Did your lender freeze or reduce your home equity line of credit?

Did your lender freeze or reduce your home equity line of credit? What steps should you take with your lender if your HELOC has been froze or reduced? The Federal Reserve Board has offered 5 tips for dealing with your lender when this happens.

1. Make sure you have received and read the notice your lender sent you regarding changes to your HELOC. You must receive a written notice no later than 3 business days after the freeze or reduction.
2. Contact your lender and talk to them about about your concerns.
3. Get to the bottom of it. Why did they take this action? Was it due to a decline in your home's value?
4. Is it possible to get it reinstated? Request in writing that the HELOC be reinstated.
5. Will there be fees owed for reinstatement?

Visit the Federal Reserves webpage to read the entire 5 Tips for Dealing with a Home Equity Line Freeze or Reduction report.

Citi loss mitigation successes outnumbering foreclosures in Florida

Florida home owners who have their mortgage serviced by Citi and are facing difficulties may find Citi's foreclosure prevention efforts useful. According to a recent report highlighting Citi's efforts over the second quarter of 2009, Citi's loss mitigation success and outnumbered foreclosures in Florida 13.7 to 1. In this same quarter Citi successfully worked with approximately 108,000 borrowers throughout the country.

If you are a Florida resident having trouble making your monthly obligation, Citi has a Homeowner Assistance web page that you should visit.

Citi mortgage assistance stats

Orlando will loan you money to buy a house

Are you interested in buying a home in Orlando and are a first time homebuyer? Are you short on cash needed for closing cost and down payment money? If you are buying a home with the Orlando city limits, you may qualify for a loan up to $8,000 to be used towards buying a house.

This loan is part of the Florida Homebuyer Opportunity Program. The loan is for 10% of the purchase price of the home up to $8,000. The borrower is expected to pay the loan back once they have received their federal first time homebuyer tax credit.

Additional details include:

• Buyer must not have owned a home 3 years prior to this purchase
• You must have $1,000 of your own money to use for down payment and closing costs required to buy a house
• Credit score of 620 or above
• Income limits of $75,000 for single, $150,000 for joint applicants
• Buyer must attend one on one counseling session and education seminar

To receive complete details and be connected to a qualified to lender and REALTOR to assist you with the program contact or call me at 407-304-0255.

Source

NEW! Investor Packages Now Available

I am offering investors the opportunity to receive real estate information packages personally created to match the investors specific criteria. With distressed real estate and properties entering the market place daily, a savvy investor will want to take advantage of this new service so as not to miss an opportunity.

I can search for property that best suits the individual. Packages include available property found as a result of:

• pricing
• location
• REO or bank opened
• short sale
• pre-foreclosure
• in foreclosure
• days on the market

The packages include pictures, addresses and related information on all homes that match the selected criteria. This service is free and the information will be delivered to you by email.

If you are interested in Florida investment property, act now to receive your customized report.

Banks release 23 Orlando Kissimmee foreclosure properties today

Banks that have had to foreclose on property in the Orlando Kissimmee area released 23 of these properties today. The homes/condos range in price from $18,000 up to $277,500. You can view these homes by contacting me at 407-304-0255.

Newer bank owned properties are being released daily. In order to not miss out on the latest in bank owned foreclosure property, contact me to receive updated lists.

Fixer upper bank owned foreclosure houses are being offered at low prices

Bank owned foreclosure houses are considered by some to be the best deals on the market today. However bank owned foreclosures that are also listed as fixer uppers in need of mechanical and cosmetic repair, the deals can appear to be even better! I say appear because often these lower priced homes will receive multiple offers that exceed the list price creating a much higher sales price. Also in some cases the cost of work that needs to be done in order to make the home livable again makes the purchase price less of a deal.

Low List Prices

But still the list prices are inviting to investors and first time home buyers. For instance in Osceola and Orange County there are over 1200 of these types of homes for sale. Nearly 500 of them have a starting list price under $100,000 and 200 plus are listed below $50,000!

Due Diligence

Buyers will want to exercise caution when making a deal for one of these homes. Make sure you take advantage of every inspection available to you and are comfortable with the costs involved to repair the items in the home that are found defective or damaged.

If you would like a list of available damaged, fixer upper bank owned foreclosures in your area contact me and I will email you a list of houses in your area.


Related Florida real estate views:

6 out of 10 homes purchased in Kissimmee were homes that were listed as bank owned

What buyers and agents are discovering when buying bank owned homes

Getting a buyer to buy your home over a bank owned home

The City of Casselberry receives recognition from Arbor Day Foundation

The City of Casselberry received recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation for understanding the importance of trees. This is the 2nd year in a row that Casselberry received the Tree City USA recognition. Press Release

Related Florida real estate views:

Buying a home with lots of trees

How many people live in Altamonte Springs?

Altamonte Springs is located in Central Florida off of I-4 near the Orlando area. As of 2009-2010 the City’s current population is 43,243 according the the City's official website.

Are there really homes listed for sale in Kissimmee priced at or below $10,000?

There are some very good housing bargains in Central Florida and the Orlando-Kissimmee area right now. This is good news for buyers and the news is travelling fast as people from all over the United States and then world are now taking advantage of these extraordinary prices and purchasing homes in Osceola County.

Just how good are these prices? Can you really buy a home in Kissimmee and the surrounding area for $10,000 or less? That is a question we received yesterday. The buyer was sure they had read somewhere that there were many homes for sale right now in Kissimmee priced at 10 grand or below.

Is this true? What do the facts show? I just completed a search of homes in Osceola County priced $10K or less and returned 0 results. Osceola County includes the city of Kissimmee. All is not lost however as I also searched for homes listed in Osceola priced between $10,000 and $100,000 and my search results netted 984 homes! 816 of those were listed as being in Kissimmee.

Maybe not $10,000 but those are still some amazing prices!

How much should I offer on the home?

Q: I found a home I really like. How much should I offer on the home?

Congratulations on finding a home! I am assuming from your question that you are not willing to offer the listing price being asked for by the seller and are trying instead to decide on what you believe to be a fair price to offer less than asking price.

Determing how much to offer

How much you offer is strictly a personal decision and should be based on your opinion of the home’s value. Your real estate agent can provide you with comparable sales listed in the MLS for you to review. Your county property appraiser may have a website that will allow you to look at recent sales in the area. You can also ask your agent how long the home has been on the market and have there been any price reductions or enhancements during this time. You should also be asking yourself how the home compares in price to other homes you have recently visited. What are the features of this home that you like? Can you find those same features in a home with a lower asking price?

What is next?

Once you are comfortable with how much to offer it will now be up to the seller to decide if the offer is acceptable. While the price may seem fair to you, usually there is no way of knowing what price the seller would be willing to accept, if any, less than what they have publically indicated by their list price. The seller has the option of accepting your offer, ignoring it or countering for a higher price or for better terms.

End the end you should decide what you are willing to pay for and offer for a home. When you have found a home that appears perfect for you, the answer of how much to offer will be clearer.


Related Florida real estate views:

I am not sure about my credit. Can I get a free credit report?

Using an FHA mortgage to purchase a home

There are many good reasons to consider buying a home right now.