Investment Property Mortgages Reach

Freddie Mac: Investment Property Mortgages Search In order to browse this site effectively, please enable Javascript in your browser. Investment Property Mortgages Reach Your Investment-Oriented Borrowers and Reap the Rewards of Cross-Selling Additional Services Want to expand your investment property mortgage business? As part of our Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide (Guide), you can extend more options to your investment-oriented borrowers by originating 1- to 4-unit investment property mortgages and selling them to Freddie Mac. Originating mortgages for investment borrowers allows you to tap an abundant market and boost your business with cross-sell opportunities for your other financial products. Freddie Mac offers loan options for investment property mortgage originations. You can originate these mortgages as fixed-rate mortgages, Treasury-indexed ARMs, and others. Our flexible execution options include Cash and Guarantor. Use Loan Prospector ® to quickly and easily approve your investment property borrowers. Freddie Mac will purchase investment property mortgages for borrowers who own up to 10 financed properties, however, those who own more than one financed property will need to meet additional requirements. Executions Gold Cash® Guarantor MultiLender Swap Key Advantages 1- to 4-unit investment properties LTV/TLTV/HTLTV ratios per Guide Section 23.4 Purchase, no cash-out and cash-out refinances Additional eligibility requirements apply for borrowers who own more than one investment property Eligible for Cash and Guarantor executions Eligible Mortgages If the subject property is the borrower's only financed investment property: 15-, 20- and 30-year fixed-rate mortgages 5- and 7-year balloon/reset mortgages All ARMs A-minus mortgages If the borrower owns more than one financed investment property: 15-, 20- and 30-year fixed-rate mortgages 7/1 or 10/1 Treasury-indexed Hybrid ARM only The following mortgages are not eligible for delivery as investment property mortgages Mortgages with temporary subsidy buydowns Streamlined Purchase for Homeowners mortgages Alt 97® mortgages Freddie Mac 100 mortgages Affordable Merit Rate® mortgages Streamlined Refinance mortgages Affordable Gold® mortgages Seller-Owned Modified Mortgages A-minus mortgages, when the borrower owns more than one financed investment property Eligibility Requirements LTV/TLTV/HTLTV ratios per Guide Section 23.4. If the LTV ratio is greater than 75 percent, the mortgage must be an Accept or A-minus mortgage or, if manually underwritten, must have a minimum Indicator Score of 720. For More Information Contact your Freddie Mac Account Manager Call (800) FREDDIE Refer to Section 22.22.1 of your Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide For further details about this product, print out an Investment Property Mortgages fact sheet [ PDF 191K ] © 2005 Freddie Mac Doing Business With Freddie Mac Single-Family Multifamily Debt Securities Mortgage Securities Vendors and Suppliers About Freddie Mac About Us Public Policy News and Information Investor Relations Careers Buying and Owning a Home Preparing for Homeownership All About Mortgages Purchasing a Home Owning and Keeping a Home Calculators and Tools Properties for Sale

Buy Home

Business for sale | Businesses For Sale | Buy a business or sell a business on BizBuySell for brokers listings by email find a buyer advertise about us site map With over 35,000 active businesses for sale, BizBuySell is the Internet's largest and most heavily trafficked business for sale exchange. Start here to buy an established business for sale. Business Category Select a Business Category Search ALL Business Categories RETAILING BUSINESSES - Blding Mat., Hardware, Garden - General Merchandise Stores - Supermarkets - Convenience Stores - Liquor Stores - Other Food Stores - Automotive Dealers - Marine Dealers & Equipment - Gasoline Service Stations - Apparel and Accessory Stores - Home Furniture & Furnishings - Restaurants - Bars/Taverns - Other Eating & Drinking Places - Vending Machines - Florists - Pet Shops & Supplies - Miscellaneous Retail SERVICE BUSINESSES - Hotels & Other Lodging Places - Drycleaning/Laundry Services - Beauty Salons, Barber Shops - Other Personal Services - Computer & Software Services - Other Business Services - Marine Repair, Parts & Services - Auto Repair, Parts & Services - Miscellaneous Repair Services - Passenger Transportation - Freight, Moving/Delivery - Motion Pictures - Amusement & Recreation - Health, Medical & Dental - Legal Services - Educational Services - Social Services - Museums, Art Galleries, Zoos - Landscaping & Yard Services - Pet Care & Grooming - Storage & Warehousing - Membership Organizations - Engineering & Accounting Svcs - Finance, Banking, Loans, etc. - Agents & Brokers - Travel Agencies - Other Travel & Transportation - Miscellaneous services INTERNET BUSINESSES - Business Services (B2B) - Consumer