Gainesville Short Sale Agents Rent To Buy Scheme This is a real estate scheme that purports distressed homeowners into their property under a rent-to-buy plan. The scammers will ask the homeowner to sign over the deed of the home to a company or individual who has a good credit standing so that the homeowner could secure a new loan and eventually save the home from foreclosure. The homeowner is then offered to stay in the house and rent it out, further guaranteeing that the homeowner could buy it back after a year when finances are stabilized. The short sale scammers don’t actually intend to let the homeowners stay. Plans have already been designed to evict the homeowner through the following: 1. The new borrower will not pay the mortgage so that the short sale homeowner is forced to le... 06/13/2012

Is your Gainesville Short Sale Lender Delegated? You may be surprised to find out what “delegate” means in short sales. To come straight to the point, the word “delegate” in short sale literally means what it is, to entrust to another. You may be making payments directly to Bank of America, Wells Fargo, or Nationstar, but that doesn’t mean that they are your lenders. In this case, they are referred to as “servicers”. This is because, even though these lenders have lent you the money, they may have subsequently sold your loan to an investor which legally transfers their authority over the loan to the new owner—the Investor. Your lender is now stripped of the power to approve the short sale. What happens is that these servicers have been assigned by the investors to receive the mortgage p... 06/13/2012

Gainesville Short Sales Agents Refinancing Bankruptcy Trick The scammer assures you that they can negotiate with your lender to help you refinance your home. The scammer then asks for an upfront fee and disappears with the your money and files a bankruptcy in your behalf without your knowledge. Yes, filing bankruptcy will temporarily stop the foreclosure, but this is just the beginning of a nightmare. Since you are not aware of it, you are also not aware of ongoing court hearings, and your absence on these hearings will compel the judge to start the foreclosure proceedings. This scenario further creates many other unfavorable circumstances. Scam Alert: Do not entertain companies or individuals who: 1. Guarantee to save your home from foreclosure even under any circumstance. There is no ... 06/13/2012

Gainesville Florida Single Family Homes Sold Market Report – May  2012 Here are the statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for the March, April and May 2012. This chart below shows you the number of CLOSED SALES for the months of  March 2012,  April 2012 and May 2012.   Also the relationship of (DOM) the average days on the market for those sales, and the current PENDING SALES. This chart below provides a graph as the number of ACTIVE LISTINGS in the Gainesville Florida Multiple Listing Service for this same three month period.  You will see that our total inventory has has not changed much this month.  I am seeing a steady stream of the number of homes sold in relationship to the number of homes that were active listings and have now gone under contra... 06/13/2012

Here is the Gainesville Fl Condominium Market Report  for May 2012 that shows (3) Month Statistics on the Gainesville Florida Condominium & Townhouse Market.   These charts reflects the March, April, and May 2012 data of units sold.  This data is compiled from the Gainesville Multiple Listing Service. This first chart below shows the total number of active listings in the MLS and how that compares to the number of pending sales, and the closed sales for each month.   You will see that our inventory has is remaining stable, with new listings coming on the market as other units are selling.   The current inventory is ready for Gainesville's Spring/Summer  buying season for incoming students. This next chart shows the average days on the market for the Gainesville Condominium market and th... 06/13/2012

18% of GSE loans are attached to second lien HousingWire estimated that less than 18% of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages have a second lien. Both enterprises have a total of 29.2 million home loans when combined. And 18% of which, or 5.1 million have a second lien attached. A massive first-lien reduction plan would only unjustly force more borrower payments to the banks that hold the second liens. The Treasury Department has worked with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in order to give more taxpayer dollars to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so they could write down the principal for those delinquent first-lien borrowers. The details on the average second lien sizes are not available as it has always evades analysts. What scares the FHFA is that it will promote borrowers who ha... 06/08/2012

Gainesville - Principal Loan Reduction Last Thursday, eleven Democratic Attorney generals sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) requesting for an abrupt implementation of principal loan reduction by GSE- related mortgages. The letter was addressed to the agency's acting director, Edward DeMarco. It argues that principal forgiveness could not shake the financial stability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and it could even save as much as $1.7 billion. DeMarco announced last week that it is possible that FHFA would come up with the mortgage principal forgiveness plan come this April. FHFA is currently in the process of making evaluations for added incentives from the Treasury Department so as to write-down the loan principal under the Home Affordable Modification Progra... 06/08/2012

