News about properties and real estate
Chasing the American dream — a place to call their own
Until April, the lure of an $8,000 tax credit combined with depressed real estate prices was drawing younger South Floridians to their first homes.
How is first-time homeownership turning out?
There have been a few surprises.
Property taxes doubled. What?
Cash is king in housing market
OK, cash never really gave up its spot on the real estate throne. But after representing 30 percent of sales handled by members of the Melbourne Area Association of Realtors in 2008, the percentage of cash deals is on the rise, representing more than 40 percent of sales last year and nearly 44 percent through the first six months of 2010.
Getting a mortgage now is much more difficult and time-consuming than it was at the height of the real estate bubble five years ago. That has been a boon for deep-pocketed buyers who can close on properties without having to get a loan. Sellers will often take less money in an all-cash deal rather than waiting around for a higher offer contingent on getting a loan approved.
“I’m seeing a lot of buyers come down with cash,” said association President Nona Swann of Swann & Associates Real Estate in Grant-Valkaria. “Our Northern people are finally coming down and buying. Overall, their comments are, ‘Now the prices are affordable.’ ”
Of course, “affordable” is a relative term. Among the houses bought for cash recently were a $2.5 million riverfront estate in Indialantic and the county’s largest home, the Suntree mansion once owned by baseball player Cecil Fielder, which sold for $1.27 million.
Homeowners hope mediation program can save their houses [South Florida]
Lance Dunning tried for two years to sell his house in a short sale after its value plunged well below the $400,000 mortgage he took out in 2006.
He had three offers for three short sales for $200,000, more than the home’s assessed value – but was unable to connect with Bank of America officials to close the deal. In a short sale, the bank agrees to take a loss on the mortgage so the home can be sold without requiring the owner to pony up cash, too.
Finally, the bank foreclosed and took back the house in a public auction on the Lee County Courthouse steps.
This is the type of scenario that a new Florida Supreme Court-mandated program – which goes into effect today in Southwest Florida – is meant to avert.
Closed Seville Beach Hotel to get new boutique brand
The shuttered Seville Beach Hotel in Miami Beach will come back as a partnership between hip hotelier Ian Schrager and Marriott.
The Miami Beach location, at 2901 Collins Ave., becomes just the second announced U.S. location under the boutique Edition brand. The first is scheduled to open this fall in Waikiki.
Marriott spokesman John Wolf said the South Florida hotel, which sits on nearly three acres of beachfront property, is expected to open in three years after significant renovations.
The hotel company does not expect to be a long-term owner, CFO Carl Berquist said Thursday in a conference call for investors.
Some HOAs sue or foreclose to collect dues
When Helen Burgess fell behind on her bills after being diagnosed with cancer, she was able to work out payment plans on her mortgage, car note, credit card and tax obligations to the Internal Revenue Service.
Her neighbors weren’t so accommodating.
Because Burgess was late on her condo fees, the Magnolia Lane Condominium Association cut off her water soon after she returned home from surgery. That was June 27, 2009.
Since then, Burgess has been hauling water from her niece’s house 10 miles away. The condo group also tried in vain to garnishee the Marietta woman’s pay to collect the dues it’s owed, which, including attorneys’ fees, now totals more than $5,000. Most recently, it banned Burgess or her guests from using the clubhouse and other facilities in the 76-unit Marietta community.
Home building in Southwest Florida is on the mend
After the worst year in the home building business since the Great Depression, Southwest Florida builders and their subcontractors are getting busy again.
Builders in Manatee County are firing up their cement mixers and nail guns the fastest. But other parts of the region — including hard-hit North Port — also are beginning to see an uptick in both permits and sales.
Permits in Manatee County more than doubled in the first three months of the year — 283 this year compared with 132 during the same period a year earlier, according to county government records. Sarasota County and North Port also saw rapid growth.
Only Charlotte County continues to struggle, with permit activity rising and then falling again in monthly intervals.