Southwest Florida Blog

After a unbelievable first eight months of the year, real estate sales in Southwest Florida were again strong in September. In fact, home sales for the year are up 120% in the Cape Coral-Ft. Myers and up 30% for Bonita Springs-Naples. September marked the fifteenth month in a row sales have climbed in both Lee and Collier counties. The Cape Coral and Ft. Myers market area saw total sales rise over 57% on a year over year basis and the Bonita Springs and Naples market area was far behind, up 31%.

Cape Coral and Ft. Myers Real Estate

Cape Coral and Ft.Myers Highlights:

• Single-family home sales were up 64% and totaled 1,185 sales.
• Condos sales were up 57% and totaled 230 units.

Tags: real estate, sales, SW Florida

After months of wrangling by Congress and the White House, the $8,000.00 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit has finally been given the go ahead for extention. And just to make things interesting, our esteemed leaders in Washington added a twist; all homebuyers who have been in their homes for at least five years can now also get a $6,500.00 when they sell their homes too.

Under this extension, the program will have some new guidelines also. Here is a synopsis of the new changes and requirements.

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

• The maximum tax credit remains $8,000 ($4,000 for married individuals filing separately), and anyone who has not owned a home within three years is considered a “First Time Home Buyer.”

Tags: legislature, mortgages, new laws, real estate

Both the Senate and House voted yesterday to extend the current higher loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loans through December, 2010. The resolution was attached to a continuing resolution that passed late in the day and prevented the higher limits from expiring at the end of the year.

Lawmakers had temporarily raised the loan limits back in 2008 as part of the Housing and Economic Act of 2008 and then again in 2009 through both a HUD mandated guideline and the Economic Stimulus Act up to a maximum of $729,750 for high-cost areas.

To find your individual counties higher loan limits, you can read our blog post at 2009 FHA and Conforming Loan Limit Changes.

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Metro Mortgage Company is a federally regulated Mortgage Banker specializing in residential Florida mortgages including Conventional, Jumbo and FHA/VA loans. Visit our home loan approval process page for more information or call us today at 888-617-3674.

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Tags: FHA, HUD, legislature, mortgages

Just when you think you have all the bases covered in applying for your mortgage loan, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have added another stumbling block into the application process. Seems some unscrupulous individuals figured out that by disputing an account claim and having a notation added to your credit report removed that tradeline from being taken
into credit scoring consideration and thus was left out of the automated loan approval process.

Now, just exactly how they were getting these disputed tradelines on credit reports past the lenders underwriting process that is supposed to occur on all automatically approved DU or LP files, were not sure. Typically, if there is any question about a tradeline, an underwriter will request more information and require documentation to verify the veracity of the disputed account. But hey, in this day and age, we guess anything is possible.

Tags: credit reports, mortgages

The internet is a remarkable tool for real estate agents to use in their daily business life. The multitude of website providers and the information available to be used as website content is almost limitless. However, with such use also comes a fair amount of responsibility and accountability on your part as a professional. Flying by the seat of your pants and not taking these two things seriously are the stupidest things you can possibly do as an agent/webmaster.

Take this case as an example - The Pros Advantage. Seems the agent hired a firm to design a new website and they literally copied the design and code from a very well known and respected real estate website provider, Real Estate Webmasters (REW). They even left REW’s copyright code right in the agent’s new knockoff website design. How completely stupid and unprofessional is that?

Tags: internet, Technology

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced yesterday they are adopting a new Cash for Keys program whereby lenders will pay borrowers with FHA-backed loans $2,000 for agreeing to turn their property over to the lender by using a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. By applying for and getting an approved deed-in-lieu under this program, borrowers will be released from their obligation to repay the mortgage and may also have their deficiency judgment waived too.

To qualify for the program, borrowers must be facing long-term financial hardship, had their house on the market at a fair price for at least 90 days, and not have any other additional claims or liens (other than the first FHA mortgage) outstanding against the house. In addition, the borrower must vacate the property and leave it in broom clean condition.

Tags: FHA, foreclosures, HUD, mortgages

The Bonita Springs City Council has agreed to keep its tax rate the same as last year. The 2009 tax rate will be 82.73 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That’s great news for Bonita Springs homeowners, who will likely see a 17% decrease in their property taxes.

When you add in the fact that the Lee County Property Tax Rates are also going to remain unchanged, 2009 is going to bring a welcome relief to area residents stung by recent years rising real estate taxes.

In addition, both the City Council and the County Commissioners reduced spending accordingly in order to make up for the short fall in tax revenues. Fortunately, both groups were able to focus their cuts on areas that will not decrease services or have a major impact on residents in general.

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Gulf Coast Associates, Realtors specializes in upscale Florida real estate from St. Petersburg to Naples.
Call us today at 888-617-3674.

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Tags: living, real estate, taxes