Real Estate Information

Buyers love clean homes. Here are a few things you can do to get your home ready to sell. Please contact me if there is anything I can do.

It's a common fact that clean homes net more money. Most people are turned off by even the smallest amount of uncleanness or odor when looking at homes to purchase. Sellers lose thousands of dollars because they do not adequately clean their homes or rid them of offensive odors.

If your home is squeaky clean, you will be able to sell your home faster and net more money.

If you are planning on moving, why not get rid of that old junk now so that your house will actually appear larger? Make more space. Odors must be eliminated, especially if you have pets, young children in diapers, or a smoker in the house. A little work now can pay huge dividends at closing! 

It's a common fact that clean homes net more money. Most people are turned off by even the smallest amount of uncleanness or odor when looking at homes to purchase. Sellers lose thousands of dollars because they do not adequately clean their homes or rid them of offensive odors.

If your home is squeaky clean, you will be able to sell your home faster and net more money.

If you are planning on moving, why not get rid of that old junk now so that your house will actually appear larger? Make more space. Odors must be eliminated, especially if you have pets, young children in diapers, or a smoker in the house. A little work now can pay huge dividends at closing!

Nathan

I came across a couple of websites in Money Magazine we thought you might be interested in.

The first is WalkScore.com. This site calculates the walkability of an address based on the distance from the house to nearby amenities. Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty the area is for walking. If you are interested in being within walking distance of restaurants, shops, libraries, parks, etc, you will enjoy this website.

I also have this website application on my iPhone and it is ver cool.

Next is DIYorNot.com. This site helps you compare the time and cost of doing a project yourself vs hiring a local contractor.  For example, the cost of having a professional replace a stove hood is $538 vs a 'do it yourself' cost of $400. Costs can be adjusted by Zip code. 

Nathan

Tampa Florida Real Estate Market Trends

Hurry! Tax Credit Expires Soon!

The Extended Home Buyers Tax Credit offers current homeowners and first-time home buyers alike an incredible tax-saving opportunity when they buy a home through April 30, 2010. First time buyers, who haven't owned a primary residence in the past three years, are eligible for a tax credit of 10 percent of a home's purchase price, up to a maximum of $8,000. Current homeowners are also eligible for a tax credit of their own. Homeowners who have lived in their primary residence for 5 consecutive years of the past 8 are eligible for a tax credit of 10% of a home's purchase price, up to maximum of $6,500.

 The following conditions apply:

• The tax credit is only awarded on homes purchased for $800,000, or less
• Full tax credit is available to buyers earning up to $125,000 a year, or $225,000 for married couples filing jointly
• Partial tax credit is available to buyers earning between $125,000 to $145,000, or for married couples earning between $225,000 to $245,000.
• Under the rules, as long as a written binding purchase contract is in effect on April 30, 2010, the buyer has until July 1, 2010 to close.

The tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the buyers tax liability, and does not have to be paid back as long as the buyer remains in their home for three years or more. This is a once-in-a-lifetime offer to have Uncle Sam help you buy a house. Don't let this opportunity pass you by!

Existing Home Sales Up From Year Ago

Existing home sales are up in 2010 compared to the same time a year ago. According to the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), existing homes sales -- including single family, condominiums, townhomes and co-ops -- were up 11.5 percent from January 2009 levels. At the current pace, NAR is projecting existing home sales of 5.05 million units for the year. Total housing inventory is down 0.5 percent to 3.27 million units nationally.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun is watching the sales data very closely. "Activity should be picking up strongly in late spring as buyers take advantage of the tax credit, which is critical to absorb distressed properties reaching the market and to continually chip away at inventory," Yun said. "With a downtrend in the number of homes on the market, especially in the lower price ranges, values are beginning to firm but with great variance around the country."

Mortgage backer Freddie Mac reported an average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage of 5.03 percent in January. This is up slightly from 4.93 percent available in December 2009, but down overall from a year ago when the rate was 5.05 percent in January 2009.

Investing in Real Estate

Today's low interest rates and stabilized home prices have created some great investment opportunities!  Investing in real estate has unique advantages over other types of investments:

• Interest in mortgage loans are tax-deductable.  Investors can lower their tax liability while increasing their equity.
• Renters pay down your mortgage loan.  Investors reap the benefits of rental income, which offsets your mortgage cost and build equity.
• Real Estate values increase over the long term.  Real Estate is limited and will always be in demand. 
• 1031 exchanges are available to defer taxable income when you are ready to sell.

