Central Florida & metro Orlando real estate services

Where investors can find the great real estate deals (and Realtors can find new business)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:32:14 -0600

Although there are thousands of homes for sale in most real estate markets, it still seems that the good REOs sell quickly (often with multiple offers) and the short sales might make a good value for an owner occupant that is willing to wait, but are often a real challenge for investors to make any money. So where can someone that truly wants a great investment property find the deals?

Well below is a long list of ideas to put into place. These ideas are also a great place for Realtors looking to obtain new listings. Not all these ideas will work in every market and some may be out of date for certain marketplaces, but hopefully they will at least get your brain thinking.

Most of these ideas boil down to 2 types of properties - (1) properties with motivated owners that nobody knows are for sale, and (2) properties that others have passed over or that nobody wants for whatever reason. If you have any ideas you care to share, feel free to post them so we can all learn.

1. Place a daily/weekly newspaper ad

2. Place weekly/monthly ads in Pennysaver, local weekly city paper, HOA newsletter, church bulletin, school newsletter, magazines, etc.

3. Place an ad in the local Yellow pages - they even have targeted books just for certain cities

3. Place an ad in online classifieds - Craigslist, Kijiji, MerchantCircle, etc.

4. Create an internet website or blog

5. Search the MLS for junker properties

6. Search the MLS for expired and withdrawn listings

7. Search the MLS for old stale listings - listed for 90 days +

8. Bandit signs (little cheapo signs by the side of the road or nailed to a phone pole)

9. Drive neighborhoods looking for by FSBO's

10. Call for sale by owner ads in newspapers, Craigslist, other classifieds

11. Search / network on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Activerain for people looking to sell / buy

12. Contact landlords who are evicting a tenant

13. Contact landlords with properties for rent

14. Contact multi-family property owners - there are lots of tired landlords

15. Contact commercial property owners - there are lots of people looking to sell or close their business if they got the right offer

16. Pre-foreclosures, lis pendens lists

17. Foreclosure auctions and sheriff sales

18. HUD home auctions

19. Tax deed auctions

20. Ebay auctions, other private auctions

21. Contact probate properties and estate sales

22. Contact divorce forced sales

23. Properties with outstanding building, health code, or code enforcement violations

24. Fire, sinkhole, hurricane, earthquake damaged, or a similar niche properties

25. Absentee landlords and out of state owners

26. Networking with professional people - Realtors(r), attorneys, CPAs, surveyors, etc.

27. Networking with service providers - lawnmower service, mailman, pool service, pizza deliverers, contractors, etc.

28. Networking with your sphere of influence - hand out your business cards to everyone you know

29. Join a local networking group - investor association, chamber of commerce, Kiwanis club, garden club, etc.

30. Post ads with large employers, military bases, hospitals, relocation companies

31. Bird dogs (paying a bird dog fee to unlicensed people may be illegal in some states, so make sure to obey the law)

32. Property wholesalers, other investors

33. Outdoor ads - magnetic car sign, bus stop benches, shopping cart ads, billboards, taxi cabs

34. Clothing and accessories - I have embroidered shirts, baseball hats, magnetic calendars, ball point pens, etc. with my logo on them

35. Canvassing a neighborhood, talk to neighbors, door hangers/fliers

36. Radio and TV ads

37. Direct mail / postcards

38. Private money lenders or people holding seller financing that might consider selling their mortgage at a discount in lieu of avoiding foreclosure

39. People who have done a mortgage modification or had a foreclosure dismissed within the recent past - odds are they are still struggling

40. Property owners in bankruptcy

41. Property owners with tax liens, judgments, or construction liens recorded against them

42. The individual/company that owns the judgment or construction lien that might sell at a discount instead of trying to foreclose

43. Property owners with HOA or condo liens recorded against them

44. Drive neighborhoods looking for vacant homes, high weeds, etc.

45. Properties with title problems

46. Properties on state/county government lands available for sale list, government surplus

47. Properties that can be combined with others to make the whole parcel more valuable

48. Properties that can have the zoning or land use changed to make the parcel more valuable

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

We sell foreclosure, short sale, and bank owned REO house home throughout Central Florida, metro Orlando, and the Space Coast. We sell and list Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Free list of foreclosure and short sale houses available. Our firm also provides flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Florida including Orlando, Altamonte Springs, Apopka, Kissimmee, Sanford, Lake Mary, and Deltona.

