Windsor, Grande Estates

A Windsor that was purchased by the current owners in November 2007  for $500,000 was just put on the market with an asking price of $405,000. The home is not being marketed as a short sale.

Back in early 2006, this home was listed by the previous owners at an initial price of over $700,000.

Pecos...under contract

A home on C. Durham that I believe is a Pecos model by looking at the aerial, just went under contract.

The home was originally listed at $379,000 in April of this year but was priced at $355k when it went under contract.

The sellers, who are the original owners, purchased the home for $212,000 in May of 2005.

Bank-Owned sale

A bank-owned Santa Fe model at 6242 C Durham just sold for $275,000.

The property went back to the bank on May 28th after foreclosing on the previous owner, who paid $525,000 for the home in September of 2005.

It took the bank over 2 months to get the home back on the market. Once they finally got it on the market, it was priced at $294,900 and went under contract in just over a month.

Mortgage Meltdown...Foreclosed homeowners may still have debt to pay

October 23, 2009
Article From the Daily Business Review
By: Paola Iuspa-Abbott


Jeff Baum is at the forefront of a real estate industry trend that is sure to cause more pain for homeowners who thought they had left their troubles behind.

Baum, a principal with Green Circle Capital Group in Boca Raton, brokers the sale of nonperforming residential debt between lenders and investors. Those investors buy the debt with the intention of collecting from the former homeowners.

“I’ve made quite a bit of my living over the last two, three years selling deficiency balance paper,” said Baum,

A deficiency balance is the portion of the mortgage loan that wasn’t covered by the sale of the home. That debt becomes an unsecured note similar to other consumer debt such as credit cards.

Journeys End Lis Pendens update

According to public records available as of today, there are 31 homes in Journeys End/Grande Estates that have had a Lis Pendens (notice of default/foreclosure) recorded.

There are currently 2 bank-owned homes in Journeys End...both are under contract for sale by the bank.

1 of the 31 has had a sale date set and recorded in public record.

Kensington short sale, price reduction

A Kensington model that has been on the market a total of 557 days now just reduced their price from $390,000 to $375,000.

This home was originally placed on the market in April, 2008 at $549,000.

The current owners purchased the home in September of 2006 for $613,000.

Journeys End Market Recap

• There are 14 homes currently on the market in Journeys End.
• Prices range from $249,000 to $465,000
• Only 3 of the 14 are being marketed as short sales
• No bank-owned homes are currently on the market

• The are 12 homes currently "under contract"
• Prices range from $225,000 to $525,000
• 7 of the 12 were short sales
• 2 of the 12 were bank-owned, foreclosures

• In the past 60 days, 6 homes were removed  from the market (cancelled their listing)
• In the past 60 days 2 homes had their listing "expire" with their agent after being on the market for 1 year each

A recap of the previous 60 days sales activity shows 4 sales as follows:

1. Taos, short sale, $325,000
2. Versailles, bank-owned, $320,000
3. Phoenix, conventional sale, $350,000
4. Kensington, short sale, $317,000

Biltmore price reduction

A Biltmore model that was placed on the market in June at $414,900 was just reduced to $359,900...this was the 11th price reduction on this property.

This home is NOT being marketed as a short sale and was purchased by the current owners in January 2004 for $380,000.

Tuscon now under contract...pool/lake.

A Tuscon that was NOT being marketed as a short sale just went under contract. The home was placed on the market in early June at $428,000 but was priced at $400,000 at the time of contract.

The current owners just purchased the home in June of '08 @ $409,900.

Journeys End Bank Foreclosure Under Contract

The Phoenix bank-owned home that was put on the market 11 days ago is now under contract.

The home was listed by the bank at $279,900...however, we understand that there was a multiple-offer situation and the bank called for "highest-and-best". As we first reported, we believe that this home will go 10% or more OVER asking price, for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to the attractive asking price.

Kensington short sale...sold

A Kensington (courtyard) model that had been on the market at one point for $699,990 just sold for $317,000 as a short sale.

It appears that the original owners, who purchased the home in November of 2002 for $339,4000, were the sellers.

Off the market...Taos

An expanded Taos that has been on the market for 563 days has been taken off the market. The home was originally listed in April of '08 @ $489,500 and was listed at $439,000 at the time it was taken off the market.

The current owners purchased the home in January 2002.

Off the market

A Santa Fe that has been on the market for 365 days while listed at $425,000 is now off the market. The home was purchased by the current owners in October , 2007 for $415,000.

SOLD...Phoenix model

A Phoenix model (1 story, 2900 +/- sq ft) with a pool just was reported sold for $350,000. That is $75,000 less than the home was listed for in May of this year.

Housing could take double dip down in 2010 - MarketWatch

Housing could take double dip down in 2010 - MarketWatch

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Tiny price reduction

A Biltmore on the lake with a pool that has been on the market since June 4th of this year has just reduced their price by $200 to $368,700. The original list price on this home was $414,900. On a per-sq-ft basis, the original asking price was $168/sq ft and the current price is $149/sq ft.

During the 2005/06 heyday, homes routinely were selling for $200/sq ft and up!

