News About Properties

Mortgage meltdown: Orlando-area minorities likelier to take credit hit in distress sales of homes [Central Florida]

Distress sales now define Orlando’s still-slumping home market: Two-thirds of all resale closings in the metro area’s core market these days are either bank-owned foreclosures or lender-approved short sales.

But the proportion of foreclosures to short sales varies drastically between affluent and low-income neighborhoods.

In desirable areas, such as Windermere and Baldwin Park, homeowners are much more likely to salvage their credit record by getting their bank to approve a short sale, which allows them to sell their house for less than they owe on the mortgage. In high-poverty areas that attract fewer buyers, most financially strapped owners have no such option, so when banks foreclose on them, their credit is damaged for years.

“When you fill out an application for credit, you have to answer if you have had a foreclosure in the last seven years,” said Orlando real-estate agent Shaina Markulin, who has completed more than 200 short sales. “There are no questions on the applications, at least at this time, about whether you have had a short sale. … A short sale is absolutely a better option than a foreclosure, 100 percent.”

Struggle with bank drags on past a year

Joe and Dee Setzer, embroiled in a long battle with their lender to modify their mortgage, also narrowly avoided spending thousands with what state prosecutors say appear to be illegal foreclosure assistance firms.

The Iredell County couple considered paying $1,290 last September to a Florida firm advertising help with mortgage modifications. At the last minute, they backed out because she felt uneasy about the service.

More months passed as they implored Bank of America to lower their payments because their income had fallen. Their desperation grew. Last month, they almost signed a $1,500 contract with a man who recently relocated to North Carolina from New York and pitches help with mortgages.

Mortgage lenders pursue homeowners even after foreclosure

As terrible as it is to lose your house to foreclosure, at least it’s a relief to put your biggest financial headache behind you, right?

As terrible as it is to lose your house to foreclosure, at least it’s a relief to put your biggest financial headache behind you, right?

Apartment foreclosure to spike rents

Tenants at a low-income apartment complex will see their rents increase by as much as 22 percent now that a Bank of America subsidiary has bought it out of foreclosure.

Base rents at Riley Chase apartments, a 312-unit complex off Toledo Blade Boulevard near Interstate 75, had been $475 for a one-bedroom unit, $535 for a two-bedroom unit and $650 for three bedrooms. Those rents are scheduled to increase to $520, $650 and $750 a month respectively, according to documents filed by the new owners with North Port.

A Venice builder’s problems … and their ripples

Florida Community Bank, the bank that had $21 million in loans to Venice home builder Jacques Cloutier, was closed by state and federal regulators on Friday.

The Immokalee-based bank was taken over by Miami’s Premier American Bank, which is assuming all its $795.5 million in deposits.

The bank will maintain its name.

Since September 2006, Cloutier has defaulted on 20 loans totaling $115.5 million from nearly a dozen lenders. The $21 million from Florida Community was in six different loans.

Skiers Buy Vacation Homes as Prices Melt

OVER the holiday season all was snowy and bright at ski areas across the country, with a festive jingle in the air. It wasn’t sleigh bells — it was the sound of money. Vacation-home seekers who saw recessionary opportunities were looking to buy.

Many were ready to pay in cash, and they wanted great deals, like a $900,000 slope-side condominium for $500,000 or a studio in town for half the asking price. They were getting what they wanted because it is the best buyers’ market in 20 years, real estate agents said, with inventory at levels not seen since 2001.