Jan Huchteman’s Blog

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December Existing Home Sales Rise Unexpectedly, Leading Indicators Up- AP
Existing home sales rose 6.5 percent in December to an annual rate of 4.74 million units, as the median home sales price plunged to $175,400, down 15.3 percent from $207,000 a year ago. Also, A private research group’s monthly forecast of economic activity rose unexpectedly in December, mostly because the flood of federal bailouts increased the money supply.

Home Prices Increase In a Number of States in 2008
January 26th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under
Filed Under: Real Estate
In the midst of the gloom and doom that has permeated our national news coverage, I figured that you would like some good news.

7 States actually saw price increases in 2008.

Yep, you heard me right.

There is good news out there.

Here are the states that saw an increase in single family home prices in 2008.

West Virginia 4.2%
Texas 3.6%
South Dakota 3.6%
Montana 2.6%
Mississippi 1.7%
Utah 1.5%
New Mexico 1.3%

You never would have guessed there would be good news today?
Stats buried in this Bloomberg.com article.

Can You Flip a House for Profit in This Market?
Actually it may prove to be the most optimal time for such a venture
By Carol Moore, bankrate.com | Published: 11/14/2008

If flipping a house in today’s real estate market seems riskier than trekking with a ragtag band of hobbits to Mordor, take heart: Home flippers can still find plenty of opportunities, though they’re not entirely without risk.
It may seem counterintuitive to invest in real estate when the housing market is in its darkest hour. But in fact, it may prove to be the most optimal time for such a venture.

According to RealtyTrac, a seller of mortgage default data, the foreclosure rate reached its highest level in 50 years in 2007 and has since risen to record numbers in the third quarter of 2008. Real estate investors are finding bargains everywhere, particularly in formerly hot housing markets such as Florida, Nevada and California.

Angie Hicks, founder of Angieslist.com, a compendium of consumer-service reviews, says a recent informal poll of list members found that of those who had purchased a home in foreclosure, 29 percent of respondents had done so within the last six months. Of those, 95 percent said their purchases were profitable.

“The key … is doing your research and knowing what you’re getting into,” says Hicks. “Know the area you’re buying, the market, how the price compares to the neighborhood.”

The horizon is flush with opportunity for those with the money and know-how to snap up a bargain and flip it, but to make it pay you first must understand how the rules of the game have changed.

Stick With Familiar Territory

Charlotte, N.C., resident Emma Allen, CEO of Emma Allen Enterprises and an experienced flipper, says there’s lots of inventory on the market.

“The prices that were recently so outrageous are down again, so those with capital or access to credit will find it’s a very good time to pick up bargains in the marketplace,” Allen says. Allen finds those bargains mostly in neighborhoods where she would like to live. Areas undergoing urban renewal present good investment opportunities.

FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE SEE IT ON FRONTDOOR.COM

I received 2 OFFERS on one of my listings yesterday and have another coming in today after 5 months of being listed! Now we have a bidding war! It’s a short sale on a townhome in Suwanee, Georgia. I dropped the price about 2 weeks ago and suddenly all at once, it’s raining offers and they are all willing to wait on the delays a short sale lender could present to them. This beautiful 2 year old townhome was sold new for $227,000 and now is listed for $185,000 so you do the math.

Buyers, if you have been thinking about buying a home in the Atlanta metro area, NOW IS THE TIME ! Rates are still low and there are so many great deals out there. That doesn’t just include short sales and foreclosures, as there are plenty of other listings that need to sell, too, so don’t just focus on the bank owned properties.

