Archive for October, 2007
January, 2007 U.S. payroll #, Phoenix updates + weekend wine tip
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31Everyone got today’s jobs number wrong — the median estimate of the 82 economists polled by Bloomberg, Global Insight, yours truly . . .
But in spite of January’s 110,000 net new jobs coming in so at the low end of the spectrum the report had a lot of other things to celebrate. Thanks to the Labor Department re-crunching its data, turns out the U.S. had roughly 400,000 more jobs than they were telling us about in 2006. Even our Bush-bashing friends at the Economic Policy Institute could find little bad news in the report to gloat over.
What hurt today’s jobs number? The usual suspects: the housing sector and manufacturing. What gave the biggest boost? Healthcare.
Hey, remember those 5 bankrupted subdivisions that were up for auction in Phoenix?
Our AZ correspondent, Tracy Thompson, broke the news that they were picked up — presumably for $29 million — by a small developer based in California’s Inland Empire, Frontier Homes. Even at that price, it’s a high-risk play because dozens of units are damaged, or have liens against them by contractors who were stiffed by the developer who went bankrupt, or remain incomplete in spite of buyers having paid deposits. Talk about stigmatized inventory.
Meanwhile, our friend Debi at Housing Doom.com had her own scoop: embargoed numbers that show January, 2007 was the worst month for the Phoenix MSA’s housing market in six years. She adds that prominent local industry analyst, R.L. Brown, estimates that Phoenix currently has 25,000 spec properties out there, and that the vacancy rate of its resale listings is 48 percent. This is the housing equivalent of the nuclear winter Silicon Valley and San Francisco suffered after the 2001 tech bust.
Trader Joe wine alert update
See those stacks of Geyser Peak 2002 Shiraz at the end of the aisles for six bucks? Looks like a steal, right? Great appellation (Alexander Valley), four years of aging, premium producer. Run, don’t walk! Remember, Trader Joe’s acts as the industry’s delete bin — and no wine deserves to be dumped as badly as this one, straight down your kitchen drain. Okay, if you don’t mind the overblown tar and nicotine notes, you could use if for cooking.
Trader Joe’s isn’t all bad, right now, though. They’re starting to move up-market, adding cult labels like Caymus Special Selection and Opus One. Aim for the middle and pick up the Sanford pinot noir (from Sideways country), while the limited supply lasts. Yes, it’s 3 times the price of the Geyser Peak. But even at Trader Joe’s, you do get what you pay for.
Source: January, 2007 U.S. payroll #, Phoenix updates + weekend wine tip
The Hidden Benefits of Being a Blogging Realtor
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31I’m a Realtor and a blogger, but above all I’m a Mom.
You’d think those first two might get in the way of my “real” parenting job, but lately I’ve been finding that they can all work together sometimes.
I’ve been trying to build up my internet presence through my blog. This helps me to be found through search engines, making me look like even more of a local expert. I know that people don’t want to just read about something, they want to SEE it, too.
So I’m grabbing my family and we’re taking a few short day trips.
Yes, sometimes they whine a little. But they get into the spirit of it quickly and we end up enjoying the time out. My kids are surprised to find that they learn about a lot of the places we’ve been to in school, but actually being there and seeing it brings it to life in a whole new way.
I’m happy to have fresh, interesting content for my blogs… but I’m sure I’ll be happier with the family memories we’ve built while I was “working.”
Here’s one of our Real Estate Shows from this weekend.
Source: The Hidden Benefits of Being a Blogging Realtor
SoCal Wildfire Victims Get Tax Relief
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31Southern California’s wildfire victims now have some tax relief in the form of extensions on their federal tax return filing and payment deadlines and waivers of certain penalties and fees.
Similar relief is available from California’s tax collectors.
Residents in the presidentially-declared disaster areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties are eligible.
