I'm a collector of ideas  for landlords.

I know the real estate here has boomed recently.

Big apartment and housing boom going on right now downtown and in all areas surrounding downtown.  

Depending upon the age and condition of the certificates, however, they may have a numismatic value to collectors and dealers.

.- Next day, boom, crash, property value drops to 50K (50% of what you bought it for); you owe 160K to the lender however.This is obviously a less than great situation to be in and you're definitely minus equity (as opposed to the 20% that the lender wants) - but, what is the lender going to do - demand you pay up and come back to 20% based on the new assessed value and foreclose on you if you do not?

hi,my name is dave atchison,i moved to phoenix az from fargo north dakota,when i was 19 years old. that was december of 1979,i have seen the town go from 1 to 4 million in those 36 years. i am soon to be 56 years old,married 35 years,2 grown daughters who are nurses,maybe be a grandpa some day.i got into real estate investing kind of by accident. i was 20 when i bought my first home,as the apartment i was living in had bugs, and i could not get them to leave,so i left. i bought my first house in 1980,i had to sell my paid off car to get the 3k down payment,then i paid cash for a $500 rambler car..lol bugs and a rambler..2 years later the home was worth 40k more than i paid for it,my payment was same as my old rent. i got married and my wifes job was on the other side of town,i felt so much pride of ownership for the home,i kept it and rented it out in 1985,and we bought a nicer home more centrally located. now i have 8  paid off single family homes,and 2 paid off condos. the condos are 150k  range,the homes 225-275k. phoenix is a boom or bust town,so when we moved to our next house,had kids and out grew it, we were in a recession,so i would have lost the 30k we saved to put down and remodel it,so came  the second rental. i have been lucky we have been able to live off one income  in our marriage, and invest the second income in real estate and mutual funds. and i always worked a job and a half to earn more. i would flip homes,condos,raw commercial land years 1995-2005 also,and invest those in more rental homes. the crash of 2008 saw us buy more rental properties at 50 cents on the dollar. i think residential  real estate is  just 1 safe place to put your money,mutual funds,and your own business being other good places. i have 30 years landlord experience,and 25 years commercial building  experience. it would be nice to develop ,and build and run, a 30-40 unit a rated apartment complex. i have the experience now,and i have never had a problem in 35 years leasing out any of my places. in the recessions of 1990 and 2008, i did have to lower rents $100 per place, for 2 years,and take tenants with lower credit scores. i have only had 1 eviction in 35 years of being a landlord. i got in to real estate by accident,but stayed in as it became a passion,the properties almost take on a life of thier own ,and speak to me,to tell me to take care of them cause thier worth it,if they are in a nice area,i never invest in an area i would not live myself. i am big on real estate being free and clear,as my places have been for 5 years now. even being free and clear and managing them myself, i only average about 11-12% returns,i dont count appreciation,only cash flow.. i tried to post a pic 3 x but it wont work?

Financial counselling, debt collectors and mortgage negoiations should be looked into besides the usual business requirements.Some people are more receptive to non-profits, but IMO your reputation will travel faster in your community so you better be above board.

Have you met any of the clerks in a collectors office, they usualy aren't really real estate experts, they just may have picked up the permit to the sq. ft. and didn't assign any bedroom designation as they didn't know if it was a den or a bedroom and doesn't really matter to them.

I believe this boom is being reverse engineered; prices up by way of nothing for sale.

If you lived in a $200,000 neighborhood during the boom, and now it's a $100,000 neighborhood after the bust, the people moving in are the ones that used to live in way cheaper areas.It might be a good time (while prices are still low) to buy a house in a nicer area and rent out your current residence.