Saturday, January 30, 2010

Foreclosure Lockouts: The Sad Reality of Being Kicked Out of Your Own Home



I ran across this video when researching a recent article. It's heart wrenching to actually see the end of this process. Even after interacting with people in this situation every day, I still am shocked to see what can happen to people when they don't take action with the bank immediately.

We've been successful in preventing this end for many homeowners by providing short sale services, loan modifications and quick, easy cash sales. When people get behind, there are few good options left to them. But all of them are better than what's seen in this video.

Home Buyers - Real Estate Post Bubble

When you look around the current housing market, it is hard to believe that just a few short years ago, houses were selling like gangbusters. It was a seller’s market, where homes were going for double, triple or even quadruple what they had been purchased for less than a decade before. Home buyers were eager to pay 100’s of thousands of dollars for homes that today, are just not worth what they paid for them. The current day reality of this is that many homeowners are finding themselves living with a mortgage that is for more than what their house is currently worth. In our cash strapped times, this often means that a foreclosure is just a paycheck or two away.

For homeowners that find themselves staring down the barrel of an oppressive balloon payment or rising interest rate on their ARM loan this is a cold hard fact that seems to be able to translate to just one word: foreclosure. If you are one of the millions of homeowners that are finding yourself in these shoes, then you may want to consider the merits of doing a short sale on your home. Nobody wants to go into foreclosure, but the honest odds of someone buying your home from your quickly, for what you are asking are getting slimmer and slimmer every day. A short sale may allow you to get out from under your house sooner, rather than later.

For the rare current day home buyers this market is a dream. There are tons of houses to choose from and most every seller is incredibly eager to sell their home and therefore exceedingly willing to make you a good deal. Your biggest competition may be those real estate investment firms that are working to help the homeowners that are struggling to get out from under their mortgages. These companies are coming to the rescue for homeowners around the country, offering to buy homes for cash when the homeowners most need it.

No matter which side of the housing market you are on, selling a home can be a confusing and often frustrating process. Knowing that you have options, whether you are among the home buyers or the home sellers is the most important things. Home buyers should realize that there are tons of housing choices out there and home sellers need to know that they don’t have to wait for someone to come to them, they can reach out to a company, such as WeBuyHomes2Fix.com to sell houses fast for cash.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Home Buyers: Making the Best of a Failing Housing Market


There is no questioning the fact that the real estate market is in heavy turmoil. The current financial crisis has home foreclosures on the rise and more and more homeowners scrambling to get from under hefty mortgages for houses that they bought during the real estate bubble. While it is a pretty grim situation for most, it is a season of opportunity for those home buyers that are in the market right now. With more and more people looking to sell houses fast, savvy investors can pick up prime properties on the cheap with a little research and some good old fashioned patience.


If there is one thing that most homeowners looking to sell their homes in a hurry do not have it is time. Many are struggling to make ends meet and hoping for a short sale. With the average time that a house is languishing on the market spiking as high as 2 years in some markets, serious home buyers with cash offers are seldom turned away. Many troubled homeowners are even turning to companies that purchase and then flip rundown homes to help ease their financial burden. Though these outlets might not allow them to clear as much as they perhaps had hoped to someday get out of their home, what they do allow them is the chance to make a clean break from a property that was otherwise suffocating them financially.

It is not just the short on cash that are hoping for a fast sale though. Even stable homeowners that are just hoping to upgrade their home or downsize after the kids go off to school are anxious to sell their homes quickly. A smart home buyer can watch the listings and see when a house has been sitting on the market for a while. The longer that home has been listed, the more likely that homeowner is to be willing to negotiate a deal with you. The more houses that are for sale in their area the more leverage you have for bargaining as well.

Whether you are in the market to buy a home of your own, are looking to purchase rental properties or are just interested in flipping houses, the current housing market is a great place for real estate investors. Homeowners are on the lookout for ways to sell houses fast and are much more willing to be flexible about their price. This leaves you, the investor in a great position to make the best deal for your wallet.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

We Buy Houses! Unloading the Old Hanyman Special


The old “fixer-upper” is a great part of American real estate history. It is the story of the dumpy little house that could. It encompasses the American spirit of taking lemons and making lemonade, and it is a beautiful story. Many people have been tempted over the years to buy an “ugly duckling” property, with the intention of putting in the work needed to turn it into a swan. The trouble is that the current economy is derailing many of the American dreams, as homeowners around the country find themselves struggling to just make ends meet, never mind fix up a dilapidated home. Many are looking for a way to sell their house now.


