Have you checked out Fortune or Money magazine lately?

Take a look at the June 2010 Money Magazine…specifically page 82…”Stock up for more Income”. Or, the June 14 2010 edition of Fortune Magazine, specifically page 82 “Our 2010 Retirement Guide: You Can Still Win”.

Let me summarize…Its all about investing in “Funds” and it is all about being satisfied with marginal investment gains…apparently less than 5% if you are LUCKY!

Fortune magazine even goes so far as to suggest “asset class diversification” …but sadly stops short at anything other than publicly traded Funds. (of course that is where the big $$$ are, especially when  it comes to fueling advertising for these financial rags.)

True diversification should also include “alternative assets” , such as Real Estate, and look toward specialized niche sponsors that can offer greater returns with minimal risk.

Just how can you find out more about how to take advantage of these opportunities? May I suggest you first become knowledgeable of your retirement options. Look to these websites for easy to understand content about self-directed retirement.

Pensco Trust Co.

The Entrust Group

U Direct IRA Services

Lots of good info…and when it comes to a good investment opportunity, specializing in real estate, contact me at

john@mymarketadvisors.com

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission!

Did you know we have launched a commission to study just what it was that brought our financial system to its knees in 2008?  Maybe greed had something to do with it!  Anyway, I found this report in an article published last week in the UK Daily Mail.  This commission is a prototype of the Pecora Commission, the Senate committee that investigated Wall Street abuses in 1933-34.

The commission has pledged that it will make “a full and fair inquiry into what brought our financial system to its knees”.  They further say they will “explain it in a way the American people can understand”.  Now that would be a switch!  The Commission started off by interviewing high profile financial leaders such as: Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein, J.P.Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, John Mack of Morgan Stanley and Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan.  As a group these leaders all tended to apologize for their risky behavior and poor decisions during the turmoil of  2008 but to a man they all justified their current compensation decisions.

The general “party line” seems to be, as expressed by Brian Moynihan, that “the vast majority of our employees played no role in the economic crisis’ and therefore do not deserve to be penalized with lower compensation.  Of course we all know that B of A paid their Bailout money back early and most analysts believe they did that so they wouldn’t have to follow the Obama guidelines to lower high bonuses.  I for one sincerely hope this commission will uncover just how these institutions actually were able to generate the fast profits used to make their early Bailout payoffs.  If they do, I think we will all find out that it was a combination of manipulating “free” government money for high profits and implementing changes in accounting and reporting standards – to favor the banks balance sheets of course.

Anyway, you should check out this article for yourself and I will try to find out what the US media has to say about these commission hearings (if anything!) as well.  I’ll report on what I find in a future blog.

Paul Davis, Market Advisors LLC

OUTLOOK 2010

I wish everyone a very happy and successful New Year. I am excited about the potential for some very juicy acquisition opportunities coming our way in the residential real estate markets.

Here are my top 3 factors contributing to the BUY opportunity in 2010.

1. Short Sales will become even more opportunistic with the prospects of actually closing deals better than ever as Banks choose the path of a kinder, gentler approach with their troubled borrowers.
2. (2) major contributing factors to increased foreclosure activity will be Unemployment and a large volume of  “reset” or “recast” activity on existing ARM and Pay Option mortgages.
3. Feds squeezing banks by upping the ante on capital reserves will push more REO inventory out onto the marketplace.

Our portfolio for Market Advisors Real Estate Fund LP  is anticipating acquisitions with upwards of 18% cash on cash ROI. For January I am releasing only 20 units to Investors at $25,000 each. These won’t last long, reserve yours today. You may contact me by e-mail john@mymarketadvisors.com

Loan Modifications Tell the Tale….

Big Banks reporting “re-default rates” on existing loan modifications offer surprising insight into the health of the real estate market. Just look at Citibank’s numbers released today…

% of modified loans at least 60 days past due?

Over 8% for loans modified as of June 2009 (Only 3 months)

Over 30% for loans modified as of September 2008 (Only 12 months)

See the trend?

Loans have to be current for the first 3 months or be dropped from the program…so as the time passes 3 to 6 to 12 months the amount of defaults grows.

One culprit…unemployment. But, unemployment should not shoulder all the blame. ( I mean even with a 17% shadow unemployment rate it doesn’t add up that Citi would have over 30% of their loan mod portfolio in default after 12 months.)

The other culprit…”perceived loss of value” which means homeowners (borrowers) feel that their home is just not worth making a mortgage payment on, and therefore would rather pay nothing and eventually walk away.

This attitude towards value will feed this foreclosure market for the next 2 years, until employment picks up and then more “Buyers” will return to the market. This is why we at Market Advisors are buying real estate at these low foreclosure prices today and holding our portfolio for the next 5 to 7 years.

Read about Citibanks re-default report from Diana Glick of CNBC.

Why are we not maximizing our retirement portfolios?

