Qualifying buyers has become harder than it used to be mainly due to the poor credit profiles.  However one area that I think is being abused is the aspect of identity theft.  Now more than ever identity theft is a big issue.  Thieves are now more advanced in the ways of obtaining YOUR information and in doing so are stealing millions without you even knowing about it.  Here are some excerpts from the U.S. Dept. of Justice:

What Are Identity Theft and Identity Fraud?

“But he that filches from me my good name/Robs me of that which not enriches him/And makes me poor indeed.” - Shakespeare, Othello, act iii. Sc. 3.

The short answer is that identity theft is a crime. Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.

These Web pages are intended to explain why you need to take precautions to protect yourself from identity theft.

Unlike your fingerprints, which are unique to you and cannot be given to someone else for their use, your personal data ­especially your Social Security number, your bank account or credit card number, your telephone calling card number, and other valuable identifying data ­ can be used, if they fall into the wrong hands, to personally profit at your expense. In the United States and Canada, for example, many people have reported that unauthorized persons have taken funds out of their bank or financial accounts, or, in the worst cases, taken over their identities altogether, running up vast debts and committing crimes while using the victims’s names.

In many cases, a victim’s losses may include not only out-of-pocket financial losses, but substantial additional financial costs associated with trying to restore his reputation in the community and correcting erroneous information for which the criminal is responsible.

In one notorious case of identity theft, the criminal, a convicted felon, not only incurred more than $100,000 of credit card debt, obtained a federal home loan, and bought homes, motorcycles, and handguns in the victim’s name, but called his victim to taunt him — saying that he could continue to pose as the victim for as long as he wanted because identity theft was not a federal crime at that time — before filing for bankruptcy, also in the victim’s name. While the victim and his wife spent more than four years and more than $15,000 of their own money to restore their credit and reputation, the criminal served a brief sentence for making a false statement to procure a firearm, but made no restitution to his victim for any of the harm he had caused. This case, and others like it, prompted Congress in 1998 to create a new federal offense of identity theft.

What can you do to prevent this from happeining to you?  Keep your information safe.  Do not give anyone your social security number or passport information.  You can also enroll in a reputable credit monitoring system or even a credit.  Companies like Lifelock are being lauded for their effectiveness in combating thieves and restoring your identity and peace of mind.


LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention - Save 10%

0 comments Werner Robles | Business Finance, Real Estate |

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, July 30, 2008, the President signed into law The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which authorizes the Department of the Treasury to purchase obligations of housing Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs); reforms the regulatory supervision of the housing GSEs; provides reform of the Federal Housing Administration; provides homeownership assistance and reforms to mitigate recent increases in foreclosures; and contains housing-related tax incentives and other tax provisions.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, who authored the legislation along with Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) issued the following statement, “Today marks an important change in the federal government’s response to the economic strain being felt by millions of Americans across the country and our financial markets.  This is the most sweeping housing legislation since the Great Depression, representing a turning point in our country’s commitment to economic growth and affordable housing, and providing relief to homeowners and communities across the country.  I congratulate the President for signing it, and I am committed to ensuring that this law is implemented effectively and expeditiously, and that it fulfills its promise to prevent foreclosures, restore home values, stabilize our housing markets, and create economic growth.”

Key provisions of the law include:

