Boomer’s Blog

California just hit its 30th day of the fiscal year without any consensus on spending. And as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger celebrates his 61st birthday in a maelstrom of controversy surrounding his efforts to drop all state worker wages to the federal minimum until the legislature hammers out an acceptable budget, it may seem as though there is little cause for celebration around the Golden State’s fair dome. And that much is true, unless you happen to be a pet abandoned through foreclosure or a lease agreement gone bad.

Bill Proposed to help Foreclosure-Abandoned Pets

AB 2949, a nifty piece of legislation, which currently awaits Schwarzenegger’s approval, comes from Assembly member Mark DeSaulnier through a highly unconventional process. Last year, the lawmaker held a contest titled “There Ought to Be a Law” in which citizens were encourages to submit their suggestions.

Contest winner Sheri Kuticka’s entry addressed the plight of per haps the most helpless victims of the foreclosure epidemic’s victims: abandoned pets. Kuticka suggested that something should be done to allow REI professionals and others on the scene of a distressed property, to take action to rescue the unfortunate animals who often are abandoned in foreclosed homes.

Many financial institutions, home inspectors, and property owners are reluctant to help or remove animals from a distressed property with ownership in transition because of possible legal liability. Currently in many states, attempting to rescue the pet may be perceived as attempted theft.

California Bill Wins Lawmaker Approval

With help from animal shelters and pet advocates, DeSaulnier drafted AB 2949 to provide that in the event of an involuntary animal abandonment, anyone on the scene should immediately notify animal control officials. The goal here, is to get the pet to safety without violating any property laws. Unlike the state’s budget, this bill sailed through the legislative process virtually unopposed.

Efforts to Help Abandoned Pets Span the U.S.

I posted a Blog on this issue in May, when I first became aware of the DeSaulnier’s proposed bill and a fantastic Florida-based non-profit organization called No Paws Left Behind, founded by Integrated Mortgage Solutions President Cheryl Lang. A woman of action, Lang was so troubled by the effects of pet neglect and abandonment she’s seen working in Florida’s beleaguered mortgage industry, that she’s launched this Internet forum she hopes will affect change in how the system handles abandoned pets.

Keep an Eye Out for Pets

Lang advises real estate professionals to be vigilant for signs of abandoned pets when dealing with distressed properties that have been vacated. Listen for animal sounds coming from the house. Even though you may not be permitted to enter, you can contact the appropriate authorities, including the Humane Society, Animal Control or the police.

Traditionally, unless the animal shows immediate signs of distress, local authorities will post notes on the door to notify the pet owner that he or she is legally bound to care for the pet. Eventually, local authorities will move the pet to a new home or shelter, but sometimes action comes too late to save the life of an abandoned pet. Because this “system” too often doesn’t work, Lang’s No Paws Left Behind Web site contains a petition geared to change the legal process from the Federal level to protect the pets.

We Can Make a Difference

Although these efforts to help save pets abandoned in foreclosure are at opposite ends of the United States, they address an issue that likely tugs at the hearts of many professionals in the real estate business.

Although real estate investors are generally not required by law to take any action to help abandoned pets, many of us want to help when we can because we believe it is the right thing to do.

Keep in mind that more distressed homeowners and occupants in transition likely would surrender their pets to animal welfare agencies that rescue pets, if they only knew where to turn. By identifying potential problems before pets are abandoned on your properties, you’re not only protecting your assets, in many instances, you may be saving a life.

In the spirit of “paying it forward” to all the great critters who’ve made a difference in my life, and in service to my fellow REI professionals, I’m reposting some resources below that I hope will come in handy should anyone in the Gary.Boomershine.com community stumble across an abandoned pet. Here are some steps you can take as a REI professional that may help you to avoid the problems and heartache you’re likely to encounter if you discover abandoned pets on one of your properties:

Seven Ways REI Professionals Can Help Save Pet from Abandonment

1. If you you’re working with distressed homeowners or dealing moving tenants out of a property, ask if they have made plans for their pets.
2. Identify animal welfare organizations and animal control contacts in your area, and keep the contact information on hand.
3. If you know that the occupants are looking for rental properties, suggest they check with the Humane Society or local shelter for pet-friendly rental listings, or advise them to check out Web sites like PeopleWithPets.com, or HomeWithPets.com.
4. Distribute animal adoption literature, or Web resources like No Paws Left Behind whenever suspect it might be useful.
5. After the owners or tenants have moved, ask neighbors if the former occupants had pets. Check to make sure no pets were left behind.
6. Ask people you may have visiting the property to keep an eye out for abandoned pets.
7. Call your local Animal Control, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society or other shelter for help with rescuing abandoned pets.

