South Tampa Homes

ORLANDO, Fla. – May 24, 2010 – Sales of existing homes in Florida rose 27 percent in April, which means that sales activity has increased in the year-to-year comparison for 20 months, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Another positive sign: Last month’s statewide existing-home median price of $140,100 was 1 percent higher than the statewide median price in April 2009.

Existing home sales rose 27 percent last month with a total of 16,781 homes sold statewide compared to 13,244 homes sold in April 2009, according to Florida Realtors. Statewide existing home sales last month increased nearly 3 percent over statewide sales activity in March. Meanwhile, April’s statewide existing-home median price was 2.3 percent higher than March’s statewide existing-home median price of $137,000. It marks the second month in a row that the statewide existing-home median price has increased over the previous month’s median.

“Buyers responding to the federal homebuyer tax credit before it expired helped to boost home sales across Florida,” said 2010 Florida Realtors President Wendell Davis, a broker with Watson Realty Corp. in Jacksonville. “And buying conditions remain favorable, with a variety of housing options available in local markets at attractive and affordable prices. Plus, current mortgage interest rates are at historically low levels, which gives buyers more ‘bang’ for their buck.”

Florida Realtors also reported a 55 percent increase in statewide sales of existing condos in April compared to the previous year’s sales figure; statewide existing condo sales last month rose 2 percent over the total units sold in March. Though April’s statewide existing-condo median price of $103,600 was down 3 percent compared to the year-ago figure, it was 6.9 percent higher than March’s statewide existing-condo median price.

Seventeen of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased existing home sales in April while all but one MSA had higher condo sales. A majority of the state’s MSAs have reported increased sales for 22 consecutive months.

Florida’s median sales price for existing homes last month was $140,100; a year ago, it was $138,100 for a 1 percent gain. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

Thenational median sales price for existing single-family homes in March 2010 was $170,700, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In California, the statewide median resales price was $301,790in March; in Massachusetts, it was $280,000; in Maryland, it was $235,785; and in New York, it was $209,900.

According to NAR’s latest outlook, two trends are influencing a broader stabilization of home prices in housing markets across the nation: months of increased sales activity and lower levels of inventory. “Foreclosures have been feeding into the inventory pipeline at a fairly steady pace and are being absorbed manageably,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “With home values stabilizing, a revival in homebuying confidence will likely help the housing market get back on its feet even as the tax credit impact disappears.”

In Florida’s year-to-year comparison for condos, 7,291 units sold statewide last month compared to 4,703 units in April 2009 for an increase of 55 percent. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $103,600; in April 2009 it was $107,200 for a 3 percent decrease. The national median existing condo price was $170,600 in March, according to NAR.

Interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.10 percent in April, up from the average rate of 4.81 percent during the same month a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac. Florida Realtors’ sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

Among the state’s smaller markets, the Panama City MSA reported a total of 128 homes sold in April compared to 108 homes a year earlier for a 19 percent increase. The market’s existing home median sales price last month was $160,000; a year earlier it was $156,800 for an increase of 2 percent. A total of 65 condos sold in the MSA in April compared to 53 units sold the same month a year earlier for an increase of 23 percent. The existing condo median price last month was $187,100; a year earlier, it was $172,900 for an 8 percent gain.

© 2010 Florida Realtors

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RISMEDIA, April 26, 2010—If you are reading this, it means you’ve survived. Congratulations. You might be surprised to know you’re not alone.

According to the very encouraging results of RISMedia’s 22nd Annual Power Broker Survey, more than 1,200 real estate firms weighed in on their success in 2009, reporting a total $585,508,645,713 in sales volume. Although this total sales volume is down by more than $163 billion over 2008, overall transactions for 2009 have increased by more than 100,000. These numbers clearly reflect the increasing sales of distressed properties last year, a healthy step toward moving these properties off the market, reducing inventory and stabilizing prices.

So, while the market is still rife with troubles, such as short sales, foreclosures and underwater homeowners—and stands to be for the remainder of 2010—the positive signs cannot be denied and most agree that we’ve bottomed out and are beginning a slow climb back up.

