No money down?  No income?  No assets, no credit – no problem!  Thus proclaimed many an ad in New York City during the economic heydays of the previous decade, when a mortgage shell-game was played whereby bad loans were repackaged as sound investments sold to unsuspecting institutions which never undertook the due diligence to thoroughly screen for risk.  This ploy was practiced, unfortunately, not only in New York but throughout the whole country, as people who could never afford a home were encouraged to go into debt they could never repay just so they could finally, actually buy one!  Even more astonishingly, the impetus for such ploys was provided by none other than the United States government itself as an unexpected consequence of muddle-headed policies.

The recent history of New Jersey real estate is intimately bound up with the economic fate of New York City right across the river.  Though possessing its own independent industries, much of the state’s economic life simply depends on what’s going on in New York.  Indeed, much of the growth in many a New Jersey town, such as the ones along its northeastern shore like Fort Lee and Jersey City, has been fueled by economic refugees from New York City seeking cheaper versions of the American Dream.  New Jersey real estate can certainly survive without New York, but it’s unlikely to truly flourish without that powerhouse on the Hudson.

Residential real estate in Connecticut has not been the subject of speculative investment such as had occurred in places like Florida and Nevada, so inventory remains level and there is not a lot of new construction to be found, particularly with credit lines so much more tightened now in these economically tumultuous times.  Commercial real estate has fared better, with rosier opportunities in spite of the current crisis.  The picture for new construction is a little better in the commercial real estate market, but the short-term prognosis seems to be stagnation, basically.

The content of this article has been posted strictly for informational and human interest purposes only, not for advisory purposes, and should not be relied upon in any way by any person or institution.  The reader should not rely on the validity of any of the information contained herein.  The reader is urged to consult a variety of professionals when making business or any other significant decision, including accountants, lawyers, investment advisors, insurance companies and the like.  Again, this article has been posted merely for human interest and informational purposes, not for advisory purposes.

In fact, buyers may be getting some of the best deals in the market right now simply because of the foreclosures that are going on in many parts of the United States. There are several important issues, though, that one should be aware of and pay attention to when looking to buy a piece of real estate or home.

Ask Questions: Before you even consider buying a home a buyer definitely wants to get all the facts. Considering that buying a house or other piece of land or real estate is a major purchase for many people to take on, it would be wise to have the facts laid out in front of you. For example, one important question to consider asking the seller or realtor is whether or not the house is haunted, or if there have been any deaths in the house real recently.

Many areas actually consider this to be a major issue that preparing a “Disclosure Addendum” with that kind of information inside is actually required. However, there are many other areas of the housing market and other States that don’t require an addendum at all that discusses any known problems with the house or real estate. This is why it is so important to ask questions about absolutely everything so you don’t end up getting ripped off.

Survey the Neighborhood: One action that buyers absolutely do not want to take is to purchase a house before even knowing what type of neighborhood they will be living in. There are many housing areas and cities that may have deceiving looking neighborhoods where danger only lurks a door or two down from the house you’re thinking of buying. One can ask the seller or Realtor questions about the neighborhood, what type of people live there, how violent the neighborhood is, and whether or not it is a known problem area for the city.

Crunch Numbers Carefully: Another thing that potential buyers of new homes and real estate need to do is to crunch their own numbers, taking a look at their current salary to make sure that they’ll be able to afford a new home. Affording a new home includes the down payment on the house, the monthly payment of the mortgage, monthly payments of property taxes, and the upkeep of the property they own. Many people make the mistake of biting off more than they can chew, which is a large reason for many foreclosures by the banks of homeowners.

Overall caution and preparation should be done on the part of the potential buyer of a piece of land, real estate, or new house. It’s always nice to see a beautiful home and be tempted to buy it on the spot, but there are plenty of issues to think about, such as obtaining every piece of information about the house, information about the neighborhood in which you’ll live, as well as information about whether you’ll actually be able to afford this huge purchase.

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Realtors are typically big consumers of upscale automobiles; after all you have to have a nice car to drive your prospects around in. ( The price of gas already has had some effect on Realtors and buyers. Many a Realtor will certainly think twice about running across town to show a property to an unqualified buyer.) They love to buy better homes, after all, how it looks to clients if you live in a rented apartment. They frequently dine out (always working) and they spend huge amounts of money on entertaining past clients and prospecting for new clients. In addition, to enable their business to function, they purchase services from affiliated vendors that cater specifically to the real estate industry. Marketers, printers, magazines, appraisers, mortgage companies, banks, attorneys, title companies, inspectors, and the list goes on. In the past 5 years, other vendors that have entered the arena are websites, hosting, internet marketing, and a variety of other vendors that will take a hit as the real estate market continues to decline.