The next wave of foreclosures is coming

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:05:25 -0600

There have been several articles over the last year about the next big wave of foreclosures coming down the pipeline. 60 Minutes did a whole documentary on this last year.

Today USA Today published another article discussing the backlog of foreclosures on the horizon caused by failed short sales, failed modifications, government moratoriums, etc. Another 7 million homes in the USA are destined to go into foreclosure over the upcoming months.

This article makes an interesting read: Another Wave of Foreclosure Looms.

Central Florida / Orlando gets hundreds of new foreclosure case filings every single week. So anybody that is telling you that "the recession is over" is simply kidding themselves. I hate to say it, but it sure looks like a tidal wave is on its way to shore in the near future. If you are in the real estate business you need to continue to be focusing on foreclosures, REOs, and short sales. They are going to be around for many years yet to come.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Orlando real estate statistics for October 2009

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:07:56 -0600

The Orlando real estate statistics for October 2009 have been reported by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. Here is a direct link to these stats. Below is a breakdown on the numbers. The stats are for Orange & Seminole County, Florida including Orlando, Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Longwood, Casselberry, Lake Mary, Oviedo, and Sanford.

Inventory New Pendings Under Contract Expired Withdrawn Closed Days on Market

January 09 22,613 2282 3830 1377 1598 1050 103

Sept 2009 15,967 3858 8790 846 1014 2292 96

Oct 2009 15,743 3864 9050 924 646 2206 98

If you look at some of the graphs at the link above, you can really see how inventory has plummeted. It hovered around 26,000 properties during most of 2007 into early 2008. Then slowly started decreasing to where it is today. The inventory decrease does appear to have slowed. Most of this slowing has to do with a giant backlog of pending short sales which often take several months to actually close. From my own rough estimates, approximately 62% of the current pending contracts in metro Orlando are short sales.

The number of sold properties continues to be strong. Although sales were slightly less than in September, at a volume of 2206 they are still the highest they have been since August 2006. Actually in July 2009 we saw the first time in several years where the number of sold properties exceed the number of properties that didn't sell (expired + withdrawn).

Foreclosures still dominate the Orlando landscape. Roughly 20% of the sales in October were short sales while another 43% were bank owned REOs. Only 37% of the sales last month were not in foreclosure.

Prices are another story altogether the median price for October was $130,000 and the average price was $161,800. These are way down from just a year ago in October 2008 when they were at a median of $175,700 and $220,200. But talk to any good Realtor and they will tell you that just about any property priced under these median amounts will sell within a matter of days if not hours right now - unless the property is a piece of junk and is not desirable to most buyers.

The median price for bank owned REOs was $70,000, for short sales $125,000, and for non-foreclosure properties it was $185,000. This just goes to show the disparity between foreclosure prices versus non-foreclosure prices. Also many of the bank REOs are condominiums which are selling for unbelievably cheap prices right now.

I'm just glad to see all the activity. If you are interested in more detailed statistics for the Orlando real estate market or just wonder what your home is worth, feel free to contact me directly.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Top 10 Things to Know about the Tax Credit Extension.

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:54:59 -0600

Via Chris Brown | Florida's #1 FHA Mortgage Broker:

General Rules for Orlando Home Buyer Tax Credit Seekers:

A "first time home buyer" is defined as someone who has not owned a home in the last three years. If you are a "first-time home buyer", your tax credit will amount to 10% of the purchase price of your new home not to exceed $8,000.

A "long-time resident" is defined as someone who has lived in the same primary home for 5 out of the past 8 years. If you are a "long-time resident", your tax credit will amount to 10% of the purchase price of your new home not to exceed $6,500.

The tax credit does not need to be paid back if you continue living in the home as your primary residence for three years without selling it

The home must be purchased for less than $800,000 before May 1, 2010. If you sign a binding contract to purchase a home before May 1st, you would need to close on the transaction before July 1, 2010.

