Boomer’s Blog

I was totally unprepared for the sheer hilarity of this video, which features history’s most notorious dictator caught with his metaphorical pants down. His story is not unique. It all started with a “liar’s loan.” The plot thickens with a home equity line of credit and a vintage Camaro SS …   before long, the anti-hero is slipping underwater with an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), a property that has lost 45 percent of its value and no way to refinance his home loan. Watch as this fascist gets sucker-punched by negative equity, the credit crunch and foreclosure.

I hope you enjoy watching as the real estate bubble bursts over this unwitting real estate speculator’s head. The drama mounts with his bitter tirade against the National Association of Realtors, his mortgage broker, his diminished 401k and investments in AIG and Lehman Brothers.

Ironically,  the professionals working in the system that made it all this misery possible were: “Just following orders”!

This parody reinforces what the notorious head of state said so many years ago: “The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.”

Claim Your VIP Pass to Moneymaking Real Estate News, Marketing, Strategies & Tips
At GaryBoomershine.com, our focus is on delivering the the most timely real estate news, resources, tools and systems that build stronger real estate investment decisions and boost your bottom line.

Sign up either here or on the main page at GaryBoomershine.com and you’ll get the best this industry has to offer in real estate news, real estate marketing, real estate training systems, and all the creative real estate ideas that drive success in this business. Members also get exclusive access to compelling multimedia content and jaw-dropping discounts!

I just read a brilliant article in Forbes. I say that of course, because it echoes what I’ve been saying about investing in real estate, but also because of the insightful comments that reporter Stephane Fitch gathered from some of the richest and most talented men to ever make their fortunes in this business.

Don’t Just Take it From Me!
The consensus is almost deafening. This is the time to invest in real estate, there’s no doubt about that. But there are three questions that you must be able to answer before choosing your strategy and plunging into the icy waters of today’s real estate markets, I want you to keep these in mind as you read this post:

• What to buy?
• Where to buy?
• What strategies are working best in today’s markets?

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the article. I encourage you to check it out for yourself. It’s one of the best mainstream media accounts of the current state of real estate I’ve seen since Lehman Brothers executives had expense accounts.

Investors Need Expert Strategies
Spencer Rascoff, Zillow.com: “Yes I do think this is a great time to be buying residential real estate, with two caveats. First, you need financing, which is much more difficult than in the past. Second, you need to be smart about it. The good old days when anyone could make millions flipping homes in their spare time are over…. Back then, it was a good time for anyone to buy. In 2008-2009, it’s only a good time for sophisticated real estate investors. The market is too turbulent for novices to succeed as real estate investors right now.”

Metro Market Fire Sale Burns into the Future
Michael Feder, Radar Logic: From the height of the bubble our data indicate that prices per square foot have declined between 5 percent and 45 percent in the 25 MSA’s we track. As our data have shown, the housing markets are being affected by various forces in different ways in different regions. In California, Nevada and Florida, increased foreclosures and the presumably resulting motivated prices are putting considerable pressure on markets.

Know a Great Deal when You See It
Donald Trump Jr.:  “Some of the biggest mistakes made over the past few years were because individuals looked at a market as a whole: i.e., ‘is now a good time to buy?’ The whole country’s real estate market is up, ergo all real estate must be a good buy–real estate never goes down, right? People looked at it too generally and forgot about the underlying asset: the real bricks and mortar. That is the way to look at real estate.

“For me I go with real estate all the time. I am not satisfied with 12 percent historic returns, especially when I look at my long-term portfolio these days. Besides, I play with real estate every day, so I am more comfortable knowing the asset I am buying is a good bet, regardless of the world around me, and I have access to or know how to find the most favorable borrowing options, etc. … I just do not have the same comfort level in the stock market, so I would always recommend to someone to stick with what they know.

“Also, it totally depends on the deal. There are deals out there now. There will definitely be a lot more coming in the near future, but people have to come to terms with the fact that the “equity” that they think they have in their homes is not even close to reality. Buyers know this and are waiting; when that gap narrows deals will be made. In many instances it may take a while because people may still feel they can carry their unit and wait for a better market. For many of them it will be a long wait, and they will eventually have to stop the hemorrhage of cash flow. That is especially when you will see deals of more commercial assets, but the underlying principals will hold true for [residential] as well.”

In Search of … The Ultimate Strategy
If you want to see the real estate truth behind the wizard’s curtain, I urge you to check out Richard Roop and Dan Doran’s Ultimate Strategy. Not only do the dynamic duo address and clarify all the most pressing questions you might have about how to approach the best deals today, their approach delivers only the highest equity deals that are guaranteed to maximize your real estate return on investment (ROI) because they target free and clear properties, or those that carry no mortgage burden.

