Note: To follow is an excerpt of an interview with Dean Essa, residential and commercial agent with RE/MAX Achievers in Chandler, Arizona and co-host Income Property Investment Talk. To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/061709.

Mosca: Right now, whether you like the party or not, it appears as if the President’s plans for reviving housing are working. The first-time homebuyers tax credit is definitely stimulating activity. We talked about the foreclosure numbers being down from April and May in so many markets across the country. The $8,000 housing tax credit. You are in the Maricopa County area in Arizona, one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. Can you give us a hands-on look at the activity you are seeing in your area?

Essa: Activity is on the rise. We represent 28 banks and have been getting anywhere from 1, 2, 3… up to 25 offers on one property. The market is heating up. For example, properties that were $60,000 eight weeks ago are now $70,000 plus. It doesn’t seem like a big increase but people are wondering if we it bottom. While some places across the country might not have, there are other markets where everybody will tell you that if you’re going to jump in, you might as well jump in now instead of giving the equity away to the market. Put the equity in your pocket.

Mosca: If you wait, than you might wait yourself out of a potential opportunity to buy at the best particular time?

Essa: And, who wants to wait until the next cycle. Who knows how long that next cycle will be?

Mosca: There are a couple of Congress people that are wanting to broaden the reach of the current $8,000 housing tax credit and they want to broaden that out to everyone and keep the program going through mid-2010 or the end of 2010 because as it now exists it expires on November 30. Good news, Dean?

Essa: Not only are they considering extending it, but even the better news about it is that they are beta testing this in some places to allow you to use the $8,000 eventually for your down payment. Right now you can use it to increase your down payment or you can use it to cover closing costs but not quite being able to use it for what most people really need it for, the money for the down payment. Again, they are beta testing that right now.

Mosca: I also read that some in Congress were thinking about implementing a $3000 credit to help investors and buyers offset qualified refinancing costs. So, the closing fees, the lender charges, and the like and offer that through next June. What do you think that would do to help stimulate real estate?

Essa: Everything that they do grabs a certain segment of the economy. Not every one of the things that they offer affects everybody. There’s a certain segment of our investment community and when I say investment community I mean homeowners are investors too because they are investing frankly in the biggest asset that they may ever buy. Every time the government or somebody comes up with a plan or an incentive like that, there is a certain segment of our investment community that's going to be affected by it in the positive.

Mosca: Can you tell us about distressed assets and what it means to buy paper?

Essa: There are so many different ways to buy properties these days. What’s becoming very hot is being able to go in and buy whole portfolios from the bank. Buying bank tape or banknotes or any type of bank portfolio whether you are buying the paper or whether you are actually buying the asset, banks are willing to give a substantial discount for volume in large packages. Some of those packages can be hundred million dollar packages. Well, for the average listener who is sitting there and saying I just want to buy one property or five or 10 properties, you are thinking, “what good is that going to do me. I don’t have $50 million?” The good news is that there are people out there that do have $50 million. People that we know. So, our clients are buying up whole bank tape and we turn around and take those discounts and pass those discounts on to our investors who can only buy one or five or 10. It’s a of bringing institutional investing and discounts down to the entrepreneurial investor.

Mosca: And that’s the key, to get in know.

Essa: If you have an interest in FDIC assets or an interest in getting a discount and you don't have the money to buy the whole tape, then please go up on incomepropertyinvestmenttalk.com, our Web site and register. We’ll get the information out to you.

Mosca: What are some other hot, trendy things that are happening in your market right now?

Essa: Listen to this. You decide to buy an FDIC asset at a discount. Remember, go to our Web site and we can help you do just that. You buy it with cash, and you turn around and carry the paper for the next person who wants to come in, who can’t qualify for a loan anymore. So, it’s a win-win but they are buying it based upon payment. So you could buy a home for $60,000, turn around and sell it for $90,000. You can act as the bank and carry the paper, and while you can never sell the asset that quickly at that much of a gain, the fact that you are willing to carry paper and do this with your whole portfolio, you could package all of your seller financed properties and sell the notes.

Mosca: There are just so many opportunities that exist right now. When you are talking about buying paper, you actually become the owner, or the bank, right?

Essa: The National Bank of Peter L. Mosca.

Mosca: Can you create either an IRA account or an LLC for type of investing?

Essa: Oh yes. In fact, that is probably the largest untapped resource that exists in the country right now. People sitting on qualified money watching their qualified accounts dwindle. We could take those qualified accounts and increase them to an exponential that would blow their minds and be safe.

Mosca: Safety is the key. It’s a key part to investing well and we mention it over and over and over. It’s important to invest well and a big part of investing well Dean, right?

Essa: Absolutely. Roy Rogers said and everyone has heard this before by now but he said, “sometimes it’s not as important the return on your investment as it is the return of your investment.”

Mosca: Part of that safety comes from the three-tiered Realtor Association that has been in existence for over a hundred years protecting the marketplace for consumers to buy, owner, and transfer real estate. This marketplace for the most part is emulated globally. People from around the world come here to learn about how we transact real estate. REALTORS should be proud of that. They do all sorts of projects and programs. You have the REALTORS Commercial Alliance, and the CCIM network. There’s a lot of different avenues available, aren’t there?

Essa: People don’t realize until you get to know them how much power and how much business trade hands within those organizations. They will refer business back and forth to each other and you will actually have business fall into your lap just because of the fact that you’ve gone to the effort of what it takes to get that designation. In fact, if you are a CCIM, there are Fortune 500 companies, like McDonald's and Walgreen’s, that won’t even hire you in their land acquisition department if you’re not a CCIM.

Mosca: I want to make a quick shout out, and it is somewhat biased because I’m going to be moderating two panels there, but the NAR conference is in San Diego, one of our most beautiful places we have in our country, from November 13 till the 16th of this year. So if you go to realtor.org/convention you can learn more about the convention. I know being from the Phoenix area, it’s basically a hop, skip, jump in the car? Will you be there?

Essa: I wouldn’t miss it. A warning to everybody… if you go to San Diego and are thinking about coming home on a Wednesday, book your flight for Thursday because you’re going to stay anyway.