Market Trends and Condition

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jon Daurio, chief executive officer of mortgage investor Kondaur Capital Corp., recently offered a $4,000 check to Barry Culver for the deed to his Bryan, Ohio house.

With the exchange, and a pay-off to a second-lien holder, Culver was freed of $120,000 in crushing mortgage debt on the house, said Daurio, who had bought the right to cut the deal when he purchased the mortgage months earlier. The house, after repairs, is now on the market for $47,500.

"It got me out of a bind," said Culver, a former Kmart employee who has since relocated near his in-laws in Tennessee where job prospects are better. "I got a little cash out of it and was able to pay off other stuff I owed."

One of the hurdles in this market is to know where to invest. It is so important to do your due-dilligence and make informed decisions. This article is an example of the kind on information you need to use.
Charlie

10 Cities to Invest In

The real estate crisis has gutted house prices, tipped millions into foreclosure, and rattled the global economy to its core. But for many would-be home buyers, the historic boom and bust have been a blessing in disguise.

The “Oracle of Omaha”
Billionaire Warren Buffett said the U.S. residential real estate slump will end by about 2011, predicting that’s how long it will take demand for homes to catch up with the supply.

“Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us,” Buffett wrote yesterday in his annual letter to the shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Berkshire, which owns a real-estate brokerage, a business that constructs pre-fabricated houses and units that make products used in homebuilding, has suffered amid the slump. Profit at Clayton Homes, the pre-fab housing business, fell about 9 percent to $187 million before taxes, while earnings at carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries fell 30 percent.

‘Deeply Invested’

In a stagnate market where sellers are advertising prices of yesteryear how low is too low or is that possible? I need to be taken seriously/ professional, but want to come in at 50% of FMV. Any thoughts?

Theresa