Real Estate Wealth Protection Through Short Sales

Is a sharp correction in store for the real estate market?

Fannie Mae, the largest buyer of mortgages in the US, is worried. They recently warned that the probability of a housing bust has risen sharply in certain parts of the country.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financed about 43% of new home mortgages last year. That's down from 53% the year before.

Fannie and Freddie only buy "conforming loans" In these days of easy money and competition for borrowers... morelenders are selling mortgages to non-government sponsoredloan buying companies. They have less stringent lending standards. That means more risk as it allows home buyers with poor credit records or unconfirmed income to qualify for mortgage loans.

Listen to this! 24% of the sub-prime loans sold to non-conforming buyers in 2004 were adjustable rate mortgages with an interest only feature. And... these mortgages are not restricted to less expensive houses. The share of jumbo mortgages loans ($359,650 & up) accepted without full documentation increased from 27% in 2001 to 51% in 2004.

Fannie Mae warns that the real estate collapse of the late 1980s was preceded by similar patterns.

Some point out that the real estate bubble is effectingvalue in just certain areas. But they don't understand thatjust 22 of the most expensive metropolitan markets in theU.S. account for 35% of the total value of the country's residential real estate.

If those markets begin to collapse they will shock realestate values everywhere.

What should you do if you are sitting on fat real estatecapital gains. First... make plans now. Once a correction (crash) begins you will have a hard time gettingout of your property. Values plunge and buyers disappear.

If you don't believe there will be more than a little dipin real estate appreciation and you want to hold on to yourproperty... here's an idea. Use the stock market as insurance. How do you do that?

Find real estate stocks and do short selling. Well managedthis can be an effective strategy.

If real estate values continue to climb you still own yourproperty and continue to accumulate capital gains.

If real estate values begin to fall you sell short selectedstocks and profit from the decline, which balances the loss in the value of your real estate. You protect your realestate gain... and maybe even come out ahead on the strategy.

An ETF is an Exchange Traded Fund. That's a basket of stocks that trade under one symbol just like a stock. You can quickly buy, sell or short an ETF through an online broker in seconds. You have instant liquidly... somethingyou don't have with real estate.

Two ETF's that you could be ready to short sell would be:

IYR - A basket of real estate stocks

IYF - A basket of financial stocks.

Lots of areas would be hard hit by a down turn in realestate including: banks, mortgage lenders, utilitycompanies, materials suppliers and especially homebuilders.

The stocks of leading home builders that would sufferduring a real estate bust include:

Brookfield Homes - BHS;
Beazer Homse - BZH;
Centex Corp - CTX;
D R Horton - DHI;
K B Home - KBH

Yes, short selling is a radical strategy for the smaller real estate investor, but aren't you the one who needs the gain protection the most?

You may find a local stock broker that would give you some help, but you should understand some basics about thestock market and trend following.

You can easily learn that here... http://digbig.com/4dxys

Mark Walters is an investor-entrepreneur helping other investors from his Web pages at http://www.Lease-Option-Sub2.com

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.