International homebuyers with permanent residences outside the U.S., recent immigrants and temporary visa holders, last year purchased $66 billion of U.S. residential property, or 7% of the market, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The decline in real estate prices, an oversupply of housing, high foreclosure rates and the weak dollar, in comparison with other currencies, have made the U.S. housing market very attractive to international buyers.
When considering currencies, Europeans have a large advantage. The Euro is 25% stronger than the U.S. dollar. The Canadians have a currency advantage, as well. The value of the Canadian dollar is now equal to the value of the U.S. dollar, making this the best time in decades for Canadians to purchase a home in the U.S.
Canadian buyers currently account for 23% of international purchases in the U.S. That’s the largest portion of all international buyers, up from 11% three years ago. According to a study by Information Market, this year in Phoenix — for the first time on record — buyers from Canada outpaced buyers from California.
Want to jumpstart your international real estate business? Consider obtaining a membership in the Certified International Property Specialist Network (CIPS), a special group within NAR. Through multiple education and networking opportunities, the CIPS Network helps real estate agents capitalize on the lucrative international market. Two years ago, I pursued the prestigious NAR designation and was just the 58 agent in New York State oout of 65,000 agents to have earned it. Up until the end of 2010, there were only about 2,000 CIPS agents in the workd. For more information about the CIPS Network, call me or visit www.realtor.org/international.
Another reason I pursued the CIPS designation was because of the training and instruction on how to work with different ethnic groups by understanding their customs and traditions. This has been extremely helpful since Rochester has many international groups already living here.
Another important factor is the network of CIPS agents around the world. Because of the difficulty in earning this designation, there is a “fraternity-type” connection to other CIPS agents. This has already been helpful in referring a customer that wants to buy in Costa Rica or another in Mexico. Just recently, I received a call from Miami from an agent looking to refer me to an organization that is placing families from South America in Rochester.
The world is becoming smaller all the time. I changed my website name to reflect this movement of international marketplace to Rochester & International Real Estate. I also plan to organize an International Committee in Rochester to help facilitate agents to work with international buyers.
This past week I took a special course in Short Sales and Foreclosures from the creator of the course Frank Serio. Frank is a Broker owner of his own real estate firm in Deleware and has been in the real estate business for 26 years. He is also the President-elect for the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS).
To put it succintly, I was blown away by the incredible content of the couse as presented by Frank Serio! Hence the purpose of my blog, to try to present some of the info I received to help you to either avoid a bank foreclosure or to understand how to work thrugh it, if it has happened to you or you find yourself in this situation.
Here are some strategies to avoid foreclosure:
Be proactive about the problem when the first warning signs appear. Not only does this reduce the stres of not knowing what is going to happen, but it makes it easier for the creditors to work out a plan.
Contact your lender when you become aware that you have a problem. The last thing that a lender wants is to foreclose on the property. Financial institutions lose a significant amount of money by foreclosing on a property ($50,000+/-). Foreclosure is a lose/lose for the lender and the homeowner. It is important to be honest and forthright with your discussions and be prepared to discuss the reasons for your problems.
Read the mail! Not knowing does not solve the problem, it just delays the final result. By not reading the mail, a person avoids the opportunity to get help before it is too late.
Contact a HUD approved housing counselor or call a REALTOR for advice. Call 1-800-569-4287 to find a nearby counselor, or go to www.HUD.gov
Priortize your spending by paying for the necessities of life first. Always pay the house payment and health payment first.
Look for ways to generate cash. Sell those items that have value but are not used or needed, or seek a part-time job to get through the crisis. Not only does this reduce the emotional and financial stress, but it provides evidence to the lender that the borrower is proactively seeing a way to remedy a bad situation.
Don’t get scammed by a private “foreclosure prevention specialist,” instead go to www.HUD.gov to obtain valid information about foreclosure prevention.
Make an appointment with a REALTOR to discuss the problem and to get their advice.
GREATER ROCHESTER ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® RELEASES YEAR-END STATISTICS
ROCHESTER, NY – January 25, 2010 –The Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS® (GRAR) released its year-end statistics for 2009.
When compared to 2008, overall year-end activity remained relatively stable, with total sales slightly down 1.3 percent. Pending sales were up at 2.3 percent. Median home prices decreased a mere 0.9 percent, from $117,000 in 2008 to $116,000 in 2009.
“Although sales in 2009 reflected a slight decrease over 2008, we still considered it as a somewhat sturdy market,” remarked Ryan Tucholski, GRAR’s chief executive officer.
“We feel that we weathered the worst of the storm,” stated Carolyn Stiffler, GRAR board president. “We are looking forward to a strong second quarter, with April being the month that I expect to carry the quarter, in part because of the extension and expansion of the tax credit.”
Federal legislation not only extended the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, but also included an expansion to included current homeowners who are selling their home and who may be eligible to receive a $6,500 tax credit for the purchase of another principal residence. In order to qualify, homeowners must have used the home sold as a principal residence, consecutively for 5 of the previous 8 years. There are additional eligibility requirements that apply for first-time homebuyers and current homeowners. Both must have a written binding contract to purchase by April 30, 2010, which is when the tax credit expires. The purchaser will have until July 1, 2010 to close.
Significant increases in sales were realized specifically in Chili, which showed a 21.2 percent increase and Wheatland, with a gain of 89.7 percent. Sales in the city of Rochester decreased 7 percent, but showed a 14 percent increase in the median sales price.
The results cover the city of Rochester, all Monroe County towns and villages, and Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans, and Wayne Counties.
GRAR will continue to support the local residential real estate industry through its Time2Buy marketing campaign, which focuses on the benefits of owning a home and using the services of a REALTOR® when buying and selling a home.
Crazy Job! With People or Alone?
This job of real estate that I have been working at for the past 31 years is a crazy job! From the outside looking in, it seems as though I would be with people all day, driving buyers around to houses, showing them through the houses, writing up offers, negotiating on the offers, spending time at home inspections, sitting through the mortgage appointments, and on and on!
However, the truth of the matter is I spend most of my time alone!
Does that surprise you?
More of my day is spent researching and searching for homes for my different buyers, phone calls following up on showings of my listings for feedback, calling contractors for quotes on repair items, phone calls to the mortgage companies to find out what documents they still need for the mortgage application, phone calls to the buyers and sellers, driving to listings to show buyers and their agents through my listing, and on and on!
The fun part of this job is when you are with people. However, you can’t have one without the other. The time I spend working alone is what pulls it all together.
So if you are thinking of looking into real estate as a career, a question I would ask you is, “How do you do working on your own?” Have you done anything like that before? If you aren’t good at working alone or have never done it before, this job may be very difficult for you. I love this job because I love being with people and have the ability to work well on my own.