Please feel free to share any ideas you think could help other REI professionals who encounter this unfortunate problem.

When I wrote the first installment of this two-part Blog last week, I had no idea that more bank failures were so close on the horizon. But before we delve into my thoughts on steps you can take to protect your money, I thought a recap of recent events might help to inspire (if not incite) some of the procrastinators out there who’ve delayed the now urgent task of policing your deposits.

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom

Federal regulators pulled the plug on another bank Friday, this one with nearly 30 branches in Arizona, California and Nevada. Today, Mutual of Omaha commenced with clean-up efforts by taking over deposits from First Heritage Bank of Newport Beach, its parent company, Arizona-based First National Bank Holding Co., and its spawns, First National Bank of Nevada and First National Bank of Arizona. The Phoenix Business Journal also reports that the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corp. (FDIC) will retain the banks’ real estate-plagued loan portfolios. Perhaps this will lighten the burden for Mutual of Omaha.

Insurance in an Unsure Time

As if we haven’t all heard the rumors, read the news and seen the red flags waving in the wind gusts produced by this financial storm, now is proving to be a better time than ever to examine your current level of FDIC protection and read up on other available opportunities to insure your deposits greater than $100,000.

Are your Deposits Earthquake Proof?

Amid the financial tremors in the banking industry, experts of every stripe are saying that if you’ve got deposits at any bank in excess of $100,000, your money is at risk. As we’ve all been learning in recent months, when it comes to insuring some of your weightiest deposits, some banks may be more equal than others. On this note, I would like to bring to your attention a great story MarketWatch ran in the wake of IndyMac’s demise. Here are some additional suggestions, observations and resources to help you to protect your money.

What Does FDIC Cover?

Here is the synopsis, but please don’t take my word for it, check with your bank and visit the FDIC Web site for the critical details.

• $100,000 for a single depositor,
• $200,000 for a joint account,
• $250,000 retirement accounts, with some exclusions and
• $100,000 for each owner of revocable trust accounts, if requirements are met.

The FDIC also provides separate insurance coverage for deposit accounts maintained in different categories of ownership such as joint accounts and revocable trust accounts. Make sure you’re clear on the regulations don’t hesitate to consult a financial professional if you’re not crystal-clear on what you’ve got and to what extent it is protected.

The $100,000 Question: Is your Bank Insured Beyond the FDIC?

Here are two examples of interesting approaches to insuring accounts beyond the FDIC’s scope. Unfortunately, only time will tell how well they hold water. Still, the opportunity to mingle convenience with your peace of mind is a rare one in financial planning. Depending on your situation and location, these options may be worth your second glance.

Spread your Wealth with CDARS

If your bank participates in Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) program, you can have up to $50 million dollars in Certificates of Deposit (CDs) along with the security the FDIC offers for your funds

With CDARS, our bank spreads the CDs out among enough other banks to ensure that the part of your money in each bank is under the FDIC limits. In other words, you get the benefit of having multiple bank accounts with less than $100,000 in each one — without the headache of opening, tracking and managing multiple accounts yourself.

Once you’ve identified which CDARS bank will give you the best rates, accessing the program is easy. All you have to do to participate is sign a document agreeing to allow the bank to spread your money around. CDARS says there are no additional fees to you. And you only get the one bank statement.
see which CDARS bank gives you the best rates.

Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF) Covers Massachusetts
Massachusetts requires its state-chartered savings banks to carry expanded insurance through the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF), which covers all deposits over the FDIC’s limits, so depositors have had relatively little to worry about since 1934, when the program was first implemented.

This is great news for those of us who bank in the great Commonwealth, but the rest of us may have to try a little harder to protect our finances from the economy’s swelling potential to shove more financial institutions off the edge and into failure’s ominous abyss

Get Ahead of the REI Pack
I hope these posts help you to protect the wealth and retirement accounts I know you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Sign up my “What’s Working & What’s New” monthly and special reports and you’ll be among the first to learn about timely special reports like these, cutting-edge webinars and other developments in our world- the world of Real Estate Investing. Joining the community at GaryBoomershine.com is easy: just use the yellow fields at the right side of my GaryBoomershine.com home page or on the right side of the Boomer’s Blog’s main page. Like always, I pledge to never share your contact info with anyone or inundate you with useless messages.

If you’re in California, you really should discover ForeclosureRadar.com. This new site for tracking foreclosures is top-notch for real estate investors, realtors, and mortgage brokers, alike.