Wildfires raging in the SoCal area for more than a week, killed 14, destroyed nearly 2,000 homes, scorched more than 500,000 acres and led to five arson arrests. By Oct. 30, 16 fires were contained and seven active fires remained, down from more than a dozen at the peak of the conflagration.
Wildfire victims earlier received notice of federal housing, rebuilding, mortgage and foreclosure relief, among other assistance.
The extended federal tax deadline applies to items due on or after Oct. 21, 2007 when wildfires began and gives eligible residents until January 31, 2008 to file returns, pay taxes due and perform other time-sensitive acts.
This includes the federal withholding tax return, Form 941, normally due Oct. 31, and the estimated tax payment for the fourth quarter (say for those with a home-based or other business), normally due Jan. 15.
Affected taxpayers in a presidentially declared disaster area also have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either this year (filed next year) or last year, by filing an amended return.
IRS Publication 547, “Casualties, Disasters and Thefts” explains how to figure a casualty loss deduction.
Affected taxpayers claiming the disaster loss on last year’s return only should put the Disaster Designation “California Wildfires” in bold red ink at the top of the form so that the IRS can expedite the processing of the refund.
Including the designation isn’t necessary for tax returns filed at the normal time, say next year for this year’s taxes and losses, because the IRS computer systems automatically identify taxpayers located in official disaster areas and apply automatic filing and payment relief.
If any affected taxpayer receives a penalty notice from the IRS, the taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the IRS abate any interest and any late filing or late payment penalties that would otherwise apply during the period from Oct. 21, 2007, to Jan. 31, 2008. Penalties or interest is not waived for taxpayers who don’t have a filing, payment or deposit due date, including an extended filing or payment due date, during this period.
California’s Franchise Tax Board, charged with administering state personal income tax and other levies, also offers the option of filing an amended return for casualty losses or including the loss in this year’s tax return. The state form providing more information is “FTB Pub. 1034: Disaster Loss.”
California’s Board Of Equalization, charged with administering the state’s property, sales and use taxes, among others, is providing an extended deadline of one month on tax filing and payment deadlines and relief from some penalties and interest due to late filing by eligible taxpayers. Additional information is available on the board’s “Disaster Relief — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” Web page.
Free copies of past tax returns are also available from the IRS and state tax offices.
Source: SoCal Wildfire Victims Get Tax Relief
Are “Boomerang Kids” a Symptom of Significant Urban Problems?
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31For parents who are just beginning to relax into their “empty nest,” Halloween may not be the scariest day of the year. A call or email from an adult child saying, “I’m coming home to stay” can send “they’re back” chills down the spine of any mother or father who believed their parenting days were safely behind them.
These returning adults are often called “boomerang kids” because, when sent out into the world as grown-ups, they come back expecting their parents to resume caregiver roles as if there had been no interruption.
According to a 2006 Statistics Canada study, Generation Xers, especially the later wave born between 1972 and 1976, were three times as likely to return home to live with their parents compared to baby boomers. The tendency to “boomerang” at least once has been on the rise through each of the last five successive generations, starting with the first wave of baby boomers born between 1947 and 1951.
The labels involved — “empty nester,” “boomerang kids” and many more — are packed with false impressions, not the least of which is that moving back home is a temporary personal issue, an inevitable phase of growing up in the twenty-first century. This retro-lifestyle pattern is not the result of one set of problems, nor of individual failure. The root causes, which include overly-expensive education and escalating real estate costs, are not addressed by society when “boomeranging” is seen merely as personal failure. Ignoring the causes, and the resulting social implications, solidifies “making do” as a way of life.
Rural areas and small municipalities are striving to encourage these adult children to stay in their communities while urban centres are struggling to help youth find commitment to, and from, their neighbourhoods. Another recent Stats Can release pointed out that 6 out of every 10 of those aged 25 to 39, who did not live with their parents, owned their own home in 2006. The breakdown of this statistic reveals that approximately half of independent 25 to 39 year olds in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal owned real estate versus 71 percent of their rural and small town counterparts owning property.
