Florida homeowners are invited to a community forum on the housing crisis

Florida homeowners are invited to a community forum on the housing crisis on October 24th being held at the North Ft. Myers High School. The event will run from 9 a.m - 1 p.m.

Hosted by the Attorney General Bill McCollum and the Florida InterAgency Mortgage Task Force this event will offer homeowners an opportunity to receive valuable information dealing with:

• affordable housing
• loan modifications
• alternatives to foreclosure
• buying and selling real estate in the current market
• mortgage fraud
• foreclosure procedures
• scams targeting those in default on their mortgage

Volunteer lawyers and HUD-certified housing counselors will be available for questions. You are encouraged to register by calling 877-385-1621. For additional information please visit the Attorney Generals website.

What can we do to increase our chances of having a bank accept our offer on their home?

Q: We have made multiple offers on bank owned homes in our area without success. What can we do to finally get an offer accepted?

Bank owned properties are a hot right now in the Central Florida area. Investors, first time homebuyers and buyers looking for good deals are competing against each other presenting offers on available properties as soon as they hit the market. While there are no guarantees, a buyer and their agent can take steps to increase their chances of having their offer accepted.

• Are you offering less than asking price? The time for testing the market or making low offers to sellers, especially sellers who are banks is gone. It is a seller’s market for banks and their listing inventory. Ask your agent to provide you with research for the area. Are bank owned property selling above list price? If so then offering less will continue to result in rejection.
• Make them an offer that is hard to refuse. Will your purchase be subject to financing? Strengthen your position by getting approved. Make sure the financing approval letter provided to you by your lender is strongly worded leaving no doubt that financing is not an issue. Being approved should allow you to shorten the contract time period from offer to closing. Instead of 30 days can you now close in 15? The cleaner the offer in terms of contingencies and time frames increases the chance your offer has of being accepted.
• Look for older inventory. There are situations when even bank owned property do not sell immediately upon hitting the market. Perhaps they were priced to high at the onset and the bank refused to negotiate early on. These same listings may now have received price reductions that make them good deals but since they are no longer fresh, they are ignored by buyers and their agents. Have your agent pull bank owned property that have spent a few months on the market and look for those with price reductions.

These suggestions may help you purchase a bank owned property. Of course there is more that just bank owned property on the market right now. You would be wise not to dismiss the regular home owner trying to sell their home. Short sales and motivated sellers/builders are offering some very good deals as well in this market.

Related Florida real estate views:

Most home buyers need to obtain financing in order to buy their home.

Making an offer at or above list price may be a wise decision.

FDLE reports crime down in Florida in 2009

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has reported that the volume of crime in Florida from January - June 2009 is down overall by 7.9%. Governor Crist calls the decrease "a very encouraging sign".

The report shows a decrease in:

• Murders - 18.8%
• Robberies - 13%
• Motor vehicle thefts - 23.1%

You view the full report by visiting the Crime in Florida Semi-Annual Report.

Related Florida real estate views:

Maybe I Should Move To Florida

If you see red lights ahead, move over

Where can I find the best selection of homes on 5 acres in Central Florida?

Q: Where can I find the best selection of homes on 5 acres in Central Florida?

When you say "best selection" I am assuming you are talking about price, size and number of homes available. In order to narrow down the results I limited my search for an answer to your question to include only 3 bedroom minimum, 2 bath minimum, block construction on 5 acres. I searched 5 of the Central Florida counties, Osceola, Seminole, Orange and Volusia.

• Volusia County 22 homes priced between the mid $100's to over $2 million
• Seminole County 31 homes priced between the mid $200's to over $1 million
• Osceola County 28 homes priced between the mid $200's to over $1 million
• Orange County 16 homes priced between the low $300's to nearly $6 million

Osceola County has the biggest selection at this time with Volusia having the lowest prices and Orange County the highest.

We are looking to buy a condo in the Orlando area priced between $300,000 - $400,000

Q: We are looking to buy a condo in the Orlando area priced between $300,000 - $400,000. What are some of our options?

In order to provide you with information I checked out condos that were listed and sold this year between $300,000 and $400,000. Condo associations that have units selling in this price range include:

• Artisan Club in Celebration
• Moorings on Lake Maitland in Maitland
• Sactuary in Orlando
• Carlyle Residences in Celebration
• Eola South in Orlando
• Vizcaya Heights in Orlando
• Paramount on Lake Eola in Orlando

I am available to provide you with a complete list of condos for sale and additional details including making arrangements to view any condo listed.

