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Sue Frye

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Top 10 Hottest Buyers Markets

10-05-09
Sue Frye

From HousingPredictor.com

The hottest buyers housing markets are places you may find comfort in the worst housing crash since at least the Great Depression. The top 10 buyers markets listed by Housing Predictor at mid-year are markets that aren't necessarily big arts and entertainment centers, mostly found in smaller communities. Amarillo, Texas takes the first position as the nation's top buyers market in 2009 with the highest likelihood of housing inflation over the next few years. Austin, Texas and Tucson, Arizona are the largest metro areas to be named to the list possessing the highest probability of growing through the recessionary economy over the next few years. As a high-tech hub, Austin will have what it takes to not only sustain the downturn but see home values inflate. All 10 markets hold the promise of prosperity in the near future. In the current economic environment there are few areas of the country that will see appreciation this year. The markets named here represent cities that are the most likely to experience housing inflation over the next few years, despite the downward economy and are the best places forecast to buy real estate to make a profit. The financial crisis dealt a severe blow to the national economy that will take many years to overcome. Unlike any other downturn in real estate since the Great Depression, markets have seen home values decline at record levels. Times have changed as a result, and real estate inflation will take years to return in most areas. Investing for the long term, considered to be 10 years or longer is the best protection for those who choose to take the risk. Listed from highest forecast appreciation to lowest.

Rank Real Estate Market

1. Amarillo, TX

2. Sioux Falls, SD

3. Biloxi, MS

4. Logan, UT

5. Bismarck, ND

6. Bozeman, MT

7. Baton Rouge, LA

8. Austin, TX

9. Casper, WY

10. Tucson, AZ

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Introducing Meadowlark Ranch, One of the Gallatin Valley's newest Subdivision offering Affordable Housing.

09-25-09
Sue Frye

Model Homes

3 to choose from. Visit: Meadowlark Ranch or call or email me for details.

A lifetime of treasured moments await.

Meadowlark Ranch believes in the saying "Home is where the heart is." And if you've thought about what makes a home what it can be, you realize it includes a place where quiet evenings, open spaces, neighborhood gathering places and scenic vistas offer an opportunity to build treasured memories. A home complete with personal comforts, community conveniences and lasting values yours to share for a lifetime.

We invite you to discover Meadowlark Ranch

Tucked peacefully within the Gallatin Valley, Meadowlark Ranch is this place. Ideally suited to enjoying the area's many amenities, Meadowlark Ranch is conveniently located to air transportation, shopping, Bozeman's and Belgrade's business districts, medical services, dining and a diversity of recreational activities.

Connecting to your world

Utilizing highly celebrated design concepts, Meadowlark Ranch offers the region's finest master planned community. Land planning techniques used throughout the neighborhood result in a community character where connectivity creates new kinds of destination places. Offering a diversity of residential lots, each is positioned with careful consideration given to the stunning views and large open spaces abutting the streetscape. By meandering the placement of lots with deep setbacks and curving roadways, Meadowlark Ranch offers residents increased green space while maximizing privacy. Winding pathways, far from passing traffic, lead to neighborhood parks and playgrounds and provide a safe environment. A multitude of park areas complemented by children's playgrounds, picnicking areas and a special sense of belonging are yours to enjoy.

Meadowlark Ranch offers lots designed to accommodate the most popular home plans featuring two and three car garages. Carefully crafted and enforced Covenants and Restrictions ensure long-term value.

A new standard for community excellence.

Meadowlark Ranch, Gallatin Valley's newest residential community offers a setting ideally suited to simply enjoying life. A home where families grow, dreams come true, and friends unite. We invite you to discover Meadowlark Ranch. Call me for details.

Sue Frye, REALTOR®, real estate agent and broker for Bozeman, Belgrade and Big Sky, Montana home listings, property and land for sale - NUMBER1EXPERT(tm)

Sue Frye, Sales Associate, CRS, GRI
ERA Landmark Real Estate
1805 West Dickerson, Suite 1
Bozeman, MT 59715
Phone: 406-556-5056
Fax: 406-586-4946
Email: SueFrye@SueFrye.com

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Montana resident now world's oldest man

07-20-09
Sue Frye
7/20/2009, 10:31 a.m. EDT The Associated Press (AP) — GREAT FALLS, Mont. - A 112-year-old Montana man has become the world's oldest living man after 113-year-old Henry Allingham of England died Saturday. Walter Breuning was born Sept. 21, 1896. He learned to read by kerosene lantern, remembers his grandfather telling him about fighting in the Civil War, and cast his first presidential ballot for Woodrow Wilson. Now a resident of the Rainbow Retirement Home in Great Falls, Breuning takes one aspirin and eats two meals a day. He strolls the halls daily wearing a suit and tie, and still walks the ramps to his second-floor apartment. Breuning's longevity advice? Stay active in body and mind, don't eat too much and be good to people.
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Yellowstone Club Sold to CrossHarbor Capital

