New HUD map identifies REO properties

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched a new web-based mapping tool that shows the location of all foreclosed properties held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

Government-owned foreclosed homes account for almost half of all real estate-owned (REO) properties in the U.S., and the new mapping tool provides useful information for Realtors, local communities, homebuyers and investors.

“In this case, a picture is worth more than a thousand words,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “This new mapping tool gives local communities a much clearer picture of where these foreclosed properties are so they, along with private investors, can focus their energies in especially hard-hit neighborhoods.”

In addition to mapping individual properties, the portal provides listing info by neighborhood, with details such as list date, price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms. It also includes links to the government agency that holds the listing – Homepath (Fannie Mae), Homesteps (Freddie Mac), and HUD Homestore (FHA). The tool allows users to search by specific address or neighborhood.

To use the map, visit HUD’s website portal.

G&E Realty is a HUD approved Real Estate Brokerage and can assist you in finding your next home as an occupant or investment.  Contact us today for more information.
© 2011 Florida Realtors®

ORLANDO, Fla. – Aug. 10, 2011 – Florida’s existing home and existing condo sales experienced an upswing in the second quarter of 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the latest housing statistics from Florida Realtors®. Existing home sales rose 1 percent in 2Q 2011 with a total of 52,421 homes sold statewide; during the same period the year before, a total of 51,973 homes changed hands according to Florida Realtors. Statewide sales of existing condos in the second quarter rose 14 percent compared to the year-ago sales figure.

Statewide home and condo sales in the second quarter also increased over 1Q 2011’s sales figures, Florida Realtors’ records show. For 2Q 2011, statewide sales of existing homes rose 17.7 percent over the previous quarter’s activity; statewide existing condo sales increased 8.1 percent over the 1Q 2011 level.

The statewide existing-home median sales price was $134,600 for the three-month period; in 2Q 2010, it was $141,500 for a decrease of 5 percent. However, the 2Q 2011 statewide existing-home median sales price was 8.9 percent higher than the 1Q 2011 figure. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half for less.

Looking at Florida’s housing sector in the second quarter of 2011, Dr. Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness, noted positive signs for a strengthening recovery. “Florida Realtors second quarter housing data shows that momentum in sales of both single family homes and condominiums continues to build, while median sales prices have also increased from first quarter to the second,” Snaith said.

“The fate of the housing market in Florida is tightly bound to that of the labor market,” he said. “They are like economic conjoined twins – improvement in one will invariably help the other. More jobs and lower unemployment will slow foreclosures as well as build the pool of potential buyers; both of these will work to help support prices. As single-family home and condo prices stabilize, the wealth effect of this will make owners more willing to spend, which in turn could boost hiring.”

Snaith added, “This may sound like a classic ‘chicken and the egg’ scenario, but as far as Florida’s economy is concerned, it doesn’t matter which comes first.”

In the year-to-year quarterly comparison for existing condo sales, 25,263 units sold statewide in the second quarter compared to 22,137 units in 2Q 2010 for a 14 percent gain. The statewide existing-condo median sales price was $94,700 in the second quarter; a year earlier, it was $96,400 for a 2 percent decrease. However, the 2Q 2011 statewide existing-condo median sales price was 17.3 percent higher than the 1Q 2011 figure.

Low mortgage rates were another favorable influence on the housing sector. According to Freddie Mac, the national commitment rate for a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.66 percent in 2Q 2011; one year earlier, it averaged 4.91 percent.

Looking to buy, sell or rent in South Florida? Contact G&E Realty Group, Inc. today, for all of your Real Estate needs. 

© 2011 Florida Realtors®

Foreclosure activity down in most U.S. metro areas

LOS ANGELES – July 28, 2011 – Most of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas are seeing a sharp drop in foreclosure activity as banks take longer to move against homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments.

In the first half of this year, 84 percent of metropolitan areas with a population of at least 200,000 saw their foreclosure rate drop versus the same period last year, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

The firm tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions – warnings that can lead up to a home eventually being lost to foreclosure.

All told, foreclosure activity declined in 178 of the country’s 211 largest metropolitan areas during the first six months of the year.

