Archive for the 'Tampa Real Estate' Category

Notable E-Mail Of The Week- Tampa VA Mortgages

June 27th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate

Lenny,

My wife and I just wanted say thank you again for helping us get our home.  As you know this was our first home buying experience and we are very happy that we stumbled upon you as our agent.  We were very impressed with your level of knowledge, and very thankful for your patience.  You  took the time to explain to us everything that we had questions about and in a way that wasn’t intimidating or confusing.  I’m sure you are probably use to dealing with more seasoned buyers, but as a first time home buyer we couldn’t have asked for anything more. Thanks and hopefully we’ll have the opportunity to work with you in the future.

Sincerely,

Chris

Teamwork is what makes for successful real estate transactions. This one, as most do, involved the securing of a loan. My client, the home buyer, was using a VA (Veterans Administration) certificate and using a VA insured loan to make the purchase of his and his wife’s first home. They had already begun discussions with an online broker that specializes in VA mortgages and wanted to use his services. I cautioned them against using a broker that does not come highly recommended from someone in the business, or at least from someone who has done business with that individual or company. But the relationship was already there and they decided to give him the biz.

Once we began negotiating with the sellers’ agent, I asked the online broker if he could provide a loan commitment in the time frame requested by the sellers. “No problem” was the answer we received.  Long story short: No loan commitment was ever obtained from this broker. Then, a week before closing we get the message that “we’ve got a 50/50 shot at meeting our closing date”.

Say what? That was all I needed to hear to tell my clients that they needed to move quickly to find a lender that could close this loan. They heeded my advice, found a local lender with a history of servicing VA buyers, and we closed on time. The local lender got the deal done in one week (5 biz days). The sellers were obviously happy as they were also purchasing a new home on the same day.

Teamwork makes for seamless, stress-free transactions. One broken link in the team can, and does, lead to disaster. Realtors, home inspectors, pest inspectors, lenders, title companies, handymen, and others, work together to insure that what buyer and seller agree to, is what happens.

In other news: Home sales are up. Inventory is trending down. Interest rates are trending up. Buyer traffic is up!

Have a question about Tampa real estate? Call or e-mail.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

Tampa Property Taxes and Required Disclosures

June 9th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Homes For Sale in Tampa, Hillsborough Property Tax

Did you know that buyers of residential real estate in Florida are required to have presented to them a property tax disclosure? The purpose of the disclosure is to inform prospective buyers that what the current property owner pays in taxes, may not be an accurate reflection of what will be paid by the new homeowner. And I’ve heard many homeowners complain about how the taxes went up incredibly after purchasing their home.

The important thing to remember here, as a home buyer, is to not rely on the seller’s tax amount as an indication of what you’ll be paying. Property taxes are based on an assessed value, and that new assessed value will be based on the purchase price of the property.

This is especially true when purchasing from a seller that has owned a homesteaded property for many years. That seller was most likely protected from big tax increases for those many years. And when the property changes hands that protection is wiped away, and the taxable value will be brought in line with the current market.

The disclosure is conveniently placed in all Florida Association of Realtor purchase contracts and reads:

BUYER SHOULD NOT RELY ON THE SELLER’S CURRENT PROPERTY TAXES AS THE AMOUNT OF PROPERTY TAXES THAT THE BUYER MAY BE OBLIGATED TO PAY IN THE YEAR SUBSEQUENT TO PURCHASE. A CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP OR PROPERTY IMPROVEMENTS TRIGGERS REASSESSMENTS OF THE PROPERTY THAT COULD RESULT IN HIGHER PROPERTY TAXES. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS CONCERNING VALUATION, CONTACT THE COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISER’S OFFICE FOR INFORMATION.

So how does the Tampa home buyer estimate property taxes? The easiest way is to visit the property appraiser’s website and use the tax estimator. Using the purchase price and whether or not the property will be homesteaded, one can get a fairly accurate range of the property taxes after reassessment.

Tampa Property Tax Estimator

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Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

Tampa Real Estate Market Conditions Update

June 2nd, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa Market Conditions

The chart provides a good indication of the recent supply and demand for Tampa residential real estate homes. Since the first of the year, the inventory of homes for sale in Tampa has risen but is trending downward since a peak in late April, a good sign for sellers. Hopefully this trend continues. On the demand side, the number of pending listings, those under contract, has been trending steadily upward over the last 5 months, another good sign for sellers.

From my perspective, buyer traffic is up in most areas. Showings on our listings are up, and inquiries from buyers are also much higher recently. However, with the explosion in buyer interest over the last few months, I would have expected the number of pending listings to have taken a bigger jump by now. The pent up demand is out there, but many buyers are still quite wary, while others fail to get qualified for financing. FHA loans have become quite popular, with the loan down payment (3%) requirement.

What about the trend for foreclosures? I reported on them last month and promised an update. In April there were 1684 Lis Pendens filings in Hillsborough County. I just did a search for number of Lis Pendens filed in the month of May and the results show “Maximum limit of 2000 records has been exceeded, please change the above criteria” Uh-Oh… In splitting the month up, I find that 2033 Lis Pendens were filed in Hillsborough County during the month of May, surpassing February’s high of 1734. There are still many troubled loans out there and the ARM resets will continue to make many of these new loan payments un-affordable. Refinancing is usually not an option, since the loan balance is likely more than the property is worth, although there may be options for some homeowners facing foreclosure.

