Tag Archives: Real Estate

Wall Street Interested in Single Family US Homes

Wall Street’s hottest investment idea: Your US house

Saw an interesting article by Stephen Gandel from Fortune Magazine about Wall Streets interest in buying single family homes around the US.

Conventional wisdom on real estate has been that while home prices might not fall much more, they aren’t likely to go up anytime soon either. The best personal finance advice, then, when it came to buying a house, was to buy as little as possible.

Apparently, though, on Wall Street that common wisdom about home prices is not held by all, or even many.

In the past six months or so, a number of

  • investment firms
  • hedge funds
  • private equity partnerships and
  • real estate investors

have turned into avid buyers of single-family homes. And not just any homes, but foreclosures and Investment banks are lining up financing options to keep the purchases going.

He uses a great example of one firm (Blackstone Group) who about a year ago, made no mention of single-family homes or even that the firm was looking to profit from a rebound in the residential real estate market.

Last week a report came out that Blackstone now owns 2,000 single-family homes!

Buying up single-family homes as an investment is not a new idea but normally it’s smaller landlords that keep a small portfolio of a dozen homes or so.

The larger Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and private equity funds generally focus on apartment buildings and commercial real estate but that also seems to be evolving.

Kenneth Rosen, a UC Berkeley professor who has a consulting firm that advises real estate investors, says he knows of two dozen investment funds in the process of buying up single family homes, a number of which are hoping to own as much as 10,000 homes around the country.

He predicts there could be as many as a dozen public REITs in the next few years that are devoted to single family homes.

Could be a good time to invest in a bargain-priced Florida villa?

Good luck!

Bill Cowie

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Lake County’s Largest Home stuck in a state of limbo

The largest home in Lake County, Which is a monstrous 32,000 square feet. – Remember the average American home is 2,000 square feet and the average home in Britain is between 800 and 1200 square feet is set to go into foreclosure if the bank does not get the loans secured against it repaid.

However despite its trouble in he past it has now been destined to auction after a court order. Today is supposedly the date of the auction. The mansion and the surrounding 155 acres of beautiful Central Florida are up for grabs.

The mansion and its surrounding area has been slated for residential development. However there are still many hurdles before any development could get out of the ground.

What is for sure is that this house is an asset to Lake County, its location is absolutely breathtaking, it is perched upon the top of a rolling hill in rural Groveland.

In fact a scenic way of seeing this beauty is to take CR 561 A from Highway 27 at Minneola (Just past Clermont) follow the road past the African Mission Inn, you will drive along the shore of lake Minneola, then you will take a right on Jalarny Road then at the T- Junction at the end of that take a left… and just follow that road through rolling hills, pasture and palm tree nurseries…whilst passing an exclusive subdivision amongst the lakes you will see the largest Home in Lake County perched atop its hill on the horizon. Once you reach SR 19 take a left towards Groveland itself then a left again onto Hwy 50 which will take you all the way back to the 27. Note this drive is particularly beautiful around sunset.

Give it a try!!

UK Inflation level at 3.1% Bank of England Base Rate rise likely

Inflation figures for the UK economy are out and inflation is currently per the CPI index (Consumer Price Index) at 3.1% more than one point above the governments target of Inflation at 2.0%. This is what has helped the pound rise against the dollar to its 15 year high of $2 to £1…however the exchange rate was trading yesterday within half a cent of a thirty year high!

However this growth in the UK economy makes a further exchange rate rise in the Bank of England Base rate more than just likely…

What does this mean for Florida property and mortgages? well…quite simply now is the time to buy, this could be the last good opportunity to buy or refinance a Florida property. This is coupled with figures released today saying that the current buyers market in the area is looking like it is coming to an end, the number of new builds is up and the number of building permits has increased for the second month in a row.

So, with a good exchange rate, a good fixed rate mortgage and the market at the bottom possibly on the cusp of a good level of capital growth, it looks like now is the best time yet for Brits to buy in Florida.

None of the information contained in this blog/blog post constitutes, nor should be construed as Financial Advice.

Breaking News: Sterling Vs. Dollar Update

This is it, the moment Brits have been waiting for, the £1 has reached a 15 year high against the $ Dollar.
The current rate is trading at….

£1 = $2

This incredible rate has not been seen since September 1992 just before the UK exited the ERM (Exchange Rate Mechinism) This rate means that Florida property is now at its cheapest for British Buyers and it means that those wishing to refinance into Sterling Mortgages from US $ Dollar mortgages are getting the best deal around! Time to nab that Florida property deal before its too late..this won’t last forever!

None of the information contained in this blog/blog post constitutes, nor should be construed as Financial Advice.

Homebuyers turning to the net for views of their new home…

80% of people accross the country who bought a new home last year used the internet for house hunting. They found photographs the most useful tool in their search according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors.

This survey also concluded that 24% of home buyers got their first view of their new home on the internet up from only 2% in 1997..what a difference 10 years makes!

It highlights more than ever the need for good photographs and a number of good interior shots.

In the Orlando area people want to see images of a properties swimming pool and often what the property backs onto as buyer become more conscious of the location of their property.