What the left hand giveth, the right hand taketh away... After the good news that Fannie Mae will no longer treat vacant and foreclosed condos as non-owner occupied comes news of ever more underwriting restrictions. January 15, 2009 is the cutoff date when Fannie Mae toughens its policies on condo properties in the Sunshine state - potentially putting a damper on investors fishing for foreclosures or short sales. In a memo sent to lenders before in December, Fannie Mae said that [...]
HUGE news for would-be condo investors: Fannie Mae has finally changed the rule that has been strangling condo sales. From now on, when new investors apply for financing on a condo unit, no longer will vacant and foreclosed condos be counted as non-owner occupied. Until now, Fannie's long-time policy has been to bar new investor loans in buildings where less than 51 percent of the condos are owned and occupied as principal residences or second homes. Under this rule, many condo communities [...]
"Ok, well keep me posted if you see any good deals." I hear this all the time from would-be buyers on the phone who are stuck in the mud and never quite satisfied with what's on the table. These folk never buy, because they're always wating for something better to come along. "Sure," I say. What I really want to say is: "Are you kidding me? There are 22,000 listings in Orlando right now - half of them foreclosures going for a steal and we take a dozen calls a day. Why don't YOU get back [...]
The battle over No View at The Vue condos (downtown Orlando) continues this week as expected. Highwood wants to build a mixed use condo tower between Lake Eola and the Vue condominium, which, if they have their way, would be tall enough to prevent even top floor residents at The Vue from seeing the lake. Just a few months after the Vue's grand opening Orlando City Council approved the new building in September provided it would not exceed 20-25 stories (thereby only upsetting those owners with[...]
Mirabella residences near Disney are now FHA approved - and they're one of only a few condo conversion developments in the Orlando to have accomplished this. So what exactly does that mean? Here are a few notes from the FHA's FAQ page: FHA-insured loans offer many benefits and a level of security that you won't find in other loans including: Low cost: FHA-insured loans have competitive interest rates because the federal government insures the loans for lenders. Smaller downpayment: [...]
There are more signs this week that nationally, the slump in the market may have reached its low point. (Don't smack me, I said "may" ok?) The most recent news from Las Vegas is that having been designated as one of the leading foreclosure cities in the United States, sales are edging up and prices holding steady. The Las Vegas Sun reports condo sales were up in July by 18 percent compared to the same time last year. Buyers seem to be moving off the sidelines as prices have slipped 31% in the[...]
While the fence sitters in the U.S. may get away with "waiting for bottom" a few months longer, the Brits won't have that luxury as the dollar is beginning to strengthen again. From the point of view of much of the world, Florida has been "on sale" for a year or so now. And for the U.K. market, cheap prices, combined with a strong pound have made buying in central Florida a "no brainer." But as I've explained to my U.K. buyers, waiting around isn't an option because the "perfect storm" won't [...]
In the midst of having to deal with her husband's suicide, the widow of Winter Park developer Steve Walsh is now being sued by his investment partners. According to reports, senior members of Broad Street Partners said Thursday that they and other employees of the Winter Park development company were "shocked and saddened" by accusations in a new lawsuit that managing partner Steve Walsh stole at least $21.4 million from investors. Schrimsher Investments Corp. alleges that prior to his [...]
Our recent blog "Where is your Personal Bottom?" looked at how fence-sitters risk losing out on the "waiting-for-precise-bottom" game due to the way the housing market is always three months ahead of where it appears to be at any given time. Let's use some real numbers using data just released from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association (ORRA) to see if this theory pans out. Realtors sold 1,443 homes in June, a 7.1 percent improvement from the 1,347 home sales in the month prior. In fact, [...]
"I'm not buying yet. I'm waiting on the sidelines for the market to hit rock bottom." You and the rest of the country. I'm not saying you're wrong. But I have two questions for you: 1.) How will you know when rock bottom happens in a complex market where the only perfect vision is hindsight, and the best statistics are at least 3 months old? Real estate isn't tracked in a real time manner such as publicly traded stocks so it is only weeks or months after a deal has been negotiated and closed [...]