30-year FRM hits record low at 3.66% Short-term mortgage rates to remain unchanged, according to 50% of experts polled by Bankrate.com. Experts who account 17% of the poll foresee further drops, while the remaining 37% predicts an increase. The average U.S. loan interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to a record low for the 7th time in just 8 weeks. Cheap mortgages take the credit for the modest recovery of the unstable housing market. Freddie Mac disclosed that the average interest rate on a 30-year loan dropped to 3.66% from its previous rate of 3.71%. This is the lowest interest rate since the long-term mortgages began back in the 1950s. Meanwhile, the average interest rate for a 15-year mortgage declined to 2.95% from its previous rate of 2.98%. The current rate i... 08/03/2012

Foreclosure review deadline, extended Foreclosed homeowners who think they may have been victims of unfair foreclosure process between the years 2009 and 2010 have two more months to ask the federal government to review the proceedings. The Independent Foreclosure Review intends to determine whether individual homeowners suffered financial harm and should receive compensation or other remedy because of errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies that may have occurred during their home foreclosure process. Request for review have been extended to September 30, 2012. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) emphasized that ex-homeowners who believe that they have been financially injured due to th... 08/03/2012

REO agents under investigation for AG settlement Real estate agents washed their hands clean from the problems that led to the $25 billion “robo-signing” settlement with the nation’s Attorneys General—but it doesn’t mean that they will not be affected with the issue in any way. Within the grounds of legal agreement, mortgage servicers are required to justify their payments to external firms that handle everything from documentation to asset management which includes REO brokers and agents who handle the listings. Real Estate Owned specialists are paid to conduct inspections, provide broker-priced opinions (BPOs), and handle trash-outs and other services. However, the settlement clearly states that these providers should not be paid if they encourage undue haste or lack of due diligence ... 08/03/2012

Pressing for insurance change, Florida lawmakers The lack of progress on Florida property insurance issues disappoints a pair of key legislators, which prompts them to prepare for another push when the matters calm down this November. Rep. Bryan Nelson, R-Apopka, and Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, chairmen of their respective chambers’ insurance committees released a three-part position paper that highlights the hidden risks all insurance policyholders face in the event of a devastating storm. Even if the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (CAT) and the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. are in their best financial shape in years, the pair argues that the programs’ relative health conceals their vulnerability and the risks it could yield to its policyholders. Despite general agreement t... 08/03/2012

My Gainesville Home Need Repairs, Can I still Short Sale? Gainesville FL- The answer is YES. Repairs do not hinder you from short selling your Gainesville home. It may be an issue to some realtors, but it should depend on how badly it needs repairs. The fact is, it will not be a big deal to your lender since they will have to sell the home. If your short sale transaction becomes positive, then it will sale as a short sale. If not, then as a foreclosed home. Either way, it will sell. Repairs involve some cash too, so be considerate that it should be congruent to its fair market price. There are buyers who are willing to make the repairs themselves. Others would love to occupy the soonest possible and may decline the hassles of making repairs. Thus, this is less attractive to potential bu... 08/03/2012

3 mistakes to avoid when short selling your Gainesville home Gainesville FL- Short sale is a very complex process. It is quite confusing to those who are unfamiliar with its dos and don’ts. Many people have a hard time understanding short sale-- and there are even agents who lack the necessary knowledge and skills to handle short sale transactions. As given, you will want a successful short sale and to do this, your first priority should be looking for an experienced short sale agent. These agents know exactly how to prevent short sale missteps, and the necessary steps involved with the whole short sale process. The experience they earned will serve as a guide toward a successful Gainesville home short sale. So Mistake No. 1 is hiring an agent with zero experience. But it’s not good to ... 08/03/2012

It’s time to get our brain and budgets in gear for Back-To-School 2012, and take advantage of our Florida Sales Tax Holiday this weekend.  Starting at 12:01 am Friday, August 3rd. No sales tax will be collected on many items for your back-to school shopping. Here in Alachua County, that’s a savings of 6.0% to help with your household budget this season. WHEN:   12:01 am Friday August 3rd through 11:59 pm on Sunday August 5th Tax Exemptions:  Clothing, Footwear, and certain accessories selling for $75 or less, or certain school supplies for $ 15 or less. School Supplies: Pencils, pens, crayons, erasers, filler paper, legal pads, binders, notebooks, construction paper, folders, markers, poster board, composition books, tape, glue, paste, scissors, compass, protractors, calculators, comput... 08/02/2012

