New listing...

A Biltmore  with a pool on Houlton has just been placed on the market at $325,000.  The current owners are the original owners and purchased the home in November of 2000 for 222,700. The home is not being marketed as a short sale.

Grande Estates...price reduction

The Biltmore on Houlton (5 posts below) has just reduced their price again...this time from $383,500 to $378,900. It has now been on the market 118 days.

No way housing has bottomed...

I just watched this video on Yahoo Finance (you can click on it to take a look at it) and it reflects what I have been advising my clients for some time now...we HAVE stabilized a bit in the current quarter; but not to get too excited...there is a lot of distressed property yet to hit the market. Keep in mind that this housing "recovery" is occurring while we have historically low interest rates-what happens if they go to 6%...7%? It will affect affordability and consumer confidence in this fragile market.

Send me an email and let me know what you think.

Under contract...Kensington

A Kensington on Houlton has gone under contract. This home is currently priced at $399,000 and was priced as high as $450,000 at one point. It is being sold by the original owner who paid $370,300 for it in December of 2001. 

The home was marketed as a short sale.

New listing...Pueblo

A Pueblo model on C Durham just came on the market priced at $225,000. This home is being marketed as a short sale.

Yuma price reduction

A Yuma on Ethan Dr that was previously listed for $400,000 reduced their asking price to $380,000. This home has been on the market for 61 days. The current owners purchased the home in July of 2005 for $580,000.

Bank owned sale...Grande Estates

A Versailles on Wilbur Way that was bank-owned just sold for $320,000. This home went back to the bank in September of 2008 and was listed by the bank agent for 262 days before the sale.

The previous owner (prior to the bank), paid $455,000 in July of 2004.

Priced reduction...Grande Estates

A Biltmore model, 1 story, 4/3/2, lake, pool, has just reduced their asking price again. The home is now priced at $383,500. This home has been on the market for 112 days and was originally priced at $414,900.

It has had a sequence of reductions as follows: $405,000... $399,000... $398,900...  $398,700... $398,500... $388,500... $383,500.

The current owners purchased the home in January of 2004 for $380,000.

New on the market

A Pecos, 1 story, 4/2/2, 2400+ sq ft, on the lake, has just been placed on the market at an asking price of $450,000. The home is being sold by the original owners who paid $290,000 for the home in December of 2000.

Strategic default?

Read the article below...it details something I have seen personally and heard expressed recently by quite a few "upside-down" homeowners. I think we'll see a lot more of it...

NATION'S HOUSING

Homeowners who 'strategically default' on loans a growing problem

A study shows that people who abruptly and intentionally abandon their mortgages often have high credit scores, in stark contrast with most financially distressed borrowers.

By Kenneth R. Harney

September 20, 2009

Reporting from Washington - Who is more likely to walk away from a house and a mortgage -- a person with super-prime credit scores or someone with lower scores?

Research using a massive sample of 24 million individual credit files has found that homeowners with high scores when they apply for a loan are 50% more likely to "strategically default" -- abruptly and intentionally pull the plug and abandon the mortgage -- compared with lower-scoring borrowers.

Lis Pendens report...as of September 15th

According to Palm Beach County courthouse records availabe to us, as of September 15, there are 34 Journeys End/Grande Estates properties with an active mortgage-related "Lis Pendens". Basically, a Lis Pendens can be described as a recorded notice of a pending lawsuit against a property owner. Some states require lenders to file a lis pendens to begin the foreclosure process if a borrower is in default on loan payments.

However, a Lis Pendens does not necessarily mean that a particular property is "about to be sold at the courthouse steps". Many homeowners catch up on missed payments...work out a forebearance agreement with their lender...refinance...sell...short sell, etc. So don't expect there to be 34 bank-owned homes in Journeys End anytime soon...but, that's about 7% of all Journeys End homeowners with an active Lis Pendens-which does not take into account the number of homeowners behind on payments where the lender has not filed a Lis Pendens yet. So, notwithstanding all of the recent positive housing news...it doesn't look like we're totally out of the woods yet.

Grande Estates...under contract again

A Versailles on Eugene Ct. has gone under contract again. The home was priced at $362k at the time of contract.

The current owners paid $478,000 in July of 2004.

The home has been on and off the market since February of 2007, at which time the asking price was $599,000.

Grande Estates, Biltmore...price reduction

A Biltmore, 4/3/2, lake, pool, on the market for 106 days, has reduced their price for the sixth time to $388,500. This home was originally priced at $414,900...then $405,000...then $399,000...then $398,900...then $398,700...then $398,500 now $388,500.

The current owners paid $380,000 in January of 2004.

