Boomer’s Blog

Where else can you learn how to find and flip distressed real estate using just your laptop and cell phone but on GaryBoomershine.com? If you missed my dynamic conversation with Virtual Wholesaling pioneer Cris Chico last week, we’re offering you a second chance to learn what the experts already know about this innovative strategy to generate awesome returns on your real estate investment (ROI) dollars today.

Now Available by Popular Demand
If you’ve joined the GaryBoomershine.com community by signing up up for my “What’s Working & What’s New” monthly and special reports, or if you’re a SalesTeamLive member, chances are good that you’re among the hundreds of real estate entrepreneurs who listened in awe last week as Cris told his his story and revealed the secrets behind how he made his real estate fortune. Using his own system, Chris went from having his sports car reposessed, to flipping 116 properties and making more than $1.4 million in profits in just two years.

Because I’ve heard from so many folks who were unable to listen in on our live Internet broadcast last week, I’m posting the call online for those of you who missed out on this awesome opportunity to learn how to make real money in virtual real estate wholesaling using just your laptop and a cell phone.

Emerging Opportunities to Cash in on Distressed Real Estate
Wholesaling is one of the hottest investment options today for real estate investors seeking to crack the code on generating fast cash while investors in other sectors are loosing their shirts. With wholesale real estate deals, investors place a property under contract and then assign the deal to another buyer who closes in the investor’s place. Because real estate investors usually never put any money down or close on the property, risks are minimized and profits are immediate.

Cris’ Virtual Wholesaling system takes the wholesaling process to the next level by leveraging technology to laser-target wholesale investment properties in any market real estate entrepreneurs choose to penetrate. (Read my full review: “Virtual Wholesaling with Cris Chico.”)

With user-friendly advances in technology that are built into Cris’ virtual wholesaling system, the power to hone in on the best neighborhoods is far superior than the “no pain, no gain” techniques that were popular in the past. Using Cris’ system, investors can laser-target areas and build lists based on the best possible case scenario for virtually any market. Cris’ system teaches investors how to prosper and make tons of cash in the current housing crisis. If you can use email, you can use Cris’ innovative system for fast, no-money-down profits in your REI business.

Tap new Markets and Boost your Bottom Line
Though the real estate bubble may have burst in your locale, there are a lot of U.S. real estate markets that are not currently suffering because they weren’t affected by the boom. Since their prices never rose when the market was jumping, they’re not dropping now that market conditions are changing.

Cris can teach you how to profit from these market uncertainties. He also is extending killer special offers to members of the GaryBoomershine.com community and SalesTeamLive members, respectively, that are packed with awesome incentives including a ticket to the upcoming Virtual Investing Seminar in New Orleans slated for June 26-29. By following the links above, you can check out the details and read the awesome client testimonials while you’re listening to the call.

Invigorate your REI Business: Join us Today!
If you haven’t yet joined our thriving on-line community, and are interested in in learning more about how you can cash in on the latest news and developments that drive our industry, please sign in now 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. Of course, you’re welcome to listen to the call, even if you don’t want to join us in building a strong community and sustainable future in creative real estate investing. Sometimes we all need a little nudge in the right direction! Let this be yours.

Hoping to stabilize free-falling home prices in foreclosure-plagued neighborhoods and stimulate sluggish housing markets, the White House has announced that for one year only, the Federal Housing Administration will suspend its anti-flipping policy which requires a 90-day waiting period for foreclosure sales. At the same time, it’s extending government-backed mortgage insurance to a larger group of foreclosure buyers.

Rehab this Foreclosure Flip
Though a positive step towards resuscitating stagnant real estate markets, these homes still have to be sold to owner-occupants, and many flippers may find that this policy change is of little help to their businesses. To meet FHA guidelines requiring that homes be “safe, secure and sound,” many of these real estate owned (REO) homes likely will require more extensive rehabbing than they would probably receive if the FHA were not involved.