ForeclosureRadar’s Sean O’Toole happens to be a good friend of mine. He’s lightning-sharp, an expert at buying at auction, and his site for tracking foreclosures is second to none. Soon, Sean says his service will branch out to other states. If you register now, they’ll send you an update when they get more markets online.

We’re thrilled by the buzz ForeclosureRadar.com has been generating both in the industry and in the mainstream media. Sean’s accomplishments here include feature interviews with CBS News and the ever-popular “60 Minutes” TV news magazine

“The foreclosure process has been shrouded in darkness for too long. Get-rich-quick gurus and disreputable list peddlers have thrived in this darkness, manipulating consumers and real estate professionals alike. People who needed help were hard pressed to get it,” Sean says. “We’re ending this.” Bravo Sean.

To accomplish this lofty goal, Sean’s started with top-notch data that covers properties in every phase of the foreclosure process, including pre-foreclosures, auction properties and those which are real estate owned(REO).

Armed with these tools, investors and othersno longer have to scrape together scattered information to make informed decisions. If you want to check out the goods, a free trial is available with registration, or, for a quick glance at what the site has to offer, you can check out ForeclosureRadar’s media reports on the California market.

Another great feature of the ForeclosureRadar site is a free online community forum where participants in the foreclosure market can interact more efficiently. Consumers find Realtors specializing in foreclosures; Investors source service providers; Lenders connect with brokers to move properties more efficiently. “It’s all there, out in the open, ” Sean says. And that’s just a good thing for real estate investors, it also can be part of the healing process for distressed homeowners.

Sean’s Blog addresses a number of the more intimate realities of the foreclosure process as well as some of the business solutions that could save the day for investors and homeowners alike.

“Foreclosure is an unpleasant process,” Sean says.”The are human beings behind the numbers. Those who want to get rich quick should seek other venues. It’s time to clear the air of hype.” And Sean knows what he’s talking about. Sean nearly lost his first home to foreclosure 20 years ago. With the help of a local Realtor, he was able to negotiate a short sale with the lender and move on.

Years later, after a building for himself asuccessful career as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and executive, Sean returned to the foreclosure market — as an investor. It did not take him long to realize that the foreclosure data and tools he was forced to rely upon were sorely lacking. In purchasing more than 150 foreclosures, it also became clear to Sean that the marketplace itself was deeply fragmented in ways that harmed both consumers and real estate service providers.

This inspired Sean to assemble a development “dream team” from his days in technology and get to work. And for real estate entrepreneurs, Sean’s work on Foreclosure Radar emerges as a true work of art.

Last week, I posted a Blog that examined a report titled “Who is Next?” written by seasoned Ladenburg Thalmann Banking Analyst Richard Bove. In his report, not to be confused with a classic rock album of a similar name, Bove identified several financial institutions that he considers to be in the “danger zone,” or seriously at risk of failure.

Making a List … Checking it Twice
In light of breaking developments and in the spirit of freedom of speech, I’ll repeat which Institutions made the cut on Bove’s now-infamous list: Downey Financial, Corus Bankshares, Doral Financial, FirstFed Financial, Oriental Financial and BankUnited Financial. Bove even adds Washington Mutual to the mix when he divides non-performing assets by reserves and adds common equity.

Now, he’s being sued. And I wish I could find a stable link to the report so you could view it in its entirety online. I had two such links, but it seems that they’re no longer active. Is this a coincidence? What do you think?

Goliath’s Legal Team Takes on the Numbers Cruncher
Bloomberg reports that BankAtlantic, a unit of BFC Financial Corp., has filed a lawsuit against Ladenburg Thalmann that alleges defamation and negligence in connection with Bove’s report. When the complaint was filed in Florida state court, Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic prices spiked as much as 31 percent. Not a bad rebound considering that their prices plunged 25 percent last Monday when news of Bove’s report hit the wires.

Perhaps BankAtlantic’s complaint would be better vented in appointment with Dr. Phil. This suit comes on the heels of an April North Carolina appeals court ruling that found analysts couldn’t be sued for expressing opinions. As the TV shrink likely would say: “Ahhh, BankAtlantic, how does that make you feel? Is this working for you?” (Does anyone out there know if Dr. Phil actually has any medical training?)

But seriously, this is bad news for consumers. Think about it: For better or for worse, without the analysts, what resources do we have on which to base our banking decisions? Astrology? IChing? Craps? Could it possibly be it be any less accurate that the cryptic Magic Eight Ball answers we’re we’re getting from our financial system’s leaders?

