Great and Inspiring Quotes

The truth is more important than the facts.

                                                                   Frank Lloyd Wright

Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish.

                                                                  Albert Einstein

Today’s failure is tomorrow’s success

                                                                  unknown

One must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well.

                                                                 Amos Bronson Alcott

 

Please call or email us with any and all of your SW Florida real estate (Cape, Coral, Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, Estero, Bonita Springs) needs.

I hope everyone has a great day.

Steve Geving
Premiere Plus Realty Co
www.nextgenerationrealtygroup.com

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Real Estate and the Gold Rush

On this day in 1848, the New York Herald carried a front page story that would
change the face and folklore of America forever. The story trumpeted the fact that a
New Jersey man had stuck his hand in a creek in California and plucked out some
nuggets of gold. That was enough! What an image! East Coast man goes west and
strikes gold. Soon one fourth of America was on clipper ships or forming wagon
trains to head west.

The discovery had actually occurred back on January 24th. The New Jersey transplant
was James Marshall and he found the gold while working at the sawmill named for
his partner, John Sutter. Originally, they hoped to keep the news a secret but
American Enterprise got in the way. It appeared in the form of the local storekeeper,
a guy named Sam Brannan. He figured there was money to be made in gold – gold
fever that is.

So Brannan bought up all the pans and overalls and pickaxes he could find. Then he
showed up in San Francisco with bottles filled with gold dust and raved of the
fabulous find at Sutter’s Mill. Then he raced back to Fort Sutter and began becoming
a millionaire by selling supplies at 5000% markups. 

Marshall never became a millionaire. In fact, he died broke. The prospectors
swarmed over his land, ruined his mill and his business. Finally, he tried prospecting
himself  but he was thought to be so lucky at finding gold that scores of prospectors
followed him everywhere. And, if he did find a flake or two, suddenly there were
hundreds of people panning and digging next to him. He took to drink as my mom
would say and died sullen and penniless.

The moral to the story written by Art Cashin is that being first is not always best. 

Investors and homebuyers alike have been flocking to SW Florida (Cape Coral, Fort Myers) for several months but the party has just started.  The homes inventory is great and the prices are better.  The buyers ahead of you have only established the market as a worth while opportunity.

Please feel free to contact us with any and all of your homebuying needs.  We look forward to earning your trust and real estate business.

Steve Geving
Premiere Plus Realty Co
www.nextgenerationrealtygroup.com

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Flood Insurance Program Still Ends May 31

U.S. House proposes NFIP extension through September

WASHINGTON – May 11, 2010 – U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank (D-Mass.) recently introduced HR 5255, which would extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) from May 31 through Sept. 30.

Frank says that the recent lapses in the program have made it difficult to write new and renew flood insurance coverage, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Realtors Association say has “adversely impacted or delayed up to 1,350 real estate closings per day.” U.S. Reps. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) co-sponsored the legislation.

The House committee also recently passed Waters’ Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act of 2010 (HR 5114) to extend the program through Sept. 30, 2015. In the U.S. Senate, however, HR 4213, which would extend NFIP through Dec. 30, has stalled.

Source: Insurance & Financial Advisor (05/10/10) Martin, Keith L.

© Copyright 2010 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD

 Steve Geving
Premiere Plus Realty Co
239-573-1400
Steve@nextgenerationrealtygroup.com
www.nextgenerationrealtygroup.com

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Fannie Mae seeks $8.4B in aid after 1Q loss

WASHINGTON – May 10, 2010 – Fannie Mae has again asked taxpayers for more money after reporting a first-quarter loss of more than $13 billion.

The mortgage finance company, which was rescued by the government in September 2008, said it needs an additional $8.4 billion from the government to help cover mounting losses.

Fannie Mae says it lost $13.1 billion, or $2.29 per share, in the January-March period. That takes into account $1.5 billion in dividends paid to the Treasury Department. It compares with a loss of $23.2 billion, or $4.09 a share, in the year-ago period.

The rescue of Fannie Mae and sister company Freddie Mac is turning out to be one of the most expensive aftereffects of the financial meltdown. The new request for aid will bring Fannie Mae’s total to $83.6 billion. The total bill for the duo will now be nearly $145 billion.

Late last year, the Obama administration pledged to cover unlimited losses through 2012 for Freddie and Fannie, lifting an earlier cap of $400 billion.

Fannie and Freddie play a vital role in the mortgage market by purchasing mortgages from lenders and selling them to investors. Together the pair own or guarantee almost 31 million home loans worth about $5.5 trillion. That’s about half of all mortgages.

The two companies, however, loosened their lending standards for borrowers during the real estate boom and are reeling from the consequences.

With the housing market still on shaky ground, Obama administration officials say it is still too early to draft any proposals to reform the two companies or the broader housing finance system.

But Republicans argue the sweeping financial overhaul currently before Congress is incomplete without a plan for Fannie and Freddie. They propose transforming Fannie and Freddie into private companies with no government subsidies, or shutting them down completely.

The legislation “touches nearly every corner of the economy,” Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby said in the GOP weekly radio and Internet address over the weekend. “But these major contributors to the crisis are left unscathed,” he added, singling out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press, Alan Zibel, AP real estate writer

Steve Geving
Premiere Plus Realty
239-573-1400
Steve@nextgenerationrealtygroup.com
www.nextgenerationrealtygroup.com

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Homes with Chinese Drywall are Selling

Chinese drywall homes for sale draw some buyers

TAMPA, Fla. – May 7, 2010 – Florida real estate agents increasingly list properties constructed with defective drywall from China and, increasingly, buyers are showing interest.

Some of the homes have been remediated to eliminate the contamination, and others are offered “as is” – but most dangle cut-rate prices attractive to prospective owner-occupants and investors alike.

Property agents say that as long as buyers understand the risks – the jury is still out on the health threats associated with tainted drywall – those with the money to fix up a dwelling stand to benefit financially in a sale. However, they also worried about the investors, some of which aim to purchase properties at bargain prices and leave the drywall in place or, at least, take the biggest shortcut to removing it. They’ll then rent the homes, most likely to low-income tenants.

While most brokers require sellers to sign a disclosure document if their property has contaminated drywall, the law does not require it; and renters are unlikely to even see such a form, anyway.

Source: Tampa Tribune (05/06/10) Behnken, Shannon

© Copyright 2010 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD

 Steve Geving
Premiere Plus Realty Co
239-573-1400
Steve@nextgenerationrealtygroup.com
www.nextgenerationrealtygroup.com

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