“If you run a bank,” says Toronto-Dominion Bank CEO Ed Clark, “you should be worried” about the rapid price appreciation seen in all types of Canadian real estate.
Toronto-Dominion Bank has had to say no to financing “a number of big, lucrative” deals Clark said at a bank conference in Toronto, The Globe and Mail’s Tim Kiladze reports. Other execs at the conference say there’s no cause for alarm — delinquencies remain in check, and supply and demand are balanced.
Source: theglobeandmail.com
The modern economy has a lot of individuals curious about making money from real estate. The sad truth is that most people have no clue about where to get started. If you’ve been wondering what you can do to invest in the real estate market the right way, you should know a couple of things first. Continue on to discover more.
You must develop a good feel for local property values. The cost of mortgages and rent in the neighborhood is a better indicator than financial statements when providing a picture of the house value. If you view the property from a basic level, you can better make the right decision.
Learn from like-minded people. Lots of people want to get involved in real estate investments. There are many groups focusing solely on real estate investing. Or you can also find many online as well. Join these groups and learn all that you can.
Invest as much time in learning the business as you do working the business. This means you might need to quit some of your hobbies so that you can just concentrate on this for a while. Let go of some of your recreational time and invest it in your property.
Find your comfort zone and stick with it. You can have much more success at real estate investing if you stay focused within your market niche. It doesn’t matter if you’re flipping properties of building them from the ground up; you should master what you’re doing.
As an investor, you have to think realistically about how you are going to divide up your available time. Problems with tenants can waste a lot of time. Get a management company to do the dirty work for you.
Not all property values rise. It’s dangerous to think this for the market or for a single piece of property. The safest thing to do would be to invest in real estate that will net you profits right away. If the property value increases, that will be an added benefit.
When determining a potential investment property, try choosing one that will appreciate. A lot by water or right in a business district, for example, will most likely mean more to you in the future. Consider the long-term costs and think about the possibilities.
Learn all you can about real estate investments prior to spending any money buying properties. You are playing with large amounts of money, and mistakes can cause you a huge setback. Get someone to train you on the real estate market before you jump in.
Make sure that you do a background check on your tenants, you can preform an online background check on www.crbdirect.org.uk. The person should pay the rent for the first month and a deposit without a problem. If they cannot come up with the money, they are likely to have problems paying rent too. You must then seek out a different person for the rental agreement.
Consider rental values as you determine how much any given property is worth. In the right area, you can earn thousands of dollars a year in rental income. Eventually, you can sell the property for even more money overall.
Exercise plenty of patience in the beginning. Getting the first deal done can take longer than expected. Maybe the market conditions are not good, or the purchase terms are not favorable. Do not start to worry prematurely or rush into poor decisions. It’s really a bad move for your money. Bide your time until an outstanding opportunity arises.
http://www.athomerealestate.co/2014/01/want-to-make-money-investing-in-real-estate-try-these-ideas/
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development joined the education and agriculture secretaries Thursday in a press conference to elaborate on what will be involved in President Obama’s new “promise zone” initiative.
President Barack Obama announced that he is starting a new government program designed to help economically challenged communities.
The promise zone initiative, Obama said, will focus on attracting private investment to replace distressed housing with what they call “mixed-income” housing, reducing crime, providing tax incentives to stimulate economic growth, and promoting programs to help high schools retain and graduate students.
The first five locations will be San Antonio, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Southeastern Kentucky, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The White House plans to announce 15 more promise zones over the next two years in blighted rural and urban areas.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said the effort will integrate housing, education and crime relief efforts, and bring together local community leaders with businesses through tax credits, coordinated by federal oversight.
“This is a sharp departure from the way the government provided aid in the past,” Donovan said. “Washington would swoop in and impose solutions without working with local leaders to support their visions and strengthen all assets needed for communities to thrive.”
“We want to bring together a wide variety of stake holders to better communities,” Donovan said. “Home is the foundation of all of our lives. Now we are going to connect housing with other efforts to expand opportunity.”
Donovan said that the tax credit component of the promise zone initiative is critical, especially for housing and job creation.
“Yes, these zones will work without tax credits, but no, not to full capacity,” he said. “Those tax credits that will be proposed are critical in accelerating job creation and improving housing.”