Have a question about Tampa real estate? Considering a sale? A purchase? Give us a call:

Data used is from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, all agents, brokers included, and the Hillsborough County Public Records.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

Tampa Foreclosures-Topped Out?

May 1st, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa Market Conditions, Short Sale Information

With the abundance of pre-foreclosure and bank-owned properties in Tampa currently, one has to wonder when this process will peak and subside. And while some areas have been relatively free of distressed sales, others areas are hotbeds. I see the headlines, follow the market, and I’m in the business. But there’s nothing like hard numbers to get a clear picture of what’s transpired in the last 12 months with regard to foreclosure filings. So with that in mind I recently took a look at the Lis Pendens filings in Hillsborough County for the last 12 months. The results are displayed in the chart.

A Lis Pendens is a notice of some legal action against the property owner. These are recorded with the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court, and the overwhelming majority of these notices relates to a foreclosure on a mortgage. The typical language reads:

You are notified of the institution of this action by Plaintiff against you seeking to foreclose a mortgage encumbering the following real property in Hillsborough County, Florida:…

And with the decline in property values, the slowing economy, and the many risky mortgages resetting to higher interest rates (and much higher payments), foreclosures have certainly been on the rise. Starting in September of 2007, there was a steep rise in the number of Lis Pendens filings. But in recent months, the number of filings has seemed to stabilize, at a high rate. So what will the coming months bring? Will we begin to see a decline in the number of foreclosure filings? I’ll take another look next month and update the chart.

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Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 3 Comments »

Short Sales and Phantom Numbers

April 29th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa MLS, Tampa Market Conditions, Short Sale Information, Tampa Home Buyer Tips

By now many Tampa home buyers are aware that purchasing a pre-foreclosure property is not all that easy. Short sales, or short listings, as they should really be referred to, are abundant across the Tampa Bay area. A short sale listing is a home for sale for which the listed price will not be adequate to cover the seller’s loan payoff(s) and other related costs of selling.

Once it is obvious that the seller can no longer make payments and is facing foreclosure, most sellers will begin dropping the listed price of the home to find the sweet-spot (a moving target these days), the price in which a buyer sees value and finally makes an offer. I call it the phantom number, because that’s really what it is. For many short listings, it has nothing to do with the market value of the home. It’s simply a number dropped low enough to entice a would be buyer to make an offer (market value?). The seller signs off on the offer and presents it to the note holder, and pleads a hardship case. The bank, or holder of the note, solicits an independent opinion of value, and makes a decision to either approve the sale, or counter the buyer’s offer with a higher number.

Quite often the bank comes back with a number that was much higher than the listed price or, phantom number. The bank has to consider many factors, including estimated market value, payoff on the loan, the costs involved in the sale, etc. The bank, in trying to mitigate its losses, will attempt to get the highest price possible.

So many would-be buyers are getting frustrated by waiting months for third party approval, only to find out the bank wants an even higher price than what was listed. The phantom number effect. A disclosed bait and switch? Is it fair to list a home for sale at a short number without first getting the bank’s approval? Banks most likely don’t want to approve any number until an offer is presented and a clearer picture of the market is available. Sure, the fact that the listed price will be short has to be disclosed. Our MLS requires certain language be included on the listing:

Listing price may not be sufficient to cover all encumbrances, closing costs, or other seller charges and sale of Property at full listing price may be conditioned upon approval of third parties. Call for details.

And there’s also a disclosure for buyers to sign that includes the language:

1. You may not simply “walk away” from a contract which is subject to lender or third party approval - you will become obligated to perform under the contract from the date of its execution until the lender or third party disapproves the contract or a term in the contract permits either the seller or buyer to terminate.
The lender or third party is under no obligation to consider, respond to, approve, or disapprove your contract within any specified period of time.
It is possible the lender may elect not to approve the contract, in which event you will not be able to buy the property at the listing or contract price.
At the time the seller enters into the contract with you, the seller may not have been informed by the lender:
(a) what an acceptable purchase price may be, or
(b) that the lender would participate in or consider a potential Short Sale offer.

So buyers beware. That number may look great, but chances are you’ll not even get a response, much less approval. Every situation is different. Some lenders respond quickly, some short listing prices have already been approved. But the fact is, lenders would rather not have to foreclose on the property and attempt to auction it if they think they can do better by letting the borrower sell it short. Short sales are being approved. Let’s face it, market values have declined. So anyone who purchased near the top of the market in 2005-2006, and did not put 20% or more down, is most likely upside down. Likewise, anyone who refinanced in that time period, and tapped out their equity, most likely owes more than it’s worth.

So understanding the circumstances, the processes, and the fact that the list price is just a phantom number, can go a long way in reducing the frustration factor for would-be short sale buyers.

Did you know?

There are 707 MLS listings tagged as “Pre-Foreclosure” in the City of Tampa (as I type).

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 1 Comment »

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