smithpaul's  Instablog

Our newest real estate investment opportunity is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina - one of the premier college towns in all of America.

College towns have always been attractive to real estate investors for numerous reasons. The steady stream of students and visiting professors ensure a good rental market. Job markets are aided by the well educated populations, and many people choose to retire in college towns, drawn by the cultural and sporting events and other offerings.

Our properties are located in The Retreat at Franklin - a highly desired, newly renovated 40-unit condo
development. The Retreat is located in an exceptional location, with close access to UNC and I-40.

Here are some of the property highlights:

• Walking path to the local library
• Each unit has an attached storage unit and deck or patio
• New Kenmore appliances which include refrigerator, range, dishwasher and microwave
• Custom build laundry cabinet for a stackable washer and dryer
• New hardwood floors, carpet and ceramic tile
• New roof, HVAC & water heater
• Directly on Chapel Hill/UNC bus line... View article

Jason Schmitt lost his $90,000-a-year job on an oil rig in 2009. The bank repossessed his Tulsa home and a rental property, and the former U.S. Army combat engineer filed for bankruptcy. Last month, after moving with his family to his Missouri hometown, he bought the $75,000 three-bedroom home he had been renting with the help of a Veterans Administration mortgage that lets borrowers buy property only two years after a foreclosure. "I'm not embarrassed by saying we had a bankruptcy-it seems that so many people have fallen victim to losing their job," says Schmitt, now a nursing recruiter for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "We've come back from this, and we are not going to give up on home ownership."

Even as banks impose stricter mortgage standards, the improving job market is lifting incomes and helping families such as the Schmitts repair credit scores, expanding the pool of eligible buyers and providing additional firepower to the housing recovery. About 7 million mortgage holders have had to leave their homes since 2007 because of foreclosure or a short sale, in which a property is sold for less than is owed, according to RealtyTrac. More than 1 million of them are now eligible for mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration, which considers applicants three years after a foreclosure or short sale, says Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics (MCO). Eligible households will expand to nearly 2 million by the end of 2014. "This could be a significant source of housing demand going forward," Zandi says. "Lots of people lost jobs through no fault of their own. They will be good credit risks in a reasonably good economy. It was not their willingness that was the problem, but their broad ability to pay."

As the economy has recovered, Americans have lifted their credit scores by paying off credit cards, car loans, and other debts, says Joanne Gaskin, product management director for scores at FICO (FICO), which assesses creditworthiness. Says Ezra Becker, a vice president at credit bureau TransUnion: "One of the great tenets of credit is that time heals."

Source: http://www.1realestateinvesting.com/former-homeowners-get-a-second-chance-as-fha-helps/

At first blush, home buying looks quite affordable right now. New data from real estate website Zillow (Z) show that if a person earning the median income of $52,513 buys a home at the median price of $157,400, he would spend just 12.6 percent of his income on mortgage payments. That's more than one-third less than the prebubble averages, when a mortgage on a median-priced home would cost about 20 percent of a median income.

Seems good, right? But that affordability is masking a problem-houses are overvalued. From 1988 through 1999, median home values averaged 2.6 times the median annual income. As the bubble kicked into gear, prices pushed up to almost four times income. With the crash, that ratio has come down-but not far enough, largely because incomes have been stagnant, if not declining, in recent years. Home values are now at three times the median income-that's 15 percent higher than they have historically been, relative to what Americans earn.

Source: http://www.1realestateinvesting.com/cheap-mortgages-are-hiding-the-truth-about-home-prices/