Bradenton condo converter cuts prices [South Florida]

Bradenton condo converter cuts prices [South Florida]

When Matt Kihnke paid $15.5 million for a Bradenton apartment complex in March 2005, the Chicago investor looked primed to become the architect of another condo conversion success story.

That was before the real estate market went soft and became saturated with converted apartments. Kihnke’s property, a 272-unit complex about five miles north of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, is still about a third unsold.

But if Southwest Florida’s condo conversion game really is a game, Kihnke is an old pro.

He has converted four Sarasota and Bradenton apartment complexes into condominiums in the past five years. And he knows what he has to do to move units at his Sanctuary of Bradenton spread.

Foreclosure pain spreading in Lower Hudson Valley [New York]

Foreclosure pain spreading in Lower Hudson Valley [New York]

A home foreclosure would rank on anyone’s list of most traumatic financial experiences, right up there with a job loss, sky-high medical bills or an IRS notice for back taxes.

The pain of losing a home is hitting hundreds of people in the Lower Hudson Valley, as lenders seek to recover what they can from customers who fell behind on payments.

In Westchester, lenders began foreclosure proceedings on 527 homes during the first three months of the year. That’s a 39 percent increase over the first quarter of last year.

Be careful with reverse mortgages

Be careful with reverse mortgages

South Florida is one of the hottest markets in the nation for reverse mortgages. And yet, these types of loans — which allow people age 62 and older to get payouts on the equity in their homes — are more expensive in South Florida than many areas of the nation.

That’s the situation in a nutshell. And it’s easy to see how it came about. People are pressed for money, particularly post-hurricane needs for repairs and condo assessments. Reverse mortgages look attractive, because they don’t require the borrower to pay the loan back unless they sell or move out of their home.

Add in low interest rates and some huge marketing efforts with such stars as Robert Wagner and James Garner as pitchmen. Borrowers are lining up. The number of loans, nationwide, doubled last year. In South Florida, the number of reverse mortgages grew faster than even that.

Florida is ‘ground zero’ in drama

Florida is ‘ground zero’ in drama

Foreclosures in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties have doubled in the last year, and some experts think they will likely double again before the region and nation sort out the current mortgage morass.

The rate of foreclosure in Florida was double the national average in February, according to data provided to the Herald-Tribune by RealtyTrac, a California-based online marketer of foreclosed property.

The total foreclosures in process — 2,221 this year, compared with 1,106 at this time in 2006 — is the clearest symptom to date of Southwest Florida’s painful hangover from the bubbly days of a heady housing market.

The phenomenon is being driven by a number of factors, but most prominently in this region by investors who got in over their heads during the boom of 2004-05, by first-time home buyers who likely did not have the financial wherewithal or credit to make a home purchase, and by people caught in the collapse of some area builders.

Homeowner dream turned nightmare [Virginia]

Homeowner dream turned nightmare [Virginia]

They are a fairly typical Loudoun family.

He is a 35-year-old engineer for a technology company in Fairfax, pulling in $80,000 a year. His wife teaches yoga. College-educated, they have two daughters: a 5-year-old and a newborn.

In August 2005, the housing market in Northern Virginia is piping hot. The couple buys an 1,100-square-foot condo in a brand-new Ashburn community for $336,000, using two interest-only mortgages.

The plan? To live there for a few years, build equity, then move to a bigger house where the family can grow.

S. Florida apartment market remains tight

S. Florida apartment market remains tight

South Florida apartment rental rate hikes may be slowing, though the market remains tighter than much of the country, according to a new report.

The vacancy rates for South Florida apartments remain much lower than the national average, but there are signs monthly rent increases are starting to ease, according to a report released Wednesday.

Vacancies in Miami-Dade and Broward counties were both at 3.8 percent for the first quarter that ended March 31, according to numbers released Wednesday by Reis, a national commercial real estate watcher. That compares to 6 percent nationally, the highest in almost two years.

Average rental rates in the first quarter still rose to $1,058 in Miami-Dade, up 1.6 percent from the previous quarter and 5.9 percent from the same time last year. For Broward the average was $1,051, up 0.6 percent from the pervious quarter and 5.2 percent from last year. However, the pace of the increases is slowing.