Services (B2C) - Domain Name/Basic Site - ISP/ASP Services - Web Design/Tech Services - Software - General Internet MANUFACTURING BUSINESSES - Food and Kindred Products - Tobacco Products - Textile Mill Products - Apparel & finished fabrics - Lumber and Wood Products - Furniture and Fixtures - Paper & Allied Products - Printing, Publishing - Chemicals & Allied Products - Petroleum Refining - Rubber and Plastic Products - Leather and Leather Products - Stone, Clay, Glass, Concrete - Primary Metal Industries - Fabricated Metal Products - Industrial & Comm. Machinery - Electronic & Electrical Equip. - Transportation Equipment - Measuring & Analyzing Instr. - Miscellaneous WHOLSALE/DIST. BUSINESSES - Durable Goods - Nondurable Goods CONSTRUCTION BUSINESSES - Building - Heavy - Special Trades BUSINESS REAL ESTATE - For Sale - For Lease Agriculture Mining Communications Electric, Gas, Water, Sanitary Svcs Non-classifiable Establishments Business Location Select a Location Search ENTIRE U.S. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming U.S. Territories Africa Asia/Pacific Australia/N.Z. Canada Caribbean Mexico/C. America Europe South America For more options, use Advanced Search Other business types to search... Asset Sales Franchises Start Ups Real Estate Search All Business Categories Search by Ad No. Sell Your Business Post an Ad Reach the largest pool of buyers anywhere. List your business for sale with a confidential ad. Start Here Find a Buyer Search the 'business wanted' ads for potential buyers looking for your type of business. Search Now -- Manage Your Ad . Email Address Password forgot password? Buyer Tools Price a Business Analyze comps before you buy or sell. Set up an Email Alert Get notified of new business listings automatically. Buyer's Bulletin Board Post a 'business wanted' message to reach sellers. BrokerPages Directory Find a local broker to help you buy. Established Business Real nice motel Vermont Motel in excellent condition Search Franchises Automotive Business Opportunities Business Services Child Related Cleaning and Maintenance Computer and Internet Food and Restaurant Health, Beauty and Fitness High Capital Franchises Home Based Businesses Home Services Low Cost Franchises Retail Franchises Sports and Recreation Travel and Lodging Franchise Home Page Site Map Spotlight Franchise The business brokerage industry is an innovative field experiencing phenomenal growth worldwide. As an industry leader, the expertise we offer our franchise owners is of tremendous value. Join in our success, and go into the business of buying and selling businesses. See Details LoopNet Acquires BizBuySell . BizBuySell has been acquired by LoopNet, the operator of the largest online exchange for commercial real estate. LoopNet has over 315,000 commercial real estate listings that are searched by more than 1,000,000 registered members. Visit LoopNet to search its commercial real estate listings. -- terms & conditions privacy policy about us contact us © 2005 BizBuySell.com® All rights reserved.

Las Vegas real estate

Buying homes in Las Vegas Buying homes in Las Vegas Start Your Las Vegas Real Estate Search Las Vegas Real Estate continues to be a strong and viable opportunity for real estate investors. With the real estate economy continuing to grow in and around the Las Vegas area, real estate investors have ample opportunity to get into this market. The price of homes in Las Vegas rose at a rate of 11% over the 12 month period ending in June 2005, according to National Association of Realtors. IMPORTANT: Most Las Vegas real estate agents DON'T want you to know about this FREE service... Searching For Las Vegas Homes? Investing ? Buying ? Leasing ? Relocating ? Click Here to start your search for Las Vegas real estate . Not long ago Las Vegas was a sellers market for real estate. Home prices were racing out of control. Investors were flooding the real estate market and causing the price of homes to soar. Today is a different story. It's A Buyers Market and the time is right to Find Home Buying Opportunities In one of America's Hottest Real Estate Markets. Search Las Vegas MLS See The Listings Of Your Choice and open new doors for your financial future. Las Vegas, Nevada Attention Home Buyers of Las Vegas, Buying homes in the Las Vegas Valley, in todays' market offers you many choices! By searching the Las Vegas MLS you can compare prices and availability for several different homes, condos and properties. Many sellers are now willing to work with buyers. Not long ago things were much different. Las Vegas Real Estate Market Today, the Las Vegas Real Estate market is considered by many experts to be a Buyer's Market. The "Buying Frenzy" has subsided in Las Vegas Real Estate availability was low and buyer demand was very high. Many Realtors were recommending that buyers offer 10 even 20 thousand dollars over asking price, and buyers were doing it. The vision of buying homes in Las Vegas offered