News About Properties

Around Tampa Bay, foreclosure means never having to leave [Central Florida]

When his lender started to foreclose in 2003, Jeffrey De­Mauro appealed for time to resolve his financial problems.

“I sincerely want to work this situation out and get back on track and save my home,'’ De­Mauro wrote to Pinellas County court officials. “I have two children and do not want to be put out of our house and on the street.'’

The DeMauros are still in foreclosure. But by declaring bankruptcy 11 times, they have managed to hang on to their house and to continue living there — seven years after they made their last regular mortgage payment.

Though an extreme example, the couple’s story is an increasingly common one among distressed Tampa Bay homeowners. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, are staying in their houses long after defaulting because they declare bankruptcy, challenge the foreclosure or simply sit back as their cases grind through an overloaded court system.

Second homes: North Miami’s slice of paradise [South Florida]

Just after World War II, Bal Harbour became one of the first planned municipalities in Florida with underground utilities. Since then, the tiny village’s relentless pursuit of aesthetic perfection has never waned, and from its famous palm-lined entrance to its perfect beach and world-class luxury shopping mall, it’s a resort community a movie-set designer might have created, all in less than 1 immaculate square mile. Recently, Bal Harbour’s influence has spread to its neighboring cities, creating an array of choices just north of Miami for second-home owners craving the sun, sand and South Florida lifestyle.

“When I moved here 17 years ago, there were about 20 municipalities in (Miami-Dade) County, and now there are 35,” says Todd Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Network/Keller Williams Realty. “There used to be all these unincorporated areas with kitschy waterfront motels, but they’ve become cities, trying to remake themselves into another Bal Harbour.”

Most are laid out on the narrow barrier islands just north of Miami Beach, along the same Collins Avenue famed for its nightlife in Miami’s South Beach. The main ones are Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, Aventura and North Miami, and they all sit conveniently between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, with easy access to the cultural offerings and airports of each city, but with what Nordstrom describes as a “quiet, easy lifestyle” in comparison.

Weak insurers put Floridians at risk

Millions of Floridians now bet their homes on property insurers that teeter on the edge of financial failure, a Herald-Tribune investigation has found.

These companies look nothing like the Allstates and State Farms that insure the rest of America — legacy carriers that command bankrolls the size of small nations.

Instead, because State Farm and Allstate are fleeing Florida, a growing number of homeowners get their insurance from tiny, untested companies that have a few million dollars in the bank but insure billions worth of property they could never hope to rebuild on their own.

No one knows what will happen when the next big storm strikes Florida shores. But the signs are not promising.

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.

Reality show real estate rakes in profit

Want to rent the “Jersey Shore” house in Seaside Heights, New Jersey? It’ll cost you.

What used to be just one of the many homes along Seaside Heights’ stretch of boardwalk is now a prime rental property that can cost as much as $4,000 a night, said the property’s broker, Mike Loundy of Seaside Realty.

On the low end, the property rents for $1,800 a night for a three-night minimum, but as availability decreases, the per-night cost will go in the opposite direction, although Loundy is quick to note that the owners are flexible with pricing.

Since production on the reality show wrapped, the house has been rented for a variety of uses, from a Sweet Sixteen bash — $4,400 total for the night, which included access to the whole house plus a DJ and catering — to a production set for a few television personalities who thought it would be fun to stay there with cameras of their own.

Miami-Dade foreclosure auction site baffles bargain hunters

A new online foreclosure auction system started with a mission of quickly moving a chunk of foreclosed properties while opening up the bidding process to regular folks.

A little more than a month later, some of the newcomers who bought property online say they were misled by the site and ended up spending thousands of dollars on condo liens and properties laden with hefty mortgages.

In some cases, after purchasing, they found the properties were still subject to foreclosure.

Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin said the online auction process is working as planned, and the few complaints he has received have come from people who did not take the time to understand the process.