Homeowners groups feel economy’s pain, too — OrlandoSentinel.com

Homeowners groups feel economy’s pain, too — OrlandoSentinel.com

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Real Estate investing in British Columbia, Canada?

Vancouver and Whistler are popular places to invest in. We have had a good network for years.

See the following listing:

Nanaimo, BC (Vancouver Island). Land for development (multifamily). Minutes to downtown Nanaimo, the float plane and ferry terminals and the North Island Highway.

7,56 acres at 2,000,000 CAD

Site is zoned RM5, approved for 124 apartment units and 14 townhouses situated within the well established Northfield residential neighbourhood.
See also adjacent 22 acres listed.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates

Fantastic to hear and learn from such experience! See CNBC’s video:

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates: Keeping America Great – CNBC.com.

Google Wave

Trying out Google Wave now. It seems an entire new method of communicating. Dr Wave is explaining this new tool…

Delinquent Mortgages Reach Record Levels

Almost 10 percent of all mortgages on one- to four-unit properties are in some stage of foreclosure, up from 2.65 percent a year ago on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey released Thursday.

The combined percentage of loans in foreclosure or at least one payment past due was 14.41 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the highest ever recorded in an MBA delinquency survey.

The bankers blamed the high foreclosure levels on unemployment. “Over the last year, we have seen the ranks of the unemployed increase by about 5.5 million people, increasing the number of seriously delinquent loans by almost 2 million loans and increasing the rate of new foreclosures from 1.07 percent to 1.42 percent,” says Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist.

Brinkmann points out that prime fixed-rate loans represent the largest share of foreclosures and are the biggest driver of the increase in foreclosures.

Home builders and housing analysts mostly shrugged at the high foreclosure-rate information.

“My prediction is we’ll probably recover on a seasonal basis,” Robert Toll, chairman and CEO of Toll Brothers, the largest builder of luxury houses, said yesterday at a conference in New York sponsored by Citigroup Inc. “It’s generally accepted that the homebuilding industry is off the mat and on the road to recovery.”

Josh Levin, a housing analyst at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. in New York, said he expects sales to continue to be slow until January or early February, followed by a surge as buyers try to beat the April 30 expiration of the tax credit.

“The bouncing along the bottom is distorted by government policies,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg News yesterday.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (11/19/2009) and Bloomberg, Kathleen M. Howley and John Gittelsohn (11/20/2009)

Investment properties in Florida

Our partner network has expanded. Since October 6th 2009 our main co-operation is with ECP Realty Inc in Florida. Mr. Peter Leerdam is heading the brokerage activities. The family Leerdam has been in Florida for over 30 years and always active in the real estate business. Real estate development, brokerage and property investments are among its activities. We are proud to work with such a team of real estate professionals in Florida.

‘Foreclosure’ doesn’t always mean ‘good deal’

Just published by FAR. TAMPA – Sept. 29, 2009 – Buyers seeking a foreclosed property should realize that not every foreclosure is a good deal. Read more: http://tinyurl.com/ya32d3w

Florida home prices now affordable, but fear keeps many from buying

Homes haven’t been this affordable in decades. Real estate agents have plenty of business. Desirable properties can be had for less than half the price of two years ago. So why aren’t sales booming? Fear. Read more … http://tinyurl.com/o3bhnl

NAR Warns of Rental Property Scam

The National Association of Realtors®’ name is being used as part of a property rental scam in which rental property is offered to consumers, who are led to believe that NAR is functioning as an intermediary to receive rental deposits from prospective tenants.

“NAR is not involved in this business and has contacted law enforcement officials to request that the matter be investigated. Read more … http://tinyurl.com/o4ddlo

Florida’s existing home, condo sales rise in June 2009

ORLANDO, Fla. – July 23, 2009 – Florida’s existing home sales rose in June – the 10th consecutive month that sales activity showed gains in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). Statewide sales in June also increased over the previous month’s sales level in both the existing home and existing condominium markets. And, for the second month in a row, the statewide median sales price for existing homes was higher than the previous month’s statewide median. Read more: http://tinyurl.com/lztc5g