Clay Sparkman
With the decline of real estate prices and concern about the global economy, there is a lot of speculation regarding the timeline of this recession. In conversations with brokers, investors, and developers throughout the country, the topic often turns to one common question: what’s going on out there? I’ve heard what the experts say, and certainly these people are more qualified than I to make statements regarding the indicators on the global and national economy. However, I do have my finger on the pulse of the hard money market in regional pockets throughout the USA, and here are some thoughts from someone down in the trenches:
It seems like a lot of people are looking ahead to better times in 2012 and viewing this as a time to position them self to take advantage of a low and potentially turning market.
A considerable portion of our loan inquiries are for the purchase of discounted properties. There are always requests to purchase distressed properties, but in this market there are properties available that require little if any work. The goal here is to secure these properties as rentals and refinance through conventional means or make a quick flip. The strategy obviously is to purchase these properties at somewhere near the bottom of the price curve and make the best buy possible. Many would argue that we haven’t quite reached the bottom yet, but this increased activity might suggest that we’re getting close—at least in a handful of regional markets.
I also have the opportunity to talk to a variety of contractors. Just as my phone seems to be ringing more frequently, a number of these contractors have reported increased activity. This seems to be another indicator that we might be reaching the bottom. This increased activity suggests that these investment opportunities have become ripe for the picking.
To answer that initial question: the hard money wheels are turning. We keep data, and we’ve seen a significantly increased volume of loan inquires (particularly for projects and investments) over the past 3-4 months, and it looks like investors are getting ready to pick up some of this huge inventory of discounted property. The timeline is a matter of speculation, but with this increased activity, real estate sales volume could be on the rise. As this decreases the inventory, prices could stabilize and the market might even rebound. Maybe this is wishful thinking, but either way there is opportunity out there.
If you would like to discuss private money loans further or run a particular scenario by us, please e-mail him at clay@privatemoneysource.com. Otherwise, if you would like to get a better feel for our company and the types of programs we do, please browse our web site at http://www.privatemoneysource.com.
– Clay (clay@privatemoneysource.com, 503-476-2909)
Clay is Vice President of Fairfield Financial, a primary source for private money since 1964. Fairfield is currently targeting loans in OR, WA, AK, CA, CO, ID, FL, GA, ID, MT, NV, NY, OK and TX. To submit a loan to Fairfield for consideration: http://www.privatemoneysource.com/loanproposal.php
Tags: bank loans, Commercial loans, construction loans, finding lenders, hard money borrowing, hard money brokering, hard money loans, Multifamily, Oregon, private money borrowing, private money brokering, private money loans, Quick flip loans, real estate, real estate investing, real estate rental, rehab loans, REO funding, Short sales, subordinate loans
