News About Properties

Florida Foreclosure Auction Web Sites Confuse Consumers

Over the past year, I’ve covered Florida’s deep foreclosure problem on multiple occasions. To attempt to cope with the growing foreclosure inventory, the state government has turned to an eBay-like online foreclosure auction system. While utilizing the Internet may be a smart means for making the auction process easier, it also opens up these auctions to a much wider, less experienced pool of potential buyers — anyone with an Internet connection. But some of those new users who think they’re getting an incredible deal on a foreclosed property are actually getting ripped off instead.

Florida’s housing market was one of the most brutalized by the housing bubble’s pop. The state’s economy was very dependent on its real estate industry. In 2009 alone it recorded over a half-million foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac. In Florida 26% of all mortgages are at least one payment past due, reports the Mortgage Bankers Association. So you can see why the state needs to do something to whittle down its growing inventory of foreclosed properties.

The state government is trying to do just that through its new online auction system, administered through realauction.com. First rolled out late last year, counties across the state are slowly adopting these online auction systems accessed through their Clerk of Court’s webites. Miami-Dade’s site went live in January.

Lakewood Ranch firm buys lots … $81 million worth [Central Florida]

Starwood Land Ventures, a Lakewood Ranch firm formed three years ago to acquire distressed real estate, has scored one of the largest land purchases in Florida in the past year.

Starwood Land officials say the company’s $81 million acquisition of nearly 5,500 lots from the bankrupt Tousa Homes Inc. will allow it to re-energize communities from Jacksonville to Miami and generate sales to builders.

“This is really the culmination of Starwood Land’s efforts in regards to searching and bidding on residential assets,” said Mike Moser, the local company’s east regional president.

As part of the acquisition, Miami-based Lennar Corp. has committed to buy 1,400 of the Starwood lots, and has options to buy another 1,350.

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?

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.

Tough times for commercial real estate

To borrow a biblical expression, it may be easier these days to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than it is to get a commercial real estate loan.

Despite federal bail-out money intended to stimulate lending, loans for investment in office buildings, shopping centers, industrial sites and raw land are increasingly rare, the result of falling values and other factors.

Commercial property owners and mortgage brokers say the lack of capital also stems, in part, from new federal regulations intended to staunch foreclosures and halt the aggressive lending practices of the early 2000s.

“It’s ironic that the federal government put all the stimulus money into banks, while another branch of the government is over-regulating capital reserve requirements on banks,” said Brett Hutchens, chief executive officer of Casto Lifestyle Properties, a Sarasota development firm that owns shopping and lifestyle centers nationwide.

Faded Grenelefe Resort For Sale Again [Central Florida]

A relatively small amount of green may purchase a lot of Grenelefe.

The Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Resort, a once premier Florida facility that fell on hard times during the 1990s, is up for sale again.

Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services of Encino, Calif., listed the Grenelefe property on its Web site in December, but the sales push will begin this month, said Sean Glickman, a company associate.

“I have a very strong confidence we will have a contract in the next couple of months,” Glickman said.