buyers a hope of turning a quick profit of several thousand to tens of thousands within only a few months. Needless to say, this caused home prices to skyrocket. Today, Many more homes are now available and even more continue to come available in Las Vegas and are listed on the Las Vegas MLS. And, Home prices have stabalized and in some areas homes have even dropped in price, because of the increased inventory levels. All of the essential elements are in place for buying buildable land is being consumed rapidly, the demand for second homes continues to rise, the Las Vegas economy is one of the strongest in the nation High wage jobs continue to increase, travel and tourism are strong, billions of dollars are spent annually on gaming and entertainment, and the population is growing faster than ever. This could be one of the best buying opportunities in your lifetime. Click Here to start your search for Las Vegas real estate . Take Control of Your Home Search With The Search Tool Realtors Use It's Free. Search Current Listings of Homes, Condos and Property. Listings Updated Daily. The most complete real estate listing Search for homes in Las Vegas, Summerlin, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City, Green Valley Ranch Absolutely Free. Begin Your Search Now... Search The Market and Find Properties That Meet Your Needs. Decide How Much You will spend... Then Choose Your Real Estate Agent and tell them where you want to buy. Drewz Real Estate Blog Archives Buying Homes in 2006 - Part I Buying homes in Las Vegas will be very interesting in 2006. The number of resources available to buyers continues to increase along with the amount of competition among Realtors. Searching for real estate in the Las Vegas market offers many obstacles without the proper guidance from a quality Realtor. Internet resources include real estate listing sites such as Realtor.com, ZipRealty.com and hundreds more. There are numerous advice gurus offering the latest strategy to buying and selling in any real estate market. Not only do buyers have access to home listings via Internet, they can go into any grocery chain and pick up the latest copy of the newest real estate magazine for free. Banks and financial institutions make borrowing as easy as clicking a few buttons on your keyboard. These are all good resources to have when buying a home, selling a home or investing in real estate. The more educated one is the better they will fare when that transaction finally goes through. There is a downside to all this. Without the guidance of a quality Realtor, many homeowners are left out to dry. So many Realtors are more interested in their commission then they are in their clients interest that they will do almost anything to get the parties to sign papers. One particular instance, and this is not uncommon, happened to a very good friend of mine a couple years back. He and his wife were looking at homes in Las Vegas. After several months of searching they finally found a place that they wanted to buy. Their Realtor, who was more concerned with making his commission then he was in protecting his clients interests, suckered them into buying the home with no money down and a mortgage that should have bankrupted them. On top of that, they were locked into that mortgage by a pre-payment penalty clause that would suck out any equity that might exist, if they were to refinance or sell the home. Check back soon and Ill share with you how these folks managed to stay afloat almost two years under these conditions, and eventually climb their way out of the whole that was dug under them. Although I'm not a Realtor, I do have many Realtor friends. These are quality professionals who are sincerely interested in helping people attain their goals in the Real Estate market. Whether buying homes, selling homes, or investing in real estate, Realtors are supposed to look out for their client's best interest. Some play by the rules, many do not. If you are searching for a home, rental property or land in Las Vegas, fill out the form below to have a quality Realtor contact you. Drew. Written by: Andrew Hall - Founder AMI Studios Inc Real Estate Investors News Las Vegas Real Estate Archives Staying Secure if the Real Estate Bubble Bursts A bubble occurs when real estate values balloon very rapidly, creating an over-inflated market that can quickly burst and send prices in a downward spiral. Las Vegas Real Estate News Real Estate and Development - Big jump expected in commercial rents What does the new year have in store for the Las Vegas Valley's commercial tenants? Most likely increases in rent -- in some cases up to 15 percent. No signs of slowdown; home prices set record Total single-family home sales increased 2.8 percent from the previous month to 3,331, while sales of condominiums and townhomes jumped nearly 17 percent to 814. Las Vegas MLS Search - Start Here. This free , no obligation service allows you to immediately search all available