Deadline Newsroom FAQ 91508

When you have questions needing answers that really hit home, contact the Deadline Newsroom. This installment: auction deals; home improvements to add value; analog to digital television signal change.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime.



Deadline Newsroom - Q: My real estate agent and real estate attorney both say I stand a good chance in getting a home below market value at an auction. Is that possible?

A: Yes, but probably not for the reason you may think.

Many homes wind up on the auction block because the home is in or headed for foreclosure or because conventional selling methods have failed. That can be enough motivation for the seller to offer a bargain. On the other hand, the seller may be using the auction process to generate a bidding war that will boost the price.

If you do your market research, you'll know ahead of time what's market value and what isn't. Research is your ace in the hole. And, with two professionals on your side, instead of just one, it appears as if you also have a wild card. Auctions aren't for novices.

If both are professionally competent and auction experienced, they'll help you scrutinize the deal, call in a home inspector to check the property's condition, explain your financing options, go over closing information and explain the terms of the auction.

If your professional team also joins you attending property previews, if they coach you at study auctions before you are ready to participate, if they act with auction acumen, their professional skill improves your chances for an auction victory.



Q: I'm considering a home improvement to raise the value of my home before I sell it. Which one will boost my sale price most?

A: Leave major improvements to the new owner's tastes and concentrate on curb appeal, landscaping, staging and interior work to transform your home into a model home instead of a palace. Also, your home improvement could alienate buyers who don't have the same tastes.

Cost-vs-value studies do say you can improve the value of your home with certain home improvements, but the findings are based not only on the improvement you choose, but also local market conditions, the condition of similar homes in your neighborhood, and, perhaps most importantly, holding onto your home for a while after the work has been done. The improvement must have time to season and bring your home's appraisal on or above par with other similar homes on the market.

Q: When television broadcast signals switch from analog to digital, will I have to buy a new high definition digital television (HDTV)?

A: Not because of the switch. Here's the scoop.

Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, all analog TV signals complete the switch to digital TV (DTV) signals. Congress ordered the transition to digital broadcasting to make more efficient use of the publicly owned airwaves.

The transition does not require you to buy an HDTV, unless you want to take advantage of a high definition video image provided by many broadcasters. You can watch HDTV programming with a digital TV, with digital cable or satellite service or with a digital converter, you just won't get the full HDTV image quality.

The transition requirement is only from analog to digital (not HD digital). The transition only requires that your TV has a digital tuner or that your satellite or cable service provides digital tuning (which, they do now) or that you get a converter for old-fashioned, over-the-air (roof top antennae or "rabbit ears") digital reception for your analog TV.

You will not need a converter if you own a digital TV, even if you get over-the-air antennae signals. The digital TV converts the signal with its built-in digital tuner.

You will not need the converter if you subscribe to a cable or satellite service, even if you have an analog TV. Your service converts the signal for you.

For digital converter coupons worth $40 toward the $50 to $70 cost of a converter, call 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009). Visit the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Federal Trade Commission's "Countdown To DTV Transition" for more information.

Got questions? Send them to news@deadlinenews.com. We'll do our best to get you the most relevant answer.

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group -- DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Real Estate Investment Basics

If market conditions have given you the itch to invest in real estate, treat it with education, market savvy and professional help.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - It could be a good time to invest in real estate. It could be a bad time to invest in real estate.

And there's the rub.

Just like buying a home to live in, taking the real estate investment plunge requires taking stock of your financial goals, planning and lifestyle before taking the plunge.

Pretty much like buying any property.

If you've got the time, the money and the lifestyle that lends itself to managing a real estate investment, you are just about half way there.

However, both halves are pretty big halves.

The National Real Estate Investors Association says you've still got a lot of work to do.

Here's what.

Buy your own home first. Buying a home will not only put a roof over your head, but also teach you the true cost of property ownership beyond the monthly mortgage payment; give you a primer on financing; school you on how location and changing market conditions affect property values; give you the angle on tax and other home-owning benefits; help you learn about property maintenance; introduce you to a host of professionals who could prove invaluable when you really get into investments; and otherwise get you grounded for higher studies in real estate investments.

Even before home ownership, the involved process of buying a home provides basic information that later could prove invaluable to you as an investor. What's more, your first home could later become your first investment property, a property in a market with which you are familiar.

Go back to school. A booming real estate market that pushes your home value up by double digit percentages in the first year doesn't make you a market mogul any more than a housing bust should scare you off. After you buy your own home, turn to the Internet, libraries of books by reputable authors, successful, credible investment groups, college and university level courses, even your state's real estate license program. Become your own expert. You aren't required to sell homes just because you have a real estate license, but what you'll learn getting one will certainly give you a leg up on your investment moves.

Individual real estate investors, salespeople and others who you met on the way to home ownership may also be valuable resources, both for information and perhaps as a mentor. Using more than one resource will help you cancel out the bad information and ferret out the good.

