Monday, January 19, 2009

Auburn 8 plex Apartment building for 310k!!


A VESTUS investor bought this 8 plex for 310,000 on Friday! We were able to get it for a dollar over the minimum bid.
With 8 units + a common area for laundry, they are set to have a positive cash flow.
These deals are out there, you just need to be prepared!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Yes you can buy positive cash flow rentals at auction.

Here is great example of a positive cash flow rental purchased last friday at the King County auction.

Our investor bought a duplex for 173,000

Here is how the numbers break down:

30 year fixed mortgage 1078.00 per month (did you know you can get this loan with no money down- OAC)
Taxes 227.00
Insurance 45.00
Rents 850.00 and 800.00 (duplex)
Gross profit per month 300.00

This is just one example of the many fantastic deals we see every week!

Now is the time to buy when most people are not!

Not sure how to start? Come to one of our free workshops every Tuesday at 4:30.
or feel free to call us at 206.618.5319 for more information.


Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Real-estate markets most likely to rebound

Real-estate markets most likely to rebound
Real-estate markets most likely to rebound From Forbes Magazine this week.If you're a homeowner seeing property values plummet, look to the commercial real-estate market for solace. It might tell you which areas will recover fastest — and which will likely remain weak.The Urban Land Institute recently asked 700 real-estate professionals to name the best (and worst) places to invest in commercial real estate in the coming year. Those surveyed included private developers, real-estate agents and real-estate investment trust executives. Their answers also apply to the residential market, since the single-family-home sector typically follows the economy. As wages go up and there are more jobs, more people can buy homes, pushing prices up.The best cities in which to invest are those that are considered gateways to international investment, have vital downtowns where people can forgo cars and don't have a glut of condos or office space.Top of FormBottom of FormThese traits landed Seattle the No. 1 spot on the list. No city scored above a 6.15 on a scale of one to nine (one being an abysmal place to invest and nine being excellent).Seattle is "a diversified market, has a good base of business and is becoming a 24-hour city," says Stephen Blank, senior resident fellow, finance, at the Urban Land Institute. "It's going to be in a good position to come back."The city is suffering from the loss of Washington Mutual and the downsizing of Starbucks, but Boeing and Microsoft are still strong. Apartment vacancies are low and there aren't too many new buildings going up, meaning the market won't be oversupplied. The same is true of retail space.San Francisco comes in second, with a 6.12. The “City by the Bay” learned from the 2001 tech crash not to overbuild. There is a reasonable supply of office and apartment space, which should limit vacancies. San Francisco's port is also expected to help the city during the downturn as Americans continue to rely on Asian imports.Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles round out the top five.Of course, there's no guarantee that an improved commercial market will lead to an improved home market. However, investors have a better chance of seeing home prices rise in fundamentally strong markets like Seattle than in struggling cities like Detroit.It landed at the bottom of the list, scoring a 2.24. Detroit has been reliant on the car industry, which is rapidly shrinking. Other businesses are unlikely to fill the void in the next few years, which means the city will be hit hard by further economic struggles.Top of FormBottom of FormNew Orleans also lands near the bottom with a score of 3.33. The city has been losing businesses to Houston, Dallas and Atlanta since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.The other cities at the bottom of the list — Columbus, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Cleveland — suffer from dying industries and lack of tourist appeal.Recent attempts to turn downtown Milwaukee into a thriving 24-hour city haven't been enough to protect it from the coming downturn. Increasingly picky investors are expected to favor higher-quality port cities over Midwest towns.And while Columbus has the potential to become a major shipping hub for goods traveling cross-country, that revitalization may have to wait for a stronger economy and a government focused on improving the nation's roads. For now, prospects are dim.Top 5 cities most likely to rebound1. Seattle2. San Francisco3. Washington, D.C.4. New York5. Los Angeles

Home prices may rise on mortgage refinancing boom

Home prices may rise on mortgage refinancing boom
Wednesday December 24, 2008, 11:05 am EST
Yahoo! Buzz
Print
(Reuters) - Veteran banking analyst Richard Bove said he expects housing prices in the United States to stabilize and/or rise after a likely boom in mortgage refinance, as mortgage rates fall and loan applications increase.
"It is quite likely that the country is about to enter a new mortgage refinance boom," the Ladenburg Thalmann analyst wrote in a note to clients.
"The Treasury and the Federal Reserve have created an environment which makes this development almost impossible to avoid," Bove said.
The take over of Fannie Mae (Pacific:FNM - News) and Freddie Mac (Pacific:FRE - News) in September, as well as Fed's plan last month to buy up to $600 billion in "agency" securities issued by Fannie, Freddie, Ginnie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Bank system have had "dramatic results," Bove said.
Mortgage rates have begun to tumble, while mortgage applications are picking up, he said. Banks are also rehiring the mortgage loan personnel they recently fired, Bove added.
On Wednesday, data from an industry group showed that U.S. mortgage applications had surged to the highest level in over five years in the latest week, as potential borrowers came out in droves to refinance after government interventions that helped push interest rates down to record lows.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended December 19 soared 48.0 percent to 1,245.4, the highest reading since the week ended July 18, 2003, when it reached 1,284.3.
The MBA counts all applications in its survey, even those that are ultimately rejected, and it does not account for multiple applications, which has become increasingly common due to significantly tighter lending standards.
(Reporting by Tenzin