The decline is due to delays in the foreclosure process as lenders work through foreclosure documentation problems that first surfaced last fall. Those problems prompted them to resubmit paperwork on many properties that had been slated for foreclosure and led to a slew of government investigations of the mortgage industry.

Mortgage banks also have put off taking action against newly delinquent borrowers in order to try loan modifications or other tactics aimed at avoiding foreclosure. Lackluster home sales this year also have provided little incentive for lenders to evict homeowners and chance having the property sit empty and unsold for months.

Some 1.7 million potential foreclosures are being held up, according to real estate firm CoreLogic.

The slowdown in foreclosure activity has been most pronounced in states where courts play a role in the foreclosure process and now have to wade through a logjam of cases.

The 20 metropolitan areas that saw the biggest annual declines in foreclosure activity are in New York, Maryland, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Illinois – all judicial foreclosure states, RealtyTrac said.

Syracuse, N.Y., led the decline, posting a 78 percent drop in its foreclosure rate versus the January-through-June period last year. The city had the third-lowest foreclosure rate among the 211 metropolitan areas in RealtyTrac’s report.

Despite the slowdown in the pace of foreclosures, many cities continue to have elevated foreclosure rates.

California, Nevada and Arizona, among the states most affected by the housing bust and ensuing foreclosure crisis, account for the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rate for the first six months of the year.

Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., registered the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, with one in every 19 households receiving a foreclosure-related notice – nearly six times the national average. But the metropolitan area’s foreclosure activity fell 17.9 percent from the first six months of last year.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., metropolitan area was second, with one in 28 households receiving a foreclosure warning, even as foreclosure activity fell nearly 17 percent from the same period in 2010.

California is home to seven of the metro areas that were among the top 10 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rate in the first half of the year, led by Modesto with one in every 30 households receiving a foreclosure-related notice.

Bucking the trend, some metropolitan areas saw their foreclosure rates spike in the first six months of this year.

Among those, Seattle posted the sharpest increase, a 10 percent jump versus the same period last year, RealtyTrac said. One in every 98 households got a foreclosure-related notice.

Job loss, rather than time-bomb mortgages resetting to higher payments, has become the main driver behind rising foreclosures.

The Seattle metropolitan area’s unemployment rate stood at 9.2 at the beginning of the year, but it has eased of late, sliding to 8.5 percent in May.

Still, the metro area has seen the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits due to large-scale layoffs increase this year. In the first quarter, it was ranked 8th highest on the basis of initial unemployment claimants due to layoffs, up from 15th a year earlier.

“The lag time between job loss and foreclosure is a little longer than it is in a normal cycle,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “We could be seeing a fallout from job losses there over the last year or two.”

Contact G&E Realty Group, Inc. for all of your real estate needs.  We specialize in Foreclosures, Short Sale and Investment Properties. 

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press, Alex Veiga, AP real estate writer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

New grant for military first-time home buyers

WASHINGTON – July 27, 2011 – A new program offers financial assistance to first-time homebuyers who are veterans or active-duty military members. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation, a nonprofit national organization, offers the program through its Dream Makers program.

Active duty personnel, veterans, retired members of the military and employees of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security may be eligible for a grant up to $5,000 to use toward downpayments and closing costs if buying their first home. The grants can be applied to a mortgage issued by any financial institution.

“Members of the military often put off buying a home early in their careers because they’re moving around the country a lot,” says Kate Kohler, chief operating officer for the PenFed Foundation. “We want to make sure they have resources to add immediate equity into their home when they decide to buy.”

Requirements:

• Military affiliation – (active duty, reserve, National Guard or veteran) – a Department of Defense employee or a Department of Homeland Security employee.
• First-time homebuyer or not owned a home for the last three years; or a home has been lost through divorce or disaster.
• Gross household income, including allowances, used to qualify for a mortgage loan is a maximum of $55,000 per year, or 80% of a community’s median income based on family size.

To view eligibility requirements, visit www.pentagonfoundation.org/dreammakers.

Please contact G&E Realty Group, Inc. for all of your real estate needs.

