QUESTION:
My broker says now is the time to buy real estate because prices are low, mortgage rates are down, and it will soon be difficult to finance a property with less than 20 percent down. Why will it become hard to get loans with little down?
ANSWER:
There's been considerable confusion about this, so let's try to straighten it out.
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act lenders are allowed to make whatever mortgages they like. However, if they make mortgages with certain characteristics - say, with fully documented loan applications and points and fees equal to no more than 3 percent of the loan amount - they then get certain benefits such as less liability and no need to set aside 5 percent of the loan amount in a reserve fund.
Dodd-Frank also says that loans within the "safe harbor" created to protect lenders from liability must have 20 percent down. But - and here's the part you don't hear too much about - there are huge exceptions. For instance, the 20-percent rule does not apply to FHA or VA financing, conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or loans that lenders keep in portfolio.
The question is this: Who would benefit if mortgages with little money down were increasingly unavailable? Not sellers. Fewer sales would mean lower prices. Not lenders. They would originate fewer loans and lose substantial business. Not servicers. They would have less to manage on behalf of mortgage investors. Not real estate brokers. They would have fewer homes to sell. Not states and local communities. With fewer real estate transactions their tax collections would plummet.
There's now an effort to raise the FHA down payment from 3.5 percent to 5 percent and exchange Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for institutions from the private sector. But even if we make changes, borrowers will still want loans with little down, and, as a matter of self-interest lenders, brokers and government will still want to make sure that such financing is available with far less than 20 percent down.
for more information about bank own homes in las vegas please visit www.buybankownhomes.com
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Right Season For Home Sale
Trying to time the market and determine the perfect home selling season can be a risky strategy, especially in the current real estate climate of buyer uncertainty.
Conventional wisdom holds that wintertime is the worst season in which to put a "for sale" sign up. But that may not be true, for example, in warmer Southwestern states. And the peak of summer, when foliage is robust and sunshine-graced curb appeal is high, may not necessarily be prime home showing time in areas like Florida and Arizona, where prospective sellers may choose to vacation out of state to escape the heat.
"In the past, there have been peak selling seasons that vary, depending on who you speak to," says Lisa Johnson Sevajian, with Coldwell Banker in Andover, says. "Many believe the spring market starts in May when in fact spring time buyers usually start looking in February. Others believe no one buys houses in December, which is completely untrue. Buyers who are trudging through snow are far more serious than causal springtime lookers."
Overall, it's important to consider that seasonality can fluctuate from market to market. In the northeast, the spring market brings the highest demand, says Greg Rand, host of the "Rand on Real Estate" radio program on 77 WABC Radio in New York.
If you need to sell quickly, it's probably not best to wait out the weather for a better time of year. However, if you live in a cold climate, it's often better to wait out the winter and list your home in the early spring because, if it doesn't sell relatively quickly, it will be considered "tired inventory" by the time spring rolls around, says Bill Golden, with RE/MAX Metro Atlanta Cityside.
Ultimately, in the current market, the longer you wait to list, the lower your sales price may turn out to be. Waiting for prime selling season could eat up the anticipated profit you hope to gain due to a specific season. And homes priced right for the market will usually sell fast, regardless of Mother Nature
If you want to short sale your house please visit www.buybankownhomes.com
Conventional wisdom holds that wintertime is the worst season in which to put a "for sale" sign up. But that may not be true, for example, in warmer Southwestern states. And the peak of summer, when foliage is robust and sunshine-graced curb appeal is high, may not necessarily be prime home showing time in areas like Florida and Arizona, where prospective sellers may choose to vacation out of state to escape the heat.
"In the past, there have been peak selling seasons that vary, depending on who you speak to," says Lisa Johnson Sevajian, with Coldwell Banker in Andover, says. "Many believe the spring market starts in May when in fact spring time buyers usually start looking in February. Others believe no one buys houses in December, which is completely untrue. Buyers who are trudging through snow are far more serious than causal springtime lookers."