Forbes Magazine Predicts Atlanta’s Recovery to Begin in 2009
http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/25/housing-prices-rising-forbeslife-cx_mw_0825realestate.html

Forbes Magazine made some good predictions for Atlanta homebuilders and residents last week. While other cities, like Las Vegas and Phoenix are expected to see home prices decrease by up to 50%, Atlanta is predicted to see significant increases as early as 2009. (This reiterates that NOW is the time to buy Atlanta Real Estate. Discounts on current new home inventory are available now. They won’t last forever!)
Although Forbes mentions the number of Atlanta foreclosures in early 2008, our continued steady job growth rate promises an end to our housing slump. In fact, next year home prices are expected to jump up by 32.5% for single family homes around the metro Atlanta area. Multi-family home prices are expected to rise by as much as 18.4% and job growth will remain around the steady 2% yearly increase that has kept Atlanta afloat and the envy of the nation. We are placed at number nine in the group of ten “lucky cities” that are predicted to experience long term recovery that will begin next year. Other cities where home prices are expected to rise include Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, Austin, Portland, San Antonio, Charlotte, and Albuquerque. So while times may seem tough now, if we can just hold out for a little while longer, things should be lo oking up for the economy and the Atlanta housing market once again.

10/9/2008 Explanation from Brian Yearwood, owner Custom Mortgage Services, Inc.

Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of calls from concerned sellers that are worried any potential buyer will not be able to get a home loan. If you watch the news every day, it certainly seems like the sky is falling, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is tougher to get a loan now because guidelines have tightened, but not because money isn’t available.

I recently read an article that gave a good example of this…imagine you owned a pizza shop in a college town. Every time you got an order from a residence, you made the pizza and delivered it. The customer that ordered it answered the door and paid you. That type of customer basically had no risk for the shop owner.

Now, imagine some guys in a fraternity house playing a trick on another house. They call the same pizza shop and order ten pies, and ask that they be delivered to their rivals next door. The pizzas are made and the driver is dispatched, only to be told at the door that no one ordered the pizzas. They have just wasted 10 pizzas that they didn’t get paid for.

So, as a result of the losses, the pizza shop decides to not accept anymore delivery orders from fraternity row. That would be a good business decision, right? In years past, the government has prevented the mortgage industry from making these risk-based decisions. They have demanded equal lending opportunities, whether the borrower was a good risk or not. Now, those high-risk loans are not available.

Since guidelines have been tightened, the only people who can buy homes now are the ones that are good credit risks. For those borrowers, money is abundant. The so-called credit crunch is affecting the ability to borrow for many items, but not homes. The lending industry has allowed people who really shouldn’t be buying homes to buy them, but no more. If it is a smart financial decision and you have a down payment and good credit, loans are still very easy to do.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me directly at
678-992-7100, or email me at byearwood@cmsloan.net.

Brian Yearwood
Custom Mortgage Services, Inc.

AP
Pending home sales up 7.4 percent in August
Wednesday October 8, 1:30 pm ET
By Alan Zibel, AP Business Writer
Pending sales of existing homes in US up 7.4 pct from July to August in unexpected increase

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pending home sales rose 7.4 percent from July to August, an unexpected piece of positive news for the battered U.S. housing market.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 93.4 from an upwardly revised July reading of 87. The reading was the highest since June 2007.

Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer, but the deal has not yet closed. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag before a sale is completed.

Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would fall to 84.9.

The index, which sunk to a record low of 83 in March, stood at 85.8 in August 2007.

Sales are picking up in places that have seen the most severe declines in housing prices — including California, Florida Nevada and Arizona, plus Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C. area, said Lawrence Yun, the trade group’s chief economist. Still, Yun does not expect home prices to rebound until next year and only expects a modest gain of 2 to 3 percent in 2009.

A major unknown is how the worldwide financial crisis and economic slump will affect the housing market.

Despite numerous efforts by the Federal Reserve to encourage banks to lend more, lenders have kept tight reins on mortgage lending, and average rates on 30-year mortgages have remained over 6 percent for most of the year.

The latest effort by the central bank came Wednesday, when the Fed and six other major central banks around the world slashed interest rates Wednesday in an attempt to prevent a mushrooming financial crisis from becoming a global economic meltdown.