Source: “Veterans and Active Duty Can Get Financial Help When Buying Their First Home,” Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation (July 25, 2011)

© Copyright 2011 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

Gov’t in talks to rent out foreclosures

WASHINGTON – July 25, 2011 – The Obama administration is considering a plan that would take foreclosed homes off the market and rent them out – in a move aimed at clearing the glut of unsold foreclosed homes and preventing home values from falling any more, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The talks come at a time when national rents are on the rise and home prices have been falling. By taking advantage of higher rents, lenders would be able to cover the costs of holding the properties until the homes can be resold after the market stabilizes – and maybe even make a profit on it later, experts note.

Nationally, sales of distressed homes, which are often sold at steep discounts, continue to pull down home values. Removing some of the high number of foreclosed homes for sale is “worth looking at,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week in testimony to Congress.

Just reducing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s foreclosed property sales from its current rate of 50,000 each month to 30,000 could lessen total distressed sales by one-third and help avoid a further 3 percent to 5 percent decline in home prices, analysts at Credit Suisse estimate.

However, turning foreclosed homes into rentals could place lenders and the government in an unknown role of playing landlord.

Another idea being tossed around, according to The Wall Street Journal: Federal officials selling thousands of foreclosed properties to private investors who would agree to rent them out, and who could then work with property management firms and handle the day-to-day tenant demands.

Contact G&E Realty Group, Inc. for all of your real estate needs.Source: “Uncle Sam Weighs Landlord Role to Ease Housing Slump,” The Wall Street Journal (July 22, 2011)

© Copyright 2011 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

ORLANDO, Fla., – July 20, 2011 – Florida’s existing condo sales rose 8 percent in June with a total of 7,941 units sold statewide compared to 7,330 sold in June 2010, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $93,900; a year earlier, it was $92,300 for a 2 percent increase. The national median existing condo sales price was $165,400 in May 2011, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

“Promising signs continue for a slowly strengthening economy and housing market,” said 2011 Florida Realtors President Patricia Fitzgerald, manager/broker-associate with Illustrated Properties in Hobe Sound and Mariner Sands Country Club in Stuart. “Mortgage interest rates remain historically low and affordability conditions are strong.”

Nine of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported higher existing condo sales in June; six MSAs had higher existing home sales.

In Florida’s year-to-year comparison for existing home sales, a total of 17,597 homes sold last month compared to 18,402 homes sold in June 2010 for a decrease of 4 percent. The statewide median sales price for existing homes last month was $138,000; a year earlier, it was $141,200 for a 2 percent decrease.

However, June’s statewide existing home median price was about 1.8 percent higher than it was in May. Sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes, according to NAR analysts. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in May 2011 was $166,700, down 4.5 percent from a year ago, according to NAR. In Massachusetts, the statewide median resales price was $300,375 in May; in California, it was $291,760; in Maryland, it was $233,568; and in New York, it was $211,900.

NAR’s latest industry outlook points to the still-sluggish job market and overly restrictive lending requirements as factors constraining housing’s recovery. “The job market has sputtered recently, and because variations in local job creation impact housing demand, markets will recover unevenly around the country,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “If banks would simply return to normal sound underwriting standards and begin lending to more creditworthy borrowers, we’d get a much faster recovery in the housing sector.”

The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.51 percent in June, significantly lower than the 4.74 percent averaged during the same month a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac. Florida Realtors’ sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

Contact G&E Realty Group, Inc. today for all of your real estate needs.© 2011 Florida Realtors®

Chase Bank offers Florida homeowners incentive to short sell

June 27, 2011 04:30PM

Since last fall, Chase Bank has been quietly offering some Florida homeowners a deal they can’t refuse, according to the Sun Sentinel. In return for $10,000 to $20,000, borrowers behind on their mortgage payments will agree to a short sale. In other words, Chase is forgiving homeowners the money they owe, with a cash bonus to boot.

“It’s like hitting the lottery,” said realtor Chip Rowand.

Chase spokeswoman Nancy Norris explained that the bank is cutting its losses and choosing to avoid lengthy foreclosure proceedings. “Our goal is to help as many people avoid foreclosure as possible,” she said.