Overall, it's important to consider that seasonality can fluctuate from market to market. In the northeast, the spring market brings the highest demand, says Greg Rand, host of the "Rand on Real Estate" radio program on 77 WABC Radio in New York.
If you need to sell quickly, it's probably not best to wait out the weather for a better time of year. However, if you live in a cold climate, it's often better to wait out the winter and list your home in the early spring because, if it doesn't sell relatively quickly, it will be considered "tired inventory" by the time spring rolls around, says Bill Golden, with RE/MAX Metro Atlanta Cityside.
Ultimately, in the current market, the longer you wait to list, the lower your sales price may turn out to be. Waiting for prime selling season could eat up the anticipated profit you hope to gain due to a specific season. And homes priced right for the market will usually sell fast, regardless of Mother Nature
If you want to short sale your house please visit www.buybankownhomes.com
Real estate executive keeps eyes on future, heart in deals
By Hubble Smith
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jul. 24, 2011 | 2:00 a.m.
Cathy Jones admits she doesn't have a great head for numbers. That's why she uses a calculator.
Nonetheless, she's a shrewd number cruncher.
Jones, a certified public accountant with a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University, founded Sun Commercial Real Estate in 2006, just before the start of the recession. She has survived the steepest real estate market downturn in Las Vegas history. She doubled her staff from five to 10, including three new hires in July.
"I think we've become market experts in office, retail, industrial and land," Jones said at Sun Commercial's office in the Park at Spanish Ridge, near the Las Vegas Beltway and Russell Road. "We're asked to provide a broker's price opinion all the time for banks and special servicers.
"I think what we do that's a step above the competition is a full-blown, discounted cash-flow analysis for our clients," she said. "It's very comprehensive."
Jones provided a broker's opinion of value on several commercial properties in Las Vegas for LNR Partners, the company that held the $1 billion commercial real estate auction here in May.
Sun Commercial has negotiated more than $650 million in commercial real estate sales and lease transactions, including about $30 million this year, Jones said. About 80 percent of current transactions involve distressed properties, either bank-owned or in default.
The company's scope of services includes buyer and seller representation; investment sales; acquisitions and dispositions; property management; asset valuation; and market research.
When she's not brokering deals, Jones enjoys horseback riding and equestrian jumping with her Dutch warmblood, Maple.
"She's a bad-ass girl," Jones said.
Question: What brought you to Las Vegas?
Answer: I took an auditor job with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells at that time. I interviewed in both Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Question: And you were living in Phoenix. Was it hard to leave?
Answer: When I moved to Phoenix, it was a very welcoming town. When I moved here, people I worked with were friendly, but they were very private. Come the weekend, you didn't have people opening up their homes and inviting you over. It's a challenging city for a young, single woman to move here.
Question: What kept you here for 30 years?
Answer: I enjoyed the people I met and I enjoyed the fact that Las Vegas provides a unique opportunity for businesspeople to make a difference through volunteer work and being actively involved with organizations. I've been involved with the United Way as treasurer and chairman. Even though the city is large, the business community is small. In a larger community, it's harder to get involved. From a career and business standpoint, you're in a position to reach out and meet people at all levels in the business community. It's harder to meet with the president of banks and large firms in big cities.
Question: What's the most fascinating part of your job?
Answer: I'm a transaction junkie. I love working on transactions. Every transaction is different and unique. And I enjoy the clients. One of the things that sets our company apart is our focus on long-term relationships, not just the deal, and that's very important to us. Seventy percent of our business is repeat, which is really high. People understand we're there for the long term. Sometimes we recommend not doing a deal because of the timing not being right.
Question: What trends do you see in commercial real estate? Will we ever recover?
