Lakeland Short Sales

Lakeland FL Foreclosure and Short Sale Market Report – January 2010

The foreclosure and short sale market has affected all of us here in Lakeland, Florida with the ever decreasing home values in most neighborhoods if not all neighborhoods in our city.  High unemployment rates, influx in foreclosed properties for the foreseeable future and shadow inventory that has yet to hit the real estate market.  Therefore highlighting the Lakeland foreclosures and short sale market for sellers, home buyers and investors is very important in determining their options whether buying or selling.

Starting with this month Lakeland Florida Short Sale and Foreclosure market report, the distressed market report will have its own report.

For the month of January, Lakeland’s real estate market of short sales and bank-owned (REO) properties had a market share of 60%. There were a total of 88 properties sold in January compared to 60 distressed Lakeland homes sold the year prior, according to Mid-Florida Regional MLS.

Currently there are a total of 1,910 Lakeland homes for sale and 498 Lakeland homes under contract (02/18/2010). By calculating total inventory, homes that are under contract because these properties have not closed is included in my inventory share.

• Bank owned properties – Inventory share is 12.17%
• Short sale properties – Inventory share is 25.42%

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

• Average days on market (DOM) for bank-owned properties are 45 days
• Average days to contract for other distressed properties are 136 days.

25 Distressed Homes Sold – average sold price $146,724 – median sold price $139,900

63 Bank-owned (REO) sold – average sold price $88,319 – median sold price $81,000

Distressed sales are scattered in all parts of Lakeland Florida as you can see from this graph below.

If you are interested in Lakeland Foreclosures and Short Sales, feel free to contact me at petra@petranorris.com or click the search button below.

Mortgage Mess Continues – Sweetheart Deal FDIC – Indymac/OneWest Bank

Recently details of a “Sweetheart Deal” came to light as FDIC Sale of Indymac/OneWest Bank assets.

Our voices of the Real Estate industries has to be heard.  It is sad when deals are being made to the expenses of taxpayers and homeowners who face short sales, foreclosures and are in the midst of getting the impossible – loan modification.

Check out this video by clicking on this link to see for yourself

Stop your Lakeland Short Sale Buyers from Cancelling Contracts

Tips for Lakeland Short Sale Sellers on how to stop Buyers from this contract cancel epidemic.

More than ever before Lakeland Short Sales likely will be a part of the Lakeland real estate market for years to come.   One of the major obstacles for a short sale to reach a successful closing, the seller’s lender must approve the short sale.  Before it would get to that point the negotiation is only between the seller and the buyer and their real estate agents. I have and have read that Short Sale Buyers walking on more than one occasion, the major reasons for this the buyers are not committed, uninformed of the short sale process or simply are in fact false buyers.

The Effective Date dictates the timeline of the contract for sale and purchase. An Effective Date occurs when the last one of the buyers and sellers has signed or initialed the offer or the final counteroffer. In a traditional sale, at the time of the effective date or within days of the effective date, the buyer is required to make a reasonable good faith deposit, follow up with a timely inspection and meeting financing contingency as stated in the contract.  This can also be achieved when there is a Lakeland Short Sale.

There are measures to keep Buyers from walking away during a Lakeland Short Sale:

• Buyer must be committed to a longer waiting period – at least six months
• Buyer must have pre approval letter from a reputable lender
• Buyer must make good faith deposit upon acceptance of contract
• Buyer must make timely inspection after effective date

Sellers should not accept any offers because they are desperate. The offer must be at fair market value which is determined by an experienced real estate agent who is knowledgeable of the short sale process. Banks don’t want to foreclose, it costs them more than a short sale but they are not willing to approve a Short Sale contract with an unrealistic purchase price.

Lakeland Foreclosure Epidemic may be saved by Short Sale Remedy

With Polk County’s unemployment rates, this foreclosure epidemic is going to continue and it may even grow. Lakeland Short Sales are at an all time high, there are currently over 400 Lakeland homes for sale that are short sales.

The jobless rate in Polk County is at an all time high since 1992 – 13.6%

The jobless rate in Lakeland-Winter Haven for September is recorded at 12.7%

If you are in a situation where you can’t no longer afford to make your mortgage payments because of job loss, divorce, health, or other hardship; a short sale would be your best remedy to save your home from foreclosure and salvage some of your credit.

I’m a member of over 400 real estate agents and growing at Short Sale Superstars, who are committed to help sellers and buyers with short sales in Florida and across the America. Short sales can be difficult at times and this is why this group of professionals is so helpful not only to us real estate agents, but for you, especially. I would say that we are a Short Sale Agent support group, helping each other, solving uncommon issues for our clients, making suggestions that can only help you the seller or buyer. We are not complainers – we are solvers, here to help you.

There is information about lenders, such as Bank of America aka Countrywide, Wachovia, SunTrust, Wells Fargo, Saxon, and Chase just to name a view. This is a place where agents help, inform and reach out to consumer by providing valuable information to make a short sale a success.

