Homeowners and Real Estate industry professionals alike suffered a major loss today. Noted author and syndicated real estate columnist Robert Bruss passed away earlier today at his home in Northern California, according to Inman News. As a Real Estate industry insider and author, I benefited from Bob’s advice, critical reviews of my books, and his overall way of being. Suffice to say, his sudden passing saddens me.

From Inman:

Bruss…wrote seven real estate columns every week that were published in hundreds of newspapers across the country. For 23 years, Bruss wrote the weekly syndicated “Real Estate Mailbag” question-and-answer real estate column, the “Real Estate Notebook” feature on real estate trends, “Real Estate Law and You” about recent court decisions affecting real estate, and “Real Estate Book Review” features.

Sometimes called the “Dear Abby of Real Estate,” Bruss published two monthly newsletters on real estate law and investing issues. He authored several books, including: “The Smart Investor’s Guide to Real Estate,” “The California Foreclosure Book - How to Earn Big Profits From California Foreclosure and Distressed Properties,” and co-authored with Dr. William Pivar the college textbook, “California Real Estate Law.”

“Bob had a loyal following of readers who turned to him every week for sound real estate advice,” said Jessica Swesey, editorial and content director of Inman News. “Over the years, he helped so many people sort out their various buying and selling questions and was an amazing resource of independent information.

Nearly six years ago, Bob reviewed one of the Real Estate books I wrote. To this day, his review hangs on the wall in my personal office. While he may have made me a better writer, Bob Russ’ legacy will be the impact he made on millions of homeowners. His no-nonsense advice helped more people than I could shake a stick at.

Bob, please accept my apology for that end-of-sentence preposition, and, if they blog in heaven, keep up the good work!

Between now and the time that next year’s Presidential election rolls around may prove to be one of the best times in history for Michigan real estate investors to score big when it comes to buying properties they plan on renovating and flipping. Home prices in Detroit are falling at the fastest rate in 16 years, Standard & Poor’s reported earlier today, which spells good news for flippers on the entry side of the house flipping equation.

Data released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices–a leading measure of U.S. home prices–shows a continuation of negative annual returns in what it calls the “10-City” and the “20-City” composite, which includes Detroit. Both composite indices have registered negative annual growth rates since the beginning of the year. In addition, both indices rate of decline has become larger in each of the seven months from January through July.

For those of you who like charts and graphs, click on the image below, which depicts the annual returns of the 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite, and shows that the 10-City Composite was down 4.5% versus July of 2006, while the 20-City Composite was down 3.9% over the same time period:

Click on the table below for a summary of the most recent city-by-city results, which includes information for Detroit:

As we have said before, current market conditions are ushering in what we here at Ralph Roberts Realty believe to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in real estate. Serious house flippers–especially those who are flush with cash–should consider now to be a great time to buy up flipable properties.

if you or someone you know is interested in investing in flipping properties, please contact our office. Our founder, Ralph R. Roberts, wrote the book on flipping houses the right way (”Flipping Houses For Dummies“).

Our founder–Ralph R. Roberts–writes for RealtyTimes.com, a leading Real Estate industry news and information Web site. From time to time, Realty Times carries information that speaks directly to homeowners, like the following Q&A, handled by Realty Times columnist Peter G. Miller, a Real Estate expert and syndicated columnist whose advice appears in more than 100 newspapers in the United States and Canada:

Question: I have a home that was built in the fifties and valued at $55,000. I have added a 650 square foot, two-story addition with new siding, roof, carpet and tile through-out the existing and new areas. What kind of value have we added? The roof is metal while the siding is top-of-the-line vinyl siding.

Answer: The answer depends on local values — in Manhattan perhaps several million dollars while in the middle of Kansas a lot less.

You can ask a local real estate broker to give you an estimate of the property’s current market value or you can get an appraisal. If you want to sell, then part of the answer will depend on whether your expansion is consistent with the neighborhood because the general rule is that buyers like to find the least expensive home in the most expensive neighborhood they can afford. Another issue is whether the expansion works with the present property — going from a three-bedroom home to a six-bedroom home and not enlarging the kitchen or upgrading the heating and air conditioning is unlikely to work.

If you would like to receive an estimate of your property’s current or expected value, give our office a call. If we cannot determine the value ourselves, we will help you identify another expert who can. You can reach our office by calling 586-751-0000 or by clicking here.

According to a recent study, Detroit had one the three highest foreclosure rates among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas during the first six months of this year. Detroit’s woes–one foreclosure filing for every 29 households–ranks it second in the nation. The metro area, comprised of Wayne County, reported 28,705 foreclosure filings, which translates into a 26 percent increase from the previous six-month period and nearly double the number reported in the first six months of 2006.

If you are one of the many Michigan residents caught up in this subprime lending/foreclosure mess of ours, this blog entry may interest (no pun intended) you.

First though, a little background information: Subprime lending is highly controversial. Opponents say that the subprime lending companies engage in predatory lending practices such as deliberately lending to borrowers who could never meet the terms of their loans, thus leading to default, seizure of collateral, and foreclosure. Proponents of subprime lending maintain that the practice extends credit to people who would otherwise not have access to the credit market.

The controversy surrounding subprime lending has expanded as the result of an ongoing lending and credit crisis both in the subprime industry and in the greater financial markets. This phenomenon has been described as a financial disease which has led to a restriction on the availability of credit in a number of financial markets. Hundreds of thousands of borrowers have been forced to default and several major subprime lenders have filed for bankruptcy.

Well, last Friday, in a widely publicized address from the Rose Garden, President Bush said that a bailout is out of the question: “A federal bailout of lenders would only encourage a recurrence of the problem.” This is certainly true. Bailing out the lenders would simply lay the burden on taxpayers and provide the carpetbaggers with another opportunity to pillage.

The President did reach out to some distressed homeowners–those with good credit histories who could probably pull themselves out of their current crises with a little help from the federal government. The FHA (Federal Housing Authority) will be given more flexibility to assist homeowners who have subprime mortgages. Homeowners may also be spared having to pay additional taxes in the event that the lender forgives a portion of their debt. Perhaps this will encourage lenders to work out reasonable solutions with homeowners.

Nevertheless, what about all the other consumers–what about hard-working American families who are too deep in debt to be saved? What about the children of these people who are going to be uprooted from their neighborhoods and the school districts where all their friends go?

Government officials, lenders, and people who have not been victimized by the shoddy lending practices of the last decade are quick to judge. After all, they are not the ones paying the price. The people who are suffering are the same people who usually suffer in these situations–consumers. These are the people who were sold ARMs (adjustable-rate mortgages) that ended up costing an arm and a leg. They were told that they could refinance before the rates went up or could build higher credit scores by making their payments on time and then refinance with a low interest rate mortgage later.

Then, the bottom dropped out of the housing market, making it nearly impossible for these hard-hit homeowners to refinance. Some of these loans even came with stiff prepayment penalties to further discourage people from refinancing. These folks were led down this path simply because they trusted an “expert” in a fancy suit with a silver tongue who failed to warn them of the looming trouble and the risk they were taking on. Where are these smooth talkers now? Probably out of work and seeking more fertile fields to ply their trade. They turned the American Dream of Homeownership into a nightmare, but they certainly are not the ones having to wake up to it.

Instead of letting them off the hook, they should be forced to take ownership of the problem they created. Instead of waiting around to see whether the federal government is going to bail them out, they should be actively pursuing the homeowners they led astray and offer them real solutions that can help these distressed homeowners regain their financial footing.