Answer: I do feel we're bouncing along the bottom as everyone says. There's a lot of money looking at Las Vegas for long-term potential just because the price point to acquire property is at such a low. Most of the buyers are what we call value-add clients. They buy properties with higher vacancy and they spend the next one to three years stabilizing them and look to sell down the road or hold for a while.
Question: What advice would you give someone starting out in commercial real estate?
Answer: The most important thing is to pick the right (brokerage) team to work with so you get deep experience. Don't be in a hurry to get out and form your own team. Get some experience under your belt working with a team to provide you with a good foundation.
Question: What do they need to learn?
Answer: The skill sets you have to have are very good people skills. You have to be a good listener. You have to have an aptitude for numbers. In commercial, you have to be able to analyze the numbers and be comfortable with contracts. You have to be able to read and understand contracts.
Question: Who taught you about the business?
Answer: Terry Wright at Nevada Title Co. My experience at Nevada Title was very significant in my success. I had financial experience, but the contracts, the people skills ... Terry Wright really mentored me on people skills on client calls.
Question: Will we continue to struggle with commercial mortgage defaults in Las Vegas?
Answer: There's still a large issue with CMBS (commercial mortgage-backed securities). We've only touched the tip of the iceberg, I'm afraid. A lot of those loans will come due in the next two or three years and the value is not there to refinance. That's going to be a continuing problem, not because borrowers are delinquent, but because the loans come due.
Question: What about workouts with the banks? Are they willing to extend or alter the terms of the loan to avoid foreclosure?
Answer: I haven't seen a lot of workouts. I do feel like lenders are working harder to work out a short sale with the owner where the lender shares in the loss of value. I know CMBS lenders will work on them for a year before they decide to foreclose. Borrowers were able to bid on their own properties at the (LNR) auction. Who's going to pay more for the property than the borrower?
Question: How tough is it to get financing these days?
Answer: Banks are starting to do some financing again. Their underwriting requirements are so stringent, so it makes it more challenging and they're definitely giving no special deals. It's 75 percent loan to value, whereas it used to be 85 percent, and they're going with market interest rates.
Question: Who's lending?
Answer: Life insurance companies, pension funds and believe it or not, some of the CMBS is in play again. There's a lot of private money and institutional money.
Question: If you weren't in commercial real estate or finance, what else might you have liked to do for a living?
Answer: Money's not an object? I'd like to train horses for jumping and show.
Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491
for free las vegas bank own homes search please visit
http://www.buybankownhomes.com
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jul. 24, 2011 | 2:00 a.m.
Cathy Jones admits she doesn't have a great head for numbers. That's why she uses a calculator.
Nonetheless, she's a shrewd number cruncher.
Jones, a certified public accountant with a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University, founded Sun Commercial Real Estate in 2006, just before the start of the recession. She has survived the steepest real estate market downturn in Las Vegas history. She doubled her staff from five to 10, including three new hires in July.
"I think we've become market experts in office, retail, industrial and land," Jones said at Sun Commercial's office in the Park at Spanish Ridge, near the Las Vegas Beltway and Russell Road. "We're asked to provide a broker's price opinion all the time for banks and special servicers.
"I think what we do that's a step above the competition is a full-blown, discounted cash-flow analysis for our clients," she said. "It's very comprehensive."
Jones provided a broker's opinion of value on several commercial properties in Las Vegas for LNR Partners, the company that held the $1 billion commercial real estate auction here in May.
Sun Commercial has negotiated more than $650 million in commercial real estate sales and lease transactions, including about $30 million this year, Jones said. About 80 percent of current transactions involve distressed properties, either bank-owned or in default.
The company's scope of services includes buyer and seller representation; investment sales; acquisitions and dispositions; property management; asset valuation; and market research.
When she's not brokering deals, Jones enjoys horseback riding and equestrian jumping with her Dutch warmblood, Maple.
"She's a bad-ass girl," Jones said.
Question: What brought you to Las Vegas?
