About Seminole County, FL

Alaqua Lakes Real Estate sales, accoring to the Mid Florida MLS, for the first month of the jear 2012 have been very slow indeed. 50 % of the inventory is distressed which translates into further decline in values. Good new for home buyers, Alaqua Lakes real estate is becoing more attractive and should sell faster.

I thought grass was supposed to be green...

I thought grass was supposed to be green...

http://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/extensionservices/adults/fynclasses_principles.aspx

I might've slept through parts of Colorin' class when I was a tyke, but I'm pretty sure grass is supposed to be green. I mean, how can it be greener on the other side if it's not your basic green to start with? Hmmm....

For those outside the area, the good Lord has been holding back on the liquid sunshine lately. When you can't remember the last time it rained, you've gotta bust out your wallet or the ol' Crayolas if you're looking so see something green.

And this is a good time to discuss lawn care- and how tenants can do their part in keeping lawns looking their best in the worst of dry seasons. Seminole County provides a good bit of instruction in the form of videos and handouts that are absolutely free and absolutely valuable.

The above link may be used to take you to Seminole County's information on the Nine Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping:

1. Right plant, right place

2. Water efficiently

3. Fertilize appropriately

4. Mulch matters

5. Attract wildlife

6. Manage yard pests responsibly

7. Recycle yard waste

8. Reduce stormwater runoff

9. Protect the waterfront

These are great principles for all to learn and use year-round, and are critical to learn and apply during dry times like we're experiencing now.

I thought grass was supposed to be green...

CoreLogic has released its December Home Price Index (HPI) report showing that distressed sales home prices in the U.S. decreased 4.7 percent in 2011 (compared with December 2010). This year-end report shows that home prices continued the trend of year-end decreases, the fifth consecutive year with a decrease in the HPI.

The HPI, excluding distressed sales, showed that home prices decreased by 0.9 percent in 2011, giving an indication of the impact of distressed sales on home prices in 2011. The report also shows that national home prices including distressed sales decreased 1.4 percent on a month-over-month basis, the fifth consecutive monthly decline. However, the HPI excluding distressed sales posted its first month-over-month gain since July 2011, rising 0.2 percent.

The December drop in home prices follows a decline of 4.3 percent in November 2011, compared to November 2010. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices declined by two percent in November 2011 compared to November 2010. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate-owned (REO) transactions. “While overall prices declined by almost five percent in 2011, non-distressed prices showed only a small decrease. Until distressed sales in the market recede, we will see continued downward pressure on prices,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. Highlights of the HPI include:

►Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Montana (+4.4 percent), Vermont (+4.0 percent), South Dakota (+3.1 percent), Nebraska (+2.5 percent) and New York (+1.7 percent).

►Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Illinois (-11.3 percent), Nevada (-10.6 percent), Georgia (-8.3 percent), Ohio (-7.7 percent), and Minnesota (-7.5 percent).

►Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Montana (+7.7 percent), South Dakota (+3.5 percent), Indiana (+3.3 percent), Alaska (+3.1 percent), and Massachusetts (+2.9 percent).

►Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Nevada (-9.7 percent), Minnesota (-5.2 percent), Arizona (-4.9 percent), Delaware (-4.2 percent) and Michigan (-3.5 percent).

►Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to December 2011) was -33.7 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -24.0 percent.

►The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines including distressed transactions are Nevada (-60.0 percent), Arizona (-51.9 percent), Florida (-50 percent), Michigan (-43.7 percent), and California (-43.5 percent).

►Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 81 are showing year-over-year declines in December, one more than in November. ************************************************************************************** Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert and Foreclosure Specialist who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, East Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Oviedo, Apopka, Lake Mary, Clermont, Ocoee Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area.

Please visit: Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com, or http://ShortSellMyOrlandoHome.com Our Website http://JerryLaRose.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com, or http://OrlandoRealEstateVoice.com , If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals - http://InvestmentPropertyDealsOrlando.com Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange, Seminole, Polk, Lake, Osceola and Brevard County Florida and Orlando, East Orlando, St. Cloud, Davenport, Clermont, Longwood, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Apopka, Lake Mary, Oviedo or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent and realtor who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. The short sale process is complicated and we can help simplify it.

We also have now expanded to help homeowners to Stop Foreclosure in Brevard County Florida. Servicing Melbourne, Coco, Coco Beach, Satellite Beach, Palm Bay, Indian Harbour Beach, South Patrick Shores, Palm Shores, Rockledge, Cocoa West, Merritt Island, Port Saint John and Titusville Florida Call us at 407-580-7011 or email at jerry@JerryLaRose.com to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales. Orlando Short Sales, expert, specialist, Realtor, Keller Williams Realty, agent, broker, short sale, stop foreclosure

The administration believes that the mortgage servicing system is badly broken and would benefit from a single set of strong federal standards,” the White House said in a document outlining President Obama’s vision for how a servicing shop should be run.

The president on Wednesday introduced what he’s termed the Homeowner Bill of Rights – plainly defined principles that Obama says will ensure borrowers and lenders are playing by the same common-sense rules. At the top of that list is a simple, straightforward mortgage disclosure form so borrowers have a clear understanding of their loan.