Single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax credit

You cannot purchase the home from a related party like a spouse, direct ancestor, or direct lineal descendent (child or grandchild); however, you can still qualify for the credit if you purchase a property from siblings, nephews, nieces, and others

If you are married, both spouses must qualify for the credit

If more than one unmarried individual is buying the property, the credit can be split up among all the individuals who qualify. However, the total credit taken cannot exceed $8,000 (or $6,500 for "long-time residents"). Alternatively, if only one of the unmarried buyers qualifies for the credit based on their income or past home ownership status, the individual who qualifies for the credit can claim the full credit.

The credit applies even if you have co-signers on your mortgage loan

The credit applies to 1-4 unit homes as long as you live in one of the units as your primary residence - you could live in one unit and rent out the others

How does the tax credit work? A tax credit is kind of like a gift certificate that you can use to pay your taxes - it reduces your income tax bill on a dollar for dollar basis. Imagine paying your bill at IRS Restaurant, and then later getting an IRS Restaurant gift certificate. Normally, you would need to go back to IRS Restaurant and buy more food in order to use your new gift certificate. But what if IRS Restaurant allowed you to just turn in your gift certificate for cash? That's how the home buyer tax credit works! All you need to do is file a form with the IRS after you buy your new home and they will send you a refund check for $8,000 (or $6,500) - just like the example of IRS Restaurant that allows you to exchange your gift certificate for cash! Remember though, you'll receive the $8,000 (or $6,500) from the IRS AFTER you purchase your new home, so you cannot use the funds to help with your down payment.

Chris is Florida's #1 FHA Mortgage Broker and a syndicated mortgage blogger. He is regular contributor to the many leading industry blog-fronts including The Mortgage Chili Blog, My FHA Mortgage Blog, Top of Mind Networks, the newest contributor to Lenderama and has been recently featured on Fox35 News.

Chris can be found at Orlando FHA Loans, Chris[at]OrlandoMortgagePro[dot]com, or by calling 407.377.0500 x 210

Click Here to Apply Online

Not sure how to connect? Find out at FindChrisBrown.com

A video created by a good friend, Dustin Hughes. If you need a mortgage in Oregon - he is your guy... need one in FL - I would be honored to help!

Chris Brown

The FHA Mortgage Pro

that FHA Mortgage Pros go to

when they need an FHA Mortgage Pro.

Orlando FHA Loans | MortgageChiliBlog.com.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

A salute to all veterans

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:10:36 -0600

In light of the recent events at Fort Hood, Texas, it brings to the forefront yet again the radical enemies that we are fighting against. Very sad that it was one of our own soldiers that apparently turned sides.

All veterans past and present deserve our honor and praise. On this Veterans Day, thank you so much for your service to our country. God Bless America!

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

SHOCK! Lenders make more money on foreclosures than short sales!?

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:16:53 -0600

Via Pacita Dimacali - e-PRO, SRES, CDPE, MBA East Bay, North CA real estate (Gallagher & Lindsey):

Lenders make more money on foreclosures than from short sales or loan modifications. That's what Steve Harney converyd in a seminar. He caused an earthquake in San Francisco

When loan modifications are turned down, the next thing we attempt is to do the short sales. And we kinow that lenders turn over the short sale accounts to loan servicing companies who make our lives hell getting short sales approved. As such, we should know that these loan servicing companies make MORE money by letting the properties foreclose than to approve the short sales OR the loan modification.

RUMBLE...GRUMBLE...CRIES OF DISMAY!

Did he just confirm what we were afraid of?

So I researched this topic and found a few articles worth reviewing. How did I miss these? Was I under a rock in a desert?

CONSUMERLAW.ORG REPORt ON "Why Servicers Foreclose when They Should Modify And Other Puzzles of Servicer Behavior"

DAILY PRESS headline. Oct, 30 2009. Do Mortgage Lenders Make More Money when a Loan Goes iInto Foreclosure?

HUFFINGTON POST. Oct. 21, 2009, Foreclosures Are More Profitable Than Loan Modifications, According To New Report

Washington Post. July 28, 2009. Foreclosures Are Often In Lenders' Best Interest. Numbers Work Against Government Efforts to Help Homeowners.

ThinkGlink. October 21, 2009. Loan Modification Help: Why Lenders Are Slow To Provide Loan Modifications

Dayton Daily News. Oct. 17, 2009. Drop in foreclosures called "very scary". Lender's actions show they think properties are not worth pursuing.

