Donald Trump, billionaire and real estate mogul, echoed what real estate agents have been saying for months in a recent appearance on Good Morning America. "This is a great time to go out and buy a home," he said. "You might even lose your own home and you'll end up getting a better one." As home prices around the country plummet, it creates a unique buying opportunity for both would-be homeowners and investors.



Trump acknowledged, however, that financing is difficult to come by these days and criticized banks for not easing lending restrictions. "What the banks are doing is terrible," he said. "The banks have billions and billions of taxpayer money, and they're not giving that money or loaning that money to the taxpayer," referring to banks that have been receiving funds under the government's Troubled Assets Relief Program. Trump believes that banks that are taking government assistance or bail out money should be subject to guidelines and restrictions on what they can do with that money. Certainly some of it should be used to infuse the economy with cash by lending to consumers.

But there may be relief in sight. President Obama's recently enacted economic stimulus programs will help both existing home owners and those who are looking to purchase. These programs are offering lower interest rates for new home owners, as well as loan modifications and refinance programs for existing home owners. All of the programs are administered through banks or private lending institutions, but are backed by the government. The programs also provide tax dollars as incentives to banks to encourage them to negotiate with troubled home owners.

Trump also suggests that a great avenue for would be investors and purchasers is post foreclosure properties that have been repossessed by the bank or lending instituion. He says that buying bank owned properties, also known as REOs, can be easier than trying to make conventional purchases. "Banks will help buyers finance the homes they're trying to sell," Trump says. According to Trum the banks "don't want these homes." "They've got thousands of them," he says. "They don't know what to do with them." This glut can work to a purchaser's advantage if they finance with the same bank that owns the property.

Las Vegas is the number one city for purchasing REO properties. Leading the nation in foreclosures for the last two years, Las Vegas has more bank owned properties than any other city in the nation.