Snow Business

Hey, Fall has fallen, snow caps our majestic mountains, and long sleeves have replaced short sleeves. The aspens are peaking this weekend in Colorado. Sharpen your skates and skiis and your mind. We’re not out of the woods, Dorothy. Denver Metro just happens to be in a better position than nearly all US real estate markets. Count your blessings…

In the Blind Leading the Incompetent Department, housing sales drop so the stock market DROPS. No surprises there. Where’s the love?  Falling home prices make extending or expanding the Homeowner Tax Credit more viable. Stay tuned. We predict the extension will happen before the December 1 deadline. Here’s a novel discussion:  Housing tax credit: Cure or curse? Are we delaying the inevitable?

To stabilize our Mortgage Industry, the Federal Reserve Board said today that it would keep its benchmark interest rate as low as zero percent in the face of a still-sputtering economy. It looks like 5-6% will be around for a while.

This all sounds like a shotgun approach to solving our nation’s problems. Too bad we’re the shooting gallery!

INTEREST RATES. Nationwide. Owner occ.  30 yr fixed: 5.25%; 5/1 ARM 4.29%. Colorado is slightly lower (5.15 & 4.17).  Figure ½ - 1 point higher for Non-Owner Occ/Investor.

REAL ESTATE WEATHER REPORT

OK, how are we doing locally?  Retail closings remain strong; who would know that school has begun? The tax stimulus is the catalyst. We’ll take it any way we can. Rent appears to be dipping slightly. Don’t be greedy.

We’re still seeing rental deals, single family and multi-family, that cash flow nicely.  Do you enjoy tenants and toilets? It’s the price we must pay, literally AND figuratively, to be in this business.  I don’t want to look back in five years and say “I wish” or I should have…”  The numbers are real! The deals are real.  We continue to see shootouts at the NOT-SO-OK Corral where investors up the prices. Too bad we’re not seeing the “Ups” with appraisals. Truth and Justice will prevail…in time. Be patient. Be thorough.

INVENTORY

Call the office for details (303 338-8000). Great wholesale deals are getting harder to find. Be careful out there.

1737 King St. Denver. Condo.  2/1. 2 blocks from Sloans Lake. 4 blocks from St Anthony Hospital Complex. This REO is yours for $27.5K with under $10K in fix. Should cash flow handsomely.

1415 Benton St., Lakewood. 2-story. Warm and inviting. 3/1.5/1+. Buy at $102K, fix and $18K.

4785 Columbine St, Denver. DUPLEX. 2/1/1 times 2. Brick. Buy at $58K, fix at $30-35K, rent at $1300-1400/mo or flip it.

8147 S Brook Forest Rd. Evergreen.  6-plex, in the mountains. We bought this and are fixing this up as tenants churn. Let us know if you’re interested. Buy this at $250K, we’ve started the MAJOR work. After rehab, rent income will be over $4K/mo!

Call us for more information or with questions. We expect more properties anytime; bookmark our WEBSITE and visit often. Don’t miss opportunities.

Bon Homepetit!

John Fisher

www.happycanyongroup.com

303 338-8000

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Change your thoughts and you change your world. ~Norman Vincent Peale

       Don’t Fear the Repo

REO’s, Repo’s, Bank Owned, Lender Owned, Corporate Owned, all basically the same. What’s not to like? You’re dealing with a company whose declining asset department’s job is to unload real estate.  They want to get the highest price they can.  They always do.  The market speaks; the market levels pricing. Hungry investors are driving prices up in our local market.  Not so in most of the country.  Bargains abound.

We recently attended two Wholesale Real Estate meetings where the speakers were encouraging investors to wholesale in out of state markets…where the real deals can be found.  Can they? Yes, and it’s relative.  You can buy houses for $5K and under in over ½ of our states. Our advice is to be diligent and cautious.

INTEREST RATES. Nationwide. Owner occ.  30 yr fixed: 5.2%; 5/1 ARM 4.3%. Colorado is close to those numbers.  Figure ½ - 1 point higher for Non-Owner Occ/Investor.

REAL ESTATE WEATHER REPORT

Cyber Homes has identified Denver as one of the top  Bargain Cities for First Time Buyers.

Fall falls this weekend. We think our strong market will continue.  First Time buyers fuel the “frenzy.”  We had a South Aurora (Cherry Creek Schools) flip easily make appraisal last week. Not so in Montbello; missed it by $4K. We’re still “fighting” flighty appraisers that continue to overreact (read under appraise!) to our market conditions of the past.  We’re paying for those “errors.” We hope the market will level out soon.

We’re still seeing investor buyer frenzy. We are seeing more and more residential real estate deals labeled “Wholesale” that are marketed above the retail MLS price.  We are not confused.

