Elizabeth & Justin Thayer

It's never gong to happen! I know a lady who spent $2000 on a course in Portland Or. She had great credit so now she now owns three houses she can not sell and is going to file bankruptcy. Most can't come up with the kind of real money it takes so they just waste the $2000 and allot of time trying. I have met about 30 of these people as well. I feel bad for them, but they rarely listen to knowledgeable Brokers and investors.

There is a way to make money in Real Estate and I will give it to you for free!

1. Find a small home that needs a little or allot of work depending on you capabilities. Utilize a Real estate broker who is knowledgeable in investment properties, Short sales, Foreclosures, Etc. Fix it up just enough to rent for no less than 2 years. Rent until the market is at or near the top of a cycle. Remove renters Fix up to retail standards, stage and profit big.

I have made more money than I ever thought I would have with this simple process, but is it that simple! Kind of but you really need a good Broker or Realtor who has experience in these types of listing as negotiating with the banks is an art form that actually takes knowledge and practice. Some brokers have personal relationships with the people in charge of the distressed homes they are called asset managers. As a regular buyer you will never even get them on the phone! It's hard enough for most Realtors. I started investing this way before I became a Broker and had an excellent Realtor who helped me move up in the tax brackets and lifestyle. I ended up Marrying her and becoming a Broker myself continuing the process together.

This is the time to buy!!!! It's like a 1/2 price sale out there. History proves the market will indeed rebound and those bargain hunters out there right now are going profit in record amounts when it happens! I am going to once again be one of them!

For more information or a list of distressed homes in Lane county Oregon go to www.teamthayer.com or call Justin Thayer @ 541-543-7287

You will have to request a Foreclosure list but it's free! I also have tons of info for investors on the site!

I found this artical and had to comment! This is important information to all of the bargain hunters out there!

Justin

Online Foreclosure Sites Come With a Price
Buyers interested in foreclosures need a real estate professional''''s help navigating the online listings unless they are willing to pay a substantial monthly fee to use heavily advertised sites like ForeclosureStore and ForeclosureToGo.

Sites that are free, like Zillow.com and Trulia.com, just display filings culled from other sites, so users ultimately end up at the pay sites.

Users of the pay sites can often see a partial address and description, but if they want the whole enchilada, then they must cough up monthly fees that range from about $40 to $80.

RealtyTrac advertises free access, but often the addresses and other details are incomplete.

Source: The Associated Press, Alex Veiga (12/22/2008)

I also have found these sites are too flawed to be accurate. All most of them do is put out information from the county's notice of default lists. The homeowners on these lists often do not want to sell but are tying to save their home in which they often do! Imagine the surprise when a new investor as they get greeted with a shot gun after presenting an offer at the homeowners front door for what he owes on his first loan. This really happened in Lane county. These sites show the amount of the first lien and displays it as if it is a selling price! They do not show the second mortgage or any other liens that need cleared to obtain the property if indeed the home owner wants too sell. This get people excited enough to whip out their credit card to pay the $20 fee. to be a member of the site for a month. I have yet to see anyone in serious trouble with their mortgage and only have one loan on it with tons of equity! If that where the case they would just sell the house.

Fortunately for people in Lane county Or I will provide a true list of distressed property to anyone whop wants this information for free. I search for these homes and put out a list about once per week. I include Foreclosed, Homeowners trying to secure a short sale, and estate sales in one list. You can email me @ info@teamthayer.com , call my cell @ 541-543-7287 or, go to my web site www.teamthayer.com

Seller Paid Taxes on short sales explained.

Prior to December 2007, if a homeowner lost his house due to a bank foreclosure, and the bank forgave any difference between the price it was sold for and what was owed, the homeowner would owe additional income tax on that portion. Yes, it's hard to believe, but true.

Let's say the homeowner owed $300,000 on the mortgage, but the foreclosure sale only brought in $200,000. Then the bank forgave the $100,000 shortfall. The homeowner would have been liable for the income tax on the $100,000 debt forgiveness from the bank.

The IRS considered this money effectively paid to the homeowner, and it would be taxable in their top bracket.

Now, because of the unique stresses in the housing industry lately and on our whole economy, in December 2007, Congress stepped in to provide temporary relief in the form of forgiving this debt, but only for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax years. After that, the old rule applies again.

To be eligible for this tax relief, the mortgage must be for your principal residence. It does not apply to vacation, investment or other properties. And no more than $2 million of forgiven debt can be excluded from taxable income.

Home Equity Loans

Another very important detail in this temporary tax break is if part of the forgiven debt was a home equity loan and used for purposes other than to build, buy or substantially improve the property, that portion is still taxable. In other words, home equity loans used for vacations aren't included.

Short Sales

Now, what happens in a short sale? In brief, this can occur when a borrower is behind on the mortgage payments and the lender agrees he can sell his house for less than what is owed on the mortgage. But all proceeds must be turned over to the bank.

The portion of the mortgage the bank forgives, plus any commission expenses or other selling costs, are taxable income if this debt is canceled. Yes, even the commission and selling expenses count.

A homeowner can now receive a $250,000 (single) and $500,000 (married) capital gain exclusion on the sale of their primary residence.

While $7,500 capital gains tax is surely a lot less than the $100,000 canceled by the lender, the homeowner may not think of this or be aware it could happen down the road, perhaps just prior to retirement. And capital gains taxes are always subject to change.

