March 2014

Continuing on from our first post - Homeowner and Condominium Association Fees - Part 1, we are now going to focus the discussion on what to expect when the neighborhood in question is also a condominium association.

There are multiple condominium neighborhoods within Pelican Landing and their residents are members of both the master homeowner's association (Pelican Landing) and their individual condominium association. A single condominium owner does not own the land under their building; they own 1/100th (if there are 100 units in the project) of all the land, the buildings, and their condominium associations' amenities. If…

The Naples luxury home market prices were up substantially in February, rising 24% year over year. The lower tiered markets are not doing too badly either. Overall, prices were up 23% across the board for all home sales versus this time last year.

The high end luxury market here in SW Florida is considered homes above the $2 million range. For February's 24% rise, the median price now stands at $3 million. Wealthy buyers are back in the market and many homes are actually experiencing bidding wars during their sales process. Buyer confidence is being driven by the fact that Naples continues to get national attention for its overall…

According to a Realty Trac report on the U.S. Foreclosure Market for February, 2014, foreclosure filings - default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions - totaled 112,498 properties, a 10% decrease from January and a 27% decrease from February, 2013.

After a 10% month-over-month jump in January, U.S. foreclosures retreated to their lowest level since December, 2005 - a 98 month low. A total of 51,842 U.S. properties "started"  the foreclosure process for the first time in February, down 9% from the previous month and down 27% from a year ago.

States with the most owner-vacated foreclosures were Florida…

The Grapefruit League turned 100 years old this past Thursday. Naturally, the local newspapers here covered the story pretty extensively. You see, we take Major League Baseball spring training very seriously here in Southwest Florida. And that's rightfully so, when you consider the history of how it all came to pass. When you throw in the warm sunshine and the beautiful weather to boot, there's just no better way to enjoy watching your favorite ballplayers working off the winter's rust.

So, I've grabbed up the news stories and did some research on the web and here is what I came up with that I thought you all might find…

On January 10, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) implemented their new guidelines for mortgage loans. You may have heard the term Qualified Mortgage (QM) being used by your lender or loan officer, or heard something about them in the news lately. A qualified mortgage is one that offers the lender protections, so long as they comply with all of the CFPB guidelines. Lenders who make loans that are outside of the QM guidelines lose protection against the borrower suing them on the basis that the loan they obtained was unfair.

However, these new guidelines may make mortgages harder for borrowers to obtain and that…