07-17-09
Sue Frye
Eight months after it tumbled into bankruptcy, the posh Yellowstone Club has a new owner, and a new lease on life. By Jonathan Weber , 7-17-09 Sam Byrne, principal at CrossHabor Capital Partners and the new owner of the Yellowstone Club. The sale of the Yellowstone Club to Boston-based CrossHarbor Capital Partners was formally completed Friday, ending the main chapter of an extraordinarily tumultuous bankruptcy proceeding and paving the way for the revitalization of the luxurious private ski resort. CrossHarbor, led by real estate investor Sam Byrne, paid $115 million for the 13,600 acre club near Big Sky, Montana, and has committed additional money to fund operations and assure payment of trade creditors. CrossHarbor will operate the club in partnership with Discovery Land Co., and plans to invest in additional ski terrain and re-orient future real estate development away from the steep hillsides and toward the base area. The high-end resort real estate market is moribund, and it’s not clear how quickly the sale of multi-million-dollar lots and condos and $300,000 memberships might resume. But the sale assures that the club will remain open and employees will keep their jobs, and the many tradesmen in Bozeman and Big Sky will receive the money that they are owed and have at least the hope of future work at the club. “I am very happy that the Yellowstone Club has today successfully emerged from bankruptcy as a well capitalized enterprise that will have a bright future for its members, employees and the community,” Byrne said. “This reorganization is not only a great result for the club, but also for the local vendors and trades people in the greater Big Sky community who will, after a long wait, be paid the monies due to them.” Tom Beckett, lead attorney for the club’s creditors, said hundreds of trade claims had already been approved for payment by the key parties, and money would likely be forthcoming within the next few weeks. The Yellowstone Club, founded just ten years ago, features extraordinary private skiing, a championship golf course, and an exceptional natural setting in the high mountains north of Yellowstone National Park. But the club was forced to file for bankruptcy protection last November in the wake of the divorce of club founder Tim Blixseth, the collapse of the real estate market, and years of reckless spending. Blixseth engineered a $375 million loan from a Credit Suisse-led lender group in 2005, and he and his then-wife Edra spent much of the money on personal luxuries, and on exotic vacation properties around the world that were supposed to be part of the ill-fated Yellowstone Club World. Byrne, who had invested heavily in a condo project and other property at the club, had tried to buy the club from Blixseth in early 2008 for more than $400 million, but that deal fell apart. In the bankruptcy proceedings, Credit Suisse and Blixseth attempted to blame the mess on a supposed plot by Byrne and Edra Blixseth to get the club on the cheap. Those arguments ultimately went nowhere, but not before they precipitated a bankruptcy court battle that Judge Ralph B. Kirscher, in a ruling this week, said was “of a magnitude never seen before in this court.” The court fight was settled in June after a scathing ruling from Judge Kirscher stripped the Credit Suisse lender group of its priority claims. Kirscher ruled that the bank had acted with “naked greed” in making a loan that was based on bogus appraisals and was far too large for the business to support. Blixseth was also accused of breaching his fiduciary duties to the club, and a trial on those charges will resume in bankruptcy court in the fall. Blixseth has appealed the ruling approving the bankruptcy reorganization plan and the accompanying sale to CrossHarbor. But Judge Kirscher earlier this week refused to stay the sale pending the appeal, stating the the appeal was very unlikely to succeed. Meanwhile, Edra Blixseth is herself in personal bankruptcy, and that case has been very tumultuous as well, with Tim Blixseth and some creditors alleging a range of misconduct by Edra. She received ownership of the club last August as part of the couple’s divorce settlement, and Tim Blixseth has aimed to cast the club’s bankruptcy as her fault. But the evidence suggests that bankruptcy was all but inevitable by the time she took control. Credit Suisse, Edra and others may yet attempt to recover assets from Tim Blixseth, notably properties in Mexico and Turks and Caicos that were acquired at least in part with proceeds from the Credit Suisse loans. Those deals were not in violation of the loan agreements, but the assets could nonetheless be subject to clawback in the wake of the bankruptcy. The club currently has 320 members - a few of them celebrities, including Bill Gates. But the bulk of the members are low-profile rich folks and they were generally supportive of the CrossHarbor deal. A number of club members have co-invested in the club with CrossHarbor, as has Discovery Land Co., operator of more than a dozen high-end private clubs around the world.
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Using the $8,000 First Time Home Buyers Credit for down payment!??

05-20-09
Sue Frye

HUD Action Allows Home Buyers To Use $8,000 Tax Credit For Downpayments On FHA-Insured Loans


May 13, 2009 - HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan's decision to allow consumers to use the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit to help cover their downpayment and closing costs on FHA-insured mortgages will be a big boost to the housing market, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

"The biggest obstacle for first-time buyers is coming up with a downpayment," said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. "We commend Secretary Donovan for acting decisively to enable buyers to access the tax credit at the time of closing. This will help to stimulate home sales, stabilize housing and get the economy back on track." The measures announced by HUD would allow FHA-approved lenders; federal, state and local government agencies; and FHA-approved non-profit organizations to supply home buyers short-term or "bridge loans" up to the amount of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. Longer term loans secured by second liens can also be used by government agencies and FHA-approved non-profit organizations to facilitate home sales. Several state housing finance agencies have introduced such programs and a number of agencies are considering that possibility. More information about these programs can be found on the National Council of State Housing Agencies Web site at www.ncsha.org/section.cfm/3/34/2920. Previously, the home buyer would have been unable to access the tax credit until they filed their next annual tax return or an amended 2008 tax return and received the refund from the IRS. Robson and others NAHB leaders discussed this matter and other housing-related issues with Secretary Donovan last week. "Secretary Donovan shares our view on the need for a housing and economic recovery," said Robson. "We appreciate his leadership in moving swiftly to help first-time home buyers to access the tax credit up-front at the time of closing. The timing could not have been better as we are in the midst of the crucial spring home buying season." The next step is to see how FHA-approved lenders use HUD's new guidelines to actually monetize the tax credit for first-time home buyers and structure the payback provisions of the loans. NAHB encourages lenders to act promptly to put these provisions into place. To qualify for the tax credit, first-time home buyers must actually close on their home purchase by Dec. 1, 2009. Buyers can take the credit on their 2008 or 2009 income tax return. For further information about the tax credit - including a detailed question and answer section and a number of home-buying resources for consumers - log on to NAHB's consumer Web site at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com. A Spanish version is also available to provide detailed information on the tax credit to Spanish-speaking first-time home buyers.

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