28 Dec 2010    Commercial Real Estate Predictions: The End of Extend and Pretend The commercial real estate is a disaster-in-the-making both for property investors and for the thousands of American banks that are carrying outsized exposure to commercial borrowers.   23 Dec 2010    Appraisers up Next for 'Wall Street Reform' Brand of Regulatory Do-Over Tolling the death knell for the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), the Federal Reserve Board recently announced final regulatory orders for real estate appraisers.   12 Nov 2010    Less Applicant Traffic? What Do You Do? The national trend is that there is 15% to 20% less applicant traffic looking to rent properties compared to this time last year.   1 Nov 2010    Deterring Dryrot Dryrot’s name is a misnomer because the rot occurs in wet conditions, not dry.   3 Sep 2010    How Mortgage Rates Compare Let's take a moment to look at where interest rates have been over the last few decades, and what today's rates really mean for home-buyers.   6 Jul 2010    The Three Faces of Foreclosures It is helpful to understand first that there are three faces to foreclosures, each with very different characteristics.   16 Jun 2010    Just Getting Started in Real Estate Investing? Ask Yourself A Few Questions I absolutely love being around investors. I love learning about real estate, talking about real estate, and more importantly working on deals. I also notice that most of the real estate investors I know feel the same way. This is their PASSION.   23 May 2010    The new real estate bubble The economy couldn’t be better for some people. Why? It’s because they are in a position to profit from the implosion of prices today.   14 Apr 2010    HUD Ruling Could Mean More FHA Financing in Pricier Housing Markets The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced recently that it would no longer consider the price of land in its computation of mortgage limits for FHA-insured developers.   9 Mar 2010    The Bubble Proof Hybrid Investment Model   3 Feb 2010    Standardized Short Sale Process Will Benefit All Parties Two years ago the National Association of Realtors® formed a task force to address the vexing issue of short sales.   3 Feb 2010    Where is Real Estate Headed? Many have watched the real estate market with bated breath, wondering what lies ahead. The Norris Group, a California-based company that produces an annual report on the state of real estate and predictions, provides some insight.   27 Jan 2010    HUD Temporary Property Flip Waiver Renewal  In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed properties.   18 Dec 2009    Washington Report: FHA Tightening Standards FHA is tightening up its standards for home buyers.   16 Dec 2009    The Cost of the Home Buyer Tax Credit "At $8,000 for each first-time homebuyer and now $6,500 for move-up buyers - how much is that going to cost the American taxpayers?"   17 Nov 2009    Investor Report: New Study Indicates Investor Heavy Market   5 May 2009    What Makes a Landlord Money? When we bought rental property, one of the big attractions was that the value of real estate usually goes up.   11 Mar 2009    When is the payment due?   22 Feb 2009    Analyzing Risk and Expected Value of Real Estate Investment Profitability Before Committing To Purchasing an Asset   21 Feb 2009    Have too much income to convert to a Roth IRA? If you are frustrated because your income has disallowed you from converting your Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, there is a special opportunity for you in 2010.   23 Nov 2008    The Four Fatal Mistakes that Most Seasoned Investors Make When Attempting To Get A Short Sale Approved   14 Nov 2008    The Twenty-five Biggest Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make Recently, I interviewed several real estate investors and asked them, not to tell me about all their riches, but to share with our members and me some of their Biggest mistakes.   21 Mar 2008    Water Catastrophes One out of every three homeowners experience a water intrusion in their home and may not know to make sure they have an additional rider for “sump pump failure or water back-up” coverage as part of their homeowner’s insurance policy.   1 Aug 2007    Why Bankruptcies?   22 Jul 2007    Six Myths of Investing in Bankruptcies Let’s address the most common myths and misconceptions.   5 Jul 2007    Investing in Chapter 13 Bankruptcies Based on our experience as we talk to investors across the country, we’ve found that when most investors hear the word “bankruptcy,” their first reactions are intimidation and avoidance.    30 Mar 2007    Home Staging STAGING is a recent development that may help you sell or rent a property more quickly.   2 Mar 2007    Nine Strategies for Growing Your Home Renovating Business I have become financially independent renovating houses, and you can do the same; however, if you aren’t prepared, the process can become completely overwhelming.   3 Jan 2007    Fixer-Upper Leads to Bond With Late President Ford In the fall of 1994, a Secret Service official left a message on their answering machine. Mr. Ford was planning to visit Grand Rapids and wanted to see his old home.   30 Nov 2006    Distressed Real-Estate: Priced to Sell in 2007 As a weak housing market nudges the foreclosure rate higher, next year is looking promising for investors in distressed real estate.   23 Oct 2006    Staging hikes house selling price Marcia Layton Turner can't believe that some people have never heard of the concept of home-staging.   20 Oct 2006    Rochester Hills couple rolls dice with auction sale Bids for $375K home start at $1   14 Oct 2006    House listing services charged The state's two largest multiple listing real estate services are squaring off with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations of collusion and anticompetitive conduct.   14 Sep 2006    AmEx Makes Room on Its Cards For Down Payments on Condos Coming up with the money for a down payment on a new condominium may soon be as easy as charging it: American Express Co. is expected to announce today that it will allow some customers to use its cards to make condominium down payments.   9 Sep 2006    Reasons To Cruise With REIA A compendium of articles about the NaREIA Real Estate Investing educational cruise.   