Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Perhaps this should read, “Did you know when you sell your house….?”

Did you know that when and if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it?
That’s $3,800 on a $100,000 home.
So, when did this happen? It’s in the health care bill. Yea, it’s in there. Just thought you should know.
SALES TAX TO GO INTO EFFECT 2013 (Part of HC Bill) Why 2013? Could it be to come to light AFTER the 2012 elections? REAL ESTATE SALES TAX

So, this is “change you can believe in”?

Under the new health care bill – did you know that all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax? The bulk of these new taxes don’t kick in until 2013 If you sell your $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax. This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes. Does this stuff make your November and 2012 vote more important?

Oh, you weren’t aware this was in the obamacare bill?
Guess what, you aren’t alone.
There are more than a few members of Congress that aren’t aware of it either!

http://www.gop.gov/blog/10/04/08/obamacare-flatlines-obamacare-taxes-home

VOTERS NEED TO KNOW.


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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Monday, August 16th, 2010

According to Realty Trac [1] and CNBC’s Realty Check [2]:

•There were 93,000 completed bank repossessions in July - up 9% from last month, and up 6% from a year ago. This is the 2nd worst monthly reading ever.
•Factoring in all of the repossessed properties held by the government lenders and private lenders, there are nearly 600,000 repossessed properties being held by lenders as of right now.
•The National Association of Realtors tells us that 564,000 properties were sold in June. This factors in ALL homes sold, not just foreclosures. Even so, that number is below the number of foreclosures currently “on the books” at our nation’s lenders (600,000)
•New claims for unemployment spiked yet again in the past week, with 484,000 more new claims for unemployment being filed – the highest since February


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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Knoxville Investor Deal – 4210 McCalla Ave Knoxville, TN 37914

2 Bedrooms 1 Bath

Rehab started on property and needs to be completed

Excellent Buy for New Investors or Sweat Equity Starter Home

Great Purchase for Buy & Hold Sweat Equity Improvement

Market Value: $55,000

Price: $7850  Or Best Offer

865 – 755 - 2732

 




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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Friday, March 26th, 2010

1. MIAMI, FLORIDA   This market leads off as the worst in the country with a delinquency rate of almost 29%.  Encompassing Miami, Fort Lauderdale as well as West Palm Beach, a whopping twenty five percent of all mortgages are either ninety days past due or worse.  Miami itself has one fifth of its mortgages in foreclosure or have been converted to REO.  

2. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA   What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.  If you placed your bet here on one of the many high-rise condo buildings off the strip you may be one of the unlucky ones who lost their shirt with that wager.  Sin City mortgages in foreclosure or converted to REO are just over 10% and a delinquency rate of 21% 

3. RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA   The explosive growth is now just a distant memory.  Riverside has a delinquency rate of 19%, with a rate of just under 8% of all mortgages either in foreclosure or real estate owned. 

4. BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA  Values are down and the delinquency rate is up at 16% in this city just north of Los Angeles.  Here there are 6.4 % of mortgages in foreclosure or have been converted to real estate owned.  

5. DETROIT, MICHIGAN  It comes as no surprise to anyone that Motown finds its way on the top ten list with a delinquency rate of just about 16%.  Here foreclosures and real estate owned have 6.6% of all mortgages in the metropolitan area. 

6. PHOENIX, ARIZONA  The heat is on in this desert city with a delinquency rate of 13%.  At least it doesn’t get shut down by snowstorms. 

7. FRESNO, CALIFORNIA  Fresno has 5% of mortgages in foreclosure or converted to real estate owned and a delinquency rate of 13%. 

8. ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY  Do you see a trend here with gambling?  Atlantic City has a delinquency rate is 12.4%.  

9. SACREMENTO, CALIFORNIA  The capital of “The Golden State” has a delinquency rate 12.3% just behind Atlantic City. 

10. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  This isn’t the first downturn in housing for Tinseltown.  This sprawling city is struggling with a delinquency rate of 12%.

Wherever you live one thing is certain, large numbers of foreclosures will not be a thing of the past anytime soon.  There are many who argue there awaits yet another significant number of foreclosures looming just ahead.   It’s hard to dispute that fact when confronted with the information above and more bleak news awaits.  If you are currently experiencing a difficult time and are looking for a solution visit http://www.knoxvillestopforeclosure.com/

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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Thursday, March 11th, 2010

The inventory of single family homes including condominiums and townhomes which are listed on multiple listing services rose to almost 5% in the top 30 metropolitan areas in the month of February.   Although this was small increase from January, the figure dropped significantly by about 20% from 2009 levels.  Readers should be mindful the exact figure is likely to be considerably more since the numbers of foreclosed homes may only be about half of the true number on the MLS.  Some industry analysts warn housing inventory could in fact be much higher than what is being reported and this big number of unsold homes could be a serious problem for any recovery in the housing market.  Insiders warn there are many more properties teetering on the edge of default or are already in the process of foreclosure but not yet listed for sale as lenders may be holding back placing all their real estate owned on the market to keep prices from tumbling even further.


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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Tuesday, March 02nd, 2010

REO (Real Estate Owned) property is bank owned property which has not been sold at a foreclosure auction for one reason or another.  As a result, ownership reverts back to the lender.  The Federal Reserve reports that each REO property costs lenders an average of $80,000.  Since this money is now required by regulations to be held in reserve, the company that made the loan now has it frozen in their bad asset column and cannot lend on it.   

