Monday, September 17, 2007

NARHRI

NARHRI ANNOUNCES 2008 MIDWESTERN STATE LEGISATIVE AND CARES PROGRAM INITIATIVES

NARHRI adds additional law firm to our state advocacy group; NARHRI plans announcement regarding the Northeast before the end of the year.

September 17, 2007 Contact: John Grant (202) 232-6708

(Washington, D.C.) Today, NARHRI issued the following statement regarding the expansion of NARHRI's state legislative campaigns and CARES Program in 2008.

NARHRI is very pleased to announce that because of the substantial support garnered from the full spectrum of the real estate investing industry, we are expanding our advocacy and educational efforts to the following states in the Midwest:

KANSAS MISSOURI ILLINOIS

NARHRI, already active in Texas recently announced its Southern State campaigns for 2008, comprised of the following states:

FLORIDA, GEORGIA, MARYLAND
NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, VIRGINIA

Our strategy of utilizing lobbying and law firms with the capacity to represent the industry in several states allows us to retain nationally prominent advocates in the most cost-effective manner. NARHRI Executive Director John Grant manages the state and federal government relations campaigns for NARHRI and also coordinates the CARES Program.

Kevin Gunn, the former chief of staff to House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, is providing NARHRI's advocacy services in the Midwest. Mr. Gunn is an attorney with Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal which has locations in many cities throughout the country including St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago. Mr. Gunn and his firm will primarily focus their activities for NARHRI in three states: Illinois, Missouri and Kansas.

Guy Rohling from the state lobbying firm of Albers & Company is expanding his role with NARHRI and will be the primary advocate for NARHRI in the South. Mr. Rohling has worked with NARHRI for several years and produced significant victories for NARHRI members, most recently in North Carolina. Mr. Rohling has over 20 years experiences representing corporate and association clients throughout the South.

This team not only provides NARHRI's governmental affairs services, but will also assist with the implementation of the CARES Program and fundraising efforts. All questions regarding NARHRI's government affairs efforts and the CARES Program should be directed to NARHRI Executive Director John Grant.

NARHRI President Steve Herbert, a former president of Georgia REIA and board member of National REIA, issued the following comments:

"When I decided to become a Board Member of NARHRI, and later accepted the position of President, my objective was to provide our industry with the level of government affairs representation that we all deserve. Our mission to rid the industry of unscrupulous investors, establish a higher standard for investors, and work with political figures around the country on the best ways to regulate our industry is well underway. I am delighted with the team that we have built, and look forward to its expansion as more investors become aware of NARHRI and come to the realization that NARHRI is the key to the long-term survival and growth of the real estate investing industry."
Experts urge caution when weighing sales pitches from housing vultures.
By MARK DAVIS
The Kansas City Star

JoCoBusiness.net: Preventing foreclosure
Work with lenders to prevent foreclosure
J.D. Asbell buys houses cheap — and sellers are calling him.

He’s a professional homebuyer in Kansas City, an investor who hopes to resell properties for a profit. Increasingly, the callers are troubled homeowners.

“We get a ton of calls on foreclosures,” said Asbell, who owns Cityscape Properties LLC. “We’ve always gotten calls. It’s just increased in the last six to 12 months.”

A rising tide of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures caused in part by quick jumps in interest rates on subprime mortgages has drawn attention to active housing investors.

Theirs is not a beloved industry. Some call them vultures. And members readily acknowledge seedy parts of the business. Prosecutors have busted scams.

“When people have issues and problems, there are those who are there to capitalize on others’ misfortune,” said Pam Hider Johnson, a housing counselor in Kansas City.

But legitimate investors are like vultures in a good way. They peck at houses others have left for dead. And each house they turn around helps reduce the number of unsold homes for the overall market.

They can be the last resort for owners facing foreclosure. Although late payments damage an owner’s credit record, a sale would prevent the more serious damage of a foreclosure.

Stressed-out sellers, however, should expect heavily discounted bids, perhaps 60 to 70 percent of the home’s value. And if the loan balance is high, an owner faces potentially long waits as the investor and mortgage company negotiate a deal.

Troubled owners also shouldn’t sell their houses alone. Call the lender and tap any of Kansas City’s several housing counseling agencies for help.

The buyers

Pending foreclosures actually aren’t Asbell’s biggest business.

His company is a franchise of HomeVestors of America Inc., a Texas company known by its familiar billboard pitch, “We Buy Ugly Houses.”

Ugly sometimes means ugly. Investors often buy houses needing extensive repairs.

Ugly also can mean the situation is bad. Perhaps the house was inherited by the owner’s children, who don’t have time or resources to handle repairs.

Either way, ugly means the seller is motivated and attracted by Web sites such as www.experthomeoffers.com, www.easy2sellfast.com or www.fasthomeoffer.com.

As the names suggest, these buyers promise quick cash deals. Their main function is to attract leads and sell or deliver them to affiliated local investors who make contact.

