In the month of April alone, over 10,000 homes will be auctioned-off on various courthouse steps in the Atlanta area. Just wow. Obviously, Atlanta is one of the nation's leaders in home foreclosures.
Arthur Wirtz was a multi-millionaire/billionaire who owned the Bulls and Blackhawks, the Chicago Stadium, the Chicago Merchandise Mart, and another significant fraction of Chicago real estate. He bought it all with cash during the depression.
Part of the problem was people buying houses to sell, not live in or even rent. Encouraging that kind of behaviour again won't help. Especially when entire neighbourhoods are being abandoned and taken over by animals, squatters and vagrants.
I've always thought of the Wirtz family as liquor distributors. As for your proposition that money is made in down times, that's exactly what our company has been betting on. We raised a fund last year for one purpose, and instead went back to our investors and re-cast the fund to invest in an entirely different sector. Time will tell whether or not we're right in the bet we're making.
If you can control an entire street or development, you're in like Flynn (whatever that expression means). Purchasing one-off foreclosed homes is still a pretty competitive business. Purchasing foreclosed developments or several homes on a single street is another business altogether. It takes patient money, but being able to control the tenancy allows for higher returns.
Obama is doing his best to prevent this from happening. He is trying to create these artificial markets instead of just letting prices drop to a point where it just makes financial sense to start buying these places.
I'm actually embarrassed he is associated with one of my universities, because it's clear he learned nothing about economics on the South Side of Chicago.
So you think if home values keep droping some individual out there would think to buy them as rental properties? That's not how economics work, in a down economy the government is the only solution to these problems.
Here in Beautiful Central Oregon most of the foreclosures are being bought as primary residences. It's nearly impossible to get a loan for investment properties right now with hundreds of people renting out their 2nd homes for the extra income and an unemployment level around 12%, rent levels have plunged so it just doesn't pencil out yet, unless you have cash and patience. As a primary residence though, there are some incredible deals to be had here right now.
Markets have to clear. People require shelter, so homeowners will become renters. People that were good actors will be able to buy assets for a fraction of what they were at their peak. As for government being the solution; it's actually a huge part of the problem. If the government didn't force banks to make subprime loans, we wouldn't have this problem in the first place. And as for fixing it? They're just making it worse.
Um, yes, that is exactly what would happen. At some point, as prices drop, rent prices and mortgage payments will move closer together. Those that have the cash for the down payment (investors) would be dumb not to buy homes that can be rented for more than their monthly payments. It's pretty easy. I know that is what I'm doing as I analyze property prices in various areas around the country: SF Bay Area, Portland, Bend, etc. There is nothing to back up this false statement. You've been drinking too much of the Obama Kool-aid.
Is that a given? It seems to me that rents could drop along with prices. Why? People have less or no money, so they are willing to spend less on housing. In the worst case, some people don't rent at all and we get a new generation of Hoovervilles (we can call them Bushburgs this time). Fewer renters means downward pressure on rents. Now, maybe that won't happen, and obviously you don't believe it will, or you wouldn't be investing in rental properties. But I don't think it is impossible. barfo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Wirtz Arthur Michael Wirtz (January 23, 1901 – July 21, 1983) was a powerful figure in sports and arena operation. He was the owner of Chicago Stadium, Olympia Stadium in Detroit, the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago, the Chicago Black Hawks, and the Chicago Bulls. He was the father of the late Black Hawks owner Bill Wirtz, and grandfather of current Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Wirtz went into sports and arena ownership because of his real estate investments. He was a real estate salesman in Chicago after graduating from the University of Michigan in 1923. Wirtz was an important showbiz figure with his presentation of the Sonja Henie Ice Show, which toured arenas for many years. He was also involved with the Henie-produced ice shows which played the Center Theatre at Rockefeller Center in New York for several seasons. Wirtz took over the ownership of Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice which he later sold to Irvin & Kenneth Feld. He was a major factor in the growth of the National Hockey League, through his ownership of the Chicago Black Hawks. He and James D. Norris purchased the near bankrupt franchise in 1952 and though it went through rough moments, Wirtz and Norris turned the franchise around and won back the fans they had lost. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1971. Arthur Wirtz died of cancer at age 82.
Nope, it isn't a given. But, I assume that people have to live somewhere, and housing supply isn't currently rising (AFAIK). Maybe I am being overly optimistic on the number of people that won't even be able to afford depressed rent prices. In the areas that I have tracked, the decreases in rent been outpaced by the decrease in home prices, and it isn't even close. Heck, in my area, rents are still rising as home prices decrease. I don't think what you describe is impossible. But, it is hard for me to imagine a scenario where monthly mortgage payments drop below rent prices.
If you have the means this is the time to buy property. There is a house that sold for $1.3 million two summers and is now for sale for $799,000. Such a steal.
I'm not sure you should call a piece of real-estate a "steal" just because it is a lot cheaper than it was 2 years ago. It's called a bubble and the burst.
