc. but if you’re purchasing a home, your property will require 100% financing. Whether you borrow against your assets or from a financial institution the financing will always be 100%. Financing a home 100% isn’t such a bad idea if you look at it from this perspective.
Tags: denver, foreclosure, propertyWeekend Highlights
Are you underinsured? explores the amount of insurance coverage you need on your home. Often called HAZZARD or HOME OWNERS insurance, this type of insurance needed to replace your home. However, most people don’t carry enough insurance:
About six out of 10 homeowners carry less insurance than what is needed to replace their homes, estimates MSB, a Los Angeles company that provides data on construction costs.
The article uses the “La Grande Cannoli” the prized home of this year’s Parade of Homes to further their point on undersinsuring a home. The 8755 square foot home has a list price of $2,000,000, however,all the upgrades and features typically won’t be covered under most policies.