Joe Kraynak

Ralph R. Roberts Offers to Assist Ed McMahon

Today’s edition of The New York Times carried a story by Joanne Kaufman entitled, “A Shift in Real Estate Books.” The story is about how publishers are scrambling to get books to market to help homeowners and real estate investors with the downturn in the housing market and increasing foreclosures.

The article begins by focusing on the fact that even rich celebrities are having trouble. Recently, Ed McMahon, famous for being Johnny Carson’s co-host and for making lots of people happy with his Publisher’s Clearing House giveaways, has run into some financial trouble and is facing foreclosure on his $4.8 million in home loans.

My co-author for several books, including Foreclosure Investing For Dummies and Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies, Ralph R. Roberts, heard about Mr. McMahon’s problems and called him to offer his expert assistance. Ralph has been through foreclosure himself and works with another guy to audit home loans. In many cases, they are able to reveal problems with loans that force the lender to renegotiate. McMahon turned down the offer. Personally, I think Ed McMahon made a big mistake in doing so. Ralph is what I would consider the top expert in foreclosures in the U.S.

Well, maybe Mr. McMahon has enough money to buy a copy of Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies. If he doesn’t, we’d be more than happy to send him a free copy.

Distressed Property Blog

As one of the co-authors of Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies and Foreclosure Investing For Dummies, I keep an eye out for web-based resources that can potentially aid homeowners in the fight to reestablish their credit and save their homes and help investors find promising opportunities. One such site recently came across my radar screen: Distressed Property Blog.

Duane LeGate, creator and manager of the blog, is in the process of populating it with articles on avoiding foreclosure and investing in distressed properties. Recent topics include the following:

• Graceful Exit Strategies to Get Out from Under a House You Can’t Afford
• Negotiating Payment Issues with Lenders
• Trimming Your Losses with a Short Sale
• Researching a Property before Making an Offer
• Evaluating Current Market Conditions