  • The HOPE for Homeowners Act: Creates an initiative within the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to prevent foreclosures for hundreds of thousands of families at no estimated cost to American taxpayers.
  • Assistance for Communities Devastated by Foreclosures: To ensure that communities can mitigate the harmful effects of foreclosures, $3.92 billion in supplemental Community Development Block Grant Funds will be provided to communities hardest hit by foreclosures and delinquencies.
  • Foreclosure Counseling for Families in Need: To help families avoid foreclosure, the bill provides $180 million in additional funding for housing counseling and legal services for distressed borrowers.
  • GSE Reform: Creates a world class regulator for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) so that these vital institutions can safely and soundly carry out their important mission of providing our nation’s families with affordable housing.
  • Treasury Emergency Authority: To shore up confidence of the financial markets in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks, the legislation contains several temporary provisions requested by the Treasury Secretary including authority for Treasury to purchase common stock and debt securities issued by the GSEs.
  • Preserving the American Dream for Our Nation’s Veterans: This bill contains several provisions to help returning soldiers avoid foreclosure, including lengthening the time a lender must wait before starting foreclosure from three months to nine months after a soldier returns from service.
  • FHA Modernization: Reforms to modernize, streamline and expand the reach of the FHA, allowing families in all areas of the country to access secure and affordable mortgages through FHA.
  • Affordable Housing Fund: A new, permanent fund that will help create more affordable housing for Americans in communities across the country.
  • Enhancing Mortgage Disclosure: To ensure that consumers know the exact amounts of their mortgage payments, including the maximum possible payment under the terms of the loan and changes in payments associated with adjustable rate mortgages, lenders will be required to provide borrowers with more timely and meaningful mortgage disclosures on all home purchase loans, loans that refinance a home, and loans that provide a home equity line of credit.
  • Standard Property Tax Deduction: To make tax relief available to all American homeowners, the bill will provide a standard deduction – $500 for single filers and $1,000 for joint filers – for the 28.3 million non-itemizers who pay property taxes.  Present law allows only those who itemize deductions on their federal tax returns to deduct state and local property taxes from their income.
  • Mortgage Revenue Bonds: To provide for refinancing of subprime loans, mortgages for first-time homebuyers and multifamily rental housing, $11 billion of Federal tax-exempt private activity bond authority is included in this bill.
  • Credit for First-Time Homebuyers: The bill includes a refundable tax credit that is equivalent to an interest-free loan equal to 10 percent of the purchase of the home (up to $8,000) by first-time homebuyers to help reduce the existing stock of unoccupied housing.
  • Increase in low-income housing tax credit: The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program helps finance the development of rental housing for low-income families. Under current law, there is a state-by-state limit on the annual amount of federal low-income housing tax credits that may be allocated by each state.  The bill would increase these limits.

    • 0 comments Werner Robles | Real Estate |

    Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix all saw prices plummet by at least 20%. And so far, there is no sign of a bottom.

    home_price_april.gif

    NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Home prices have posted another record decline, as most of the nation’s largest markets suffered double-digit drops over last year, a survey released Tuesday shows.

    The S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks 20 of the largest housing markets, showed prices plummeting by 12.7% in the 12 months ending February. That’s the biggest fall since the index began tracking prices in 2000.

    Of those 20 metro areas, 17 posted their largest year-over-year declines ever. Ten of the 20 cities posted double-digit dips.

    The 10-city Case/Shiller index is down 13.6% year-over-year, the biggest drop since its launch in 1987.

    Housing bust: Tell us your story

    “There is no sign of a bottom in the numbers,” S&P spokesman David M. Blitzer, said in a prepared statement. “Prices of single family homes continue to drop across the nation.”

    “This is huge,” said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “Back a couple of years ago, people were saying, ‘Housing prices are not like stocks; they change slowly,’” he said.

    But the drop in home prices appears to be accelerating. Indeed, Baker said that at the rate prices are falling, as much as $6 trillion in home values could be wiped out from the top of the market in June, 2006, through the end of this year.

    Prices in the Las Vegas metro area have plunged more than any other city, down 22.8% over the 12 months through February. Miami prices plummeted 21.7%. In Phoenix, they’ve fallen 20.8%.

    Of the 20 cities Case/Shiller tracks, only Charlotte, N.C. showed higher prices, up 1.5% over the 12-month period.

    A vicious cycle

    Other metro areas recorded only modest price declines, including Portland, Ore., down 2.0%, Seattle, off 2.7% and Dallas, 4.1%. In the nation’s largest city, New York, metro area prices dropped a modest 6.6%.

    The declines create a vicious cycle, according to Peter Schiff, the president of the investment firm Euro Pacific Capital. He was sounding alarms about the housing bubble more than two years ago.

    As housing price losses extend, he said, the fall-off in demand for homes will deepen. And Schiff expects to see a national price decline of 30% - and by as much as 50% in the worst hit markets.

    “People wanted houses as vehicles to make money,” said Schiff. “Now that they can’t make money, they don’t want the houses anymore.”

    A flood of empty homes

    The S&P Case/Shiller statistics come on the same day as news that foreclosures spiked 112% in the first quarter, according to RealtyTrac, which said that more than 155,000 homes have been lost to foreclosures so far this year.

    This flood of foreclosed homes onto the market is putting even more downward pressure on home prices.

    On Monday, the Census Bureau reported that the number of vacant homes for sale has hit a record high. The report shows that 2.9% of U.S. homes — excluding rental properties — were vacant and up for sale in the first quarter. That translates to about 2.28 million properties - the highest quarterly number on record since 1956.

    The number of vacant houses on the market is especially troubling, according to Pat Newport, a housing economist with Global Insight, a consulting firm. “I’m not surprised [by the record price declines], given the inventory numbers that came out yesterday,” he said.

    He called the vacancy statistic “the best measure of excess supply.”

    Many of these properties are owned by very motivated sellers, builders, banks and speculators who want to sell as quickly as possible in order to avoid having to pay to maintain them.

    That’s going to make these owners willing to take substantial losses just to get the homes sold. “It means prices will have to drop a lot more,” Newport said.  To top of page

    READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

    0 comments Werner Robles | Real Estate |

    BUY A HOME WITH ZERO DOWN!

    In this market where the homes below market are plentiful is the absolute best time to buy a home with zero down.  The plan is simple, locate a home that is being sold below market value.  Where? Contact a Real Estate Investor or a Real Estate agent with access to shortsales.  The question to ask is:

    “I am in the market to buy my first home and I want to get a great deal, perhaps a shortsale, do you have access to any shortsales presently?”

    If the agent or investor says “NO” move on and contact another one until you find one who deals with shortsale preforeclosures and homes behind payments.  The plan is for you to target newer homes.  Here in Florida there are plenty of newer homes that are for sale way below those being sold by the builder in the same subdivision.  Once you locate the home of your dreams, make an offer and get ready to move in.

    What about financing?

    That is where we come in.  Simply click here and complete a pre-qualification form.  We will tell you exactly what we can do for you and structure a deal that is perfect for you.

    So what are you waiting for?

    CLICK HERE NOW!

    WE CAN HELP YOU GET THE HOME WITH:

    Zero down payment
    Zero closing costs
    No money in the bank
    No money for the first 2 months payments

    Just pick your house, any of the ones that is being foreclosed on, make a good offer, sign and move in. NO MONEY.  If you don’t know how to go about it, let us know and we will direct you in the right direction so you can take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity!

    What’s required?

    Current Employment: You must have a job. New jobs are OK, no employment history necessary. Temp jobs not allowed.

    Bankruptcy OK: Chapter 7 Bankruptcy must be discharged for 24 months. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy must have 12 months of payments. Foreclosures must be at least 4 years old. Other judgments and liens must be paid off.

    Find out how much you can qualify for:

    Apply Today
    Just tell us that you want to buy a home with NO MONEY DOWN & ZERO CLOSING COSTS.

    0 comments Werner Robles | Foreclosures, Real Estate |

    By Eric Dash

    THE NEW YORK TIMES

    Even as financial shares led a stock market rally on Thursday, the crisis in the credit markets threatened to engulf one of the nation’s largest commercial finance companies.

    The CIT Group, a century-old company that lends money to small businesses and midsize corporations, was forced to draw on $7.3 billion of emergency bank credit lines. Its shares and bonds plummeted.

    CIT, whose businesses range from making student loans to financing purchases of airplanes and railroad cars, announced that it would try to sell some assets or businesses to raise cash and repay its debts. Analysts said the tightening credit squeeze could drive the entire company into the arms of a suitor.

    The developments at CIT suggest that the credit troubles that felled Bear Stearns this week continue to spread, despite efforts by the Federal Reserve to encourage banks to lend to other financial companies.

    For the first time since the Depression, the Fed has extended credit directly to securities firms in an effort to stabilize the capital markets. The central bank also expanded the types of collateral that firms can use in buying Treasury securities at a government auction next week. The moves helped shore up confidence in the financial system and set off a rally in shares of banks and brokerage firms.

