Old Wine in New Bottles Thanks to a rising housing market, there are now far fewer underwater homeowners. However, they’ve hardly disappeared. In fact, something like 20% of all homeowners with a mortgage — about 5 million people nationally — still owe more on their homes than their home is worth (that’s down from closer to...Read More
“You Mean, the Bank Can RAISE The Price After the Seller Has Signed the Purchase Agreement?!?” (Yup, That’s What I Mean) After a couple HUGE years for short sales, they’re now receding as a factor in today’s housing market. According to City Lakes’ resident short sale expert, Jim Kantorowicz, there are two reasons for that:...Read More
Short Sale Hurdles “Believe me, it’s not what it is.” –What the cheating husband says to his wife when he’s caught in the act; New Yorker cartoon Short sales have a (very deserved) reputation for presenting Buyers (and their agents) with multiple, patience-testing hurdles. Because the owner owes more than their home is currently worth —...Read More
Direct Mail Deluge: Are Realtors Overdoing it? If I were a homeowner thinking about selling, and received a letter from a Realtor trumpeting that “Now is a GREAT Time to Sell!,” “I May Have a Buyer For Your Home!,” etc. — my interest would definitely be piqued. By the time I received the third (or...Read More
Managing the (Property) Manager As millions of “accidental” homeowner-landlords have discovered the last few years, managing residential real estate is labor-intensive. That’s especially true for an older, dated home. In other words . . . . precisely the kind of home that was hard to sell a few years ago, and got turned into a...Read More
Lender-Mediated Deals Now Down to 25% of Housing Market Deals Nationally Is the housing market doing better? Absolutely. Has it fully recovered? No way. Or should I say, “half-way.” I base that not just on where home prices are now — off the bottom, but still well below their 2006 peak — but on the fact...Read More