properties in the Las Vegas area. Please select your property search criteria below: House Condo Land Multi-Family Bedrooms 1 2 3 4 5+ Bathrooms 1 2 3+ Square Feet 1,000 - 1,500 1,500 - 2,000 2,000 - 2,500 2,500 - 3,000 3,000 - 4,000 4,000+ Price Range $75,000 $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $400,000 $450,000 $500,000 $550,000 $600,000 $650,000 $700,000 $750,000 $800,000 $850,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 + $75,000 $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $400,000 $450,000 $500,000 $550,000 $600,000 $650,000 $700,000 $750,000 $800,000 $850,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 + no maximum Time Frame ASAP Within a month 1-3 months 3-6 months Within a year Later than a year Not sure yet To see the latest listings, property addresses and photos, please complete all fields below. Your information must be valid and will be kept strictly confidential. First Name Last Name Email (Area Code) Phone Number Interenet Real Estate Search Search MSN for Las Vegas Homes hud homes las vegas kb homes las vegas lake las vegas homes lake las vegas real estate las vegas commercial real estate las vegas condos las vegas condos for rent homes for rent in las vegas homes for rent in las vegas nevada homes for rent las vegas homes for rent las vegas nv homes for sale in las vegas las vegas condos for sale Search Yahoo! for Las Vegas Homes homes for sale las vegas homes for sale las vegas nevada homes for sale las vegas nv homes in las vegas homes in las vegas nevada homes in las vegas nv homes in north las vegas homes las vegas homes las vegas nevada homes las vegas nv homes north las vegas homes of las vegas Search Google for Las Vegas Homes agents las vegas real estate american homes las vegas apartment homes las vegas astoria homes las vegas beazer homes las vegas carina homes las vegas christopher homes las vegas commercial real estate las vegas find las vegas homes henderson real estate henderson real estate sites homes and las vegas

Real Estate Prices

Real estate horror stories - Dec. 2, 2002 Enter Ticker Symbol Search CNN/Money Autos Real Estate Money's Best Home Markets & Stocks News Jobs & Economy World Biz Technology Commentary Personal Finance College Credit and Debt Insurance Interest Rates Retirement Tax Center Ask the Expert Five Tips The Good Life Millionaire in the Making Money 101 Moneyville Retirement Planner Savings Calculator Asset Allocator Mutual Funds Money Magazine Video CNN TV Fortune 500 Best Employers Money 101 Portfolio Calculators Real-time Quotes Last 5 Quotes SPONSORED BY include virtual="/fn_adspaces/markets-stocks/last_five_quotes/sponsor.88x31.ad" -- CNN/Money Email newsletters RSS Mobile news Money archives Buy story reprints Find a Mortgage SPECIAL OFFER Personal Finance Your Home Real estate horror stories There's never been a national bust but keep an eye on your backyard. December 2, 2002: 11:57 AM EST By Leslie Haggin Geary, CNN/Money Staff Writer New York (CNN/Money) - During the past three years, real estate has been a shelter in the storm. Since 2001, home prices have gained about 6.3 percent annually, according to the National Association of Realtors . And in dozens of hot markets , from San Francisco to Providence, RI to Topeka, KS, homeowners have seen double-digit price increases over the past year. Next to the seeming flimsiness of stocks, real estate looks rock solid. For the past 40 years, home sales prices have outpaced inflation by one or two percentage points per year, and there has never been a national decline in real estate values. But that's just part of the picture. When you drill down to local markets, instead of steady rises, you may find vertiginous spikes followed by stomach-churching drops. What's more, when busts hit, it can take years -- maybe even a decade -- for individuals who bought at the top of the market to recoup their investment. To see how grim it can get, we looked at annual sales figures for 138 metro areas across the country during the past three decades to spot where local bubbles burst, what drove prices into the cellar and how long it took for property owners to recoup their money. Here are some of the factors that can kill a real estate boom. Population shifts It's obvious. Jobs equal workers. Without work, residents leave, and home sales dry up. Consider the case of southern California. Once home to a thriving defense industry, military cutbacks hit the region especially hard in the early 1990s. Some 1 million individuals left the area, according to Ingo Winzer, president of The Local Market Monitor , a real estate consulting firm that tracks housing prices nationwide. In Los Angeles, home prices shed 21 percent of their value between 1989 and 1996, with the typical house selling for $172,900. (The peak was $214,800 in 1989 following a five year, 77-percent jump.) An exodus can hit smaller communities, too. Syracuse, NY once boasted 250,000 residents back in the 1950s, when