    But unlike banks and now Wall Street firms, commercial lenders like CIT cannot borrow from the Fed. And also unlike banks, which use customer deposits to finance the loans they make, lenders like CIT depend almost solely on the capital markets to raise money.

    Shares of CIT plunged almost 45 percent in heavy trading on Thursday morning before rebounding during the afternoon amid the broad rally in financial shares. CIT closed down $2.01, or 17.3 percent, at $9.63.

    “Tapping bank lines of credit for financials is viewed as very much a rainy day” solution, said Richard Hofmann, an analyst for CreditSights, an independent research firm based in New York. “It’s another blow to confidence in the company. They are in a significantly challenging state.”

    In announcing its moves on Thursday, CIT said a “protracted disruption” in the credit markets and ratings downgrades meant that it could no longer secure short-term debt financing to pay loans. As a result, CIT said it would draw upon backup financing and might have to sell certain businesses. Analysts, however, said CIT executives might be forced to sell the entire company.

    CIT prospered when credit was easy. But its fortunes began to plunge last summer as the credit crisis that began in the market for subprime home mortgages started to spread. The company posted a loss of $132.2 million last quarter, in part because of bad investments linked to subprime home loans. Meanwhile, the credit market crisis has made it difficult for CIT to issue bonds and commercial paper, or short-term IOUs.

    Struggling to raise money in the markets, CIT drew upon that entire emergency credit line on Thursday after its troubles intensified. This week, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s reduced CIT’s credit rating, making it even more difficult for CIT to raise money by selling short-term notes to big money market funds, which are typically barred from buying securities that lack high ratings.

    Direct Link: http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N14/

    0 comments Werner Robles | Business Finance, Real Estate, Uncategorized |

    Your business plan is typically the first impression potential lenders of investors get about your business idea. Even with a great product, team, and customers, and you are unable to convey to properly convey your image, it could be the last impression if your plan has some of the following, common mistakes.Lenders and investors review hundreds of business plan every year and with every plan, lenders and investors become more cynical because the same mistakes pop up with regular frequency. With so much competition for a limited amount of capital, it is imperitive to not make these mistakes.

    1. Financials

    Unrealistic Financial Projections - Simply saying that you are going to do $100,000 in sales is not enough nor can you simply say there is no way of knowing. Everyone knows there is no way to accurately come up with financial projections over the next three years, especially in a start-up. But, what is required in your plan is that reasonable assumptions are made and supported with research. By incorporating a detailed list of assumptions and how you arrived at your numbers, the lender/investor can judge your analysis and decision making process.If you are projecting to generate high sales outside of industry norms, explaining how you arrived at this conclusion is a must. Lenders and investors have seen many, many plans that claim sales are going through the roof once funded and as a result are very jaded at statements like this. Financial data that is inconsistent with industry averages and overly aggressive sales figures will raise flags. Explain every number.

    Confusing Cash with Profits - Revenues do not always equal cash. For example, suppose you make a sale this month for $100 that cost $50 to produce. Assuming your buyer doesn’t pay for 30-60 and even 90 days if dealing with state or federal sources (and assuming they all pay), the effect on your cash flow is significant. Suppliers and employees still have to be paid for their work while you are waiting on payment from the buyer.

    While you may not have a significant portion of sales coming from receivables, the timing of cash flows is critical for developing a financial strategy as cash flow is much more important than profits. Profits are an accounting concept while cash is money in the bank. If you don’t believe me try paying your bills with profits.

    No Adjustment for Seasonality - All businesses are seasonal to some extent, some more significant than others. Seasonality refers to the percentage of sales that are made in a month. For example, most retailers have huge November and December sales and lousy January and February sales. Did you make enough cash during the good months to cover the slow months to cover salaries, rents and lights?

    If You Build It They Will Come - Be careful in assuming once your doors open people will be streaming in to buy. You have a new, relatively unheard of business. This is a time when your business is particularly vulnerable as most of new owner’s cash reserves have typically been used to open the store. If sales projections are off during the first couple of months and you don’t have enough working capital to keep the lights on, you may be quickly going out of business.

    Insufficient financial projections - Basic financial projections consist of four elements: Income Statements, Profit & Loss, Balance Sheets, and Cash Flow Statements.

