More rearranging the home office and submitting a commercial offer

So today consisted of running over to a clients place of business and having him sign an offer on a restaurant going into foreclosure across town.

The lender plans on foreclosing on Thursday, so my client made what he thinks is a high offer, though I doubt the lender will be happy with it. I've been saying we're heading for a commercial crash, and mentioned the stagnant commercial market, so I'm hoping for a counter offer, at best. If we don't get anything, we'll just wait and see if it comes up again at a better price. I'd like to be more hopeful, but I think a lot of lenders are too optimistic about the commercial market, or too stubborn to take a small loss now, in order to take a bigger loss later. Maybe the lender is hoping to make another loan on the property in order to foreclose a second time.
The location is on outer Hwy 18, so a little hard to get to for travellers, but it is close to the post office. We could use a place for a good cup of drive-thru coffee over there.

I also spoke with a businessman and his wife (businesscouple ?) about the value of the building they were leasing with an option to buy. Hopefully I'm making friends. Their building is old and needs a lot of work to bring it up to current codes, as is the attached SFR, but their credit isn't the best, so maybe they can work something out with the owner. IMO, the owner wants way too much.

Still working on the home office. Had to get some round cable staples for the power cords. Just about have things set up in an acceptable manner. Older places never have enough electrical receptacles. When I get my dream house built, it's going to have lots of places to plug the stuff in...if I don't go all mad scientist and power the place with a Tesla coil.

Tomorrow is time to meet an inspector and potential renters.

New Computers and technology stuff

So, I'm still getting settled in after the move in February. There's much arranging and rearranging of the home office space. My boss, is even talking of expanding, and possibly opening an office in the High Desert.

In the midst of all this, I've gotten a new computer. I'm setting it up to run Linux Mint. My subscription to WinForms is about to expire, so I'm moving over to a membership with Firsttuesday.us which has great articles and real estate forms for about one quarter the WinForms price.

So there have been quite a few late nights messing with technology. My PDA wouldn't sync, so I reset it and lost some contact info. Everything seemed fine, but now it's temperamental again. I set up a digital picture frame for my grandma. Now I'll need to use my old computer parts to build something for her to scan in the old family photos, and type up some memoirs.

So, I still need to get the network printer to work with Linux, though I have a friend who'll help me "when he gets the time". LOL, we're all so busy these days.

Meanwhile, I'm helping a couple friends with their rentals, and have gotten all my California rentals filled. It's now time to get some of the back rent owed with the help of income tax returns. When I had empty rentals and no qualified applicants, half rent was better than no rent. Now it's time to get people caught up, catching up, or packing up.

Basically the last half of March, was a lot of property preparation, and some pre-summer maintenance.

There have been several articles out there on more price drops in the future, and I'm submitting an offer on a commercial property tomorrow.

I went to the International Code Council meeting in Victorville last Wednesday. The discussion hinged on home health care facilities. I was torn between it and the Mojave Water Agency meeting on gray water use, but a friend attended that. Unfortunately, she hasn't been feeling well, and left early.

I'll be going to Las Vegas this weekend for a professional leadership seminar. I'll also get to see some friends. After that, I'll come home for a few days, then I'm off to Colorado Springs to tidy up a house up there for sale.

Citigroup to trade deeds for 6 month stay in homes

According to the Associated Press, Citigroup will be trading a 6 month stay in your home for the deed. The article is here. The former owners will be required to keep the utilities on.

This is obviously cheaper for Citigroup than a full foreclosure with an eviction. It may also mean cleaner and more well kept houses for resale, as the former owners may come to see the bank as a partner in the move rather than a cold and heartless bank who wants to throw them on the street. To further that image, Citi is offering moving counseling.

Fannie Mae has a similar program, but rents the house back to the people at "market rates". I would be curious to see what Fannie considers market rates. Here in the High Desert, rents have been falling from $1.00+/sf to $0.50/sf is some cases. There are lots of move in specials, too.

I was unable to get a loan modification, and the bank has offered a $2000.00 cash-for-keys. My significant other and I are going to accept, and move into one of the vacant rentals, rather than fight the bank for 6 months and then get an eviction in addition to the foreclosure. Luckily her credit is good, and her name is not on the deed.

Some Bad News for the High Desert and Green Development.

In an article put out by Investor's Business Daily (IBD) it seems that Dianne Feinstein and the Wildlands Conservancy are looking to stop development of a solar/thermal electric plant.

More Good News for the High Desert

An article in the local newspaper:

International economist says High Desert can bounce back

Good news for the High Desert

Evidently there's another project coming to the desert. It's a solar electricity generating station. You can read about it here.

Some thoughts on housing, both buying and renting

Two articles from RISMedia this week have highlighted the fact that prices are at some of the lowest prices in nearly 20 years, and that the affordability index is 67%. This comes as no surprise. Here in the High Desert, in California, it is still possible to buy a house for less than the construction costs.

The good news, is there is continuing commercial and industrial development here, despite some problems caused by local government overextending themselves financially (like most levels of government during the tech and real estate bubbles). The City of Hesperia has just been named an enterprise zone.

Due to Governor Schwarzenneggar's moratorium on foreclosures, I've seen a slight upward trend in the prices in the Victor Valley, as supply of houses on the market is causing an increase in bidding on the houses. I think prices are likely to drop again as there is another wave of foreclosures on the horizon in California. This is going to be exacerbated by small business people deciding to leave this highly regulated and taxed state, even if they have to walk away from their homes.

The affordability of houses has caused quite a bit of competition. First time buyers are competing for houses, with small and large investors. My wife and I had a small house in escrow, but the house wouldn't appraise, so I'm sure an investor with cash will buy it. I could go look up the sales price at the county recorder or online, but I don't want to aggravate myself.

I have seen a trend toward lower rents. Many rental owners are advertising move-in specials. I see family members moving in with each other. I have seen people leaving the area, some to be nearer the larger metropolitan areas, some to leave the state, a few to leave the country.

There is a push for more government subsidized, low-income housing (projects), which will lower rents as landlords compete with the government subsidized landlords.

Some of these landlords are likely to find the competition too fierce and add more units to the market place through sale or foreclosure, which will reduce rents further. It is a question of where the market will bottom out on the government induced spiral. Look to the subsidized unit costs, and the features to set your prices. It may be more important to keep a good renter than make a profit. This is a typical of what happens when the government starts competing in the private sector.