Real Estate: What to Do Until the Rebound Begins

This week’s RealtyTrac report about U.S. foreclosures is a real eye-opener. You can read the full text by clicking here, but here are some highlights:

• The foreclosure rate in America’s top 100 metro areas has hit 1.38 percent.

• Detroit registered the highest foreclosure rate of any of the 100 largest metro areas, with nearly 5 percent of all homes going into foreclosure.

• 1.775 million foreclosures were filed in the last year - a one-year increase of 78.2 percent.

• California, Ohio and Florida are the hardest hit.

For smart investors, it remains a very advantageous time to acquire foreclosed and pre-foreclosed properties at very attractive prices. Plus, there is the positive fact that interest rates are low. But still, it is hardly a risk-free environment. Houses are typically appraising very low, for example, and that can make lenders wary about writing loans on properties that they see as questionable investments.

Other trends complicate matters, too. Oil prices, for instance, are rising and that can put a very big squeeze on investors who need to heat apartment buildings. If you are a landlord, the rent income you were expecting can go literally up in smoke.

But there are wise ways to ride out the current situation and profit from it - both today and in the months ahead. I have recently had discussions with several first-time investors, for example, who have gotten pre-qualified for mortgage loans and who are waiting three or four months before jumping in to buy homes at the point when prices have hit bottom.

The point is, knowledge is power. The current students in our Real Estate Investor Training Program know that, and are using this uncertain time to master the strategies they will need to reap big profits quickly when the market rebounds.

Fortune favors the prepared as well as the brave. I’d urge you to look at all our real estate courses so you can profit from the current environment.