“To have any chance at the program, homeowners behind on their payments must call the lender or visit one of its 13 mortgage help centers in Florida,” she continued, though the program is entirely dependent on individual circumstances.

For Short Sale or Foreclosure assistance in South Florida contact G&E Realty Group, Inc today!  “There is a way out!”

Our Real Estate service covers Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties, including these areas: Cooper City, Weston, Pembroke Pines, Davie, Miramar, Plantation, Sunrise, Tamarac, Lauderhill, Coral Springs, Coconut Creek, Parkland, Fort Lauderdale, North Lauderdale, Hollywood and Margate.

Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will pay $8.5 billion to settle claims that the lenders sold poor-quality mortgage-backed securities that went sour when the housing market collapsed.

The deal, announced Wednesday, comes after a group of 22 investors demanded that the Charlotte, N.C. bank repurchase $47 billion in mortgages that its Countrywide unit sold to them in the form of bonds.

The group, which includes the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Pimco Investment Management, and Blackrock Financial Management, argued that Countrywide enriched itself at the expense of investors by continuing to service bad loans while running up servicing fees.

Bank of America, which bought Countrywide in 2008 for $4 billion, has denied those claims.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said Wednesday that the settlement would minimize “future economic uncertainty” in the banking business and “clean up the mortgage issues largely stemming from our purchase of Countrywide.”

The settlement is subject to court approval and covers 530 trusts with original principal balance of $424 billion.

Citi analyst Keith Horowitz said the settlement, which amounts to only 2 percent of the original principal balance, removes one of the largest investor risks for Bank of America.

“We think this could prove to be a step forward” for Bank of America, Horowitz said. It would show investors that the bank can manage through crisis without raising additional capital.

As a result of the settlement, Bank of America put its second-quarter loss at $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion. Excluding the settlement and other charges, the bank expects to post a quarterly loss of $3.2 billion to $3.7 billion.

Shares of Bank of America Corp. jumped more than 4 percent, or 48 cents to $11.30 before the market opened, with investors happy that the bank can put very big uncertainty behind it.

Investors may now be more confident that they can get similar concessions from other major U.S. banks that created markets for mortgage-backed securities with questionable pedigrees.

Yet stocks in the financial sector were rising in electronic trading Wednesday, likely because the Bank of America deal presents a framework for others to follow.

For Short Sale assistance in South Florida contact G&E Realty Group, Inc today!  “There is a way out!”

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Did you know that short sale can help stop foreclosure?

While foreclosure and short sale homes are often in disrepair thanks to neglect or vandalism by the evicted previous owner, they can often present a great bargain opportunity. The supply and demand will be a factor in pricing and of course the number of bank owned or short sale homes are also a factor as these tend to be the ones that are hurting the market and driving prices down at this time in several areas around the country. Short sale homes are usually offered at a discount and will be sold for any amount that the lender will take, so it can be an amazing deal.

 A short sale can be a win/win for everyone. If a homeowner falls behind in his mortgage payments, the idea of a short sale can seem pretty attractive. In this real estate environment, selling at a short sale can help both the banks and owners unload a property and receive a fair price, and avoid taking the mortgage through foreclosure and having it sit on the open market for months. For some lenders, approval of a short sale can take up to 3 months or more and if you can get the process going before you even receive an offer on your home, can cut back this timeframe considerably. However, the process of waiting for a lender to decide whether to agree to a short sale can make a lengthy home-buying process longer and more arduous.

A short sale can be a good deal for a buyer, and it can help the seller avoid having a full foreclosure on his or her credit record. But if you do get pre-approved and are looking for a short sale, it may help your search and eventual purchase if you are aware why some short sale homes are more difficult to buy than others.The short sale will usually appear as a pre-foreclosure in redemption.
Applying for a short sale will take several things, you will need to give them a hardship letter explaining the reason you are requesting a short sale as well as debt to income statement and bank statements as well as w2 forms.