SEC Takes an Aggressive-Passive Approach to Short Sales Regulation
Last week, it was widely reported that U.S. securities regulators issued an emergency rule to restrict the increasingly popular practice of short selling among 19 major financial institutions including:

• Fannie Mae,
• Freddie Mac,
• Lehman Brothers,
• Goldman Sachs,
• Merrill Lynch,
• Morgan Stanley,
• JPMorgan Chase and
• Citigroup.

Promptly upon the release of Bove’s viral report, Wall Street cried like a teething baby and the rule stuck. For a few days.

Short Sales OK Sans Nudity
In this context, short selling is a legal practice that allows investors to borrow shares they may consider to have an inflated price so that they can profit when the price drops. A naked short sale however, is when an investor sells stock before it has even been borrowed. Such practices, the SEC says, can endanger the markets. WIth these types of short sales, companies can loose control over their shares.. At that point, they’re at the mercy of anyone who has the mustard to exploit their vulnerability.

According to Reuters, the emergency rule is a strategy to tackle short-sale based market manipulation, which analysts, companies and lawmakers have blamed for free-falling financial stock prices.

A few days following the announcement of the emergency rule, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave in to Wall Street’s sobbing and assured that a strong dose of relief would be delivered to help, as Reuters puts it, “maintain order and liquidity in the markets.” In other words, market makers affected by the emergency rule would not be required to pre-borrow shares before shorting the stocks. That effort however, went far to appease Wall Street and the markets. Now if there were only something that could be done to stabilize oil and gas prices.

Next Post: Are Your Deposits Earthquake Proof?
Combine stories like this with images of traffic stalled around IndyMac branches last week with motorists gawking at the at the long lines of desperate folks trying to salvage their deposits is enough to cause worry — even among decaf drinkers. This is a great time to take stock of what protections your deposits may (or may not) have in today’s “shaky” banking landscape. In my next post, you’ll get the scoop — from a Californian’s earthquake-proof perspective. Please stay tuned. You won’t want to miss it.

Stay on top of the REI Curve
I hope these posts help you to protect the wealth and retirement accounts I know you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Sign up my “What’s Working & What’s New” monthly and special reports and you’ll be among the first to learn about timely special reports like these, cutting-edge webinars and other developments in our world- the world of Real Estate Investing. Joining the community at GaryBoomershine.com is easy: just use the yellow fields at the right side of my GaryBoomershine.com home page or on the right side of the Boomer’s Blog’s main page. Like always, I pledge to never share your contact info with anyone or inundate you with useless messages.

Around this time next week, I’ll be heading off to Atlanta, meeting up with my friend Lou Brown to help kick off his first one-day only “Real Estate Money Machine Exposition,” which promises to be another one of his awesome real estate investing (REI) seminars. I’ll be there, soaking up everything Lou has to say, and giving a talk on how you can be your own “guerilla marketer” and find great deals before the competition knows they exist.

Perhaps the hottest news of all is that Lou has finally agreed to allow me to invite a limited number of my own personal VIP guests to attend the Expo totally free of charge. Got your attention? Read on for the details of this event that could transform your business — and your lifestyle.

About Lou Brown
You may know Lou as an expert in the structure of the deal, but I’ve known him as a friend for years. Actually, we met at one of his events, where he confided in me his impressive story about how he achieved success in our business.

Lou started buying property in 1977, when he was a mere teenager! Since then, he’s invested in single-family homes, apartments, hotels. Lou also has developed subdivisions and built and renovated homes and apartments.

Lou has bought and sold in just about every way possible, including auctions. The wealth of knowledge he’s shared with me over the years has really broadened my horizons about how a truly creative real estate entrepreneur can secure financing and structure dream deals.

I’m not the only one who is impressed with Lou. He’s been quoted by The Wall Street Journal and Smart Money magazine, among others, as an expert in real estate investing, managing and financing. He also has taught me a lot about how to give back to my community. Lou is past-president and a lifetime member of the Georgia Real Estate Investor Association (GREIA). He also is the founding president of the National Real Estate Investors Association (NREIA), which works with local REI groups nationwide.

Got your REI Street Smarts?
This particular training focuses on tried-and-true methods of Lou’s Street Smart System for buying, selling, and holding real estate to create instant income and generate long-term wealth Some of the topics we’ll cover in special are slated to include:

Escape the 9–5 Rat Race

• Buying properties without cash or credit, even if you’re just getting started;
• Finding the deals that no one else knows about;
• Phone techniques that make sellers putty in your hands;
• Creating credibility, and a great image for yourself and your business;
• How to get sellers to finance your purchases;
• Discovering hidden profits in your deals;
• Avoiding the dangers of the Due-on-Sale clause;
• Protect your deals from being sold to someone else;
• Accelerating your cash flow using “Profit Centers”; and
• Legal ways to slash taxes on your real estate portfolio.

