Perfect Florida Homes

• 22Oct

  Don’t Be Surprised - Mortgage Fraud Is Still On The Increase

  Finances & Loans 1 Comment

  With all of the recent publicity, hysteria and fall-out from excesses in the loan industry that we’ve seen this year, rational people might have expected a fall in the level of bad lending. Not so, apparently:

  The number of fraudulent loans issued during the second quarter this year increased 45%, compared with the same period in 2007, according to the Mortgage Asset Research Institute (MARI), a service of LexisNexis.

  The group counts as fraud any misrepresentation intended to get a better deal on a mortgage or a home sale.

  During the boom, that might have meant a buyer who inflated his income to qualify for a bigger loan. Some went so far as to get a fake appraisal, invent a fake buyer, and after securing a mortgage, absconding with the cash.

  Such ruses may not work in this environment, with lenders tightening up their standards.

  But several scams still are effective, according to Jim Ronan of Interthinx, a provider to lenders of fraud-prevention services, and Robert Hagberg, a fraud investigator for mortgage giant, Freddie Mac.

  Is it too much to expect that the mortgage industry cleans up it’s act, or are taxpayers just expected to foot the bill for even more excesses on top of the $700 billion bail-out?  Enough is enough - what do you think?

  Tags: mortgage fraid increasing, mortgage fraud

• 22Oct

  Lower Property Taxes? Not So Fast!

  Home Ownership, Property Taxes No Comments

  Property taxes are based on the County’s assessment of what your property is worth. So when prices in Florida increased enormously in the years between 2001 and 2006, homeowners experienced monstrous increase in their property tax bills - so much so that there are anecdotal tales of families moving out of Florida to states with less expensive taxes rates. Many of our international clients saw their bills virtually double within the space of three years and began to question the sense in owning real estate in a place where costs were literally out of control.

  So, with the recent fall in house prices, the County should factor that into your tax bill for next year and you’ll pay less, won’t you? Well, maybe not. This article explains why you should not have high expectations:

  This January, local tax authorities will begin to send out property assessments for 2009, telling homeowners what their property is valued at, and how much their tax bill is.

  But many assessments won’t reflect any of the steep home price declines that have been making headlines for the last year or so.

  And even if property assessments do drop, property tax bills won’t necessarily be any lower.

  “I think you’re going to see a lot more taxpayer protest this year,” said Bruce Hahn, president of the American Homeowners foundation, a non-partisan consumer advocacy group.

  Read the whole article and then decide if it’s time to write to your local County Appraiser.

  Tags: florida property taxes, lower propert taxes, property taxes in florida, will property taxes go down?

• 21Oct

  Home Design Trends

  Home Ownership No Comments

  Katherine Salant, nationally syndicated columnist and author of The Brand-New House Book, says houses designed with both a master and second bedroom on the first floor have become the most popular because they appeal to all age groups. Young couples use the second bedroom as a nursery. Middle-age couples use it to keep aging parents close by, and older couples’ differing sleep patterns may make sharing a bedroom difficult, she says. Here are other home design trends, according to Salant:

  • The newest variation on the home office is a completely separate office space, connected to the house by a hallway or a breezeway.
  • Kitchens are getting smaller but connected to much larger dining areas, often with a center island where family members can sit for an informal meal.
  • Oversized family rooms with high ceilings are giving way to smaller, cozier rooms with lower ceilings.
  • Home theaters have lost some appeal because people don’t want to watch television in a separate area of the home. TV viewing is a more informal activity that people engage in while they’re doing other things like cooking or getting ready for work.

  Source: The Washington Post, Katherine Salant (10/18/2008)
  © Copyright 2008 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

  Tags: home design, home interior design

• 21Oct

  Foreclosures Affect Renters Too

  Finances & Loans, Home Ownership, Long Term Rentals No Comments

  Many renters in Florida and elsewhere have become victims of the mortgage crisis through no fault of their own: They’re forced to move because the property owner is in foreclosure. However, a few states recently passed or proposed laws to protect renters by requiring mortgage holders to provide notice to tenants if they’re living in foreclosure properties.