If you listen to all the media and their opinion on this situation, no one really gives a solid factual reason that this phenomenon is occurring. Mortgage rates are still very low; there is an incredible amount of inventory for buyers; people still need a roof over their head. Where are all these people living? Are they renting? Certainly the rental market has seen some increased activity when buyers decided not to purchase. But again, many sellers are putting their properties to lease since they are in a quandary and may not be able to sell in a timely manner. Days on market—a term frequently used by real estate agents, is increasing in most areas across the nation. This factor is often used to scale the activity level in a given area.

A factor that keeps many companies going strong is the ever prevalent relocation market. Major companies hire strong corporate relocation companies to provide a consistent base for relocating their employees in and out of local, national, and international positions. This extra added business is a positive to the declining market of today, as this business is rarely affected by market trends.

And the facts remain, that in the last six months, buyers who might have qualified for a specific program and wanted to purchase, have been cut out of the mix due to the changes in the mortgage industry eliminating many buyer programs. Many industry leaders knew that eventually the ax would fall, but most mortgage companies and banks stayed in the game as long as possible. To their detriment, because the tumble came so hard and so fast, many mortgage companies could not survive and went bankrupt.

In closing, have you thought about the financial trickle down of the national declining market and how it will affect you? I have.

Scott English. Full time Licensed Realtor in South Florida . Specializes in waterfront properties, relocation, new construction, condominiums. Any and all real estate needs. Visit http://www.RealEstateExplainedBlog.com for a free 7 day course on current Real Estate Challenges.

In theory the whole foreclosure mess can be quickly concluded through short sales. A short sale is when someone is willing to buy the home facing foreclosure for less than is still owed on the mortgage. The lender has to agree to that.

Here’s the rub. With the country drowning in foreclosures the lender’s loss mitigation people (the department that handles short sales) are buried in paper work. Even if you are a buyer willing and able to buy the home you can’t get a response from the lender concerning a short sale.

Many people lose their homes and have their credit destroyed because of a lender’s inability to handle the work load.

To be fair, mortgage lenders have been hard hit by the crisis in real estate. They’ve been forced to lay off workers to stay solvent. But…

Home owners have always been advised that if they are having trouble making their mortgage payments they should quickly contact their lender for help. Well, they call and call hoping to have some adjustments made in their mortgage loan so they can weather their period of financial problems.

The home owners are still working; they can still make payments on the mortgage if the interest rate or terms of the loan are adjusted. Lenders are so slow in seriously responding to these cries for help that the home is often lost in foreclosure before anything can be worked out.

Your government has been hearing from these frustrated home owners, so of course they feel they must at least look like they are doing something. That “something” is the Hope Now alliance, a Bush administration-backed industry group, who will set guidelines for mortgage companies participating in the effort to keep people in their homes.

The core of the action is an agreement designed to clarify the mortgage assistance process for borrowers and the industry alike… but it is not legally binding and not all lenders are members. Like so much from government it is something you could call “lip service”. It’s an action to cover their fannies, so they can say they are “doing something”.

Predictably consumer groups have now jumped in saying Hope Now’s efforts will never match the growth in foreclosures around the country, and are pushing for a new $300 billion program to allow the government to back new loans for struggling homeowners.

I don’t think they mentioned the fact that that $300 billion will be paid by tax payers… the same people who are being foreclosed out of their homes.

It gets even funnier! Statistics released by Hope Now showed that nearly 183,000 borrowers received some form of loan workout in April, 2008. That sounds good, because if true, it is the highest monthly number since the effort started.

Then a federal bank regulator spoke up and questioned the accuracy of the trade groups’ mortgage assistance data. The regulator, Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan called them “responses to surveys that produced aggregate, unverified results from individual firms.”

I don’t know what that means, but I don’t think it’s good.

So what’s the answer? The economy rolls through cycles. There will be some winners and there will be some losers and then we will start all over again. And nothing the government does will matter one tiny, little bit.

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There is certainly no shortage of real estate license schools in the US — every state has dozens of real estate license programs, and there are specialized online schools as well. The goal of these schools is to prepare you to be a licensed Realtor; however, the schools themselves do not license you for your occupation. Only your state can do that. Therefore, it is the goal of the school to educate you on real estate law and practices in your state so that you will be able to pass a state real estate licensure exam.

In order to enroll in a real estate license school, most states require that you have a high school diploma or equivalency degree (GED). The school you choose must also be recognized in your state as a legitimate real estate license school. This is an important consideration if you’re thinking about enrolling in an online real estate license school — be sure the program is recognized in your specific state, as every state has different real estate licensure requirements.

These days, more and more real estate license applicants are choosing online education over the traditional classroom. Advances in computer technology and the Internet have made online real estate license schools highly competitive and cost efficient. Even many “traditional” classroom-based schools are offering a percentage of their coursework online, for the convenience of working professionals enrolled in the course.

The real advantage of an online real estate license school is the flexibility it offers students. For full-time working moms and dads, the ability to study for their real estate exam at home, and at their own pace, can be a Godsend. After all, it may not always be easy to make it to class on time when you have a full-time job and a full-time family; but your home computer is always available, and nearly anyone can make time in their busy schedule for online study.

