Real Estate Investing

Remember when I linked to the personal experience New York Times Money writer Edmund Andrews and his struggle with holding on to his home?  There’s more to the story coming out now.  Andrews’ wife had declared bankruptcy previously and it appears he didn’t disclose this information.  Nor that she filed a second time … a serial bankruptcy victim?

The bankruptcy code requires filers to wait 8 years after a previous Chapter 7 discharge.  Barely four months after she became eligible, Patty Barreiro filed again.  And the filing shows some suggestion of strategic debt management. 

…

Andrews married a woman with a lengthy history of debt and spending problems.  Serial bankrupts were getting into trouble long before there was a credit bubble, indeed long before there were credit cards or 30-year self-amortizing mortgages. In fact, the literary history of America is littered with them; we owe much of Mark Twain’s later work  to his catastrophic financial mismanagement.  

Read the whole post here.

The days of paying administrative fees to real estate companies may be skidding to an end after a federal court ruled against them, according to the Boston Herald.

The decision targets one of the most commonplace practices adopted by brokerage firms in recent years: charging consumers “admin,” “processing,” “ABC” and other mystery fees ranging from $150 to as much as $500 per transaction.

My firm has never charged this administrative fee and it frosts my backside when my buyers or sellers are asked to pay them for other companies.   I have felt that sometimes they can be justified… when a buyer has you drive them around forever and then doesn’t buy, an administrative fee can offset the cost of gas you’ve spent.

The first time I saw one, I was caught off-guard when a buyer’s agent had sneaked it into a contract with the rest of the closing costs.  I was appalled and embarrassed at closing when it showed up on the settlement statement.  After that, I was always on guard against that company and against those fees.  When I see “administrative fee” anywhere in a contract, my buyers and sellers specifically state that we/they will NOT pay this junk fee.  I’m not alone in my thoughts, either.  Zac Bissonnette at WalletPop says,

The point is that the fees are garbage — absolute unfiltered, unmitigated, bullcrap. What exactly is the fee for? Inman says they are sometimes referred to as “administrative fees,” “technology fees,” “transaction fees,” “flat fees,” and administrative brokerage commission (ABC) fees.”

The real estate brokers and agents involved in a transaction already collect a hefty commission for bringing together buyers and sellers. Inman reports that “Some who defend the fees say real estate brokerages need to recoup rising overhead expenses and investments in technology.”

Amen to that.  My vote is to get rid of them, too. We are already paid well when we do a good job.  Why bite the hand that feeds you?

Photo by Three Pounds of Real Estate.

Do I really want to be honest with you and say when my last closing occurred?  No, I don’t WANT to, but I will.  It was in December.  I have remained busy … taken four listings, counseled someone on renting their home because of poor home values, have worked on a couple of lease purchases.  But no closings.

This is about to change, thankfully.  One of my listings has sold and we’re waiting only for the appraisal to come back.  My heart is in my throat as I anxiously await the findings.  One of my lease-purchases moved in yesterday, so we continue to move them toward final purchase.  And my phone is beginning to ring … people are calling interested in buying.

Today’s article on MSNBC.com underscores that buyers may be returning to the market, but they don’t seem to be in a hurry.

The number of house hunters out this spring is an encouraging sign that the real estate market is beginning to turn around. There’s just one problem — a lot of them are in no hurry to buy, according to interviews with dozens of shoppers at open houses last weekend.

The market’s turning point will be tough to predict, because it will be gradual and obscured by conflicting signs like recent housing reports that showed sales of previously occupied homes fell 3 percent from February to March, while new home sales seemed to have bottomed out.

I am trying to hang in there as a Realtor - finding ways to earn extra income while I wait.  Finding ways to contact those potential buyers.  Finding ways to contact the people I know who might refer someone to me.   Trying to be realistic and not let my Pollyanna dreams mar reality.  I wait.