Mortgage101.com. October 23, 2009. Mortgage Companies Make More on Foreclosures Than They Do Modifying Existing Loans. (This blog refers to the news article on Huffington Post)

FLASHBACK: Huffington Post, June 8, 2009. Short Sales: Banks Blocking Way Out of Foreclosure Crisis

FLASHBACK: Huffington Post, May 15, 2009. Short Sales Stories. Lenders tend tostic with more familian foreclosure process, losing money for everybody.

UPDATE: Huffington Post, November 2, 2009. Homeowners: "Hey Congress, Get Off You A**"

KNOCKING OURSELVES OUT TRYING TO HELP

So are we engaging in self-flagellation helping our distressed clients with their short sales and loan modification?

Are lenders really more likely to foreclose?

Are the short sale servicing companies really trying to help?

Or are they stalling and withholding their help because they know their leaders would rather have the property burn into foreclosure?

Is there no resolution in signt?

There oughta be a law!

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Congress Expands And Extends The First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:07:42 -0600

The President did sign this into law on Friday. Should be great for the real estate business. But not that great for the overall debt that America continues to bury itself in. Chris did a great job of explaining the details and changes of this extension.

Via www.OrlandoMortgagePro.com:

Congress both extended and expanded the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program Thursday.

The White House says the President will sign it into law today.

The up-to-$8000 tax credit's expiration date has been pushed forward to spring, requiring homebuyers to be under contract by April 30, 2010, and to be closed by June 30, 2010.

The program's basic eligibility requirements remain the same:

Buyers can't purchase the home from a parent, spouse, or child

Buyers can't purchase the home from an entity in which they're a majority owner

Buyers can't acquire the home by gift or inheritance

All parties to the purchase must meet eligibility requirements

The new law includes some notable updates, however.

For one, the definition of "first-time home buyer" has been expanded to include most homeowners with at least 5 years in their current home. "Move-up" buyers like these are now eligible for IRS tax credits, but with a cap at $6,500.

This means that you don't have to be a true first-time home buyer to claim the "first-time home buyer tax credit".

Other eligibility changes include:.......

Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE:

Congress Expands And Extends The First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

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Chris is Florida's #1 FHA Mortgage Broker and a syndicated mortgage blogger. He is regular contributor to the three leading industry blog-fronts including The Mortgage Chili Blog, My FHA Mortgage Blog, Top of Mind Networks, the newest contributor to Lenderama and recently featured on Fox35 News.

Chris can be found at
Orlando FHA Loans,
Chris[at]OrlandoMortgagePro[dot]com,
or by calling 407.377.0500 x 210
The FHA Mortgage Pro

that FHA Mortgage Pros go to

when they need an FHA Mortgage Pro.

Orlando FHA Loans | MortgageChiliBlog.com.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Short sales and double closings – the good, the bad, and the ugly – Part 3

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:51:53 -0500

In the first part of this article, I discussed "The Good" Short sales and double closings - the good, the bad, and the ugly - Part 1 things about short sale double closings. In the second part, I discussed the questionably "Bad" things Short sales and double closings - the good, the bad, and the ugly - Part 2 about these type of transactions. Well this last article is the really ugly, possibly criminal stuff. I am not going to re-iterate points I have made in the previous articles. So if you don't understand short sale double closings, then I urge you to go back and re-read the previous articles.

The ugly -

The short sale double closing transaction can get even juicier. I've attended multiple meetings, classes, and seminars over the last year or so where the topic of short sales and double closings came up.

The first time I heard anybody questioning them was in an article by a local real estate attorney about 1 ½ years ago. Then I read about Stewart Title curtailing these transactions. In Fall 2008 I heard it discussed by our local Orlando Regional Realtor Association's attorney at a broker breakfast. Then I heard about it at a small group meeting with the Florida Attorney General's office this Spring. In August I hear about it yet again at the Florida Association of Realtor's convention - both FAR's attorney as well as the State of Florida Division of Real Estate's attorney spent about 30 minutes each discussing the topic. When the State's enforcing officers start discussing a topic repeatedly that typically means it is only a matter of time before criminal crackdowns begin.

