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Buyer Beware – Homeowner Beware – Deed Retrieval Service Mislead Many Homeowners

July 13, 2010 by Petra Norris · Leave a Comment 

Buyer Beware – Homeowner Beware – Deed Retrieval Service Mislead Many Homeowners

Last week I received an email from my client who recently purchased her Lakeland FL home inquiring about her Deed.  She wrote the following:

Petra,

I have a question for you.  I’m wondering about how long it takes to receive the deed for the house, and where it will come from.  Last week I received something in the mail that seemed suspicious to me.  It says it’s from the ”State Record Retrieval Board” and is from California.  It says to receive a copy of my own deed I need to send them $87.  This just doesn’t seem normal to me, so I thought I’d ask you.

Thanks,
Sandy

I’m glad she asked. There are homeowners who may think that is letter was sent by a government agency and quite honestly I thought the same thing when I glanced at this letter first.

I responded to Sandy, that this seems very suspicious and it was not necessary to send them any money because she had already paid ($10.00) to Polk County FL for the recording of the deed when she closed on the house.

While this letter does state at the bottom – “This is not a bill.  This is a solicitation” – it is truly misleading to many new homeowners and it is borderline scam.

Homeowners! If you happen to receive such a letter, do not pay $87.00.  You can obtain a copy of the recorded deed by going to the Clerk of Courts office and pay as little as $10.00.

My client was kind enough to send me the letter and I have included this letter so you can see what it looks like.

Deed Solicitation

Lakeland FL Real Estate Update for June 01 – June 15, 2010

July 13, 2010 by Petra Norris · Leave a Comment 

Hi folks! A quick update for the Lakeland real estate market that were newly listed from June 1st through June 15, 2010.  A total of 181 Lakeland FL homes for sale were recently listed with area Realtors® with an average listing price of $169,235, a increase of about 12% in list price from my previous report.

The types of homes and average prices for sale in Lakeland, Florida according to the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) are as follows:

2 duplex listed with an average sales price of $93,650
9 condos listed with an average sales price of $69,933
16 mobile homes listed with a median sales price of $65,450
7 townhomes/villas listed with an average sales price of $84,429
146 single family homes with an average sales price of $186,591

Lakeland’s newest homes listed! The priciest home listed for this time period is a 2003 custom built Hulbert Homes 5 bedroom 6 baths home with over 5,240 square feet of living space.  The home is situated in the Lone Palm Golfing Community and is offered at $895,000.  On the contrary, the cheapest Lakeland home listed for this time period is a 2 bedroom 1 baths mobile home – bank owned property – in the Blacks Resub neighborhood.  It is offered at $24,900, just over $43.00 per square foot.

All data for this report was obtained from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, it is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.  This report does not include “For Sale By Owner”.

Take a look at the breakdown by zip code:
33801 – 14 with an average sales price of $70,889
33803 – 26 with an average sales price of $157,333
33805 – 10 with an average sales price of $108,730
33809 – 22 with an average sales price of $177,173
33810 – 38 with an average sales price of $159,481
33811 – 14 with an average sales price of $140,549
33812 – 15 with an average sales price of $177,233
33813 – 38 with an average sales price of $231,111
33815 – 04 with an average sales price of $273,675

There were 75 Lakeland property newly listed in the distressed category of short sales and bank owned with an average price of $121,198 or $65.97 per square foot.

Check back soon for my Lakeland Fl Real Estate Update for June 16 – June 30, 2010

Real Estate News Alert – Homebuyer Tax Credit and National Flood Insurance

July 1, 2010 by Petra Norris · Leave a Comment 

It has all come down to the wire! Congress voted to extend homebuyers tax credit and national flood insurance.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Bill HR 5623 – The closing date of the previous stated closing deadline by June 30, 2010 has been extended through September 30, 2010. This extension will help homebuyers who signed purchase contracts before April 30, 2010 and are waiting for the property owner’s lender for approval.  According to the National Association of Realtors, it will benefit more than 14, 000 contracts in Florida.

Active Duty Military members exception - military families and active-duty servicemembers currently living overseas, deadline is April 30, 2011.

National Flood Insurance Program - Congress extended the bill HR5569 a short-term program retroactive to May 31,2010 until September 30, 2010.

Overall Polk County Existing Home Sales for May 2010

June 30, 2010 by Petra Norris · Leave a Comment 

Polk County’s overall existing home sales continued to improve somewhat in May. However, prices continue to drift downwards blaming it still widely on discounted distressed sales throughout the county from the previous year and the years prior.