2009: The Year in Review
“Last year was really rough,” said Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services President Earl Lee at the company’s annual sales convention last month. “Real estate professionals were knocked down and pushed around but their resilience is an inspiration to all of us.”

Resilience in 2009 was demonstrated by those who were willing to embrace market realities and reorganize their businesses accordingly. As Bill Plattos, executive vice president of First Team Real Estate in Southern California, reports, 2009 revealed signs of stabilization in his market and increased business for companies that planned properly.

“We tried to read the market correctly and see where it was going and we focused on short sales,” he explains. “Plus, in our larger areas (Orange County, Riverside, Long Beach, etc.), our offices seemed to be cycling through the downturn faster than others. We developed our business plan specifically for getting the most we could out of the market that was presented to us. We also made agent training and marketing priorities.”

Even brokers in some of the country’s hardest hit areas are looking at 2009 as a positive year. Rei Mesa, president and CEO of Prudential Florida Realty, for example, describes 2009 as “an excellent year”…relatively speaking.

“Our transactions for single-family homes were up 31% and our volume was equal to 2008, which is an indication that Florida has become a very affordable state to live in,” explains Mesa. “For our other family of services, our mortgage group had a 9% increase year-over-year in loans and our title company saw a 13% increase year-over-year in the number of closed transactions, so it was an excellent year in looking at transactions as well as our bottom line. We have exceeded expectations from our business plan, based on our right-pricing approach, which is finally starting to impact our bottom line now.”

“Looking back, we had a reasonable year,” reports Dick Schlott, chairman and CEO of Gloria Nilson GMAC Real Estate in New Jersey. “We sold more houses than the company sold in 2008, but the average sales price was lower, which marks a continuation of what the market has been like the past few years. Looking back on the past year, we are pleased with how 2009 turned out, but are concerned that a majority of the activity came about because of the extended and expanded stimulus package.”

Many Power Brokers agree that government-sponsored programs helped shore up sales in the latter half of 2009. According to Georgianna Finn, broker/owner of Coach Realtors in Long Island, New York, “2009 matured throughout the year exactly as expected. No one was holding out on a realistic expectation for a return to a robust market. The last quarter of the year brought a substantial increase in business and profitability to the company, which is an encouraging sign. The increase in business came about through the government programs kicking in. Sellers decided to deal with the market instead of waiting for a miraculous change to occur.”

Those brokers who held on in 2009 were also those who wielded the red pen, cutting expenses where necessary to ensure survival.

“The fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 were just awful,” reports Prudential CA/NV President & CEO Ed Krafchow. “After that, it started to pick back up. There has been a lot of effort on everyone’s behalf to keep things going. By July of 2009, we were stable. That comes from cutting budgets and reorganizing.”

Operating in the New Landscape
As in any severe storm, the landscape often changes permanently in the aftermath. The real estate landscape is no different.

“We started the decade with a boom followed by a precipitous drop,” explains Lee. “The depth and speed of this decline caught everyone off guard. We knew a correction was coming but the severity and speed was not expected. But there are now positive signs for the future: home prices are no longer in a free fall and if you have good credit, you can get a mortgage—which, by the way, was the way it was always supposed to be.”

“This is the third downturn I’ve been through,” says Frank McDowell, broker/owner of Star Real Estate in Southern California. “It’s also the biggest. You have to be frugal and try not to expand too quickly. In the end, you’ll just end up cutting costs anyway as the market changes. I see between now and June to be very active.”

Succeeding in today’s market means accepting the fact that the real estate business has changed. “Today’s agents need to accept and embrace the market changes and then turn these changes to their best interest,” says Mesa. “Our successful agents have taken on REO business and figured out the appropriate process for short sales; they aren’t taking overpriced listings, they are focusing their marketing on the Internet rather than print and utilizing our family of services.”

Power Brokers are wary, however, about declines in the market this year once government programs come to a close.

“If the tax credit is not extended and if interest rates go up, I do see a slowdown,” says McDowell. “Because of this, I urge all of our agents to understand that this could happen and to take advantage of all the opportunities that are currently in front of them.”

