The Cross Team - Tampa Real Estate

  Assistance for Underwater Homeowners Coming Sept 7 - FHA Short Refi

According to RISMEDIA today, homeowners who are current on their mortgage may be able to work with their lender, provided the lender is wiling to participate, to write off at least 10% of their first mortgage.  This is open to non-FHA borrowers as well.  If you're wanting to stay in your home and are looking for help to refinance your mortgage into a new FHA loan, this may be an option for you.  Hopefully, the government has relayed this information to the lenders as well.

Call us at 813-789-7836 for more information!

  So tell me the logic in this: The government puts out this great first time home buyer program where loans have to be closed by June 30 to get an $8000 tax credit.  Then Congress fails to fund the National Flood Insurance fund and the 100% USDA Guaranteed fund, so the buyers that WANT to take advantage of the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit actually can't.  Now those buyers will either lose their escrow deposits because the deals crashed and burned, or they won't be eligible for the $8000 tax credit because the transactions will close after June 30.  Sometimes, it seems like things are counter-productive.  This ISN'T helping the economy one bit!

I have many people calling asking to buy foreclosure properties.  But do they really know what that means?  Buying a foreclosure comes with great opportunities, greater pressures and unknown pitfalls in the foreclosure market. First, you have to decide at what stage of foreclosure you want to buy. There are three options: 1. pre-foreclosure (also known as a short sale); 2. sheriff's auction; 3. repossession, called REO (for real estate owned by the bank).

Pre-foreclosure: These homes are in the foreclosure process, but they have yet to be sent to auction. Potential buyers must negotiate a deal with the lender as well as the current owner. That makes buying at this stage of foreclosure complicated and slow. But, you have the advantage of being able to inspect the home and negotiate for repairs or credit for repairs before purchase -- which isn't the case in other types of foreclosure sales, but the prices remain high.

Sheriff's auction: These sales yield the lowest prices, but they are fraught with difficulties, like the house being unavailable for inspection and probable repairs which you were not prepared for. At this point, you may also be responsible to clear any liens placed against the property.  This stage is usually best left to the professionals - the contractors and investors who know what they're doing.

Repossession: This occurs after the home has gone through a sheriff's auction but does not sell and the bank gains possession of the property. Homebuyers may not get the best bargains during this stage, but they can nearly always perform a thorough inspection before closing, minimizing costly surprises. Plus, the property comes with a clear title. Even in this safer stage, though, homes are still usually sold in "as is" condition," but the process can be faster. The pitfalls to avoid are: Do not get caught up in a bidding frenzy, and do not underestimate repair costs. Not knowing what comparable properties cost, can mean that you must be prepared for eroding prices in high foreclosure areas. If you are buying for the short-term, the better bet would be is to buy the only foreclosed home in an otherwise stable community that will hold its value. Not having financing in place is as good as not being in the market, as banks often jump on the highest bid with the best financing already in place.

Interested in learning more about buying distressed property in Tampa?  Call Nancy at 813-78-7836.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TXx8rKy-Ow

Have you tried to modify your loan using HAMP and been declined?  The government has come out with a new program called HAFA to help those folks who did not qualify for HAMP.  Watch the video to get the big picture to avoid foreclosure.  HAFA is designed to help homeowners thru the short sale or deed in lieu process.  Call Nancy for more details and 813-789-7836!

Move-in ready!

• 2,500 sq. ft., 1 bdrm single story - MLS® $369,000 - Best price in the center

Seven Oaks, Wesley Chapel  -  Fantastic opportunity to own one of the very popular Seven Oaks Professional center office units. Built by Waterford in 2006, it has an attractive facade and tiled roof outside, and many upgrades inside. It is pre-plumbed, and pre-wired for Medical Use. It could be used a single unit, but is curently divided into two 1250SF units, and each side has waiting and reception areas, bathroom, kitchen and 5 offices.
Located close to SR 56, I-75, I-275, and Bruce B Downs Blvd it is easily accessible. The planned new UCH/Adventist 80 bed Medical Center is just two minutes away.