Be patient. The deals are out there!

INVENTORY

Call the office for details (303 338-8000). Few changes. Great wholesale deals are getting harder to find. Be careful out there.

1737 King St. Denver. Condo.  2/1. 2 blocks from Sloans Lake. 4 blocks from St Anthony Hospital Complex. This REO is yours for $27.5K with under $10K in fix. Should cash flow handsomely.

6583 E 23^rd Av, Aurora. 4 PLEX. 3 1/1s and 1 2/1. Currently on HOLD due to structural issues. Sale price is $117K. Should be a money maker.

8147 S Brook Forest Rd. Evergreen.  6-plex, in the mountains. We bought this and are fixing this up as tenants churn. Let us know if you’re interested. Buy this at $235K before we start doing MAJOR work. Monthly gross rent at $3300.  After total rehab, rent income will be over $4K/mo! Our first remodeled unit is now ready to rent.

Call us for more information or with questions. We expect more properties anytime; bookmark our WEBSITE and visit often. Don’t miss opportunities.

Bon Homepetit!

John Fisher

www.happycanyongroup.com

303 338-8000

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain. ~Mark Twain

       Health and High Water

My, 911 will always mean something special to us; on the positive side it means resilience and strength amidst tragedy. We are a strong country, still admired by all or nearly all countries (although a few won’t admit it, just don’t take away their MTV…)

Our government is wading through a variety and versions of Health Insurance. Let’s hope we can reach some sort of accord we can all live with, it beats the alternative!

INTEREST RATES. Nationwide. Owner occ: 30 year fixed: 5.281%; 5/1 ARM: 3.749%.  Colorado is close to those numbers.  Figure ½ - 1 point higher for Non-Owner Occ/Investor.

Here’s a sobering statistic from Realty Trac: One in every 357 U.S. households with loans got a foreclosure filing in August. They expect foreclosures to peak nationwide by the end of 2010. Guess who’s leading the pack? Right, Nevada, Florida, and California are the top 3.  Colorado remains in the top 10.  Many locals claim Realty Trac’s record methods inflate the real number of Colorado foreclosures. Nonetheless, bank repo’s are down but foreclosures are up:

Where have all the REOs gone? HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) may explain some of it. Wells Fargo and Bank of America are now increasing their efforts to help homeowners modify their latent loans. Like bankruptcy, we expect these modifications to merely delay the inevitable: FORECLOSURE.

Here’s an interesting discussion Forbes conducted with Zip Realty, Radar Logic, and Zillow.com. It gives you a good idea about what is going on around our US of A. Have appraisals outlived their usefulness? Read and heed. Sounds like fodder for our Breakfast Club (see below).

REAL ESTATE WEATHER REPORT

Don’t forget our Breakfast Club this Saturday, September 12, 2009 at the New York Deli News Restaurant, off I-25 & Hampden. 0700-0900.  Network. It’s what’s for breakfast!

OK. Local Real Estate Report…as the Denver Post reports: Metro-area home sales fall 14 percent, here’s a bright spot: “there are only 20,225 unsold homes on the market, a 17.9 percent drop from the 24,648 available in August 2008. Even in August 2002…there were more homes on the market than last month.”

OK, inventory is down. What does that mean? Basically, prices are up.  We are seeing signs that the fall thaw is coming. Homeowners that don’t have to sell withdraw their listings, buyers that don’t have to buy stop looking, investors who’ve been busy keeping our junker inventory down stop investing. Nobody likes to rehab in the fall/winter (except savvy investors!) We expect to see better deals in 4Q2009, just as in past years. Institutions want to be flush with cash and rid of non-performing assets…let’s help them out.

From our training program, www.FollowMeDenver.com, we offer our 10 Commandments to Real Estate Investing. Number 10 is: Give Back. Take the time to help someone on their journey. Someone helped me get started, how about you?

INVENTORY

Call the office for details (303-338-8000). Few changes. Great wholesale deals remain hard to find. Be careful out there.

6583 E 23^rd Av, Aurora. 4 PLEX. 3 1/1s and 1 2/1. Price reduced due to structural issues: buy this REO for $106K. Fix should be $35-40K including structural piering.

1366 S Zeno Way, Aurora. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and double garage. This had an FHA “as is” appraisal of $132K. Buy this HUD at $112K and fix at $20K. It’s GREEN. All electric.

8147 S Brook Forest Rd. Evergreen.  6-plex, in the mountains. We bought this and are fixing this up as tenants churn. Buy this at $225K before we start doing MAJOR work. Monthly gross rent at $3300.  After total rehab, rent income will be over $4K/mo! Our first remodeled unit is ready to rent.