The trouble with a “fixer-upper” that never got fixed is that a lot of people will tend to either shy away from buying it completely, or will want to pay you so much less than what you hope to get out of your home that you may find yourself stuck with it indefinitely. If financial difficulties are what are forcing you to sell it in the first place, then the odds are that you can’t afford to wait until the right buyer comes along or to lower your price. You need to sell your house for cash and you need to do it now!

WeBuyHomes2Fix.com specializes in buying homes across the Philadelphia and South New Jersey area that are in need of a bit of TLC. Homes that need a little remodeling or renovating and even houses that are in serious disrepair are exactly what we are looking for. We buy houses for cash ad fast, even where others have balked at the repairs needed. This allows you to get out from under your home, before you drown from the expense and enables you to move on with your life with a bit of cash in your pocket! Our purchase process is quick and straight forward too, with no special requirements or unusual clauses.

Selling your dream home can be a real trying experience, but it doesn’t have to be. Getting out from underneath a handyman special that you were either not handy enough or wealthy enough to handle can take a real burden off of you and your family. WeBuyHomes2Fix.com offers a convenient way to sell houses for cash and to do it fast! We buy houses in PA and NJ, so give us a call today, and see what we have to say.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Philly Housing Prices Up . . . Volume Down

According to Trulia.com, a website that tracks real estate trends in markets nationwide, the average sales price of Philadelphia real estate is up. I saw this first hand on a property I recently sold in the Northeast. My wife an I moved in the summer of 2008 and were unable to sell our property for a price we could accept. Only a year an a half earlier, during the height of the boom, the house had appraised for $145,000. Before we decided to place it on the market in last summer, we installed a new bathroom and kitchen to entice buyers to pay full price. The best offer we received was for $125,000.

Well 2009 told a different tale. For the last year and a half we've had an excellent paying tenant that's taken better care of the property than I had when I lived there (thanks Yvette!). But as her lease was coming to an end, I decided to test the waters for another sale. I had a few Realtor friends of mine pull a list of comparable sales, talk to some of their clients and give be a ballpark of how much I could expect to make on the property. It's amazing how much difference a year makes. Just from a few pictures I'd forwarded to the Realtor, I had an offer of $149,000. It seems like Obama's housing program worked pretty well to raise the price of homes. I decided to do some homework and see what the other numbers were telling me.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that although the sales price of residential homes in Philadelphia did rise, the overall volume of sales fell. For those that know me, they'll vouch that I'm a capitalist through and through. So how is this possible. The demand is not high enough to absorb the large volume of houses currently for sale on  the market. Some estimates say that it will take at least 5 years to bring the ratio of buyers to sellers back into some recognizable equilibrium. And yet prices rise.

My opinion is that people saw the reduction of $6500-8000 that they did not have to come up with in order to buy a house (Again, thank you Obama). They looked around and found the very best property they could buy for their money. What did they choose? They chose the very best properties on the market. The houses with updated kitchens and bathrooms. They chose the row house in a little bit nicer area than where they lived. In short, they chose properties at the higher end of the pricing spectrum in every neighborhood.

The good news for home sellers is that if your house is in great shape . . . if you have a new kitchen, bathroom, a finished basement, refinished hardwood floors, that little extra pizazz . . . your house will sell now for more than it would have in 2008. The bad news is, everybody else will have a tough time selling at all.

So the moral of the story is sell now if your house is perfect. If not, take what you can get. It's still a tough market and even with the promised economic recovery we have a long way to go before the housing market is out of the woods.

If you would like a free, no obligation offer on your property (whether it's in excellent condition or needs some work) give my company at call or check out our website for more information.


 

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Is the Housing Crisis Really Over???



I stumbled on this video on YouTube. This California investor is talking about the impact that vacant home are having on his community as well as the coming influx of new foreclosures in middle to upper-middle class neighborhoods. While the politicians and the talking heads on TV keep yelling about the recession and the housing crisis being over, there are a lot of real experts that are saying the botton isn't even close. If you are thinking about selling your house, right now might be the best time to sell for many years to come.

