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Conventionally, foreign interest in US property has proved to be a boost for the overall American economy; and, the trend of declining foreign interest in South Florida’s properties had befuddled, and frustrated, Miami real estate brokers, considerably.

1. Miami’s Real Estate Market Has Finally Improved

If the findings, discussions, and the turnout, at a recent conference for Miami real estate brokers is to be any indicator, the aforementioned real estate crisis has resolved to some degree. The housing market of Miami seems to have recovered itself, as – for the first time in years – potential buyers are facing a shortage of properties for sale.

Owing to a discrepancy in demand and supply, the prices of the existing properties have risen by double digits, since the December of 2011.  This means that brokers can finally claim good money for that Fisher Island real estate for sale, or any other estate listings, for that matter. In such a market, prime properties like Surfside Miami Florida condos can demand a very hefty price. 

2. South America Has Large Stakes in Miami’s Estate Market

Coinciding with an overall improvement in the real estate market of Miami, there has also been a steady increase in foreign interest in South Florida’s properties. The official reports divulge that South Americans have proved to be very open about investing in residential properties, as well as vacation homes, in Miami.

According to Geovania Heller, a Brazilian real estate agent, who was present at the Miami International Real Estate Congress, prices of property in South Florida are better than that in Brazil.

Real estate dealers from other South American nations are also unanimous in their opinion that Miami happens to be a very friendly and unique market for South American purchasers.

Of all foreign nationalities that have stakes in South Florida’s real estate, Argentineans claim 15 percent share, while Brazilians are entitled to 14 percent stakes. Consequently, Latin Americans compose 70% of the overall foreign real estate deals in Miami.

In the light of the current real estate scenario, real estate brokers are now focusing on making their properties more attractive for the Latin American buyers. Subsequently, there has been an increase in listings of Miami properties in the real estate websites of South America. Along with this, the brokerage phenomenon of schmoozing, and rigorous mobilization of the social networks, has also contributed to an increase in Miami realtor’s overseas visibility. 

3. Venezuelans at the Top of Miami’s International Real Estate Occupants

Of all foreign buyers, Venezuelans buy the most properties in Miami. The official share that they have, in the list of South Florida’s overseas purchasers, amounts to a whopping 16 percent.

In fact, it is being projected that Venezuelans will continue to be the foremost buyers of Miami’s properties, for many years to come. The main reason for this is the unstable political condition of their native land.

It can be only hoped that such favourable trends will continue to bring more and more rewards for Miami’s real estate market.

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Brenda Lyttle is an enthusiastic custom home builder. She loves her job as she helps people frame out their dream homes from their imaginary canvas into reality.

Last year witnessed a 13 year high in the rates of foreclosures in almost all the states across USA and this trend has taken a turn on its head since august of this year. The foreclosure rates in non-judicial states like California and Arizona are hitting a low after the upsetting foreclosure rate upheaval from last year. On the contrary judicial states like Florida and New York have been experiencing a strong upward trend in the foreclosure rates on properties and luxury real estate in these states.

At the end of the last month, Florida reported its seventh appreciation in foreclosure rates on houses and real estate properties and that too during a period of just 8 months. The foreclosure rates in Florida have shot up nearly 26 percentages from what it used to be and at present, statistically, one out of every 328 houses is up for foreclosure. The numbers of auctions that are scheduled for the foreclosed properties are also up by 4 percentages along with the bank’s repossession rates which have gone up by nearly 12 percentages than what it used to be.

While this can be worrying for many investors and prospective home owners in Miami, the experts in the industry are speculating that this trend will dampen in the coming months and Florida will join the rest of the country in a slumping foreclosure rate than what it has today. This is the only hope that real estate agents and investors have in order to salvage anything from the economy which seems to be on the highway towards another economic depression owing to this problem.

Most experts are of the opinion that Florida’s reluctance in passing laws that brings down the foreclosure rate on housing property is to be blamed behind the strong upward trend that it has been displaying. It has been seen that the other judicial states have implemented these laws in order to curtail the imminent economic harm that might arise out of this trend.

When investing in real estate through your IRA, technically, you aren’t the one buying the property it’s your IRA which is buying the property. In other words, your account owns the property and you own the account. This is an important point, especially when you’re ready to complete agreements and documents as you’ll need to list your IRA as the owner.

