These disclosure rules are not without controversy but were designed by the Federal Trade Commission to protect mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification services from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they decide is acceptable. Short Sale Realtors are indirectly affected.

They must tell their clients:

1. We do no charge upfront fees for our services in representing you.
2. Our commissions are paid from the proceeds by a closing agent (escrow, title or attorney) that are A)  Agreed to by your lender when the short sale transaction is approved, B) the terms accepted by you, the seller or homeowner and C) when sale is successfully closed.
3. Realtor commissions (typically 6% total) and closing costs will be part of your overall deficiency (the amount of your debt ‘forgiven’ by your lender.)

The new laws are tricky and you will need expert advice from a trusted and experienced short sale experts — The Pinellas Peach!

Yes, it’s a short sale, though, trust me when I say, we’ve got every reason to believe we can get this fully approved within two months or less.   And yes, the pool is super funky green right now, though that’s a minor issue at this price.  Full home inspection and recent property appraisal (at much higher value) available.

Call us now for details at 727-366-0324 (Julia) or (727)366-0325 Matt.    At this price, the plan is to have it in contract by the weekend.

By the way, if you need a knowledgable, dependable, reasonably priced pool guy, call Marty at Bayside Pools in Dunedin at (727)360-7494. 

Looking for a spectacular piece of waterfront Palm Harbor Real Estate at a Palm Harbor foreclosure price?  Look no further!  This 1,960sf Palm Harbor short sale is just about to hit the open market again at only $299,123!   Note this property had 5 offers in 2 weeks when first introduced in April.  However, it’s your lucky day .. the original buyer’s plans changed and so now your dream can be a reality.   Call Julia at (727)366-0324 or contact us for details and to arrange your private viewing.  No showings until Saturday, July 25th, and all offers must be received by August 7th @ Noon.   

WARNING:  This post is just a snippet of the legal options available for troubled homeowners and for Tampa Bay investors looking for a new home.

The Pinellas Peach has compiled these Federal and Fannie Mae Resources for those facing Tampa Bay foreclosures, and our two cents worth on some.    

The Fannie Mae Loan Lookup can help you determine if Fannie Mae is the investor on your mortgage.  This Borrow FAQ is worth a read and explains why you may care.

Federal Financial Stability Plan includes press releases from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Stability Plan, including press releases on the second lien program and foreclosure alternatives for short sales.  If you’re considering a Palm Harbor short sale, please note that much of this reads like an Infomercial and much of the good news bantered about has thus far failed to materialize for homeowners in any significant manner or number. 

The Making Home Affordable Program features Fannie Mae Affordable Refinance options and the Making Home Affordable Modification Program.   This month, a client friend of ours was actually able to make a Fannie Mae backed loan modification work – and he did it all by himself!  This is the ONLY instance we’ve heard of where a homeowner successfully modified his own mortgage without the help of a professional.  Maybe there is hope!  By the way, not all loan modiciation companies are the same – contact us for a referral.

There’s also a program to modify a 2nd mortgage if serviced by certain companies.  We’re skeptical, but if you’ve got a success story, please post a comment below.  We’d love to hear one. 

Short Sales Simplified?  Just announced Friday, Washington’s talking about solutions to streamline the short sale approval process.  BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.  The short sale approval process remains painfully slow and murky at best, and, whether buying or selling, can be a real headache if not represented by professionals like us.  Well .. honestly, they’ll still be a headache but we’ll be with you every step of the way and we handle most of the pain management for you!

Want to buy Palm Harbor foreclosures and Pinellas Short Sales?  Hit the subscribe button below so as to not miss the upcoming details about available incentives if buying Fannie Mae Pinellas foreclosures. 

If you can’t wait, give us a call at (727)366-0324.  Julia and Matt Fishel, Managing Agents at Suncoast Partners at Keller Williams Realty in Palm Harbor.

The FHA was created in 1934 after the Great Depression, and was widely popular until recent years when subprime lenders offered something seemingly better:  artificially low interest rates, no-interest payments and a false dream.  Daily, lender requirements are becoming more and more stringent, and, as a result, FHA loans are once again commonplace and the only vehicle for many to own their Duendin homes.

