Archive Page 2
July 19th, 2009 by admin
With just one day to spare, the 54,000-square-foot mansion of former four-time heavyweight professional boxing champion, Evander Holyfield, in Atlanta, Ga., has been rescued from a public foreclosure auction that was scheduled for tomorrow (July 7, 2009).
Holyfield has been fighting to keep the 109-room home, which includes 17 bathrooms, three kitchens and a bowling alley, among other luxurious amenities, for almost a full year.
It now appears that he has struck a deal with mortgage holder JP Morgan Chase & Company to stay put; however, he must pay back the entire $10 million loan on the 104-acre estate no later than Aug. 4, 2009.
Holyfield has made millions throughout his career as a prize fighter.
In fact, he pocketed a cool $34 million just to go toe-to-toe with Mike Tyson back in 1997 in what is now referred to as “The Bite Fight.” All told it is estimated that Holyfield earned an estimated $250 million in the ring throughout his career, which excludes endorsements, sponsorships, appearance fees, etc.
His agent, Jerry Schaffer, recently informed 11Alive.com that his client “is working on several projects right now, including a comeback fight,” details of which should be announced in the next 60 days.
The 46-year-old slugger — who has also faced a public battle over late child support payments in the past (he has 11 offspring) — doesn’t appear to have that much time … especially if he doesn’t have $10 million at his fingertips.
July 19th, 2009 by admin
It stands to reason that if you are interested in money and you enjoy making it you might want to go after a career that allows you to use your love and your skills. If you do a good job at analyzing things and you can map out trends and the like then there is a good job that you might have a career path in the area of personal finance.
There are lots of people out there that are looking for someone that can help them take the money that they have and find a good avenue in which to invest that money so that there is a reasonable return on what they are investing and that they can actually see the nest egg begin to grow and steadily increase in size.
Certainly if you are looking to do this you are going to need an education to match. This is not a career that you can wake up today and say I am going to become a Personal Finance Advisor and then get started on it and be up and running. You need to know the logistics of the position and the needed skills to do it have to be honed. This usually requires a college degree and perhaps even an internship with someone that actually does this.
In fact many of the companies that specialize in handling financial advisor issues do welcome people doing internships. It helps out that firm in several ways. It allows them to have someone menial take care of the issues that are tedious and time consuming and thus allows the advisors themselves to concentrate on making money.
It also allows the firm to look at perspective employees that might be good matches for them to hire. So the intern gets an education in the business perspective from the ground up at a real business that does investments while the person is also getting an education from a higher learning institution on the nuts and bolts formulas and strategies involved in the business aspects.
The combination of the two items tend to hone down a well educated individual with the skill set needed to be a top notch employee that is going to have a long career in the investment arena. Doing an internship while attending school gets the student to the top of the mountain faster and ready to go out and start working quickly.
July 19th, 2009 by admin
A total of 1,905,723 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 1,528,364 U.S. properties in the first six months of 2009.
July 19th, 2009 by admin
RE/MAX International, Inc., announced that visitors to remax.com soon will be able to search more than 1.8 million foreclosue properties in the U.S. via a strategic partnership with RealtyTrac.
June 27th, 2009 by admin
“The King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, suddenly died today at the age of 50 as a result of cardiac arrest. His passing has and will unearth myriad issues throughout his successful — albeit checkered — career in the days, months and years ahead.
One topic that has been popular around here has been his real estate portfolio, including his sprawling Neverland Ranch estate located in Los Olivos, Calif., which he nearly lost to foreclosure in 2008.
Despite his tremendous success for nearly a half-century, during which he amassed a jaw-dropping personal fortune that most rich people can’t even fathom, Jackson was reportedly $500 million in debt.
He was a big spender.
And he poured countless dollars into Neverland, which he purchased for $19.5 million in 1987, to turn it into a giant playground, featuring “two railway lines, two helicopter pads, its own fire department, a zoo and a plethora of amusement-style rides,” according to MSN Money.
When all was said and done the property cost an estimated $10 million or more per year to maintain.
It was eventually too much to handle and Jackson defaulted on a $24.5 million loan. He avoided foreclosure by selling Neverland to a real estate investment company, Colony Capital, that entered into a joint venture with Jackson to renovate and re-sell it.
Talk about an incredible investment — Neverland will more than likely now fetch a tremendous return with Jackson’s passing. Unless, of course, it is turned into a museum to honor his memory.