A look back in history:

· May 2006 – median price $188,000  (-%50.93)

· May 2007 – median price $184,250 (-%49.93)

· May 2008 – median price $150,000 (-%38.50)

· May 2009 – median price $101,000 (-8.66%)

The graph picture below represents the overall Polk County Real Estate market with average sold prices and the number of sold homes.

Polk County Florida Real Estate Market - May 2010

777 existing homes sold a decrease of 5.13% from the previous month (819 sold homes) in Polk County and an increase in sales activity by 35.84% of overall existing homes sold from the previous year of 572.

A slight increase by 1.37% in overall Polk’s median price for existing homes from the previous month to $92,250, the median home price from the previous year is showing a decline by 8.66%.

Take a look at the city you live in and see what the numbers are for May 2010 for existing home salessingle-family homes, condominiums, manufactured homes, duplex, villas, and townhomes -including distressed properties in Polk County. Please take note only sales recorded by Realtors® are taken into account. The source for this data is Mid-Florida Regional MLS Service; it is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

City Average Sold Price Median Sold Price           # of Homes Sold

AUBURNDALE

79,985

72,000

27

BABSON PARK

126,335

79,900

5

BARTOW

78,507

56,875

26

CLERMONT

50,050

48,000

4

DAVENPORT

117,519

110,000

153

DUNDEE

60,220

71,200

5

EAGLE LAKE

86,850

75,000

4

FORT MEADE

69,450

69,450

2

FROSTPROOF

67,333

40,000

3

HAINES CITY

91,256

94,000

47

HOMELAND

120,000

120,000

1

INDIAN LAKE ESTATES

105,250

105,250

2

KATHLEEN

135,000

135,000

1

KISSIMMEE

90,360

76,900

20

LAKE ALFRED

96,333

65,750

6

LAKE WALES

85,155

65,000

29

LAKELAND

121,525

106,500

220

LOUGHMAN

26,000

26,000

1

MULBERRY

121,579

128,388

20

POINCIANA

90,349

70,500

85

POLK CITY

112,216

65,556

10

WINTER HAVEN

107,749

97,000

106

Let me break down May 2010 Polk County existing homes sales into various categories:

· 700 Single family homes, townhomes, villas and ½ duplex – median sold price $112,337 –  142 Average Days to Closing

· 31 Condominiums – median sold price – $59,935 – 155 Average Days on Closing

· 46 Modular, manufactured/mobile homes in park/out of park – median sold price $55,097 –  166 Average Days on Closing

Let’s take a look at the distressed Polk County real estate market!

There were 289 existing Polk County homes sold, not categorized as distressed properties, at a median sold price of $120,000 with 174 average days to closing, which counted for almost 37% of our total sales. The distressed properties however; which includes Bank owned, pre-foreclosure, in foreclosure and short sales counted for 63% of our total sales in Polk County for the month of May.

· 377 sold homes were Bank Owned – median price $77,500Average Days to Closing 85

· 111 sold homes were Short Sales – median price $90,000Average Days to Closing 270


Lakeland FL Short Sale and Foreclosure Housing Report – May 2010

June 21, 2010 by Petra Norris · 1 Comment 

Lakeland Florida Short Sale and Foreclosure Market Report – May 2010

For the month of May, Lakeland real estate market of short sales and bank-owned (REO) properties had a market share of 57%. There were a total of 127 properties sold in May, compared to 148 in April and 61 distressed Lakeland homes sold the year prior, according to Mid-Florida Regional MLS.

Currently there are a total of 1,940 Lakeland homes for sale and 514 Lakeland homes under contract (06/21/2010). By calculating total inventory, homes that are under contract which are included in my inventory share because these properties have not closed in which a buyer could walk away at any given time.

Bank owned properties – Inventory share is 14.10%

Short sale properties – Inventory share is 26.20%

The Graph below compares sold homes in all categories – Traditional Sales (None Distressed), Bank Owned Properties (REO) and Lakeland Short Sales

Average days to Closing for bank-owned properties are 87 days

Average days to Closing for other distressed properties are 307 days.

29 Short Sale Sold – average sold price $124,514 – median sold price $120,000 98 Bank-owned (REO) sold – average sold price $93,310 – median sold price $82,700

Looking for a great deal on Lakeland Short Sales and Lakeland foreclosures, feel free to contact me at petra@petranorris.com or click the search button below.

Search for Lakeland Foreclosure & Short Sales

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