Real Estate Investing in 2008: Are You Crazy - Well Maybe Not!

Real Estate Investing in 2008: Are You Crazy - Well Maybe Not!
The latest data from the real estate industry shows a
marketplace in steady decline and no bottom in sight.
Residential home sales are in freefall mode with an
expected 25% decline in the total number of home sales in
2007 versus 2006. Additionally, homes sales are currently
off by more than 35% from the record year of 2005 when over
7.0 million homes sold.

Industry analysts estimate that we're on track to sell only
5 million houses nationwide for the entire 2007 year, which
is the slowest pace since 1999. Equally sobering is the
fact that at any given time there are about 4.4 million
unsold homes for sale. Based on the number of available
houses, it would take about 10.5 months to sell all the
houses on the market right now.

It's not just the number of homes sold that is falling;
it's also the sales price. The median, or average, home
sales price is expected to dip below $211,000 for the year,
which represents the first time since records have been
kept that the year-over-year price of a home fell.

While home sales are plummeting and sales prices are
falling, the only thing that seems to be rising is the
number of foreclosures. During the first ten months of
2007, the foreclosure rate nationally surged by about 94%,
which puts about 573,000 homeowners at risk of losing their
homes.

As bad as things are right now, we might just be at the tip
of the iceberg, because more than 2.2 million home loans
are going to reset in the next year and a half as
introductory and teaser rates end. Homeowners are faced
with payments that are considerably higher than they had
banked on - or budgeted for. Bush's new homeowner bailout
plan will save some, but will excluded most of the homes
that are close or already in the foreclosure process.

Aright enough of the doom and gloom. With all financial
bubbles there are many losers but a few big winners.
Despite all of the above, now is the time to consider real
estate investing. With prices down and motivated sellers
everywhere real bargains are popping up and the long term
returns on real estate should be outstanding in the coming
years. Much of the risk has been taken out of real estate
investing.

The housing market has undoubtedly changed, but I still
think real estate is one of the best long-term investments
you can make. I also think if you know what you're doing,
there's a whole lot of money to be made right now by
investing in real estate.

The key to this opportunity is the ability to raise cash or
credit quickly to make low all cash offers. The ability to
have a combination of cash, credit lines and access to
private lending will allow you to make low and compelling
offers. In many cases, buyer will forced to accept any
reasonable offer.

If you do this, you'll discover that this is possibly one
of the best times in more than a generation in which to
make tens of thousands of dollars -- or more -- by playing
your cards right and timing your real estate purchases in a
way guaranteed to help you build a fat real estate
portfolio.

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Mike Lautensack is a real estate entrepreneur and creator
of the Private Lender PowerPoint Presentation Kit. This
kit is loaded with tools and techniques to attract a
consistent stream of private investors. To learn more
about this powerful step-by-step kit go to
http://realestatewealthtoday.com/page2.html