FL Foreclosures

Those who are older than I am will attest to the fact that many things in this world are interconnected. Far more than we admit at first. This is easily seen on issues of Faith. If you are a Christian, then most of the time you’ll be convinced that evolution is false, which leads to a completely different interpretation of the data gathered concerning biology, sociology, psychology and other disciplines of science. Similarly, over time we can more easily identify how interconnected things such as government oversight/control (meddling) has on businesses, job creation, family life, and overall prosperity. Further examination shows that government actions also have a trickle-down effect and thus influence things such as the number of FL foreclosures coming down the pipe, small business effects of the recession, and other more acute aspects of life in general.

I’m pretty sure that most lawmakers are older than I am, so it can safely be assumed that they can share in this view of the world and the effects such government influence have had in the past. I guess we could call it Read the rest of this entry »

I recently came across a news article that was trying to envision Florida real estate prices actually RISING over the course of the next year. I’m not joking about this.

The piece by James Thorner over at TampaBay.com was summarizing data put out by a data crunching firm which recently published findings that indicated that in spite of the rash of FL foreclosures that are steamrolling housing values across the board, we’ll probably see a 3.88% RISE in values between now and September of 2010. Now in light of the current conditions in relation to job losses, untold amounts of “phantom” foreclosure properties being stockpiled by the banks behind the scenes, and the anticipated double-dip recession pattern on the horizon, I don’t know how First American Corelogic can make such projections. There must not be any type of “common sense” metric in whatever number crunching algorithm they are using.

Supposedly, the Tampa Bay area is suppose to beat the odds as well with values climbing a full Read the rest of this entry »

Every day we hear more and more stories about people that jump into the wild world of investing in FL foreclosures without any clue as to what they are doing. Then, after the depth of their folly overwhelms them they start to blame everyone else for their woes.

Bottom Line: Investing In Florida Foreclosures Is NOT for the Novice or Faint of Heart!

While the gurus would have you believe that flipping these vacant homes in the midst of the worst housing market our generation will ever know is not all that complicated, but believe me…it is. In fact, the current state of affairs has been so hard on real estate professionals that Realtors are hanging up their licenses left and right because they have to find other jobs to keep the bills paid.

FL foreclosures come in many flavors. The traditional varieties include REO properties, tax foreclosures sales, auctions, online auctions. Just because they have “real estate” as the common thread among them does not mean that they’re all the same. They are actually all very different animals and failure to comprehend this can lead to some very bad, very serious consequences.

Let’s take the example of William Anderson. William is probably Read the rest of this entry »

The year is coming to a close. Many of us would admit that we find ourselves occupied less and less with our State’s economic problems such as the continued pileup of lost jobs or an increasing inventory of vacant FL foreclosures and instead find ourselves preoccupied with planning, preparation, and shopping for the holidays.

I, for one, think that this is a good thing. Too much of anything is not good and the overwhelming enormity of the various economic forces arrayed against us could prove to rob many of the things in life that really matter. Things like family get togethers, dinners, and other relationship based events that form the basis for all the things that are REALLY valuable in life will have a tendency to be lost this year for many. After all, most of the things that we treasure most could never be bought with money, but without it, we can often lose sight of that fact.

It is my hope that things turn around and a path to better days is presently in front of us. Common sense would indicate that such is probably not the case, but I am an optimist…a cautious one.

Whenever I start looking for trends and watching the news to try and identify real patterns of change, I find myself always returning to thoughts of the past and I have to ask… Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll be the fist to admit that it is very possible that my words here will fall on deaf ears. Most people, when looking for a new income source, will latch onto one concept and be reluctant to change their course regardless of what anyone else may show them. If you are interested in buying/fixing/selling FL foreclosures for big paydays, then any advice that anyone gives you outlining how you can make a killing in the stock market is probably not going to change what you intend to do.

Regarless of this fact, I’m going to try and put a little bee in your bonnet and give you some alternative options to real estate investing, and here are a few reasons why… Read the rest of this entry »

I try to keep my mind free of negative thoughts as much as possible. Negativity is not beneficial in almost any form – especially if you are trying to run a successful business investing in FL foreclosures amidst some of the most dire economic times we’ve ever known. That being said, I tend to only allow myself to watch just enough of the news in order to identify any coming trends that might make a major impact on my business in the 6-12 month range.

Truth be told, I’m quite amazed at all the positive economic outlook stories that have been floating around of late. It just seems like everyone wants to spin a story about some figures here and an earnings report there and spew about how all the “experts” are saying that it looks like the recession is behind us and that a slow and shaky recovery is now in sight.

Oh really?

Does anyone but me wonder where they get this idea from? And does anyone realize that the people staking these claims are the same ones that failed to predict the coming economic collapse back in 2005 and 2006? And why do those providing these positive outlook stories always tack some kind of disclaimer on the end of their statement? Could it be that they have no confidence in what they are reporting?

Let’s start talking about facts. Let’s start talking about major trends and start using the term that everyone is trying to avoid…

Double-Dip Recession

I was driving around the other day, inspecting a few FL foreclosures that I’m thinking about putting a bid on and I’m listening to the radio. Surfing through the channels I hear this investment advisor say Read the rest of this entry »

The rate of foreclosures spanning July through September has increased nationwide by an average of 2 percent according to three of the major real estate data reporting companies. However, in the Sunshine State both the Notice of Default (NOD) filings and actual auctions of FL foreclosures fell 6 percent.

Foreclosures Fall In Recent Months

The month of September in particular has shown a drop in foreclosure activity across all states but new filings for Florida were down more than any other for the month.

“That would be the first step toward a shift in a trend,” said Daren Blomquist, market analyst for RealtyTrac Inc., one of the companies that released the report. “As those numbers go down, you’ll see fewer properties going through the entire foreclosure process.”

Unfortunately though, Mr. Blomquist admitted that it’s difficult to know what is behind the decrease, factors contributing to the recent decline in FL foreclosures could include federal incentives Read the rest of this entry »

All of the traditional news outlets seemed to be overwhelmingly optimistic about the prospect of economic recovery today after the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed and then settled above the 10,000 mark for the first time in over a year.

Fueling the run up in stock prices today was the billions of dollars in 3rd quarter profits reported by a few of the large banks. JP Morgan & Chase Co.’s investment banking division pushed the financial giant to a $3.6 Billion dollar profit and such news gives rise to the hope of many Florida residents that the worst of the recession is behind us and that sunny financial times are just around the corner. Surely this newly rediscovered prosperity will translate into a visible recovery in a housing market overrun with FL foreclosures.

But before we break out the champagne let’s be sure to Read the rest of this entry »

FL Foreclosure Storm

Both the people and government of Florida have worked tirelessly to cause the American public to associate Florida with sunshine, oranges, the Everglades, and vacations at Disney World. Unfortunately, over the span of 36 months the state of Florida has lost its identity as the sunshine State and has become associated with the word “Foreclosure”. FL foreclosures are out of control with thousands of new foreclosure filings being registered each and every month.

By now everybody knows the three main causes of the current situation that Florida residents find themselves caught up in. The first of these instigators Read the rest of this entry »