No quick recovery for metro housing market

Values have fallen so far that many potential sellers have pulled homes off the market. Fewer than 38,000 homes were for sale in the 28-county area in July, the lowest total in nearly seven years. Distress sales will likely continue to make up a big part of the inventory for some time to come.

If monthly averages hold in November and December, nearly 110,000 metro homeowners will have received foreclosure notices in 2011, and most of those homes have not yet hit the market.

Those are some of the broader trends derived from key numbers that real-estate tracking firms spit out weekly, monthly and quarterly — along with construction permits issued, new homes started, numbers of foreclosures, existing homes sold and mortgages applied for. These metrics give consumers a brief snapshot of the market but leave them scanning the horizon for some larger sign of improvement or stability.

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution read multiple forecasts and studies from banks and industry groups, talked to local and national experts and metro home owners to sort through the deluge of information and gain insights into where the region is and what its future is.

Though Barclays Capital’s recent U.S. home market study cited metro Atlanta as one of the best bets for future housing growth, it also said the region must work through a market flooded with foreclosures and achieve a larger economic rebound for housing to recover.

Jim Grissett, an Emory University real estate professor and founding member of real 
estate investment company, The Parthenon Group, put it simply.

Fast Cash: Knowing When to Apply for Business Loans

Acquiring a traditional, unsecured loan from a bank can be a real nightmare sometimes. There are so many hurdles to finally getting approved, that it is truly a daunting undertaking. One of the main roadblocks is your credit score, because if it is low, getting your loan application rejected is almost a foregone conclusion. But if your business is growing and you need some fast cash, there are business loans available out there that will give you the money you need, regardless of whether or not you have terrible credit.

If you are a new local restaurateur and business is really taking off, you will probably start begin thinking about expanding your store, or possibly opening a second location. But maybe you haven’t quite built your credit score up to where it needs to be in order to get approved for a traditional loan. A fast cash type loan would be able to get you the money you need to increase your business. Think of it as an investment in your restaurant’s future. But there are a few things you should remember before you head over to the loan office right away.

But it doesn’t always have be a negative occurrence that causes the need for additional money. Things at your company may be better than they’ve ever been, and orders for your work are coming in like never before. This would be a good time to expand, but maybe you don’t have the revenue yet to hire new staff or purchase additional company vehicles. Taking out a loan and getting a hold of some fast cash in this case would be an intelligent move to make. While business is great, that would definitely be the time to spend money to increase the size of your company.

Even if your company maintains steady work, this doesn’t mean you won’t oftentimes need some fast cash if something happens unexpectedly that requires extra expenses. For instance, one of your work trucks might need to have the transmission repaired or replaced completely. If you just spent most of your budget on the normal monthly costs, you may require the financial assistance that a loan can provide.

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