Aug 06

We have heard of the gloomy stories of how the housing market is in horror state but it seems if you play your cards right you can still turn a profit by selling your home. Actor, Ben Stiller did it this week when he netted a $10 million profit after selling his hollywood house.

According to news sources, action star Jason Statham, 43, just bought Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor’s 10-bedroom, 11-bathroom Mediterranean-style home in the Hollywood Hills, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The property is actually made up of two separate buildings; there’s also a one-bedroom guest house, a pool, and outdoor dining and living areas. The comedic couple made a tidy profit on the deal: They bought the property in December 1999 for $1.825 million, and sold it to Statham for $11.5 million.

Disclaimer, this is an exemption rather than the rule. Any nearby property that was bought in the heady days of mid 2000s is now underwater.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Feb 27

In Warren Buffet 2011 Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders, Warren Buffet made an interesting forecast on the direction of the  USA housing market.

The sage of Omaha suggested a housing recovery will likely begin within the next year, which would help the economy and several Berkshire subsidiaries, including ones that make carpets and bricks.

If Buffet is right then expect a pick up of mortgages and a rise in house prices going into 2011 & 2012.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Feb 24

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson will forever be remembered for $4 billions he made in 2007. When the housing market was burning the money manager was making billions.

The latest news is John Paulson did it again by earning an estimated $5 billion in 2010 thanks mainly to bets the economy would recover. This is better than the $4 billion haul made off the subprime bet.

How John Paulson Makes Money

John Paulson runs his own hedge fund investment firm, Paulson & Co. Inc. (PCI). It is an employee owned hedge fund sponsor, primarily providing services to pooled investment vehicles. He is earns money through commissions on funds under management plus a share of profits.

John Paulson Investing Strategy

The firm manages separate client-focused portfolios, employing merger arbitrage, long/short, and event-driven strategy to make its investments. Paulson & Co. Inc. utilizes fundamental analysis to make its investments, benchmarking the performance of its investments against the S&P 500 Index.

John Paulson Investment Philosophy

In a Wallstreet Journal interview this is how he summarizes his investment philosophy: “The flexibility of having long and short exposure across the capital structure allows us to optimize performance across market cycles. Our goals are capital preservation, above average returns over the long term, and low correlation to the markets.” As the market recovers from its shortfalls of the past years, Paulson is betting on strong economic growth in the recovery: “it is time to be in the stock market,” he says, and that now is not the time “to be under-invested”.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Feb 07

Their is a quote that says “nothing is new, everything that happens today has happened before.” This is true in stock market and even in housing market.

Robert J. Shiller a professor of economics and finance at Yale and co-founder and chief economist of MacroMarkets LLC has posted an article in NYtimes detailing the history of real estate bubbles across USA.

The first real estate bubble happened in 1830s and burst in 1837

The second real estate bubble happened in 1850s and burst in 1857

The third real estate bubble happened in 1970s and burst in the early 1980s

The fourth has been the recent bubble that started in 1990s and burst in 2007

It is clear real estate bubbles have been few and far between. To read the full article visit New York Times Real Estate.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 22

According to Halifax, UK Mortgage lender, homes have been a good long-term investment for some people. The average home has almost quadrupled in value, having risen by 273% since 1959 in real terms.

UK Housing Booms

Four big house price booms have occurred in the last 50 years. They were: 1971-73, 1977-80, 1985-89, and 1998-2007.

House Price Rise England, Wales & Scotland

Over the last 50 years, the biggest rise in prices was in greater London, whereas the smallest increase was in Scotland.

Read the full detailed article at BBC Business

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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