“Once the stimulus package ends, we hope to see a pick-up in confidence in our particular market,” says Schlott. “After the stimulus package is abated, we anticipate that there will still be people buying and moving but at a more steady rate and within a higher price range over first-time buyers. As 2010 continues, we are forecasting an uptick in activity within our real estate market as well as stabilization within pricing. We are confident enough that things are going to continue to move in the right direction that we are opening two new offices in adjacent markets where we hope to get a piece of the market share.”

Planning for a Better Year, a Better Future
Like Schlott, savvy Power Brokers are well steeped in the realities of the new marketplace and honing their firms’ ability to make the most of the current and future real estate environment.

“We are continuing our business plan and focusing on short sales,” says Plattos. “We have learned and tackled every single point in short sales. In turn, our results are very good—85%-90% of the short sales close. In reading the market, it seems like the equity buyer and seller is coming back. The people who have owned a home and have a bit of equity have the opportunity to move up.”

“I don’t think the consumer confidence level has risen enough to stimulate the market. Nonetheless, well-run companies that are finely trimmed with a professional and hardworking sales force are going to be able to make it in this market,” says Finn.

Lessons learned from the current marketplace will serve Power Brokers well into the future.

“One lesson learned is to be careful of cost structure,” advises Krafchow. “Number two, if you’re not investing in the brokerage of the future you will get left behind. Number three, there’s this new generation of agents that have me fairly optimistic. I see Generations X and Y in this business and they have totally different behaviors and expectations.”

According to Lee, pent-up demand and low levels of building will soon result in reduced inventory.

“If history is any guide, the housing markets will rebound in advance of the labor markets and will help spark economic recovery,” says Lee. “Real estate is the locomotive that pulls the economy along. The biggest successes come out of the toughest times. You have choices. Choices you make will determine your destiny.”

As Prudential Americana CEO & Owner, Mark Stark says, the biggest lesson to walk away with for the future is to expect the unexpected.

“The things you think can never happen can happen,” explains Stark, whose company is based in Las Vegas. “While we couldn’t have planned for most of what has happened within the market recently, we have stayed ahead of the market. We haven’t lied to ourselves about what is happening—instead, we have been realistic and moved forward aggressively and quickly in order to protect our organization in the long term. No matter what happened within our marketplace, we were always prepared for it.”

“Even though there was a plethora of bad news, buying and selling of homes continues because families that couldn’t buy or sell over the last four years are able to now because of the low prices and interest rates,” says Schlott. “The market is certainly slower than it was four to five years ago, but we are entering the recovery phase now. While it is going to take a long time for prices to fully recover, this recovery period will bring prices back to 2003 levels and people are beginning to realize that now is an incredible time to buy or sell a home.”

- Stephanie Andre and Paige Tepping contributed to this article.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Lots of bargains? Not so, Fla. homebuyers say

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Feb. 12, 2010 – Think there are all kinds of crazy deals to be had in today’s real estate market?

That’s what 31-year-old Jason Bellak thought, too – a year ago. He’s been searching that long for something in the $150,000 price range in Palm Beach County. Short sale, condo, townhouse, foreclosure – he’s looked at them all, made offers on several, but is still living with his parents in Royal Palm Beach.

Despite a perception that three-bedroom, two-bath beauties with granite countertops and good schools can be yours for a song – or at least for 20 percent down – it’s not a market reality, say frustrated homebuyers and their Realtors.

Cash investors, sluggish banks and thorny financing are limiting the options for your average homebuyer, who, by the way, is sick of hearing, “It’s a buyers’ market.”

“I was like most people, thinking there were a lot of deals out there,” Bellak said. “But it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t going to be such an easy process.”

Competition is highest now in the $150,000 to $250,000 price range, said market analyst Jack McCabe of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield Beach.

The median single-family home in Palm Beach County sold for $238,000 in January – 9 percent higher than in 2009, according to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. Inventory in January was down to eight months, less than half of what it was in January 2009.

“Most people still think we’re in this terrible market, but the inventory tells a different story,” said Realtor Scott Smith, who has clients struggling to find homes in the Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens area even though they’re willing to spend between $350,000 and $400,000.

