As I watch the weather report wondering if our town of Coral Springs Florida will be spared from Hurricane Ike moving towards us from the East, I think of of the interactions that occur between Hurricanes and Human Beings and the resulting display of human nature.

I've been through a few Hurricanes here in South Florida and it's truly incredible what can happen to the human spirit after a storm hits leaving devastation. Within neighborhoods spanning across the city of Coral Springs you'll find neighbors helping neighbors. The storms have taken away our power for days on end and we find ourselves in the streets helping neighbors clear up fallen debris and trees, sharing stories of the storm and finding out about the lives of our neighbors. You'll find neighbors cooking up their once refrigerated meats on the grill inviting neighbors to share in the feast. There is such a sense of kindness and you really now have the opportunity to get to know your neighbor because without electricity there are no computers (no blogging - yikes!), no television, no radio, basically nothing to distract you other than a good book or early to bed. Then, like a FLASH IT'S GONE. We go inside, turn on air, the computer, the television, the lights and we're back to being trapped in our homes not even knowing that a new neighbor just moved in down the street.

Why is this, do you think? What is it about human nature that allows us show such kindness one day and the next day we seem to have lost our way.  Technology is a great thing, but see how we're missing out on getting to know the neighbors.  I guess it could be worse and when a disaster hit neighbors didn't come together. So with disasters, good can come from it in the most unexpected ways. This is just one of the many reasons why living in the United States of America is the greatest place on planet Earth and -

 

Coral Springs Florida is a pretty fantastic place to call home too! 

 

 The more you know, the better prepared, the better the outcome. Got something that you'd like addressed, let me know.

I serve Coral Springs and the surrounding cities such as Coconut Creek, Parkland and Sunrise in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach County of South Florida as your dedicated Realtor ready to work for you. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Call me at 954-464-1100 or email me at: lynnp@ImagineYourHouse.com  

 

We know that Short Sales aren't an easy task to accomplish. Yet, in the end when you make it to the closing as I did did yesterday and you hear the joy and relief from your Sellers, there really is nothing like it. Especially when they send you a testimonial expressing their gratitude and you're moved to tears. I was blessed by my experience.

The approval from Wells Fargo took about 78 days to receive with a 1st and 2nd mortgage on the home. This wasn't necessarily a typical Short Sale as these Sellers at the onset weren't late on their payments. The Short Sale package had been submitted with typical beginning delays until a negotiator was assigned. Once assigned, communication was regular with me knowing that constant follow up was necessary.  No, they didn't always answer my call or my email the first time, however, they would soon reply when they had an update. Their responses were professional and courteous as I treated them the same. I look forward to continuing negotiations on other short sales that I have with Wells Fargo.

• The home was Listed for $288,000.
• The offer accepted was for $270,100
• The BPO was for $285,000.
• Net to 1st was $245,032.80.
• A pretty typicall net to Lenders of over 85% of BPO value.

• The only snag at the end was when the Florida Dept of Revenue enforced their current decisions on collecting documentary stamps on the Mortgage Balance. I tried to go back to the Lender to pay the difference, yet they wouldn't budge and the Seller had to come to closing paying just over $100; could have been worse.

So who keeps saying that Short Sales aren't good and that Buyers should stay away from them? As long as you maintain constant communication with the Buyer's Agent letting them know what is happening along the way and they relay it to the Buyer, nobody is in the dark and they feel that they're part of the process.  You have a Seller who STOPPED FORECLOSURE, a Buyer who purchased a HOME ON SALE (below market value) Realtors who earned a living and felt real good about how they helped people in need. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ANY OF THIS? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! It's a Great Day in South Florida and I feel good!

 

 The more you know, the better prepared, the better the outcome. Got something that you'd like addressed, let me know.

