Archive for November, 2009

Apartment Vacancies hit Their Highest Point Since 1986

According to Reis Inc., a New York real-estate research firm that tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 U.S. markets, the vacancy rate reached 7.8% this summer, which is normally a strong period for rentals. And, the rate is expected to rise even further in the fall and winter, when rental demand is weaker, pushing vacancies to the highest levels since Reis started keeping records in 1980.

What is Causing the Increase in Vacancies?

One word: unemployment, which is close to 10%-a 26 year high. It seems that the high jobless rate is leading would-be renters to double-up or move in with family or friends.

How to Profit From High Vacancies

Because apartment building prices are tallied according to the income and expenses of the property many apartment building prices have fallen drastically due to increased vacancies. In many areas of the country apartment building prices have fallen 30% to 40% from their peak. This is probably the best time in the last 30 years to buy an apartment building at a great price. As the economy recovers so will your net income and the value of your investment.

I encourage you to get started right away. The fist step is to educate yourself by ordering
“Buy Your First Apartment Building E-Course”

Inside you will find all of the information, tools, software and knowledge that you need to purchase a profitable apartment building anywhere in the United States. The time to get started is right now. Remember, your E-Course tuition is covered by my full money back guarantee. You have nothing to lose. Enroll Now!

Fannie Mae Initiates Commercial Loan Modification Program

Fannie Mae is now offering a new program aimed exclusively at commercial real estate owners who are unable to make their monthly mortgage payments. The new program called the Payment Reduction Plan (PRP) comes as welcome relief to many apartment building, office building and shopping center owners who have seen drastic decreases in vacancies over the past twelve months. These vacancies have seriously impeded commercial property owners’ ability to pay their mortgages. PRP allows commercial owners to negotiate with their loan servicer for up to a 30% reduction on their commercial mortgage payments.

According to the Fannie Mae website the “The PRP provides a borrower with temporary payment relief while the servicer and borrower work together to find the appropriate permanent foreclosure prevention solution. PRP offers an additional foreclosure prevention solution for borrowers who are ineligible for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).”

Under the PRP monthly commercial loan payments can be reduced up to 30% off of the total principal and interest only. The program is strictly for non owner occupied and investment properties.

The Fannie Mae website explains that “during the maximum six month period of forbearance, the servicer should work with the borrower to identify the feasibility of, and implement, a more permanent foreclosure prevention alternative. The servicer should evaluate and identify a permanent solution during the first three months of the forbearance period and should implement the alternative by the end of the sixth month.”

Commercial real estate owners who are considering hiring an attorney to handle their commercial loan modification should investigate the background and experience of the person they hiring so that they know in advance what to expect.

In my experience as a commercial loan modification specialist I have found that many attorneys who advertise themselves as commercial loan modification attorneys actually have very little experience performing successful loan workouts. Unfortunately, as many people know, there is an over supply of attorneys in the United States. This forces many lawyers to follow the latest and hottest trends in order to get new business and survive. You may see the same people who used to do accident and injury work now advertising their services as loss mitigation specialists because it has become such a needed service. For this reason the commercial real estate owner should definitely do their homework and research the actual experience of the person they are hiring.

What You Should Expect from a Commercial Loan Modification Attorney:

1. A Money Back Guarantee: Is your attorney willing to give a complete refund if he or she is unable to successfully modify your commercial mortgage?  Very few commercial loan workout companies are offering a money back guarantee but it is will worth the research to find a company or attorney that is willing to offer a written money back guarantee if they are unable to modify your loan.
2. A Written Plan or Proposal:  Make sure that your commercial loan workout attorney gives you a very detailed written proposal of all of the services that he or she is going to perform on your behalf.  Commercial loan modification can be a complicated process that requires many hours of work and research.
3. Satisfied Clients. Ask your commercial loan modification attorney if they can give you the contact information for any clients that they have successfully helped to modify their commercial loans.  They may not be able to give you any references because of their privacy policy or because of attorney client privilege but it can’t hurt to ask.  An attorney who successfully modified the commercial loans of many clients surely must have one or two who would agree to attest to the experience and results that had with the attorney who helped them.
4. Who Does the Work? Find out if your commercial loan modification attorney will be doing the negotiating and processing him or her self.  Many attorneys are too busy to actually perform the important work themselves and they may be outsourcing your commercial loan modification to a third party.  You may be able to save money and time by cutting out the middleman and going directly to the company that performs the negotiation and works with the bank.
   

Hello Ted,

In your E-course, are there methods of purchasing apartments without credit while using private/hardmoney funds to finance the deal?

Thanks,

Larry

Hello Larry,
The “Buy Your First Apartment Building E-Course” gives you all of the tools, information and knowledge that you need to purchase an apartment building in the United States or Canada. There is a section in the e-course that extensively covers using hard money and private money to buy apartment buildings.

Sincerely,

Ted Karsch

Hi there,
>
>I just wanted to take a minute and share some of the frequently asked
>questions that my inquiring students ask.  Maybe one of them is yours.
>
>Question:
>
>I have looked at the home study courses of real estate gurus like Dave
>Lindahl and Daran Garmin.  These guys are charging over $900.00 for
>their home study courses and around $5,000.00 for seminars.  How is it
>that you are offering similar materials and a better education for only
>$99.95?  What is the catch Ted?
>
>Answer:
>
>There isn’t one.  My educational resources and the software found in my
>e-course give you all of the knowledge and tools to successfully begin
>investing in profitable apartment buildings anywhere in the United
>States.  Those other guys, the real estate investing “gurus” have to
>charge so much more to cover the cost of their marketing.
>
>The real estate gurus also have to spend a lot of their money on web
>designers. I made this website myself. Hey, I know it’s ugly but I
>would rather spend my time improving my e-course. I spend almost
>nothing on marketing.  Most of my students find my e-course by word of
>mouth or from reading one of my articles somewhere.  My e-course is not
>my full time job either.  I do very well for myself with my own
>investments so I don’t have to charge a lot of money.
>
>Question:
>
>Is the information in your e-course up to date?
>
>Answer:
>
>Absolutely.  My e-course is updated with new and relevant information
>every month.  In today’s real estate market this is a necessity.
>
>Question:
>
>Can I make money just by studying your E-Course?
>
>Answer:
>
>No way! Investing in apartment buildings requires a lot of hard work
>and effort. Anybody that tells you that any different is just trying to
>sell you his “guru” system or seminar. My e-course does make the work a
>lot easier and if you follow the principals and systems you should be
>well on your way making successful apartment building investments.
>
>***Visit my website right now so that you can begin your apartment
>building investment education today.
>
>http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=I1DT_&m=1mBcA2Mp_8ME9z&b=BKanYRkqAtICb
>KzpKseM2w
>
>
>PS. Here’s a question for you:
>
>Wouldn’t it be great to have steady income coming in every month from a
>strategic apartment building investment?
>
>If you answered yes, then get started today.
>
>The risk is all mine.
>
>If you don’t like the E-Course then simply return it for free and the
>education was free.
Ted Karsch, Creator of the “Buy Your First Apartment Building
>E-Course”