More than twice the number of people aged 37 to 39 owned real estate, compared to those 25 to 27, which was interpreted as a reflection of the increased probability of full-time employment and two-income households. The study concluded that “household income is one of the factors, if not the single factor, with the biggest impact on the likelihood of owning a home.”
Earlier research revealed that, on average, it took 5 years longer to make the transition to adulthood in 2001 than it did in 1971. Today, that delay may also be coupled with crushing student debt.
Location is also significant. More than twice as many rural dwellers with annual incomes of under C$30,000 were homeowners, compared to parallel groups in Canada’s six largest metropolitan areas.
Since the 2006 Census identified 80 percent of all Canadians as urban dwellers, reduced property ownership in urban areas affects Canada as a whole. Although higher urban housing costs and fewer rural rental options appear to be obvious reasons for this pattern, lack of creative thinking and of professional advice may have been deciding factors for buyers who gave up when traditional buying approaches failed them.
Research into specific support for early sustained-independent living and property ownership could identify strategies for communities to expand on. We have only begun to think creatively and collectively about how to accomplish together what too many individuals, working alone, feel is impossible. For instance, property tax deferral programs could help urban first-time buyers bridge the financial gap caused by the high cost of education and of real estate. Community-supported variations on investment syndicates or investment clubs might enable marginal first-time buyers to increase their knowledge of real estate while they built equity.
Few things that matter in this world are simple. Property ownership is no exception, but it is not beyond anyone’s full understanding. The experience and knowledge of real estate brokers, financial professionals, investors and land owners enables them to problem solve outside traditional financial and real estate methods. Those who lack this expertise can be short changed. The answer may lie with community-based “think tanks” of creative, knowledgeable professionals who excel at discovering innovative solutions to individual, family and community needs.
Ironically, as Boomers — inventors of eternal youth — move their skills and knowledge out of the workplace and into communities, they may be the driving force behind reversing the delayed transition into adulthood and helping other generations get on with their lives.
Source: Are “Boomerang Kids” a Symptom of Significant Urban Problems?
Las Vegas Real Estate Investor Loses 16 Homes
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31
During the height of Las Vegas’s real-estate boom two years ago, property investor Rob Rozzen bought 16 homes, hoping that skyrocketing prices would pump up his retirement nest egg.
Now, Mr. Rozzen says he is considering filing for bankruptcy protection. As the housing market slowed, the 40-year-old was unable to sell the homes, and his full-time job as a real-estate agent was no longer able to support mortgage payments totaling $45,000 a month. So one by one, over the past 14 months, Mr. Rozzen has stopped making payments on his investment properties, for which he paid between $226,000 and $390,000, and lenders have foreclosed.
As a result, Mr. Rozzen’s credit score plunged from 730 to the high 400s, he says. The Prada clothes, luxurious vacations, and full-time housekeeper and pool cleaner he once enjoyed are things of the past. Still, he says, walking away from his investment properties was his only option. “You get to a point where your hands are tied,” he says.
A growing number of investors like Mr. Rozzen are making the drastic decision to walk away from their properties and ultimately send their homes into foreclosure, lenders and real-estate agents say. Many investors who were hoping to quickly flip their investments are now left with homes that can no longer be sold for more than the mortgage debt. In many cases, these investors can’t even find tenants willing to pay enough rent to cover hefty mortgages.
Certain data point to the trend. According to an August study by the Mortgage Bankers Association, defaults on mortgages where the owner doesn’t live in the house are a major driver of the defaults in Florida, Nevada, California and Arizona — four of the states with the fastest rising rates of seriously delinquent loans. Defaulted mortgages are defined as those 90 days or more past due or in foreclosure, according to the study.
But walking away from a mortgage is almost always a bad idea. You can lose your ability to take out future loans, and you might find the lender coming after your personal assets, such as your principal residence, depending on your state’s laws and the terms of your loan.