Strong Medicine for your Property Management Headaches

• Turn your real estate liabilities into assets by learning how to manage your properties the easy way;
• When to hold and when to sell your properties;
• Inspiring tenants to leave your property in better shape than when they moved in;
• Get tenants to make — and pay for needed repairs; and
• The do’s and — more importantly — the don’ts of property repairs and management.

All you Ever Wanted to Know About Trusts … But Were Afraid to Ask

• How to protect your assets using trusts
• What are Land Trusts and who should use them? Also:
• Using Multiple Trusts to build and protect on your REI portfolio.

At these Prices, you Can’t Afford to Miss it
Lou is going to spend an entire day in Atlanta with you, live and in-person on Saturday, July 26, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. EDT. Expo is being held at the Embassy Suites Atlanta Airport. The address is 4700 Southport Road, Atlanta, Georgia, 30337. Come prepared to take notes because Lou is ready to share his answers to all of your toughest real estate investing questions.

Others have paid up to $299 for this event but as my personal guest, you’ll get a free VIP pass. All you have to do to attend Lou’s Real Estate Money Machine Exposition, is pre-register by the close of business on Friday, July 25 by calling 1-800-340-2144 and using the following code: STL104WB. Your free VIP pass to this Expo is available on a strictly limited, first-come, first-served basis. Warning: Attendance of this event bound to exceed capacity. Don’t waste another minute! Hope to see you there! Come on, let’s toast best time in more than 20 years to buy real estate — together.

In case you missed my Webinar with Probate Real Estate expert and REI veteran Ron Mead, it was awesome!

Word of Mouth is Great Advertising
When word got out about the Webinar, so many people wanted to listen in that I posted a re-play of the call on Friday. Today, I’ve been so inundated by messages from folks who want to listen in on the call, I’ve decided to give this provocative discussion a permanent link on GaryBoomershine.com. Now, folks can listen in with 24/7 convenience.

If you’re wondering about the source of all this hoopla, let me tell you a little more about Ron Mead.

Meet Ron Mead
Ron has been an active real estate investor and entrepreneur for 29 years, and has specialized in probate for more than a decade. Ron got his real estate license in 1979, and became a licensed real estate broker in 1993.

Building on his academic degree in Business Finance and his reputation as a no-nonsense, wealth-building real estate investor and teacher, Ron has written books on personal finance, probate property investing and creative real estate financing. He’s also gotten considerable buzz in the industry through the real estate investing seminars he’s been conducting for the past decade. He’s accomplished all this, in addition to actively running his own probate property investment business.

Pave Your Path to Profits
If you’re looking for a real estate investment strategy that’s rock-solid and steadier than a world-class surgeon’s hand, you should take a look at investing in probate properties with Ron’s book: “31 Days to Profits in Probate Real Estate.”

In his book, this legendary straight-shooting probate investing legend provides all the training you need to make tons of cash in Probate real estate investing. It is a must-read for cutting edge real estate investors who are looking for a stealth alternative to the foreclosure market investing frenzy.

Learn About Probate Investing for Less than a Tank of Gas
Now available for a limited time at a lower price than you’re probably paying to fill your tank at the gas pumps, “31 Days to Profits in Probate Real Estate” is the best money that you’ll spend to learn about probate property investing, hands down. Rich learning opportunities at a rock-bottom price are rare in this business. Seize this opportunity to learn and turbo boost your bottom line.

I’ve made it easy to learn more about “31 Days to Profits in Probate Real Estate” and what makes Ron Mead tick. Discover Ron’s winning strategies by reading my review of his book or by listening to the Webinar I’ve posted on GaryBoomershine.com.

Get Ahead of the REI Pack
Sign up my “What’s Working & What’s New” monthly and special reports and you’ll be among the first to learn about future Webinars like these, sneak previews and special reports I’m planning for members of the GaryBoomershine.com community. Joining us is easy: just use the yellow fields at the right side of my GaryBoomershine.com home page or on the right side of the Boomer’s Blog’s main page. Like always, I pledge to never share your contact info with anyone or inundate you with useless messages.