Just for comparison purposes...there have been 11 sales reported in 2009 in Journeys End/Grande Estates. The Average sales-price-per-sq-ft of living area has been $102.33/sq ft...with the high being $118/sq ft and the low being $91/sq ft.

Under contract...NOT A SHORT SALE OR FORECLOSURE!

A Biltmore with a pool in Grande Estates has gone under contract in 17 days. The asking price at the time of contract was $325,000.

This quick contract at $131/sq ft (as opposed to the average $100+/sq ft for distressed sales) confirms our current hypothesis that non-distressed sales are commanding a nice premium at the present time....that finding, combined with the fact that the inventory for non-distressed homes is very low makes it a very good time to place a home on the market that is not marketed as "distressed".

Govt. Foreclosure Rescue Plan losing ground...

18,300 property tax bill appeals break record

18,300 property tax bill appeals break record

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Bank foreclosure hits the market!

A Phoenix on Finamore Circle that went back to the bank on 7/20/09 was just put on the market by the bank at an asking price of $279,900.

The home is on the lake, with a pool. The owner who lost the home to the bank paid $497,000 for it back in May '04 but subsequently refinanced it in 2006 for $700,000.

The home was on the market in 2005 for $799,000 then for as much as $899,000 for 4 months back in 2006, then back to $799,000 into early '07. In mid 2007 it was marketed for $768,000 then late in '07 at $529,000  as a short sale.

At less than $100/sq ft for a lakefront/pool home in Journeys End, I predict that this will be gone immediately at more than the banks asking price...which is a sales tactic used successfully by quite a few lenders recently; price agressively, get multiple bidders/offers...elicit "highest and best" at some point and therefore create the"sense of urgency" lacking in most traditional market offerings.

Kensington short sale, Grande Estates

A Kensington short sale, pool/lake has just reduced their price from $400,000 to $390,000. This home has been on the market a total of 541 days. It was under contract 3 times while listed at $400,000 and fell through each time for 1 reason or another.

It was originally placed on the market back in Apriol of '08 at $549,000.

The current owners purchased the home in September of '06 for $613,000.

Is the rug going to be pulled out?

Since the initial decline of the housing market and the associated collapse of the banking and mortgage industry, FHA loans have taken over a majority of the lending being done here.

I have often thought that these FHA loans were going to be our next "wave of defaulting loans" for the following reasons: Most FHA loans made here are with only a 3.5% down payment and allow the seller to contribute up to 6% towards the buyers closing costs. And generally, a lot of the buyers go "FHA" for 2 main reasons...they don't have much cash AND they have lower credit scores than required by conventional lenders.

 In essence, all of these newly issued FHA loans are the same "no money down" loans that are currently contributing to the explosion in defaults. It has been shown that homeowners are more likely to default when there is no equity in the home....this seem obvious.

 Well, in a declining market, like we are in, it won't take long for all of the FHA loans made in the previous 12 months to be "upside-down". Combine "upside-down", with lower credit scores and what do you get? The recipe for more defaults!

 I believe that the above reasoning has prompted the following:

The FHA Taxpayer Protection Act of 2009 — HR 3706 , introduced in Congress Monday would increase the minimum down payment for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages from 3.5% to 5% and would also prohibit financing initial service charges, appraisals, inspections, or other fees or closing costs with any part of an FHA mortgage. (seller-paid closing costs)

 The bill’s author, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), said the current policy of allowing closing costs to be rolled into the mortgage effectively reduces FHA down payments to as low as 2.5% (and sometimes greater than 100% financing) because borrowers don’t have to have as much (any) cash on hand at closing.
 “As we have learned repeatedly throughout the mortgage crisis, the amount of equity a homeowner has in their home directly correlates to the credit risk associated to their mortgage.”

 The bill also calls for an examination of the housing market’s dependence on the fund (FHA) since the mortgage crisis began.

 The inspector general for HUD, Kenneth Donohue, also appeared before the House subcommittee calling for more resources. To illustrate the explosion of FHA’s presence in the market since the development of the near-third statistic often exchanged by industry players and media outlets, Donohue said data show the FHA’s endorsements (or guarantees of mortgages) rose from 24% of the single-family market in the first quarter of 2008, to 63% of the market in Q109, including home sales and refinance.

 So, if the above bill does pass and the FHA lending criteria "tighten", then I believe that here, locally, the housing market will suffer. When you make it more difficult to obtain the loan that the majority of our buyers are utilizing...there is only 1 conclusion. Then, combine this change with the expiration of the 1st time homebuyer tax credit AND a potential rise in mortgage interest rates! Not good for us homeowners here in South Florida.

Shoot me an email and let me know which way you see the market heading.

Laredo price reduction

A Laredo (1 story, 2067 sq ft under air), on C Durham, just reduced their price from $275,000 to $249,000.

This home has been on and off the market since February 2007, when it was on the market for $399,900.

Updated price...Biltmore

The Biltmore on Houlton that started out priced at $414,900 in early June is now priced at $368,900.

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Under contract in 3 days

The Pueblo short sale on C Durham, that was listed 3 days ago @ $225,000 just went under contract.

It is still a sellers market for well-priced property.