Is now the time to become a landlord?

Scott Best turned his first home into a rental house after moving into something bigger. Now, he’s about to buy a house specifically as an investment for the first time.

“The time is right, in my opinion anyway,” he said this week. “The property values are as low as they’ve been for a long time, and interest rates are lower than they’ve been, I think, in my lifetime.”

The combination of price declines, record-low interest rates and paltry returns elsewhere has driven up interest in buying homes as investments, according to local real estate professionals.

via Is now the time to become a landlord?.

W.Va. mortgage victims might get more than $2,000

Chief Deputy Attorney General Fran Hughes said West Virginia residents who were affected by the recent multistate mortgage settlement might see more than $2,000.State attorneys general, federal officials and the country’s five largest mortgage servicers reached a $25 billion settlement. West Virginia is set to receive about $33 million of that money.

Of that, an immediate estimated payment of $2,000 will go to each state homeowner who lost his or her home to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011.Also, more than $18 million will go to loan modifications and benefits to state homeowners currently in default or foreclosure. And more than $5 million will go to free refinancing for “underwater” homeowners — that is, those who are still current on their payments but are struggling. Another $6 million will go to foreclosure and mortgage assistance and prevention programs in the state.

via W.Va. mortgage victims might get more than $2,000.

Jennifer Lopez Loses Her Brickell Condo to Foreclosure

​Jennifer Lopez is the latest victim of Florida’s foreclosure crisis. The condo in the Icon Brickell building she was shacking up in with her latest younger lover, Caspar Smart, has now been bought up out of foreclosure by someone else and Lopez will have to move out according to Gossip Extra. Don’t worry about J.Lo’s bank account though. Lopez was only leasing the place, so the foreclosure isn’t related to her personal finances.

via Jennifer Lopez Loses Her Brickell Condo to Foreclosure.

Beachside RV park riles condo owners

Plans for a beachside RV park have riled up a bunch of condo owners at Boardwalk Beach Resort.

“They caught everybody off guard,” condo owner John Bienkowski said Wednesday. “I think a lot of people felt blindsided by this.”

A rezoning request by Resort Hospitality Enterprises placed on Monday’s agenda of the city Planning Board would allow the development of a park for recreational vehicles on 5.6 acres at 9400 S. Thomas Drive.

via Beachside RV park riles condo owners.

Rental income may not help refinancers qualify for mortgage

The common myth among refinancing homeowners is that the mortgage industry will count the rental income they are receiving from their homes. In fact, rental income will not count toward the borrower’s qualifying income, even though the homeowner is reporting it on his tax returns, unless the subject property is a legal and conforming multi-unit property.

In some respects the mortgage industry appears reasonable with today’s underwriting guidelines, but on the other hand, some guidelines seem absolutely unreasonable. For example, late last year, one lender set a guideline that stated borrowers with rental properties could only count the rental income that is shown on their federal tax returns.

In other words, if a borrower purchased a rental property in June and the tax returns for that year only reflected six months of rental income, we would have to offset the full monthly principal, interest, taxes, insurance plus any other expenses claimed on the tax returns with just 6 months of rental income. Fortunately, this guideline was not adopted across the board by all lenders. It should also be noted that an underwriter may use the old standby formula of counting 75 percent of the rental income assumes 25 percent will cover expenses if a full year of tax returns are not available.

via Rental income may not help refinancers qualify for mortgage.

New owners DiTommaso, Warren complete 250 Royal Palm Way renovation

When the office building at 250 Royal Palm Way came on the market in a 2010 foreclosure sale, Anthony DiTommaso and Rusty Warren, co-CEOs of Ivy Equities, saw an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.

The Greenwich, Conn.-based executives, whose firm Ivy Realty, is headquartered in Montvale, N.J., entered a market they had set their sights on with the $7 million purchase of the property. DiTommaso, 47, and Warren, 44, have more than 9 million square feet of commercial real estate in the New York Metropolitan area and along the southern part of the Northeast Corridor in their portfolio, but after the economic downturn began to investigate investment in southeastern Florida.

They were convinced that commercial real estate in the region represented good value, DiTommaso said. “We believe it will be bouncing back relatively soon.”

via New owners DiTommaso, Warren complete 250 Royal Palm Way renovation.