Friday, January 22, 2010

We Buy Houses Fast For Cash


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Selling a home has never been an easy matter. Though it sounds simple to list your house, have people visit it and then make an offer, there is often a lot more that goes into the process than that. Recent changes to the economy have further complicated the process with the supply of houses that are for sale rising much more quickly than the number of buyers in the market. Today’s home buyers know that they have a lot of options available to them, and they are in an enviable position. For home owners that are looking to sell their homes quickly this can be a recipe for disappointment and disaster.

If you are among the millions that are looking to sell your house fast, then the odds are that you have already discovered that this can prove to be a challenge. Homeowners wanting to sell homes for cash are even harder pressed to find home buyers that are willing to take their home as-is. This scenario has created a whole class of homeowners that are house poor. That is, they have a home but can afford nothing else, and they can’t even afford to make the updates and upgrades that they need to in order to sell their house fast.

To help homeowners that need to sell houses fast, we created WeBuyHomes2Fix.com. We are a locally owned and operated company that gives homeowners like yourself the opportunity to get out from under their home quickly. Regardless of whether your house is in tip top shape or has become rundown and needs repairs and renovations, we will work with you to buy your home fast, for cash so that you can quickly move on with your life. We understand that you may not want to sell your house, but you need to, and dragging out that process doesn’t benefit anyone.

If you live in the Philadelphia area, and are looking for a way to get out from under your home right away, then WeBuyHomes2Fix.com could be the answer to your problem. We buy houses for cash, and we buy them quickly. Contact us today to get the ball rolling, and we will quickly let you know our level of interest in purchasing your home from you. If you know someone that needs to sell their home quickly, and you refer them to WeBuyHomes2Fix.com, you can earn at least $500 for the referral. No matter what your situation, we can be your way to fast, easy cash.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

If Your Property Needs Work, That's No Problem

You will be pleasantly surprised that your very ugly, ill-maintained, and generally unattractive home can easily be sold for quick cash to the right investor - our team will tell you, "We buy houses in any condition." That's right! We are actually investors who will buy any type of house, even those that would usually be rejected by conventional buyers. This proves to be a great opportunity for people who want to get rid of their run down property, without resorting to arson to pick up some quick insurance money (Ha, ha!). After all, no investor will say, "We buy houses that are insurance risks," but you get the idea. What types of houses would qualify for such a deal? Our investors specialize in buying such homes. We say, "We buy houses that are considered too ugly to be sold." Perhaps because the original architect favored an outlandish or too trendy design for the home. Or maybe the homeowner was overconfident about his home refurbishment skills and botched up the project. It could just be that the house has not been adequately maintained. Whatever the reason, our team has a simple message: "We buy houses in any condition!"


There are also many reasons why people might want to sell their ugly or ill-maintained homes. One reason could be that they are just plain tired of the place and would like to live somewhere else. Another reason could be that they do not have enough money to make the place look better, so they would prefer to just sell it in as-is condition. Perhaps the homeowners are facing retirement so they need a home that requires less maintenance - for example, perhaps they will sell their family-style home and use the proceeds of the sale to buy a small comfy condominium unit that would suit their less demanding lifestyle. Others may just plain recognize a good deal like this when they see it, and want to take advantage of the opportunity. Whichever of these is applicable to you, rest assured that our team will really make you a cash offer for your less-than-desirable home because "we buy houses in any condition."

Our investors have the necessary funding to be able to turn your Cinderella home into a livable and comfortable home that other people will want to make their own. We will invest into renovating your dilapidated residence, then compute how much the sale price would then need to be so that we can, in turn, sell the now-attractive home to buyers who can also spot a good deal when they see it. The advantage for such buyers is that the investor may offer a more affordable price for them, considering the house or real estate property has been lived in before. So for people who do not mind buying second-hand houses, condominium units, and real estate properties of any sort, this is the right kind of transaction for them to enter into.

When we say real estate properties, this does not by any means exclude raw pieces of land. On the contrary, land that does not have any building on it interests us as well. When we say, "We buy houses of any kind", that is also inclusive of raw land. So do not hesitate to contact us. We can pay you cash money for your real estate properties.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Many Homeowners Turn to Investors When Other Buyers Can Not Get Financing

Selling a house can be a tricky proposition and many people will find themselves lingering in their old home long after the time when they are ready to move onto their new one! There are many reasons that you might not have been able to sell your home. Maybe you're not sure how to market it, or perhaps you've come quite close several times but when potential buyers realize something about the structure of the home or about the shape it's in, they balk. Remember that the longer your house stays on the market, the longer you will be unable to move forward with your own move. When you are trying to sell your home, nothing is more demoralizing when you believe you might be very close to closing a deal but then the buyer backs out at the last minute.