Whatever happens … all eyes will eventually shift toward co-owner Colony Capital to see what the investors plan to do with the property as the many layers of this story get peeled back over time.
June 27th, 2009 by admin
The June 2009 edition of Foreclosure.com’s free educational newsletter, “Investment Exchange,” is now available, which details how you can find and bid on the best foreclosure deals in your area through online auctions.
Foreclosure deals are everywhere. Lenders, banks and others that own large real estate portfolios are looking to move their inventories in new and exciting ways, including via the Internet.
It makes perfect sense — more than 80 percent of house hunters begin their searches online.
Now it’s our job to tell you where to find these types of auctions, as well as all the things you need to be aware of before placing a bid. Auction homes are priced to sell fast within a certain time frame. That means you need to be ready to move at the drop of a dime when the opportunity of a lifetime emerges.
“Investment Exchange” to the rescue! To check out Online Real Estate Auctions today be sure to click here.
Remember that “Investment Exchange” is a FREE resource that Foreclosure.com provides its site visitors. Sign up to receive the educational real estate newsletter each month at no cost right here.
June 27th, 2009 by admin
Count the Atlanta Journal-Constitution among the growing number of wise media outlets and organizations that will no longer accept nationwide foreclosure-related statistics from RealtyTrac at face value.
According to Inman News (subscription required), the leading daily in the state recently compared legal notices published in newspapers in five metro Atlanta counties against numbers from the self-proclaimed “most trusted source of foreclosure information.”
And while it’s no surprise that RealtyTrac was way off (by nearly 4,000 filings) again, it is quite shocking that the company is now apparently underreporting data.
Here’s the irony:
“After changing its reporting methods two years ago in response to accusations that it was overstating the number of homes subjected to foreclosure-related filings, data aggregator RealtyTrac is facing the opposite problem …”
RealtyTrac still can’t seem to ever get it right.
Meanwhile, Foreclosure.com continues to collect data that is more in line with Mortgage Bankers Association, as well passes tests from the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Inman News — the leading source of independent real estate news, information, advice, research, opinion and commentary for industry professionals and consumers alike — and other prestigious publications/newswires.
And yet several newspapers and media outlets throughout the nation still to this day continue to source RealtyTrac data — even when the company’s own spokesperson admits there “needs to be a better process.”
The good news is that there already is a “better process” and it can be found conveniently online at Foreclosure.com. We work hand-in-hand with major lending institutions, government agencies, corporate sellers and other top-level sources, scrubbing the information that we receive to ensure its accuracy.
Put simply, our process works.
For more troubling news reports that reference RealtyTrac foreclosure statistics click here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Sorry if we missed a bunch; however, it’s just so much to keep track of over the years.
June 27th, 2009 by admin
Foreclosure is unpleasant for several different reasons. Not only are homeowners forced out of their homes, but their credit scores suffer long after the banks repossess them.
In fact, a foreclosure can affect a credit score by as much as 250 to 280 points for up to seven years. That of course can become a major problem and inconvenience down the road when it comes to buying/leasing a car, renting a new place or even getting approved for a credit card.
It’s a horrible gift that, unfortunately, keeps on giving.
For the sake of comparison, short sales and deed-in-lieu are less of a drain on your credit. Short sales can affect a score by 80 to 100 points and deed-in-lieu is anywhere from 120 to 175. Clearly, it’s in homeowners’ best interests to try and short sale or sell their homes by some other means before losing them to foreclosure altogether.
The good news is that a credit score can never drop below “0.” It’s also always changing — when credit takes a ding for any reason time is a reliable ally that helps improve the rating.
Of course, a person needs to focus on doing the things that will not make a situation worse for a score to get better. The key to great credit is to be educated on how prompt payments and buying behaviors affect long- and short-range financial goals.
Nationwide consumer credit reporting companies such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion allow one FREE credit file disclosure every 12 months. The first step, clearly, is finding out what your credit score is and the factors that went into it.
From that point on raising your credit score is like getting into shape — it takes some time and there is no quick fix. If you are having credit problems or would like to speak with a professional about how to best go about repairing your credit — especially if a foreclosure is involved — visit CreditLawGroup.com today.
June 27th, 2009 by admin
Mention the word “foreclosure” and the usual reference is to residential real estate, but now the term is beginning to have a new meaning, one with a troubling economic impact.
June 27th, 2009 by admin
We’re now at a very unusual point in financial history, one which home buyers and foreclosure investors may want to examine with care.