Detroit wants to save itself … by shrinking

Detroit wants to save itself … by shrinking

Detroit, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile.

Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, the city would demolish houses in some of the most desolate sections of Detroit and move residents into stronger neighborhoods. Roughly a quarter of the 139-square-mile city could go from urban to semi-rural.

Near downtown, fruit trees and vegetable farms would replace neighborhoods that are an eerie landscape of empty buildings and vacant lots. Suburban commuters heading into the city center might pass through what looks like the countryside to get there. Surviving neighborhoods in the birthplace of the auto industry would become pockets in expanses of green.

Move forward with caution on reverse mortgages

Move forward with caution on reverse mortgages

I live in an adult community and would like to obtain a reverse mortgage. I have had a difficult time getting information on this type mortgage. Can you help?

I’m not an expert on reverse mortgages, but I’ve received several similar questions, so I’ll give you the basics.

ConsumerReports.org explains them well: “Homeowners borrow part of the equity they have in their property, and the principal and accrued interest are repaid only after they die or move out. Over time, the owner’s equity diminishes while the amount of the loan increases – the opposite of a traditional mortgage.

Many South Florida home sellers still asking too much

Many South Florida home sellers still asking too much

Despite months of declining home prices, new data shows that South Florida sellers are still asking too much for their homes, then slashing prices when they don’t sell — a sign that buyers and sellers are still struggling to define fair market value in the aftermath of a boom-and-bust market.

Nineteen percent of the homes on the market nationwide experienced at least one price cut in the last year, selling at an average of 11 percent lower than their original asking prices. The trend is even stronger in South Florida where the price cuts are more drastic, according to data compiled by Trulia.com , a real estate search database.

In the past year, 23 percent of the Miami-Dade homes on the market had to undergo price reductions to sell. Seventeen percent of the homes in Broward County and 18 percent in Monroe County had at least one price cut.

In some cases, local sellers needed to slash tens of thousands — even hundreds of thousands — of dollars off their asking prices.

Homeowner associations block guests

Homeowner associations block guests

Melissa Solis said she understands that she can’t use her community pool or clubhouse because she’s late paying her homeowner-association fees.

But it’s unfair, she said, that security guards at the gated entrance to her neighborhood prevent her friends, family, babysitter and even the delivery man from Winter Garden Pizza Co. from getting to her home. They wouldn’t even allow her mother-in-law inside the gates for a family birthday party.

Instead, she has to meet her visitors outside the community’s entrance, pick them up and drive them inside in her car. Unlike residents who are current with their fees, even Solis cannot enter through the automatic gates; she must instead get the guard’s approval to access her home.

“I think it’s more them trying to humiliate us,” said Solis, who works in food services. “It’s very embarrassing for our daughter. She’s 10 years old, and she doesn’t understand that the economy is tight and Daddy doesn’t have a job.”

Loan modifications: Waiting for Bank of America to offer another loan modification

Loan modifications: Waiting for Bank of America to offer another loan modification – South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

I first talked to Yvonne McBride-Acosta of Sunrise in October. Her situation was bad.

Since then, it has gotten worse.

Back then, I wrote about her here-it-is, there-it-goes loan modification. She had qualified for one in July 2009, but her lender, Bank of America, cancelled it a few months later.

There was a tremendous response, not just from other borrowers in the same position. Sunrise Mayor Roger Wishner called. Florida’s Attorney General’s office got involved. Bank of America responded.

In the sea of South Florida troubled borrowers, where more than 100,000 Floridians have at least started a loan modification, Acosta’s story stands out.

Around Tampa Bay, foreclosure means never having to leave [Central Florida]

Around Tampa Bay, foreclosure means never having to leave [Central Florida]

When his lender started to foreclose in 2003, Jeffrey De­Mauro appealed for time to resolve his financial problems.

“I sincerely want to work this situation out and get back on track and save my home,” De­Mauro wrote to Pinellas County court officials. “I have two children and do not want to be put out of our house and on the street.”

The DeMauros are still in foreclosure. But by declaring bankruptcy 11 times, they have managed to hang on to their house and to continue living there — seven years after they made their last regular mortgage payment.

Though an extreme example, the couple’s story is an increasingly common one among distressed Tampa Bay homeowners. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, are staying in their houses long after defaulting because they declare bankruptcy, challenge the foreclosure or simply sit back as their cases grind through an overloaded court system.