“A lot of these people can’t think clearly because the level of financial distress is so great,” says David Dweck, president of the Boca Real Estate Investment Club in Boca Raton, Fla., who is also a Realtor. “They’re hoping [that by taking this step], it’s going to work itself out.”
Tom Crossett is one investor on the verge of walking away from his properties. At the height of Florida’s condominium boom two years ago, the 53-year-old air-conditioner contractor from Delray Beach, Fla., bought four units with the plan to flip them quickly. He paid between $143,000 and $173,000 for the units.
Mr. Crossett now says the developer of the complex that sold him the converted-from-apartment units reneged on many of the promises, including extensive renovations, making them a tough sell. To help make monthly mortgage payments totaling $4,000, he’s been stuck renting the units to tenants who make sporadic payments. He says that next month, he plans to cut his losses and stop paying the mortgages. “The only way I can see for me is to just get out, stop the bleeding and let them go,” Mr. Crossett sighs.
Before walking away from a mortgage, legal experts say, investors should approach a lender about a possible loan “workout,” in which the mortgage payments are reduced but the investor gets to keep the property. Some investors say they have tried this, but without success. Still, banks don’t typically want to act as property managers, nor do they want to have high foreclosure numbers on their books.
“There is a real incentive for both lenders and borrowers alike to do a workout and avoid foreclosure. Lenders are not good at being homeowners,” says Fred Witt, national director, real-estate tax services, at Deloitte Tax LLP, in Phoenix.
One of the first effects of walking away from a mortgage is an assault on one’s credit. The foreclosure could remain on your credit report for years and will sharply reduce your credit score, experts say. “This makes it more difficult or extremely costly, and in some cases impossible, to do more financing in the future,” says Jack Guttentag, a professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who operates a mortgage-advice Web site.
In some cases, lenders can go after an investor’s other assets to satisfy a loan if the borrower defaults. But that often depends on the loan agreement, which sets out what recourse the lender has in the case of a default. In a nonrecourse loan, lenders can take only the property itself to satisfy the debt. Most loans, however, are recourse loans, which means that the borrower’s other assets may be at risk.
Cutting Loose
Some real-estate investors are considering walking away from their mortgage loans. Here’s what to consider:
- An investor’s credit score could be sharply impaired.
- Lenders may go after your personal assets.
- Part of the loan amount that is forgiven could be considered taxable.
- Before walking away from a mortgage, consider seeking a loan “workout” with your lender.
Individual investors may even be on the hook if they borrowed through a limited liability company or a partnership. Principals of LLCs, or general partners of partnerships, can be personally liable if they act as guarantors; lenders often require personal guarantees as part of the loan agreement.
“Banks want the individuals on the hook,” says New York lawyer Gideon Rothschild. Partnerships and LLCs are good to “protect you against slips and falls on your property,” adds Jay Adkisson, a Newport Beach, Calif., lawyer, but they offer little protection if a lender requires you to sign a personal guarantee.
What’s more, whether other assets, such as insurance policies and personal residences, are shielded from creditors varies widely by state. In Florida and Texas, for instance, your home, life-insurance policy, annuity or retirement plan are generally shielded from creditors. California, by contrast, offers much less protection for debtors. (More details about your state’s laws are available at www.assetprotectionbook.com/state_resources.htm.)
Of course, investors can take steps to shield their assets from creditors. But setting up fancy structures, such as offshore trusts designed to keep property off limits from creditors, typically only works if done before creditors appear on the horizon, says Beachwood, Ohio, lawyer John E. Sullivan III. Similarly, assets in a 401(k) are generally protected from creditors if the plan was already in existence. “If you plan when the coast is clear, you should be OK,” says Mr. Sullivan. “If you choose to wait, it could be too late.”
Mr. Adkisson, the Newport Beach, Calif., lawyer, says he has received about 30 calls a week in recent months from real-estate investors seeking to shield their assets, just as lenders are beginning to chase after them. “There’s just an absolute flood of people seeking asset protection, and it’s all after the fact. It’s like buying auto insurance after the car wreck.”