So how do you choose the best real estate license school for you? First, check out the different options in your area. You also want to consider your own personal study habits. For example, are you a self starter who can study at your own pace with an online program? Or do you require the stimulation and peer pressure of sitting in a traditional classroom to motivate you to do well? There is no right or wrong answer here; different people have different motivational styles, and you’ll simply have to do an honest assessment to determine what works best for you.

If you find that you are a self starter, and are capable of independent study, you will usually find that online real estate license schools are somewhat cheaper, and offer the convenience of studying at your own pace over time. Of course, this kind of independent study is not for everyone; but if flexibility and fitting study times into your existing schedule is a primary concern, you’ll definitely want to consider an online real estate license school.

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As the tenant or lessee, you may be required to state who will be living with you, whether its a roomate, family, or others. Also, the rental agreement will have the landlord’s or lessor’s policy on pets. Your rental agreement will have the landlords policy on when the landlord may enter your home, usually for emergency purposes. As the renter you are in possesion of the property and If the landlord enters your home without proper notice or authority, he will be violating your rights and he would be trespassing.

Rented real property or real estate may include all or part of almost any piece of real property including land. Sometimes the rental agreement will include access to certain pools, bathrooms, laundry rooms, off-set parking, and other things if the premise is split up. If access to rooms is outlined they will define the times you are allowed to use them.

Did you know when you rent a room at a hotel for a night your signing a rental agreement? Chances are you`ve already signed one then, but sorry to dis-appoint you but long-term rental agreements are usually more in depth. Rental agreements could specify that your staying just days, weeks, months, or years. Typically a rental agreement is month to month or annually and usually the rent for annual leases are cheaper because you exclude the month to month turn-over costs. The downside of having a long-term lease is if you decide to leave early, usually you are charged with penalties. The good news is though the rental agreement can specify to automatically renew your lease so a month to month lease may be your best option.

If a tenant is unable to pay or does not follow policy, then landlord may ask you to “quit” (legal term for leave) the premises at your own will, and if the tenant refuses to do so, the landlord then will 99.9% of the time proceed to serve an eviction notice on you. In many states it is illegal for the landlord to change locks on doors, or remove any personal belongings, and extremely illegal to forcibly eject a person, without a court order of eviction. If the landlord violates any of the above contact your lawyer, you are entitled to compensation for “triple damages”, plus expenses from your attorneys’ fees. The landlord then could face stiff criminal penalties if you decided to press charges.

Finally your rental agreement will state how much you will be paying and on what bases, month to month, annually, aslong as you want, or even in advance. A typical “down payment” will consist of how much the first and last months rent would be and a security deposit. If you do not return your property in ordinary “wear n’ tear” condition, the landlord can with-hold your security deposit to pay for the damages. If a security deposit is required, some states will require the landlord to give you the bank account number and the banks name of where your security deposit is being held. Some states also require the landlord to list pre-existing damages to the property, or the state will force them to give back the security deposit.

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Open Listing

This type of contract is for people who want to both sell their home and work with real estate agents. What the contract does is gives the right for agents to show your home and gives them an amount of commission if the client chooses to buy your house. The up side about open listing is that there is usually nothing exclusive or painfully bonding about them. The downside is that you can expect no, or less, marketing or advertising.

One-Time Show

This type of listing contract is pretty much the same to open listing. It’s generally used by people trying to sell their own home but allows an agent to show the home. The listing contract identifies the potential buyer and guarantees the agent a commission if that buyer purchases the home. Just like open listings, this type lacks any marketing effort.

Exclusive Agency Listing

During your home selling, you will find that different types of listing contracts involve a lot of different people. This one involves a broker. Basically, an exclusive agency listing will give you the right to sell your own home, without paying the broker any commission, unless the house is sold through a licensed real estate professional. Should the house be sold without any help of agents, the contract allows homeowners to pay no commission at all. The reason why this type of listing contract is widely used is the lure of not having to pay your broker.

Exclusive Right to Sell Listing

The most popular type of listing with sellers and brokers, this contract gives the full right for your broker to do whatever it takes to sell your house. For obvious reasons, this is probably the type of contract where you can expect the most motivation from the agent – a good marketing effort can take place here, and the homeowner’s work is much reduced.

Before you choose your contract, always make sure you know every type of listing contracts available to you. Keep in mind how much effort you would like to put in to the selling process – this is often what distinguishes the types. Discuss the possibilities and disadvantages of each type. Remember, a listing contract is your first legal step in selling your house – take that step very carefully. Plus, as state laws vary, and the above was a very abbreviated explanation of basic contract types, one would be very foolish to enter into any listing contract without have an attorney review the documents. Copyright 2008 Promotions Unlimited – websitetrafficbuilders.com. All rights reserved.

Bob Schwartz, San Diego real estate broker with w/30 years exp. He has a popular San Diego real estate blog Bob’s other sites are: Downtown San Diego real estate & San Diego real estate agents.