Answer: I took an auditor job with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells at that time. I interviewed in both Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Question: And you were living in Phoenix. Was it hard to leave?
Answer: When I moved to Phoenix, it was a very welcoming town. When I moved here, people I worked with were friendly, but they were very private. Come the weekend, you didn't have people opening up their homes and inviting you over. It's a challenging city for a young, single woman to move here.
Question: What kept you here for 30 years?
Answer: I enjoyed the people I met and I enjoyed the fact that Las Vegas provides a unique opportunity for businesspeople to make a difference through volunteer work and being actively involved with organizations. I've been involved with the United Way as treasurer and chairman. Even though the city is large, the business community is small. In a larger community, it's harder to get involved. From a career and business standpoint, you're in a position to reach out and meet people at all levels in the business community. It's harder to meet with the president of banks and large firms in big cities.
Question: What's the most fascinating part of your job?
Answer: I'm a transaction junkie. I love working on transactions. Every transaction is different and unique. And I enjoy the clients. One of the things that sets our company apart is our focus on long-term relationships, not just the deal, and that's very important to us. Seventy percent of our business is repeat, which is really high. People understand we're there for the long term. Sometimes we recommend not doing a deal because of the timing not being right.
Question: What trends do you see in commercial real estate? Will we ever recover?
Answer: I do feel we're bouncing along the bottom as everyone says. There's a lot of money looking at Las Vegas for long-term potential just because the price point to acquire property is at such a low. Most of the buyers are what we call value-add clients. They buy properties with higher vacancy and they spend the next one to three years stabilizing them and look to sell down the road or hold for a while.
Question: What advice would you give someone starting out in commercial real estate?
Answer: The most important thing is to pick the right (brokerage) team to work with so you get deep experience. Don't be in a hurry to get out and form your own team. Get some experience under your belt working with a team to provide you with a good foundation.
Question: What do they need to learn?
Answer: The skill sets you have to have are very good people skills. You have to be a good listener. You have to have an aptitude for numbers. In commercial, you have to be able to analyze the numbers and be comfortable with contracts. You have to be able to read and understand contracts.
Question: Who taught you about the business?
Answer: Terry Wright at Nevada Title Co. My experience at Nevada Title was very significant in my success. I had financial experience, but the contracts, the people skills ... Terry Wright really mentored me on people skills on client calls.
Question: Will we continue to struggle with commercial mortgage defaults in Las Vegas?
Answer: There's still a large issue with CMBS (commercial mortgage-backed securities). We've only touched the tip of the iceberg, I'm afraid. A lot of those loans will come due in the next two or three years and the value is not there to refinance. That's going to be a continuing problem, not because borrowers are delinquent, but because the loans come due.
Question: What about workouts with the banks? Are they willing to extend or alter the terms of the loan to avoid foreclosure?
Answer: I haven't seen a lot of workouts. I do feel like lenders are working harder to work out a short sale with the owner where the lender shares in the loss of value. I know CMBS lenders will work on them for a year before they decide to foreclose. Borrowers were able to bid on their own properties at the (LNR) auction. Who's going to pay more for the property than the borrower?
Question: How tough is it to get financing these days?
Answer: Banks are starting to do some financing again. Their underwriting requirements are so stringent, so it makes it more challenging and they're definitely giving no special deals. It's 75 percent loan to value, whereas it used to be 85 percent, and they're going with market interest rates.
Question: Who's lending?
Answer: Life insurance companies, pension funds and believe it or not, some of the CMBS is in play again. There's a lot of private money and institutional money.
Question: If you weren't in commercial real estate or finance, what else might you have liked to do for a living?
Answer: Money's not an object? I'd like to train horses for jumping and show.
Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491
for free las vegas bank own homes search please visit
http://www.buybankownhomes.com
New and improved Web site launched
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If you or someone you konows is having financial difficulty and want to short sale the house in las vegas , please visit this web site and you will get a lot of helpful information for short selling your house.
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