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Existing-home sales expected to hold up again

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Despite the ongoing turmoil in the credit and housing markets, sales of preowned homes have held up surprisingly well over the past year, especially compared with sales of new homes.
Since the beginning of the year, sales of existing homes essentially have been unchanged, while those for new ones are down about 25%.
Economists expect that decoupling to continue in the September data. They expect sales of existing homes to dip about 1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million from 4.91 million in August. See Economic Calendar.
The shift toward sales of older homes isn't a surprise. Builders have been cutting back the supply of new homes on the market, while the record level of foreclosures has boosted the supply of older properties on the market.
The pending home-sales index, also released by the National Association of Realtors, rose 7.4% in August. This index, smoothed over the past six months, is the best predictor of the existing-home sales report, according to economists for Barclays Capital, who are predicting a 4% bounce in sales to 5.10 million.
The impact of the late-September credit crunch should be minor, economists said, because the sales figures for September represent the closing of sales contracts signed in August or even July, when credit conditions were a bit more favorable.
However, the credit squeeze could show up in sharply lower sales in October.
The economic calendar is extremely light in the coming week. Aside from the housing sales numbers, the only other monthly number is the index of leading indicators, which is expected to fall 0.1% despite the massive increase in the money supply. But other factors -- stock prices, jobless claims and building permits -- point to another decline, according to economists.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify at the House Budget Committee on Monday.
Congress is looking at proposals for another fiscal-stimulus program that could be enacted just after the election in a lame-duck session, or more likely in early January. Democrats are talking about extending unemployment benefits, and funneling more money to state and local governments to balance their budgets, along with possibly boosting infrastructure investments. Temporary tax cuts or rebates could also be part of the mix.
Bernanke, who endorsed the first stimulus last spring, isn't likely to give the Democrats too much encouragement. This past week, he said fiscal stimulus was not a major factor in bringing the economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s, despite Herculean attempts. That said, he did admit that "monetary policy ultimately cannot always solve the problems; sometimes you do need some fiscal and financial intervention and we are doing that currently

Cash out refinancing is still possible- Build a rental portfolio

VETSUS has 3 lenders that can refinance properties up to 80% of the appraised value. What this means is you can purchase a property at auction with as little as 20% of the auction price with Eastside Funding's short term loan, then refinance the property in 30 days or less and get you 20% back in your pocket. Quite few investors are doing this to by rentals with essentially zero down and renting them for close to or more than the loan payments. It is a fantastic way to build a rental portfolio. Ask one the VESTUS preferred lenders for details.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Analysts predict housing bottom

Analysts predict housing bottom
A handful of economists and analysts predict the slump will bottom out, and home prices will level off by next summer - advice worth listening to.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Alan Greenspan famously declared the worst was over back in November of 2006. And the National Association of Realtors' erstwhile chief economist David Lereah called the bottom a few times, starting in May 2006.
Plenty of other economists and real estate analysts have attempted to do the same - and of course they've all been wrong.
But a consensus seemed to emerge among experts at a housing forum held by Standard & Poor's and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday in New York. Readers will be forgiven for taking this pronouncement with a large grain of salt.
Several panelists, including Economy.com's chief economist Mark Zandi, Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) economist Charlie Himmelberg, S&P managing director David Blitzer and S&P senior economist Beth Ann Bovino all agreed that home prices would stabilize sometime during the summer of 2009.
"The bottom of the housing market is coming into view," said Zandi, whose recent book "Financial Shock," examines how the subprime mortgage crisis occurred. "House prices, based on the S&P Case-Shiller index, are down 20% peak-to-trough and I expect them to fall another 5% to 10%."
"The key is housing affordability," Zandi said. "The [price] decline is beginning to restore affordability, which is now near its long-term average. In some places, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Orange County, affordability has been restored and those markets have stabilized."
More declines ahead
One piece of good news noted was home sales volume. The number of homes sold each month has already leveled off nationally, staying within a narrow range nearly every month this year at an annualized rate of about 5.5 million units a year.
Bovino said her forecast for home price decline is slightly more bearish than Zandi's, mostly based on S&P's belief that the country is now in a recession. With the economy struggling, job losses rising and a tough lending environment, she expects prices to fall another 10%.
"We think there will be an overshoot [with prices going beyond their logical bottom]," she said, in part because so many buyers are afraid to get into the market. "Nobody wants to catch a falling knife," she said.
And after prices do bottom out, Himmelberg expects them to remain fairly flat for a year or so.
Everyone on the panel agreed that the government takeover of Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) should help the housing market.
"We expect Fannie and Freddie to be more aggressive [in buying loans] over the next few months," said Zandi. "We are at a low point in credit availability right now."
The panelists were careful to couch their optimism with caveats. Zandi, for example, points out that there is a lot of uncertainty about the fate of Fannie and Freddie, in the wake of their government takeover.
There is some speculation that the companies will be downsized by a new administration after the presidential election in November.
"Neither candidate," said S&P managing director David Blitzer, "has decided what they want to say about that