Oversight Risk Consulting Opens Office in Colombia

Oversight Risk Consulting announced today the re-opening of their office in Bogota, Colombia. Oversight specializes in security risk management, consulting and services. They see great opportunity in Colombia. The security situation continues to improve, generating greater foreign investment in a variety of sectors, from mining to tourism. The near-term outlook appears favorable.

Foreclosures Slowing Down?

According to information released by RealtyTrac, Inc. last week, the foreclosure crisis isn't over, but the pace of growth may finally be slowing down. The report said that the number of U.S. households facing foreclosure in February grew 6 percent from the year-ago level, the smallest annual increase in four years. However, concerns remains on the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who are still being evaluated for help under loan modification programs. Many analysts say most of those borrowers will eventually lose their homes, sparking a new round of foreclosures later this year.

The report issued by RealtyTrac follows the encouraging news from the MOrtgage Bankers Association which stated that the percentage of borrowers who had missed just one payment was reduced to 3.6% in the last quarter of 2009. We must continue watching the developments in the areas of unemployment and reduced income.

The top 10 states reporting the highest levels of foreclosure:

1. Nevada
2. Arizona
3. Florida
4. California
5. Michigan
6. Utah
7. Idaho
8. Illinois
9. Georgia
10. Maryland

The top 5 metro areas reporting foreclosures are:

1. Las Vegas
2. Cape Coral-Fort Myers
3. Modesto
4. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario
5. Stockton

Facilitators vs Business Trusted Advisors

Here some information I want to share with you about facilitator vs business advisors. As I mentioned before, one of the aspects that will set us apart from the rest is our knlowdege foundation. We will be able to do more than the typical facilitator who only wants to make a quick buck without regards of future business or establishing a relationship with the client.

To be successful in real estate, we must be more than facilitators, me must know about the products, markets and know when is a good time to buy and why. When the clients are having difficulties in arranging their the logistics of payment, we will be able to assist them due to our understanding of financing and real estate market. We must provide solutions.

Many facilitators are mainly "order fillers". They have no idea about the property, and in most cases they cannot solve the challenges that typically accompany the real estate market. Many times the facilitators in their fear of losing their "commission" is willing to say what the clients want to hear. Many times jeopardizing not only the business relationship with the customers and with other business partners, but most importantly reputation.

In todays business environment there are many orders and offers in the internet. There are daily offers being made of properties that are being recycled from one facilitator to another. None of them have an idea about the origin of the property, margin%, room for negotiation, payment terms, quality or even if the order is still valid or outdated, etc. All they know is that they found this opportunity and they want to make a commission. In conclusion they lose respect, since they do not add value to their clients.

Trusted advisors are client advocates. They are not afraid to follow the courage of their conviction, think rationally, and maintain their discipline, even in the worst of times. They set expectations, educate their clients, and work in a collaborative fashion-always putting their clients’ interests first.

Here are some differences between facilitators and a trusted advisors:

1. Courage of conviction-Trusted advisors carefully evaluate a client’s situation and make recommendations that are in the best interests of the client, even if the client initially disagrees or wants to do something different. In contrast, a facilitator may allow or even encourage a client to make decisions that might feel good in the short run but are counterproductive long-term. They might do this out of fear of losing business or a preference for expediency. Facilitators generally do not bring discipline and rationality to the investment process, which is a big part of the value of having an advisor.

2. Stated philosophy-Trusted advisors have a clear and unwavering approach to business. They take the time to educate their clients about their approach and are willing to turn away prospective clients that are not a good fit. Facilitators, on the other hand, usually don’t have a clearly stated business philosophy. They want the flexibility of being able to offer a prospective client whatever the client is looking for. Facilitators might offer several different solutions, even if they are philosophically inconsistent with each other. As a result, they may have clients following conflicting strategies, which makes it impossible to send a consistent message to clients.

3. Coaching and Educating-Trusted advisors act as coaches for their clients. Whether it is in sports or business, the role of a coach is the same. A coach is an educator and teacher who understands the objectives and defines and implements a process to achieve them. He or she also communicates collaboratively in a team-building fashion, and provides the discipline to ensure good, long-term results. Education is also critical to a successful advisor-client relationship. Clients benefit from learning about economics, finance, and how markets work. A trusted advisor is able to facilitate substantive discussions about these and other important topics.

In conclusion, clients make smarter decisions when they have useful and timely information. Facilitators often lack the skills needed to truly educate and advise their clients, and must fall back on other means, such as persuasive sales skills, to retain client relationships. They may not be willing to spend the time, or simply may not have the knowledge, to properly educate and inform their clients. A good advisor has a high level of expertise, as well as the skills necessary to impart that knowledge to others in an effective way.

Speeding up short sales; Government, lenders try ways to make short sales simpler and quicker http://ow.ly/1qH2V

China Warning

According to Citigroup economists, China appears to be on track for an “asset boom, bubble and bust” that may take three years to play out and probably won’t be thwarted by tighter economic policy. This process is expected to begin in the residential property market before spreading to commercial real estate and ultimately to stocks. This process may take as long as two years for the asset bubble to form and at least three years for it to burst. This is similar to what happened to the United States, United Kingdom and other developed contries recently which caused the recent major financial crisis.

We should keep a close attention to the China economy as it has signs of a potential crash in the near future. This is important as many of the current surge in prices of commodities have been dictated by the increase consumption by this nation. The question is how long will they be able to sustain this pace? Will they be able to correct the current signs and prevent what happened to the United States?

Here are couple of economic facts about China:

1. The country’s economic growth quickened to 10.7 percent last quarter, helped by a 4 trillion yuan, ($586 billion) two- year stimulus plan for railways, airports and homes. <--- This has created a huge demand for raw materials such as steel, iron, coal, cement to name a few.

2. Property prices in 70 cities climbed 10.7 percent from a year earlier in February. <--- This has created similar situations as in the United States where prices of homes had increases annually that were in double digits. This coupled with low interest rates creates a lot of movements in the financial sector and potential speculations in the housing and commercial markets. Again this increases in home valuations creates demands for new constructions as more permits are issued due to the movement created in the market, this in turn creates higher demands for similar commodities mentioned above as well as higher demand for electricity, water, etc.

3. The Shanghai Composite Index of stocks gained 80 percent last year and is valued at 32 times reported earnings, compared with 52 times at its peak in October 2007 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s 19 times. <-- Just look at what we experienced in the US right before the crash. No need to say more.

According to Citigroup economists, higher interest rates and an appreciation in the yuan are necessary to prevent the economy from overheating further. It is important to keep an eye on how the government manages the balance between the valuation of its currency, interest rates and the lending policies. We should all care about it since when the asset bubble breaks, the impact will be painful not only for China; it will have a negative ripple effect for its trading partners.

U.S. sales tax rates hit record high. Top tax is 12 percent; Chicago’s 10.25 percent is highest big-city rate http://ow.ly/1kaVT

Fannie Mae seeks $15.3 billion more in aid; Troubled mortgage finance company posts $16.3 billion quarterly loss http://ow.ly/1duC0

Analysts see the cost of gas rising; ‘There is no legitimate fundamental reason’ http://ow.ly/1duyr