House investors aren’t regulated, and the business is easy to enter.

Troy Meyer said he started buying and repairing area properties for resale more than five years ago when he was on Kansas City’s police force. The Meyer Organization is now his livelihood.

Meyer employs “short sale specialist” Carrissa Elliott to handle properties of sellers who owe more than their houses are worth.

“We’re at the point we’re turning them away because Carrissa can’t work them fast enough,” said Meyer, who has 20 pending short-sale deals.

Foreclosure problems are below average in Missouri and Kansas, but urban areas such as Kansas City have been hit harder, said Kelly Edmiston, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

“Certain pockets are quite severe,” said Edmiston, noting the highest rates are in census tracts with mostly low- and moderate-income residents.

Watch for red flags

Experts urge caution when weighing sales pitches from housing vultures.

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JoCoBusiness.net: Preventing foreclosure
Work with lenders to prevent foreclosure
Mounting foreclosures have drawn attention from Washington, where President Bush and members of Congress have proposed various ways to help owners keep their homes.

Prosecutors have acted against foreclosure-rescue scams that have robbed owners of homes and left them owing mortgages.

“There is definitely an underbelly of these foreclosure-rescue-scam guys out there,” said Jeremy Brandt, a Texas investor who owns two online homebuyer sites.

Asbell said HomeVestors preaches ethical business practices and regularly audits franchisees’ dealings by calling homeowners, including those who don’t sell their houses.

Some buyer Web sites urge sellers to contact the consumer division of their state’s attorney general’s office, the local Better Business Bureau and state housing commissions. Another good idea is to ask investors for bank references, Asbell said.

Colleen Hernandez, a former Kansas Citian who now heads the Homeownership Preservation Foundation in Minneapolis, said homeowners should watch for signs of a scam.

Never pay for help with home loan problems, she said. Many free housing counseling services are available.

Hernandez, who previously ran the Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance, said owners also should balk at signing documents right away.

Another red flag is whether the person offering help contacted you or you contacted him, she said.

Examples of scams include one in which troubled owners are asked to sign over the deed to their house or sign a quitclaim deed. The buyer promises to make the house payments, but the owners instead find their houses are lost and the mortgages due.

In another scam, an investor buys the house and leases it back to the seller. The promise is the seller can buy it back when he gets on his feet financially. Often the seller can’t even make the rent and is evicted. Also, the resale terms can be so unfavorable that he can’t possibly buy back the house and is moved out when the investor finds another buyer.

The deal

An investor can’t help a troubled homeowner save his home. His business is buying properties and selling them for a profit.

Housing advocate Mike Clarke said that he was OK with an investor sale as long as the homeowner knew about his other options and understood the situation with the investor.

“Recognize they have a motivation to offer as little as possible to acquire the property in order to make a profit. They’re not a friend in the transaction,” said Clarke, a former banker and president of Neighborhood Housing Services of Kansas City.

Investors clearly have the upper hand over homeowners distraught over missed house payments and other problems.

Some Web sites that collect leads for investors strengthen that hand by requiring the owner to enter what they believe their house is worth before the investor calls. One, www.1800sellfast.com, even requires an answer to the question: “If we were to purchase your property ‘AS-IS’ and close FAST, what is the least you could accept?”

In any case, sellers can expect investors to bid only 60 to 70 percent of a house’s retail sale value, or what a real estate agent could get by marketing the house in good condition.

Investors said that repair costs account for much of the difference, along with costs of holding and renting properties and ultimately finding new owners.

Kansas City generally is weathering the housing slowdown better than many other markets, particularly in California, Florida and Michigan. Even so, finding a new owner for area homes has gotten more difficult.


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JoCoBusiness.net: Preventing foreclosure
Work with lenders to prevent foreclosure
The Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors reported that the inventory of new and existing homes for sale in July stood at 21,474, up 5 percent from the same time last year. Meanwhile, home sales during the month totaled 3,073, down 7 percent from a year earlier.

At the July sales pace, the local market had nearly seven months of unsold inventory; above the six-month threshold the industry considers a buyer’s market.

Separately, the RealtyTrac Web site currently lists about 3,000 homes in the Kansas City area heading toward foreclosure.

Reece & Nichols broker Bill Hargis said Kansas City’s relatively stronger market had attracted investors from out of state and that had helped.

“It’s getting some of the people out of trouble and getting some of the houses off the market,” Hargis said.

Underwater owners

Buying from the most troubled homeowners has gotten harder, investors said.

Many owners missing payments owe as much on their mortgages as their homes are worth, maybe more. As a result, any sale would produce less money than the lender expects, which is called a short sale. Investors seeking a short sale must get the owner’s permission and then negotiate a deal with the lender.

The message to homeowners with little or no equity: A quick cash sale won’t happen. Short-sale negotiations can finish up in a month or take a year.

