You may be asking yourself, "What the heck is a blog?" Well, let me tell you. A blog is what I describe as a  "living and breathing" website. It's a place where information is shared in a more personal way and it's updated more frequently than a web site. I will be writing new articles (posts) on this site 2 to 3 times a week. I use this site to write about anything and everything related to Real Estate. Or I may just tell you something about myself. By reading my blog posts you will get a real good idea of who I am and how I conduct my business. It will also keep you updated on market conditions in Poinciana Fl.  

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Here are a few photos I took while driving around Poinciana Florida today. If it's true that a picture paints a thousand words then I guess these pretty much sum up what's going on with the Poinciana Real Estate Market.

IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE!!!

MOVED ON WITH NO FORWARDING ADDRESS!

TRYING TO MOVE ON!!

NEED I SAY MORE?

Hi folks. My friend, Bill Archambault, put up a post earlier today expressing his dismay over "When mortgage and real estate people start talking about people with out large down payments being undeserving a home of their own....."Take a minute and go read Bill's post. 

Did you notice this statement? "Truthfully, big down payments protect no one except the bank! Little or no down payment may even protect the home buyer, by maintaining his liquidity and putting the bank mutually at risk with the home buyer." 

That statement is what this post is about. This is a real life example. 

I have a Seller right now who bought her home in Poinciana in late 2006 for $179,000. She's from NY and in early 2006 came into $100,000. You'd think that would be good thing but the money came from a lawsuit related to the wrongful death of her only son. 

The stress of her son's death and the ensuing lawsuit placed her in a position of wanting out of NY. So, as many people do, she moved to Florida! She used every bit of her $100,000 as a down payment and took out a mortgage for $79,000. 

Everything went well for about a year and then life, being unpredictable, dealt her a hand that caused her financial hardship. She was no longer able to keep up with her mortgage payments. She fell into default with her lender.

I met her about a month ago and valued her property at $75,000!!! This means that after selling expenses she is in a short sale situation. Could you imagine putting almost 60% down on a home and still being upside down in less than 2 years? That's incredible. 

How much better off would this lady be if she had bought with even 20% down? She would still be upside down on her home BUT she would have cash reserves to help her weather the storm. 

Now this is an extreme case but it truly illustrates how "Little or no down payment may even protect the home buyer, by maintaining his (her) liquidity..."

I wonder if her REALTOR® or mortgage broker mentioned this to her when she went to purchase? I wonder if I would have said anything to her? Should we? 

OK so the Department of Revenue in Florida has decided to charge Documentary Stamps (tax) on the amount of mortgage forgiveness related to short sales. Doc Stamps in Florida are charged at the rate of $.70 per every $100 on the Deed of every real estate transaction. 

For example: If you sell your house for $100,000 the seller pays $700 in doc stamps. 

Now what the State is saying is that if you sold that same house for $100,000 BUT it was a short sale where the Lender forgave $50,000 the tax due is now $1,050!!! 

So this brings up some interesting questions. 

• How many out of State lenders are going to be willing to give the "forgiveness" amounts to the title company? 

• How is this going to affect future appraisals where the appraiser relied on Doc Stamps as an indicator of sale price?

• What about a closing where the Seller brings money to closing? Will they too have to pay Doc Stamps on their mortgage balance instead of the sales price?

• Will the Department of Revenue ever get their head out of their ass? 

Oops!! Did I just say that? Oh well.....what say you?

This is a classic article that's just as true today as it was 2 years ago when I first wrote it.
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Tomorrow, I'm placing a home on the market, that is going to require a short sale. Seems like I'm getting an awful lot of these lately. This is one where I just don't understand what some folks are thinking. Nice young family, who were first time homebuyers just about 2 years ago. They bought a great little house, new construction, and they only paid $135,000 for it in November of 2004. This was right before our big increase in prices that happened in Poinciana in early 2005. So when I made my appointment with them, earlier this week, I assumed they would be in a pretty good equity position. Even if they had purchased with 100% financing, which they did, they would still be able to receive a sizeable amount of money at closing. Based on my preliminary analysis, the property is worth between $225,000 and $235,000. That's some real good appreciation for 25 months of ownership. After expenses they should be looking at around $70,000 to $75,000 in their pockets. That's a lot of money for a young family.

Well, when I met with them, I was shocked to find out they currently owe $225,000 on this house! How the heck did that happen? From what they told me, when they moved into the house they wanted to fix it up and furnish it real nice, so about six months after moving in, they refinanced and pulled out the equity that had built up when prices started skyrocketing. They used this money to purchase the things they wanted. New furniture, TVs and all the other items that a young family think they need. What they didn't count on was hitting a financial bump in the road about 9 months later. But they weren't too concerned since they kept getting all these mailers from mortgage companies in the mail promising them more money.

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In a recent article I had mentioned that I was dealing with a PMI (private mortgage insurance) company during my short sale negotiations. Some of you guys didn't realize that this was one of the entities involved in the decision making. PMI is almost always required when the home is purchased with less than 20% down and is paid for by the home buyer BUT it can also be purchased by the lender even if the down payment was 20% or more. If you are dealing with short sales this is one of the first questions you want to ask the lender, "Is there PMI Insurance?". It affects the negotiations, so you need to know. 

