Larry Roberts real estate writing blog

Sunday, December 7, 2014

USA Housing: Las Vegas: a wretched hive of realtor scum and villainy

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. As many of you know, I went out to Las Vegas to purchase rental homes. Back in August of 2010, I wrote the post Buy Las Vegas real estate where I made the case for...
Las Vegas: a wretched hive of realtor scum and villainy

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Saturday, December 6, 2014

Ponzi Debt: How Are Mortgage Interest Rates Determined?

Mortgage interest rates are the single-most important factor determining the borrowing power of a potential house buyer. When rates are very low, a borrower can service a large amount of debt with a relatively small payment, and when interest rates are very high, a borrower can service a small...
How Are Mortgage Interest Rates Determined?

Friday, December 5, 2014

Housing Market: FHA insurance premium hikes will impact high wage earners most

Housing markets in Coastal California are dominated by high wage earners. In the more affluent markets, the GSE conforming loan limit is $625,000, yet the FHA limit is $729,750. GSE conforming loans can be obtained with only 5% down with private mortgage insurance of around 0.62%. FHA loans...
FHA insurance premium hikes will impact high wage earners most

OCHN: Renters need more opportunities to build wealth

Instead of encouraging home ownership as the best means of acquiring wealth, perhaps government policy should encourage saving and investment among renters.

In a recent post I noted that Renters can acquire wealth as well as homeowners. And while renters can acquire wealth, the system of tax...
Renters need more opportunities to build wealth

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Real Estate Loan: Buy a Home as a Place to Live

A house should not be viewed as an investment. When investments go bad, it causes financial hardship and anguish. When the bad financial investment is a family home it ruins everything. The joyous memories that are supposed to be associated with a person’s home instead become associated with t...
Buy a Home as a Place to Live

OCHN: Reflating the housing bubble hurts homebuilders

Lenders, the government, and the federal reserve reflated the old housing bubble and priced out the buyers homebuilders counted on for sales growth.

Be careful what you ask for because you might get it.
Everyone who makes a living in real estate wanted to see the end of the price decline and a...
Reflating the housing bubble hurts homebuilders

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

OCHN: If buyer and seller agree, should appraisers hit the number?

Is a house worth whatever a buyer and seller agree upon, or do appraisers have a responsibility to kill deals when the number is too high?

When a buyer is paying cash, and the seller agrees to the offer, these two parties alone establish value, so under those circumstances, whatever a buyer and...
If buyer and seller agree, should appraisers hit the number?

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Mortgage Refinance: What is Structured Finance?

Structured finance is an innovation of the finance industry on Wall Street. It is a method of redistributing risk based on complex legal and corporate entities such as corporations, limited liability companies or some other kind of legal entity capable of entering into contracts. The shares or...
What is Structured Finance?

Mortgage Foreclosure: Lack of MLS inventory causing bidding wars despite tepid demand

House prices are rising rapidly in Orange County and most of Coastal California. There are anecdotal reports of bidding wars, and many properties are selling for 5% to 10% above recent comparable sales. As I’ve documented, Orange County home resale volume is very weak by historic norms, ...
Lack of MLS inventory causing bidding wars despite tepid demand

OCHN: The fantasy of looser lending standards provides false hope for 2015

Everyone in the real estate industry is hopeful for a better 2015. Financial media panders to this hope with stories of looser credit standards.

I used to believe journalists attempt to convey facts and truth, come what may; however, after reading housing reports in the financial media over...
The fantasy of looser lending standards provides false hope for 2015

Monday, December 1, 2014

USA Foreclosure: Can a housing market rally by sustained with fewer homeowners?

Historically, in housing markets that displayed robust price increases, the rally was driven by increasing employment and rising wages. This has long been considered a fundamental of all housing price movements. The logic behind this is simple. New jobs need to new household formation which puts...
Can a housing market rally by sustained with fewer homeowners?

OCHN: Wave of HELOC resets to cause 400% increase in delinquency

When a HELOC recasts to a higher payment, borrowers default at rates five times larger than normal.

The housing market bottom of 2012 was engineered by policy at the major banks. Millions of borrowers stopped making payments, and rather than foreclose on them, lenders decided to modify loans...
Wave of HELOC resets to cause 400% increase in delinquency