The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said Thursday that more lenders ran into financial trouble during the second quarter as the recession continued to saddle banks with soured loans. 

The number of troubled banks rose to 416 at the end of June from 305 at the end of March.  This is the largest number of banks on its “problem list” since June 30, 1994, when 434 banks were on the list.  This brings the total assets at troubled banks to $229.8 million billion, that’s right with a “B”, the highest level since Dec. 31, 1993 according to the FDIC.

Keep in mind that the total reserves of the Deposit Insurance Fund  stood at $42 billion, with the contingent loss reserve falling to $10.4 billion from $13 billion Read the rest of this entry »

Someone said to me the other day, “since we are in a recession, give me one good reason why I should invest in real estate?”  

It caught me off guard , I couldn’t even answer the question because it was just too overwhelming to me .  I couldn’t see how someone could be so naive.  But now that I’ve gained my composure back, I would like to answer that question with not just one reason, but with 50! 

But before we get into this, I want to touch on just a couple of things.  Real estate investing consist of several investing strategies.  This includes purchasing rental properties, commercial properties, personal homes, land, real estate notes, real estate contracts, financing, etc.  People have the misconception that real estate investing is simply buying a property and renting it out, but that’s not the case.  Read the rest of this entry »