Get professional help. The same way you find any competent, trustworthy and honest professional is the same way to look for a mentor, investment partner with prior knowledge or investment group. Seek referrals from friends, family, professionals with whom you already conduct business, co-workers and others you trust who've recently had a satisfactory, successful experience investing in real estate.

Someone who already knows the ropes will come in handy when you are on the ropes.

And chances are, no matter how hard you study, you'll need professional help to acquire your investment and later, beyond the buying stage, when questions arise, property management issues surface or you get bogged down by your new endeavor.

That's particularly true if you invest from a distance and buy investments away from your primary residence.

Learn your investment market. One market's bubble could be one investor's boom and another investor's bust. A home in one market could give you vacation rental income in a half year sufficient to cover the cost of principal, interest, taxes, insurance, home owner association dues, upkeep and other costs, but still not appreciate. Another home in another market may not bring you sufficient rent in a year's time to cover the cost of owning the property, but might appreciate more than enough to make up for your carrying costs over the long term.

The variables are endless and you'll need to measure your capacity for risk against market conditions.

This is where education and professional help come in. Your education should teach you not only by rote, but also how to find the answers you need. The pro is your point person and backup to help you fill in the gaps with experienced guidance.

© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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Selling Strategies That Ease The Squeeze

To help get the housing market rolling again, you might have to get on the bus, hold an auction, lease back a model home or consider equity sharing, among the growing number of existing, new or lesser-known marketing strategies.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Deadline Newsroom - Looking to buy a bargain or make a hard sell?

Take the bus and make it the "F" Line.

The "F" is for the growing number of foreclosure properties that have become bus stops along motor tour routes designed to put home sales on the fast track.

The Keenan Carter Group in Pismo Beach, CA became the darling of the bus tour set when its version was featured on "Good Morning America" on ABC-TV and a segment with Neal Cavuto on Fox News.

At $20 a seat, the tour bus also becomes a school bus between stops, serving up information packages on each property. Riders get spreadsheets on mortgage payment options, potential rental income properties could yield and refreshments.

The special focus on marketing foreclosures is not surprising, especially in California where the number of foreclosures exceeded the number of sales in January, according to foreclosure figures from ForeclosureRadar.com and sales numbers from DataQuick Information Services.

Other bus tours are driving into Florida, Las Vegas and other hard hit housing markets that have been flooded with foreclosures.

Driving a bargain on a bus isn't new, but using the strategy as a vehicle to move foreclosures is part of a current trend in special marketing, designed to help turn the housing market around.

Auctions are hot too.

• The fastest growing segment of the auction industry's real estate sector, residential real estate auctions, on or off line, experienced a gross revenue growth of 5.3 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to the Overland Park, KS-based National Auctioneers Association. In 2007 the association created NAARealEstateAuctions.com, a real estate auction multiple listing service (MLS) to handle the volume. Many, but not all, auctions are listed there.

Coordinated open house events are big.

• In Silicon Valley, April 13 will become "The Biggest Open House Day Of The Year," as sellers queue up to offer incentives and accommodate -- on the spot -- buyers who make an offer that day.

Second home marketing is getting a renewed spin too.

• Elisabeth Miller-Fox, president of PrivateCommunities.com says little is known about "model sale lease backs," a spin on lease options typically found in master planned communities.

The tight market is giving this tactic a higher profile.

"In second home communities the developer builds a model home which is fully furnished and beautifully appointed. The developer sells the model home to a buyer who is not yet ready to have a second home, but will be in a few years. The developer then leases the model back from the buyer for 'X' amount of time and continues using the model to generate more sales for the community. It's a win-win for both parties," says Miller-Fox.

Bozeman, Montana's Black Bull Golf Community; Quechee, Vermont's Quechee Lakes; and Ocala, Florida's SummerGlen adult community are just a few communities offering model home lease back deals.

"This is a very different segment of the market and not well understood by the media or the average buyer. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) & HGTV have done a great job of helping people understand the general real estate market and how it works, but there has not been a good conduit for information for the second home buyer in a private, master-planned community. This is a very different animal and a different type of purchase," she added.

• Home shoppers should also be on the look out for some financing flash to give savings-poor but income-rich buyers an edge.

Quincy Virgilio, president elect of the Santa Clara County association, says expect to see a return to equity sharing.

The creative financing strategy includes two parties -- one who occupies the home, another, an investor, who foots the bill for the down payment.

The symbiotic relationship has flourished during past periods of buyer-seller separation in the housing market.

Las Vegas-based Creative Real Estate Online publisher, J. P. Vaughan, also a trial lawyer and real estate investor says everyone can benefit from the strategy.

One person becomes a homeowner with little if any money down, the investor, with the down payment, can get a joint venture-like return on his or her money and a seller, in a slow market, could become the investor or otherwise use the technique to quickly seal a deal, says Vaughan.

Read more creative buying, selling and financing stories.

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© 2008 DeadlineNews.Com

Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist of 30 years, is publisher and executive editor of San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service, and the new Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's new backshop. In both cases, it's where all the news really hits home.

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