There are actually 3 entities that may have an interest in the negotiations, the Lender, the PMI Company and the Investor. The Investor could be Fannie Mae or Freddy Mac or any of the other secondary mortgage market Investors. 

If there is PMI and an Investor involved it has been my experience that the PMI Company has the most weight in whether or not the deal will be accepted. This makes sense since they are the ones that have insured the loan.

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I'm dedicating this post to swimming pools. That's right...swimming pools. We have swimming pools everywhere in Florida. Here is a picture of our pool.

This is what they are supposed to look like, sparkling, refreshing and very inviting. It makes you want to jump in doesn't it? 

Now contrast our swimming pool with these.

This is what pools look like when the property is a REO (bank owned) or a short sale. Not all the time but certainly most of the time. 

Needless to say these can be a HUGE problem. There are probably 1,000s of pools, that look like these, throughout Florida. The first thing that comes to mind is "Mosquito Hell"!!! Not to mention snakes and a myriad of other creatures that we have not been able to identify. Here's an article from The Orlando Sentinel about this issue. 

Another problem we have is the theft of pool equipment and heaters. I met Andrew Cox of Cox Inspections and a fellow ActiveRain member at one of my pending REO properties this morning. Andy beat me there but called minutes after his arrival to ask me where the pool pump, filter and heater were. Beats me. I swear they were there 5 weeks ago when my buyer and I negotiated the deal. Good thing we have the right to inspect and CANCEL!!!

So folks, foreclosures are affecting the market in many ways. Can you imagine living next to one of these pools? 

Oh well....that's all I got for you today. I'm going swimming!!! Want to join me?

I know you guys have been sitting on pins and needles waiting for this month's market report. So here you are......Poinciana Florida real estate market report for July 2008. 

***This data was pulled form the Mid-Florida Regional MLS on 8-7-08 and is deemed reliable. It includes Poinciana neighborhoods in zip codes 34759 and 34758 but does not include Solivita, Cypress Woods and Lake Marion Shores.*** 

For the month of July there were 62 single family homes that closed with an average property having 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1812 sq ft of living area. Most were built in 2000 or later. The average selling price was $118,175 and the median selling price was $118,250. 

51 of these 62 sales were either bank owned (REOs) or Short Sales. That's 83%!!!

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Hi there. In this post I'm going to explore the history of a couple of recent foreclosures (REOs) that have just been placed under contract (pending). I figure this little exercise will give you some incite on the cyclical nature of real estate and property values. 

Both of these properties were sold by me, prior to opening up Tutas Towne Realty, 10 years ago. 

The first one is a 3 bedroom 2 bath pool home with 1670 sq ft of living area built in 1991 and sits on a ½ acre lot. 

I met the original owner of this house back in 1995. He lived in England and this house was used as a vacation home. He built the house in 1991 and paid $95,000. It has since had 5 owners including Countrywide Mortgage who now owns the property. Let's check out the sales history. 

 Wow! Isn't that interesting? In 17 years this property has increased in value by 62%. That's pretty darn good. 

Now let's check out another one. This house was built in 1991 and is a 3 bedroom 3 bath with 1644 sq ft and a pool on a standard size lot. 

The original owner of this property was also from England and I met her in 1996. She paid $87,900 for this property when she had it built. 

It's had 4 owners including Bear Stearns who owns it now and is also currently under contract. Here's the sales history. 

This one didn't fare as well as the first one. It only increased by 31% over 17 years. But look at what happened between 1997 and 2006. Holy crap!!! A 180% increase!!! That's incredible. 

These charts show you that during the 90s values barely increased if at all. This was a down cycle. Then, from about 2000 to 2006, values sky rocketed. Now we are back in a down market. 

The big question is...will it last 10 years like the last one? Maybe. If that's the case then we are looking at 2016 before we hit the next big upswing in values. OR was 2001-2006 just an anomaly? 

What do you think? 

NOTE: Real Estate markets are very local. This report is based on data specific to Poinciana FL. Also, the 2008 sales data is based on a pending price not a sales price, so the percentages will vary slightly.

Hi folks. Here's a sampling of a few of the short sale listings that are being offered "for sale" by Tutas Towne Realty in Poinciana FL. If you looking for an affordable place to call home one of these could be the home for you. CLICK ADDRESSES FOR MORE INFO

521 Eagle Ct Poinciana FL 34759 $99,000

Folks this is a great opportunity to own a 4 bedroom home in Poinciana for a reasonable price. The house is in very good condition. Ceiling fans in all rooms. Tile flooring through out. Bedroom 3 and 4 having a connecting bath and would make a great suite or master/office setup. Listing price may not be sufficient to cover all encumbrances, closing costs, or other seller charges and sale of Property at full listing price may be conditioned upon approval of third parties. This is a short sale and will require minimum 60 days to close. Seller will contribute towards your closing cost if the price is right. 

845 San Jose Ct Kissimmee FL 34758 $89,000

Well maintained 2 bedroom an a large back flag lot. Very private location. Open floor plan with split bedrooms. Almost a 1/4 acre lot. Easy show. Folks if you are looking for a well maintained 2 bedroom home with over 1100 sq ft living area then this may be the one. Sits on a very private back flag lot. New tile flooring in the dining area. Inside utility room. You won't find a better home for the price. So act today!

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