Property information

Short sales are already picking up in the distressed-property market, and the trend is expected to explode in coming weeks, when the government starts handing out cash to encourage lenders to close these deals. "Banks have ramped up short sale approvals," said Duane Legate of House Buyer Network. "They're hiring a lot of the people who once worked in the mortgage-lending industry and moved them over to short sales."  Short sales accounted for 17% of all residential real estate sales in February, up from nearly 13% in November, according to a monthly real estate market survey by Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance.  And Bank of America, the country's largest mortgage servicer, has more than doubled the number of short sales it processed in recent months.  This is a huge change from even just six months ago when the short-sale market was stalled and most people would describe the process has real estate hell. Because lenders stand to lose so much on these transactions, they have been reluctant to make short sales happen, often waiting months before getting back to potential buyers.  But that has been changing. 

For one thing, banks realize that they make out far better financially with a short sale than a foreclosure. "The lenders lose 50% on a foreclosure and only 30% on a short sale," said Glenn Kelman, founder of the real estate Web site Redfin. "And short sales offer a way to get distressed properties off their books quickly."  And on April 5, lenders and mortgage investors will have even more incentives to offer troubled borrowers short sales instead of foreclosing.  Under the new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, borrowers will earn a $3,000 "relocation incentive" and servicers will get $1,500 for handling a short sale.  The investors who actually own the mortgage notes will get $2,000 in exchange for sharing proceeds of the short sales with any second-lien holders. And, finally, those second lien holders will receive up to $6,000 for releasing their claims. Lenders participating in the program must also determine the market values of properties early on and inform the owners of just what price they're willing to accept. Then, if owners come back to the lenders with bonafide offers, they have to be accepted within 10 days.

What's in HAFA?

The coming boom in short sales may accelerate the end to the foreclosure crisis by cleaning out the overhang of borrowers in distress and replacing them with more stable homeowners.  Plus, these sales are better for distressed borrowers because their credit scores suffer less. Going through a foreclosure can knock 200 points off a FICO score, twice as much as the penalty for a short sale.  I'll provide details as they come along, but here's a primer from the National Association of Realtors (NAR):

-  Complements HAMP by providing a viable alternative for borrowers (the current homeowners) who are HAMP eligible but nevertheless unable to keep their home.

-  Uses borrower financial and hardship information already collected in connection with consideration of a loan modification.

-  Allows borrowers to receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property (including the minimum acceptable net proceeds).

-  Prohibits the servicers from requiring a reduction in the real estate commission agreed upon in the listing agreement (up to 6%).

-  Requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed).

-  Uses standard processes, documents, and timeframes/deadlines.

-  Provides financial incentives: $1,500 for borrower relocation assistance; $1,000 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs; and up to $1,000 for investors for allowing a total of up to $3,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to subordinate lien holders (on a one-for-three matching basis).

-  Requires all servicers participating in HAMP to implement HAFA in accordance with their own written policy, consistent with investor guidelines. The policy may include factors such as the severity of the potential loss, local markets, timing of pending foreclosure actions, and borrower motivation and cooperation.

Bonita, Tampa  -  Announcing a price reduction on 1505 E Dr Martin Luther King Blvd, a 1,745 sq. ft. single story. Now MLS® $112,000 - Priced to SELL!.

Property information

According to the 10-City Composite Index of house prices released by real estate market data provider Altos Research, house prices declined 0.5% in September and 1.1% during the third quarter.  The index is a measure of home prices based on summaries of metrics associated with active residential property listings. After bottoming out at $470,017 in January, it gradually increased to $509,030 in July before again declining and was $503,401 in September.  Of the 26 markets Altos Research examines, asking prices increased in only five, including Los Angeles, which experienced a 1.5% increase, the largest of the 26 markets. Phoenix had the largest monthly decrease of 3.7%.  Inventory also declined in 23 of 26 markets. All of the 26 markets except San Francisco had a median days-on-market of 100 or more in September. Miami had the slowest inventory turnover rate at 251 days.  Altos said prices are likely to continue showing modest declines throughout the seasonally weak fall and winter months of 2009, and that this year’s downturn would likely have been worse if not for historically low mortgage rates and the first-time home buyer tax credit.  Want to know the value of your home here in Tampa?  Click on www.tampahomesearch.us and find out.