There are over 1,000 Lis Pendens filed within the city of Lakeland Florida alone. Since September 1, 2009, 143 Lis Pendens were filed with the Polk County Clerk of Courts for properties that are located in Lakeland – a city with a population of an estimated 97,000 people.

What is a Lis Pendens?

In essence, a formal notice is filed on behalf of the lender, who holds the note on your mortgage. It is considered a lawsuit; however, the homeowner still has possession and the right to sell the property. Short sales can be your best remedy to a foreclosure.

Give me a call at (863) 619-6918 or email me at petra@petranorris.com to arrange for a confidential consultation – I’m here to help.

Added MLS search feature for “Short Sale” and “Bank Owned” homes in Lakeland Florida

Recently, our Mid Florida Regional MLS added this feature when searching for Lakeland real estate that is being categorized as “short sale” and “bank owned”. Surely, it is great feature to have now in how we Realtors® search for our clients in the MLS.

Often times, I get calls from clients and consumer wanting to buy short sales and bank owned homes and I would have to search the remarks sections to see if the listing agents included such category. Now that short sale and bank owned is a new search field, we are able to better serve our clients by getting the data quickly.

Having this added feature will make your search simple and easy. However, if you are looking for a short sale or foreclosure make sure you are working with a Realtor that understands the entire process. The Lakeland real estate market and the real estate market throughout Polk County have many great opportunities for buyers to purchase a short sale or a bank owned property. However, you must be patient – short sales can take from just three month to a very long time to close.

Here is a list of short sales and foreclosures in the Lakeland Florida area. Since this feature has been added just recently, I am sure some of the Lakeland homes have not been updated. If you need help or want me to send you a list for a particular area, just give me a call or email and I’ll send them your way.

Beware of Lakeland Florida Real Estate Foreclosure Scam Artists

First of all, I am not an attorney and therefore this blog is for your information only. If you are facing foreclosure for your Lakeland real estate, beware that foreclosure scam artists preying on you. It is important that you seek an attorney, who specializes in foreclosure.

What is Foreclosure?

Foreclosure is an action by the lender to take back your property. If you have been served with a foreclosure complaint, in the State of Florida you and/or your attorney have 20 days to respond to this notice. It is critical that you hire an attorney, who specializes in foreclosure. You still have the right to fight foreclosure, however hiring an attorney is essential. There are steps you can take when you cannot make or have already fallen behind on your mortgage payments.

• Contact your lender immediately
• Work out a prepayment plan with your lender
• Modify your current mortgage by extending the length of your loan
• Piggy back past due amounts
• Short Sale is also an option

Another option would be Forbearance. Your lender may allow you to delay payments for a short period of time, with the understanding that another option will be used afterwards to bring the account current.

Did you know that your foreclosure notices (Lis Pendens) are public record?

This is the most vulnerable time of your life and scam artists just waiting for you to fall for it with all kinds of tricks up their sleeves:

Lease-Back or Repurchase Scams – they simply try to convince you that they will continue paying your mortgage and renting the home back to you by signing the deed over to them. You could be out of your home and still be held responsible for your mortgage. Don’t be fooled!

Bait and Switch – posing as mortgage brokers or lenders offering to refinance your loan with affordable rates and payments by con you into signing over home ownership instead of refinance documents. Don’t be fooled!

Phantom Help – charges you high fees upfront for work you as a homeowner could do yourself. Don’t be fooled!

Foreclosure Prevention Specialist – phony counselors, if it is too good to be true turn the other way. Don’t be fooled!

Don’t sign any documents, such as your deed to your home. The Federal Trade Commission’s web site has some valuable information regarding avoiding foreclosure as well as info for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help you spot, stop, and avoid them.

Since October 1, 2008 the Florida Foreclosure Fraud protecting homeowners is in effect.

In 2008, the foreclosure rate increased by 133% from 2007, an estimated 385,000 Florida homes facing foreclosures in the state of Florida. Unfortunately, this is heaven for scam artists and criminals a niche market by defrauding homeowners making false promises to save homeowners from foreclosure.

Foreclosure rescue consultants and/or equity buyers are prohibited from starting services without first executing a written agreement with you, the homeowner, and charging upfront fees before completing or performing all services as agreed. There are further protections with regard to cancellation of such agreement, and other prohibited acts of offering or providing foreclosure related services you should read in this bill.

Loan Modification – Homeowners credit ratings take a hit

You would think that Homeowners throughout this country and even here in Lakeland, FL these days getting loan modification approved, would make them a happy camper by keeping their homes. I thought so too until I read the article here that I want to share with you.

“Unfortunately, the “Big Three” credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – have issued new guidelines that allow lenders to report new mortgage loan modifications as “partial payment status,” a designation that could lower an individual’s credit score by more than 50 points.”

