Nestor & Katerina Gasset Realtors® Wellington Florida Luxury Homes

Wellington Florida Real Estate News- Your Property Taxes

Your property taxes may be going up even though your property values went down. Because the village of Wellington and Palm Beach county lost money because of the downturn in the market they are still not willing to stop hiring their sisters and aunts and uncles for positions that should be cut off in this economy.

You should have received your proposed tax bill in the mail by now.

In the state of Florida you pay your property taxes in arrears. That means that you live in your house for a year and then you pay the property taxes for the year you just lived in your house. Many states you pay ahead of time so this is sometimes confusing to new residents when they relocate to Florida and even more so when it comes time to sell your home because you are going to have to pay your prorated share of property taxes at the closing.

46% of all the residents of Palm Beach county will be paying more in property taxes next year than they did last year even though your property values declined. 36 towns in Palm Beach County are also increasing their municipal taxes which are a part of your tax bill. Even with higher tax bills the county will still collect less in taxes.

Wellington Florida's current rate is $2.34 and it is proposed to go up to $2.8 an increase of 19.7%.

Port St Lucie in St Lucie county is going to have one of the largest tax hikes, a whopping 34.7%! OK, the prices have plummeted in Port St Lucie to the point where you can buy a 2500 square foot house, under air footage, for less than $150,000! This has made it possible for public workers such as teachers and police officers be able to buy a home again. Then they get shocked with a tax bill hike! It is all relative I tell our clients. You pay for a cheaper house you make up for it in taxes. The city of Port St Lucie lost 11 million dollars in revenue due to the decline in their market and the city counsel says they will have to close all the parks if they don't raise taxes. I don't think that is the case. I think with proper planning and saving this could have all been avoided. What do they do with all the money during the good times?

Local governments need to cut their expenses. They don't need to pay top dollar for all the services. For instance, here in Wellington Florida they saved a lot of money by not cleaning the park bathrooms 3 times a day. Just by reducing the cleaning by one time per day they saved a lot of money. Also, if the cities would stop using expensive cleaning products and simply use vinegar and baking soda, not only would they save a ton of money, they would also avoid toxins.

Stay tuned to learn how to challenge your proposed tax assessments.

To view Florida Short Sales- Click here. We know Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Florida Short Sales and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your home in Palm Beach County Florida : Call us today.

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Wellington Florida Real Estate News- Your Property Taxes -was first published on South- Florida-Luxury-Living.com.

Copyright © 2009 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.*Wellington Florida Real Estate News- Your Property Taxes.*

Kudos to Active Rain Member Simon Conway for going the extra mile to take care of a short sale listing referral we gave to him a few months ago. It was a short sale listing that was referred to Nestor and I from one of the attorneys who sends us a lot of referrals for short sale listings.

Simon Conway got a long very well with this seller and his wife. He had the listing sold within a couple of weeks and then it was into the negotiating on the short sale end of the listing. Simon was able to negotiate a fully clean slate for the sellers, no promissory note, no deficiency and no cash outlay from the sellers.

It was a nice surprise to hear from the seller who sent us an email letting us know how much he liked Simon and that he would be sending any Orlando referrals to Simon Conway. Then today I got a surprise phone call from Simon that he had closed on the property and the check was in the mail.

Don't you just love referral checks that show up in the mail! Setting up a good referral system is a great way to add additional income to your business.

It works the other way around also. Lenn Harley referred a listing to Broker Bryant who sent the referral to Nestor and myself and we just sent him a check because we closed on the listing a couple of weeks ago. You may have read Lenn's featured post about the transaction that we would not give up on. We send Broker Bryant's check off to him with a smile and gratitude.

If you have a short sale that you need to get closed we will refer you to an agent who is a good match for you.

To view Florida Short Sales- Click here. We know Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Florida Short Sales and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your home in Palm Beach County Florida : Call us today.

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Active Rain Simon Conway Gets Our Short Sale Listing Referral Closed! -was first published on South- Florida-Luxury-Living.com.

Copyright © 2009 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.*Active Rain Simon Conway Gets Our Short Sale Listing Referral Closed *

The market fell for more than just residential homeowners here in Palm Beach County Florida however the statistics show that the average to lower end residential properties dropped more in value than the higher end properties and the local businesses.

