Real estate: long flip versus quick flip

Ms. Wennerstrom owns seven properties in southeast Toronto, two of them with partners. She bought her first house at 24 and has been flipping them since.

But Ms. Wennerstrom, who quit her job in sales and marketing at a frozen food company nine months ago, has perfected a more patient version of the flip. Like her quicker-paced counterparts, she buys rundown properties in up-and-coming neighbourhoods and oversees a renovation of two to four months.

But then, instead of selling immediately, she hires an appraiser to revalue the property, and she refinances it based on that higher value. To reduce her carrying costs, she converts from a higher-interest line of credit to a lower-rate mortgage.

via Real estate: long flip versus quick flip.

Ask a real estate pro: What happens if I walk away from a reverse mortgage?

Need some advice on dealing with a homeowner’s association? Is a short sale your best option for unloading your home? Lawyer and real estate consultant Gary M. Singer will answer your housing questions in this space each Friday. To ask Gary a question, click here.

Q: We took out a reverse mortgage three years ago. The home insurer bailed out of Florida recently, and we’re having an extremely hard time finding another. We are considering just walking away from the house and using the $25,000 we have left to buy a small condo. What would we owe the reverse mortgage lender? – Nora

A: Probably nothing. It depends on what type of reverse mortgage you have. If you have the most common kind, a government insured HECM mortgage loan, there can be no deficiency. This is because the loan is a non-recourse loan. In most loans, the bank has the right to pursue a deficiency judgment against the borrower — the difference between the amount that is owed to the lender and what the property is worth. This type of loan is known as a recourse loan. However, certain loans, such as the HECM reverse mortgage, are non-recourse, meaning that the borrower can never owe to the lender more than the value of the property. However, before you decide to walk away from your home, I strongly recommend that you seek the counsel of an experienced real estate professional because there may be other consequences to your decision. Good luck.

via Ask a real estate pro: What happens if I walk away from a reverse mortgage?.

The Bull in BofA’s Mortgage Portfolio

No one would accuse the executive given the task of salvaging Bank of America Corp.’s troubled mortgages of being a smooth operator.

During his first public appearance after being named to the job in February, Terry Laughlin mispronounced the name of one executive and was blamed for not giving a customary introduction to one of the most powerful women on Wall Street, wealth-management head Sallie Krawcheck.

“Thanks for that kind introduction, Terry,” Ms. Krawcheck quipped.

via The Bull in BofA’s Mortgage Portfolio.

Tracking mortgage’s owner can be ordeal

Alan Fagan finally figured out who owns his mortgage.

He had lost his job, was running up credit cards paying bills, and faced foreclosure.

Citimortgage, a division of America’s third-largest bank, services the loan and told him repeatedly it could not modify the terms or offer him a revised repayment plan. Why? The investors who own the mortgage wouldn’t allow it.

via Tracking mortgage’s owner can be ordeal.

Foreclosures rare in Hillsborough County’s Sun City Center

As an international banker, Ed Feder lived all over the world. Tokyo, London, Sydney, Frankfurt. Rome, he said, was heaven.

But when it came time to pick a retirement home, he and his wife chose Sun City Center.

“I mean if you can’t be happy here,” Feder, 70, said, “you’re not going to make it anywhere.”

via Foreclosures rare in Hillsborough County’s Sun City Center.

Mayo column: If there’s no Citizens Insurance for Floridians, then what?

What happens if there’s no Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer of last resort that has become the insurer of only resort for many South Floridians?

“If you get rid of Citizens, then everyone has to go to the private market,” said Erick Collazo, of Boca Raton. “And if the private market won’t write policies unless the premiums are much higher, then how is anybody going to afford that?”

Said Bill Andrews, of Hollywood: “I foresee a whole new foreclosure tsunami sweeping across Florida.”

via Mayo column: If there’s no Citizens Insurance for Floridians, then what?.