Ilyce Glink Show Notes – August 29, 2010

Today’s Show: Careathon Thanks, How to Profit From Foreclosures, Existing Home Prices Falter, 5-Year Anniversary of Katrina

This was a crazy week in real estate and mortgage news:

Existing home sales dropped 27 percent in July which is about 50 percent more than economists thoughts. No big surprise here. Mortgage Bankers Association has tracked about a 40 percent drop in home buyer interest since the end of the $8,000 and $6,500 home buyer tax credits. Is the answer more tax credits? Nope. We’ve got to wean the housing industry off of free money and get people to start buying houses because it’s in their best interests to do so.

Two days after this news, the National Association of Home Builders announced that new home sales had dropped more than 12 percent to the lowest level on record. To put this into perspective for you, in 1963, home builders sold about 324,000 homes. That was nearly 50 years ago, when we had fewer than 200 million people in this country. The previous all-time low was 1982, when mortgage interest rates touched 18 percent. With this number, the annualized rate of sale is 271,000. DREADFUL!

Let’s call it what it is – the real estate market is in a depression. A deep, and dangerous depression.

The only bright spot is that mortgage interest rates dropped to a new historic low this week. I just locked in on a 15-year fixed-rate 3.75 percent loan with very few closing costs. If you can refinance (because you have the cash, credit and home equity necessary), you should do it. These interest rates may not last long and when they finally go up, we may not see this level again in our lifetimes.

THANK YOU to our WSB Care-A-Thon listeners!!!

We raised a record $1.4 million dollars, and the money is still coming in! We’re up over $100,000 since the end of the Care-a-thon Friday night. If you want to donate, go online to WSBRADIO.com and click on the Care-a-thon button!

Looking for Health Insurance?

Steve was our first call this morning. He’s 60 and is looking for health insurance. I suggested he check out ehealthinsurance.com, which offers information on all of the health insurance programs offered in each state. You can apply there online or shop with an agent. The pricing should be the same, since the program and pricing has to be filed with each state.

Shopping for a Short Sale? Want to buy a Foreclosure? Come to our HOW TO PROFIT FROM FORECLOSURES Event on OCTOBER 2, 2010

We’ve signed up a bunch of new sponsors and speakers for the event, including:

Joel Miller. He finances commercial real estate purchases $1 million to $40 million. He also does business financing as well as the real estate financing.

Monte Smith, Education director for Entrust in Georgia. He’ll be talking about Self-Directed IRAs and how to finance the purchase of your real estate investment using IRA funds.

Eric Weiss, Schulten, Ward & Turner. Eric is a top commercial real estate attorney who helps his clients think through the business terms of a proposed foreclosure deal as well as walking through and creating the paperwork.

Georgia Association of Enrolled Agents. Bill Nemeth and his crew will be around to answer all of your real estate investing tax questions

Andy Heller, successful real estate investor, bestselling author and founder of RealtyJoin.com, a social networking site and business marketplace for real estate investors. Andy will discuss his lease/option platform and what’s been happening with his 25 rental properties.

Ricky Novak, Strategic 1031 Exchange Company. Ricky has wide-ranging experience as a real estate attorney, tax expert and can discuss 1031 exchanges and conservation tax credits.

And for our AFTER HOURS INVESTING PANEL we have Kay Shirley and Wes Moss discussing what’s going on in the stock market.

Go to RealWorldSeminars.com and check out our speakers for the event. We’re also updating the blog with insights from our speakers and sponsors.

Don’t miss out – the 2for1 discount will expire after Labor Day!!!

Welcome to our new listeners at 95.5 FM NewsTalk WSB.

It’s going to take me a few shows to finally say it right (“Welcome to AM 750 and Now 95.5 FM Newstalk WSB), but I’ll get there. If you haven’t already signed up for our free weekly newsletter, it’s your roadmap to all of the free content, news, and information available from ThinkGlink.com. Just sign up on any page on our website.

How To Profit From Foreclosures and Other Real Estate Investments

On the flip side of the coin, for every house that goes into foreclosure, there’s a real estate investor waiting to scoop it up and turn it around for profit. That’s why we’re holding our next event, How to Profit from Foreclosures, this fall. Atlanta is one of the top cities for foreclosures in the nation, and prices are dropping. If you’ve ever thought about investing in real estate (single family homes, condos, townhomes, office buildings, strip centers, warehouses, etc.), now will probably be the best time in a generation.

Our How to Profit From Foreclosures event is designed to provide you with up-to-the-minute knowledge from the very best real estate investment professionals who do this every day for a living.

They’ll share their secrets, their tips, their insider information to help you make a smart investment decision. DON’T MISS THIS!

The ticket window is open. Just click on the Buy Tickets window and you’ll get to the right place. Use the “2for1” discount code for 50% off the ticket price.

Our 2for1 (50% off) discount won’t be available for long!

Use the discount code 2for1 to get 50% off one ticket or 100 tickets!

The 2for1 discount will expire in the next two weeks. Don’t wait until the last minute to lock in your savings on a ticket to this terrific event.

Wondering if it’s worthwhile to attend the event? Wondering if you’ll get your money’s worth. Here’s what past attendees say about ThinkGlink/RealWorldSeminars events.

Free Books and Ebooks from THINKGLINK

Get your FREE copy of my books: 50 Simple Steps You Can Take To Disaster-Proof Your Finances and The REALLY Useful Guide to Working Smarter Not Harder

You pay the shipping, and we’ll send you as many copies of each book as you want. They’re a great gift! If you want to buy more than 20 copies, contact [email protected] for a special deal on the shipping.

Buy 3 Get 1 Free EBOOK deal. You buy 3 ebooks at the ThinkGlink.com store and receive 1 of those for FREE when you use the code freeebook

Buying a House? Pick up your copies of Ilyce’s books, 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask and Buy Close Move In!

READ MORE ON THE EQUIFAX.COM PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG

The Equifax Personal Finance Blog looks at the five pillars of personal finance: Credit, tax, insurance, investing/retirement, and real estate. Follow us on Twitter or pull the RSS feed at the Equifax Personal Finance Blog into your Google reader.

This week on the Equifax Personal Finance Blog:

Insurance: Insuring Your Home Office

Real Estate Why Mortgage Lenders Pull Your Credit History Twice:

Tax: Phantom Income From a Short Sale or Foreclosure – How to Not Get Taxed

Investment/Retirement: Why Timing the Stock Market Never Works

Credit: Interest Rate Shopping and Its Effect On Your Credit Score

This week on CBS MoneyWatch.com

7 Amazing Vacation Homes You Can’t Rent

Loan Modification Hell: Should The Government Get A Failing Grade?

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban Buy $10 Million Home With Car Elevator

Foreclosure Counseling For 1 Million, And Counting

And, if you’re trying to get a loan modification, and you’re in loan mod hell, try this one:

Loan Modification Success Story: Filing a Complaint with the OCC Can Help

I’ve heard from a number of folks who have had success this way – so check back on this blog and pass around the link so others can see what’s really happening.

Have a good week.