The term self-directed IRA isn’t a technical term; it merely means that your IRA is directed by you instead of someone else. You may get conflicting answers through various institutions who say they offer self-directed IRAs, yet restrict you from investing your IRA in the way you want. A “Truly” Self-Directed IRA (TSD IRA) is the term used to say there are no in-house custodial restrictions and you have ultimate flexibility and control without unnecessary restrictions imposed by your IRA custodian or trustee. It basically means you don’t have to check with a custodian of your IRA to see if they will allow you to make an unorthodox investment with your IRA funds like buying real estate.  You have complete control and can buy and sell anything you wish through your IRA.

There are numerous benefits to setting up a SDIRA including that you can turn it into an LLC and gain the benefits of both tax-deferred income and liability protection.  A self-directed IRA LLC is a modern hybrid between an Individual Retirement Account and a Limited Liability Company. The combination between these two types of legal entities will give investors iron clad asset protection, tax free growth on investments and freedom to make and maintain investment decisions and directions at will.  Although you can use a TSD IRA for various investments, if you want real estate in your IRA portfolio the TSD IRA structure is an invaluable tool.

With a TSD IRA you will have the flexibility to move in and out of real estate deals before your competition can even make an offer. Remember, you are the boss, you have the final say.  With a TSD IRA you have true checkbook control. Checkbook control means that you don’t have to get approval for your investments. You make the decisions, you sign the contract and you write the check. While your competitors who use regular IRA’s to purchase real estate are on the phone trying to either get their custodians to answer their calls or explain the nature of the deal to them, you have already made your offer and written a check for the down payment.

And there are some significant tax benefits to purchasing property through your TSD IRA as well.  The earnings are tax-free at distribution compared to a traditional IRA where the distribution is taxed.  So for example If you take a small amount, say $10,000 and parlay that into a half-million or a million dollars, in a traditional IRA you’d have to pay taxes on a million dollars whereas using your TSD IRA saves you tremendously.

Even better is if your SDIRA or TSD IRA doesn’t have enough money to pay for the entire purchase, you can finance or leverage any income-producing property already in the IRA to cover the difference. The property is the collateral for the loan. As the property is an asset of the retirement plan, repayment of the underlying debt must come from contributions to or income from the property or other assets in the retirement plan. This type of loan is generally referred to as a non-recourse loan because the IRA holder cannot extend credit to an IRA.  In essence you are using your IRA to buy the property and at the same time using the property as collateral to pay back your IRA for any additional monies the property may cost you.  It really does seem too good to be true. You get to be your own lender.

As always you should talk to a knowledgeable financial specialist regarding your situation before deciding on whether setting up an SDIRA or TSD IRA is right for you.

Daniel Doran is a 20+ year veteran in the real estate industry. He is a previous owner of a law firm, mortgage and title company. Daniel has also written several books on mortgage modification, short sales and real estate investing. He currently specializes in Commercial Finance and Real Estate Development and is a graduate of Manhattanville College and Brooklyn Law School. You can contact Dan at Buildings By Owner

Don’t shake on it just yet… © peshkova – Fotolia.com

If you don’t take the time to get to know the person, research their background, get some references on them and see what other types of deals they have done, you are taking an enormous risk with your money.  This person may not have the same goals or objectives from real estate investing as you do.  They may have a different set of ethics and standards.  Their personality may be a total clash with yours.  There are dozens of things that can make a real estate partnership go sour.  However if you do it right, they can be extremely profitable.

Having a compatible real estate partner will let you close on bigger deals and your risk is spread out between you and your partner.  So what should you look for in a potential real estate partner?

Level of Expertise and Skill they possess 

If you are a ‘buy and rent’ type investor, you want to make sure your partner understands all of the nuances of that type of investment.  Or if you are looking to expand your investment portfolio through buying and flipping houses then you want to find someone who has a high success rate in rehabbing and reselling.  Always ask yourself “What will this person bring to the partnership?”  You should also be asking yourself “What will this person expect me to bring to this partnership?”  If the expectations of both parties don’t match then your real estate partnership is doomed.

Funding 

Sometimes a partnership involves one party doing all of the work and another putting up all of the funds.  This seems like a simple enough philosophy but just because someone has money to invest doesn’t mean they understand real estate.  For instance if they think you are going to buy a property, fix it, market it, find a buyer for it and close on it all in week then they are going to be extremely disappointed when that doesn’t happen.

You have to take the time to educate your financing partner on the time frame involved in your type of investment, the unexpected costs that can pop up and the realistic time frame for getting a return on their money. If you don’t do this then you are going to end up with a partner who calls you every fifteen minutes asking if you have their money yet.