There are a few things you can do to protect your money even as creditors are moving in. One idea: Move to Florida and buy a big house. As long as you can stay out of bankruptcy and qualify for Florida residency, a creditor can’t force the sale of your home under Florida law, says Mr. Rothschild, the New York lawyer, who adds that the tactic won’t work under new bankruptcy rules if you’re forced to file for bankruptcy protection.
Investors who face foreclosure may be left with a big federal tax hit, says Mr. Witt, of Deloitte. That’s because, in a recourse loan, the amount of the loan forgiven by the lender, in excess of the property’s fair market value, is typically taxed as ordinary income to the taxpayer, he says.
The tax code does offer some relief, but only if the loan is forgiven during bankruptcy proceedings or if the borrower was insolvent immediately before the loan was discharged. However, it’s tough to prove insolvency, since the Internal Revenue Service considers many assets, such as 401(k) retirement plans, in determining whether a borrower is insolvent. “These assets are typically exempt from creditors, but not for tax purposes,” says Mr. Witt.
One option to avoid, if possible: filing for bankruptcy protection. Laws passed in 2005 make it much tougher in some cases to protect certain assets, such as your primary residence, from creditors during bankruptcy.
Article Source
Source: Las Vegas Real Estate Investor Loses 16 Homes
Real Estate News - Review of this weeks hottest Real Estate News
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31This is a new thing we will be doing around here at The REI Brain. As our new main
website redesign is underway behind closed doors… we are adding new elements to our site and our blog to keep you up to date on the most cutting edge real estate investing techniques, news, strategies, tools, tutorials, etc.
This is our first “Review of this weeks hottest real estate news” column… which will become a weekly column every Friday.
Enjoy…
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NOW FOR THE NEWS:
Bustling Commercial Real Estate Slows -
The excesses that led to a bust in the housing boom haven’t spread to the commercial real estate market, where the outlook is cautious but decidedly upbeat. read more… <<
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Real Estate Investors and Agents Decry Short-Sale Process - Complaints about the short sale process came in from homeowners who had offers to purchase their distressed properties, from investors, or from real estate agents who were hoping to put together short sale deals. Most of the letters mentioned specific lenders/servicers as responsible for their problems; however, given our longstanding aversion to litigation we have purged all names. Suffice it to say that most of the usual suspects were targeted.
read more <<<
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Buffett bets on prefab homes - Few would call Warren Buffett unwise with his money. It takes some smarts to build a fortune of $46 billion, after all.
So what’s he doing raising money in the housing sector? Specifically, why is he helping put three-quarters of a billion dollars into manufactured homes, those humble, modestly priced abodes that come shipped in prefabricated components, ready for assembly?
read more <<<
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Source: Real Estate News - Review of this weeks hottest Real Estate News
Real Estate Agent Tips
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31THE PURPOSE AND HIERARCHY OF VALUE OF PROSPECTING
By Dirk Zeller
The purpose of prospecting is to develop prospective clients for your business. The real estate prospecting process involves two-steps.
1. Identify and create leads by establishing contact with people who have interest in what you are offering and the ability to become clients.
2. Secure a face-to-face appointment for a pre-determined time in the future.
Realtors seek two categories of clients: Sellers, who become listing clients and buyers, who become real estate purchasers. The following sections provide tips on how to prospect for clients in each group.
Prospecting for listings
Listing leads come from past clients, those in your sphere of influence, expired listings, FSBO conversions, open houses, lead cultivation, and door knocking – but they rarely come without some effort, and here’s why. The tendency when people are sending you referrals is to send you prospective buyers. The public’s perception is that Realtors sell houses; that we put people in our cars and drive them around and find them a home to buy.
To generate listing leads, you have to do some pretty active prospecting work:
* Listing referrals do not come naturally. Specifically ask those within your sphere of influence, your circle of past clients, or your referral groups to share the names of people who need or want to sell real estate.