Bellak can’t even recall the details of all the offers he’s made on homes in the past year. He bid on a three-bedroom townhouse in foreclosure but lost. He made an offer on a short sale condo – meeting the $141,000 asking price – waited three months, but then couldn’t get financing because the homeowners association had too many delinquent accounts.

In most cases, for a buyer to get a Federal Housing Administration-backed loan for a condominium, no more than 15 percent of the units can be more than 30 days past due on association fees.

Now Bellak has his heart set on a two-bedroom Jupiter townhouse.

“I think if this one doesn’t go through, I may hold off for now,” said Bellak, who has been working with Realtor Craig Fialkowski of Herman Group Real Estate in Palm Beach Gardens.

Realtors say part of the problem is that people hear the hype about the down market and expect to find a steal in a great neighborhood.

Last year, more than 500,000 Florida homes received some type of foreclosure notice, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based company RealtyTrac.

But while foreclosures are usually priced low, they’re not always good deals. They could be tagged with liens, have missing appliances or be in general disrepair.

“It’s not like everything just became half-price overnight with no repercussions,” said Realtor Shannon Brink of Re/Max Prestige Realty in downtown West Palm Beach. “Plus, many banks still sell homes off at auction or to capital investors, so not everything even hits the open market.”

Crystal Paul and her fiancé, Antonio Hester, both 25, have been working with Brink since December to find a home for about $150,000.

They’ve looked at a dozen or more properties and have made some offers. But they’ve lost out to investors with ready cash, which is more attractive to banks.

“You find a house you think you can live in, but then you lose it,” Paul said. “The cash investors have the upper hand and here we are just trying to get started.”

When a short sale off Military Trail popped up last week for $139,900, Paul and Hester made an offer that the homeowner accepted. But he owes more than $230,000 on the house, and in the end it’s up to the bank to OK the sale.

Brink said banks will sometimes set a low asking price on a short sale to attract buyers, but with no plans to actually settle for that price.

While short sales have traditionally taken months to settle, new federal guidelines that go into effect in April require banks to respond to short sale offers within 10 days.

More good news for buyers this year is the prediction of an increase in foreclosures that could further reduce prices.

G. Stacy Sirmans, a real estate professor at Florida State University, said the market hasn’t hit bottom and won’t for at least another year.

“It’s definitely a buyers’ market,” Sirmans said.

Copyright © 2010 The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Kimberly Miller. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

South Tampa homes continue to be available at deeply discounted prices. Whether you are a first time homebuyer, or and investor looking for either a flip or a buy, rent and hold strategy, there are plenty of homes on the market to suit your goals. The first time homebuyer tax credit of $8000 along with the step up credit of $6500 are both still available, but time is running out on you. Short Sales are virtually out of the question if you are trying to capitalize on the credits unless they are bank approved. Bank owned foreclosures are great to go after, but the competition to purchase these properties is getting fierce, and selling prices are going above asking price in many situations.

Here are a few tips to assist you in making sure you are doing everything to capitalize on the current deals available:

• Utilize a full time Realtor with a focus on your area, i.e. South Tampa
• Use a Realtor that has experience with short sales and foreclosures
• Get yourself pre-approved so you are ready to submit your offer when the time is right

Hopefully these tips will help you in finding the perfect home and capitalizing on the credits available. With interest rates as low as they’ve been in 50 years, prices being as low as they’ve been in 5+ years and the tax credits available, we are truly witnessing the perfect storm to purchase a home, especially in South Tampa. If you would like to view South Tampa homes for sale, please visit my website at www.SouthTampaSpecialist.com.

HUD releases $5 billion in foreclosure aid and workforce housing funds

WASHINGTON – May 5, 2009 – The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) yesterday announced a $5 billion program, in conjunction with the Department of the Treasury, to spur the development of affordable housing units; and a separate $2 billion HUD program to combat local problems resulting from foreclosures. Funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (The Recovery Act), the programs together provide approximately $5 billion to states for the acquisition and construction of affordable housing for working families.

Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LITC)

Through the Recovery Act, the Treasury Department will, for the first time, give state housing agencies funds that they, in turn, will grant to developers of qualified affordable housing developments to fill the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LITC) gap. The program will increase the supply of newly constructed or recently renovated affordable housing units for families that otherwise may not have come to market due under current economic conditions.