Many investors are taking advantage of these great market conditions. Have questions? Give us a call. We are happy to help!

Nathan Bangs & Associates, Keller Williams Realty
3502 Henderson Blvd., Tampa FL 33609 For Sellers: 813-739-5965

Visit http://www.nathanbangs.com

Home buyers hoping to snag a really good deal on a foreclosed home are finding it increasingly difficult because supply is shrinking.

The number of foreclosures that are available for sale nationwide fell to 617,000 in December, down from 845,000 in November 2008, reports Barclays Capital.

Not only have attractive homes in popular neighborhoods already been snapped up, but also government help for distressed buyers is delaying more foreclosures.

Demand is driving up prices. Investors say typical prices have climbed from 75 percent of appraised value to 85 percent or higher when there are bidding wars.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (02/23/2010)

Are you seeing the same? 

Thanks,

Nathan

www.nathanbangs.com

HAFA home sale rules

A federal program designed to help owners losing their homes – those owners who cannot hold onto their property even with existing federal aid.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was designed to help owners stay in homes by lowering principal, lowering interest rates and/or extending the payment period. However, some homeowners still don’t have the ability to hold onto their property under HAMP, and will inevitably lose their homes, either through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (homeowners voluntarily cede ownership to the lender by mailing in their keys). To help these owners, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) was created.

HAFA created a standardized process for short sales. It benefits real estate licensees, homeowners and lenders in some ways – including a faster short sale process – but it also creates rules that impact some real estate company policies. If dealing with HAFA short sales, however, buyers, sellers and real estate licensees must accept the terms.

For licensees, a contract that does not follow the law could be illegal; more importantly, however, a contract that does not adhere to the terms of HAFA won’t be accepted by a lender, further bogging down the slow short sale process even more and further frustrating buyers and sellers.

HAFA does not impact all short sales. Created to help only the most needy homeowners, the rules apply only under the following conditions:

• The property must be the borrower’s principal residence.
• The loan was originated on or before Jan. 1, 2009.
• The loan is delinquent or a default is reasonably foreseeable.
• The unpaid balance on the mortgage is less than $729,750 (higher for two-to-four unit properties).
• The total monthly mortgage payment exceeds 31 percent of a borrower’s gross income.

For properties that qualify under HAFA rules, real estate licensees and brokers must adhere to the following limitations:

• There can be no agreements to share any portion of a commission after the deal closes to the buyer or seller. This negates any form of commission rebate offered by some licensees.
• The transaction must be “arm’s length,” meaning the buyer, seller and Realtor cannot have a personal or familial relationship.
• A real estate licensee cannot earn a commission through the sale of his or her own house.
• A buyer must agree to not resell the home within 90 calendar days.
• A seller cannot have any expectation of buying or renting the property back after the sale.

HAFA also offers positive changes for real estate licensees. A prime complaint in the past focused on commission changes. Since lenders were not a party to the original contract between buyer and seller, they were free to change the commission percentage as they negotiated a short sale rate.

Under HAFA, lenders cannot reduce a commission if it is 6 percent or less. It also offers other benefits such as pre-approved short sale terms before listing. For sellers, a HAFA sale fully releases them from future liability for the first mortgage debt. The program also offers financial incentives to some participants.

HAFA becomes effective April 5, 2010, but servicers may implement HAFA earlier, providing the servicer is able to collect and report all required information described in the reporting requirements. Borrowers may be accepted into HAFA if the short sale agreement is fully executed by the borrower and received by the servicer on or before Dec. 31, 2012.

For more information on HAFA rules, visit the National Association of Realtors’ website at: http://www.realtor.org/realtors/basics_short_sales?wt.mc_id=rd0041.

IRS Clarifies What's Needed to Claim Tax Credit

The Internal Revenue Service has clarified which documentation taxpayers need to submit to claim the first-time and move-up homebuyer tax credit.

While the IRS is still requiring the filing of Form 5405, it is not demanding that all parties’ signatures be on the HUD-1 settlement document in areas where requiring both the buyer and the seller to sign the document isn’t common.

