Mark Horan P.A. "The Resident Chef"

Currently, a short sale impacts your credit by decreasing it about 140 pts I'm told. A foreclosure up to 400 points. But what has change is how a short sale is being view on your credit report. Lenders are treating a short sale as they threat a foreclosure in your ability to obtain and retain your credit. I have seen them close credit cards and reduce credit limits as well as inflating interest rates.

So why should a homeowner continue to do short sales and not just let their homes go into foreclosure? If the home is your primary residence, and you short sale it, you have no further obligation to the creditor. If you are foreclosed on, the creditor can come back at you for the deficient amount after the creditor disposes the property up to 2 years.

I feel that in the future, with the amount of short sales, foreclosures, and bad credit card dept, in order for lenders to stay in business, the system will undergo an overhaul. But only time will tell.

I am hearing buyers ask "What Should I offer?" every day on Bank Owned Properties. What you need to remember is that the Bank wants to sell. They are listing the homes below appraised value. But how can you be sure? Every bank orders Broker Price Opinions, BPO's on their inventory monthly. They want to know if the market is trending one one or the other. Then they price accordingly. They know that there are first time home buyers out there trying to spend there $8,000 of Obama dollars. They also know that the foreign investor is in the market because the dollar is weak. They also know the domestic investors have been waiting for years to get in this position for their portfolios.

So, the ten million dollar question isn't what the bank will take, it's am I going to be high enough to out bid the other buyers? I have looked at the trend for August on sold properties and the majority of Bank Owned Properties are selling over asking price. So, when looking to buy a Bank Owned Foreclosed Property, forget what it's listed at, and understand what it's worth. They are all good deals!

Below I have attached a link that will show the sale prices as compared to the listing prices.

04-Res Customer Gallery

Bank Owned Properties continue to be the push in Kissimmee/St Cloud, or Osceola County Florida. Bank Owned Properties are what we specialize in at Resident Team Realty LLC. For a complete list of Bank Owned homes, just email us and we will get your search started.

There are currently 242 Bank Owned Properties active on the market today. To view these properties, just click on the link below.

Below, you will find a link to the MLS listing of the property that you were interested in. If we can be of more service please contact us!

Email us at: ResidentTeamRealty@yahoo.com or Call: 407-301-0312

Click Additional Information box to see listings.

Mark Horan

"The Resident Chef"

Broker

Resident Team Realty, LLC

Phone: 407-301-0312 Fax: 407-426-1101

Email: ResidentTeamRealty@yahoo.com

Website: www.ResidentTeam.com

Out of state home buyers are continuing to ask, how much are the taxes on a particular property. Florida is different than most states. Properties are assessed on the last sale price. So if a home is being sold as a bank owned property, the sale price is greatly reduced from the last sale pricing most cases. If a home sold in the past for $450,000, the taxes will be over $5,000 a year. If that home currently sells for $250,000, the taxes will be reduced almost 50% the next year.

We also have homestead exception. This allows a resident to deduct $50,000 from the assessed tax value. In Florida, the tax assessment for Florida Residents can only increase to a maximum of 3% a year from year to year. Non residents are capped at 5%.

These are the current laws. They may change some what because of the amount of foreclosure sales effecting the overall tax roll income for the state. But they have not done anything about it yet.

Use the current taxes as a guide, not the rule when concidering a purchase.

Mark Horan

"The Resident Chef"

Broker

Resident Team Realty, LLC

Phone: 407-301-0312 Fax: 407-426-1101

Email: ResidentTeamRealty@yahoo.com

Website: www.ResidentTeam.com

"When do You Think The Market Will Stabilize?" I was asked today by an asset manager about a condo in an area in Kissimmee. Here is how I responded.

"Hidden Cove is in an area that is economically dyeing in town. The low cost of housing has brought crime in the area. This community is slowly deteriorating. This is a gated community, but the gates don't work. Stabilizing will start when unemployment gets back to single digits. Our county is already at 10.4% which is above the national average. Tourism is the biggest part of our economy. Hotels and the theme parks are down with projections of 2010 not being any better.

My wife works for Marriott hotels in her 25th year. Next years bookings are down and the projections are not good. Property values are still declining and with Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC)rules, I don't see any change. I sold a 2009 home last week for $215,000 only to have the appraisal come in at $135,000. This was a brand new home. The appraisal did say the replacement value was $195,000. So if builders are going to lose 30% of value on completion, they won't build. If they don't build, foreclosures are going to rule the appraisals under HVCC. So, until the economy picks up, and the foreclosures stop. the values here in one of the top 3 foreclosure markets in the United States has no chance of recovery.

This market is not stabilizing yet, and it will be one of the last in the US. Values are down about 25% in single family homes over the last year. Condos, because of the number of condo conversions that took place from 2004-2006, the condo market is down almost 40% in the past year. HOA dues are not being paid, so the community deteriorates.

I hope this helps. Sell as quick as you can, or wait 2+ years.

This sounds grim, but it is what I believe we are looking at. Maybe if we abandon conventional financing, and only use the Government programs, offered by our Government lenders Freddie & Fannie, we have a chance. Seems convenient.

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