    For most businesses a three-year projection is sufficient, but if yours is a capital intensive one and will take longer to show profitability then use five. Actual figures are a must if you can get them and any number in the projections needs to be in the business plan narrative. If you are purchasing an existing business use the historical financials to show support for your sales figures.

    No Quotes - Any significant expenses should have a quote accompanied in the appendix, especially for construction or remodeling as this is an area where most entrepreneurs slip as they do it themselves and greatly underestimate the costs.

    2. Marketing

    Failing to relieve the customer’s pain - Businesses are rewarded to make consumer’s pain go away. Pain can include; my car stopped working, my doggie is sick or my tax returns are too hard to prepare.

    If your business plan can’t show how you are relieving the customer’s pain, then the chances for success in the marketplace is extremely limited.

    Remember pain equals market opportunity. The greater the pain, the greater number of customer’s with this pain and the better you can relieve the pain equals greater market potential.

    One Billion Customers Served - Claiming everyone needs your product/service will send a strong message to the reviewer that you don’t know your market and remove any credibility to your plan. In the good old days the shotgun approach to marketing could work as there were limited channels for advertisement. Today with unlimited outlets and more narrowly defined markets, this approach does not fly.

    While it’s true everyone eats, not everyone will eat at your restaurant, nor could you effectively advertise to everyone. By researching the segments that are most likely to use your product/service and showing how your message will get to them will ultimately make your endeavor more successful. Having clearly defined target markets will show you have done your homework and be the cornerstone of a marketing strategy that can succeed.

    We have no competition - Use this statement if your want your plan rejected. Every business has competition. While there may not be a direct competitor, meaning one that offers the same or similar product, there is always an indirect competitor.

    Saying there is no competition tells the reviewer that you have either not done any market research or there is not a market for your product.

    3. Organization

    Writing For The Wrong Audience - A plan for a lender should be written differently than one for an investor. Banks are interested in seeing the likelihood that debts be repaid and investors are interested in the upside profit potential. Be sure to write your plan to your audience. For both, keep to the facts, keep it clear and keep it simple. If you don’t feel you have the writing abilities to make your plan shine, then get help.

    Poor spelling and grammar - Leaving spelling and grammatical errors in your plan only tells the reviewer that you are not paying attention to details and may not pay enough attention to the business. Use spelling and grammar checkers and let others review your plan to make sure there are no errors.

    Too repetitive - Many times, plans will cover the same points over and over. A well-written plan should cover key points only twice: once in the executive summary then again in greater detail in the narrative of the plan. Remove the Jargon - Using simple language is imperative to getting a technical business funded. Don’t think that by using complex terms that lenders/investors will be so impressed with your knowledge that they will whip open the checkbook. Businesses that can’t be understood don’t get funded. If you can’t explain your business to a sixth grader your chances of funding are in jeopardy.

    Investors are really only interested in your technology if it solves a problem that people will pay for, is better than the competition, can be protected through patents and can reasonably go to market without spending a lot of money.

    Keep the technical details out of the business plan and in the white papers.

    Appearance matters - Make sure your plan looks professional. Use professional printing, binding, keeping fonts consistent and easy to read. The more money being requested means investing more time in making sure your plan will stand out from the crowd. Be careful that you don’t go overboard and give the impression that the plan is all style and no substance.

    Length - A long business plan does not make a better business plan. All of the industry and marketing research won’t save a flawed plan. Too many plans have been immediately rejected because they are too long. Lenders and investors favor entrepreneurs who can efficiently demonstrate the ability to efficiently get to the point. An executive summary should be no more than 1-3 pages. Ideally it should only be one page but some complex plans require more. An ideal business plan is 20-30 pages, including financials. Remember less is more!

    Use operating plans, white papers and marketing plans for the in-depth details.

    Fluffing - Using phrases like “unmatched in the industry;” “narrow window of opportunity;” or “ground floor” are empty phrases filled with hype. If anything, the cynical reviewer will be turned off by the hype and trash your plan. Stick with laying out the facts - what is the problem, how will you solve the problem, how big is the market, how will consumers buy it and what is your competitive advantage. If the opportunity is there the lender/investor will be able to make the decision for themselves.

