Building your Portfolio: No Better Time Than Now

Don't give up on your portfolio just because the market looks bad. This could be the perfect time to invest.

How does that old investing adage go? Buy high, sell higher? Of course not. When prices are low, it's the right time to buy. During the darkest time, you should get out your flashlight and start looking for deals.

Right now, the real estate market is hitting rock bottom and the stock market is stop-and-go. Homes and land, blue-chip stocks and hyper-growth rockets, they're all starting to look mighty cheap. Your favorite investment vehicle is less important than your eye for undervalued assets.

It's easy to find beaten-down investments these days. The trick is to identify the ones that will make it through the hard times and realize their true value once again. Great management can steer a solid business through rough waters, only to come out stronger when the market normalizes again, and the less talented competition is fighting for its life. And great real estate is great real estate, even when market conditions push buyers away and prices down.

If you don't feel comfortable calling the bottom quite yet, you have a couple of options. For one, you could take the leap anyway. Very few investors manage to jump in at exactly the right time, and there's no shame in getting in too early. The name of the game is to get in, because you can't make any money in the market if you don't invest at all.

Another choice is to take a hard look at alternative investments. International stocks, for example, are good bets while the U.S. dollar remains in free-fall. When the dollar drops 10 percent against the yen, Japanese investments get a free 10 percent value boost above whatever returns the stocks themselves may give.

Finally, you could simply park your nest egg in a high-yield money market account or certificate of deposit (CD) until you see market conditions that you like. Just remember the first point: don't stay out for too long. That's no way to grow your wealth, or even protect your assets from the ravages of inflation.

The younger you are, the more you need to be in the market. When you're investing for retirement, which is decades away, you can afford to take on some short-term risk in order to catch the long-term rewards.

Recessions and bear markets are an investor's best friends, as backwards as it might sound. As long as you're still looking to make new investments, you really want prices to be as low as possible, and broad market downturns give you plenty of that. Let the good times roll, but not until you've funded your nest egg. Buy low, then sell high-that's the way to riches in your golden years.

By:
Anders Bylund - MortgageLoan.com

Mortgage Rates Slowly On the Rise

It's time to say hello to 5% loans.

The national average interest for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage surpassed 5% for the first time since May 2010, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

During the week ending Feb. 11, rates averaged 5.05%. That factors in an average of 0.8 points in fees that the average borrower paid to lower his or her rate.

And rates quoted by Bankrate.com -- which look at loans not backed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac -- spiked to nearly 5.25% in the past week. (This index has been popping under and over 5% since early December.)

"That's a pretty appreciable increase and the pressure is upward at the moment," said Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, whose own barometer of mortgage rates has been rising quickly as well.

These rising rates will most impact those trying to refinance, rather than those trying to buy. Homebuyers tend to focus on other aspects of the purchase, according to Gumbinger, like whether they like the home and, especially, home prices.
Housing markets: Best recovery bets

"The interest rate is not the key issue for buyers," he said. "Increases do not produce a huge deterrent."

For one thing, prices tend to decline a bit in response to higher rates, which offsets some of the increase. For another, most buyers could absorb the additional $29 per month that the recent interest rate jump would produce.

The rising rates can give a temporary boost to home sales because waffling buyers to get off the fence thinking it may cost them more to delay.

This week's rate bump comes in a time of uncertainty surrounding the future of mortgage lending. Washington is mulling over the future of two government-backed mortgage giants. The two companies, plus the FHA, support the vast bulk of all mortgage lending.

"If you're thinking of buying a house, you're probably better off buying in this reasonably certain lending environment than in the rather uncertain environment that's coming," said Gumbinger.

Source CNN Money

ATL is one of the highest foreclosure markets in the U.S. Is this GOOD or BAD?

Finding a foreclosure can sometimes be a sweet deal or a money pit. Please be careful if your interested in buying a foreclosure for the first time. Novice investors can be quick to make hasty decisions, which may lead to buying a bad investment. I can't say this enough. DUE DILIGENCE! As a novice investor, its recommended that you partner with a savvy investor, talk to a real estate consultant, or hire a knowledgeable agent whose familiar with the foreclosure market.
TIP: The best way to find a steal is to work directly with the asset manager at the bank before the property is even released to the public.

At the moment, Atlanta has one of the highest foreclosure markets in the U.S.
Is this GOOD or BAD?

Well, I would say it depends on which side of the fence your on.
In the past, the term foreclosure was a forbidden word. It was an embarrassing and shameful situation for most. In today's market, houses are foreclosing at an astronomical rate. People are losing their dream homes, which is still a very embarrassing ordeal, but there are more options available. At one point, apartment communities were in demand. Today, more private owners have made decisions to lease their homes, which have left apartment communities struggling to reach full capacity and forced to offer ongoing move-in specials.
The single family home will always be in demand, unlike apartments. They offer privacy; yards, parking, storage and the neighbors don’t have to know if they are owners or renters. Renters want to have the same lifestyle as homeowners.

As a result of the high number of foreclosures in Atlanta, this has allowed investors to purchase homes .25$ on $1.00. If your looking to invest, incredible profits will be made in Atlanta in the next 10 years. For the younger and middle age investor with time in their favor, building your portfolio now can be an integral part of your future success.

It has been proven, with actual examples, that if leveraged correctly, a portfolio can grow substantially in as little as 10 years. One of the benefits is that this portfolio can grow itself. With normal appreciation after several years the homes can be refinanced, then the money from equity can be used to purchase more homes or retain all your cash and the tenant still makes the mortgage payment.
So, you tell me is it GOOD or BAD?

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