Firm and Tone Your RE Body of Knowledge
Get the scoop on how the Ultimate Strategy’s potential to help you meet all the most pressing challenges and make you a real estate insider.  Check out my review in the resources section of GaryBoomershine.com, and you’ll catch a glimpse of your best bet to learn: What to buy, Where to buy it and What strategies are Working Best to Buy Real Estate in Today’s Markets.

Stay tuned for some free, killer audio content from Richard and Dan that’ll help you get your cardio conditioning, whether you’re in the gym or not!

Claim Your VIP Pass to Moneymaking Real Estate News, Marketing, Strategies & Tips
At GaryBoomershine.com, our focus is on delivering the the most timely real estate news, resources, tools and systems that build stronger real estate investment decisions and boost your bottom line.

Sign up either here or on the main page at GaryBoomershine.com and you’ll get the best this industry has to offer in real estate news, real estate marketing, real estate training systems, and all the creative real estate ideas that drive success in this business. Members also get exclusive access to compelling multimedia content and jaw-dropping discounts!

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to Make Tons of Cash in Real Estate! Join GaryBoomershine.com today and get ahead of the pack!

Long-term mortgage Interest rates rose this week to their highest levels since March, likely triggered by rising inflation, high gas prices, and dwindling consumer confidence. At the same time, home values are shrinking in every region of the United States. Can we call this a recession yet?

Mortgage Rates Take a Hike
Currently, the national average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages is up to 6.08 percent this week, up from 5.98 percent last week, This time last year, mortgage financing company Freddie Mac says it was 6.42 percent.

Shouldn’t this be moving the market? Not necessarily, says Freddie. As mortgage rates rise, home values continue to fall. More folks likely will be watching this selling season than the World Series.

Q1 Home Values Fizzle in Most States, All Regions
The value of U.S. homes fell 10.4 percent in the first quarter, says Freddie Mac, marking fueling the most dramatic annual dive since 1971. In the past year, Freddie’s Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index averaged 4.4 percent, the most remarkable decline in 39 years.

Freddie Mac data show that 46 states reported price drops in Q1, and 29 states measured drops over the same period last year. Only Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wyoming reported price gains, however moderate, for Q1.

According to Freddie Mac’s numbers, based on the Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index Classic Series, no region in the U.S. is totally immune to the price drops that sometimes look like economic chronic wasting disease. But depending on your real estate investment strategy, there are some bright spots if you look at the big picture. Again, the real estate markets that didn’t pump-up the real estate bubble, look much more stable these days.

Regional Housing Trends
Here are are some regional housing value numbers crunched in Freddie Mac’s latest report:

West South Central Division

• Includes: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas;
• Current values reported for Q1: down 0.5 percent (-1.9 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values rose 1.6 percent;
• Over the past five years, home values climbed 26.8 percent.

Middle Atlantic Division

• Includes: New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania;
• Current values reported for Q1: down 1.1 percent (-4.1 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values dropped 0.2 percent;
• Over the past five years: home values climbed 44.3 percent.

East South Central Division

• Includes: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee
• Current values reported for Q1: down 1.1 percent (-4.3 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values increased 0.3 percent;
• Over the past five years: home values climbed 26.6 percent.

East North Central Division

• Includes: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin
• Current values reported for Q1: dropped 1.5 percent (-5.9 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values dropped 3.8 percent;
• Over the past five years: home values climbed 9.2 percent.

Mountain Division

• Includes: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming;
• Current values reported for Q1: dropped 1.5 percent (-5.9 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values dropped 3.3 percent;
• Over the past five years: home values climbed 44.0 percent.

West North Central Division

• Includes: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska and South Dakota
• Current values reported for Q1: dropped 2.2 percent (-8.6 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values dropped 2.3 percent;
• Over the past five years: home values climbed 16.3 percent.

South Atlantic Division

• Includes: Washington D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia
• Current values reported for Q1: dropped 2.6 percent (-10.1 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values dropped 4.4 percent;
• Over the past five years: home values climbed 37.8 percent.

New England Division

• Includes: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont;
• Current values reported for Q1: dropped 2.9 percent (-11.0 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values dropped 4.0 percent;
• Over the past five years: home values climbed 22.2 percent.

Pacific Division

• Includes: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington
• Current values reported for Q1: dropped 6.9 percent (-24.8 percent, annualized);
• Over the past year: home values dropped 12.4 percent;
• Over the past five years: home values climbed 40.1 percent.