    Overvaluing the business idea - What gives a business value is not the idea but the execution of the idea. A great idea is a start, but almost everyone has had a great idea at some point in their lives. How you will execute this idea is what sets apart a real business from the dreamers.

    4. Execution Mistakes

    Waiting too long - Funding a business takes a long time. Expect three months at a minimum after finishing your business plan to get funding. Unless you have sufficient capital, other sources of income and can be funded in-house at a bank, this number may be reduced. Bank financing for business with less than two years of operating history are typically funded through an SBA guarantee, which requires additional time, patience and paperwork. Financing through investors is usually an even longer process as they have a lot of people competing for their money and they tend to do significant due diligence to secure their investment. Waiting until you need the money is a sure way to keep your business from launching.

    Unreasonable time lines - Many business owners underestimate the timelines for completing milestones. Its human nature to think we can do things faster than is possible. When getting a business started there will be several tasks you could not have anticipated and the some tasks you think will be easy which will end up taking much longer. It is best to overestimate and finish early, rather than scramble and execute your opening poorly.

    Failing to seek outside review - When preparing your plan, be sure that you have at least a few people review it before sending it out. Preferably look for people in your industry or who have a specialization in sales, distribution, etc that could lend a fresh set of eyes and find any flaws in the plan. Being so close to the action can keep you from being objective and this additional scrutiny may save you countless headaches and money down the road.

    Perfecting - It can be easy to spend countless hours perfecting your plan and ultimately never launching. Remember, your plan will never be perfect and in practice should be continually updated as you learn more about the business, market and customers. Don’t make your plan an academic practice, finish it and get in front of investors and lenders. Use this feedback to see if your plan really needs the additional perfection.

    The Business Plan Factory has helped entrepreneurs since 1999 with the development and review of business plans, creation of financial projections and business coaching. More information on The Business Plan Factory can be found at www.thebusinessplanfactory.com.

    About the Author

    Since 1999 The Business Plan Factory’s mission has been to help entreprenuers with the technical aspects of developing business plans to help with the start-up or expansion their business. We specialize in business plan review and financial projections.

    0 comments Werner Robles | Business Finance |

    Thu
    12
    Jun
    2:13 am

    Talking with a Foreclosure Guru

    Ralph Roberts gives key tips on how to make big money in a down market.

    Posted in USNEWS February 13, 2008

    Ralph Roberts is a Realtor who has written many books about the real estate market and flipping homes, such as Foreclosure Investing for Dummies. U.S. News talked with Roberts about some of the first things a potential investor should know before getting into the foreclosure market. Excerpts:

    A for sale sign is seen in front of a foreclosed home October15, 2007 in Antioch, California.

    (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

    Investors are understandably skittish about getting into the real estate market. Why do you think now is the time?
    If you can afford to buy a piece of real estate, there’s never been a better time in my 30 years of business than now. We have good prices, and unbelievably great interest rates. For a ma and pa investor, if you’re willing to buy a rental property, you can leverage it, and 10 years from now it will be worth double what you paid for it. All the people who have been displaced because they can’t afford to pay $2,500 a month, they surely can pay $1,500. If everybody had bought a 30-percent-cheaper house, we wouldn’t have had as many foreclosures as we have now. There are a lot of tenants out there who are displaced and were at one time living the American dream of owning a home, but they still need a nice home. People who are displaced become renters.

    What about the concern that the market may only get worse before it gets better?
    There’s always a boost in real estate after an election. I know all those people who are saying there’s going to be change. Well for sure there’s going to be change—George is not running. By January of 2009, you’re going to see the market turning the other direction and showing appreciation again. So between now and 2009 is a great window of opportunity to buy. The best plan is to buy it, fix it, hold it, and sell it 12 months and one day or further in the future, and you will get another benefit of getting a tax rate of long-term capital gains versus ordinary income. The long-term capital rate is only 15 percent.

    How does foreclosure investing differ based on your locality?
    Whatever city or county you’re going to invest, you’ve got to check what inspections they have. What do they require before you can put the house back on the market to rent it, or back on the market to sell it? You are responsible to follow those rules whether you know about them or you don’t. You must at least contact the city hall or the township hall before you make an investment.

