How real estate debt can make you rich

How real estate debt can make you rich

There are two primary reader audiences for “Real Estate Debt Can Make You Rich” by mortgage broker Steve Dexter. The first group of readers will be savvy home buyers and real estate agents who want to learn the inner-secret workings of the home mortgage industry. The second group of readers are real estate investors who not only need to learn how mortgage loans are originated but also how “good debt” can be created to maximize profits.

“I am a merchant of debt. I have been putting people in debt for 15 years,” Dexter reveals as he shares how the mortgage brokerage industry works and why consumers and investors need to understand its pros and cons. “You need mortgage debt, not consumer debt,” the author explains as he begins this one-of-a-kind “how to get a mortgage” book.

The author is an experienced mortgage broker, who says there is a mortgage for virtually every real estate finance situation. He advises, “Therefore, you have two choices in life: you can either pay taxes or buy real estate.” Then he proceeds to explain how owning real estate leveraged with mortgages can lead to long-term wealth.

Trailer park sold, but no big changes planned — yet [South Florida]

Trailer park sold, but no big changes planned — yet [South Florida]

The owner of a dilapidated trailer park has sold the property to pay off her debts. Though nothing is changing for now, the new owners said they will consider building low-income housing on the site in the future.

Little Farm Trailer Park, a 15-acre property straddling the city of Miami and the village of El Portal, was sold earlier this month to a pair of Miami Beach-based investors.

Biscayne Park LLC, a company owned by Magdiel Fernandez and Teresa Cardenas, bought the dilapidated park on Nov. 2 from Sarika Olah for $8 million, according to court records.

Renter’s insurance advised for scatterbrained cooks

Renter’s insurance advised for scatterbrained cooks

Must tenant without coverage pay for fire damage?

DEAR BOB: I rent an apartment in a large complex. About six months ago, I accidentally let my dinner cooking on the stove get overheated. It caused a fire that resulted in about $15,000 damage to my apartment. Fortunately, nobody was injured. The landlord’s insurance company paid to have my apartment restored. Now the insurer is suing me for the $15,000. I don’t have renter’s insurance. Do I have to pay? –Sarah T.

DEAR SARAH: It sounds like you were negligent in allowing your cooking to overheat, causing a fire, which resulted in the $15,000 damage.

The landlord could have sued you for negligence damages. Instead, the insurer paid the $15,000 repair costs. By doing so, the insurer became subrogated to the landlord’s right to sue you for damages due to your negligence.

Back to location, location, location [Southern California]

Back to location, location, location [Southern California]

The real estate boom endures in parts of the state, including cities east of San Francisco and some near L.A.

The great real estate boom is dead. Buyers can check out dozens of houses without dreading that they suddenly will be priced out of a delirious market. Sellers are eager, sometimes desperate, to make a deal.

But not in a narrow strip of land across from San Francisco. Buyers here often find themselves paying more than expected — if they get the house at all. In a few laid-back towns in the East Bay, the boom lingers.

Some condo builders remain bullish [South Florida]

Some condo builders remain bullish [South Florida]

Insiders think the middle market, around $400,000, still has life left in it.

“The real estate market has its ups and downs, but we have a positive outlook,” said Brad West of Far West Properties, part of a group unveiling plans for Villas on Grove, 16 townhomes in the Round Lake area. “There are still some bargains to be had.”

West said the pricing is not yet firm on Villas, but it’s likely to resemble that of Round Lake Chalets, a development on Ninth Avenue N that West has almost completed after selling its 11 three-story units for prices that ranged from $350,000 to $450,000.

The High Cost of Too Good to Be True

The High Cost of Too Good to Be True

As the red-hot California real estate market sizzled in recent years, National Consumer Mortgage looked like just another residential mortgage company successfully riding the boom. It had lush offices in downtown Orange; the former baseball great Steve Garvey promoted its products in radio spots; and its founder, Salvatore Favata, a former local baseball hero himself, lived in a $1.7 million mansion in tony Yorba Linda and zipped around in a Mercedes roadster. An annual “Favata Fest” at the founder’s home featured live music and photo ops with Mr. Garvey.

For customers like Bryan F. Downey, a 41-year-old father of three, it was a tantalizing pitch. Mr. Downey had a $125,000 inheritance that he wanted to put to work, and his younger brother had already invested his inheritance with N.C.M… Earlier this spring, Mr. Downey, along with more than 200 others living mostly in California and Colorado, found out they were victims of a long-running Ponzi scheme that pulled in about $30 million before N.C.M. sought bankruptcy this spring, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission civil complaint and filings in a federal criminal case, both filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana.