South Tampa Homes

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

To whom it may concern:

A little over a year ago I met Buster Levin at a South Tampa Chamber event.  At the time I was searching for a realtor that could help me in my search for investment rental properties in South Tampa.  I had been working with several other Realtors, but I felt they did not have my best interests at heart.  Buster seemed very knowledgeable and eager to help, so I decided to give him a shot to earn my business.

Over the next few months we kept in close touch as he showed me many houses and e-mailed me dozens of others.  Finally we found one that we wanted to make an offer on.  They were asking $119,000 and I was prepared to buy the house at $110,000.  After doing his research, he advised me that we could get the house in the mid 90’s and to be patient.  This was such a refreshing change from past realtors I had dealt with.  Most just wanted to make a sale and would’ve just gone with the $110,000 offer.

Sure enough, after several weeks of negotiating we got the house for $95,900.  Buster had saved me $14,100 on our first deal!!!  We then rehabbed the property and ended up having around what we were going to first offer, $110,000 in the house.  We got the property appraised after renovations for $175,000.  Buster made us a profit of $65,000.

Since then, Buster has successfully helped me purchase three more properties, all of which with similar results as our first deal together.  Buster is now one of only two realtors I use exclusively and is someone I trust whole heartily and I know has my best interest at heart.

In addition, Buster has helped me by finding great deals on equipment and finding me a wonderful new employee.  I would be proud to recommend him to anyone, and I’m honored to have him as a friend and business associate.   

Sincerely,

Mike L. Hooper, CFP®, CPMS
President
RentTheBay.com, LLC

Housing Predictor – which monitors over 250 residential property markets nationwide – says Florida appears to be emerging from the realty slump before any other state, including California. The Sunshine State is seeing population growth, and single-family home and condominium sales have been on the rise for more than six months. Foreclosures and short sales presently account for approximately 67 percent of all sales and often are not included in real estate agents’ tallies. Additionally, banks in many Florida housing markets are cranking out more home loans, and sellers finance almost 20 percent of all sales.

‘Protecting Florida Homeowners’ roundtable discusses foreclosure prevention

TAMPA, Fla. – April 21, 2009 – Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink brought together top Florida lenders and lawyers with the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes program yesterday in Tampa during a roundtable discussion focused on keeping more Floridians in their homes. As part of the ‘Protecting Florida’s Homeowners’ Roundtable discussion, top lenders and volunteer lawyers developed solutions for better communication and negotiation, as they work to ease some of the challenges facing Floridians who struggle to pay their mortgages and face the threat of foreclosure.

“As we are all aware, for a number of years Florida has been ground zero for the housing crisis faced by our country,” said CFO Sink. “That’s why I have worked to find avenues to provide real, tangible help to Floridians facing the threat of foreclosure. I hope today’s discussion serves as a foundation for increased cooperation between lawyers and lenders who want to keep more Floridians in their homes and more Floridians paying their mortgages on time.”

The roundtable gave lenders and pro bono lawyers the chance to discuss ways to improve communication and interaction. They also discussed how the new homeowner assistance plan from the Obama Administration affects their work moving forward.

Lenders represented at the roundtable included: Bank of America and Countrywide, IndyMac Bank, JP Morgan Chase and Washington Mutual, Saxon Mortgage Services, Wachovia and Wells Fargo, and SunTrust Bank.

CFO Sink plans to follow up on discussed action items, such as:

• Appointing a lender ombudsmen to facilitate and improve Florida Attorneys Saving Homes interactions with lenders.

• Identifying the key documents sought by lenders from homeowners to fast-track Florida Attorneys Saving Homes assistance.

• Setting timelines for resolutions, which would help both lender and lawyers manage time and expectations.

• Embracing the Making Home Affordable Plan to further assist customers with available federal assistance.

• Improving lawyer and lender expertise on issues related to foreclosure prevention.

• Stalling foreclosures during the negotiation process for Florida Attorneys Saving Homes clients committed to keeping their homes.

In 2007, CFO Sink reached out to the Florida Bar and asked that they provide assistance to struggling homeowners in the state, and the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes program was created. The program pairs pro bono attorneys with Florida homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments, to help these homeowners try and find solutions with their lenders. Over 1,000 lawyers across the state have volunteered their time in response to CFO Sink’s call to launch this program.

In addition to the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes Program, CFO Sink has also launched the Florida Housing Help Initiative to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. The initiative partners with community organizations and elected officials to hold foreclosure workshops around the state, and nearly 1,000 families have already attended these events.

6 companies to get $9.9B under U.S. mortgage program

WASHINGTON – April 16, 2009 – The Obama administration on Wednesday named the first six companies participating in a $75 billion program designed to help millions of struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The administration said the companies – including some of the mortgage industry’s biggest players – will receive a maximum of $9.9 billion in incentive payments, which are designed to encourage mortgage companies to lower borrowers’ monthly bills. The government expects to finish arrangements with other companies in the coming months.

Chase Home Finance, part of JPMorgan Chase & Co., will receive up to $3.6 billion, the largest amount among the six companies.

The other recipients are: Wells Fargo & Co., GMAC Mortgage Inc., Citigroup Inc.’s CitiMortgage unit, Select Portfolio Servicing and Saxon Mortgage Services Inc.

The program, unveiled on March 4, will offer struggling homeowners the chance to obtained modified loans with lower monthly payments. It’s being funded by $50 billion out of the government’s $700 billion financial rescue program. The remaining $25 billion will come from other government sources.

The refinancing plan is limited to borrowers who owe up to 5 percent more than their home’s current value. The administration has estimated the program could help 9 million struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said in an interview Wednesday that mortgage companies “weren’t waiting to sign the contracts to get going.” The banks, he said, “have already taken hundreds of thousands of applications for refinances and modifications.”

Still, many borrowers and consumer groups claim the modifications offered by the lending industry to date don’t do enough to help cash-strapped homeowners, despite more than a year of public prodding from regulators.

Fewer than half of loan modifications made at the end of last year actually reduced borrowers’ payments by more than 10 percent, data released last month show.

Questions remain about whether the lending industry has ramped up its staff and technology to handle an unprecedented wave of defaults and foreclosures.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press, Martin Crutsinger and Alan Zibel, AP Business Writers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Consumer advocate: Short sales can turn to no-sales

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – April 17, 2009 – House hunters hoping to take advantage of falling prices and low mortgage rates are likely to run across short sales in today’s real estate market.

Don’t get caught short by the twist and turns involved in the deals.

In a short sale, the seller and buyer agree to a price lower than what the seller needs to pay off the mortgage and various costs associated with selling a home.

The seller asks the mortgage holder to write off the difference. There’s no guarantee the bank will accept that loss, so the entire deal can turn into a no-sale.

But home buyers able to handle that uncertainty can zero in on some attractively priced homes. Financially pressed sellers are eager to get a deal, and lenders don’t want to be saddled with the property through foreclosure. The challenge for buyers is the waiting game – it can take 60 days or more for the mortgage holder to make its decision, said Jeff Marks, a real estate lawyer with Ryan and Marks Attorneys in Jacksonville.

“They have to have a stomach for it because it will take longer,” he said. “But if they can wait it out, they will get a wonderful deal financially.”

The number of short sales has been rising, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors shows about 18 percent of the residential properties on its multiple listing service are classified as short sales. The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors covers Duval, Clay, Putnam and part of the northeast portion of St. Johns counties.

Short sales aren’t for everyone, said Sam Kellum, a Realtor with Watson Realty who is president of the Amelia Island-Nassau County Association of Realtors.

“There are a lot of pitfalls to short sales, and buyers need to be aware of them,” Kellum said.

He said it’s possible the seller will sign purchase agreements with more than one buyer and send all those agreements to the mortgage holder for review. The seller can do that because the purchase agreement will say the sale still depends on the mortgage holder accepting a payoff for less than what’s owed. If you sign a purchase agreement with a price of $180,000 and another prospective buyer subsequently offers $190,000, the higher bid has a clear advantage.

Also, short-sale homes are sold “as is” because the owner, struggling to pay the mortgage, isn’t going to pay for any repairs.

The owner might have fallen behind on routine maintenance and termite treatment, said Ulrich Leinhase, owner of Maximum Success Inc., in Jacksonville, which does seminars around the state for real estate professionals. He said a home inspection is essential in short sales.

With all that in mind, Leinhase said, getting a short sale to the finish line depends on open communication between buyer and seller.

He said one of the first questions any buyer should ask is whether a home is a short sale. A buyer’s Realtor can easily check the Multiple Listing Service for that information from the get-go.

If the seller agrees to a lower price during negotiations, the buyer should ask again whether the seller will be seeking approval for a short sale at the lower price. Sometimes, the price cut will put the home into short-sale territory.

There is no state or federal law that requires a seller to provide any disclosure forms for a short sale.

Local Realtor boards set their own policies about how they will handle such disclosures for Realtor-assisted sales, so the disclosure will vary by area.

The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors has required its Realtors to include a short-sale form in purchase agreements since 2005.

In November, the association added a provision that buyers have a right to know about other purchase agreements the seller signs with interested buyers.

Ryan, who is general counsel for the association, said that gives a prospective buyer a chance to back out if someone else offers a higher price, rather than wait months without realizing his offer is no longer the best one on the table.

Another key feature for buyers will be the length of time given to the seller for getting the mortgage holder’s approval. The time constraint is negotiable. Ryan said lenders are swamped. Their justification for accepting a short sale is they can avoid the expense of foreclosing on the property. They balance that against how big a financial hit they’ll take by writing off a portion of what’s owed on the mortgage. The bigger the write-off, the longer it will take to get a decision, Leinhase said.

“It shouldn’t be called the short sale,” he said wryly. “It should be called the long sale.”

Copyright © 2009 The Florida Times-Union, David Bauerlein; via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; all rights reserved.

FHA key to housing rebound, Realtors tell Congress

WASHINGTON – April 13, 2009 – The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is a primary source of mortgage financing for millions of America’s families and plays a key role in helping bring stability to the housing market, the National Association of Realtors® told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Friday.

“Without FHA financing, families would be unable to purchase homes and communities would suffer from continued foreclosures and blight,” says Lennox Scott, a member of NAR’s Real Estate Advisory Board. In his testimony, Scott shared NAR’s belief in the importance of FHA, and he voiced concern for the safety and soundness of its programs due to its dramatic growth over a short period of time.

“We believe that FHA has done a good job stepping up to today’s market challenges. However, along with the dramatic growth in market share comes greater responsibility and the need for increased infrastructure and staff,” Scott says. Over the past 18 months, FHA has handled an increase in volume four times greater than 2007 levels, increasing its market share to over 30 percent.

NAR suggests a number of FHA improvements to help maintain safe and affordable FHA loan products, such as investment in staff and technology; increased oversight and risk management; technical correction to help implement FHA programs; and monetizing the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit so buyers may apply it toward the downpayment.

“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has made a number of important and valuable changes to FHA over the years that have enabled it to stand up to the challenges of today’s mortgage market,” Scott says. “FHA is now a principal source of financing for millions of America’s families, and without it, the economic crisis would be significantly prolonged. This is why it is so important to invest in FHA improvements and advancements.”

NAR pledged to continue to work for FHA reforms that will ensure the continued success, availability and safety of FHA mortgage insurance programs.

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.