Real Estate News...

We have a deal. Florida Legislature says it has reached agreement on property tax reform

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – June 11, 2007 – We have a deal. Senate President Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie) and House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-Miami) announced that they’ve reached an agreement to cut property taxes in Florida. Click here for Full Story

House, Senate leaders agree on basics of property tax relief

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – June 4, 2007 – The Florida Legislature knows how it will reform property taxes. Now it needs details. Step one: Curtail local government spending based on recent per capita increases. Step two: Craft a constitutional amendment that, pending voter approval, removes the current homestead exemption and Save Our Homes amendment, replacing them with a tiered, percentage-based, “super” tax exemption.Click here for Full Story

PENDING HOME SALES

WASHINGTON – June 4, 2007 – NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index finds that home sales continue to slow but at a reasonable rate. The association predicts some additional slowing in the upcoming months, but the overall market should remain stable.Click here for Full StoryHOUSING MARKET
ORLANDO, Fla. – June 1, 2007 – The worst of the housing slowdown is over, UCF economics professor Sean Snaith said today – the second time this week a high-profile Florida economist made that proclamation. Hank Fishkind earlier predicted a slow rebound over the next 18 months.Click here for Full Story

Property Taxes

ORLANDO, Fla. – June 1, 2007 – The stories run in newspapers across Florida: Local property values are again up, in many cases by double digits, leading to increased tax revenue flowing into county and city coffers. But that could change if the Florida Legislature passes property tax reform.Click here for Full Story

Hurricanes: AP finds 5 vulnerable hurricane areas

MIAMI – June 1, 2007 – On this, the first day of the 2006 hurricane season, the Associated Press has pinpointed five of the most vulnerable U.S. coastal spots, and two are in Florida – Miami and Lake Okeechobee.
Click here for Full Story

Cornered condo owners opening homes to short-term tourists

MIAMI – May 30, 2007 – What do you do with an empty condo in a slow market? Rent it. And many investors are now welcoming short-term renters as a way to take advantage of the state’s tourism market. “A house I couldn’t give away for $550,000, I’m now renting for $5,000 a week,” says Sandra Stella, who runs sandybythesea.com.
Click here for Full Story

COMPETITIVE PRICING KEY TO SALES

Getting a listing is good but only if it sells. Many Realtors face a daunting task today: How do you tell a seller that he should have a lower asking price – something less than the amount his neighbor got when his similar-sized home sold in 2006? Richard Coren, a Pembroke Pines seller, listed his home for $420,000 in November and it just sat there. Finally, he knocked $40,000 off the price based on advice from his Realtor, Cyndy Wald with the Keyes Co.’s Weston office. Wald says she told Coren that his $420,000 asking price was “yesterday’s news,” advice she gives all her clients. “We’re still in this correction phase,” Wald says. “They have to price it very competitively.” David Dabby, a Realtor in Coral Gables, notes that the relatively strong economy and still-affordable interest rates keep prices from falling even further – at least for now. Should either of those conditions change, however, a seller unwilling to accept a drop in asking price today could be forced to swallow an even greater loss tomorrow.

Nationwide canceling property insurance again as it offers slight drop in rates

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – March 8, 2007 – After submitting a rate decline proposal to Florida’s government, Nationwide resumed issuing notices to many homeowners that their policies would not be renewed. Click here for Full Story

FBI says number of mortgage fraud investigations have almost doubled in past 3 years

WASHINGTON – March 8, 2007 – The number of mortgage fraud cases investigated by the FBI almost doubled the past three years, reflecting a problem that is “pervasive and growing,” the bureau said Wednesday in its annual report on financial crimes. Click here for Full Story

Christ calls for 'real' tax relief

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 7, 2007 – Gov. Charlie Crist urged his colleagues yesterday to bring “real relief” to Florida homeowners consumed by worry over tax and insurance bills, delivering his first State of the State address punctuated by introductions of “real” people the governor has found who feel the strain. Click here for Full Story

Windstorm Mitigation Study Committee publishes final report

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 7, 2007 – The Windstorm Mitigation Study Committee published its final report on the first day of the 2007 legislative session, analyzing mitigation efforts in Florida, including the My Safe Florida Home program, and detailing its recommendations for hardening homes in Florida. Click here for Full Story

Fed chief: Toughen up on mortgage giants

WASHINGTON – March 7, 2007 – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged Congress on Tuesday to bolster regulation of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and suggested limiting their massive holdings to guard against any danger their debt poses to the overall economy.Click here for Full Story

2007 Florida Legislature

Lawmakers continue chanting the “property tax” mantra and Gov. Charlie Crist will push for a bipartisan approach to the problem in today’s State of the State address that kicks off the regular 60-day session of the 2007 Florida Legislature. But not everyone is onboard with a House initiative to radically change the tax system.

