News About Properties

Property tax appeals: South Florida property tax appeals on a blistering pace

The annual tax notices going out this month will bring a double whammy of bad news for many Florida property owners — lower values and higher taxes.

But a small minority will get a break by challenging the county’s value of their homes, businesses and land.

Tax appeals have been pouring into government offices throughout Florida, fueled by the real estate boom and crash and a highly profitable cottage industry of tax representatives. So far this year, Broward and Palm Beach counties have reduced property values by more than $2.5 billion as a result of appeals.

Condo Buying Checklist

A condominium is not homeownership in the truest sense. When you buy a condo, you own only what is inside the walls of your unit. Outside of those walls, the residents of the complex share ownership in a cooperative bound by a contract. That cooperative can be an advantage of buying into a condo. But, there are areas you must explore to your satisfaction before you make your purchase.

When you buy a condo, you buy into an investment shared by all of the residents of the complex. That relationship is cemented by the CC&R–the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions. The CC&R governs just about everything in the complex, including whether you can have pets, whether you can paint your condo different colors and when you can have parties. Every condo complex has a group that enforces the CC&Rs, so it’s a good idea to review the document thoroughly before signing it. Once you do, there’s no turning back. You’re bound by that document.

Lee County first in line for housing help [South Florida]

Three housing counseling agencies have been chosen to implement the pilot Florida Hardest-Hit program being offered in Lee County – $23 million is available to help about 1,200 homeowners.

County residents will have first crack at assistance because of the pilot program, according to a release from the Florida Housing Finance Corp., which is coordinating Hardest-Hit statewide.

Lee residents will be able to get help for 90 days starting Aug. 23 and the rest of the state will have access after that.

But homeowners having trouble with their mortgages don’t have to wait for the program to start, said Eddie Felton, executive director of the Fort Myers-based Home Ownership Resource Center, one of the three agencies providing help locally.

The new vulture investors

These are the glory days of the residential real estate investor. Low prices, rock-bottom interest rates and stable rental markets have created huge buying opportunities.

“It’s awesome right now. I don’t think we’ll ever see another time like this,” said Tanya Marchiol of Team Investments, which has operations in about 10 states but focuses mostly on the Phoenix market.

These investors are known to many as vultures because they swoop in and buy “distressed properties” — foreclosures and short sales — cheap. Places like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami are popular because home prices there have dropped as much as 70%.

Vacation condo deals not risk-free

I want to buy a vacation condo and rent it out as an investment. What are the pros and cons? I want to start small and buy with cash. Is this the time to do it?

Rock-bottom pricing in many resort areas suggests this is a pretty good time to buy vacation condos. Some South Florida markets have seen 60 percent discounts off 2005 to 2006 condo asking prices.

But — and yes, there’s always one of those in real estate investment — there’s an abundance of sellers coming out of the woodwork now. Couple that with high unemployment rates and it may suggest a stalled recovery and/or that much-feared double-dip recession.

Wellington uses federal grant to help homeowners get keys to foreclosed homes [South Florida]

Despite steep drops in real estate prices and the nation’s recent first-time homebuyer incentives, Danillia Williams never thought she could purchase a place of her own.

That didn’t feel tragic to the 42-year-old single mother, but she certainly thought it would be worthwhile to hunker down permanently in Wellington, where she’s rented a house for years.

A co-worker and the village’s Safe Neighborhoods office led her toward that possibility.

Early this year Wellington joined a national program that gives state and local governments money to buy and fix up abandoned and foreclosed homes, in order to sell them to low- and moderate-income buyers.