Gainesville Florida Single Family Homes Sold Market Report – June  2012 Here are the statistics for Gainesville Florida single family homes real estate market for the  April, May and June 2012. This chart below shows you the number of CLOSED SALES for the months of  April 2012 , May 2012 and June 2012.   Also the relationship of (DOM) the average days on the market for those sales, and the current PENDING SALES. This chart below provides a graph as the number of ACTIVE LISTINGS in the Gainesville Florida Multiple Listing Service for this same three month period.  We have an increase in the total active listings, which coincides with the peak of our summer selling season.   Pending Sales are on a steady increase as the buyers are active and finding the homes they want.  This is our Gaine... 07/24/2012

Here is the Gainesville Fl Condominium Market Report  for June 2012 that shows (3) Month Statistics on the Gainesville Florida Condominium & Townhouse Market.   These charts reflects the April, May and June 2012 data of units sold.  This data is compiled from the Gainesville Multiple Listing Service. This first chart below shows the total number of active listings in the MLS and how that compares to the number of pending sales, and the closed sales for each month.   You will see that our inventory of active listings has gone down, and shows a higher number of pending contract.  The month of June shows 68 closed sales, which is up from the month of May.   The current inventory is ready for Gainesville's Summer  buying season for incoming students. This next chart shows the average days o... 07/24/2012

With advances in technology, decreased component costs, more experience with building designers and contractors......the guidelines for meeting the Energy Star certification change over time. Version 3 of the EPA Energy Star guidelines have just gone in to affect as of 7/1/12. According to V3 guidelines each ENERGY STAR certified new home is independently verified to be at least 15% more energy efficient (i.e. a HERS rating of 85 or better) than a home built to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), and features additional measures that deliver a total energy efficiency improvement of up to 30 percent compared to a typical new home. In the state of Florida alone there were 6,987 Energy Star certified homes built in 2011. Energy Star certified homes built in 2011 are the... 07/23/2012

Gainesville Short Sale Cost Gainesville FL- If you think your life would be most livable without worrying for mortgage dues per month, then a short sale might just be the kind of rescue you needed to get rid of a home you can no longer afford. You might have been considering short sale for a long time but is not sure how to get started-- how the process works, the legal requirements needed, and most of all, how much it will cost you to short sell. The answer is plain and simple-- short sale will not cost you anything. If it does, then only to a minimal amount. Nevertheless, there are no costs or fees required for a short sale in majority of cases. Please be informed however, that short sale does not come without some sort of cash involvement. Most of the money associated with short sale... 07/21/2012

The acronym H.E.R.S. is now being seen with increasing frequency. It stands for Home Energy Rating System. The Gainesville Alachua County Association of Realtors is now including the ability to record the H.E.R.S. index (now recognized by the Department of Energy) as well as virtually all other modern GREEN features for a residential dwelling in the Multiple Listing System (MLS) as it directly relates to the efficiency of the dwelling. Efficiency relates to performance and performance relates to cost of ownership and indoor environmental quality and it all relates to value. In a recent Gainesville Sun article (read it HERE) there was reference to and an abbreviated explanation of H.E.R.S. that likened it to the fuel efficiency of an automobile in miles per gallon. I would like to elabo... 07/18/2012

I thought long and hard before deciding to dedicate myself to doing something like writing (and maintaining) a blog. To do it right requires an investment of my time and consistency. To do it right is a dedication to you, the viewer and consumer of the information. As a senior Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish Realtors I am a GREEN Designated REALTOR® with an emphasis on sustainability and all that entails. As you learn more about it my guess is that it will garner more of your attention as well.  The benefits of doing a blog these days are many fold as more and more people have become accustomed to the internet as a rich information source. I will do my best and you, in turn, can help with the process by rating and sharing these postings if you find them interesting a... 07/17/2012