“With this new program, we are not only creating new jobs through new construction, we are ensuring the availability of affordable housing, which is good for the nation’s economic stability and the economic security of millions of American families,” says Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

A by-product of the economic crisis has been a freeze of the investment in Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the federal government’s program for the development of affordable rental housing. Tax credits provide an incentive for investors to participate in the program, which in turn provides equity to developers to build multi-family rental housing for moderate and low income families. Developers depend on the equity to fill project financing gaps. In the current financial crisis, credit is tight, and as a number of traditional equity investors left the market, the value of tax credits have plummeted. Currently, up to 1,000 projects containing nearly 150,000 units across the country are on hold.

Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP)

In addition to Treasury’s new program, HUD will be awarding $2.25 billion in grants to state housing credit agencies through the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) so they may complete construction of qualified housing developments. The TCAP program will ultimately provide affordable housing to an estimated 35,000 low-income households.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP)

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan also announced that HUD is soliciting grant applications under the Department’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to make nearly $2 billion available to states, local governments and non-profit housing developers to combat the problem of home foreclosures. Applications for NSP funds are due by July 17, 2009.

Funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this round of NSP funding will award grants to applicants who target the areas with a lot of abandoned and foreclosed homes. HUD is also offering up to $50 million in technical assistance grants to help NSP grantees manage the inventory of foreclosed homes they purchase under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

© 2009 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

First-time homebuyers must close by Nov. 30 – contract not enough

WASHINGTON – April 24, 2009 – If first-time homebuyers wait until November to sign a sales contract, it’s probably too late to get the $8,000 tax credit. To qualify, buyers must close before Dec. 1 – a signed contract is not enough. New construction should be started by mid-summer to qualify.

According to the National Association of Realtors, a “home is considered as ‘purchased’ when all events have occurred that transfer the title from the seller to the new purchaser. Thus, closings must occur before December 1, 2009 for purchases to be eligible for the credit.”

Noting that deadline, the National Association of Builders kicked off a campaign notifying buyers that if they want the tax credit, they should plan to sign a construction contact soon.

Mike Dishberger of Sandcastle Homes Inc. in Houston, Texas, says that building a home from scratch can take anywhere from four to six months depending on the floor plan and location. Assuming it takes the full six months, first-time homebuyers should sign a new-home construction contract no later than May 31, 2009.

While it’s possible to rush an existing-home sale and go from contract to closing in only a few weeks, that schedule could cause a problem for last-minute buyers who wait until November. If an onslaught of buyers hope to beat the clock, title agencies and others involved in the closing process could get backlogged during November, and the IRS does not consider “planned closing dates” for the tax credit – only actual closing dates.

To qualify for the tax credit, home buyers must have not owned a home for three years prior to the purchase and have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) less than $95,000 for single tax payers and $170,000.

Daniel Haynes

Technical Sergeant USAF

JCSE MacDill AFB

To Whom It May Concern:

Please use this testimonial as my endorsement for Buster Levin toward his nomination for the Tampa Bay Real Estate Young Professional of the Year.  We recently relocated to MacDill Air Force Base and Buster helped us find a place to live and saved us thousands on our home purchase along with extending his MacDill Mover’s Rebate Program to us which saved us an additional $2500 over the $10,000 he had already saved us on the purchase price.

Colby and I would like to thank you for everything that you have done for us. The day after Christmas you were ready and waiting for us to arrive at your office and start looking for a home at our new duty location.  Having dealt with a few Realtors in our past we were skeptical and thought that we would be shown a bunch of houses that were not in our interest. You were very in tuned to our needs as a military family and are extremely knowledgeable about the military in your community. Being active duty it is quite refreshing to see someone in the local community take such good care of their military neighbors. We were almost overwhelmed with moving from North Carolina to Florida, you have made things so much easier for us by being available anytime we had a question and even better yet, knowing the answer to our questions. We were very grateful that you had found a way to keep some fiancés in our favor with your MacDill Mover’s Rebate Program. Your program made it possible for us to purchase a new home and receive a $1000 check at closing…wow! I would challenge any realtor to show as much dedication and care to what they would call clients or customers that Buster shows to his clients that he considers friends.  Outside of being an example for other Realtors to mirror, Buster is a great person to know. We could tell right away that he had an interest that extended beyond that of a realtor.  His dedication to us as people is amazing!  He has taken customer service to a whole new level in the Real Estate community.