The Fed reduced a key rate from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. In Europe, which also has been hard hit by the financial crisis, the Bank of England cut its rate by half a point to 4.5 percent and the European Central Bank sliced its rate by half a point to 3.75 percent. Also cutting rates were the central banks of China, Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland.

There’s no guarantee, though, that mortgage rates will match the Fed’s cut.

That’s because long-term interest rates, which influence 30-year mortgages, don’t always move in sync with the Fed’s action, which lowered the interest rate banks charge each other on overnight loans.

However, the Fed action will reduce borrowing costs almost immediately for U.S. bank customers whose home equity and other floating-rate loans are tied to the prime interest rate. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other banks cut their prime rate by half a point to 4.5 percent after the Fed announcement.

John Adams’ Top 10 Undeniable Truths about Real Estate for the Fall of 2008
From the AJC

1. People have to have a place to live. — It’s basic but it speaks volumes
about the real estate profession. Today there are 4.78 million people in the
metro Atlanta area; it’s predicted there will be over 8 million by 2025.
That’s a lot of people coming in who will need a place to live.

2. Well-selected residential real estate will always go up in value. –
According to the most recent report (2nd quarter, 2008) from the Office of
Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (www.OFHEO.gov
), home prices/values in Georgia continue to rise. There has not been a
12-month period in which home values have declined in Georgia. Click here
for that report.

3. All of us face challenges in our lives at one time or another. — A
challenging market makes you appreciate the good times. It’s as simple as
that.

4. Interest rates go up and interest rates go down, but you can always
refinance when the money is cheap. — We are in a temporary situation in
which it’s hard to find money for non-owner occupied properties and in which
the public’s perception is that interest rates are high. But they will still
buy.

5. The greatest expense you will have in your lifetime, without a doubt, is
taxes. — The level of taxation we experience in this country is remarkable.
Real estate is an investment that allows you to reach financial freedom and
reduce your tax burden.

6. The tax benefits of real estate are, indeed, too good to be true. But
they are true. — We need to constantly tout to our customers the exclusion
from taxation of gain on a primary residence as the number 1 reason to own a
home.

7. Inflation is our friend. — Sounds crazy, but controlled inflation can be
helpful in growing our economy.

8. You can retire comfortably on as few as 8 - 10 rental houses. — Eight to
ten rental properties, paid off, can be a substantial retirement income.

9. Investing in real estate is simple but it’s not easy. — Seek the advice
of those who have ‘been there, done that’ but don’t be afraid to jump right
in.

10. In the words of John McCain [and this is coming from John Adams,
lifelong Democrat!], ‘Our economy is fundamentally sound.’ — We are in a
financial crisis, not an ecomonic crisis. Some of the media is comparing our
current ecomony to the Depression; however, the unemployment rate during the
Depression was over 25%, whereas our current national unemployment rate is
around 6%. Also, compare our GDP to that of the Depression and they are
nowhere near the same. We will overcome the current financial crisis and
move on with a healthy economy.

How many of you have ever driven by the Atlanta White House?? Well, you should take a drive in North Atlanta on Briarcliff Road between the Clairmont and Shallowford Rd exits and you will see it. You can not miss it. It’s a replica of the one in Washington DC.

View Video:

Last week I showed the condos in the 27 story highrise, The Manahattan in Dunwoody Georgia. It overlooks the Perimeter Mall area. The two bedroom units range from 1.5 million for the remaining penthouse unit, to the one bedrooms in the 200’s. Most of the two bedroom units can be purchased in the mid-300’s but there are some real deals in there now for the high 200’s. The common areas are sleek and modern with ocean blue and brown tones. It has a concierge desk for security and a fabulous work out facility, pool and penthouse floor private area for residents to sunbathe or party. It is within walking distance to great shops and restaurants in the Abernathy and mall areas. Call me to see it today!

View Video of The Manhattan Condo on 19th Floor

View the Video of The Manhattan’s Lobby