As many investors know. A 1031 exchange is a way to roll the gains of selling one investment property into another investment property of "like-kind". This method allows the investor to defer paying capital gains on the profits from selling the investment property. Taxes are not paid on the gains until the the investment property is sold without rolling it into another investment and the investor opts to take the proceeds as cash. Well, what if you need to get access to this money, but don't want to pay taxes on it. There is a real estate loophole that allows you to take out a loan on the property that you receive after a 1031 exchange. In other words, do the 1031 exchange, get the new property, and then refinance. This will allow you to access the gains without immediately paying taxes... 03/15/2007

Many wonder if it is necessary to hold or transfer their investment properties in an LLC.  I think it is not only necessary, but you should have a separate LLC for EACH investment property.  This is especially true if you have multiple apartment buildings with many units.  The whole idea is to protect your personal assets from potential lawsuits from tenants, etc.  If you hold all of your investment properties under your name, then that leaves you open for getting sued for your personal assets (bank accounts, principal residences, etc).  This can be devastating for most and I have seen a few people get burned this way.  I don't even think it is a good idea to have all of your investment properties under one LLC.  The problem with this is if someone sues you because of an incident at Apa... 03/15/2007

With the increasing defaults of Subprime Adjustable Rate Mortgages, many lenders are leaving that side of the business and it seems like the federal regulations for these types of loans are going to tighten.  For example, New Century a long time subprime lenders has stopped taking new loan applications because of the large increase in defaults.  According to Reuters, they may soon seek bankruptcy protection.  In addition, more than 20 subprime lenders have quit lending or gone bankrupt in the past year or so.  Even large lenders like Countrywide recently halted their no-money down programs.  Now borrowers are required to have at leat 5% equity in their homes.So why do I mention all of this?  Well, because of these recent occurrences, potential homebuyers that may have lower credit, but ... 03/11/2007

I am new to Active Rain and love it already.  I have read a few blogs and have noticed some talk about how Mortgage Brokers seem to be working harder for a lot less work (.... as is everyone else in the real estate industry).  Does anyone think that more regulations on the amount of fees (more notably the origination fee) that brokers can charge will help out the industry?  I believe that those brokers that charge certain borrowers 3 to 5 origination points (not even counting yield spread) have hurt our industry.  In contrast, realtors are know to charge 2 - 3 percent for their services, but for the most part mortgage brokers can charge "whatever they can get away with", which is a term that I hear a lot in the industry.  Any opinions will be helpful.[Your browser does not support frame... 03/09/2007

I admit it...I'm not a mortgage lender!!  But after almost 5 years in the business, I can tell you a thing or two about loans.  This blog is really a "buyer beware," brought on by a situation I encountered this past week.  To begin, I'll tell you a story about my first listing and how the settlement quickly went south for the buyer.  What's really unfortunate is that the buyer's agent was his mother.  The buyer had asked for a $6000 concession, or approximately 6% of the sales price of the home back in closing cost assistance (mind you, this was in Texas several years ago, where you really can buy homes for around $100K!)  My seller's agreed to pay the concession in exchange for a favorable closing date and a sales price slightly over asking.  All fairly normal so far, right?  Well, we ... 01/31/2007

As early as 1900, March 2 became a day for Texas Exes to observe a holiday.  A great deal of tradition and sentiment surrounds the celebration on the local level.  In that year, The Ex-Students Association adopted this resolution:Whenever two ex-students of the University of Texas shall meet on Texas Independence Day, they shall sit and break bread and pay tribute to the institution which made their education possible.  Each year the DC Texas Exes invite our friends in the DC Metro area to celebrate Texas Independence Day with us and help raise money for our scholarship fund.  All profits from the event go directly to assist DC Metro area students who wish to attend The University of Texas and to provide stipends for our Archer Fellows here in DC. This year's event will be held on March... 01/17/2007

Well, the times they are a changin'...or are they?  There is a great new study out by the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis on the 2007 Housing Forecast.  While there are some positive parts to this study, the crazy days of massive appreciation and escalation clauses are over.  What is currently affecting the housing market the most in my opinion, is the power struggle between the buyer and seller.  Sellers are hearing that the market is going to spike in the spring, so they are holding out for every last penny.  Buyers are seeing the sheer volume of property on the market and knowing that they should be able to get a deal right now.It is going to be interesting to see how this develops over the coming months...there is no denying that everyone has gotten busy as of l... 01/17/2007

I just found out about this G-R-E-A-T website and want to share it with everyone since I think it is so unique and effective to get clients. On January 1, 2007 will be the launching of a network of 36 web sites targeted to various housing markets across North America (United States & Canada). The difference here is that each website is specializing in just ONE GEOGRAPHIC AREA so you can focus on your own TARGET MARKET and establish yourself as a sought after, knowledgeable professional in your housing market area.I was wondering why there was not a website like this before since the best way to advertise yourself is LOCALLY. These sites will be a great source for news, numbers and opinions regarding your local housing market. Every site will have content written by professionals from th... 12/06/2006

http://lovelyzerodowndcmetrohomes.blogspot.com/ 11/26/2006