If you are reading this blog and learning about tax liens, then you are probably getting pretty fired up about the major opportunities in this real estate investing arena. However, if you live in an area – or wish to invest in an area – that only holds tax lien or tax deed sales once or twice a year (or even less frequently) then you may be wondering how to take advantage of all your new information on tax lien investing. Well, I have some good news: you can buy …

Thanks to the massive foreclosure slow-downs brought on by last fall’s robo-signing fiasco, the shadow inventory is still, well, lingering in the shadows and bringing down the housing market, reported Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors (NAR)’s chief economist today[1]. Yun cited this pervasive shadow inventory as a major reason that the housing market has not yet recovered even though other aspects of the economy are stirring and showing signs of life. Yun addressed the commercial market’s relatively superior recovery by pointing out that a lack of construction in …

One after another, the major players in real estate are moving to add mall properties to their portfolios in addition to the mad dash for multifamily housing[1]. According to Bloomberg news, Blackstone Group, L.P., agreed to buy one of the biggest U.S. shopping centers, Centro Properties Group, for $9.4 billion over the past weekend[2]. And this is not just one mall; it’s 588 of them, making this deal Blackstone’s biggest deal since 2007. Experts hope that the firm is right on the money, literally, and betting on a major U.S. …

Last week, President Obama and his administration proposed a plan to settle with banks plagued by robo-signer concerns. Among other things, the settlement included an agreement on the part of the lenders saying that they would either pay around $20 billion in civil fines or that they would fund a comparable amount of loan modifications, including reducing principal on those loans[1]. Not only do lenders say that this settlement will “bring…enormous costs that would far outweigh any potential benefits,” (according to BofA mortgage strategist Chris Flanagan), but they also believe …

According to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, a hotel investment firm, Miami area hotel investing is about to take off[1]. Over the past 12 months the hotel industry has begun to show signs of recovery in many areas around the country, with real estate investment trusts (REITs) and foreign investors showing renewed interest in the industry. Now, Jones Lang LaSalle predicts that “deal volume in the area could reach $750 million in 2011.” This would be a 250 percent increase over the previous year.
While not everywhere in the country is projected …

While it might not have been quite as exciting as tax auctions used to be, owners of properties with delinquent property taxes are probably loving the newer, quieter, computerized bidding system that enabled tax lien buyers to quietly punch in bids on their personal keyboards rather than shouting them out and struggling to be heard[1]. The average bid at the Madison County (IL) tax auction was “just under four percent,” reported treasurer Kurt Prenzler, who ran on the promise to use this computerized system in his tax sales moving forward …

Large investors involved in the law suit against Bank of America’s Countrywide Financial Corporation are pulling out of the process as the approval date for the $624 million settlement approaches[1]. Believing that they can “get a better deal by going it alone,” investors like the California Public Employees Retirement System are rejecting the settlement as too small[2]. Oregon’s attorney general, John Kroger, stated in reference to the $624 million settlement that the state would net less than $500,000 in damages when it suffered $14 million in losses. “Oregon will not …

When times get tough, the con artists come out of the woodwork. Today’s real estate market is no exception, with CoreLogic estimating 2010 losses to amount to as much as $11 billion and more than 500 people being arrested for “alleged mortgage crimes” in the first half of 2010 alone[1]. Furthermore, the FBI reported that pending mortgage fraud investigations are up a full 71 percent from 2008 to 2009 and that 2/3 of all those investigations involved losses of more than $1 million.
From the Miami assistant fire chief indicted on …

In an effort to “clarify and streamline” the foreclosure mediation process in Nevada, the Nevada Supreme Court has updated the rules of the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Progam (FMP)[1]. Chief Justice Michael L. Douglas emphasized that “periodic revisions…have always been anticipated…to ensure that the program works for those who need it and use it – both homeowners and lenders.” The rules changes include clarification on forms to be provided, deal with how temporary modifications are handled and require that homeowners be given a date to vacate the premises when they agree …

For investors interested in multifamily housing, the proposed unwinding of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled GSEs that many hold largely responsible for the housing crisis of the past few years, could be great news. In the white paper released two weeks ago to much fevered debate, one overlooked aspect of the end of Fannie and Freddie has been their impact on the multifamily market. While many investors fear that removing the GSEs from the multifamily loan equation could leave them high and dry without funding for development and …