real estate

” HUD secretary says – latimes.com

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Foreclosure settlement to come in a ‘matter of weeks,’ HUD secretary says Buy long dated calls (Leaps) in Wells Fargo.  Expectations are very low.  Insider buying, housing near bottom (mortgage prices near rent equivalent), and this headline make for very compelling upside. June 2, 2011 | 4:49 pm A settlement between a coalition of federal and state agencies and banks over foreclosure practices will come in a “matter of weeks,” Shaun Donovan, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, told the Los Angeles Times. Donovan.Donovan Donovan’s agency is involved in the negotiations with the banks, along with attorneys general from all … Read more

‘s a house worth?

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By Harvey Sax

I was having a discussion with a  hedge fund manager friend of mine about what determines  house values and it dawned on me, this is really a complex question.  Having been a stock trader for so long, I was quick to jump to the conclusion that a house is worth what someone would be willing to pay for it in a reasonable period of time.  I’m not sure what reasonable means but perhaps a sixty to ninety day auction process would determine the real value.  Of course there are the various real estate appraisal methods of valuation but that doesn’t really interest me.  Instead what creates the value?

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