The constant theme I heard from all these people is defrauding either the lender or the borrower as part of the transaction. Not only is fraud a violation of state law, but it is a violation of federal banking laws and could possibly fall into mail fraud, wire fraud, and RICO. We are talking major criminal penalties here. It could also result in the lender unwinding the whole short sale transaction and pursuing additional deficiency judgments against the borrowers.

At the FAR convention, the attorneys both stressed on multiple occasions that if the buyer, their Realtor, the title company, or anyone else is trying to convince the lender that the property is worth one amount when they know for a fact that it can immediately sell for higher that this is FRAUD. Especially if there is a higher offer that is already signed and agreed to behind the scenes and waiting for the closing from seller A to buyer B to happen. That does not mean that the second buyer C's name, contact information, price, or terms have to be revealed.

Some so-called gurus will go so far as to instruct you to send the lender low comparable sales or write up a low Broker Price Opinion (BPO) in order to influence the lender. I've even heard some investor-buyers meeting with BPO agents to influence them about the "terrible" condition of the house. Some people will remove the hot water heater or air-conditioner; some will shake a coke can and spray it on the ceiling to look like a roof leak. Some people will intentionally borrow a beat up car and wear shabby clothes when they meet the Realtor performing the BPO in order to somehow influence that person into feeling sorry for all the parties involved.

Certainly I can understand why someone would want to influence the BPO to be a lower price. And if the buyer was planning on buying the home live in it or keep it as a rental, then I don't see any big problem at all. But if the investor is trying to convince the BPO Realtor and/or the short saling lender that the property is worth only $150,000 when they know for a fact that they can immediately sell it for $160,000, then that is most likely fraud if they don't disclose their intent. The fraud is influencing the lender to accept the lower dollar amount via trickery, strategy, or whatever tactics. This is very similar to some of the tactics that were done in the boom times to convince appraisers to over-inflate the value of the property. Well as the State's attorney said, the mortgage fraud law works both ways - on both over-inflated values and under-inflated values.

So here is my advice from everything I have heard, read, or discussed thus far. If an investor wants to do these short sale double closings then they either (1) need to stay far far away from the valuation and BPO process by the lender, or (2) they need to disclose in writing exactly what they are doing. This includes sending the lender a copy of the second contract (even if the C buyer's name and contact info is crossed out).

Since most investors don't want to do #2 (obviously), then stick with #1. Because if you are doing everything in your power to influence the lender that the property is worth a low value and you know for a fact that you can immediately re-sell it for more, YOU ARE COMMITTING FRAUD plain and simple. I am not going to sugarcoat it. Do not attempt to influence the lender as to the property's value on a short sale double closing. Let the lender come up with the value on their own and let the chips fall where they may.

Here is a link to the federal criminal code. In particular check out sections 1006, 1011, 1012, and 1014. The State attorneys at the FAR convention said that these laws are written liberally for a reason. And remember that nearly all 1st mortgage loans right now are either regulated by, insured by, or owned by the federal government (i.e. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, FHA, USDA, FDIC, etc.).

In fact I am not quite sure how attempting to buy a property gives you the right to negotiate a short sale agreement between 3^rd parties - the borrower and lender are 3^rd parties. As far as I know in all 50 states, only attorneys are allowed to negotiate contracts and agreements between 3^rd parties. However there are typically 3 exceptions to this law - real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, and certain governmental or non-profit agencies.

Florida Statute 475.01 provides what constitutes acting as a real estate broker.

Florida Statue 494.001 and 494.00296 provide the law regarding mortgage brokers.

And obviously a real estate investor is not a government agency or a non-profit entity.

In Florida practicing law without a license is a 3^rd degree felony. Some investors/buyers will argue that the owner gave them "written permission" to negotiate on their behalf. Sorry, that bird won't fly. An owner cannot sign a paper and make you a licensed attorney. Just like an owner cannot sign a document allowing some unlicensed person to install a roof on their house. Because if that was the case, then every wannabe attorney in town would simply have their clients sign a power of attorney or land trust document and thus avoid the hassle and expense of going to 3 years of law school and passing the bar exam. Duh!

I was still a little skeptical about all this actually being true fraud because I couldn't find anyone who had come flat out and put all this in writing. But then I found this memo from Fannie Mae in July 2009.