In my opinion, this is the most ridiculous guideline I’ve read, while wondering what are they going to do next. What impact does it have for your future credit buying and what about the credit cards you already have?  I’m sure you will be penalized by an increase in their annual percentage rate as well. What a shame!

Is it worth doing a loan modification now or should I go with a short sale instead and be done with it?

Lenders are more apt to approve Short Sales for Lakeland Real Estate

Foreclosing on your home is not cheap for the lender and with bank-owned inventory on the rise in the Lakeland real estate market in and around Polk County, FL.  Banks are more inclined to encourage short sales.  First of all, it is very time consuming from the start of a foreclosure to finish, which can take more than a year and the cost of foreclosure is far below their net from taking back to property, maintaining and managing the property.

It is all about the lender’s bottom line!

Banks are also encouraging short sales when there is a 2^nd mortgage or a home equity line of credit with different lenders. It may complicate matters more but both lenders have to be in agreement to facilitate and close a Lakeland short sale. The second lien holder will not allow a zero dollar amount and the first lien holder offers very little to the second lien holder, which may require you to owe a note and pay for some of the loss.

Depending on your situation, the lender may only ask you for a small amount of the deficiency to be paid back and the terms are mostly very favorable. Please take that into consideration when evaluating your situation before, now and after.

Foreclosure should never be your first step solving your crisis.  A loan modification may have helped you short term and now you are perhaps in the same position again having difficulties or are behind on your mortgage payments.   Call me at (863) 619-6918 today for a confidential consultation to do a Lakeland Short Sale or email me directly Petra.Norris@servinglakelandfl.com

Having a hard time making your Mortgage Payment?

The very first thing you should do when experiencing difficulty making mortgage payments is to contact your lender immediately should you want to keep your Lakeland home and before asking a Lakeland Real estate agent about a Lakeland Short Sale.  The longer you wait and ignore the fact you are in financial distress the less favorable your lender may work out an option. Depending on your lender and your circumstances, solutions that may help you getting back on track:

• Extending your length of the loan,  thereby reducing to lower payments
• Reduce Interest Rate on Mortgage
• Suspend mortgage payments temporarily
• Missed payments to be piggy-backed on your current loan
• Reducing your current loan amount

Valuable Credit, Foreclosure and Legal Resources to you:

• National Foundation for Credit Counseling 1-800-388-2227
• Making Home Affordable Program see if you can qualify
• Homeownership Preservation Foundation 1-888-995-HOPE
• HUD Approved Housing Counselor Agencies
• with Offices located in Tampa and Orlando
• Department of Veteran Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg, Florida
• Free Florida legal aid – Florida Attorneys team up together to help Floridians facing foreclosure – toll-free hot line (866-607-2187) taking calls from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m

If you have all your option exhausted and facing foreclosure, please give me a call at (863) 619-6918 for a confidential consultation – a Lakeland Short Sale may be your answer after all.

How do I Market my Lakeland Short Sales

Sellers facing foreclosure or trying to get their lender approve their Lakeland short sale deserve the same marketing exposure as regular Lakeland Real Estate for sale. Just because there is a for sale sign in the yard and yes,  the home is listed in the Multiple Listing – is this really serving my clients. NO, and here is why!

There are hundreds of Lakeland Short Sale homes for sale. Foreclosure filings are up and when I talk to potential clients, they are in dire need of assistance.

When I’m hired as your Listing Agent handling your Lakeland Short Sale, time is of the essence. The lenders may have filed already a Lis-Pendens, which puts the property already in a pre-foreclosure status.

Pricing your home is the most crucial step to marketing and selling – the comparative market analysis that I will provide is comprehensive and more emphasis is given to recent sales comparables similar to your home that are in distress as well as condition. My price suggestions are based on facts and statistics. Competitive pricing will generate more showings and a faster offer.

Multiple Listing Service (MLS) – Listing your Lakeland Short Sale in the MLS has all the information it requires plus a whole lot more. From the maximum pictures it can hold, to detailed information about room sizes, school information and style to elaborate description of your home that will entice a prospective buyer. Sellers deserve the Best when it comes selling their home. Likewise, Buyers deserve the Best information true to the home they want to make it their own.

Marketing Short Sales – My Lakeland Short Sale properties have the same marketing exposure as if it would be a regular Lakeland Home for Sale. From virtual tours to blogging, direct mailing, flyers and the magnitude of web sites available to me – all of them will get your Lakeland Short Sale the exposure it deserves.

Communicating with my sellers is one of my top priorities. Handling a short sale on my seller’s behalf requires discipline, negotiation skills, time management, problem solving skills and patience with all parties involved in a Lakeland Short Sale.

If you are experiencing hardship or facing foreclosure, please contact Petra Norris at (863) 619-6918 for a confidential consultation. You may be qualified to do a short sale and save your Lakeland home from foreclosure.

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