He added he believed the promise zones initiatives and tax credits will receive bipartisan support in Congress.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28537-big-promises-the-white-house-is-making-now-about-housing
The price increases that drove the recovery in 2013, wiping out $232 billion in negative equity and prompting millions of owners to sell, may go out with a whimper when the new year arrives, leaving real estate markets with anemic price gains, if any, for months to come.
There is a growing consensus among economists and analysts that the recent slowdown in price increases is not just a seasonal lull, but the beginning of a plateau that could last through the late fall and winter months.
A new analysis by CoreLogic economist Molly Boesel examines the relationship between CoreLogic’s HPI index and list prices in recent months and suggests that, since the asking price for new listings has decreased over the past four months. “If the relationship between new listing prices and the HPI holds, this is an indication that the HPI will also be leveling off,” she wrote in an article released today.
In the same CoreLogic publication, CoreLogic’s deputy chief economist, Sam Khater, found that houses in lower price tiers are a barometer of the overall market. Low-end price changes and levels lead higher end prices by six months to a year. Low-end prices also are much more volatile because buyers of low-tier homes-first-time buyers, investors, and lower income repeat buyers are more sensitive to economic trends than higher end home buyers.
“Clearly lower-end homes prices are decelerating especially in the former boom-bust markets in the Southwest,” Khater wrote, “Current low-end prices are 22 percentage points above higher-end prices, the biggest gap during the past two decades. This indicates that the low-end price corrections over and that overall price growth will be markedly slower heading into 2014.”
The latest price reports on November from realtor.com based on its listings show prices declined 0.7 from to a 6.9 percent year over year price increase. Trulia reported asking home prices rose 1.0 percent month-over-month, the greatest monthly increase in five months. . Clear Capital reported home prices cooled off to a 10.8% year-over-year growth, a slight tapering over the previous quarter’s 11.0% yearly growth. The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that November 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, are expected to remain at the same level month over month as October 2013, with a projected increase of 12.2 percent on a year-over-year basis from November 2012. Excluding distressed sales, November 2013 home prices are poised to rise just 0.4 percent month over month from October 2013 and 11.3 percent year over year from November 2012.
http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/12/prices-to-plateau-for-months/
Sales of Manhattan apartments have hit a fourth-quarter record, with wealthy international buyers competing with New Yorkers to get a foot in the door as prices soar.
The number of purchases rose 27 percent compared with the same period the year before to 3,297, according to new data released on Friday. Although down from 3,837 in the third quarter, this was the highest fourth-quarter tally since records began 25 years ago, according to appraiser Miller Samuel and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
(Read more: New York is running out of luxury apartments)
Limited supply has led to buyers often making immediate all-cash offers, participating in bidding wars and making decisions based on floor plans alone, in an echo of the previous property boom. The number of days a property was on the market in the fourth quarter almost halved from the previous year to 95 days.
“Demand from foreign buyers has never been stronger. Those from the Middle East, Russia, South America, China have been on an incredible buying spree and it is these sales that are driving prices,” said Pamela Liebman, chief executive of property broker The Corcoran Group.
The median price of a luxury apartment – usually above $3 million – jumped 10 percent from a year ago to $4.9 million.
(Read more: New York apartment prices hit four-year high)
An abrupt increase in mortgage rates over the summer tipped more buyers into the Manhattan market at a time when inventories were already tight, a trend that continued to the end of 2013.
“This wasn’t a sleepy year end,” said Jonathan Miller, president of New York-based Miller Samuel. “There was a lot of good economic news last year and people from New Yorkers to international investors were keen to secure the best buying conditions from mortgage rates to prices. It was a record third quarter and now a record fourth.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101307173
Buyer confidence is now returning to Spain via emigrants’ purchase of Spanish property at rock-bottom prices.
Recent house price data released by major real estate agents in Spain indicated that, in the most popular areas, prices have bottomed out and are attracting migrant buyers as a result. Russian and Far Eastern buyers are picking up bargains and the British and Scandinavians are re-entering the market.
There’s much to attract those wishing to emigrate, with prices in the Costa Brava, Marbella and Barcelona, recently down by up to 50 per cent on pre-crash prices, now showing a slight recovery due to renewed interest from overseas. The luxury market is faring best, particularly in beachside destinations such as Ibiza and Mallorca.
Buyers’ demographics are also changing, with increasing numbers of younger people in the 30-40 age group and fewer retirees being noted. Indian, American and Chinese investors are showing the most interest in the popular areas.