If you are tired of the mess that comes with trying to sell a house, a real estate investor might be able to solve many of your problems! A real estate investor will be able to give you a yes or no much more quickly than the average buyer, and this efficiency is their key advantage over other buyers. If you are tired of trying to sell your house and tired of haggling with prospective buyers, call a real estate investor to see what he can do for you today!

There are several reasons why a real estate investor might be the ideal solution to your problems. First, a real estate investor has a totally different interest in your house than most people will. Most people are looking to move their families in, and thus they will have many more concerns that need to be considered. They need to consider the local schools, the neighborhood, the convenience of the location to their jobs, and much more. A real estate investor, on the other hand, will be able to look at your property and tell you whether or not she wants to buy it in very short order.

A real estate investor is not interested in living in the house. Because they have a great deal of experience in buying and then flipping or renting houses, they will be able to identify what it is that makes your house salable and what they need to fix in order to sell it themselves. Because of this, there is a good chance that things that need to be fixed when you were dealing with families or couples will actually make the property more attractive to real estate investors.

Similarly, real estate investors tend to be one-person operations, or at least, only one person makes the decisions on house buying. How many times have you had one person in a couple completely in love with the house, but the other is dead set against it? When you are dealing with a real estate investor, you will be dealing with one person, and that will take a lot of the stress out of the negotiation. Dealing with a real estate investor can also be advantageous when you consider that they may be willing to overlook flaws in your house, as they have every intention of fixing it themselves.

With a real estate investor, you will no longer have to show your home to potential buyers. You will no longer have to deal with the scheduling and the phone calls and the viewing, and you will no longer have to answer the same questions over and over again. A real estate investor can tell you in very short order whether or not he wants the property and then he will be able to make an offer. A solid offer can be a relief after haggling with prospective buyers and more often than not, you'll find the first offer to be quite fair.

When you are trying to get out of your house, every setback can seem enormous. The closer you get to selling your house, the more frustrating it is when buyers back out at the last moment. If you're tired of dealing with buyers and want to get out, contact WeBuyHomes2Fix.com! We will make you an all cash offer within 48 hours and can close in as little as 14 days.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Now May Be the Best Time to Sell Your Home

If you are considering selling your home, now is definitely the best time to do it. As a result of some very significant reforms in the mortgage industry over the past year, the market is leaning heavily in favor of sellers. As a result of these reforms, potential buyers are aware of what they can afford and most have already been pre-approved for financing and are ready to buy. This is why right now may be the best time to sell a home.

For the past decade, lenders were bending traditional financing rules in order to sell their mortgage programs. As a result, many borrowers were able to purchase a home worth far more than they could actually afford under traditional lending programs. Additionally, lenders were extending credit to home buyers with bad credit histories through alternative lending with outrageous interest rates and terms that made the loans unaffordable for most of the borrowers.

These practices did not stop consumers from buying, in fact they had the opposite effect. The market was at one point, very saturated with home buyers. This served to push housing prices to an all time low, because buyers controlled the market and could demand lower prices.

Over the past year, as the government began to put in place reforms designed to stop unfair lending practices, lenders were forced to eliminate many of the alternative mortgage programs offered in the past. In addition, rising foreclosure rates resulting from the unfair lending practices have started to scare consumers and make them less likely to buy houses.

To alleviate the home buyer's lack of trust, lenders have put into place many incentive programs geared toward qualified buyers who would like to buy a home. First time buyer assistance and seasoned home owner credits are starting to bring potential home buyers back to the market. These incentives have helped the home buyer, but they have also been beneficial for sellers. Housing prices are once again on the rise across the country.

As a result of the recent changes in the mortgage industry, and the rising trend in housing prices, you may be debating whether to sell your house. Now may be the best time to sell a home. The advantages in your favor right now include the lending changes, which mean that you will deal with potential buyers who know how much house they can afford to purchase and have already spoken with lenders about mortgage programs and eligibility. You may also be able to draw a higher sale price right now, than at any point during the last decade. It really is a seller's market and with these advantages on your side, you should start giving serious consideration to whether they can work in your favor.