Homeowners who can’t afford their mortgage payments probably don’t keep up with maintenance. And there is an increasing prevalence of disgruntled and distressed homeowners vandalizing their homes when they’re forced out by foreclosure. Though real estate investors with a knack for rehabbing may see some benefits through this change, it seems unlikely that it’ll have the far-reaching impact on high-foreclosure real estate markets that the Fed is hoping for.

REI to the Rescue
What irks me is that this waiting period foolishness was implemented five years ago specifically to curtail opportunities for working real estate investors to make money in real estate by flipping houses for a living. Now that the economy is a wreck and the current selling season is not stopping the bleeding, who does the government call upon to get the markets moving again? Real estate investors, do you hear your phones ringing? Here is how the FHA rationalizes its flip flop on this issue:

” . . . FHA currently prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. This prohibition is intended to prevent property ‘flipping,’ a predatory practice that strips a home of its equity before being quickly resold at an inflated price to an unsuspecting buyer. FHA’s new policy will permit the immediate sale of foreclosed properties to legitimate borrowers wishing to use FHA-insured financing.”

Will the Real Equity Strippers Please Stand Up?
What exactly did the lenders accomplish with their business practices? The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA’s) Q1 report highlights the sixth straight record-shattering quarter of home loans entering foreclosure. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted total delinquency rate is the highest recorded by the association since 1979: Nearly 3 million home loans, or 6.4 percent, are missing at least one payment, while approximately 737,000 are three months or more past due on their payments. These numbers all but promise that foreclosure rates will continue to rise.

According to the MBA, 1.1 million homes, or 2.5 percent of all loans serviced by the association’s members currently are in foreclosure. That’s up from the 2 percent of loans, or about 938,000 homes, that were in foreclosure at the end of 2007. The report also shows that 448,000 homes, or about 1 percent of loans members serviced, entered foreclosure during Q1. In Q4 2007, 382,000 homes reportedly entered foreclosure.

Foreclosure Epidemic Spreads Beyond Subprime Loans
These aren’t just the subprime adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) we’ve heard so much about. Foreclosure among all loan types is on the rise. Here is a quick breakdown, according to Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s Vice President for Research and Economics:

• While subprime ARMs represent 6 percent of the loans outstanding, they represented 39 percent of the foreclosures started during Q1.
• Prime ARMs represent 15 percent of the loans outstanding, but 23 percent of the foreclosures started.
• Among the 516,000 foreclosures started during the Q1, subprime ARM loans made up 195,000 and prime ARM loans made for 117,000.
• The hike in prime ARM foreclosures exceeded subprime ARM foreclosures with increases of 29,000 and 20,000 respectively over the previous quarter.

Who Takes the Prize?
Though our industry will see some benefits from the FHA’s temporary suspension of the 90-day waiting period for foreclosure sales, is it really going to put a dent in markets where REO inventories are growing while prices hit the pavement? We may never know for sure because REO sales are rarely tracked.

In a recent press release, Brian Montgomery, assistant secretary for the FHA commissioner says, “A glut of foreclosed and abandoned homes harms neighborhoods, frustrates homebuyers and delays a community’s recovery. The action we take today will allow homebuyers to purchase these homes in much greater numbers and ease the excess supply of unsold homes in neighborhoods across the country.”

Too Little, too Late?
So while Federal officials have finally noticed that the effects of the foreclosure epidemic aren’t limited to Wall Street — and the buyers — who really should have known better, some loaded questions remain on the table:

• How far is this temporary FHA policy shift really going to go to get troubled real estate markets moving?
• Will the capital FHA offers buyers raise the bottom for declining markets?
• Will this policy have any impact in getting REO lenders to speed up their response times?
• If the fed needs real estate investors to come in and clean up after the lenders and help them move their REO, equity-free, dead weight, are we still engaging in a “predatory practice” ?

How will this temporary change in FHA policy make a difference in the way you invest in real estate? Please drop me a line and let me know what you think. Also, if you’re interested in learning more about the REI news and developments that affect your business, don’t forget to sign up for my “What’s Working & What’s New” monthly report on GaryBoomershine.com.