I serve Coral Springs and the surrounding cities such as Coconut Creek, Parkland and Sunrise in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach County of South Florida as your dedicated Realtor ready to work for you. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Call me at 954-464-1100 or email me at: lynnp@ImagineYourHouse.com  

 

Your home has been on the market for sale as a Short Sale for a while now. In the last chapter we discussed Selling your Home as a Short Sale. You've had some steady showings and are anxiously awaiting for an offer as you continue to miss your mortgage payments. Another busy day has passed you're sitting at the kithen table and your phone rings; it's your Realtor...she informs that an offer has come in on your home. Finally! WOO HOO!... now what?

1.  Remember all the documentation that your Realtor asked you to gather: hardship letter, paystubs, bank statements, tax returns, income & expense statement, etc ? These will be used to support other documentation put together by your Realtor to have the facts to present to your Lender to approve the sales offer. 

2.  Along with your financial documents, your Realtor, knowledgeable and effective in the Short Sale process, will put together a analysis of your home and its market area that will support the offer price. This analysis could include; other recent homes sold within your area and the prices paid by Buyers, the current inventory of homes for sale, the length of time your your home has been on the market, how long have homes been on the market in your area, the rate in which homes are in foreclosure in your area, the location & condition of your home, etc.

3.  Included with the sales offer will be the oh so essential and accurate Preliminary HUD. Why would a Lender want to see this, you might ask? The Preliminary HUD or settlement statement can make the difference in whether or not the sales offer is approved. Do you have any unpaid property taxes, unpaid homeowner association fees, IRS liens, judgments? If so, these must be known prior to submitting the sales offer to your Lender. This will let your Lender know how much they are going to net from the sale; how much money they will be receiving. If these costs are not included on the Preliminary HUD and you get an approval from your Lender based on this Preliminary HUD only to find out that some past due fee was missed and not included, you might as well forget about trying to get that item paid out of the sale proceeds. But who will pay for it? It will be either you or the Buyer if the sale is to close.

4. Now at this point the success of the closing will weigh heavily on your Realtor as going forward she or he will be doing all of the negotiations with the Lenders's Loss Mitigation department. Their knowledge of short sales, negotiation skills and persistence will affect the outcome:

• Why knowledge of Short Sales? They must know what is required by the Lender. It is vastly different from a tradtional Real Estate transaction.
• Why negotiation skills? Because you Lender will be haggling for every penny and will need reasons supported by documentation and analysis of the market. The Lender is looking out for the Lender and you need someone who is looking out for you.
• Why persistence? Because the Lender is probably dealing with 100's of cases similar to yours and if you don't have someone who is genuinely interested in your well being to avoid foreclosure than your file will remain at the bottom of the pile, getting closer and closer to foreclosure.

Coming soon we'll talk about the intricate details of Loss Mitigation negotiations.

The more you know, the better prepared, the better the outcome.  Stay tuned for the next Chapter addressing Short Sales. Come back soon to see the next released Chapter. 

Got something that you'd like addressed, let me know.

I serve Coral Springs and the surrounding cities such as Coconut Creek, Parkland and Sunrise in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach County of South Florida as your dedicated Realtor ready to work for you. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Call me at 954-464-1100 or email me at: lynnp@ImagineYourHouse.com  

 

 

 

 

What a perfect location; near a brand new shopping and dining plaza with Costco nearby and don't forget your visits to the nearby Metro Zoo. Great opportunity of buy this fabulous townhouse as a Short Sale in Carriage Park of Miami.

This is a first for me but it happened today.

I have a Short Sale listing that I'm negotiating with Ocwen and they've requested that I complete a CMA document in the manner of a BPO. It's good for me as I can present the market statistics that will clearly support my Buyers offering price. I don't have to worry about an out of town Agent completing a BPO in an area that they know nothing about or having a BPO done by an Agent that spends 10 minutes on it.  Sure it's extra work, but I feel it's worth it, if they truly look at the analysis. I'd much rather that they look at an accurate analysis of my Sellers property.

Why are they doing it is what's got me? To save $50? Gosh, who knows. Maybe Ocwen is on to something; realizing that the Listing Agent is most knowledgeable about the property so why not ask them? I'll let you know how it works out.

I haven't had this happen with any other Lender I've dealt with - has anybody else come across this?