For the homeowner, there are three big advantages to a short sale: short sales appear on your credit report as “pre-foreclosure in redemption,” not as “debt discharged due to foreclosure”; a short sale will probably not damage your credit, as much as a foreclosure; and, in many cases, the lender will agree to forgive the remainder of the loan.While a short sale will have a negative impact on credit in many cases it is the only opportunity a seller may have to avoid foreclosure and will potentially afford the short sale seller the opportunity to qualify to purchase a new home sooner. Could consider debt forgiveness as income, and there is no guarantee that a lender who accepts a short sale will not legally pursue a borrower for the difference between the amount owed and the amount paid. Now the seller and the buyer can rest assured the short sale will be completed quicker and close sooner because the federal government has stepped in to assist.

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Do You Need A Real Estate Agent?

Real Estate business has seen tremendous growth and so has been the need of Real Estate agent. Today more and more people are getting interested to become home owner and as the demand for real estate need increases the role of Real Estate Agent becomes more important. In the past one agent use to provide services to both seller and buyer but as the real estate market changed people started to realize that specialized service is more logical and beneficial. In Real Estate industry now buyer/seller are looking for specialized agents who can provide specialized related expertise, information and services required to complete the process. When a real estate agent represents both buyer and seller it really restricts agents to provide impartial service to either party.

Let’s look at the both (Seller/Buyer) scenario separately. A real estate agents who is a listing agent of seller has a fiduciary, ethically and moral duty to represent seller only.

By getting Exclusive Right to Sell Listing, the real estate agent is promising seller that he will live no stone unturned to market the home and find the best buyer at maximum possible market value for the home.

As a Buyer’s real estate agent he need to find the right home for buyer along with should all information of the community. When a buyer is exploring to buy a real estate property in new community, he is very much interested to find out several information related to that particular community such as population, crime, climate, schools, traffic, living standards etc. Buyer’s real estate agent should be well informed with all these information so that he can provide that information to buyer. It will be easier for buyer to make the decision based on these information. Once the buyer is ready to buy real estate property in the community then other part of the real estate agent’s duty starts. As buyer’s agent it is his responsibility to find a real estate property, as per buyers requirement. It is also buyer’s real estate agents duty to negotiate the best market price with seller.

So if seller and buyer are represented by their own specialized agent then both agents can play a partial and specialized role for their client..

So it is quite clear that one real estate agent representing both seller and buyer can not justify providing specialized service to both party. Both buyer and seller are in different need of services. That’s why specialized real estate service has become more in demand where buyer/seller can get impartiality specialized service during the process.

Never before has the role of specialists in the world of real estate been more important. With buyers and sellers requiring more services, the industry has seen an explosion of agents who specialize in either the representation of sellers or buyers. These specialist agents can provide a wealth of services and maintain a complete impartiality during the sales process as there is only one client to concern them.

Historically the sales transaction and the concerns of the buyer were the purview of a single realtor. However, as the industry has progressed so have the needs of each party and so the specialist arose. Buyers have some very particular needs, and specifically the need to feel that their best interests are seen to. Listing agents are representatives of the home’s owner and in that role they have a primary responsibility to that owner. How could they properly look after the needs of an interested buyer as well?

So what is it that a buyer’s agent does? Primarily the buyer’s agent will begin with the location of suitable properties for their clients. This is usually based upon a list of requirements and desires that the client has communicated to the agent. They will then arrange viewings and recap their findings with their clients and assist in deciding upon a good candidate for an offer. This will be based on the wealth of community information that a buyer’s agent commands. As specialists, they are experts on their given area which is critical in the education of clients on the areas that they are considering. Once a property is decided upon, the buyer’s agent changes significantly, evolving into an overseer-negotiator role. They will typically coordinate the inspections and conduct the negotiations with the listing agent. This includes the execution of the buyers subjects and the closing of the actual contract.

There is an art to representing a buyer. It is a role that has become ever more crucial in an industry where customer service is the single most important thing that an agent can offer. If you are in the market for a home then the buyer’s agent is the friend that you need to make sure that you are given the service that you deserve.

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For more information about buying or selling Real Estate in South Florida  contact G&E Realty Group, Inc at www.gandehomes.com 954-450-1174

We are specialize in Foreclosure and Short Sale In the south Florida market