Issue #31

In This Issue:

• Existing Home Sales Increase In September 2009
• Major Metro Areas See Foreclosures Down From Last Year
• The Best And Worst Of The Foreclosure Crisis

I spent the last Thursday of the month listening to one of the top search engine optimization authorities around, Harry Brooks, President and CEO of Search First Internet Marketing (http://www.searchfirstmarketing.com/). Brooks took the time to explain SEO in simple terms and gave real world examples (he has worked with over 6,000 businesses so he knows SEO) at the one day conference in Virginia.

Now, I am not saying I learned it all in one day but my SEO IQ sure did jump dramatically! I have a lot better idea of how to drive traffic to my web site and also what moves can hurt my SEO. Not everybody can get to see Brooks, but I would encourage all of our clients to take time out of your busy day to learn more about SEO, marketing, foreclosures, and anything that can enhance your business.

Adding value to your business was our goal at Default Research this month (and every month in fact) in our newsletter. You can read about a surprise jump in existing home sales and how that will impact our foreclosure business. Also, check out how other people are profiting from foreclosures by helping families and adapting to the changing real estate world.

As November gets closer and it is time to give thanks, I will give my first thanks of the season to Harry Brooks for his cool, calm, and comprehensive SEO talk. As always, I give thanks to our hard working and honest clients who continue to use the freshest foreclosure lists available and make our company and country stronger every day.

Existing Home Sales Increase In September 2009

In case you missed it while closing a foreclosure deal, home sales increased by 9.4 percent in September 2009 according to the National Association of Realtors. However, new home sales dropped approximately 3.6 percent according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Existing home values have stabilized in many regions, although they are still down approximately 8 percent from the same time last year.

What does this mean to Default Research clients? Realtors, it’s time to get in front of homeowners in distress and getting more and more pre foreclosure leads. Help those homeowners sell their property before foreclosure. Begin to educate yourself in distressed property sales and get into a market that will continue to be prominent for the foreseeable future. Investors, if you have the money and/or credit, this is the time to buy.

The good news is, Default Research provides both commercial and residential property listings in our pre foreclosure database. Currently both residential and commercial real estate is underpriced! If the $8,000 tax credit continues, we hope to see the residential mortgage slump recover faster. However, even without the tax credit, many homeowners are willing to accept the fact that their homes just are not worth as much as when they bought them. And buyers are beginning to believe that the perfect storm of low mortgage rates and undervalued properties may not last too much longer.

Major Metro Areas See Foreclosures Down From Last Year

Mt. Pleasant, PA – Default Research, a premier provider of pre foreclosure listings, is reporting that pre foreclosure activity declined in the country’s major metro areas from September 2008 to September 2009.

Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county and one of the hardest hit foreclosure counties in the United States saw Notice of Trustee Sale recordings decrease by more than seven percent from September 2008. In Miami-Dade, Florida’s largest county, foreclosure law suit filings decreased by about eight percent from the same time period. Wayne County in Michigan, which encompasses Detroit, MI and is the largest county in the state, saw foreclosure drop by just over 10 percent. For more detailed regional area foreclosure statistics listed by county, please visit http://market.defaultresearch.com.

The exception to improving pre foreclosure statistics appears to be California. However, as Senate Bill 1137 took effect a year ago in September 2008, it effectively delayed the number of pre foreclosures at least 30 days. Because of this delay, nearly all of the Default Research California statics are up from September 2008, including the nation’s largest, Los Angeles County. The number of Notice of Default and Notice of Trustee Sales increased from 5,528 in September of 2008 to 7,504 in September of 2009 in Los Angeles County.

“Many regions are seeing home inventory rates drop to pre 2006 levels, and median home prices have begun to increase slightly,” said Serdar Bankaci, founder of Default Research. “Our clients, who are very savvy investors and homebuyers alike, are beginning to take advantage of the low home prices. The economists also tend to agree real estate is currently undervalued, making this the perfect time to buy.”

The Best And Worst Of The Foreclosure Crisis

While the foreclosure crisis has been very bad news for millions of homeowners, it has meant good news and big money for savvy real estate experts around the country. An article in the Miami Herald, titled Some entrepreneurs find opportunity in foreclosure meltdown, writer Cammy Clark details companies that have been able to strike it rich using many different methods to profit from the awful real estate situation.

Default Research was not asked to comment for this article, but we have been a major source for other articles that were very similar to Clark’s. Much like the companies detailed in her article, we also feel very fortunate to be helping families during the crisis, helping investors turn a profit, and also grow our business at the same time. The freshest lists in the business have created a win for the families in trouble, win for the entrepreneurs who use our service, and a win for our employees since day one.

What everybody has in common is an ability to see a good opportunity and adapt to the changing environment. Everybody from our clients, to Default Research the company, to contractors who are now completing unfinished work on condos knew a good thing when we saw it. So, here’s to everybody continuing to help people in trouble and making good money in the process.