Who do they know? 

While it is possible to have a successful real estate partnership with someone who is brand new to the business, you will have a much higher success rate if you are dealing with someone who is “known” in the industry.  Someone who has a reputation for getting deals closed and making money can open doors for you that otherwise would have remained closed.

A real estate partnership does not always have to be a 50/50 arrangement.  If one party is going to be taking on additional risk or workload then the partnership should reflect that.  Before you enter into a partnership with anyone you should have an agreement drawn up by an attorney.  Just like a pre-nuptual agreement can save you from a bad marriage, a well executed partnership agreement can save you from a bad real estate deal.

The basic idea is to keep people in their homes but use the government power of eminent domain to condemn the properties.  Once the properties are condemned then it will be easier for borrowers who are upside down on their mortgages to restructure their loans with a new lender based on what their properties are actually worth instead of what their original loan amount was.

This proposal is being pushed forward in states hit the hardest by the foreclosure crisis like California, Nevada and Florida.  San Francisco-based Mortgage Resolution Partners says condemning underwater loans and taking the ability to modify them away from the private lenders and bondholders is “the only practical way to modify mortgages on a large enough scale to solve the housing crisis.”

The concept of eminent domain is nothing new and has been around for hundreds of years.  It allows the government to seize private land for the good of the community.  It can do so for any number of reasons such as the property is a hazard to the community, is in someway dangerous, is part of an urban renewal project or if it is just in the way of a planned bridge or highway.  Eminent domain has been well supported in the courts and there are several legal precedents that could support this concept.  However in this case it would definitely be controversial since eminent domain has never been used to take  mortgages away from financial institutions and private lenders.

In their proposal, Mortgage Resolution Partners wants to find institutional investors that will work with local governments by providing billions of dollars to pay for the condemnation process so the tax payer will not have to foot the bill for the legal costs involved in such a widespread use of eminent domain.  The government would then take title to the loans and pay the private investors off based on what they consider to be fair market value also using the money put up by these institutional investors.

These new loans would be restructured so as to allow homeowners in distress to reduce their payments to an amount they could actually afford.  The plan then is to sell these restructured loans to hedge funds, pension plans and the like in order to raise the capital needed to pay back the institutional investors who financed the project.  Mortgage Resolution Partners would act similar to a mortgage broker on all of these new loans and collect a fee.

“We are intrigued,” said Gregory Devereaux, chief executive of San Bernardino County, which is east of Los Angeles and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. “Our economy in this county can’t be turned around until a large proportion of the mortgage crisis has been addressed.”

“The private sector provides all the financing and all the risk with this program,” said Steven Gluckstern, the firm’s chairman and a former money manager and former owner of New York Islanders hockey team. “We have watched state (and) national government try to fix this and it hasn’t worked.”

While this whole concept sounds promising the reality of the situation is the lenders involved who would be getting paid far less than the amounts they are owed would fight this use of the eminent domain power in court.  Their argument would be the power was never intended to be used for this purpose and to do so would go beyond the scope of the legislative intent behind the creation of eminent domain.

The entire process could be an exercise in futility since the lenders involved could potentially delay this matter in the courts so long that the foreclosure crisis will have solved itself by the time a decision on the legality of using eminent domain in this way is reached.

In Paseo, Taubman acquired The Gardens on El Paseo and El Paseo Village, two adjacent properties that cater to high-end retail and tourism. Offering a combined space of 236,000 square feet, the shopping centers include high-end shops, such as Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as several fashion-oriented shops.

In Nashville, Taubman acquired The Mall at Green Hills, an 887,000 square-foot property that is anchored by the popular retail chains Dillard’s, Macy’s, and Nordstrom. Other stores include Charming Charlie, Gymboree, Abercrombie and Fitch, The Gap, GNC, Starbucks, and a branch of Wells Fargo Bank.

“These transactions crown a year of progress on our external growth initiatives,” said Robert S. Taubman, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Taubman Centers Inc. is an investment firm that owns, manages, develops, and acquires retail properties. Founded by Albert Taubman in 1950, it specializes in retail malls with high-yielding sales results. Taubman has headquarters in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan with an Asian subsidiary based in Hong Kong. It currently owns, leases, or manages 27 properties in the regional and super regional shopping center market.

