Have you ever felt like you could never network fast enough at a big event or that you were simply throwing your cards at people without adequate introduction? If so, then a Midwest real estate investing trend could be the answer for you. A REIA in the Kansas City area has established a special form of speed “dating” just for real estate investors in which investors have a chance to meet each other face to face in a limited-time setting and tell each other about themselves[1]. The REIA charges a fee for non-members, and members attend the networking for free. Each session lasts about three minutes, with a minute for each person to share their expertise and tell a little bit about themselves and a minute to swap cards. Then, the parties move on. The association predicts that if they have a full house, each person will have the opportunity to meet 40 new potential contacts.

Does this sound like a good way to network to you? Have you ever speed networked at an event before?

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The “leading economists” who participate in the National Association of Business Economics (NABE)’s October 2010 Outlook survey assess the housing market recovery as “tepid overall” but believe that “home prices have hit bottom,” claims the NABE report, released yesterday[1]. These analysts are professionals with firms like Moody’s and Fannie Mae. While the figures and estimates from the 46 analysts were collected before the foreclosure moratoria were implemented, the fact that Bank of America has already resumed foreclosure proceedings in 23 states and predicts that only about 30,000 foreclosures will be delayed at all provides some home that the freeze will not have the long-term, negative effects – like a double dip – on the housing market that had been predicted.

NABE predicts a gain in home prices of 1.2 percent in 2011 along with an improvement in unemployment in 2011 from 9.5 percent to 9.2 percent.

Do you think that this analysis is accurate?

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A woman in Quincy, New York has recently been indicted for pretending to be a lawyer, obtaining equity lines of credit and mortgages through false information and even taking out loans on properties that did not exist. The woman, along with three other people, allegedly made more than $2.8 million in about two years by submitting appraisals for non-existent properties using other people’s identities. Once the loans were obtained, bills were paid for a short period of time, then the loans were allowed to go into default, at which point it was discovered that at least some of the properties did not exist at all, and that none should have been used as collateral[1].

Authorities dubbed this particular scheme “Operation Stolen Dreams,” and had targeted the fake lawyer (who has multiple aliases) as part of a 38-person sting. She faces 30 years in prison, up to $250,000 in fines and being forced to make restitution.

If Ned Abdul, a Minneapolis real estate developer and landlord, thought he had put his troubled past and possible fraud behind him earlier this year, he was wrong. Abdul, who is already in hot water thanks to possibly skimming cash from a nightclub and event center and fraudulent billing of tenants, now faces charges from a former NHL player who claims that Abdul and a real estate agent conned him out of $1.5 million by flipping commercial properties at inflated prices to him and “other unsuspecting buyers”[1].

Already the target of a federal probe, Abdul now faces charges that he sold the properties at inflated prices the same day he bought them, marking at one up by more than $13 million. While Abdul has big problems and may not be a “nice guy” as a federal probe indicates he is suspected of everything from mail and wire fraud to money laundering, the fact that he is being sued for marking up a property is cause for some concern. Do you think that this lawsuit is justified?

Both Abdul and his partners have denied wrongdoing.

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Leadership from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) met with representatives from Bank of America and Wells Fargo to discuss difficulties related to getting “deals to the closing table” earlier this week. The trade group has similar meetings scheduled with Chase Home Mortgage and CitiMortgage later this year[1]. While according to NAR, both lenders understand the problems associated with closing deals, particularly in today’s market, NAR is concerned that from a realtor’s perspective, many decisions about lending to buyers appear to be inconsistent and are not clearly explained so that agents can use that information in the future.

As a result of the meetings, both lenders will have an increased online presence designed to educate and provide resources to real estate professionals and will work to speed the loan approval and short-sale approval processes. NAR reported that “the banks do not debate that there is a lot of room for improvement,” and emphasized that “NAR is not yet seeing improvement and communicated that reality to the banks.” Both entities will be working “more closely together on solutions.”

Do you think that NAR was right in taking lenders to task?

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A California lawyer and his friends worked together with 30 sellers to net over $2 million sales on 30 homes in Orange and Riverside counties in California. On the loan applications for the mortgages on the properties, the lawyer and his cohorts created “straw buyer” persona that appeared to be living in the properties. Once the loans were approved for inflated values, the sellers had to return the inflated portion of the sales price to the conspirators, who then split the extra money[1].

The lawyer who headed the scheme, Gerald L. Wolfe, was originally a registered real estate broker in California. He now faces up to 20 years in a federal prison, and will appear in court for the first time today.

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According to Zillow’s Real Estate Market Report released on Friday, home depreciation leveled out in August. However, while home values fell about 0.3 percent between July and August (similar to the same change measured between June and July), the market has not yet bottomed out, and Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, stated that “the data clearly illustrates that the bottom in national home values has not yet been hit”[1]. However, not everyone agrees with this prediction. In fact, experts from SmartMoney at the Wall Street Journal believe that the market has already hit bottom and that lending standards, which have been “onerously high since 2008,” may ease up in the coming months as the jumbo mortgage market crawls back to life, lower credit scores enable homeowners to qualify for financing and some down payments creep back down toward five percent[2]. While no one is disputing that it is going to be a long recovery, the experts are all over the spectrum when it comes to when that recovery will start.

Do you think that the housing market has bottomed out?

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[2] http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/real-estate/3-signs-the-mortgage-market-has-hit-bottom/

When someone who can actually lend you money says that something is a good investment and that they are expecting to lend on it, it might pay off to listen. According to Kevin Amolsch, “the founder of the premier lender for real estate investors” in Colorado, “the clock is ticking” on investments that must be made in order to private equity funds to remain in business, and he believes that rental property is the way to go[1]. Amolsch believes that private equity funds are sitting on capital that must be invested in the next one to two years, and that when the cash starts to trickle back into the economy, “we will see an increase in job growth nationally.” He thinks that rental real estate is the next big investment wave. “Hold on to your hats, we might be turning the corner,” he announced yesterday.

Do you think that rental property is attractive right now?

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Using funds from the “Hardest Hit” Program, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and JP Morgan Chase will work together to implement a program that will “pay unemployed borrower mortgage payments for up to a year of $9,000”[1]. While the embattled lender has currently suspended foreclosures in 23 states to review the affidavits that led to these foreclosures, Michigan is not one of the states in which Chase has suspended all foreclosure processes.

Chase plans to send out application packages and check documents for applicants before sending the packs on to the State Housing Development Authority, and help could come as soon as the following month if the application is approved quickly enough.

Do you think that this is a good use of hardest-hit funding?

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The attorney general of Arizona was awarded a $1.7 million grant yesterday to fight mortgage fraud after Arizona was ranked first as the state most at-risk in the country for mortgage fraud schemes by Interthinx Mortgage Fraud Risk Report[1]. The money will go to the creation of a six-person unit “devoted exclusively to investigating and prosecuting mortgage-related crimes.” The unit will be part of the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s office and will get to work within 60 days. One of the attorney general’s main targets is the loan modification business. The state has enacted a number of laws to prevent people who modify loans or provide any type of “foreclosure consultation services” from charging upfront fees and loan modification consultants now must obtain a “loan originator license” from the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions.

Do you think that this is a good use of government grant money? Do you believe that these types of measures are effective?

Thank you for reading! Your comments and questions are welcomed below.