How many times have you heard that OPM is the key to all the riches in real estate? Seriously – you can’t turn on a single late-night real estate tv infomercial without some fly-by-night “guru” with a Bentley and a bevy of blonde babes screeching at you about using OPM to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. I should know – I’ve watched them all. (For the information only. Not the babes. Really) The…
Category: Cash Flow Real Estate Investing
News Flash – Everybody ELSE’S House Has Lost Value But Mine
The Majority of U.S. Homeowners Thinks Their Home is Insulated from the Housing Crisis According to Zillow Q2 Homeowner Confidence Survey 62% of homeowners believe their home’s value has increased or stayed the same in the past year yet 77% of U.S. homes actually declined in value  Short-Term Outlook: More optimism for own home vs. neighbors’ homes in next six months although 70% say they are concerned foreclosures will decrease home values in their…
The Beginning of the End for Real Estate Contrarians
I read an interesting article this morning on Marketwatch.com. Specifically a piece by Marshall Loeb. Now as a finance guy I normally skip articles by Loeb and his cohorts at competing web sites, because their content is bland, vanilla, and always so overly general that nothing they recommend or discuss can ever be directly implemented. And after reading them I usually I feel like a cross between the AFLAC duck as he walks out of…
Yes But Why THAT One?
As I move between the worlds of residential and commercial real estate I’m realizing more and more that the fundamentals of both are a lot alike. Having spent the last few years building up a portfolio of single family rental properties, I’ve developed some very strict and specific criteria to use in my screening process. It’s interesting to note in retrospect though, that my criteria has gotten more and more specific, and therefore more narrow,…
Upgrades Outnumber Downgrades!
Just read some good news in the Wall Street Journal this morning regarding commercial real estate.  They reported that in the first half of 2008, the bond rating firm Moody’s had 234 upgrades, 123 downgrades, and 1452 decision of “no change” with respect to bonds and other instruments backed by commercial real estate mortgages.  While this was certainly good news with everything else happening in the economy, Moodys of course took great pains…