From rental properties to commercial space for sale, the real estate market has experienced quite a bit of turmoil lately. However, recent trends in leasing prices suggest the worst may be behind us, and could foreshadow a positive move in sale prices. Taking a look at these trends will help you when it comes time to decide whether to buy or lease commercial property to use as an investment. You can also see where the higher and lower cost markets are located for each option. Take a look at the infographic below.

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Following the profit end of trends in real estate, it’s easy to see residential and commercial rental properties taking off while new construction at either end remains sluggish. The reason? Banks and interest rates, not to mention new construction loan curtailments. The bottom line, as suggested in this MarketWatch article about the Virtus Real Estate Fund, is that no new space equals a boom for some. Whether people are in search of places to live, store their excess furniture, or businesses need expansion space – a lot of properties have been soaked up by investors. Supply is not just about square feet, it is often about who owns it too.

Marketing and managing commercial space makes a difference, but not nearly as much as the general trend for larger entities to control segments. Still other movement shows entrenched lending entities even venturing out to get in the game. Clopton Capital straight out purchased a new development, a multifamily opportunity in Logan Square in Chicago. For the rental niche, it sure looks like the market may indeed turn. After all, there’s no place left to go but up, or so they say.

Property photo courtesy © Mark Richardson – Fotolia.com

Seal Beach police, said that John Wesley Martynec, 35, who was arrested in August, had since been bailed pending the start of his trial.

Investment pool fraud © davidevison - Fotolia.com

Mr. Martynec, who owns the Samax Real Estate firm in Seal Beach, came to the attention of the police in December 2010, following complaints from several victims of his scam, said police sergeant Steve Bowles.

The victims complained to police after Martynec cut off contact with them when they asked for their money to be returned.

Martynec had convinced his investors that the money they put into the scheme would be used to purchase foreclosed homes in and around Los Angeles County, before being renovated and then sold on for a handsome profit. He told victims that they would be able to see profits from the venture in just six months.

To make the ruse more convincing, Martynec sent the investors regular email updates, including deeds to properties he had supposedly bought. He told victims that each time he sold a property, he was injecting those profits straight back in to buy even more foreclosed homes.

Following an investigation, police revealed that Martynec had only purchased one home throughout the entire time the scheme was running, a $292,000 property that actually ended up being foreclosed itself.

“The properties that Martynec told his victims he had purchased were real, but his company never actually bought any of them,” explained Bowles.

It later turned out the property deeds Martynec had sent to his victims were faked.

Martynec has been charged with 34 felony offences by the Orange County District Attorney, including multiple charges of grand theft and several other violations.

Nickleplate Realty Trust, LLC out of Canton, Ohio is purchasing the properties, two of which closed on March 30, 2011.  The remainder will close under the normal conditions and lender consent, possibly within the third quarter.

This year we have witnessed many companies begin to offload their real estate in order to recover some of their serious debt, with some also narrowing their market focus and letting go of properties that may have been beyond their financial wherewithal to maintain.

“The disposition of these properties represents an integral part of the Company’s long-term business plan. This strategy includes disposing of smaller properties in secondary markets as the Company upgrades its portfolio, further de-levering its balance sheet, emphasizing ownership of larger properties in higher demographic areas with strong creditworthy tenancies, and thus incorporating additional opportunities for growth,” said Leo S. Ullman, Chairman and CEO of Cedar.

Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates, develops, and redevelops shopping centers anchored by supermarkets in mid-Atlantic and New England states.  Currently, Cedar owns approximately 16.1 million square feet of real estate in 131 shopping centers.  Over 75% of their properties are anchored by drugstores and/or shopping centers.

The 16 properties in the portfolio total 118,046 square feet and are leased to tenants from several well-known companies, including Bank of America, Walgreens, Capital One Bank, Applebee’s, Verizon, Taco Bell, Dollar General, and AT&T.  The properties are located in areas across the united states, including Missouri, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas.

“These assets have been outstanding investments for our company during our holding period and should represent an excellent investment for Inland,” says USAA Chairman and CEO Pat Duncan.

USAA Real Estate Company is a subsidiary of USAA, a Fortune 500 financial services company that has served U.S. military families since 1922.  USAA has approximately 8 million members and $6 billion in assets.  USAA provides co-investment, acquisition, build-to-suit and development services for institutional and corporate investors.  In its portfolio are retail, multi-family, and hotel properties.

The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, INc. is one of the leading commercial real estate service providers in the United States, with specializations in auctions, brokerage, financing, education, and acquisitions.  Inland has 40 years of experience in real estate investment trusts and offers leasing services for multifamily, office, retail, and industrial clients.