I came across this article addressing the facts that most working Americans, especially ages 50 plus, have still not maximized their retirement savings to a level where they can simply “retire”.

In fact read the article here, before I go on.

The above mentioned article was derived from a survey Wells Fargo conducted targeting the health of retirement portfolios for workers ages 50-59. The results are staggering and I would hope for those of you who still feel “underfunded” to achieve a successful retirement…sobering.

Blame poor planning, late to the game, market fluctuations, or certainly bad investments such as mutual funds, ETF’s, etc. Regardless, the result is a large population of our country entering their “60s” with a definite need to continue working well into their 70s and beyond. I shudder to think about the economics of sustaining and providing, as an employer, for a significant workforce that is aged 60 and above.

At MyMarketAdvisors we strive to educate our clients, subscribers, and friends, to take ACTION NOW! Take control of your retirement portfolio and maximize its potential so you can ENJOY a real and sustained retirement on your own terms. BELIEVE IT!

California….Best Bet.

I want to share the latest TIME magazine cover article…

“Despite Its Woes, California’s Dream Still Lives”

by Michael Grunwald, October 23,2009.

Please read Mr. Grunwald’s article, you will be able to understand why Market Advisors is currently building its residential investment portfolio in select communities in California.

“It’s still a dream state. In fact, the pioneering megastate that gave us microchips, freeways, blue jeans, tax revolts, extreme sports, energy efficiency, health clubs, Google searches, Craigslist, iPhones and the Hollywood vision of success is still the cutting edge of the American future — economically, environmentally, demographically, culturally and maybe politically. It’s the greenest and most diverse state, the most globalized in general and most Asia-oriented in particular at a time when the world is heading in all those directions. It’s also an unparalleled engine of innovation, the mecca of high tech, biotech and now clean tech. In 2008, California’s wipeout economy attracted more venture capital than the rest of the nation combined. Somehow its supposedly hostile business climate has nurtured Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Facebook, Twitter, Disney, Cisco, Intel, eBay, YouTube, MySpace, the Gap and countless other companies that drive the way we live.”

Read On !

Senate Bill Could Weaken the FED

This is an ongoing process and things will change but, hey, I think this is a step in the right direction! You see there are powers that be in our Congress who really believe that the Federal Reserve really has “botched” it with respect to our current economic problems. This could be a good thing and could be one small step toward moving us away from a Central Banking system.

Here’s the opening paragraph of an article by Anne Flaherty, Associated Press, that is reporting on this rather “maverick” action: “WASHINGTON – Consensus is building in the Senate for legislation that would significantly weaken the Federal Reserve by stripping its power to oversee banks and hand that job to a single federal bank regulator”

The article goes on to quote a number of Congressmen as well as Obama staff members, including Timothy Geithner, about the need to reign in the Fed. The actual bill, sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman and Democrat Christopher Dodd, proposes to merge federal prudential oversight into a single regulator. This proposal differs from a plan by President Barack Obama, but Democratic aides say the proposal is gaining traction among Dodd’s colleagues who think the Fed didn’t do enough to prevent the current market crisis.

I for one believe proposals like this are focused on fixing the core problems of our economic crises and aren’t just treating the symptoms. Bravo Senator Dobbs! No one knows what will eventually happen with this bill but even the top Republican on the banking Committee has made no secret of his displeasure with the Federal Reserve. Maybe we’ll actually get consensus here! Check out the article yourself  and see what you think.

Challenge: Invest In Social and Environmental Responsibility

I challenge you!…to join me in doing more with your investment dollars.

This is what we are doing:

At Market Advisors we set out to invest in foreclosure homes and put these vacant properties back into service by filling them with families again.  At first we thought we were responsible investors by filling these vacant properties and therefore improving the neighborhood. Really not a very novel idea and certainly at best fundamental to real estate investing.

However,  we at Market Advisors have raised the bar and taken our portfolio strategy to an entirely new level of social and environmental consciousness. We are taking these “dumb” vacant houses and turning them into “smart” model homes for the neighborhoods and communities we are investing in.

How?

Water Conservation… installing water efficient fixtures and re-designing landscape to not only reduce water usage, but significantly eliminate almost 70% of water consumption as compared to a typical home.

Energy Conservation…replacing older windows with new Low E windows, installing new energy efficient appliances, HVAC, and tankless hot water systems, replacing old roofing with efficient designed venting systems, and most importantly, adding solar energy generation to change a “dumb” house into a “smart” house that actually contributes power back to the grid.

Reducing the Carbon Footprint…eliminating emissions from the wood burning fireplace by installing clean burning natural gas and ceramic log system.

All this and more.

I challenge all Investors taking part in this incredible foreclosure market to take this opportunity  to make a difference and take these “dumb” homes and convert them to “smart” homes as examples to the neighborhoods and communities you invest in.

Join Us