Gainesville Short Sale Buyer Advantages Some Gainesville Realtors® may even advise prospective Gainesville home buyers to stay away from short sale listings. It is the agent’s option to understand and work with short sales. But if the buyer is interested, the agent could refer the buyer to an experienced Gainesville short sale agent. If you are an agent not offering a short sale, then tell the buyer outright that you are not going to show them any short sale listings. As a buyer, here are the benefits of buying a Gainesville short sale Buying a short sale means getting a good deal on a home that is not a foreclosure. Since you are allowed to inspect the home’s condition, you are most likely getting a home that is in better shape than a bank owned. As with a foreclosed home, banks do not... 05/23/2012

Gainesville Short Sales Hiring Incompetent Short Sale Agent When short sales became prominent in the Gainesville Florida area many homeowners, professionals and Gainesville Realtors® were unfamiliar with what is a short sale. Gainesville short sale agents Find out how other sellers successfully completed short sale and avoided foreclosure. Gainesville Short sales or short sales in any city throughout Florida require double to triple the amount of work. The extra effort can be very daunting. A successful short sale transaction requires all parties to be cooperative and needs a persistent, diligent and experienced short sale agent. Many agents openly admit they hate or do not understand the short sale process. An inexperienced Gainesville Short Sale Agent will tell you: "Stop Paying your ... 05/23/2012

Gainesville Florida Foreclosure Fraud Up - Avoid Scams The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF) has informed us that home foreclosure prevention scammers are getting busy this year, taking advantage of foreseeable foreclosure crisis. Gainesville Florida homeowners need to be very wary of existing scams. It is imperative that Gainesville underwater homeowners do their homework to understand their options and that there are not any quick fixes! How to Avoid Short Sale Scams. The HPF, a network non-profit group, which helps distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure through their HOPE hotline, confirmed that the number of mortgage foreclosure fraud has increased to about 60% this year. And that these scammers were easily able to penetrate on home retention modus as federal programs are... 05/23/2012

Gainesville FHA Home Buyers - FHA Fee Hike Gainesville short sale agents learned that the Federal Housing Association (FHA) will raise their fees this year, worrying future homeowners. Monthly Insurance Premiums (MIP) for loan amounting to less than $625,000 will increase by 0.10%, making the premium reach 1.25% from the previous of only 1.15%. And this June, larger loans will increase by 0.35% thus, making the total premium to 1.5%. Just last year, FHA increased their upfront mortgage premium by .75 of one percentage point, making a total fee of 1.75%. This means of $300,000 loan, the borrower's monthly mortgage premium becomes $5,250 as compared to the previous premium of $3,000. On top of that, a borrower has to place a down payment of 3.5% of the total loan amount. The FHA targets t... 05/23/2012

My Gainesville Short Sale Appraisal Came in Low, Now What? We know for a fact that mortgage lenders fund only up to but not more than the appraised value of the property. To close the transaction, the buyer may have to increase the down payment or the seller may have to reduce the price. Any one of these or both should happen to close the deal. Low appraisals can sure be a deal killer, but it is not the end, there are things you can do yet. Should the appraisal be lower than the sale price in the contract, here are five things you can do. Report errors to the appraiser. It is a must that you read the entire appraisal report carefully and look for possible errors. The appraiser may have missed a room and miscalculated the home’s square footage. These errors makes wrong “comparables” when... 05/07/2012

When can you obtain a mortgage again after Bankruptcy - Short Sale - Foreclosure? I had a Bankruptcy on my FHA loan, when can I loan again? 3 years from the discharge date. I had a Bankruptcy on my Conventional loan, when can I loan again? 4 years from discharge date. I had a Bankruptcy on my USDA loan, when can I loan again? 3 years from discharge date. I had a Foreclosure on my FHA loan, when can I loan again? For most, 3 years from the date on Certificate of Title. If it is more than 3 years but less than 7 years, LTV could be limited to 90%. I had a Foreclosure on my Conventional loan, when can I loan again? 7 years from the date on Certificate of Title. I had a Foreclosure on my USDA loan, when can I loan again? 3 years from the date on Certificate of Title. I had a Short Sale on m... 05/06/2012

