Clay Sparkman One of the most promising areas at the moment for real estate investors and brokers, by all indications, is REO, short sale, rehab, and quick flip properties. The opportunity to buy distressed properties at a low price point is evident in many markets. And yet it is difficult for most end-buyers (with a […]
Rehab loans
Draw process for rehab and construction loans
Wednesday, February 6th, 2013Clay Sparkman We plan to do as many rehab and construction loans as we can this year. We see great potential in that area. Builders are under-building (by a substantial number of units, and going back 3+ years), and this is mostly because banks haven’t recovered to the point where they are comfortable doing construction […]
What to look for in 2013
Thursday, January 24th, 2013Clay Sparkman I rather enjoyed the following article in the www.thefiscaltimes.com (quite an impressive publication at first blush), and thought it would be a good one to share. “Ten Real Estate Trends to Watch in 2013” http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/12/06/10-Real-Estate-Trends-to-Watch-in-2013.aspx#page1 The article begins by noteing that “national home prices have been on the uptick for eight straight months,” […]
A story of adaptation: or how to survive and succeed in a challenging real estate market
Thursday, November 11th, 2010The following is a guest post by Matthew Whitaker, Managing Member of Magnolia Partners, LLC and Golden Key, LLC. I originally posted this article on my Broker Blog, but it occurred to me that it would be appropriate to post it here as well. What I think a trust deed investor should take away from […]
Private loan packaging guidelines
Sunday, October 31st, 2010Clay Sparkman One of my long term objectives with this blog is to eventually walk with you through all of the private money loan processes and procedures, from the moment of conception until death (death of course not being a bad thing in my chosen metaphor, but simply meaning loan payoff, workout, or foreclosure). This […]
What does this mean to us?
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010Clay Sparkman Okay, I don’t know about you, but whenever I read news about some new development in the real estate market, my first instinct is to say, “What does this mean to me?” Hey I’m not proud of it, but that’s just how I’m wired. This past two weeks we read that: (1) GMAC […]
The sweet spot
Thursday, September 16th, 2010Clay Sparkman We are always looking for the sweet spot these days in the real estate market. And by sweet spot, I mean that realm of investments that are on balance less risky and more likely to turn a profit in what is otherwise a jaded real estate market. I have gone on a bit […]
When life gives you lemons …
Sunday, July 18th, 2010Clay Sparkman I have always believed—and history seems to bear this out—that when the status quo becomes problematic, new opportunities present themselves. Certainly the real estate economy of the past three years has proved problematic, and so as private money investors we are called upon to seek out those borrowers/investors who have encountered and successfully […]
A brief unofficial analysis of the private money market for investors
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010Clay Sparkman The national economy is in a state of confusion and the local economy is in a state of confusion. So what does this mean for the market for investing in trust deed based loans? Well of course nobody really knows–and this is just my take on it–but here goes: First of all, let’s […]
Rehab and construction loan FAQ
Monday, March 8th, 2010Clay Sparkman One of the most promising areas at the moment for real estate investors, by all indications, is REO, rehab, and quick flip of properties. The opportunity to buy distressed properties at a low price point is evident in many markets. And yet it is difficult for most end-buyers (with a non-profit initiative) to […]
