Ocala, FL

Ocala is rightly known as The Horse Capital of The World, and the variety of horse related activities that we have to offer here are astonishing. For instance, right now, Ocala horse enthusiasts have a great opportunity to see live polo matches right here in their own backyard at The Florida Horse Park. Matches are held every Saturday afternoon, with the last match being held on Saturday, December 5^th. With the lovely cool afternoon weather that we've been having, you shouldn't miss this chance to see all the action up close and personal. The matches start at 4:00, and the gates open at 2:30. The cost is only $5.00 per person, and children 12 and under get in free.

If you've never been to a live polo match before, you really should go see what all the excitement is about. The horses are gorgeous, and the action is non-stop. Take along chairs and a picnic basket and dine in style while watching the match. You won't regret it.

For more information about The Florida Horse Park and the many wonderful equestrian events held there, click here: The Florida Horse Park

For more information about The Florida Polo Club, click here: The Florida Polo Club

Great news for Florida Homebuyers! Congress has passed a revised version of the First Time HomeBuyers tax Credit, and the President has said that he will sign it, as early as tomorrow!

The new bill will extend the credit until April 30, 2010, and if the buyer has an executed contract by that date, they can close as late as July 1, 2010 and still qualify.

Better still, now current homeowners who are selling or have sold their home in the last three years purchasing a new (or new to them) home can qualify for a tax credit of up to $6500.00, as long as they have used the home that they have sold (or are currently selling) as a principal residence consecutively for 5 of the previous 8 years.

The income limits have been raised, too. A single person can earn as much as $125,000 per year and still qualify, and a married couple as much as $250,000.

This beautiful townhome is situated in the best part of Southeast Ocala, Florida. Close to Private schools (one within walking distance) as well as the best middle and highschools. Convenient 5 minute drive to downtown, as well as to the Paddock Mall, and the new Heathbrook Mall. Close to grocery stores, restaurants, and specialty stores! To directly access this property, use this shortcut: http://www.fizber.com/florida-buy-condo-townhome-co-op-home-11648344.html

It could be possible that things are starting to change for the better in short sales and modifications for distressed homeonwers. Yesterday I received a couple of phone calls that indicated promise on the horizon for borrowers from Bank of America.

The first call was from a past client that lives in California and has an investment property in Ocala, FLorida. He had his home on the market as a short sale, but Bank of America just offered him a modification that cut his payment in half. PERMANTLY. His rental home in Ocala now positve cash flows and it is one less property listed in an oversupplied market. His credit doesn't get dinged and the tenant doesn't have to worry about having to move.

The second call was from a representative from Bank of America stating that they will now be using REOtrans for their short sale processing. They have been familiar to me as a third party company for bank owned properties and now they are going to handle Bank of America short sales. I was not clear if this was all the short sales through Bank of AMerica or just some of them.

It has been tough, if not impossible with Bank of America since they absorbed all the Countrywide loans on getting short sales approved, so maybe this will be the solution we've all been waiting for. They already seem to be more efficient with the strategy that we communicate by email and we can check the progress along with the seller at any tiime by logging in.

As a Short sale Specialist in Ocala, having dealt with Bank Of America before and after the Countrywide absorption, it must have been like a tsunami for the mitigators at that bank. If Reotrans can solve this problem, it's really going to make a huge dent in the real estate market in Ocala, and probably around the country.

Some short sale specialists had already stopped representing sellers that had Bank of America or former Countrywide borrowers because of the lack of response. My suggestion today is if a borrower has been turned down for a modification, reapply today. You may get a diffierent answer from your lender because of improvements in their system.

If you or your Realtor gave up on a short sale, try again. Be sure and use a Realtor with a proven track record on getting short sales approved and closed. Here in Ocala, we still have many misconceptions out floating around. You wouldn't believe the stories I hear from other agents and sellers that were given bad information.

One cliche' that sticks with me in the short sale specialist industry. "The only thing constant is change." ( I hope I said that right.)

Hava a great day and Happy Short Selling!!

The local investors in our area are once again pooling their money with LLC's and buying up homes for cash. I was beginning to think nobody had any money, but I was wrong. Now that the prices have gotten so low that a buyer can get a good cash on cash return for a rental property, we are writing contracts without showings for cash with a 10 day due diligence period. It's a beautiful thing to help clean up the mess.

I think it will still a while before the builders start building again here in Ocala, but I am also seeing lot sales pick up (at discounted prices of course.) It's a lot of fun to have this much action all of a sudden.

If we can get the residential builders back in business, we can turn a very important corner for our local economy.

I had just written a post over the weekend that the owner occupant calls seem to be slowing down. You just can't second guess this crazy business. I guess that's what keeps it interesting. Every day is a new day.

Today I love real estate! Lots of luck and best withes to everyone in the real estate business. I hope you have a record week!