According to real estate agents, sellers are still open to price negotiation even although the best properties as regards location and amenities are listed at around 30 per cent below their true value. The Spanish government’s recently announced scheme to give residency to non-EU nationals purchasing a home for over €160,000 would seem to have kick-started the country’s ailing property market.
– See more at: http://www.emigrate.co.uk/news/20140102-8412_spanish-property-now-attractive-to-migrants#sthash.f3MLCa6e.dpuf
Home prices in Australia’s main cities surged in 2014, deepening concern a possible housing bubble may be forming that could potentially derail a fragile economic recovery.
The country’s property market ran hot again last year with prices nationally rising at the fastest pace in more than three years, fueled by record-low interest rates and growing demand for investment housing.
The sharp rises throughout past year have created some of the most expensive property in the world, fanning concern the market may be overheating and that a sudden crash could make jittery consumers even more nervous about spending.
The central bank has cut rates eight times in the past two years to try to get other sectors such as retail and housing to pick up and to compensate for a fading mining boom that is expected to dent the economy in coming years.
The RP Data-Rismark house-price report for December showed home values rose by 9.8% during the 2013 calendar year. Sydney, the country’s largest property market, posted a 14.5% gain over the same period, while property prices in Melbourne and Perth also made strong advances. In December, home values nationally rose by 1.4% from November.
The housing figures came on the same day data showed manufacturing activity contracted in the last month of 2013. It was the second contraction in a row that erased expansions in September and October.
“This latest snapshot is yet another reminder of the urgency for Australia to put itself on a more balanced and diversified growth path,” said Innes Willox, chief executive of AIG Group, which did the survey.
The disparity between surging house prices and weaker manufacturing highlights the key challenge facing Australia’s economic-policy makers, who must find new sources of growth as the decadelong mining boom cools.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303640604579295503032402682
ARIAU AMAZON TOWERS
This sprawling sylvan playground, located 35 miles northwest of Manaus, offers more than six miles of canopy walkways, some as high as 70 feet. Outdoorsy though they may feel, these treehouse suites have all the trappings of more conventional accommodations: A/C, queen beds, private bathrooms, and big ol’ balconies. Adventurous guests can go jungle trekking and piranha fishing, or sign up for a tropical tree-climbing program led by local photographer Leonide Principe; the rest of you can just drink the day away in one of the resort’s four treetop bars.
http://living.msn.com/life-inspired/life-unleashed/incredible-treehouse-hotels
Organizational shoe-in
Finding the right organization and storage solutions for your home can be hard. But making your own is much easier than you’d think! These 38 DIY organizing ideas may inspire you.
Don’t you just love it when a storage solution that is ideal for one type of organization turns out to be equally useful for another? Hang a clear shoe organizer on your pantry door, label the pockets with colorful tags, and use them to store a variety of kitchen utensil and supplies. You’ll find it’s a perfect fit.
http://living.msn.com/home-decor/diy-center-projects-are-calling/slideshow?cp-documentid=259178005
The region’s worst storm so far this winter is expected to bear down Thursday with up to 8 inches of snow, with near-blizzard conditions forecast to kick up as soon as the evening rush hour.
Officials are encouraging commuters to take public transportation and consider leaving work early, as heavy snow and strong winds are expected from Thursday night into Friday.
The storm also will bring with it the possibility of even more of a holiday break for students after the traditional Christmas-to-New Year stretch. Half of the 54 school districts in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam were scheduled to resume classes Thursday; some schools will dismiss students early on Thursday and Lakeland schools are closed. List:
http://lohud.com/schoolclosings
A winter storm warning is in effect from 4 a.m. Thursday until 1 p.m. Friday for northern Westchester, Putnam and Rockland, and from 6 p.m. Thursday until 1 p.m. Friday for southern Westchester, the National Weather Service said Wednesday
Light snow started falling in parts of Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties before dawn on Thursday, and it could be followed by a few inches during the day. The bulk of the snow is expected Thursday night into Friday. Winds could be close to 30 miles per hour after midnight Thursday. Friday’s high will be near 13 degrees and blustery winds will make it feel like below zero.
The National Weather Service is calling for total accumulations of 6 to 8 inches in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam. Map: Projected snowfall totals:
http://1.usa.gov/1gKMOXe