it was a thriving industrial city. No longer. Many of those jobs are gone and Syracuse lost a full 10 percent of those inhabitants from 1990 to 2000, when its population dropped to 147,000 residents. Home prices, not surprisingly, fell too. Half of all property owners in the county who sold homes in 1997, for example, sold at a loss. Vacant buildings were not uncommon. (At one point, there were more than 1,000 empty dwellings.) Local recessions Ask housing experts about local busts and one of the first places they'll mention is Houston, TX. When the oil market was kicked in the teeth back in the mid-1980s, home prices in this city tumbled fast. In just three years, from 1985 to 1988, the typical home price dropped by 21 percent -- or from $78,600 to $61,800. Related Stories • Did you pay too much for your house? • Real estate or stocks? • Milking the bubble • Rev up your resale value "Prices fell so much that people owed more on than their mortgages than their homes were worth," said David Weil, an economics professor at Brown University. " They'd drive to the bank and drop off their keys to their homes and just leave." Houston isn't the only city where home prices have fallen when the local economy languishes badly. Take the stock market crash of 1987, which hit New York City's financial industry hard. Prices peaked at $183,000 in 1988, and anyone who bought then had to wait until after 1997 to get to even money. Another victim? Hartford, CT. From 1984 to 1988, the typical home price soared 92 percent to $167,600 from $87,400. Then the insurance industry started laying off or moving out. Hartford's population growth slowed to zero. And home prices starting falling. In fact it wasn't until last year that someone who bought at the 1988 price would have made their money back. Fast run-ups in housing values Are markets that have soared quickly especially prone to a bust? That's a question no doubt troubling many homeowners. But the answer isn't simple. Certainly, there have been plenty of hot markets that suddenly turned sour. Consider Honolulu, Hawaii, for example. Back in 1995, the average tab for a house in this community hit a record $360,000 -- a whopping 122 percent increase from the decade before. Then suddenly, prices began to drop. By 1999, a $360,000 island retreat was being unloaded for $290,000, a 19 percent discount, according to NAR. Prices started to finally rise in 2000, but anyone who bought at the island's real estate peak didn't recoup their money until this year. Hawaii's housing woes were tipped off by several factors, not the least of which was the decline in the Japanese economy, which squelched real-estate investment in Hawaii. Honolulu was also in trouble in part because few fundamentals, other than investment dollars -- were pushing the market. In fact, during the boom years, the island's population was climbing at a 1 percent rate, too low to justify the massive run-up in housing values. Bottom line: it's important to look at what drives housing spikes before you assume there will be a catastrophe, said Winzer. Rising interest rates "People tell you that housing never goes down, but that's just not true -- you try to sell a house when interest rates have gone up," said Stephen Cauley, associate director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate, Anderson School at UCLA . To illustrate his point, Cauley points to the early 1980's, when double-digit interest rates were being used to fight inflation. That made the cost of borrowing money for a home almost prohibitively expensive. "It was horrendous for the housing market," said Cauley. "There were no transactions." By 1982, the number of existing home sales had slid to 1.92 million, the lowest number on record, according to NAR. Many markets -- notably Detroit, Providence, Chicago and Philadelphia -- saw home prices stay flat or fall between 1979 and 1982. These days, of course, high interest rates seem a distant threat, though they are beginning to creep up. Current mortgage rates are hovering just above 6 percent for a fixed, 30-year loan. But even if rates go up a full percentage point, rates are still low, said Cauley. How will all this play out? If history is any guide, there won't be one big pop, the kind that usually come with stock-market crashes. But that doesn't make it any less painful. --* Disclaimer Selling? Buying? Click to compare top local real estate agents More on YOUR HOME • Your Home: Bracing for higher rates • Refinancing demand lags again • A rose is (not) a rose TODAY'S TOP STORIES • Most overvalued housing markets • Risks to the economy in 2006 • Which was the worst ad of all in 2005? CNN Money contact us | subscribe to Money magazine advertising -- | site map | glossary | RSS | press room OTHER NEWS: CNN | SI | Fortune | Business 2.0 | Time © 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms under which this service is provided to you. privacy policy Reprints of site stories are available.

