I’m in the process of doing another of my cash-out refis. I just bought it last Friday, and I’m trying to set a new record and do a cash-out refi based on the appraised value in less than 30 days. I just did two yesterday – one was 42 days and the other was 55 days. My mortgage guy is top notch (Dave Geraghty at Centerone Mortgage), and he’s been keeping me abreast of the…
The Flight to Quality
I received a couple of questions after my last post on Capital Deployment. To address one of them – no – I won’t tell you Bluetooth convertible guy’s name. I haven’t heard from him since I wrote it though. I was wondering why my email spam traffic was down 30%. The relevant questions were on this whole issue of capital deployment, so I thought that it made sense to discuss it further, especially in light…
Capital Deployment, or Don’t Listen to the Guy With the Convertible and the Bluetooth Headset
As I have mentioned in prior posts, the most difficult part of this real estate business used to be finding the really great deals. I remember just 14 short months ago how I lost two consecutive deals because I ended up getting outbid on both, and that the prices of both of those properties had risen several thousand dollars over my original offer price in the bidding process. I can also remember thinking that at…
“Real Life†Monopoly
I bought another house last week. On my lunch break. An hour and 20 minutes out and back. Yes – I’d like the Chicken Fillet with extra tomatoes and a large diet Pepsi. Make that to go. Oh – and throw in a 3 bedroom bungalow with appliances and a finished basement too. I got home that evening and told my wife. She said “Cool!” Did I hit the jackpot with her or what? I remember…
I HATE Foreclosures
Pretty strong I know. But I do. I hate ’em. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the real estate business. I LOVE looking at houses. I LOVE buying houses. And I LOVE renting houses. I just HATE foreclosure. I must confess that I’ve become spoiled. I realized that in spades this weekend. You see, since about August I have shifted my focus to looking at regular listings. No foreclosures. No HUD homes. None of…
After All the Volatility And All The Promise – All You Get Is A Measly 6.4%
12,463 13,264 Recognize those numbers? I know that some of you do. And those do should be fatally disappointed with them. Why? Because they represent the opening and closing Dow Jones Industrial Average numbers for 2007. 2007 opened at 12,463 2007 closed at 13,264 A whopping 801 point increase for the year. An increase of 6.4%. For the entire year. (But don’t feel so bad – the S&P 500 posted an increase of only 3.5%…