BY TAMECA JOHNSON

Freelance Writer

Recession, low property values, modifications, foreclosures.  Despite all you’ve heard, the time to buy is now!  Right now!  That’s according to real estate guru Kenny Rushing.

Across the city of Tampa, the Rushing name is synonymous with housing and profits.   Rushing founded the multi-million dollar company Rehabber’s Superstore more than ten years ago.  Over the years, he helped thousands of people break into the lucrative real estate market.  Then, the mortgage bust hit.  Banks folded, foreclosures hit an all-time high and mortgage prices plummeted.

Some may have assumed Rushing and his real estate business took a nose dive as well.  He was hit hard by the recession, as were millions of others, but Rushing says he found a way to bounce back.

“Just five years ago, everybody wanted to be a real estate agent,” he says.  “There were a lot of guys in business.  I don’t even know where most of those guys are anymore, because they didn’t know how to make the adjustments.  They didn’t understand the history of real estate economics and cycles.  But fortunately for me, I’m an avid reader, so I paid close attention to those things and have been able to play this other side, which is buying distressed assets from banks and teaching others all over the world how to do the same thing.”   Rushing says he’s teaching those lessons through his latest business venture, Rush Capital Fund.

According to the company’s brochure, Rush Capital acquires distressed real estate portfolios from lenders, servicing companies and other financial institutions for below market value.  It then re-sells those portfolios at sub-wholesale prices to investors. Rushing says, “Just [private]like you can make money when there’s a boom, you can also make money when there’s a bust.  You’ve just got to understand how to play that side of the fence.”

Rushing believes potential homebuyers and investors should seriously consider buying now because prices are at an all time low.  “You can buy a condo for less than $10,000 in the Tampa area,” he says, and he’s found deals in Brandon, Carrollwood and Temple Terrace.  “During the real estate boom,” he says, “those condominiums were selling for 40 to 50 thousand dollars.  Now, you can pay for that condominium cash and never have a mortgage for the rest of your life.”

Rushing suggests that people who are expecting a tax refund should really take note.   “You know, you buy a condo for $8,000, put $3,000 down, you owe five, your monthly mortgage payment is about $100 a month.”   However, the total monthly payment will be slightly higher once taxes, insurance and condo association fees are factored

in.

If your credit isn’t the best, Rushing says there’s still a deal for you out there.  “Your interest rate may be a little more expensive than someone who may not be as credit challenged,” but, he says, “If you don’t have any credit, there are people out there who will give you a private loan or a hard money loan.  You may pay a higher interest rate, however, when it all averages out, you’re probably still going to be paying a lot less than you are in rent.”

Although Rushing strongly encourages buying at this time, he stresses this is not the time to sell, unless you absolutely have to, because the only one benefiting in that case is the bank.

For more information on Kenny Rushing and Rush Capital Fund call (813) 675-7040 or log on to

www.RushCapitalFund.com.[/private]