Property tax appraisers have determined new values for Palm Beach County Florida properties. Our new tax bills are reflecting the dips.

• Residential properties valued under $200,000 dropped by 27.4% last year.

• Residential homes valued from $500,000 to $1 Million only dropped by 15%- of course that is relative because the drop may be more significant.

• Residential homes valued over $1 Million dropped only by about 7% and some high end neighborhoods actually went up in value, not down.

We are now seeing the commercial bubble bursting taking its' toll on commercial values and the tax revenue they bring in.

Even though commercial properties did not drop like the residential properties did, they still decreased in value.

• Tourist attractions are doing quite well in spite of the economy woes. Tourist attractions only dropped by about 4% in value.

• Golf courses turned out to be the best business to own with the lowest drop in value at less than .02% and many golf courses actually increased in value. Homes in Golf course communities are still in high demand for baby boomers who want to retire here in Florida.

• Cemeteries dropped slightly by about 5%; we all have to go somewhere when we die and people still have to die so the cemeteries still have a built in clientele. There were several cemeteries that went up in value by over 50%.
  

• Night clubs dropped the most at 7.4% ; so I guess we could venture to say that people may be going out less to nightclubs and staying home with their spouses or significant others more. That would be a good thing. Rachel's adult entertainment, the most popular adult club in Palm Beach county has a previous market value of $3,357,972 and that has dropped now to $3,076,795. Their proposed property tax bill this year is $88,489.

Overall, those drops are not as significant as many feared. Palm Beach County remains a great place to own a home and own a business.

To view Florida Short Sales- Click here. We know Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Florida Short Sales and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your home in Palm Beach County Florida : Call us today.

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Who Fell The Most In Palm Beach County? Residential or Business Properties? -was first published on South- Florida-Luxury-Living.com.

Copyright © 2009 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.*Who Fell The Most In Palm Beach County? Residential or Business Properties? *

Wellington Florida Equestrian season is coming up soon- in fact, it is just around the corner.

We have 4 beautiful Equestrian 1 acre lots for sale in Southfields section of the Polo Club area of Wellington Florida right across the way- hacking distance to the Winter Equestrian Festival action and the Palm Beach County Equestrian center.

The four vacant Equestrian lots are conveniently located for all your Equestrian events and shopping. 2 of the lots are located right on Santa Barbara and 2 of the lots are in the Southfields Aiken Court area.

One of the lots is right next to an Equestrian mansion that is being built right now. If you are interested in buying this estate that is up for sale you can also buy this lot right next door in order to expand and add more paddocks, barns and stables.

Two of the lots on Aiken Court can be purchased together so that you would have a 2 acre parcel to build and be able to have your horses on the property also.

These lots are also close to the finest Equestrian vets, hospitals and training facilities.

The lots on Aiken are listed at $694,777 and $794,777.

The lots on Santa Barbara are listed at $794,777 and $489,777.

Make sure to stop by and view these lots or call us at 561-753-0135 and we can send you additional photos of the area and the lots plus all the properties adjacent to the lots so that you can see for yourself that this is a wonderful place to build your dream Equestrian estate.

We know some excellent custom home and barn builders and architects who can draw up your plans for you.

Enjoy the video of the Santa Barbara area and lot views.

To view Florida Short Sales- Click here. We know Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Florida Short Sales and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your home in Palm Beach County Florida : Call us today.

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Wellington Florida Equestrian Season Is Coming-4 Equestrian 1 Acre Lots For Sale!-was first published on South- Florida-Luxury-Living.com.

Copyright © 2009 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.*Wellington Florida Equestrian Season Is Coming- 4 Equestrian 1 Acre Lots For Sale! *

There were a lot of questions and comments on the featured post- Is Your Loan Modification Or Short Sale Being Turned Down? - that I wrote last week. That post was reblogged 36 times and it keeps on going. Important information needs to be spread- education is key. The more that we get important information out to agents and consumers, the more empowered we will all be during these next few years of doing short sales.

When the lender who is the servicer; also known as the asset management company blames the investor you can take it to the next level, call their bluff- so to speak.