Grande Estates, under contract

An expanded Buckingham (2582 sq ft), on Houlton Circle, lake, pool, priced at $387,000 just went under contract. This home had been on the market only 16 days.

The current owners purchased the home in May 2005 for $395,000.

Home prices won't regain peak this decade: Moody's - MarketWatch

Home prices won't regain peak this decade: Moody's - MarketWatch

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Kensington...back on the market.

A Kensington that last sold for $613,000 in September of 2006 just came back on the market.

This home was placed on the market by the current owner in April of 2006 at an asking price of $549,000. As of today, the asking price is $400,000. This home has been on the market for 520 days. The home is a short sale and has gone under contract (and fallen through) three times since January of this year.

Back on the market..Versailles

A Versailles model on Eugene Court has just come back on the market.

This home, marketed as a short sale, has been on and off the market since February of 2007. Originally priced at $599,000, the home came back on the market today at a "bank-approved" price of $362,000.

The current owner purchased the home in July of 2004 for $478,000

Pecos...taken off of the market

A Pecos model on Finamore Cir. that has been on the market for 1122 days has been taken off the market.

This home was purchased by the owners in March of 2004 for $355,000.

The home was originally placed on the market in August of 2006 at $495,000 and was priced at $375,000 at the time it was removed from the market. "Chasing the market down" is what this could be characterized as...

Santa Fe...on the market again

A Santa Fe, 4/3/3, 3068 sq ft, on Jessica Ct. just came back on the market. This home was on the market for sale and for rent in April of 2008. The home rented in August of 2008 and was removed from the for sale market.

Last time it was up for sale, the home was $427,500...it was just re-introduced to the market at $365,500. The home is NOT being marketed as a short sale. It is being sold by the original owners who paid $219,554 for the home in December of 2000.

Journeys End, Taos...Sold...Finally!

A Taos on C Durham, mentioned several times already in this blog as being under contract and falling out of contract, has finally sold at $325,000.

This home had been on the market for 419 days! It was originally placed on the market by the current agent at $590,000...It is just this bloggers opinion that this short sale could possibly have been avoided had the home been priced properly when it was first placed on the market in June of '07...but it did not sell with the $590,000 price tag. Then the owner rented it for a year...all the while the market was continuing its tailspin...this owner lost about 2% of the homes value every month it was rented! It was then placed back on the market, as a short sale, in July of 2008, for $419,000. And as you see here, it eventually sold for $325,000 in September of 2009.

Journeys End, Tuscon, price reduction

A Tucson on C Durham that was originally listed at $428,000 back on June 9th was just reduced to $400,000. This home was purchased by the current owners in June of 2008 for $409,900.

New listing, Grande Estates

A Buckingham on Houlton Circle, pool, lakeview, was just placed on the market at $387,962.

This home was purchased by the current owners in May of 2004 for $395,000.

Back under contract...3rd time's a charm

A Taos short sale on C Durham that has been on the market for 412 days has gone under contract once again.

Back in June of 2007, this home was placed on the market for $590,000...it was then rented out for a year and then went back on the market at $419,000. Two weeks ago, after multiple price reductions, the home was reduced to $325,000.

This home is owned by the original owners who purchased it in August of 2001 for $252,300.

Under contract...NOT a short sale

A Santa Fe on Finamore Circle that has been on and off the market for a year has just gone back under contract. This home was originally priced at $385,000 but was reduced to $349,000 at the time of contract.

URGENT POST...PROPERTY TAX APPEAL

Challenging Your Property's “Market Value”


A week to 10 days ago, all Palm Beach County property owners should have received their Notice of Proposed Property Taxes. About ¾ of the way down, on the left, are two small boxes containing your property’s market value last year and “AS OF JANUARY 1st” this year.

You have until September 14th to file the paperwork to petition for a reduction of market value with the county’s Value Adjustment Board. DO NOT MISS THIS DEADLINE! (There is a $15.00 filing fee).

The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser uses a “mass appraisal” method utilizing comparable sales to arrive at their estimate of your market value. If you believe that the county Appraisers valuation of your property is too high, call them immediately…they will try to assist you with your valuation questions.

However, even BEFORE you call…FILE THE PETITION; you can always rescind it. You can file online at: http://www.mypalmbeachclerk.com/

There will be detailed valuation questions on the petition and there are strict rules regarding “evidence”, process and procedure, for both parties.

The expertise required to know if you should even take the time to challenge the valuation may be beyond the scope of the majority of homeowners…this does not even take into account the evidentiary rules and valuation standards.

If you feel that your property has been “over-valued”, file the petition, call the appraiser, and then call us if you need any direction.
561-432-5202