The IRS clarification says: "In areas where signatures are not required on the settlement document, the IRS has clarified that it will accept a settlement statement if it is completed and valid according to local law. … The IRS encourages those buyers to sign the settlement statement prior to attaching it to the tax return.”

For repeat buyers, the IRS is seeking documentation that home buyers have lived in the previous property for a consecutive five of the past eight years. Proof can include property tax records, home owner insurance records, or mortgage interest statements.

Source: Washington Post (02/20/2010)

GTAR has released their January 2010 statistical data.  Here is Rob Young take on this data.

AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL SALES PRICE

The Average Residential Sales Price represents the average sales price of closed residential sale transactions as reported through the MLS for single family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and villas.  As noted on the GTAR website, these figures do not represent private sales or new construction sales unless entered into MLS.  This is only one of many available indicators, but taken consistently over time, provides a good view of residential market activity.

The optimism view - The January 2010 average residential sales price of $180,151 represents a 5.42% increase over last month, a 5.39% increase over last quarter (3 months ago), and a 7.95% increase over January of 2009 (which happens to be the lowest point over the last 5 1/2 years).  We certainly seem to be finding support at this level.  After about 18 months of finding news lows every month, we have spent the last 12 months supporting the low found in January 2009.  Hopefully this indicates an end to plummeting home values.

The reality of what we've been through - The January 2010 average residential sales price represents a 29.78% decrease from 2 years ago, a 35.72% decrease from 3 years ago, and a 42.33% decrease from the high of $312, 356 hit in July 2006. 

TOTAL RESIDENTIAL SALES

Total Residential Sales represents the number of closed sale transactions as reported through the MLS for single family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and villas.  As noted on the GTAR website, these figures do not represent private sales or new construction sales unless entered into MLS.  This is only one of many available indicators, but taken consistently over time, provides a good view of residential market activity.

In January 2010, GTAR reports 1,015 residential sales.  This is down 30.67% from last month, down 32.02% over last quarter (3 months ago), and up 23.48% over January 2009. 

This January figure is also down 66.93% from the high reached in June 2005 when 3,069 residential sales were reported, but up 43.56% from the recent low reached in January 2008 when only 707 residential sales were reported.

Please click the link below to access a pdf file with the data and graphs.

January 2010 Market Activity Data and Graphs

Monthly Foreclosure Activity

The first public notice of a foreclosure is the recording of a legal document called the Lis Pendens.  This typically happens after the homeowner has missed about 3 mortgage payments.  The Final Judgment of Foreclosure is recorded next, detailing the amount owed including principal, past due interest, fees, etc.,  Finally the foreclosure sale is held.  The winning bidder at the foreclosure sale, or the foreclosing lender if no one bids, acquires title via the next recorded document, the Certificate of Title.  This process takes about 8 months, barring any delays.  Because lenders are not really in the business of owning real estate, they will now attempt to sell this REO (Real Estate Owned) property and move it off their books, often times at deeply discounted prices.

In January 2010, there were 2,238 Lis Pendens filed in Hillsborough County alone.  Keep in mind that there were on average 398 Lis Pendens filed in Hillsborough County during the 24 month period from August 2004 to July 2006.  This is a 464.31% increase.  Over the last 24 months there have been an average of 1,933 Lis Pendens filed every month.

As of this writing, there are 1,890 Lis Pendens filed so far in February.

Please click the link below to access a pdf file with the data and graphs.

January 2010 Foreclosure Activity in Hillsborough County 

Thank you for your time this month.  As always, If I can do anything to help you, please let me know. If your contact information has changed recently, please click here to update our records.  Thanks!

Rob Young
Benefit Title Services, LLC
212 S. Magnolia Ave.
Tampa, FL 33606
Phone: (813) 251-1420
Toll Free: 800-237-9190
Fax: (813) 251-1454
RYoung@BenefitTitle.com
www.BenefitTitle.com

Monday March 1 is the deadline to file for Homestead Exemption for tax year 2010 for clients who took title prior to Jan 1 2010.

See attached link for an index of every county in Florida- it contains the Clerk, Property Appraiser and Tax Collector. Each county has specific requirements to file for homestead exemption.

http://publicrecords.netronline.com/dir.aspx?StateID=11