Following the Fed’s Friday takeover of Countrywide’s spawn, Indymac, and amid mass speculation regarding the solvency of the Fed’s chartered duo FannieMae and FreddieMac, reporters and analysts twittered all weekend trying guess which ailing financial institution is most likely to fall next.

Naming names at this point may be difficult to do with much accuracy because, as the New York Times points out, even the beleaguered IndyMac escaped the Fed’s last list of financial institutions that it considers to be at risk of financial failure. Come August, when the Fed is scheduled to update its rankings, it seems inevitable that this list will grow.

… And the Band Played On
In a statement issued just before the Asian markets opened Monday, and well-before the morning’s widely anticipated auction of Freddie Mac debt, the U.S. Treasury Department said it’s asking Congress to extend its line of credit should Freddie or Fannie need stealth intervention.

This news comes on the heels of the Fed’s seizure of Indymac on Friday. Clearly, the housing market’s woes and floundering U.S. economic growth create suffocating conditions for the banking industry. Though some of my best friends are bankers, I wouldn’t give any of them a deposit over $90,000 these days. And to anyone who is flying commando with unsecured deposits, I know a guy who could totally hook you up with a deal on some “gently used” Countrywide Financial Corp. stock.

More Banks Poised for Failure
The New York Times reports what more banks are destined for failure in light of current analyst reports: “The troubles are growing so rapidly at some small and midsize banks that as many as 150 out of the 7,500 banks nationwide could fail over the next 12 to 18 months, analysts say.”

Banking Analyst Richard Bove issued a list of at-risk banks over the weekend. In his “Who Is Next?” report for Ladenburg Thalmann, Bove named banks he considers to be in the “danger zone.” CNBC reports that some of these financial institutions include: Downey Financial, Corus Bankshares, Doral Financial, FirstFed Financial, Oriental Financial, and BankUnited Financial. According to Calculated Risk, even Washington Mutual was named in the report where Bove divided non-performing assets by reserves and added common equity.

MarketWatch says that Downey Financial reports its non-performing assets hit 14.33 percent of its total assets in May, up from 10.75 percent at the end of February. Last year, the institution’s non-performing assets were a mere 1.3 percent. Such a slip in not unprecedented in 2008. Even without Countrywide’s Angelo Mozilo’s tutelage, mightier institutions have fallen.

Who’s Who of Financial Blunders?
Including IndyMac, Calculated Risk reports that five banks have hit the pavement so far in 2008, and that number is likely to grow as larger banks struggle to meet their current set of challenges:

2008 Bank Failures and Deposit Amounts

• Douglas bank: $53.8 million
• Hume bank: $13.6 million
• ANB Financial: $1.8 billion
• First Integrity: $50.3 million
• IndyMac: $19.06 billion

Running with the Devil
Monday is bound to be a rough one, folks. Like I mentioned here when Bear Stearns crashed a few months ago: I know I predicted in Q4 2007 that a major bank would fail, but this is getting ridiculous! For those of us who remember the Savings and Loan fiasco of the late 1980s and early 1990s, this news may be especially hard to take. (If only we were dealing in penny stocks and Main Street institutions today instead of the global economy and Wall Street….) Mr. Keating: Please take a bow, you’ve been replaced.

I spoke with a highly-regarded financial adviser over the weekend who said she has more faith in a platinum Van Halen comeback than she currently has in the markets. Her advice these days is golden, if you know what I mean. Most of the financial experts I know are at a loss for words at the moment. Maybe that’ll change when Freddie hits the block — either auction or chopping. Who can say at this point? What do you think about this mess? Drop me a line and let me know how you see it in your part of the world.

I confess that I’ve never really gotten into computer games. In college, I lost friends to games like Quake and Doom. I was occasionally frightened by the way they became glassy-eyed, pale hermits in their darkened rooms, playing these games for hours on end.

Even then, slaying dragons and gunning down masked enemies just never seemed relevant to my life or my business. But with the current array of free on-line real estate investment-themed games available online, I may be at risk of developing my own secret addiction. Here are some of the best I’ve seen. If you know of more, please don’t hesitate to share them with the rest of us.

