To put it simply, this means that investors who want to resell to FHA buyers still have the ability to complete their deals, even if the seller hasn’t owned the property for at least 90 days (the original rule was that the seller needed to own the property for 90 days before reselling to an FHA buyer). While the waiver extension was expected, it’s still great to hear officially, as this waiver has been one of the keys to our success over the past two years — being able to buy and resell quickly alleviates many of the risks associated with house flipping.

Here is an article from CNN on the extension:

FHA Says: Flip That House

Well, as of the other day, the waiver that allows rehabbers to flip within 90 days has been extended another year. Here is an article from the L.A. Times from January 16:

FHA Extends Suspension of “Anti-Flipping” Rule

This is great news for rehabbers…and I know that this will continue to help our business throughout 2011…

Given that I’ve sold several houses now in under 90 days using this waiver, and given that I’ll have two more on the market for sale in a week or two, you’d think this would be top-of-mind for me…but unfortunately I completely forgot about it.

The hope — of course — is that the waiver is extended, and I have to imagine that folks for all areas of real estate are petitioning for this to happen, but in the end, investors should prepare for the worst and assume the waiver will expire on January 10, 2011.

I’ve had a couple people ask me what the deadline means — is that the last day that a sale will be approved? Or is that the last day a property can be put under contract? Or something else?

Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to this question (or any others), but will be doing some research and talking to other investors over the next couple weeks, and hopefully I can find out some more information.

In fact, if you’ve been following my site for the past 18 months, you’ll know that as of yet, I’ve NEVER recommended a single outside product to my readers.

But, every once in a while, though, I find someone selling real estate learning materials that are reasonably priced and tremendously valuable. When that happens, I’m happy to promote them here on the site.

Such is the case with the Flip This REO! eBook that teaches all the basics (and some advanced stuff) on wholesaling REOs.

It was written by an investing colleague of mine — Stephani Davis — who wholesales REOs for a living in Tampa, FL. Let me explain why I’m willing to recommend this book to my readers who are interested in getting into wholesaling, and specifically are interested in wholesaling REOs:

1. Stephani Is Really Doing It: Most so-called experts who peddling seminars and systems aren’t in the real estate business; they’re in the “guru” business. They know how to sell products, but they generally don’t know how to buy and sell real estate. Stephani was a bartender three years ago who taught herself the business of wholesaling, and after a year of struggling and refining her techniques has built a full-time business doing it. She makes very little money selling her eBook…and makes most of her money actually investing.
2. REOs Are Different: For those people who just want to wholesale properties purchased from private sellers, I would say that you don’t really need a book on the topic. Sure, a good book on marketing, negotiating, etc, would be useful, but wholesaling regular properties is pretty straight-forward. Wholesaling REOs is more complicated, as the sellers (banks) would prefer you not to wholesale their properties…so they make it a bit more difficult.
3. I’ve Learned From The Book: If I thought it was just as easy to learn how to wholesale REOs on your own, I’d be the first to tell you. I’m not a fan of paying for learning materials if you don’t have to. But, despite the fact that I specialize in buying REO properties, when I first read Steph’s Flip This REO! eBook, I learned a whole lot of things about investing in REO properties that I never knew. I was both surprised and impressed.
4. There’s a Money-Back Guarantee: I would never recommend any product that didn’t promise a refund if you weren’t satisfied. While I think the eBook is fantastic, if you buy it and disagree, you can return it. That’s the way it should be.
5. I Earn A Commission: If you read my blog regularly, you know that I don’t spend a dozen hours a week writing this for the purpose of making money. But, for the sake of full disclosure, let me tell you that if you click on the link above or below to be taken to the eBook, and then purchase it, I will get a commission. That said, there are a LOT of products that I could try to sell you that would generate a LOT more money in commissions, but I’m not willing to sell out for quick cash. I’m promoting this product because it’s good, and in my opinion, worth every penny it costs (and more).

So, if you’re interested in learning how to wholesale REO properties, check out Steph’s eBook:

Flip This REO! eBook

I’ve mentioned Wholesaling in this blog quite a few times (buying properties with the intent of immediately selling them to another investor or owner, perhaps even before you close on it). Steph Davis is a Wholesaler from Tampa, FL who has — like me — been documenting her journey from working stiff to successful investor for a couple years now. In that time, she’s gone from professional bartender to successful professional real estate investor.