real estate prices in

Towards Liberty International Society for Individual Liberty > Don't Get Stuck Paying "Zombie" Debt – Towards Liberty – A commentary on current events by Jarret Wollstein The Coming Real Estate Collapse – 05-24-05 – As real estate prices in much of the U.S. continues to soar, evidence is growing that both commercial and residential real estate is greatly over-priced in many of the country's hottest markets – including New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Miami, and much of California. One clear indication that real estate is overpriced is that rents are now a fraction of mortgage payments, and are continuing to fall in terms of real dollars. For instance, Forbes reports that cash return on income-producing real estate has fallen from 9% a few years ago, to just 5% to 7% now, and is likely to go lower. You can clearly see why rents are falling in overheated markets like California's Silicon Valley. In the San Francisco-San Jos corridor, there is currently over 33 million square feet of un-rented (and in many cases never occupied) commercial space. Last year, just 65 thousand square feet of this enormous inventory was rented. At that rate, it will take over 507 years to rent all unoccupied commercial real estate in Silicon Valley. Since most investors can't wait over half a millennium for returns on their capital, what's more likely is that commercial real estate prices in this "hot market" will soon fall like a rock. Another indication that real estate is poised for a fall, that fewer and fewer people can afford today's astronomically-priced houses. For instance, in California – where ordinary 2,000 square foot, 3-bedroom homes are going for $500,000 to $2,000,000+ – less than one family in six now qualifies to repurchase their own house. Another indications that real estate is ready for a fall: Of 362 U.S. metropolitan areas, about 15% are experiencing a housing "boom" – a three-year, inflation adjusted price gain of 30% or more – according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. That's the highest number of boom markets ever recorded in the 30 years that they have been tracked. In Americas hottest real estate markets – including the big cities in New York, Florida and California – housing prices went up by 15% to 35% in the past year alone. This is clearly unsustainable. No matter how low interest rates are and no matter how many schemes George Bush comes up with for an "ownership society," it's clear that we are rapidly reaching the point when hardly anyone can afford to buy a new house in a hot real estate market, without putting their financial future in jeopardy. So what's propping up the real estate bubble, and causing housing prices to go ever-higher, even as rents fall and commercial landlords face enormous vacancy rates? Besides artificially low interest rates, the answer, in a word, is speculation. Up to one residence in three in California is now purchased not to live in, but for resale, according to the San Francisco Chronicle . The comparable figure may be as high as one property in two in the Las Vegas area. In downtown Miami, 80% of approximately 35,000 new condos now under construction or just completed, are owned by investors – not people who actually plan on living in them – according to MoneyNews.com. Call it the triumph of delusion over reality. I can't tell you how many people have told me that real estate price "can't fall, because if they did, they would be bankrupt." In other words, because they want prices to stay up, they must stay up. If you believe that, there is a nice three-bedroom fixer-upper on a dirt lot, and on the edge of an eroding cliff, in Pacifica, California, I'd like to sell you for just $2.5 million. Buy this bargain now, before the price really goes up! (This is a real example.) In the current frenzied real market, self-delusion is rampant. In Florida's red-hot real estate market, one Miami realtor recently told the New York Times , "South Florida is working off a totally new economic model than any of us have ever experienced in the past." That's precisely what executives of dot coms told investors to justify their astronomical stock prices, just before the collapse – which triggered the destruction of over $3 trillion in stock value. Unfortunately, for many overextended home owners, property prices aren't immune to the laws of economics. Property prices can and do fall in America, as witnessed by the bear markets of 1974-75, 1980-82 and 1990-92. A personal example: One Northern California home owner I know bought his 2,000 sq. ft. house for $750,000 in 1989. In 1992, he was couldn't get $450,000 for his property, and was forced to declare bankruptcy after he lost his job. Millions of overextended American families with "interest only" and adjustable rate mortgages will likely find themselves in the same boat, when mortgage interest rates edge up above 7% or 8% – which is likely by the end of this year. (Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has warned that we can expect at least a 2.25% increase in interest rates in 2005, on top of the 2% increase in 2004.) The brutal financial reality is that a mere 2% rise in mortgage rates, can increase ARM payments by as much as 40% – an unsustainable burden for families living on the edge. One way or another, at best , the U.S. real estate bubble has 1 to 2 more years to run before it collapses. If you or your children are among those living in overpriced homes you can barely afford, NOW is the time to sell, when the market is at or near its peak, and before prices drop by 30% or more – and they find themselves living in a Motel 6 or in your basement. To minimize taxes on the profits, reinvest in a home in a small town or rural area where prices arent so absurd, and bank the rest. Please stay in touch! Add yourself to our e-mail list. Two times per month we send an update on the activities of our members and new features at ISIL.org. Simply enter your e-mail address here and click the button. You can easily remove yourself (unsubscribe) at any time. E-mail us at isil@isil.org if you have any personal questions or comments. E-mail address: Subscribe Unsubscribe