If you notice on the Fannie Mae website, they don't talk about disclosure at all. The title of their article is simply "Mortgage Fraud News: July 2009." The whole article discusses how title companies and lenders can detect and avoid a short sale double closing. Read that any way you want. Again, this article is on Fannie Mae's website.

Now that I have scared the hell out of you, I want to make two upbeat and positive points on short sales and double closings.

(1) In September 2009, Florida's largest title insurer The Fund issued a much more liberal"clarification" memo on this topic. Fund short sale memo. The Fund is not requiring that the "true sales price/value" be disclosed to the short saling lender, but they are requiring that the "right to sell for a profit" be disclosed in the contract paperwork. However they are also requiring that "no misrepresentations as to the value or ownership of the property" which again goes back to influencing the lender.

(2) Secondly the Fannie Mae memo does not mention an out and out ban on short sale double closings. If it did then lenders, Fannie, Freddie, and a few others would simply not allow a re-sale the property within 30 days or whatever timeframe after the A to B closing. I do see some lenders like Countrywide/Bank of America actually stating this in their closing instruction letters.

Lastly, I have been asked several times by sellers, Realtors, and investors, about doing A to B to A transactions. Basically doing the short sale and then immediately re-conveying or renting the property back to the original owner or a family member at a discounted price. I won't even go there. Lenders make all parties sign an "Arm's Length Affidavit" at the closing. They know about this type of nonsense. So, enough said about it. Don't do it!

My point in writing this whole series is not to bash any gurus or scare any investor/buyers out of the marketplace. However before you take anyone else's word on doing short sale double closings or any other "creative" technique, you need to make absolutely sure that you are comfortable with what you are doing. Just because a guru or their attorney claims that their way of doing things is perfectly legal doesn't make it so. Plenty of attorneys, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, and so-called investors have been prosecuted over the years for just about anything you could imagine. In fact just Googling the words "short sale double closing fraud" brings up over 1 Million results.

The good news is that I have yet to hear or read about anyone being prosecuted for any of this. Follow the Fannie Mae memo and the Fund memo to the letter and you should be doing just fine. At least until they change the rules again.

I've said it before, and I will say it again. The whole real estate and mortgage industry is under a giant microscope right now and will be for quite a while into the future. Be very careful where you tread.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

$8000 Tax credit extension passes U.S. House & Senate

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:38:58 -0600

The $8000 tax credit extension has passed the U.S. House & Senate almost unanimously and is headed to the President's desk for a signature.

Now the tax credit will be good for contracts signed no later than April 30, 2010 and closing no later than June 30, 2010. Additionally existing homeowners who have lived in a principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years - these will get a maximum $6500 tax credit.

There are some additional caps on income and some supposedly new anti-fraud measures (ha ha) in place as well.

You can read the full details of this extension at NAR's website.

This is great news for the real estate industry. Not sure how great it is for the national debt though. But I'd rather see the money going to the middle class than to Wall Street zillionaires.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Great real estate deals we sold in October 2009 - Orlando, Kissimmee, Deltona, Altamonte Springs

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:48:34 -0600

October was another strong month for home sales. Our office sold 32 properties last month and many more are pending for November. Banks love to dump their REO and short sale inventory during the 4th quarter so that it won't be on their books for the new year. Look at some of these great Central Florida home deals that closed in October 2009.

Fisher Drive Morning Glory Lane Pelican Lane

- Fisher Drive, Deltona, FL 32725. This 3 bed/2 bath/2-car garage home was a true investor special. Bank owned REO needing a bunch of work but what do you expect for this sort of price. It sold for the super cheap price of just $46,000 after just 5 days on the market.

- 1st Avenue, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714. 3 bed/1 bath/1-car garage block home. Located in the coveted Lake Brantley school district in Seminole County. House was a true handyman special, but the bank REO department wanted it sold. Seller let this one go for the low low price of just $27,500.

- Morningside Drive, Orlando, FL 32806. Big 4 bed/3.5 bath pool home. Just steps from Lake Lancaster near Delaney Park in downtown Orlando. Owner was motivated and this was priced to sell. After only 6 weeks on the market it sold for $270,000.

- Morning Glory Lane, Kissimmee, FL 34747. This was a fabulous short sale home in Celebration Florida. 4 bed/2.5 bath/2-car garage with spacious kitchen and modern features. At the top of the market this home sold for over $500K but we negotiated a short sale with the bank at just $340,000. We still have one more Celebration short sale home available. Call for details.