    What are some misconceptions about foreclosure investing?
    Just because it’s a foreclosure does not mean it’s a good deal. Some people pay too much for a property if it’s a foreclosure because they think it’s automatically a home run. You should go to your broker and run the comps in the neighborhood. The most important thing is what’s selling right now. What’s your competition? That gives you a range. The next thing you want to do is check how many houses have sold in the past 90 days. You need to have your house priced the best for the condition that it’s in because you don’t want it to be the fourth house if only three are bought in your time frame.

    Why is having a time frame so important?
    Time is money. The average holding cost on a house is $100 per day. You’ve got to have a B plan. If it doesn’t sell in X amount of days, you’ve got to rent it until the market improves.

    Most of the people doing foreclosure investing are not doing it as their primary source of income. How do you do it and balance the rest of your life?
    First you make sure your spouse is completely on board. You want to have support from your family. You’re doing this to improve your lifestyle; you’re not doing this to take quality time away. Then you draw a circle on a map, and mark where you work at, where your wife works at, where your school is at, and put those items inside that circle. That’s your target area. If you drive 20 minutes to work one direction, and then you drive back home, and then 20 minutes the other direction to your investment property, you’re 40 minutes away from it versus if it was in your target area. Some people go too far out of their marketplace and that’s how they get into trouble.

    How do you avoid taking advantage of people in this business?
    Treat the people with dignity and do what’s best for them. Let’s say they tell you they have a rich uncle who could help them, but they’re just too embarrassed to tell him. Help them tell the rich uncle. By doing the right thing, it’s going to come back to you 10 times.

    0 comments Werner Robles | Uncategorized |

    Found this in another bulletin board..

    Everything Google Wants to Know About You, and Doesn’t Bother Asking

    Please read the following, add it all up, then really think about what it all means. This may be the most frightening stuff you’ll ever read on the Internet…

    To be perfectly honest, Google is no longer a search engine “company”, they are a data mining company, looking to extract as much information about YOU as they possibly can…They are doing this to target advertising to you, based on who you are, what your interests, what’s your businesses or employment, plus things like your sex, age, marital status and lifestyle.

    If you use any of the following “free tools”, think about what you are letting Google know about you, and how they may apply it to all your sites.

    Toolbar - Do you have the Google tool bar? Google can easily track every site you go to and store that info. But it doesn’t stop there. If you notice, the Google bar also has a spell-check feature to use when posting on forums, blogs, etc. This means Google can even track everything you’ve ever posted on any blog, forum, discussion group, anything you’ve ever typed into a web form, including passwords, etc.

    GMail - It’s fairly well known Google indexes and tracks your email in order to target advertising on a contextual/keyword based method. In other words, if you use GMail, Google knows everything you and those you’ve emailed have written. Think about this…They even index the content of email sent to GMail accounts, even though those people haven’t accepted the Gmail TOS.

    Gmail even auto saves DRAFTS when you don’t want it to. You may trash the email you were going to send but did Google?

    “UnSocial” Networking? Plus, Gmail users must be sent “invitations” before they can register for accounts, so now Google can cross-link you with everyone that you sent an invitation to, as well as the person that sent you your first invite. Now, they don’t only know you, they know about the company you keep.

    Desktop Search - Have you downloaded the Google desktop search engine that scans your hard drive so you can search your own PC? Now Google knows what’s in every web page or text file that’s on your hard drive.

    Google Analytics/Web Analytics - Now Google knows everything there is to know about your websites. How much traffic you get, where you get it, your keywords and more. Use Analytics and Google knows more about your web business than you do.

    AdSense/AdWords - If you use either of these, Google knows who you are, where you live, what your bank account is, your Social Security number…And more…Plus, each and every webpage you use with your AdSense ID tells Google EXACTLY who you are, no more info is needed.

    Google is a domain name register - You may not even be able to hide your Whois info…While it is doubtful as to whether Google has access to your hidden Whois, it does give Google direct access to all the domain name records that are public, allowing them to store and access historical data concerning whois records.