Sincerely,

Daniel D. Haynes

Colby Haynes

There are many good deals I’m seeing in the South Tampa market today that are foreclosures and short sales.  The short sales are a bit trickier to land, but I’ve experienced some recent success getting the lender to accept a low offer.  I just had one approved that was listed at $165K and we offered $135K.  The buyer thought I was crazy sending him that one because he was only approved at $135K.  I told him that you never know what they will take until you submit an offer.  To his delight, they accepted the $135K and he ended up getting the opportunity to own a much nicer home than he thought he would get.  It even had a very nice pool.  Foreclosures, REO’s (Real Estate Owned), and Bank Owned properties which are all the same thing, are a little easier to pick up.  Typically, we are seeing a 48 hour turn around on a response from the bank to an offer.  Unfortunately, you are up against cash buyers most of the time on the really good ones, but many will accept conventional financing and FHA.  Most are in an unacceptable condition for FHA, but not the FHA rehab loan which is becoming more and more popular.  I would be happy to go over any of the above information more in depth with you if you have interest in looking at your options.  To view South Tampa homes for sale, please click here and go to the featured listings page.

Many homes in the South Tampa area are in the $150,000 and below price range.  What a great opportunity for anyone to purchase a home at 3.5% down with FHA. It’s a buyers market and people should take advantage. Under the FHA guide lines a seller can contribute up to 6% of closing cost. I am a hands on Realtor which means that I help my clients find a home, have a professional inspect the home and help with finding the right professional to do the repairs if needed.  I try to create a long term beneficial relationships with all of my clients.

Tax credit might be shot in the arm for first-time homebuyers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – April 7, 2009 – A coalition of powerful groups, including the Orlando-based Florida Association of Realtors, is lobbying the state to find a way to advance first-time homebuyers a new, $8,000 federal tax credit designed to spur home sales.

Many first-time buyers have the income and credit to qualify for a home loan but need help with the downpayment, said Cynthia Shelton, an Orlando Realtor and current president of the statewide trade group. Fronting the money for the new tax credit could draw more qualified buyers into the slumping home market sooner, she said.

A study by Miami-based economist Antonio Villamil concluded last week that “front loading” the tax credit, part of the federal government’s stimulus package, would give Florida’s economy a significant boost – equivalent to creating 33,206 jobs and generating $514 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.

“I was in Tallahassee last week and I met with some senators. We’re pressing like mad to get this through,” Shelton said.

But with state lawmakers rushing to complete their annual session by May 1, the chances of passing any such bill are remote, so other avenues are being explored, said Walt Dartland, executive director of the Consumer Federation of the Southeast.

“The Legislature may or may not play a part,” Dartland said Monday from Tallahassee. “It’s true, we are out of time” for passing a new law from scratch. Other options being researched that might not require legislation, he said, include leveraging some of the resources of the Florida Housing Finance Corp., which already has a down-payment assistance program. Qualifying homebuyers would sign over their tax credits to repay the fund.

In addition to the Realtors and the consumer federation, the alliance now urging the Legislature to consider the home-financing proposal includes the Florida Home Builders Association, Florida Bankers Association, Florida Credit Union League, Florida Manufactured Housing Association and Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers.

Supporters of what the consumer federation is calling the “Florida formula” said the state has a short time in which to act because the tax credit is for homes purchased by the end of November. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal taxes owed.

Steve Auger, executive director of the Florida Housing Finance Corp., said the agency has provided $66 million in downpayment assistance since 2007, but its ability to continue doing that is jeopardized by the possibility that lawmakers may commit all of the housing agency’s trust fund to the general fund this year because of a record budget shortfall.

“I would hope the legislators would think long and hard about that,” Auger said.

Dartland said that another idea being discussed would involve the state issuing short-term notes that could be sold to participating banks. Those notes could then be repaid with the homebuyers’ tax credits.

Copyright © 2009 The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Jerry W. Jackson. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.