Steph just launched a new site:

Flip This Wholesaler

If you want to learn more about wholesaling from an expert, I highly recommend that you check out Steph’s new site (and re-read all her old blog posts!)…

When I was in the tech industry, I probably kept up with about 200 blogs on regular basis (and I wonder why I worked so many hours?!?). But it was necessary to keep up on the trends, the people, and the strategies that were driving the industry. Real estate is no different, and I’ve found that reading worthwhile material from successful investors is making me a much better investor myself.

The past couple months I’ve come across a number of great real estate websites, blogs, and resources that I hadn’t previously included in my Resources list, but that deserve to be highlighted for other who are looking for great real estate information and insight.

Here are a few of the best:

Flipping Homes

One of the best real estate forums I’ve found. Run by Steve Cook — real estate investor, mentor, and coach in my hometown (Baltimore) — the site has a ton of great articles, podcasts and knowledgeable forum members.

Bigger Pockets

Another great real estate forum and website. From articles to spreadsheets to blogs to social networking, the site contains great information from hundreds of novice and experienced investors alike.

Flip This Wholesaler

Steph is a REO wholesaler in Tampa, FL who has been in the real estate business for about a year, and has learned and built her business from the ground up. Very inspirational, and a must read if you’re looking to jump into real estate wholesaling (or real estate in general).

Flip Thy House

Seth is a flipper in Texas who — while working a day job — also finds the time and energy to do his own rehabs. He provides a lot of detailed info about his projects, but more importantly, provides a lot of great tips for any flippers out there looking to learn the business.

Tom Tarrant

Tom is a flipper from San Antonio who not only churns out beautiful houses, but has a great blog as well. It’s tremendously informative on all aspects of rehab, and uses lots of multi-media to take you right into his projects.

Hey, if you have a real estate blog or website that I haven’t included here or in my resources section, let me know…I’d love to check it out! And don’t hesitate to add REI Startup to your Blogroll (hint, hint)…

So, where can you find good information about population and employment trends? Two great places to start are the Census Bureau (the U.S. government agency tasked with collecting data about the U.S. population and economy) and The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (a part of the U.S. government Department of Labor that’s tasked with collecting facts and statistics around U.S. labor trends).

The Census Bureau collects all kinds of information about people, households, income, etc, including:

• National and Regional Population Estimates
• National and Regional Population Projections
• Housing Statistics (Homeownership, Vacancy, Affordability, etc)
• Income Statistics
• Local Employment Dynamics
• And a Whole Lot More Good Stuff

Unlike other agencies that provide only historic data, the BLS provides both historic and forward-looking trend data based on various models they have derived.

As an example of how the BLS data can be used, I decided to try to dig up information about employment and population trends in and around Atlanta, GA, where I will likely be starting my investing. Here is just a sample of the data I found:

• Historic Statewide Labor Force Data (by Month)
• Historic MSA-Wide Labor Force Data (by Month)
• Population Growth Projections Through 2015 (by County)
• Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (within MSA)
• Local Consumer Price Index (CPI) Data
• A link to the Georgia Department of Labor

If you’re doing market research to determine where to invest in real estate, let me suggest you bookmark both of the resources above.

Some very good information in here, including various economic overviews (support for whether we are at a housing bottom or not (hint: not), relationships of various economic indicators to the RE sector, data indicating the likelihood of an upcoming technical recession, etc), status of capital markets, and plenty of good apartment data.

Here is their 2008 National Apartment Report.

If you’re an aspiring real estate investor interested in multi-unit properties, I highly recommend you check out the report, which details the economic and demographic trends for each major apartment market in the U.S., along with a ranking of the major 43 markets based on a set of 12-month forward-looking supply and demand indicators.

By the way, San Francisco, Seattle, and New York top the list as the best markets for apartment investors in 2008, followed by San Jose, Oakland and Los Angeles. Not surprisingly, a number of Florida cities (Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando) dropped significantly due to the large number of SFH rentals coming onto the market in those cities hard-hit by the sub-prime crisis. At the bottom of the list are St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Detroit.