Obama told constituents in Falls Church, Virginia, where he unveiled the new Bill of Rights, that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already making headway in its effort to replace overlapping and complex mortgage forms with a new shorter, simpler form to be used for all home loans.

Obama’s new set of standards mandate servicers provide homeowners with full and clear disclosure of all fees and penalties upfront, with any changes disclosed before they go into effect. It also requires servicers and investors to implement standards that minimize conflicts of interest and facilitate communication between multiple investors and junior lien holders, so that loss mitigation efforts are not hindered. Carved out within the Homeowner Bill of Rights is a series of rules to ensure homeowners at risk of foreclosure are provided with the assistance they need to save their homes.

Obama’s proposal calls for early intervention by servicers to contact every homeowner who has demonstrated hardship or fallen behind on their payments, and provide them with a comprehensive set of options to avoid foreclosure. The president’s directive states that every distressed homeowner must be given “a reasonable time” to apply for a modification. It also requires servicers to provide all homeowners who have requested assistance of become delinquent with access to a customer service employee who has 1) a complete record of previous communications; 2) access to all documentation and payments submitted by the homeowner; and 3) access to personnel with decision-making authority on loss mitigation options.

The new servicing standards would prohibit servicers from initiating a foreclosure action unless they are unable to establish contact with the homeowner after reasonable efforts, or the homeowner has shown a clear inability or lack of interest in pursuing alternatives to foreclosure. Any foreclosure action already under way must stop prior to sale once the servicer has received the required documentation and cannot be restarted unless the homeowner fails to complete a mod application within a reasonable period, is denied a modification after evaluation, or fails to comply with the terms of the modification received.

The Bill of Rights also establishes protections for homeowners against wrongful foreclosures. Servicers must explain to all homeowners any decision to take action based on their failure to meet payment obligations, and provide the homeowner with the opportunity to appeal that decision in a formal review process. In addition, prior to a foreclosure sale, servicers must certify in writing to the foreclosure attorney or trustee that appropriate loss mitigation alternatives have been considered and that proceeding to foreclosure sale is consistent with applicable law.

A copy of this certification must be provided to the borrower. “As we have learned over the past few years, the nation is not well served by the inconsistent patchwork of standards in place today, which fails to provide the needed support for both homeowners and investors,” Obama said. “A fair set of rules will allow lenders to be transparent about options and allow borrowers to meet their responsibilities to understand the terms of their commitments.”

The agencies of the executive branch with authority over servicing practices – including the Federal Housing Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Treasury – will each begin implementing rules in the coming months that are consistent with the standards outlined by the Homeowner Bill of Rights, according to the White House. In announcing the new set of national servicing standards, President Obama said, “Government must take responsibility for rules that are fair and fairly enforced. Banks and lenders must be held accountable for ending the practices that helped cause this crisis in the first place.”

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert and Foreclosure Specialist who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, East Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Oviedo, Apopka, Lake Mary, Clermont, Ocoee Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area.

Please visit: Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com, or http://ShortSellMyOrlandoHome.com Our Website http://JerryLaRose.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com, or http://OrlandoRealEstateVoice.com , If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals - http://InvestmentPropertyDealsOrlando.com Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange, Seminole, Polk, Lake, Osceola and Brevard County Florida and Orlando, East Orlando, St. Cloud, Davenport, Clermont, Longwood, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Apopka, Lake Mary, Oviedo or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent and realtor who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. The short sale process is complicated and we can help simplify it. We also have now expanded to help homeowners to Stop Foreclosure in Brevard County Florida. Servicing Melbourne, Coco, Coco Beach, Satellite Beach, Palm Bay, Indian Harbour Beach, South Patrick Shores, Palm Shores, Rockledge, Cocoa West, Merritt Island, Port Saint John and Titusville Florida Call us at 407-580-7011 or email at jerry@JerryLaRose.com to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales. Orlando Short Sales, expert, specialist, Realtor, Keller Williams Realty, agent, broker, short sale, stop foreclosure

We are very excited to have been among the first agents to start a ListingBook account in the Orlando Regional area. Yesterday we uploaded all of our contacts into Listingbook so that everyone we know can have their own Listingbook account.

To find out more about Listingbook, you can visit my new site www.YourRealEstate.Listingbook.com

This site is a new addition to our MLS (Multiple Listing System) and we have free accounts for anyone who is interested in buying or finding out how the market is doing.

This system allows you to search like an agent. There are multiple features which allow you to search by school zones, specific area, city, price range and more. To make it even better, you can change your criteria any time that you want. It is no longer that you have to contact your Realtor to make changes to your search, when you see that you would like to make changes, you can do so in minutes without waiting for someone else to do it for you.

The information on Listingbook is constantly being updated, so the homes that you see are currently available and not outdated information.

You can make notes on a property, ask the Realtor questions right there within Listingbook and we get a notification about any question you have and will be able to answer your question on the same day.

This system will allow us to better service our customers and make it even easier for you to find the home of your dreams!

If you do not have a Listingbook account yet, you can get a Free account today by signing up at my new Listingbook site.

Note for my fellow Realtor friends: I do not mind if you want to sign up for an account too to see how Listingbook works, I would appreciate it if you would do me a favor and send me a message first that you are signing up.