Click here for Full Story

Three new Florida Web sites make government more accessible

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 6, 2007 – Three new Florida Web sites attempt to make state government more accessible, understandable and responsive to insurance problems.Click here for Full Story

New companies insure property at lower rates

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 5, 2007 – Ninety-thousand customers of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. are receiving what every Florida property owner wants: an invitation to lower insurance rates. However, not every recipient is jumping at the chance.Click here for Full Story

New law should give home insurance savings up to 50 percent

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 2, 2007 – Homeowners could see average property insurance savings ranging from around 10 percent in the Panhandle to more than half in South Florida because of a new law meant to lower rates, state insurance regulators said Thursday.Click here for Full Story

US mortgage rates tumble a second week

WASHINGTON (AP) – March 2, 2007 – Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a second straight week to the lowest level since the beginning of the year.

Click here for Full Story

Study says home prices continue slowdown

Aug 4 2006; Mortgage rates around the country dipped for the second week in a row, a dose of encouraging news for people thinking about buying a home. Click here for Full Story

Mortgage defaults start to spread

NEW YORK – March 2, 2007 – The mortgage market has been roiled by a sharp increase in bad loans made to borrowers with weak credit. Now there are signs that the pain is spreading upward.Click here for Full Story

Greenspan: U.S. recession not ‘probable’

TOKYO (AP) – March 1, 2007 – Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told a Tokyo seminar on Thursday that he does not think an economic slowdown in his country is “probable,” toning down his earlier warning over a recession later this year. Click here for Full Story

Florida’s existing home sales pace slows in January 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 27, 2007 – The pace for Florida’s existing home sales remained slow in January, though the inventory of homes began to drop in many markets across the state, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). Statewide, sales of single-family existing homes totaled 9,382 last month compared to 12,906 homes sold in January 2006 for a 27 percent decrease. Click here for Full Story

Crist promotes catastrophe fund

WASHINGTON – Feb. 27, 2007 – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist got a warm welcome but no promises Monday from top congressional Democrats in his uphill quest to create a national catastrophe fund to help states hit by natural disasters. Click here for Full Story

Crist has ambitious agenda for his first full legislative session

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Feb. 26, 2007 – Gov. Charlie Crist goes into his first regular legislative session with an ambitious agenda and difficulties his predecessor, Jeb Bush, didn’t face when he took office.Click here for Full Story

Slower economic growth predicted

WASHINGTON – Feb. 26, 2007 – Restrained by a worse-than-expected slump in housing, the economy will grow at the slowest pace in five years in 2007, leading economic forecasters say. They predict consumers will get a break on inflation from falling energy prices.Click here for Full Story

Bohemian today, high-rent tomorrow

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 26, 2007 – Want to know where a great place to invest in real estate will be five or 10 years from now? Look at where artists are living now.
Sociologists and policymakers have long been touting art and culture as the cure-all to economically depressed neighborhoods, cities, and regions. The reason? It has been proven that artists – defined as self-employed visual artists, actors, musicians, writers, etc. – can stimulate local economies in a number of ways. Click here for Full Story

Shifting housing market snubs bad credit

HARTFORD, Conn. – Feb. 26, 2007 – Homeowners with troubled credit histories are finding it harder to get mortgages or refinance homes because softening in the housing market is making lenders less likely to handle riskier loans. Click here for Full Story

Will green roofs be the next hot trend?

NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. – Feb. 26, 2007 – If the term “green roof” evokes an image of a few potted plants arranged tastefully on the top of a building, then the time seems ripe to rethink that definition. Green roofs may be the next hot trend to cool down the urban landscape and lower the cost of controlling temperatures in the average suburban home. Click here for Full Story

Top 10 cities: Where to buy now

The real estate slump could get worse before it gets better. Business 2.0 Magazine, in its November 2006 issue, identifies 10 markets that offer great opportunities for those who have the patience to buy and hold.
For more information click here.

Homeowners, builders tackle water scarcity

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 23, 2007 – Now that many home builders have embraced “green” design and begun using energy-saving materials, developers – and government regulators – are focusing on another environmental concern: saving water. Click here for Full Story

A GNAWING PROBLEM

Termite swarming season has begun. Swarming season occurs when termites begin to leave their colonies, or swarm, to search for new nesting sites. Many homeowners first discover that they have a termite problem when these winged, black insects about
1/4-inch long are in their homes. According to Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson, termites cause millions of dollars in damage to houses in Florida every year. “Most pest control operations in Florida have the proper training and have good business practices, but there are unlicensed companies out there,” Bronson warns consumers. More info is available at the Department’s Web site, http://www.FloridaTermiteHelp.org , or by calling 1-800-HELPFLA (1-800-435-7352).

PROPERTY TAXES

The Florida House unveiled its property tax plan yesterday, which involves dropping it altogether (except school taxes) for homesteaded owners. Pundits are now analyzing the long-term effects, which could most impact low-income residents who rent.
Read the full stories:
House to ask voters to trade property tax for more sales tax
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-022207.cfm
Savings a boon to all homeowners 
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n6-022207.cfm
Renters would feel sales-tax pinch
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n7-022207.cfm

Tax plan may bring relief — and pain

MIAMI – Feb. 21, 2007 – Lawmakers in the state House of Representatives are ready to lower Floridians' property taxes – by making the state's sales taxes the highest in the nation.

Today, House Republican leaders will unveil their proposal to drastically reduce homeowners' property-tax bills by raising the 6-cent state sales tax by 2 to 3 more pennies. Click here for Full Story

What's so important about a concrete block?

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 21, 2007 – Supplies of key construction material stabilized or increased within the past year, easing concerns about escalating costs for home builders and commercial-construction companies.

Part of the explanation: The slowdown in residential construction nationwide and in fast-growth states such as Florida has reduced demand. Click here for Full Story

Condo slowdown

MIAMI – Feb. 20, 2007 – Strong demand for office space, combined with a lack of significant new office construction, has made office condo conversions a hot market for developers in south Florida, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville. But there are signs that the market is shifting from developers in favor of buyers. Click here for Full Story

Home prices rise; student numbers fall

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 20, 2007 – Florida officials expected school enrollment to rise by more than 48,000 students last fall and were surprised when just 477 additional children entered the classrooms.
The 62 superintendents who responded to the poll conducted by state economists blamed declining enrollment rates on soaring home prices, property taxes, and insurance premiums. With enrollment down in 23 school districts in 2006, 33 counties lost over $200 million in state funding. Click here for Full Story

U.S. market a world favorite

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Feb. 19, 2007 – Foreign investors prefer America's real estate market most in the whole world, University of Wisconsin-Madison research shows. 
The U.S. was the top choice of 63 percent of respondents in a 2007 survey of Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate members by the UW-Madison Center for Real Estate.  But association members, whose global holdings total $601 billion, are eyeing India as a close second for plunking their money into, researchers found. A third hotspot: China. Click here for Full Story

Going, going, gone: Auction industry sees huge growth

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Feb. 19, 2007 – Ben Anderson broke into the real estate business in 1974, and he said he went to auction school five years later. At the time, Anderson said he studied the auction process and thought it had a place in conventional real estate sales, a view he acknowledges wasn't widely held. Click here for Full Story

MORTGAGE RATES

Aug 4 2006; Mortgage rates around the country dipped for the second week in a row, a dose of encouraging news for people thinking about buying a home. Click here for Full Story

Insurance & Tax Portability Update Aug 2 2006; What’s happening with insurance and property tax portability? It’s the question we get asked most often. Here’s the latest….