We expect more properties anytime; bookmark our WEBSITE and visit often. Don’t miss opportunities.

Bon Homepetit!

John Fisher

www.happycanyongroup.com

303 338-8000

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Our doubts are traitors,
and make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt. ~William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”

 September Always Comes

For most, vacation is over and it’s back to work we go. Hi, Oh. We’re happy to have a job. I hope you like doing what you do.  Add September to Death and Taxes…go ahead and add all the months. When they stop coming, you’re out. Period. You know THEY are out there: our country just sent up a super telescope whose mission is to find suitable earth-like planets. Check out Kepler, NASA’s newest mission.

Read about the Bailout Bonanza, TARP funds, our funds, are returning 17.5%. Are we really “making” money (not to be confused with making…printing money)? How can that be?

US News/Business Report cites 10 Cities Facing the Next Real Estate Bust, commercial real estate. No real surprises. Such overkill. 10 Best Cities to become a Gazillionaire. 10 Best Cities to survive pre-mature skin aging. When will it stop? Oh, when we stop reading about it.  It has a live of its own. Problem is, I find it amusing, or interesting, or it validates my belief system…see, I told ya so, Vegas is a nasty place to invest…yadda, yadda.

Health Care, those who have it are OK, those who don’t aren’t. Simple. Do you have a Servant’s Heart? How much are you willing to pay for others less fortunate than yourself? (I know, rhetorical and controversial)…oh, there will be some sort of compromise made and no one will be happy. Surprised? Me neither!

REAL ESTATE WEATHER REPORT

OK, what’s the score? Not the Bronco game (have faith), real estate. Whatever happened to Wholesale Deals? One man’s mansion is another’s shack.  Bidding wars? Set-asides (sorry, that property went under contract within two minutes of listing it)? Whose rules are we playing by?  How have we allowed appraisers to have the power to set our price points? Buyers are willing to pay more, to see value, and their lender does not want to make as much money in loans and interest. What’s with that? Paranoia? Says whom?

Lenders are making money again (as if they ever stopped). Any new rate and terms out there? I know of one local lender who has stopped/shut off ALL new construction loans…too risky. I know another that will lend at 60% LTV, oops, make that purchase price. Don’t forget the prevailing opinion that the Value of the property is what you PAY. Ironic, eh? Using that rationale, we never buy properties under value. Gosh, I ALWAYS buy properties under value, I just won’t get a decent loan unless I don’t need one. Go figure.

We’re seeing investors buying properties intending to rent and end up flipping the properties due to our healthy market. Two that I was involved in went for more than I thought they would/should go for AND seller got asking price.

Stay tuned for Appraisal Coaster, a new real estate amusement ride, just when you’re at the top, you head-rush to the bottom, no height limit either; the rider operators haven’t figured  how to level out the ride, they do have a captive audience, need a loan? Step into our special car; if NO ONE is AMUSED how can this be an amusement ride? Let’s see, the person setting the levels, heights, and dips lives in another community, often way away, I am sure they have all of the local factors and information at their disposal…do we call them CARNIES because they’re carnivores? Just wondering…what’s for dinner?

From our training program, www.FollowMeDenver.com, we offer our 10 Commandments to Real Estate Investing. Number 9 is: Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Think out of the box! Follow up on that phone call. Follow your instincts. Take action!

INVENTORY

Call the office for details (303 338-8000). Few changes. Great wholesale deals are getting harder to find. Be careful out there.

1670 Dallas St, Aurora, IT’S BACK; ACT QUICKLY. This HUD is a 4 bedroom/2 bath cutie for only $59K! Fix is aprx $20K.

6583 E 23^rd Av, Aurora. 4 PLEX. 3 1/1s and 1 2/1. Currently on HOLD due to structural issues. Sale price is $117K. Should be a money maker.

1366 S Zeno Way, Aurora. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and double garage. This had an FHA “as is” appraisal of $132K. Buy this HUD at $112K and fix at $20K. It’s GREEN. All electric.

11274 Forest Dr, Thornton.  3/2/2. Buy this HUD at $104K and fix at $20K. Tear down the back deck and lattice, make nice!

8147 S Brook Forest Rd. Evergreen.  6-plex, in the mountains. We bought this and are fixing this up as tenants churn. Let us know if you’re interested. Buy this at $225K before we start doing MAJOR work. Monthly gross rent at $3300.  After total rehab, rent income will be over $4K/mo! Our first remodeled unit is now ready to rent.

Call us for more information or with questions. We expect more properties anytime; bookmark our WEBSITE and visit often. Don’t miss opportunities.

Bon Homepetit!

John Fisher

www.happycanyongroup.com

303 338-8000

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other. ~Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)