Advantages of an FHA loan include:

• low 3.5% down payment and closing costs
• gifts from family members, employers or charitable organizations are welcomed
• minimum credit scores are lower than for conventional loans
• lenders will consider payment of rent, utility bills and auto insurance premiums when evaluating the applicant

But Whoa! Hold on, there’s a tiny downside ….

• There’s a 1.75% of the loan amount premium that can be wrapped into the full loan term or paid at closing, regardless of their credit score
• You’ll pay an Annual Mortgage Insurance Premium or MIP.  It’s based on your loan-to value (LTV) ratio, which, if you’re putting 3.5% down, would be .55%.  Example:  $200,000 loan x .0055 = $1,100 divided by 12 months = $92 per month.  Usually this will drop off after five years or when the remaining loan balance is 78% of the value of the property – whichever is longer.
• FHA loans require that a property meet certain minimum appraisal standards.   In other words, if the home needs repairs, it may not qualify for a regular FHA loan.  There are FHA 203K loans that allow for repairs, but that will be the subject of another post!

If you need a referral to a trusted Pinellas Mortgage broker or banker, contact us.   While it’s important to shop for rates and fees, it’s actually equally important to use a representative that can actually get you to the closing table in today’s complex Pinellas real estate market.

Do you want to know what’s really happening with Pinellas Real Estate?  Want to avoid the sugar-coated smooth talk and just want honest answers?

Suncoast Partners and The Pinellas Peach take pride in providing meaningful knowledge, insight and data to assist you with making informed Pinellas real estate investment decisions.  Above is our first monthly installment of data that’s seemingly too difficult for the educated Pinellas real estate consumer to find these days.

PRO, The Pinellas Board of Realtors, dispenses boat loads of data each month.  Some meaningful and some, quite frankly, will put even the most analytical types to sleep.  ZZZzzzzzzz. We’ve assembled the parts we believe are important, but we need you to please let us know what you like, don’t like, and what data, if any, you would like to see that’s not here.

This data shows us that for Pinellas home SELLERS (reverse this if you’re buying or buying up):

The Good :

1. Just as many homes are selling this year as last year.
2. The number of homes on the market has declined slightly, which is good news for everybody because it’s an indicator that we’ve got fewer non-serious sellers.
3. Our MSI (Month’s Supply of Inventory) numbers are down significantly for single family homes and down slightly for condos – a healthy sign toward market correction.
4. In August we saw the lowest ‘Days on Market’ numbers we’ve seen in months.  Homes are selling more quickly than they were earlier in the year.

The Bad:

1. Prices are down significantly from last year – roughly 14% for single family homes and 22% for condos.  Keep in mind this is just a snapshot for the past two months over last year.  The thing I hate about statistics is that one can slice them and dice them to suit just about any purpose, but know that the numbers being bantered about by those in the know is that Pinellas home prices have come down about 16% in the last year.
2. Prices are still declining as the Palm Harbor foreclosures and Dunedin Short Sales continue to pop up.  (The rate at which that is happening and what we expect to happen is subject matter for another post). 
3. These low interest rates aren’t going to last forever (they were already up again to between 6.5% and 6.75% today), so it’s going to continue to get harder and harder to find qualified buyers to buy your Ozona FL home.  If you’re considering a purchase, it’s time to get your game shoes on (yet another subject for another post).

The Ugly:

Tricked ya!  Happy Halloween!  There’s nothing ugly about real estate as long-term investment, a great tax write-off, and most importantly, a place to call home sweet home.

Remember, tell us what you think.  Your opinion matters!

• Get in on the investor secrets that are on target to make the smart Pinellas Homes investors a huge profit fast
• Beat the system
• Snag a fantastic deal on that Dunedin luxury home you’ve always dreamed about

Do you want to make such a huge profit that you won’t care what the property taxes are being dealt by Jim Smith and crew at the Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s office?

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You’ve probablly heard the buzz about buying foreclosures and auction properties, where you sometimes need all cash to get in the game. What’s the real secret to the really good deals?

Buying Pinellas Short Sales … Buying Pasco short sales … buying any short sale! The best part is, you can buy them with regular lender financing!

What’s a short sale and how do I buy one? Stay tuned for my next post.