8 Sep 2006    Scams Seeking Phone-Customer Data Are Growing Threat     6 Sep 2006    Trimming Your Taxes: Why Roth 401(k)s Often Beat Conventional 401(k) Plans Thanks to the new pension law, Roth 401(k) plans are no longer slated to disappear in 2011 -- and that means a lot more companies will consider offering these plans.   9 Jul 2006    Shelter From The Storm The National Association of Realtors projects a 13% decline in new home sales in 2006, with the median home price increasing just 0.83%. Overall, the median home price in the United States has never declined in a calendar year since World War II. Maybe I'm out on a limb, but I think 2006 could break that streak.   1 Jul 2006    Lessons from the Flippers Their tales inspire envy: It seems that the very best flippers—more formally known as short-term real estate investors—have the ability to buy a property and quickly sell it for a profit in just about any market.   29 Jun 2006    Home Selling Advice: Get the House Ready to Show Here's a critical bit of home selling advice: don't even think of putting your house on the market until you've taken a close look at its condition.   28 Jun 2006    Operation Quick Flip Operation Quick Flip is designed to show that federal law enforcement recognizes the mortgage fraud threat.   19 Jun 2006    Top 10 Reasons To Hire A Real Estate Agent With so much information readily available online, clients sometimes ask me, "Why should we hire a real estate agent?" They wonder, and rightfully so, if they couldn't buy or sell a home through the Internet or through regular marketing and advertising channels without representation. Some do OK, many don't. So if you've wondered the same thing, here are 10 reasons why you might want to consider hiring a real estate professional.   11 Jun 2006    Wayne County Log Jam Will Cost You A severe backlog at the Wayne County Register of Deeds office is helping make Detroit and Wayne County one of the nation's worst areas for mortgage and real estate fraud, experts say.   10 Jun 2006    Mortgage Fraud Investigations The increased reliance by both financial institutions and non-financial institution lenders on third-party brokers has created opportunities for organized fraud groups, particularly where mortgage industry professionals are involved.   5 Jun 2006    The Rise Of Mortgage Fraud If you're buying property, refinancing a mortgage, or looking for creative ways to eliminate home loans and other debts, you could be a target, too   4 Jun 2006    Reduce Real Estate Risks Unbelievably, many first time investors are willing to part with their hard-earned cash without taking the time to study their investment.   30 May 2006    Late Rent Solution One of the most frustrating parts of being a landlord is chasing tenants for the rent each and every month.    29 May 2006    A Battle On The Home Front Murray West survived the Nazis and the Russians during World War II, but nothing in life prepared the 85-year-old Waterford man for Yusef (Jimmy) Danou.   17 May 2006    How To Prepare Your House For Sale Here is how to turn a house into an irresistible and marketable home.   7 May 2006    How Smart Is 'Flipping' Real Estate? Speculative investors who bought into the high-priced, preconstruction condo market in south Florida may be in for a rough ride.  But, after all, no one ever said buying real estate came without risks.   5 May 2006    Short Sale Tale A short sale is a technique where you negotiate with a lender to accept less than is owed to them.  It is a highly effective tool when you have a distressed homeowner who owes more to the lender than you are willing to pay for the house.   16 Apr 2006    How to Improve Curb Appeal A large percentage of home buyers decide whether or not to look inside a house or take it seriously based on its curb appeal.   15 Apr 2006    Stealing Homes Metro Detroit residents in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, or those looking to tap equity from their houses to catch up on overdue bills, are falling prey to mortgage fraud scams that promise to rescue them from financial peril.   15 Apr 2006    Secret Service Agents Hunt Mortgage Fraud Fugitives National REIA has been informed that the Secret Service is looking for Rebecca M. Hauck and Matthew B. Cox in conjunction with allegations of mortgage fraud and identity theft in the Atlanta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida, areas.    8 Apr 2006    A Plumbing Problem? No Problem! Ever have a hard to find plumbing part?  Or looking for knowledgeable friendly people to help those who are not Plumbing Inclined?   19 Mar 2006    Tips On Management Don't let emotions get in the way of good business.   11 Mar 2006    Buying Rental Property So you are considering buying rental property. But are you ready for the next step to actually buy a rental property?   4 Mar 2006    Don’t Quit It takes a few years, I’d say at least four, to get really good at this business, to learn everything that there is to learn, to make enough money on a consistent basis to support your basic needs.   21 Feb 2006    Mortgage Fraud Soars Mortgage fraud losses in Michigan jumped from nearly $9 million to $26 million over a two-year period in what has become one of the fastest-growing white-collar crimes in the nation.   19 Feb 2006    Fill Vacancies Quick With A Television Use a television give-a-way to move prospective tenants to action.   15 Feb 2006    Messy Tenants The best way to encourage your tenants to keep your property clean is to show the tenants you care about the property.   4 Feb 2006    Twenty-Five Years and Still Going Strong! Our organization has helped thousands of real estate investors over the past twenty-five years.   26 Jan 2006    Rental Property ROI Many rental property owners buy a property, rent it out, collect a net profit and sit back while they continue to collect that income year after year, doing little to evaluate if their investment is a very good one.   19 Jan 2006    Home Selling Essentials There are lots of reasons why offers might not come in when you're selling a home, but let's get past the top home selling killer–overpricing.   6 Jan 2006    City Inspections of Rental Property Dealing with city inspectors can be a very difficult experience.