Mike’s Real Estate Show

This is the “Estate Agent” office for London. This would be our “Association of Realtor” office. The town where my cousin lives, Marlowe, is 30 minutes from London and on the Thames. The homes are circa 1650’s to present day. She lives in a “row” house of about 1400sqft, very narrow yard, house, price is around 400,000 pounds or $800,000!!! Very posh, kinda like Mill Valley prices and area. Upscale, affluence.

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
Developments in the financial markets
Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate
April 3, 2008
Chairman Dodd, Senator Shelby, and other members of the Committee, I appreciate this opportunity to discuss current economic and financial conditions and the actions the Federal Reserve has taken to stabilize financial markets and the economy.

Although the situation has recently improved somewhat, financial markets remain under considerable stress. Pressures in short-term bank funding markets, which had abated somewhat beginning late last year, have increased once again. Many lenders have been reluctant to provide credit to counterparties, especially leveraged investors, and increased the amount of collateral they required to back short-term security financing agreements. To meet those demands, investors have reduced their leverage and liquidated holdings of securities, putting further downward pressure on security prices. Credit availability has also been restricted because some large financial institutions, including some commercial and investment banks and the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), have reported substantial losses and writedowns, reducing their capital available to support increased lending. Some key securitization markets, including those for nonconforming mortgages, continue to function poorly if at all. Read the rest of this entry »

You can buy property here whilst studying in the San Francisco area or any area of our Country. I currently am using Wachovia for my lending purposes as they do many “Foreign national” loans. They usually require 30% down payment, have low documentation options, monthly payment options, and Jumbo loan availability and credit scores and social security numbers are NOT required. These are sometimes subject to the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Patriot Act. Obviously proper identification is a must.
   But before you buy you should speak to an attorney who works with Foreign Nationals and understands the various tax codes for acquisition and sale of real estate here in the states. This is VERY critical to a successful transaction. As a CIPS (Certified International Specialist) I have specific training in working with the International client. This designation is awarded by the National Association of Realtors. I studied for this designation  in Paris 2 years ago and have a fantastic network of equally educated and qualified Realtors throughout the world should you need help in ANY country.
  Here are a couple of conversion tables you might find useful!
1(one) Square foot for every 0.0929 square meters.
1 acres = 0.404685642 hectares

And If I can be of any further assistance feel free to contact me at
+1 011 800.959.7244  or mkelly@realtour.com

Our Certified International Property Specialists or CIPS group from Keller Williams met at our annual real estate convention in Atlanta, Georgia last week. I was one of the first “in line” for the luncheon rush!  We ended up about half way back in tthe enormous hall as the waiters kept waving me deeper and deeper into the hall.  I finally set up my CIPS reservation signs and started waving my fuchsia colored flyer over my head. We had previously agreed to meet at the luncheon on Tuesday. We had a full table of CIPS in attendance having a fun, productive informal meeting.  We had a round-table discussion on how to promote the CIPS designation and our experiences with the international market discussing the relative “bargain” of our property in light of the diminished value of the dollar in relation to almost every major currency!! Read the rest of this entry »