It is of much importance to have a comprehensive understanding on the short sale process. So if you are an investor, listing agent, homeowner, or the buyer’s agent, make sure you are knowledgeable in every detail of the process, this ensures the transaction is well facilitated. Always make it a point that you are able to explain the process precisely to the homeowner and buyer. It is one of your duties to keep them updated regularly. If you are a listing agent, you are definitely working in the best interest of your client—the seller. At some point, you may have to do some training, coaching, and negotiating with the buyer and the buyer’s agents. Although as a Gainesville Short Sale Agent it is not my responsibility to coach and train the buyer's agents and their buyers about the short ... 07/16/2012

Once the initial short sale criteria has been established, you should understand that there are many possible outcomes of the short sale. This is the most important thing to emphasize, there are NO guarantees. Both parties will do the best to get the short sale closed, but there are no guarantees that it will happen the way it was planned. As the seller you must be motivated on this. You need to be committed to the process and the possible outcomes of the deal. You control your end of the process and if you are not serious about completing a short sale, it wastes many peoples time. Sellers that want to back out on their part of the deal especially when it comes to signing notes or bringing cash to the closing need to understand up front this may happen. If this is not of interest for th... 07/16/2012

Most of the sellers I have had contact with are good people who fell upon hard times and many of them are embarrassed about the down spiral of their credit. It is unfortunate that many of them have to borrow money or exhaust their savings just to pay their mortgage dues, in hopes to postpone the inevitable and most undesirable circumstance. There are also people who couldn’t care more and just walks away. These are the people who will least likely be qualified for short sales. They just leave the keys and run after they have milked the system for all they can. IMPORTANT TIP: Lenders cannot force homeowners to liquidate their 401Ks or certain retirement accounts but they can turn down a short sale should they see that the assets are too much in their retirement accounts. While the homeow... 07/14/2012

The following are crucial questions that determine the presence of a financial hardship: 1. Why do you need to short sale? 2. Did you try to get a loan modification from your lender? If yes, how did it go? 3. Why was your loan modification turned down? 4. Have you tried to work out a deed in lieu? 5. If yes, what was the outcome? 6. If this is your primary residence, how long have you lived there? 7. Do you live in the property at present? 8. What changes did you make since you got the mortgage on this property? 9. What are your financial hardships? 10. Are you current on your mortgage payments? 11. When was your last payment? The information provided on the short sale documents should be consistent with that of the loan modification documents, unless verifiable circumstances have chang... 07/14/2012

Important Tip: Ensure you have made any misrepresentations on your mortgage application for your original note, home equity line or second notes. If they misrepresented their income in any way, it may be considered a mortgage fraud. If they have done this, advise them to refer to their attorney. Do not take fraudulent short sale as it will put you, the agent, and your seller at risk. Lenders will eventually require homeowners to submit proof of financial insufficiency, tax returns and wage information. Fraudulent short sales are rare, but should you be involved in this kind of transaction, make sure to execute a hold harmless agreement. Obtain a draft agreement from your attorney and have the homeowner sign. Passing the hardship test is the very first part of the qualification process. ... 07/14/2012

If you are looking to a Real Estate School in Gainsville Florida to take your online real estate course, you've come to the right place.  Rowlett Real Estate School is a full service real estate school serving Gainsville Florida with Florida State Approved, Fully Accredited Real Estate Courses Online to meet all your license requirements.  It has never been so easy to get a Pre sales associate real estate license in Gainsville Florida.  Rowlett Real Estate School has a passing rate for the Florida State Exam that is unsurpassed by any other Florida Real Estate School provider. check out our website at www.rowlettrealestateschool.com or give Captain Wayne Rowlett a call and he will be happy to help.  Click here for our online coursesFlorida OnlineReal Estate Courses Pre-license Course ..... 07/09/2012

If the short sale is approved, explain the following possible outcomes to the seller: - All liens will be released, in full satisfaction of mortgage with no conditions. - Full satisfaction of mortgage with a small or large amount of contribution from the seller. - Full satisfaction of mortgage with an unsecured promissory note executed between seller and lender, with seller’s cash contribution at closing. - Full satisfaction of mortgage with an unsecured promissory note executed between seller and lender, without cash contribution from any party at closing. - Release of lien with mortgage reporting of less than full pay off. - Release of lien with an unsecured promissory note, with payment less than full reported - Release of lien with default judgment to be paid over time If the homeow... 07/05/2012