• One of my favorite REI-themed games, Price Me Now, is available through Zip Realty. The game is all about demonstrating your PropertyIQ, or knowledge of prevailing market home prices in various selected areas. By accurately guessing sales prices, players build their PropertyIQ points and can see how their scores compare to those of others.
• If flipping properties is more your style, Domania hosts Mansion: Impossible. This goal of this deceptively simple game is to buy and sell houses in a cartoon property market to buy a posh $10 million estate. It looks easier than it is, and is a fun exercise for testing your strategy and market timing.
• Flip That House! is a much more complex game that requires registration. Its developers call it: “The real estate cash flow trainer.” Success in this game starts with buying your first time home and doesn’t get any easier. Here, you have to build your real estate empire starting at the bottom and work your way up by dealing with hideous rentals, saving money, negotiating with mortgage brokers, rehabbing your flips, etc. Bad electrical, ruined carpets, leaking roofs, and faulty plumbing may make this game too realistic for many of us to enjoy recreationally, but as you persist, as in life, you’ll see hour portfolio improve.
• Though not available for Mac, Flip or Flop is a game download where you renovate homes, trying to eke out enough capital to save your Grandma’s home from the clutches of foreclosure at the hands of evil mortgage lenders.

I hope that these little amusements offer you a way enjoy your downtime while still keeping your eye on the real estate prize.

If you haven’t yet joined our community here at GaryBoomershine.com, please register now here, or using the yellow fields at the right side of my GaryBoomershine.com home page. Like always, I pledge to never share your contact info with anyone or inundate you with useless messages.

There certainly has been no shortage of sad news about real estate lending’s havoc on the economy lately. Once-shocking news articles about soaring foreclosure rates, dramatic price drops and the Fed’s efforts to treat Wall Street’s apparent hemophilia ebb and flow with tide-like rhythms, occasionally seeming slapstick in their essence.

News stories about the bloodletting on Wall Street can permeate the real estate investor’s consciousness like a Bob Dole TV ad for Viagra: You respect the fact that it may help your operation some day … but mostly you just want Bob Dole to resume his position as a war hero, self-made millionaire, Senate powerhouse and third-person presidential candidate. Only if there were a little blue pill to cure Wall Street’s performance issues however, could the beleaguered U.S. economy rebound any time soon.

Just as surreal as the esteemed American political icon’s widely publicized bout with erectile dysfunction are this week’s musings in Fortune magazine about the economic “Doomsday” it predicts would follow the all-too-possible failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This government-sponsored duo owns or guarantees about $5.2 trillion in home mortgages, comprising approximately half of all outstanding U.S. home loans.

Fannie and Freddie Falter
Fannie and Freddie made a face plant on Wall Street this week, prompting the New York Times to discuss how they’ve managed to squander more than 60 percent of their market value this year and how the current mortgage bailout plan under consideration in Congress, if passed, would up the ante for taxpayers should either institution fail.

IndyMac Hits the Chop Shop
In the meantime, the Wall Street Journal reports that Countrywide’s spawn, Indy Mac has begun dismantling its operation. The mortgage lender and savings bank has announced plans to cut its workforce in half and sell 60 percent of its branches to Prospect Mortgage Co. Just last year, IndyMac was the 9th largest mortgage lender in the U.S.

These folks get objective, if not gentle coverage of their business practices in the news media. But when it comes to the real estate entrepreneurs who dare to attempt to make a living cleaning up the mess that the mortgage industry made, even some of the most widely respected news outlets too often resort to inaccurate depictions of our business, scorn and now, even metaphors that seek to identify us in the Wild Kingdom.

REI’s Proud Scavengers Run Circles Around the Competition
This week, CNN had the nerve to call real estate investors “vultures.” Frankly, I resent that. Not only because, unlike the bald bird of prey with keen vision, I have hair on my head and am slightly myopic. But also because real vultures mostly prey on carcasses, and I believe that the real estate market still contains a great deal of life. Come on CNN, it’s not as though we created the problems that have led to widespread foreclosure blight in the real estate markets hardest hit by the lending industry’s lapses in sane business practices.

if we’re the economy’s birds of prey, what does that make the folks who wrote billions in bad loans that have plagued once-mighty housing markets and jeopardized the stability of the U.S., if not the global economy?

A real estate investor featured in CNN’s story had to explain to the reporter that our industry actually helps neighborhoods and property values to recover from the devastation associated with high-density foreclosures. You’ll find this paragraph near the bottom of the lengthy CNN article.

When real estate owned (REO) homes sit vacant and are neglected for extended periods of time, the investor explains, they often become havens for squatters, drug dealers and the dangerous sorts of criminal activity that prompts most qualified buyers to flee a real estate deal with Blair Witch Project-like frantic abandon.

Navigate your Real Estate Business through the Economic Abyss
Clearly, the real estate deals are out there. But in tough economic times, it is more important than ever that we make the right decisions about our businesses. A timely Inman News poll posed the following eternal question: “Which of these items are the most vital to an agent in surviving a real estate market downturn?”