* To achieve a greater listing inventory and develop a specialty as a listing agent, cultivate listing prospects by working expired and FSBO listings.
* To prioritize your efforts, follow the Prospecting Hierarchy of Value for help assessing which sources of listing leads are the most productive for your business.
Prospecting for buyers
Prospecting for buyers is easier than prospecting for listings, partly because referrals arrive more naturally, and partly because open houses attract prospective buyers and provide you with such a great prospecting platform.
If you are short on buyer prospects, increase the frequency of your open houses. The type of houses you choose to show will determine the kinds of prospects you generate. Obviously, higher priced and more exclusive properties draw more discerning buyer prospects, while lower priced properties attract less affluent prospects.
To build your business quickly, work to generate leads from more first-time home buyers by planning more open houses in the low range of your marketplace. The benefits of developing first-time buyer prospects include:
* First-time buyers can be sold into homes quickly, as they aren’t burdened with the need to sell homes in order to make purchases possible.
* They lack experience with other Realtors. They do not have current agent affiliations, nor do they approach a new Realtor relationship with baggage that may have been acquired from a less-than-stellar past experience.
* They acquire strong loyalty when good service is rendered, allowing you to establish a long-term relationship that may span 10-15 years and multiple home sales and purchases over that period.
* They provide you with an opportunity to establish relationships with their friends who are also considering first-time purchases.
* To prioritize your efforts, follow the Prospecting Hierarchy of Value for help assessing which sources of buyer leads are the most productive for your business.
The Prospecting Hierarchy of Value
In prospecting, some approaches involve a shorter contact-to-contract cycle than others, therefore delivering a greater return on time investment and higher value to your business. In order, here are the factors that most influence the value of your prospecting approaches:
1. Past Clients. The highest-value form of prospecting is calling past clients and those in your direct sphere of influence. These people have either used your services in the past or know you and your character. Asking them to do business with you again is described as canvassing. Asking them to refer their friends is described as prospecting for referrals.
These calls are the easiest to make because they reach those with whom you have established relationships. Typically, Realtors experience less resistance when placing calls to this group than to any other. They also make the calls with high expectations that their efforts will generate leads. How long it takes to acquire leads using this approach varies greatly. You could secure a lead on your very first call or on your 100th call, so the ratio of leads generated to time invested is difficult to anticipate.
2. Expireds. I could make a case for this being the #1 highest-value prospecting approach, as well, due to the ease of locating expired listings and the relatively quick contact-to-contract cycle. Expired listings come up in the MLS daily, along with all the information you need to make the contact. Many go back on the market with another agent within a week, so the sales cycle is short, which is a key reasons that expireds offer such a high rate of return for the effort.
Few agents engage in calling expireds, largely because the sellers, who have not experienced success with their last agents, can be hostile toward new agents, as well. Many agents feel “it’s beneath them” to contact these prospects – which further contributes to the opportunity for the ones who do.
3. FSBOs. Converting for sale by owner contracts requires more work than securing expired listings. You have to seek them out through newspaper ads or FSBO subscription services like Landvoice. Once you target a FSBO property, figuring out whom to call takes another round of effort, which is why FSBOs are further down the value hierarchy than past clients, those in your sphere, or expireds.
The sales cycle for FSBOs is four to five weeks on average. FSBO sellers generally try to sell by themselves for that time frame before engaging the services of a real estate agent. Over that period, you must be willing to do lead follow-up weekly in order to secure an appointment four to five weeks away.
4. Open Houses and Door Knocking. These face-to-face techniques provide greater time investment than phone contacts, simply because you can’t see as many people face-to-face as you can speak with over the phone. The advantage: It’s harder for people to reject you face-to-face.