Click here for Full Story

SELLING A HOME IN A COOLING MARKET

A drop-off in buyer demand and rising home inventories has made marketing a home more difficult. RealEstateJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's guide to property, offers tips:
1. Size up the playing field. Study your local market and investigate other homes' listing prices compared to what buyers are actually paying.
2. Price competitively. Price a residence just below what the market will bear. If a home is overpriced, a buyer will dismiss it and move on to the next one.
3. Do your legwork. Use aggressive marketing.
4. Don't delay. Point out to a seller that even if an offer isn’t all he had hoped, taking it instead of waiting for a better deal can save money in the long run.
5. Negotiate. Recommend that sellers offer concessions to potential buyers, such as making minor fixes. Small expenditures speed a sale and, ultimately, preserve price gains.

Source: RealEstateJournal.com (08/01/2006) © Copyright 2006 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
(301) 215-4688

PENDING SALES

Aug 2, 2006; NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, a leading indicator for the housing sector, has risen for the last two months. The current index, based on contracts signed in June, increased 0.4 percent to a reading of 113.9.

Click here for Full Story

MORTGAGE DISCRIMINATION

July 28, 2006; In search of the truth: After analyzing much of the same loan data, two different groups recently came up with opposing views on whether or not there is evidence of discrimination in mortgage lending.

Click here for Full Story

Six-month building moratorium adopted for Marina District

HURRICANE RECOVERY

July 27, 2006; HUD plans to give Florida $82.9M for Hurricane Wilma recovery earmarked for affordable housing. Doled out through its Community Development Block Grant Program, money will go to counties and Indian tribes in South Florida.

Click here for Full Story

Baby Boomers' Children Fuel New Tampa Buyer's Market

Five years ago, New Tampa was known as an affluent area with immaculate landscaping and top-rated schools – an idyllic place for buying a home to raise a family.

Click here for Full Story

Home prices could start falling

WASHINGTON -- July 26, 2006 -- For the first time in more than a decade, home prices could start to fall around the country in coming months, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Tuesday after a report showed that sales of existing homes fell in June and the number of homes for sale soared to their highest point since 1997.

Click here for Full Story

HOUSING MARKET

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had good things to say yesterday about housing. "The downturn in the housing market so far appears orderly," Bernanke told members of the House Financial Services Committee, adding "the level of activity is still relatively high on a historical basis."

Click here for Full Story

PROPERTY TAXES

Gov. Jeb Bush appointed a 15-member committee Wednesday to make recommendations on how to curtail increases and remove inequities in Florida's property taxes. Realtors are represented as well as homebuilders, appraisers, business leaders and legislators.

Click here for Full Story

10 ways to decorate without debt

NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. -- July 18, 2006 -- Homeowners spend an average of about $9,000 to furnish and decorate their new homes in the first year after they move in, according to the National Association of Home Builders. After coughing up cash for a down payment and closing costs, many owners don't have those extra thousands in savings, so they're tempted to decorate with the help of credit cards.

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Rents could fall as new condos become apartments

ORLANDO, Fla. -- July 14, 2006 -- There's relief in sight for some renters as the oven-hot real estate markets cool off: A huge number of new condos could be converted into rental properties over the next 18 months.

NAR: Home sales to stabilize in months ahead

WASHINGTON -- July 12, 2006 -- Home sales are projected to ease modestly but should stay within a relatively narrow range over the balance of the year, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

Click here for Full Story

Housing market to 'normalize' in 2006 WASHINGTON -- Jan. 11, 2006 -- The key word for the housing market in 2006 is balance, with a return to a more normal rate of price growth, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, says current trends in the housing sector are healthy. "We don’t need to break a record every year for the housing market to be good -- in fact, cooling sales are necessary for the long-term health of this vital sector," Lereah says. "A modest slowdown in home sales, coupled with improvements in housing inventory, means the market is in the process of normalization. That will help to bring balance between home buyers and sellers, yet sales will remain historically strong." Click he

A CREDIT CHECK

Lenders often use software tools like Score-Right and CreditXpert What-if
Simulator to help prospective borrowers improve their credit scores. But borrowers can use the software, too. The software points out any discrepancies in the reports obtained from the three national credit bureaus and features
a tool that shows borrowers how to use extra cash to quickly boost their scores.
Borrowers who follow the software's advice could undergo a rapid re-score and get a better interest rate in a matter of days.