Joseph's Blog

Realtor.com launches a Neighborhood Search Tool

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:47:38 -0600

Here's an interesting link. Our Realtor.com president Errol Samuelson talks about the new neighborhood search tool. It maps thousands of neighborhoods across the US. Click HERE to check it out.

Foreclosure Ruling may set a new Legal Precedent

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 16:09:10 -0600

On November 16 U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko (Cleveland, OH) threw the entire mortgage community a curveball. A total of 14 foreclosure cases were brought into his courtroom, not an uncommon practice these days. He responded by dismissing every one. What was the reasoning?

The judge maintains that the seizure of property through foreclosure must be initiated by the owners of the property. These properties were held as mortgage debt in securities and the cases were begin brought "on behalf" of the mortgage investors. These particular actions were represented by Deutsche Bank National Trust Company.

The ramifications of this case will be interesting to watch as Florida and California are the current leaders in the Real Estate foreclosure market.

Tools for Protecting Your Credit

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:33:59 -0600

Depending on your real estate time horizon you will want to consider the option you have to foil credit thieves. You won't hear much about it from anyone who wants to lend you money, but you have some pretty cool new weapons available to protect your identity and your good credit.

Credit freezes allow you to lock down your information. Once you lock it down you will receive a "code" with which you can thaw your credit in the event you need to apply for credit. The big three credit companies are now all participating.

Equifax

TransUnion

Experian

LifeLock

If the idea of freezing your credit is too severe consider Lifelock. This company protects you by setting credit alerts on your account with the credit bureaus and prompt them every 90 days to keep it current. They will work to remove your name from pre-approved credit card lists and order free reports for you each year. Let's say all someone still manages to get your information. They say that they'll do "whatever it takes" to get your identity repaired.

Real Estate Market Report for Brevard County

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:33:08 -0600

The Melbourne Area Association of Realtors keeps statistics on the Real Estate market by tracking property movement on the Multiple Listing Services (MLS). The numbers may surprise you. Melbourne Area and Space Coast Area of Realtors share the same MLS. These stats cover Brevard County, Florida communities including (but not limited to) Palm Bay, Melbourne, Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, Indian Harbor Beach, Merritt Island, Satellite Beach, Viera, Rockledge, Cocoa, Port St. John, Cocoa Beach, Titusville and Mims.

Average Sales Price for residential homes was $246,518 in Sep 06. Since then the market has adjusted the average price to $233,935 or 5.1% drop.

Average Sales Prices for Condos was $269,547 in Sep 06. A year later (Sep 07) the average price is $282,085.

You won't hear these numbers trumpeted in the media but facts are facts. In terms of volume, Sep 06 showed 394 residential home sales as opposed to 249 home sales in Sep 07 and 364 in Oct 07.

What's going on with the Tax Cut Bill?

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:32:02 -0600

The ink in on the paper and it's time for us to vote. Taxes and insurance are major factor affecting the Real Estate market as well as the public's decision to buy or sell homes or condos. Today, Gov. Christ signed the new tax cut bill which will make the proposed cuts (approved by the House and the Senate on 10/29) law pending the approval of the citizens of Florida. This bill does not do everything we'd like to see happen but it certainly does provide the tax-payer some relief.

So what's the skinny on this law? There are four basic provisions.

The homestead exemption is to be increased (school district taxes excluded)
Owner of homestead properties may transfer up to $500k of their "Save-Our-Homes" benefits to their next homestead property.
The transfer above included a $25,000 exepmtion for tangible personal property
The law also provides some relief to non-homesteaded real property with caps on increases

For the long version, here's the offical Tax Ballot Summary.

Voters will be able to express their opinion on January 29th primaries for the Presidential Election. You'll want to keep a eye on your county or municipal taxes. It would be very convenient for these taxes to raise enough to offset the gains we receive from this new law.

For additional information on Proposed Amendments visit VoteSmartFlorida.org.