For real estate investors, Real Estate Owned by lending institutions have a real potential for profit if the amount of rehabbing isn’t too significant.  The problem with some of these properties is they may have been vacant for a long period of time which usually means some vandalism or if there was very little or none, the previous owner may have lacked the resources necessary to make regular repairs and maintenance on the property.  For the savvy investor who can quickly evaluate a property to determine rehab costs, this is an excellent time to make some very nice profits from the REO market.

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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Friday, February 26th, 2010

The National Association of Realtors figures for existing home sales dropped again in January but they are still above last year’s level for the same time period. Economist who responded to a poll forecast that completed sales rose just less than 1% last month to seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5 million which was a slight increase from December 2009 levels. Existing home sales which include single family homes along with townhomes, condos and others dropped 7.2% to seasonally adjusted annual rate of just over 5 million units in January. Total housing inventory dropped 1/2 % for a total of 3.27 million existing homes available for sale which represents about an eight month supply at current sales pace.

Figures also show that the national median existing home price representing all types of housing was at $164,700 thru January which is unchanged from 2009. The figures for distressed homes which accounted for 38% of sales in January 2010 continues a downward spiral which distorts the median price because these are typically discounted compared to traditional homes that are in the same area. A corresponding survey shows that first time home buyers purchased about 40% of the homes in January, which is a small decrease from December ‘09’.

Investors scooped up 17% of January’s transactions which represents a 2% increase from December. The rest of the sales were attributed to repeat buyers. Buyers are continuing to purchase non-luxury homes and opportunities exist for people to leverage the market for bargain property.


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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Sunday, June 28th, 2009

Oak Ridge Investor Deal 112 Delmar Circle Oak Ridge TN

Laugh All The Way to The BANK!
Don’t Miss Out on this Exeptional Value in Oak Ridge, TN
Three Bedrooms and 2 Baths with over 1,500 square feet of living space.
Central gas heat and central air conditioning.
Not only that but there is a gas fireplace and a partial basement

For More Information Click On The Flyer Below

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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Friday, May 01st, 2009

Most people know that the days of easy money for investing in our home purchase are long gone but you may not have heard about this recent development.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Guaranteed Rural Development loans now offer 100% financing with no monthly private mortgage insurance. Can you believe what you just read? That’s right, NO monthly PMI. Like any program there will be some geographic limitations but you or someone you know may be able to qualify. Now you just might be able to avoid making that private mortgage insurance (PMI) for what most of us is our biggest investment.

There have been income restrictions based upon how many were living in the home but as of April 20 these have been loosened. So, there may be many more that will now qualify and be able to afford investing in homes with higher value.

You may be thinking, well, that sounds great but not everyone wants to be stuck out in the middle of where the deer and the antelope play. Well, “rural” doesn’t necessarily mean your going to have to start raising chickens and milking cows to qualify for this. In fact, you just might find yourself pleasantly surprised to find out just how many neighborhoods qualify for this. Click the link to check and see if you can qualify under this program.

http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do?pageAction=sfp&NavKey=property@11

Finally, don’t forget about the $8,000 tax credit.

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Author: Thomas Zuraf
• Thursday, February 05th, 2009

The Fundamentals of Real Estate Investing

For anyone who has ever considered real estate investing the prospect can seem a little scary if not daunting.  Many of us have some kind of investments but typically they tend to be paper assets like Individual Retirement Accounts, mutual funds, 401k or similar products that we have buy ourselves or through our employers.  This is generally a straight forward if not easy process, you fill out an application, answer some questions, send in your forms and bam, you’re done.  You are now an investor.

When it comes to real estate investment most of us only have the experience of purchasing our own home.  Clearly real estate is a more complicated process than any of the prior mentioned easy investing routes most people follow. 

For those willing to put in a little time and effort the rewards can be very lucrative and with far less risk than you may have ever thought.  Some of you are probably thinking, yeah right.  However, once you know how, it’s not nearly as risky as you think.  To put it in perspective, crossing a busy street can be extremely risky if you don’t know how to do it right.

Here is some of the fundamental skill sets needed to become a successful real estate investor.

Start by looking at the area around where you live.  Learn to identify where you can find the right kind of property you’re looking for to fulfill your investment criterion. 

Once you have identified a potential investment, it needs to be analyzed quickly and correctly so you can determine how best to move forward.  Many times and for a variety of reasons, what you may have thought was a good buy turns out not to be. 

After you’ve done this you should begin to acquire and master the techniques needed for a successful negotiator to obtain the best possible terms and price for your target property.

As you go through the process you will continually educate yourself with every aspect of real estate investing not the least of which is the common jargon used by real estate investors.  Terms such as  short sales, deed of trust, lease options, land trust and many others are used everyday in this business and you must become familiar with their use and there meaning.

Finally you should make sure you are fully informed with the all the risks and benefits associated with real estate investing. 

For those willing to put in a little time and effort the benefits can be more than you can imagine.  Heck, right now everything is on sale.  With the purchase of just one or two of the right kinds of property, you could finance your children’s education or perhaps your early retirement.  Now that’s what I’m talking about.    

 

 

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