The following answers may surprise you, though they confirm what I’ve been saying all along: Marketing is everything in this business. (For more information, register for a free copy of “Secret Handbook of the Direct Marketing Revolution: Strategies to Guaranteed Success for Real Estate Entrepreneurs,” the report I wrote with Dan Doran to address obstacles faced by investors in today’s often cloudy markets.) To prove my point, here are the results of Inman’s poll:

• 0% Figuring out where to distribute data for for-sale properties I have listed.
• 32% Deciding how to spend my marketing dollars.
• 25% Knocking on doors, picking up the telephone.
• 11% Investing in new technology, communications tools.
• 32% Keeping in touch with past clients.

Is REI is the Little Blue Pill for Wall Street’s “Problem”?
So, while CNN calls us “vultures” one may wonder what other investment opportunity out there is part of the solution, rather than an endorsement of our great nation’s institutional failures? With so many economic indicators pointing down, what have any of the major players in the mortgage debacle done to help neighborhoods, families and local tax bases to recover from the mortgage crisis?

Ponzi Moves on to Greener Pastures
In March, we reported that money management firm Black Rock Inc., and hedge fund Highfields Capital Management were backing a new firm to buy distressed mortgages, betting that investors would snap up bargains in the beaten-down sector. The new company, Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company, or Penny Mac, has quietly been raising capital from private investors to help borrowers restructure loans to avoid foreclosure.

Penny Mac stars Stanford Kurland, who spent 27 years at mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp., as its chief executive officer and Morgan Stanley Global Residential Mortgage veteran David Spector as its chief investment officer.

Housing Wire recently reported that Penny Mac currently has $2 billion in its “war chest” to buy discounted, distressed mortgages, and will fund its own in-house servicing platform. in May, Penny Mac backer Black Rock reportedly negotiated a deal to buy $15 billion in subprime mortgage exposure from UBS, the Swiss bank that has been floundering since its boom-time tango with Countrywide Financial and other problematic U.S. lenders. (Here’s an awesome article in the Wall Street Journal that touches on this issue.)

Hey CNN: If we’re vultures, what do you call the evil geniuses behind that flip?! Oh wait, CNN’s intrepid staff of crack reporters hasn’t really covered that story in much detail. Sometimes I wonder if we all wouldn’t be more in-the-loop if we got our financial news from Animal Planet.

What would July be without fireworks, outdoor cooking, and patriotic reflection that inevitably collides with the fiscal year’s fourth quarter, and for many real estate entrepreneurs, another giant tax headache.

Although a career in real estate investing affords us with many freedoms, for many of us, it does little to simplify our taxes. But selecting the best tax entity for your business can definitely take some of the sting out of meeting Uncle Sam’s ante.

Real estate investor, accountant and attorney John Hyre writes “Choice of Entity 101,” a great article to help members of our community choose the tax structure that’s best suited for our individual businesses based on the scale of operation, income source and type, and other details. Although he advises that we all should seek qualified guidance with our taxes, here are a few of his simple guidelines to point us in the right direction:

• Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) often are the best option for holding rentals and most lease-optioned properties because they’re usually inexpensive to set up, afford investors maximum flexibility and offer great tax perks, such as: good tax rates on capital gains, depreciation deduction generation (especially useful in many of today’s markets), potential for tax-free real property exchange, opportunity to generate low-income housing credits and more.
• S-Corporations are commonly the best structure for flip properties, however. They’re “pass-through” entities that generally are easier and less expensive to operate than C-Corporations. Although they’re less flexible than LLCs, a great advantage with this structure is that dividends are exempt from social security taxation if the owners are paid a reasonable salary. This is significant because flip income might otherwise be subject to a whopping 15 percent social security tax.
• High-income earners with self-provided benefits may see the greatest advantages by using a C-Corporation. Here, taxes are paid based on income brackets. Though a C-corporation’s first $50,000 in income may be taxed at 15 percent, folks in the brackets above 35 percent are likely to see the greatest advantages to using this structure. But, Hyre says, administration costs can quickly consume the benefits. Usually, this option is best for secondary businesses because it gives real estate investors the option to pay the C-corporation enough to fund benefits, but not so much that the prospect of double taxation becomes another costly tax challenge.
• Incorporate in your home state: think twice and do your research before listening to anyone who tells you that you’ll save money by incorporating in Nevada, Hyre suggests. Chances are good that because you’re still doing business in your state, your business remains subject to those laws. Incorporating in other states, such as Nevada he cautions, is likely to cost more than it’ll save you in the long run.