  Read the full story here.

  Tags: annual home rentals florida, florida home rentals

• 21Oct

  Selling your home? Use the Internet

  Home Ownership No Comments

  In hopes of sparking buyer interest, real estate professionals and home sellers are getting more creative when it comes to showing off properties through virtual tours. “Web appeal is the new curb appeal,” says Realtor.com spokeswoman Julie Reynolds.

  In 2008, the majority of buyers begin their home search online:

  Some 80 percent of homebuying interest begins on the Internet, says Delores Conway, director of the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast at the University of Southern California.

  Read the full story here.

  Tags: selling your luxury home, selling your own home, tips for selling your home

• 21Oct

  Economic recession? Dont Worry! Improvements by 2011!

  Real Estate & The Economy No Comments

  In case they didn’t know it from their own books, a group of Florida business executives heard this message from a pair of economists here Thursday: Business is pretty bad right now. But the pundits predict a turnaround by mid-summer of 2009, and a recovery by 2011.

  Read the full story here.

  Tags: causes of economic recession, economic recession, economic recessions in america

• 21Oct

  Help for holders of Countrywide home loans

  Finances & Loans, Home Ownership No Comments

  In the current climate of bail-out and guilty consciences, where it seems as if everyone who borrowed is a victim and all loan companies are villains, Bank of America will rewrite an estimated 50,000 Floridians’ home loans inherited through the takeover of Countrywide. The $1B program will convert most loans into FRMs, and the bank will notify eligible homeowners via e-mail or phone by Dec. 1.

  Read the full story here.

  Tags: countrywide home loans

• 21Oct

  Low Cost Health Insurance In Florida

  Finances & Loans No Comments

  Not directly real estate related but relevant to us all, maybe: Florida has picked six insurers, including United Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, to provide no-frills health insurance plans for nearly 4 million Floridians now without coverage. Residents uninsured for at least six months could be able to buy a policy under the “Cover Florida” program sometime in early 2009.

  Read the full story here.

  Tags: health insurance in florida, low cost health insurance in florida

• 21Oct

  Foreclosures in South Florida

  Home Ownership, Long Term Rentals, Real Estate & The Economy, Short Term Rentals No Comments

  According to mortgage and sales data from Zillow.com, more than four in 10 South Florida homeowners who bought in the last five years owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Some of those frustrated homeowners now wonder if they should default on their loans in order to take advantage of lender programs.

  Read the full story here.

  Tags: florida homes, florida homes for sale, foreclosures

• 15Oct

  Is your Homeowner Association this outrageous?

  Home Ownership No Comments

  We all know that life brings it’s laws, rules and regulations - after all, that’s what keeps society organized and stable instead of it becoming chaotic and dangerous.  But to have any credibility, surely those laws, rules, etc. must be grounded in common sense, otherwise they fall into disrepute and as many people as possible will just ignore them when they can.

  Sometimes it seems as if bureaucracy, mind-numbing officiousness and just plain old stupidity reach their peak in the regular stories of overbearing Homeowner Association zealots who apply regulations to lengths that any reasonable person would not believe.  What on earth am I on about?  Well, here’s one example:

  A cash-strapped former Long Island resident was jailed for not taking care of the dying grass in the front yard of his Florida home. The Tampa-area resident is fighting foreclosure and ignored association warnings and a judge’s orders.

  Read the rest of the story here.  The man is 66 years old and is in jail for the “crime” of not keeping his lawn in good shape.  Now, I’m sure there are faults on both sides.  Further on in the story we read:

  Last month, the judge found Prudente in contempt of court and gave him another 30 days to re-sod or face jail time.  He ignored the judge.

  So ultimately it’s his refusal to obey the court that was the immediate cause of his sentence.  But have we really reached a situation where some dead green vegetation starts a process that puts a retiree behind bars?  Is there no one in the Homeowner Association Board who thinks that this has reached ridiculous lengths?  Have we all gone crazy?

  Unfortunately, that’s just one example of amazingly poor judgment : try this and this and this and this.

  There must be a better way!  What do you think?

  Tags: florida homeowner association, homeowner association

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