Tag Archives: Foreclosure

Buying a home in Florida and FLOOD insurance…

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If you are looking to buy a home in Florida, this is now playing a larger roll in your home buying experience than ever before.

I am currently working with a FHA first time home buyer.  They are qualified to purchase a home for $100,000.  We are looking for a minimum of 2bed/1bth and a decent size yard.  Believe it or not, there are about 150 possibilities with that criteria between Bradenton and Venice.  They both work in Sarasota and don’t mind a small commute.  North Port and Parrish/Palmetto areas have many homes with this criteria, however, they feel the commute with the gas prices would be more than they can afford.

Here are your flood zone codes:  AE is very high risk.  A and V are high risk.  B, C and X are good.  However, you can be in a high risk area as long as your BFE (Base Flood Elevation) is above 12 feet.   You can find your BFE on your survey, if you have one.

You need to know what amount your lender is planning on for home insurance.  If it is low, have them rework the numbers to make sure you still qualify for the $100,000.00 or whatever your number is.

Now that we know what codes to look for, our available homes have dropped substantially.   We were left with about 15 financeable options.  Remember, we are financing and a bank WILL NOT finance a dilapidated home.  If there is a tarp on the roof… move on!  If you are paying cash… great!  you can get a great deal.

Back to my First Time Home Buyers…  We have placed a bid on two homes now.  First home wanted more and my buyers did not want to go higher due to location.  Now we are into the second bid on a Homepath home.  The first home has called back three times and his higher offer did not pan out apparently.  So we wait for an answer from the seller which could take a week or more.  (I will do my next blog on the difference between short sales, foreclosures, homepath, homesteps, hubzu and so on)

We are well prepared and these buyer understand the process.  I always spend the first hour with the buyers explaining to them what to expect.   After we talk about the process and they have a clear understanding, then we talk about their needs.

Here is my home buying tip for today;

Always put your I before your E when purchasing a home…  Intelligence before Emotions…  That will keep you from making poor decisions.

Happy Home Buying!!!

Cash for Foreclosures

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I have buyers that call me who are ready to buy a house.  They say they talked to someone who bought a 3/2/2 for $40K.  I hear it all the time.

ForeclosedHomes Here is the thing…  Over 55% of all properties purchased in Sarasota County last month were CASH deals.  I promise you that the 3/2/2 that your friend supposedly paid $40K for needs a ton of immediate repairs.

If you want a bargain, you have to be prepared to pay cash.  There are some financing repair programs like FHA 203 or Homesteps Repair loans but there are strict requirements for those loans.  If you are prepared to jump through all the hoops then it may be a good option for you. But even those loans will not finance that $40K house that is in need of immediate major repair.

Sarasota County Statistic’s are in

Capture3The stats are in for past quarter and shows that Foreclosures prices are down, Short Sales are leveled off or down and Traditional Home Sales are on the rise.  What does this mean?  Sellers have more confidence listing and selling their homes.  Mortgage rates are low and prices are up.

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As you can see, Short Sale closing are down by 48% and the sales price is up by 12%.  I think this is because banks are doing a better job communicating with homeowners and more people are taking advantage of the HARP and HAMP and HOPE programs available.  That’s huge!  While Foreclosures prices are down the closings are only slightly up by 11%.  You would think with prices down there would be a growth in closings but many lenders will not finance some of these properties because of the distress they are in.  FYI… You can not get an FHA loan on a distressed property.  Most loans are not interested in distressed properties.  Most distressed properties for sale will not consider anything except cash offers.  If you have the cash, now is a great time to grab some Foreclosures.

The biggest improvement is in Traditional sales showing a 35% increase in closings and 18% increase in price!   Why the increase?  Could it be that there is less competition in the foreclosure and Short Sale markets?  Are buyers wanting to avoid Short Sales and Foreclosure and the work that goes with them?  Most of the customers I have worked with in the last few months are looking for affordable non-distressed homes that can be financed.  This is a definite change in the trend for me.  Capture2

So, if you are considering selling your home, prices are up 18% from last year.  That is good news for you.

I highly suggest contacting a Licensed Real Estate Professional that is a REALTOR®.  This means they are a member of the National Association of Realtors and adhere to the NAR Code of Ethics.

All of the statistics are from the Florida Association of Realtors website and are for Sarasota County.