Erica Muller

I never thought I would be sitting here on a Sunday evening writing a post about toilet water but I am and for good reason so please don't stop here.

I recently sold a house in Legacy Park in Davenport (that was an absolute deal). As a closing gift to my clients I had the home cleaned for them prior to their move in (houses can get pretty funky when they sit for too long). When the cleaning service was cleaning the toilet they noticed something very odd about the water, they noticed that the water was very warm, we're talking bath water warm. They thought it was unusual for a toilet to be heated so they told me about it.

My first thought was. . . "What the heck?" and I pretty much spent about five minutes after that trying to figure out why someone would need heated toilet water. . . I still can't come up with any reasons (well at least normal ones).

The significance of this is that the plumbing in that toilet is somehow connected to the hot water heater and is using a large amount of energy to heat that toilet. There is no hot or cold button on a toilet to conserve hot water so it's just always sucking up electricity when the water heater is on. You can imagine what that will do to an energy bill.

After consulting a plumbing company about this I was told that this "glitch" could end up being a situation where in order to fix it the entire plumbing system in the bathroom would have to be re-routed or whatever they do. This could cost thousands. It could also be a quick and simple fix but there is no way to tell until it's looked at.

None of us, including the home inspector, thought to stick our hands inside the toilet to "test the waters" however if that was done and we knew about this before the closing we probably could have negotiated a credit because of this problem.

So I stand here today telling all of you to stick your hands in toilet water when buying your next home (or pay somebody to do it for you). This two second act could save you thousands and possibly even give you a nasty disease but at least you're saving money on your home purchase.

As a Realtor who sells mostly vacation homes here in Florida the last thing I want to try and do is convince you NOT to move to Florida however, at the end of the day I'm more interested in giving you the facts than the fantasy. As a mother to a little girl, I am always checking on crime statistics and such in my area. I always want to know what's going on so I can protect my family and as I was checking out some statistics today I came across some interesting facts on the National Sex Offender Registry.

According to these statistics Florida has much more to offer than just sun and fun. Apparently it has its fair share of registered sex offenders roaming among us in droves. Lets take a look at these alarming statistics and see how we stack up.

1. California 62,269
California rakes in the pedophiles with a whopping 62,269. I'm sure the fact that it's such a large state does contribute to the large number however that's a lot of pervs running lose in one state!

2. Texas 57912
So dry the catfish are carrying canteens and at 57,912 they are probably carrying some serious pepper spray as well.

3. Florida 50,207
Well, I don't know about you but this figure sure doesn't make me proud to be a Floridian at this very moment. Basically for every one million people you see 3084.2 of them are registered sex offenders.

Before you throw the baby out with the bath water there are some factors to think about. You may want to consider doing a little research into the neighborhood you will be buying in because not all parts of Florida are considered high risk areas. There are areas of Central Florida that are known to be much safer than others according to these type of demographic facts. For example, Windermere was voted the number one city to raise a family in the entire state of Florida due to very low crime statistics. Do you want to know how safe your neighborhood is before you move? Map of Sex Offenders in Your Neighborhood

Getting a green card can be such a difficult and lengthy process in America that many don't even bother trying. To those of you who may have lost hope or are still looking for that loophole in the system, I have some fantastic news for you. The United States government has set aside 10,000 visa numbers in an entrepreneur category known as EB-5. This is a very rare and hard to qualify for type of visa and there are only a select few projects across the country that have been approved to date. Orlando Florida is now home to the only qualifying EB-5 visa project in the state.

How does it work you ask? Basically, the way this program operates is that you will be buying into a condo-tel (condo-hotel) corporation. Only 35 qualified and accredited investors will be allowed to invest in this venture. Once you invest in the project the estimated time to obtain your visa is less than one year. So you are not just investing in a real estate development project you are also investing in becoming a resident of the United States. Your investment buys you:

- a share in 70 fully furnished condominiums in the development

- ownership in the company which is what makes you eligible for the EB-5 visa

- Discount on legal services to assist in the filing of the application

- 1/35 of the profits from the project

- two year membership to the spa

- two weeks free use of a unit for you and your family

- unlimited use of the fitness center, aquatic center, airport boarding and limousine service

- exclusive access the investors only section of the website

This project is not for everyone. There are standards that you must qualify for and many will simply not qualify. For those that do and have been looking to invest in American real estate projects with an interest in a visa this is probably the best opportunity since. . . well, I really don't think there has been an opportunity this good before for foreign national investors. What's the catch you ask? Here's what it takes to qualify:

- Around $1,000,000 USD plus $40,000 for out of pocket expenses related to filing of the visa

- A reservation amount of $20,000 and another amount of $20,000 15 days later.