More homeless? Where will the mortgage settlement fund go?Gov. Jay Nixon will cut a considerable amount of budget for public colleges and universities. His announcement was made in times when the nation’s top mortgage companies have not yet been settled. He is just one of the politicians who would divert funds to other purposes but foreclosure. With multimillion-dollar budget gaps, $25 million deal is sure to be tempting to state governments. Affected homeowners of the mortgage crisis would still get some share, but as announced by attorneys general in 49 states, approximately $2.7 billion has been allotted for state governments, adding that they may use it as they wish. Some have promised to use it to help struggling homeowners or create new initiatives to provide assistance to childre... 05/06/2012

95% of Gainesville REOs Need Repair Investors rush into the banks to buy foreclosed homes in Gainesville and lease them, expecting better returns than other investments. But experts warn investors to be careful they don't risk their money in buying badly shaped foreclosed homes and end up taking more than they can actually handle. This is due to the fact that about 95% of these homes need serious rectification, and some are even unsuitable for rentals. Re-construction, renovation, or rectification becomes a necessity in this case. The quality and the total cost incurred for this rehabilitation can continue to become beneficial or it can exceed its initial cost of work completion. Why do you ask are some Gainesville homes for sale seem to be great deals but are not? REO lenders selling h... 05/06/2012

Sweet Dreams is a local Gainesville Ice Cream parlor featuring ice cream and sorbets lovingly made in house, by hand, with quality ingredients.  It is the sweetest, the creamiest and the dreamyest of all ice creams.  Every year they offer 36+ unique and amazing interpretations of chocolate ice cream.  Past offerings span the gamut of traditional chocolate and sugar-free chocolate to "wild" and out of the box flavors such as White Chocolate Key Lime Pie, Chocolate Lavender, German Chocolate Cake and a personal favorite (sometimes offered as part of their 24 flavor line up as it seems to be pretty popular): Mayan Chocolate.  Mayan Chocolate is a glorious blend of cinnamon, cayenne and decadent creamy chocolate.  It's a real winner. Spring Chocolate night occurs THIS SUNDAY, 4/22, from 1 p... 04/20/2012

Gainesville Florida Single Family Homes Sold Market Report – March  2012 Here are the statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for the January, February, and March 2012. This chart below shows you the number of CLOSED SALES for the months of  January 2012 & February 2012 & March 2012.   Also the relationship of (DOM) the average days on the market for those sales, and the current PENDING SALES. This chart below provides a graph as the number of ACTIVE LISTINGS in the Gainesville Florida Multiple Listing Service for this same three month period.  You will see that our total inventory has has not changed much this month.  I am seeing a steady stream of the number of homes sold in relationship to the number of homes that were active listings and have now go... 04/18/2012

Here is the MARCH 2012 Market Report that shows (3) Month Statistics on the Gainesville Florida Condominium & Townhouse Market.   These charts reflects the January , February, and March 2012 data of units sold.  This data is compiled from the Gainesville Multiple Listing Service. This first chart below shows the total number of active listings in the MLS and how that compares to the number of pending sales, and the closed sales for each month.   You will see that our inventory has gone down in the month of March.  The current inventory is ready for the Spring buying season for incoming students. This next chart shows the average days on the market for the Gainesville Condominium market and that numbers relationship to Closed Sales and Pending Sales.  The March activity shows that the nu... 04/18/2012

What adventurous young--or not so young--couple hasn’t dreamed of buying a battered fixer-upper, then using their hard work and imagination to turn it into a showplace? It really is possible to buy a downtrodden house at a great price, invest your time and money improving it, and end up with a home that is worth significantly more than your total investment.   A house doesn’t have to be  50-year-old wreck to be a fixer-upper candidate either. A frumpy 30-year-old that needs updating will work. And the sight of happy people high-fiveing each other on an HGTV show after demolishing their old kitchen cabinets with a sledge-hammer...well, it just makes you want to jump in and tackle a remodel project yourself.   Then again, a fixer-upper gone bad can stress both your marriage and bank acco... 04/12/2012

Gainesville has got Spring Fever!  Our Gainesville weather over this past week has been great, and I think that the buyers are getting a bit of spring fever to buy their next home in Gainesville. Beautiful blue skies, low of 56 and the high at about 85.  It's been great weather and the start of daylight savings time is giving home buyers time to see a home or two after work during the week. One of my recent buyers has gone under contract for their next Gainesville home purchase today, and it's due to close in May.  I had found about 7 homes that matched their "wish list" and we looked at them over the last week.   Then on Friday, we had another appointment on a home, and it's the one they like the best. One of my Gainesville home sellers has gotten an offer on their home for sale in Gai... 03/22/2012