News About Properties

Renters conned out of a home

That’s the warning being given by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office and real estate agents to potential renters who could be caught up in a costly con game.

District Attorney David Paulson says that multiple cases of rental fraud have been reported recently from Vallejo to Vacaville, leaving unsuspecting house renters without cash or a place to live.

Here’s how the scam works:

A con artist identifies a vacant, possibly foreclosed, home that hasn’t yet been placed back on the market. He or she surreptitiously has the locks changed on the home, then advertises the residence for rent on Craig’s List or at a similar online site.

Last two waterfront lots on Siesta are being sold [South Florida]

Ron Allen, who made his fortune investing in real estate, is set to snap up the last two undeveloped beachfront lots on Siesta Key today.

The price of those lots: $5.4 million.

“I may be paying more than I should, but I figure investing in beachfront will always be pretty good — even in bad times,” Allen said.

Allen, who began buying houses in Sarasota early in his career and later graduated to hotels, said that the land at 145 Beach Road is zoned for commercial and residential development, which permits him to build three or four condominium units on each lot.

On the waterfront [South Florida]

There’s something about living on the water — whether it’s the ocean, Intracoastal, or even a manmade lake — that soothes the soul, inspires active, outdoor living … and helps to fill our wallets. Purchasing waterfront property will almost always yield a positive return on your investment, since there is precious little of it to go around, even in Florida, and so many people want to live on or near anything that even remotely ripples.

Like all real estate, waterfront property has taken a dip (excuse the pun!) — but not nearly as much as other types — and it is certain to rebound stronger than ever as soon as the market recovers.

Before you take the plunge (okay, that’s the last one!), there are definitely some key factors to consider.

A homebuyer’s market, but caution still rules

The spring buying season has started, and the numbers - surprise - don’t reveal many sunny story lines.

Yes, the falling prices can mean bargains for investors fat with cash. And first-time homebuyers have begun poking around, enticed by low interest rates and an $8,000 federal tax credit.

The Portland-area median home price in April was $249,900, down 17 percent from the bubble-era peak. The number of closed sales through April was down 30 percent from a year ago. Anyone who bought after January 2006 has seen his home lose value.

The trouble is most acute among downtown condo towers and luxury homes. Sales of homes above $1 million are off nearly two-thirds from last year.

Amid Rubble of Housing Bust, Phoenix Begins a New Frenzy

Every weekday morning, Lou Jarvis drives the sun-baked suburban streets looking for investment gold: a family that will lose its house in a foreclosure auction within a few hours.

If the property looks promising, Mr. Jarvis puts in a bid on behalf of any of his dozens of clients eager to become landlords. When he wins, he offers to let the family stay in the house and rent for much less than their mortgage payment.

With this sweltering desert city enduring one of the largest tumbles in housing prices for any urban area since the Depression, there is an unrelenting stream of foreclosures to choose from. On some days, hundreds are offered for sale at the auctions that take place on the plaza in front of the county courthouse.

This is a ‘Buyer’s Market’?

Q: I’m frustrated with this so-called “buyers market.” I’m 28 years old and looking for a starter home for about $400,000 in Massapequa, New York. I have around $100,000 saved for a down payment and closing costs. I’m also recently engaged and saving for a wedding. (We made $215,000 combined last year and have secure jobs.) I’ve looked at more than 50 houses over the last six months, and have put in five respectable offers, but haven’t had any luck striking a deal. My agent thinks I should up the ante, but I feel most homes are still overpriced, especially since most have not been updated since the 1950s. Should I take a break from looking?

A: If house hunting is wearing on you, take a break for a month or two and focus on your wedding plans. But don’t take too long, because as you’ve discovered, the entry-level market in Massapequa is heating up.

You wouldn’t think this is the case just looking at the statistics for Nassau County on Long Island, where Massapequa is located. According to Prudential Douglas Elliman, the median sales price of a property in the “middle island,” home to Massapequa, fell 10.6%, to $380,000, in the first quarter of this year from the same quarter a year earlier. Over the same period, the “listing discount”—the difference between what the seller was asking and the buyer paid for a property—grew to 7.7% from 6%.