Let me give you a case in point. This one is one that happens often. Please bear in mind this won't work with every servicer. I preface this post that this has to do with Florida state which is a deficiency and judicial state.

• The loan was originated with Indymac. There is only one loan on this property.
  

• Indymac is no longer a viable lender.

• One West Bank is handling Indymac files.

• One West Bank is called the Asset Management Company or Servicer. Either terminology is commonly used.
  

• FDIC owns the note on this file. FDIC is called the investor. Of course, there are shareholders.

• Our Seller is an attorney.

• The negotiator from One West Bank processes the file quickly.

• The buyers- Husband is an agent and wife is an appraiser. Purchase price accepted by One West Bank= $480,000 and no reduction in commission.

• The negotiator is excited that she has her approval in for the property and quickly emails us the demand letter.

We always forward our demand letters on to our sellers and allow the sellers to decide what their next step will be, consult with their attorney, etc.

We have a clause in our short sale addendum that our attorney drafted for us to protect our seller in the even they can not perform by the terms demanded by their lender. It is our sellers' walk clause.

Our seller informs us that he will not close without the deficiency removed. One West Bank has left their pursuing deficiency in the demand letter according to Florida State Law. In Florida, a deficiency may be pursued up to 5 years from the date of the closing.

Nestor contacts the negotiator to let her know not to get so excited so fast. The terms are not agreeable to our seller. One West Bank ( Indymac) must remove the deficiency clause and allow our sellers to be free and clear of any future judgments or deficiencies.

The negotiator says, "We can not do that because it is a Florida state law that mandates that we have the deficiency in the demand letter." Excuse me? The Florida law has nothing to do with whether you remove the deficiency or not. You are using the Florida law as your scape goat so that you don't have to remove the deficiency paragraph. We are not that stupid. You can negotiate even when the law says you can pursue the deficiency. The law does not state that you as the creditor HAVE to pursue it.

Nestor tells her that she must get this waived. She says it will take her about a week to see if her supervisors will allow her to remove this paragraph. The answer she brings back is that the investor will not allow One West Bank to remove the deficiency!

Now, if you read my post about, Is Your Loan Modification or Short Sale Being Turned Down? you know that the sevicer; One West Bank is blaming the investor who is the note owner for not releasing the deficiency.

Why would they be blaming the investor? Because of the PSA agreement being so vague in dealing with protecting the investor's best interests. If the investor wants to seek a deficiency later on and finds out that the servicer released it- they could sue the servicer for the loss on his investment. It has nothing to do with the investor themselves, it has to do with the servicer's fear of the unknown and the PSA being so unclear in this regard.

So what to do?

You go direct to the investor. We knew this to be FDIC. So Nestor starts his research into who all the players are in the FDIC, procures all of their email addresses and phone numbers. Then he proceeds on to start calling and emailing. Nestor has the patience of Job when it comes to this sort of research and calling. Not me, that is why we make a good team.

He gets clear to the top of FDIC and speaks to a decision maker there. At the same time he is also still insisting with the negotiator that she must release the deficiency clause and she is sticking to her guns, she is not budging and says her hands are tied by her managers.

FDIC is shocked that we can not get this deficiency removed based on the hardship of our clients, the sellers and the great offer price on the property. FDIC states this is NOT their policy and they have NOT insisted upon this. Nestor gives them the file, the case, the names, etc.

As Nestor is working through the maze and connecting the dots within 2 weeks we get an email from the negotiator that suddenly One West Bank's policy has changed and that she now has the authority to remove the deficiency clause from the demand letter.

This proves the point that this was a policy based in fear of the servicers and not the policy of the investor.

We closed on the property 2 weeks later and our seller has no deficiency and is free and clear of any future consequences to his short sale decision. Needless to say, the seller being an attorney was amazed at our tenacity and the way that Nestor did not let go and give up. Never give up.

To view Florida Short Sales- Click here. We know Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Florida Short Sales and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your home in Palm Beach County Florida : Call us today.

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Short Sale Strategies- When The Lender Blames The Investor- Case In Point-was first published on South- Florida-Luxury-Living.com.

Copyright © 2009 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.*Short Sale Strategies- When The Lender Blames The Investor- Case In Point*