    Affiliate Programs - If you’ve ever put an affiliate number of your’s on the same page as AdSense, then Google can easily and accurately cross-reference these numbers and tell exactly who you are.

    For example, if you used Amazon and AdSense on one domain, the only Amazon on another domain, Google still knows EXACTLY who you are, where you live, what your bank account number is, etc. Remember, you gave Google this info when you signed up for AdSense.

    Then, Google can cross-reference any other affiliate numbers they find on your pages and see if they match an other fingerprints they have detected of your’s.

    Google Checkout - Google’s new entry into payment processing similar to Paypal, but now they also know exactly how may sales you’ve made and to whom.

    Google Apps for Your Domain - This new service is meant to compete with Microsoft’s business applications. But the Google programs are free and online.

    But there’s just one catch: The Google Apps privacy policy says that Google will give you a “domain manager”, a real person that essentially has access to every bit of information entered, including your email and any data created by Google Apps.

    Google Bugging Your Home? - Get this, according to TheRegister.co.uk …. If you have a microphone plugged into your computer, Google is even developing a way of spying on the background sounds made in the privacy of your own home. Google is attempting to detect what TV programs you watch and the music you listen to, but claim they aren’t interested in personal conversations.

    Are you scared yet?

    If you use the programs above, Google can scan and store all your emails, all info on your hard drive, stuff you type into input forms on all the websites you visit, read your list of website bookmarks, read the data created from Google online applications, track your searches, listen to your TV and stereo, track all your web activity, see how many sales you make, analyze your server logs and access stats better than you, cross reference them with AdSense and AdWords info to tell exactly who you are…Even your GMail trash may not be safe….That is some serious info!

    0 comments Werner Robles | Tidbits |

    I have noticed a definite shift in the marketing strategy of Realtors, starting with their Association Advertising campaign. Their whole mantra for the last few years while we were in a seller’s market was to convince the sellers that this was a good time to sell, often helping the process of overbiding a home by enticing buyers to make offers higher than the listed price. While this strategy was very profitable for them it led to the tremendous inflation is real estate prices that resulted in the current debacle.

    Now that the market has collapse, they have shifted the focus to the buyers side, stating that the “Real Estate Prices are at an all time low” “This is the time to buy”. Their plan is simple, albeit synical is to help the buyer “low bid an offer” to a seller knowing that the seller has no alternative but to accept the low offer or risk not having an offer for months.

    It is no secret that most Real Estate Agents plan when listing a home is to simply put the home in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and wait for a buyer to come office and ask for that one home. They don’t actively market the home, they hardly do any open houses and do not look for alternative ways to be successful.

    In this market which they bear a lot of the blame, they like to point their finger to unethical mortgage brokers and real estate investors for the state of the market yet they remain the main culprit of it all in inflating the prices whenever they can. A practice that you can bet they will not abandon in the future.

    So will this marketing strategy shift work? Time will tell, however they are the ones to blame for the state of the real estate market and soon will be forced to rethink their ways.

    If they spend more time looking at ways to fix what they have done instead of lobbying for silly laws and trying to keep investors from accessing their broken MLS system for expired listings they would have a very powerful institution. Again, time will tell.

    0 comments Werner Robles | Real Estate |

    Slowly but surely we have been working the system to be able to sell our homes to buyers in the 580 range (We are doing one with 520!). This is the time to pick up as many houses as possible with large profit spreads that you can flip quickly. Even deals with less than 15k profit spreads are doable. The process is simple:

    1. Get your would be buyers through the pre-screening questions to find out where they fit.
    2. If they fit the mold, have no collections and have the income, get them to apply online at www.flexcreditmortgage.com.
    3. Once the would-be buyer completes the online form (1003)We should know within a day where we stand with the buyer and if credit repair is needed.
    4. We will tell you what we need to do to close the deal as far as paperwork, etc..

    Remember, the spread gives us the ability to structure a deal and create a 2nd note if need be. Our goal is NOT to use any of the spread for concessions or closing costs so that we can realize the whole profit spread. Let me know if you have any questions and we will discuss it in the next training session.

    0 comments Werner Robles | Real Estate |

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