Mortgage Insurance Affected

It is important to also note this act extended mortgage insurance as an itemized deduction all the way through 2010. Yes, there's a restriction. The mortgage contract has to be entered into between December 31, 2006 and January 1, 2011.

For more information on short sales or for a list of short sales in Lane county Oregon call go to www.teamthayer.com or call 541-543-7287

Results of 2008 Q3 Homeowner Confidence Survey

There's no doubt we've been deluged with depressing economic and housing news over the past few months. Every day is a new headline, every channel has a new pundit and the recession debate has shifted from "if" to "how long."
Given this, when fielding our Q3 Homeowner Confidence Survey earlier this month, we expected the results to be markedly different than last quarter, when 62% of homeowners thought their home's value had increased or stayed the same (despite 77% of homes losing value). The Q3 Survey, fielded October 7-9, 2008 (the worst week in stock market history, by the way), asked homeowners their perception of their home's value over the past year, and what they think will happen to their home's value in the coming months.The results are kind of baffling. While the perception gap did narrow, still half of U.S. homeowners do not think their home's value has declined over the past year. Specifically:

* 32% think their home's value increased in the past 12 months

* 17% think their home's value held steady

* 51% think their home's value declined In reality

three-quarters (74%) of U.S. homes lost value in the past 12 months, according to Zillow's Q3 data.The following chart breaks down responses by region, and you can see that homeowners in different areas of the country hold a more (or less) realistic view. In the West, where the most homes are losing value (85% of homes in the West declined over the past year), homeowners are more realistic - with 65% of homeowners saying the value of their own homes has declined. In the Northeast, the perception gap is widest.
Meanwhile, optimism continues into the future for a good chunk of homeowners: * 21% believe their home's value will increase in the coming 6 months * 40% believe their home's value will stay the same * 40% believe their home's value will decrease.




Is this optimism (or denial) necessarily a bad thing? Maybe not, if you plan to stay in your home for the next several years and aren't making financial decisions today based on presumed equity. It's sort of like the way I'm avoiding looking at my 401k statements - doesn't affect me today, so why get depressed. But for sellers, an unrealistic view of your home's value today can only hurt - you, when your home sits on the market for months, and the local market at large, with a continued and growing glut of inventory that's just not selling.

For more information visit www.teamthayer.com

Here is the latest way people are trying to profit from others misfortune.

The following was actually sent to me about a house I have listed. I removed the actual persons name and website. They obviously did not realize they where contacting a Real Estate Broker so I investigated further to find out what they are really trying to do!

(Peace and Abundance of Blessings to your and you family, I am running the numbers, in preparation to make you an offer on your property. I think your property would fit nicely into my Perfect Tenant Program. The benefits that you get are PRICE, CONVENIENCE, AND SECURITY. We offer to buy your house at today's full market value and take care of the rest. When we lease option a house, we guarantee in writing that all maintenance and repairs will be paid by us while we are selling your house to a tenant/buyer. We only deal with high quality people who are looking to buy, not just rent a house. When you sell your home to us, we handle all the marketing of the house. This includes paying for advertising, screening potential tenant/buyers, and showing the house. We want the process of selling your home to go as smoothly as possible, with no more headaches for you caused by buyers who tell you that they want a house, but end up not being able to qualify for financing. You are also relieved of having to pay double mortgage payments in the event that you have to move before you are able to get a buyer for your home. We simplify the process of selling you home by handling all the details that waste much of your time and money. We make your monthly payments while a tenant/buyer is qualifying for a loan. All your expenses related to the house are taken care of. Try getting a realtor to do that while listing your home! Another advantage is that our objective is to put only high quality tenant/buyers in the house since we make our profit by selling for higher than we buy. Since we guarantee all maintenance on the house, it is in our best interest to ensure that our tenant/buyer will take care of the home and eventually secure financing to cash you, the seller and us out. This means that we put our tenant/buyer through an intensive pre-screening process before they are even permitted to look at the house. We don't work for commissions, so you keep your equity. And, because our profits are made by selling for slightly higher then what we buy for, we have a vested interest in the house and in making sure it gets sold. Please visit my website XXX yyyy for more info. Please let me when you are ready to move forward,

I found out these are the people who bought those get rich with no money down buying Real Estate programs from late night infomercials. Here is exactly how it works:

They buy your house from you on a land sale contract with a return clause at the end (This means you are financing them. They make you payments but pay you little to no actual money up front. However legally they own the property). Then they find a renter and sign them up on a rent to own contract. They rent it for a period of time usually 6mo - 3 years hoping the tenant gets their credit in good enough shape to buy the home for more money than you sold it to them for at the end of the contract. Remember they paid you nothing just took over your payments! Well they did not really take your payments over they pay you your payment amount that they get from the renter they found and put on the rent to own contract. They or you never pay your bank off so you are still responsible for your house payment! The worst part is the people they put on the rent to own rarely become credit worthy enough to buy a home in one to three years. The reason most people go with rent to own in the first place is bad credit. If that renter cant get conventional financing or cash in the amount of time of their rent to own contract they will charge you for their services by selling you back your own home for more than they bought it. This will be confusingly spelled out in the return clause of the land sale contract. This is how to buy property with no money out of your own pocket. What a scam! It's totally legal to!

Rent your house yourself or call a Realtor before getting caught up in the loosing end of these get rich quick schemers. There are better ways to get help even if you are in trouble and over you head!

If you need to sell your house and live in lane county call me @ 541- 543-7287 or go to www.teamthayer.com