- Required to show the past five years of tax returns

- Valid passport

- any foreign corporate documents and your sources of capitol such as savings or stock sales

- Submission to a basic medical test and biometrics intake.

- If previously married, divorce or death decrees and a net worth statement along with photos.

There are some guarantees being made by the developer however, this venture is not perfect and without risk. Your $40,000 out of pocket expense for the filing of the application is not refunded to you should you not qualify. Before any of your money is invested the application must be approved so you can't lose your $1,000,000 if you haven't yet invested it. The upside is this project is a popular tourist destination in Orlando and has over 8,000 visitors who have already stayed there. It has much room for occupancy growth and the units are being turned over to a professional management company and are projecting a very solid gross annual return.

It looks like Mickey may not be the only thing Orlando has to offer in 2009.

If you've entertained the idea of purchasing property anytime in the last 360 days than I'd be willing to make a bet that you've come in contact with the term "Short Sale". A short sale, in essence, is nothing more than a glorified term for a pre-foreclosure but with a twist. It's important to be able to recognize a short sale and what to expect when purchasing one. It's been speculated by many U.S. experts in the real estate industry that over the next year to two years there won't be very many listing on the market that are NOT short sales. So what do you say we get aquainted with our new buddy?

What Is A Short Sale Situation?

A short sale situation occurs when a property owner has suffered a financial hardship and finds themselves unable to continue making payments on their home. To avoid a possible foreclosure the seller contacts the bank and submits a letter of hardship to let them know of their financial situation. In most cases, the lender is willing to consider accepting less for the property than what is owed on the mortgage under the assumption the property is listed at an appropriate price for a certain length of time. The banks will generally not accept extremely low and unreasonable offers when the property is first listed. They want to see that the home has been aggressively marketed at a fair price first and if it just won't sell then they start to consider lower offers.

Once an offer has been submitted to the bank it is very common that the bank will take anywhere from one to four (and sometimes longer) months. . . yes, I said months. . . to approve or reject your offer. The banks will not counter offer. They will either go with it or not. If you waited three months for a response and they said no, you have the option of either submitting a higher offer or walking away. Please keep in mind that the bank does NOT even have to respond to your offer at all. So you may want make sure in your contract you have some type of clause that states how long you are willing to wait for a response otherwise you could be putting your escrow deposit at risk if you decide to walk.

Recognizing a Short Sale

Recognizing a short sale is an absolute MUST in this market because they are not for everyone and many people are just simply not interested in waiting. Here is a list of common phrases that you might see in a listing description online or on a flyer:

"Subject to bank approval" This basically means that your offer is either going to be accepted or rejected by the bank and the seller does not have any control over it. So if you want to low-ball your offer that's fine and dandy but please keep in mind it's not up to the seller once it's submitted, it's the bank that will be making the decision and they are not known to make quick decisions!

"Third Party Approval Required" This is just a different term variation for the phrase above. It means the exact same thing. The bank is the "Third Party" and must approve your offer. Pull up a chair, make yourself comfortable and be prepared to wait up to four months for a response.

"Listing price may not be sufficient to pay the total of all liens and costs of the sale" As you can clearly see this phrase is letting you know that it's possible you may be responsible to pay extra closing costs at closing that the seller can't pay. I recommend negotiating this in your contract up front and putting some type of limit on what exactly you're willing to pay.

Tips To Help The Process Move Faster

If you are the buyer or buyer's agent it's wise to submit an updated or recent pre-approval letter with the offer as well as a copy of the escrow deposit check so the bank can see they have a serious buyer. It is encouraged to complete all inspections as if it were a normal transaction and have your lender complete the loan package subject to final appraisal. Other than that your main role is to just wait it out and be a trooper and continue to follow up with the listing agent.

If you are the listing agent you should be aggressively contacting the bank at least once a day to follow up. It would be wise to notify the title company or closing attorney of the short sale and request to accelerate payoff demands. Get from them as soon as possible an estimated HUD 1 statement including payoffs for all liens and distribute a copy to all parties on the contract as well as the contact at the bank.

These are just a few tips to help speed up the process. Remember to be patient, this isn't an overnight transaction. If the price is right it will have been well worth the wait. Now that you know what to expect you can go short saling with confidence!