One in Eight Americans Facing Foreclosure

Foreclosures are now at an all time high. 616,000 Americans are in danger of losing their homes and 50% of these homeowners, reside in four states- California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.

One in eight Americans are behind in their mortgage payments. Many of them have lost their jobs and unable to find employment. “If people don’t have a paycheck they can’t support a mortgage,”said Jay Brickman, the MBA’s chief economist.

Yesterday, rates rose for the first time in while on the higher yields on treasury notes.

Even with this new data, economists and housing industry analysts are more optimistic that the bottom may be in sight. (See yesterday's post)

The Bottom???

Phil Izzo of the WSJ online collected opinions from several economists about their view of current market conditions. In his post the general sentiment from those he interviewed was that we probably have hit bottom as for the resale of homes (April resales rose 2.9%), but inventory continues to rise and prices my still be falling in some markets. Some good news is that housing affordability is at all time highs and interest rates are at all time lows.

Sign of the Times

If you haven't read Jeff Jarvis' new book, What Would Google Do? You may want to think about picking it up to read this weekend. It is so necessary for all industries to understand how the Internet is changing everything ... FAST!!!! All of us must reinvent ourselves if we want t0 survive. A wonderful company here in NYC is closing it's doors because of the challenges this new market presents.

Another book I would suggest is Seth Godin's book, Survival is not Enough. We are responsible for our destinies and must create our own future.

MONEY IS "ON SALE"!!!!!

In my April 16 post, "To Refinance or Not to Refinance", I wrote about what people need to consider before refinancing. While rates are at all time lows, it still might make sense for some homeowners to sit tight with their current mortgage.

Today, I ran across a great article in the Wall Street Journal, A Battle Plan for Refinancing Your Home, by KAREN BLUMENTHAL .

The author points out several items one should consider before refinancing their home. Ms. Blumenthal also discusses and explains the rigorous requirements now in place with most lenders, as well as some the pitfall and difficulties.

As with any big decision, one should seek the advice of a professional before making any decisions.

THE PERFECT STORM

If you read my May 14th post, you know that 71% of Americans feel that now is a great time to buy a home (Gallup 4/09). As my good buddy, Jeff Appel has said, "We are at a unique point in time which we will probably NEVER see again. Right now MONEY IS ON SALE AND SO ARE HOUSES."

Even the Homebuilder's Association is feeling confident about the current state of the market. NAHB Chairman Joe Robson said recently, "Builders are responding to what they perceive to be some of the best home-buying conditions of a lifetime." He also echoed Jeff Appel's opinion that mortgage rates are at an artificial low which we may never see again.

Right now homes are more affordable than they have been in 18 years. As a result, first time home buyers are seizing the opportunity and entering the market. In conjunction with low prices, cheap money and government incentives, now really is the time to buy!

YOU TUBE of Publishing?

Have you ever dreamed of being published? Now your dream can come true!!! In yesterday's New York Times, Brad Stone wrote an article about a cool new website, SCRIBD. This document sharing site gives authors the ability to upload their work, set a price they wish to charge the readers and keep 80% of the revenue.
Readers will be able to read the documents on the site, download to their KINDLE, and very soon be able to download to their Iphones.
"Kemble Scott, who has released a novel through a conventional publisher, said he would post his topical new political comedy, “The Sower,” to Scribd and charge $2 for it, partly because standard publishing is so slow. “If this is a book that is going to be interesting to people, now is the time that it fits into the national mood,” he said."
Do you have a book or article swimming in your head? Check out SCRIBD and and change your name to Edgar Allen Poe.

Short and Sweet Post

Yes... Here I am... Hanging in the Hamptons... Getting ready for my open house, but had to share this link with you!!!!
Great post from Mashable.com... What We Can Learn from Celebrities ... Highlights the 5 lessons we can learn from celebrities when it comes to building our social media brand.  Cool stuff from a VERY COOL site.

Let me know what you think... About the post, not my mink... ;-)

Want Some Good News???

The Gallup Organization released a report this week summarizing the results of a survey they conducted in early April (video report).
One of the survey questions asked of the American public was "For people in general, do you think now is a GOOD time or a BAD time to buy a house?" Seventy-one percent (71%) of those surveyed believed that now is a good time to buy a house.
Americans we also asked, "Which of the following do you think is the best long term investment- bonds, real estate, stocks, savings accounts, CD's or mutual funds?"
The results showed that Americans felt that savings accounts and real estate were the best long term investments, with far fewer choosing stocks, bonds and mutual funds.
So while prices are still soft in some markets, Americans are confident that in the long term, real estate is a great investment...when you BUY LOW AND SELL HIGH...
AND NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY LOW!!!

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How's the Market??

Well... It depends!!!! Are you thinking of buying, selling renting or investing? Need to have your questions answered???
Tune into EYE ON REAL ESTATE...

WOW!!!! To get amazing information about the real estate market, tune in to WOR radio, 710AM every Saturday morning, 10am-12pm. If you are a listener outside of the New York area, you can go to the WOR website and listen to the live streaming audio of the show.

Dottie Herman, Jeff Appel and Jonathan Miller, are the hosts of the show and do a great job presenting timely and relevant information you need to know about today's current market conditions. It is a conversational, call in format which has taken the radio waves by storm.
Whether you are thinking of buying, selling, renting or investing, this show will answer all of your real estate questions.
There are podcasts also available from every show on the WOR site.

The Social Media EXPLOSION

Who hasn't heard the phrases "Friend me on Facebook", "Follow me on Twitter" or "Link to my blog"?
If you haven't, then you are part of an ever growing minority. No matter your age, gender, or profession, social media is taking over...in a huge way.
In Andrew Lipsman's April 15th blogpost, (Breaking News (and Making News): Twitter Surges 131% in March to 9.3 Million U.S. Visitors!), he points out, "It just goes to show you how much social media, and specifically a site like Twitter, has become woven into the fabric of our daily media lives."
More and more Americans (5 million more in the month of March alone) have started to "TWEET". And the most interesting thing is that the demographic driving this growth is the 25-54 year old population (read my 4/17 post).
Facebook is enjoying a similar user explosion. Lev Grossman of Time Magazine recently published a tongue in cheek article, Why Facebook is for Old Fogies giving the top ten reasons why the 35+ generation is signing up and logging in. According to statistics reported by the social networking giant, there are more that 200 million active users and more than 2/3's of these users are beyond college age.
So if you think that your clients, friends and family aren't "tweeting", "friending" or "blogging", then you are kidding yourself. This is the new communication vehicle and if you don't get in for the ride, you will be walking by yourself and talking to yourself :-)...
If you would like, you can follow me on Twitter, and on Facebook. I would love you to join the EXPLOSION!!!!