Homeowners have two big financial stakes in a short sale and need to know how they will be handled.

First, the investor talks to the lender because a full release of the mortgage on the property’s deed is needed.

Clarke said the homeowner had a different question of the lender: “Will they forgive me on the (loan) balance free and clear or will they pursue a judgment against me?” The judgment means the owner owes the unpaid balance.

Typically, lenders will forgive the mortgage amount not covered by the negotiated sale. But that sets up the second big financial issue for the seller.

The homeowner will owe income tax on the amount forgiven.

One of the relief proposals in Washington, however, would temporarily suspend the tax on forgiven debt.

Though all this is business to investors, it is all new and complex to homeowners. “That’s my concern, signing papers without any review and any counseling,” said Clarke at Neighborhood Housing Services. “We’re prepared to call the lender with you. I have four people standing ready to do that.”



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Homeowners falling behind should act quickly. | Story, D5



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If you need assistance
Contact any of these housing agencies for counseling if you have payment problems or expect to have them:

Community Services League, 816-254-4100

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Kansas City & Mid-Missouri, 800-355-2227

El Centro Inc., 913-677-0100

HomeFree-USA, 816-822-7241

Homeownership Preservation Foundation, 888-995-4673

Greater Kansas City Housing Information Center, 816-931-0443 in Missouri, 913- 829-4584 in Kansas

Legal Aid of Western Missouri, 816-474-6750

Neighborhood Housing Services of Kansas City, 816-822-7703





To reach Mark Davis, call 816-234-4372 or send e-mail to mdavis@kcstar.com.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

The best way to finance real estate (and other small businesses) today!

What's the best way to make money in real estate today?

Should you buy ugly property in war zones with no money down techniques,
or should you buy pretty houses with your own cash.

I say you should buy quality properties without using any of your own money! And I will show you how to do it with an unsecured business line of credit.

I don't think that you should only invest in Junker houses using no money down techniques just because you don't have any money. Many of these techniques are simply gimmicks that make you the owner of an over priced property that nobody else wants.

I believe that you should use a proven system of getting business lines of credit to buy good property. If you are using unsecured business lines of credit to get the money to invest, you can buy more valuable real estate and a lot more real estate than you can buy if you only used your own cash or no money down tricks.

Please read this article written by the expert that taught me where to get business lines of credit for real estate. (Or what ever capital intensive business you may have.)

Kim Tucker
Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors
(www.MAREInet.com)


**************************************************************************************

By Thomas Kish, President of CashFlowExperts

Seems like a no brainier to recommend that people buy more real estate.
History proves that real estate makes more millionaires than any other
investment.

But where do you get the money when you want to get started?

Using unsecured business lines of credit is the way I teach people to get rich, but you will meet people that still believe that it's a good idea to ONLY use their own cash buy real estate.

How much real estate could you invest in if you never needed to use your own money?

The rich get rich because they control more assets than the middle class do. They buy 5 good investment properties to every 1 that we buy. And they buy all
this real estate using business lines of credit.

This is simply called using leverage not cash to invest in real estate. But the opposite of using leverage is to pay ALL cash for property and own it free and clear.

Why do some people still want to own real estate free and clear?

Because they believe that they are making more money if they borrow as
little as possible to buy it.

But lets look at 2 examples to see which example makes more money.

Example 1.

Use $40,000 of your personal savings to buy a house with 20% down and get
a mortgage for the rest.

You may cash flow $400 per month with this scenario.

And on this one house you will also be getting -

A. equity build up like a personal saving account as your tenants help you pay down the principal on the mortgage each month..

B. appreciation as the house goes up in value, which good real estate has
always tended to do.

C. great tax deductions that will lower your personal tax bill in many cases.

Example 2.

Use a $80,000 new business line of credit instead of your own CASH and
buy 2 houses.

You may cash flow $200 per house per month for a total cash flow of $400 a month.

And you are making money on TWO pieces of investment real estate instead
of one.

Your also getting -

A. Double the equity build up.
B. Double the appreciation.
C. Double the tax deductions.

AND YOU NEVER USED A DOLLAR OF YOUR OWN CASH. The entire down payment came from an unsecured new business line of credit!

I can show you exactly where and how to get MONEY to do this using my
Ultimate real estate investor's guide system.

Go to:
http://m353.infusionsoft.com/go/ureg/MAREInet/optin

You don't need any income, assets or good personal credit to get this money if you follow my 4 step system and use the list of lender that I give you.

About Thomas Kish.

Thomas Kish is an author, speaker, business consultant and an active real
estate investor.

He is a national expert in the area of business credit and has shared the
stage with best selling authors Robert Allen, Mark Victor Hansen, and Robert Kiyosaki .

Tom has bought and sold 8 million dollars worth of real estate using
business lines of credit instead of using his own money.

And he has helped thousands of people change their lives with business lines of credit.