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Charlotte County looks to buy distressed homes [South Florida]

The housing crisis peaked in Charlotte County in 2008-2009, with foreclosure filings running at about 400 a month.

While the numbers are down so far this year, the problem of vacant homes remains for neighborhoods.

Now the county is trying to salvage some of those homes through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The program provides grants to communities hardest hit by foreclosures and abandoned homes. In January, the Florida Department of Community Affairs distributed $6.7 million to the county from a $91 million allocation for the state.

The goal is to create construction jobs and revitalize housing. The county is purchasing foreclosed properties to rehabilitate them and give them, free, to local nonprofit housing groups.

Florida locales dominate FHA default list

What the heck happened to the FHA’s loans in Florida?

The state dominates the list of troubled metro areas for Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages. In fact, 16 of the top 25 locales with the highest default rates are in Florida, as of December, with tiny Punta Gorda on the Gulf Coast leading at 22.7%.

The poor performance of Florida’s FHA loans has helped drag the agency down to its lowest point in decades, raising concerns that taxpayers will have to bail it out. The agency is in the midst of overhauling its operations to shore up reserves, which have fallen well below the level required by Congress.

Much of the blame lies in Florida’s famous condo market, which collapsed during the housing bust. The controversial practice of seller-assisted downpayments is also contributing, as is the scarcity of jobs and the severe decline in home values.

Charlotte County looks to buy distressed homes

The housing crisis peaked in Charlotte County in 2008-2009, with foreclosure filings running at about 400 a month.

While the numbers are down so far this year, the problem of vacant homes remains for neighborhoods.

Now the county is trying to salvage some of those homes through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The program provides grants to communities hardest hit by foreclosures and abandoned homes. In January, the Florida Department of Community Affairs distributed $6.7 million to the county from a $91 million allocation for the state.

The goal is to create construction jobs and revitalize housing. The county is purchasing foreclosed properties to rehabilitate them and give them, free, to local nonprofit housing groups.

Many condo bills are similar – Miami-Dade

More than five dozen have been filed during the legislative session, as Florida grapples with its real estate crisis. But boil down the language of lawmakers’ proposals to help cash-strapped condo dwellers, and there are only a handful of ideas:

Make it easier for investors to buy multiple units in empty buildings. Delay costly state-mandated upgrades. Discover ways to punish owners who don’t pay skyrocketing association dues.

“We’re all rowing in the same boat,” said Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Democrat from Hollywood, “hoping that one of us will finally reach land.’

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Detroit wants to save itself … by shrinking

Detroit, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile.

Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, the city would demolish houses in some of the most desolate sections of Detroit and move residents into stronger neighborhoods. Roughly a quarter of the 139-square-mile city could go from urban to semi-rural.

Near downtown, fruit trees and vegetable farms would replace neighborhoods that are an eerie landscape of empty buildings and vacant lots. Suburban commuters heading into the city center might pass through what looks like the countryside to get there. Surviving neighborhoods in the birthplace of the auto industry would become pockets in expanses of green.

Move forward with caution on reverse mortgages

I live in an adult community and would like to obtain a reverse mortgage. I have had a difficult time getting information on this type mortgage. Can you help?

I’m not an expert on reverse mortgages, but I’ve received several similar questions, so I’ll give you the basics.

ConsumerReports.org explains them well: “Homeowners borrow part of the equity they have in their property, and the principal and accrued interest are repaid only after they die or move out. Over time, the owner’s equity diminishes while the amount of the loan increases – the opposite of a traditional mortgage.