 

PRICE REDUCED IN GREAT FAMILY COMMUNITY IN LAUDERHILL - REDUCED TO $196,000

Imagine your opportunity to live in a great family neighborhood of Mayfair at Wyndham Lakes of Coral Springs

Summer has been in full swing as we push on through the hot summer temperatures hoping for an easy hurricane season and enjoy the planned summer vacations of special times with family and friends. The housing market continues to plug its way through some tougher times but like any strong and resilient city, the residents of Coral Springs will strive and survive!

 Changes always seem to be contant and aren't any different here in Coral Springs. This month we've seen quite a significant increase in home sales while the average sales price has declined. Could this again indicate to us that a drop in prices will increase the number of home sales. That would seem to be the case this month. Home Buyers continue to purchase homes at great values. Take a look below to see where the Buyers are moving.

Short Sales and Bank owned (foreclosures) continue to be a prevalent part of the Real Estate Market here in Coral Springs.  Homes continue to average being on the market over 7 months before they're sold.

The following is in comparison to last months:  May 2008 Coral Springs Real Estate Home Sales

Check out what happened to Coral Springs Real Estate sales during June 2008

• 97 homes were sold (quite an increase from last month - good news!)
• The average price was roughly $371,995 (a decrease from last month)
• The prices ranged from $1,500,000 to $171,500
• Homes were on the market approximately 236 days or near 8 months before they sold (an increase from last month)
• Of the homes sold, 9.28% were Short Sales as closing time frames have increased with Short Sales due to the increase in pre foreclosure filings and 18.56% were Bank Owned. Does this indicate that many homeowners are throwing in the towel before they even try to sell their home as a Short Sale to avoid forceclosure? Or are Lenders digging in their heels and reducing the approvals? Or are those not knowledgeable in Short Sales attempting to sell a home as a Short Sale. Perhaps a bit of it all.

What neighborhoods had homes selling:

           Applewood, Broken Woods, Brookside, Butler Farms, Coral Creek, Coral Springs Country Club, Coral Springs University, Coventry Cove, Cypress Glen, Cypress Lakes, Cypress Run, Eagle Trace, Feathertree, Forest Hills, Glenwood, Grand Isle, Grenadier Estates, Heron Bay, Hidden Hammocks, Kensington, LaPlacida Villas, Maplewood, Mariners Cove, Mayfair at Wyndham, North Springs, Pelican Isle and Pelican Trails of Wyndham, Oakwood, Pine Ridge, Ramblewood, Ridgeview Crossing, Royal land, Running Brooks Hills, Shadowwood, Springs Pointe, The Crossings, The Isles, The Springs, Venetian Isles, Vizcaya,West Glen, Westchester, Whispering Woods, Windsor Bay, Woodlake, Wyndham Lakes

(Those neighborhoods in bold had the greater number of homes sold in their communities and the communities of Eagle Trace and Ramblewood had the most of all in Coral Springs - so what does Eagle Trace and Ramblewood have going for it?

Now, what do we still have available and currently for sale in Coral Springs Florida? There are about 1113 single family homes currently for sale here in Coral Springs (a small drop in inventory from last month). Short Sales continue to be active as Buyers are looking for a well priced home and Sellers are looking to avoid foreclosure. Foreclosure filings continue to increase which means we'll continue to see an increase in  Short Sales here in Coral Springs. If you have questions about the Short Sale process, please email me or call me with your questions.

Coral Springs is a fabulous town and it would be my pleasure to help you if your Real Estate needs include selling or buying. I've lived here in Coral Springs since the early 80's and it truly is a wonderful town to live in with so much to offer.

Please note that this data was taken from MLS information and it's accuracy is subject to property record updates and I'm not guaranteeing its accuracy.

 

Be the first to snatch this home that has just received the green light from the Lender on the price as original Buyer gave up waiting.

Sharp, Short Sale in Fairway of Heron Bay of Coral Springs Florida, waiting for you. Living in this townhouse comes with privledges to the three community pools and spas, two exercise gyms, tennis courts, racquetball, bike paths, prestigous golf country club and more!