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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.
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.
The FHA will no longer allow homebuyers to rent out their current home and use the expected rental income as part of the basis for obtaining a new mortgage to buy another home. Most buyers must now show that they can cover both mortgages unless they have 25-percent equity or provide proof of a job relocation and arrange a one-year lease on their current home. The FHA hopes the new rule - implemented as a temporary measure on Sept. 19 - will prevent buyers from purchasing a less expensive home and abandoning their current mortgage.
Source:
Inman News (09/24/08)
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More evidence that the housing market still contains a lot of uncertainties, and not only in Florida: despite price falls which have encouraged buyers, getting that elusive home loan remains a major obstacle:
The price may be right, but if buyers can’t borrow enough, the house isn’t affordable. Difficulty borrowing is keeping many Americans from buying. “The industry went from little or no credit standards to credit standards on steroids,” says Marc Savitt, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.
According to the Federal Reserve Board, about 85% of lenders, worried about falling prices and rising foreclosures, have stiffened requirements for borrowers in the past three months. Those with a credit score of 600 or lower cannot get loans at all, says Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a mortgage information publisher.
Read the whole story here.
We’ve enjoyed helping a number of Canadian buyers and they’re great people to deal with. Now, apparently, the number of Canadian buyers in Florida doubled in one year, from 3,500 to 7,200, according to an NAR report. Canadians’ tendency to buy in clusters is starting to change the character of some Florida resort communities. A Canadian bank has also made it easier to secure a mortgage.
A new door locking system, the Schlage LiNKsystem, can be wirelessly set and opened via the Internet or from a mobile phone. Users can lock or unlock the deadbolt, as well as change, activate or disable the locks using a secure four-digit code. If the high-tech approach isn’t reasonable, the lock can also be opened using a keypad or the old-fashioned way with a key. Through an online portal, homeowners also can program user codes for specific days and times, receive notifications when certain codes are used and track codes that have been used in a 90-day period. A Schlage kit, which the company says is a first, includes the lock and the wireless bridge to communicate with the lock. It sells for $299, plus there’s a $13 monthly fee to use the applications that control the locks remotely. The lock system will be available in October.
At the Bigger Pockets blog, there’s some advice on how to keep your tenants happy and maximize your chances of keeping your property leased - for example, tip #4:
“Give incentives to pay rent on time. For example, you could offer a $75.00 gift certificate to a nice restaurant for the tenants who pay their rent on time all year.”
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