5. Cold Calling. This technique, tried and true since the advent of the phone, has lost effectiveness over the years due to the preponderance of two-income, busy families and the onset of No-Call laws. But there are agents who still make money, and a lot of it, cold calling. It is not something I recommend highly, since there are so many other techniques that provide higher returns with less effort. It is, however, better than waiting for the phone to ring
Following these tips on how to prospect for seller and buyer clients will help you maximize your efforts, thus delivering a greater return on time investment and higher value to your business.
Dirk Zeller is recognized as the premier coach for the real estate industry. He is one of the most sought after speakers and authors for high volume production while attaining life balance in the real estate industry. Dirk is the President of Real Estate Champions. Real Estate Champions provides exceptional business and developmental training to real estate agents and managers through cutting edge coaching programs and seminars including the “Four Day Work Week System Program™.” You can contact Real Estate Champions at 1-877-732-4676 or e-mail them at info@realestatechampions.com or visit their web site at http://www.realestatechampions.com.
Source: Real Estate Agent Tips
Mortgage Foreclosures Cause Some Homeowners To Pay Out Of Pocket
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31(Source) In almost all foreclosure by publication the mortgage company bids the amount due on the mortgage, and no one else bids higher. Even if someone does, there would be no deficiency, as the sherrif’s deed transferring the property 6 months after the foreclosure sale effectively is for the amount bid. This means, you have lost the home, but you owe nothing.
Foreclosure in Michigan are on the rise. Too many home owners have gone in over their heads and now can’t afford the home that they bought when the market was up. They were sold bad mortgages.
In some of these situations, the mortgage company is walking away with the property, which they don’t want, and the homeowner owes no money. The downfall is the negative rating on their credit report, which affects the home owner for years to come. Still, there is no additional money out of pocket. They do lose their equity, however.
In other situations, if the mortgage company bids less than the amount you owe on the property then you will have to make up the difference out of your pocket. That could be a big chunk of change, especially if you owe more than the house is worth. We’d hate for that to happen to you. If you are seeking a Michigan mortgage, you should do your homework first. Do business with a mortgage broker who will give you the straight talk about your situation. Deal in facts, not illusions.
Prevent Foreclosure Before You Sign For The Mortgage
The Michigan Mortgage Blog
Mortgage and Real Estate Blog
Source: Mortgage Foreclosures Cause Some Homeowners To Pay Out Of Pocket
Investment Group Takes Large Stake in Countrywide
Posted by admin under: Main Oct 31
Brandes Investment Partners said yesterday that it had taken a 7.9 percent stake in Countrywide Financial as of Sept. 30, according to a regulatory filing.
The investment group, which seeks out-of-favor Wall Street firms, accumulated 45.7 million shares of Countrywide stock during the third quarter.
The move makes Brandes the second-largest investor in the troubled mortgage lender, behind Legg Mason Capital Management which currently holds a 10.1 percent stake, according to Thomson ShareWatch.
San Diego-based Brandes said it oversees $125 billion, using a value-oriented approach developed by the late investor and Columbia University economist Benjamin Graham.
Last August, Countrywide announced that Bank of America had made a $2 billion equity investment in the lending giant, easing liquidity pressures that were bogging down the financial giant.
And in September, Countrywide revealed that it had arranged for an additional $12 billion in secured borrowing capacity.
Despite the many infusions of cash, Alliance Capital Funds cut their stake in Countrywide from 10.7 percent to a mere 4.1 percent in just over a months’ time during the summer.
Countrywide reported a third-quarter loss of $1.2 billion last Friday, sending shares up a massive 32.4 percent, though they have since pulled back some of those gains.
Yesterday, Friedman Billings Ramsey cut its price target on Countrywide Financial by $5 to $20, citing high credit costs and a soft housing market.
Shares of Countrywide were trading down 58 cents, or 3.43 percent to $16.25 in midday trading on Wall Street.
Separately, Brandes also picked up 12.9 million shares, or a 1.5 percent stake in Washington Mutual, whose shares are trading just above their 52-week low.
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Source: Investment Group Takes Large Stake in Countrywide