my friend buys short sales ,all foreclosures at heavy dicounts [ 30 % off etc] then fixes them and sells them,for say 20% lower than the market.will it be hard for him to sell homes for 150,000 that are the same house that is for sale at 180,000 ? even in this bad market,it seems he can sell them am i wrong ?

In order to sell a home is it wise to spend a lot of money on upgrades? I've installed a brand new dishwasher. Thinking of putting in a new stove, and new flooring in both bathrooms and laundnry room. Otherwise my home is in very good condition. But homes here in Las Vegas aren't selling. The market is really bad now.

I closed with AMH on July 27 on a new construction loan. I did a one time closing with a fixed rate. I have not paid a note because I am not able to request draws at this time to start building my home. My contractor is ready to move forward.

What happens with this type of loan?

Anthony - the housing market is going from bad to worse. Think of the impact of all the foreclosures, short sales and auctioned off homes on the price of real estate. Scary. The trick is to be able to pay at a really significant discount to the current market and leave enough upside potential to make a profit.
By the way, Short sales are coverered in detail in the web site www.foreclosuresfloridaforeclosures.com

Robert - find an experienced local Realtor and discuss your situation with them. Generally cosmetic improvements such as painting and trimming landscaping will pay off, major upgrades are unlikey to return your imvestment though they may help sell your home faster.
Good luck.

This is for Irvbsr:

I was an underwriter at AHM;we were told the CARL department, which administers construction loans/ draws, is still there, and will be for another 6 months. If your loan actually closed and funded (Friday the 27th was actually the last day that Florida loans funded), you might be OK. Call the number that was given to you at closing to obtain draws, and ask about the status of your loan.

Mortgage applications might have gone up in August but that could be more related to ARM loans refinancing rather than any improvement in home purchases.
As a realtor, as far as I go back in time, I can only compare it to the tough markets of early 80's in Florida. And this week's market events didn't help. Getting worse? Maybe. But I am also seeing great opportunities for an advised investor.

I do much of my business on the net and still getting lots of requests to my website:
http://www.condo-southflorida.com

As bad as it seems, I don't think it is the only issue in this country's economy.

Thanks Bigbird. I received a welcome letter and was assigned a draw administrator. He was laid off this week. I was told the funds are currently frozen.

life goes on! Pay On time, & if You Cant, then make arrangements. In time you will be Glad You Did, or You could go rent.... Renting to me is worse than paying on a hse that may have lost some of its value, on paper. in time the market will rebound , your credit will be good , you will still have your home, & YOU WONT BE PAYING A LANDLORD FOR THE USE OF HIS/HER HOUSE. KEEP YOUR HOME!!!

I am one of those subprime-but I have a fixed rate. I could pay the mortgage loan, but what is hurting me is the "extras"s such rising homeowner's insurance (In my state they can justify the hight cost by using your credit rating) and our spiraling property taxes. Ive just painted the house, add a small deck, and my house gone up an extra $32,000 this year, it went up about 25,000 two years ago. This is due to "assessments" such as drive by's or comparisons made by what sold in your area (never mind that it has what you dont have) Who benefits ?- our state, but mostly our greedy municipality. A $1000 bonus and 7% raise to its workers! Gotta come from somewhere!

suzy, Some area's of the county it may pay to rent. In parts of Florida you can rent for less then the cost of expenses. This is due to the desperate conditions of the owner being able to sale his property and make his obligations. This is also due to long time owners in the property that consider their return on old money. The renter would then be able to accumulate more dollars to make a furture purchase. We see multi million dollars homes being rented for less then the tax and insurance. One that can afford one or is waiting for further price drops would be wise to take advantage of this agreed.

We have no mrtgage to worry about but we do have CD money market accouts. what happen to our savings in this case. Please reply.
M H LUCAS

I have an interest only loan because I am planning on selling my home. I have 6 years to do it before I have to start paying on the principle. Will having such a loan hurt my credit rating?

Ok.....so I am trying to buy a house I started the process last month with country wide we have already locked in a rate with a 100% full doc loan at unlike most people who do these we can afford the payments but need to move. What is the likly hood of our loan not processing through come closing?

Like I'm suppose to feel sorry for someone with a $500.000 home and my electric keeeps going out of site with no alternative. Want to help pay my electric bills.

I bought a house 5 months ago. It is due to complete construction in 2 weks. My credit is 587..With todays market conditions, am I in trouble?

Countrywide could save a lot of money and a lot of paper by stopping the mailings they continually send their customers. In a months time, I get offers for life insurance, homeowners insurance, and refinancing. Under no circumstances would I ever buy any of the above from a company that simply bought my mortgage and then proceded to try every trick in the book to up my 30 year fixed interest payment.
First they tried games with sending out the statement on the wrong date and refusing the check i sent because it was less than the amount that they said I needed to pay because they claimed it was late and had added a late charge. I refused this, fought fought and fought and won that game.
Other times it is Lender Forced Insurance they put on my bill. Obscene amounts too, like demanding $1700 or else.
Or, they come up with 'shortages' and suddenly 53.62 is added on to my payment.
Just try and talk to the same person twice! And they will not give last names.
No, COUNTRYWIDE is a shady outfit who's time has come and shame on Bushco for the bailing it out. It took quite a while to give Katrina victims 37 billion and it was only overnight Countrywide got 11 billion. Interesting...

We currently have a mortgage with Countrywide ,our homeowners insurance and taxes are in with the mortgage payment in an escrow account. Our homeowners is past due they did not receive a check Countrywide said they mailed a check august 9th my insurance co. has called them everydayand still not received payment I told them I will pay it on the 24th as I cannot afford not to have insurance but I cant afford to pay the taxes at almost 7000.00 ayear Even though they have my money Can I pay the taxes on my own and send them a lower payment Debbie Angdai@aol.com

Hello everyone....America needs to wake up and really see the true situation. Americans have been using credit too much, even though they do not have the real funds to pay the debt. Our money system also has no real value.....its no longer backed by gold or silver as it was years ago. We need a currency backed by gold and silver which will always have value to it no matter what happens with the market. Forget money that only has an empty goverment promise with no residual value. If the market crashes, then your money can be used as toilet paper.

"I bought a house 5 months ago. It is due to complete construction in 2 weks. My credit is 587..With todays market conditions, am I in trouble?"

If you're asking this question, it means you didn't buy a house. You financed one. If your payment is less than 25% of your take home pay, don't worry about it.

You got a fixed rate, right?

"Our money system also has no real value.....its no longer backed by gold or silver as it was years ago. "

It hasn't been backed by gold or silver for decades. Do some reading before preaching doomsday scenarios.