Related Florida real estate views:

How does buying a short sale impact a home buyer?

When buying a condo, the seller should provide you with specific documents

Can I get a free credit report?

Save my home from foreclosure

The FDIC recently launched a new set of tools designed to help home owners from losing their home to foreclosure or fall victim to scams that seek to take advantage of them while they are in financial turmoil.

One of the initial messages the FDIC would like to get out is that you are not alone. As a real estate agent in the Orlando-Kissimmee Florida area I can tell you for a fact this is the truth. What has happened to the economy over the past couple of years hurt innocent home owners like yourself.

The good news is that there may be help for you. The key to this help is in communicating. Communicating with your lender or loan services. I realize for many this is a hard call to make initially but if it helps prevent you from losing your home, isn't it a call you should make?

Ask about modifying your loan. Many lenders and services are working with distressed home owners with the goal of keeping them in their homes. Be persistent, follow up and make sure you provide the modification department all of the documents they need in a timely manner.

You can find more information about saving your home by visiting:

• Hope Now
• Making Home Affordable

Florida home loan modification - Fannie Mae

As part of the Administration's Making Home Affordable program loans owned by Fannie Mae could be modified by steps that include reducing the interest rate, increasing the payment time period, or principal forbearance.

In order to be considered for modification you will need to be living in the home as your personal residence and originated the mortgage before January 1 , 2009.

You can call Fannie Mae or your lender to find out if your loan is a Fannie Mae loan. The number for Fannie Mae is 1-800-7FANNIE. Or you can look up your loan here.

To learn more about this program including additional eligibility requirements, visit Making Home Affordable.


Related Florida real estate views:

The time it takes to close a short sale transaction

Fannie Mae sells homes

City of Orlando zoning information

Q: Where can I find information on zoning in the city of Orlando?

You can review the city zoning maps by visiting the City Planning Division or you can visit the Orlando zoning page to view maps. You can also call 407-246-2269 for more information.


Related Florida real estate views:

If you are buying a home with the Orlando city limits, you may qualify for a loan up to $8,000

Does anyone know of a good FHA lender in Orlando?

7 suggestions for spending your $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit

First time homebuyers can receive a tax credit of up to $8,000 if they buy a house before the December 1 deadline. What could you do with the 8,000 extra dollars? If you do not already have a plan on how to spend or save the money, you may want to consider one of the following 7 suggestions for spending your $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit.

1. Buy another property with cash. As of this post there are over 2o properties listed for sale in Central Florida priced at $8,000 or below. These listings are either condos or manufactured homes.
2. Buy a new computer monitor. NEC CRV43
3. You could by an arcade/video game. Grand Daddy
4. Launch a personal Satellite. Interorbital Systems
5. Buy a camera. Nikon D3X
6. Buy a 'Battlestar Galactica' figure. Cylon
7. Something nice for your new home. Chandelier

Of course don't forget you could also donate the money to charity. The key is that you will miss out on the opportunity to spend the extra 8 grand if you do not buy a home before the deadline expires. Give me a call to find out if you qualify for the first time home buyer tax credit.

(Please check with manufacturer or dealer for price, availability, tax, shipping and handling fees and anything else that is important to you before buying any of the items listed above. I have no own or have a business relationship with any of the companies listed.)

Related Florida real estate views:

The following video offers an explanation of the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

First time home buyer tax credit is available to Florida home buyers

The MLS has made it easier to find you the homes you are interested in.

The MLS (multiple listing service) has created a new stand alone search field that allows an agent to drill down deeper when searching for a home for you. The new search filed allows the agent to select from homes that are listed for sale in Central Florida as; REO/Bank Owned, Short Sale or None of the Above.

1. REO/Bank Owned. Buyers looking for homes that were foreclosed on and are now being sold by the many lenders in this country will want us to select this option.


2. Short Sale. Buyers who are interested in seeing only those homes where the seller is selling subject to a short sale contingency will expect the agent to select this option.


3. None of the Above. Buyers who are not interested in seeing bank owned or short sale listings will want us to search for homes from this category.

Do you have a preference? Let me know and we will create a custom home search designed just for you.

Related Florida real estate views:

I have heard if I buy a house I will get $8,000, is this true?

I would not buy a house in Florida without first...