- Pelican Lane, Orlando, FL 32803. 3 bed/2 bath block home near downtown Orlando. Bank owned REO and a great wholesale deal. This Audubon Park home sold for just $105,000.

Our office has a constant stream of new bank owned REOs, foreclosures, short sales, and other investor specials. Make sure to sign up for our weekly hot property email list.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Can't pay your Realtor dues? Keep your Florida real estate license active with our referral brokerage.

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:04:14 -0600

Before you let your Florida real estate license go inactive, make sure to check out our real estate referral brokerage Sand Dollar Referrals LLC. We have 2 plans - a "hands off" referral plan and a "hands on" active plan for sales associates that want to sell real estate and keep their license active, but can't afford your local ORRA Realtor dues.

What we provide to our referral associates:

Professional help and advice when you need it.
Centrally located Altamonte Springs office. Free use of our conference room and on staff notary.
Free attendance to all monthly sales meetings of Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc.
Earn additional income from our affiliations with local title company Brokers Title and the sale of home warranties.
Easy exit agreement. As long as your expenses and splits are paid in full to us, you can give us 7 days notice to cancel the agreement.
Free access to all member MLS's when you come to our office and work directly with one of our Realtors.
Errors & Omissions insurance paid by the brokerage to cover all your transactions.
If you decide that you want to join the local Realtor association and obtain MLS access for yourself, you can switch your license over to our Realtor-brokerage, Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc., at anytime (subject to broker approval).

What we require of you:

You must have a valid and current Florida real estate license (sales associate or broker associate).
You must pay your DBPR licensing fees and take the continuing education required by law.
You must register your potential customer leads and property deals with us in writing..
But other than that we do not require much else from you. No quotas of any kind. No requirement to list or run all your personal sales through our firm. For the Hands Off Plan just send us your leads, and let us do the work. For the Hands On Plan just work with the broker to sell some properties. Either way when the deal closes, you get paid. How easy is that?

For more details on our commission splits just click over to our website Sand Dollar Referrals LLC . If you are interested in a confidential interview, feel free to contact me anytime.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Haunted House for sale???

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:57:42 -0500

Over the years, I've listed a few houses that at least some people considered "haunted." Though I've tried and tried, I've never actually been able to see or feel a ghost in any of these places.

A few years ago, I listed a big 5000 square foot home that sat back a couple hundred feet off the road. The owner was having major renovations done to the home and temporarily moved out of it. I was helping him with overseeing some of the repair work while he was away.

Several of the workers there repeatedly told me that they heard noises, that they heard large crashing sounds in the garage on occasion but nothing had fallen, that doors that they closed at night were wide open the next morning. So I did a little investigation myself. One Friday night after everyone left, I went to the home all by myself. Kind of creepy actually. I called out to the "spirits" to show themselves. Went so far as to actually close every interior door in the house. Nothing ever appeared to me. I came back to the house on Sunday afternoon and low and behold all the doors were still closed. I mentioned all this to the home's owner and he just said that the workers were crazy because he had never seen anything. What a disappointment.

Earlier this spring, I listed a bank REO home. The home was all boarded up, so some of the rooms were pitch black. The bank required me to do a BPO which means I have to take photos of every room. One photo in particular in an upstairs bedroom showed an "orb" in it. You can see that photo below - the "orb is the white circle in the center over the baseboard. Not sure what that thing is. Some people say they are ghosts. Anyway, I came back to inspect the house a few days later and that board nailed to that window had fallen off and was laying on the ground. Now granted these boards were installed by the previous Realtor nearly 3 months earlier and there were 15 other boarded windows in the house and none of them ever fell down during the entire time that I had this house listed. Weird. Luckily that house sold.

My final and weirdest experience was on a rental home that I owned. The home was in foreclosure and filled with trash when I bought it. The lady that sold it to me said that the house was "cursed" and that after 2 years of owning it she was so glad to get rid of it because the house had cold spots in it and made noises at night. Supposedly it "caused the break up of her marriage" and her husband took the kids and went to Miami. She sold the house to me with several dumpsters full of trash left in it. The night after I bought the house, I wanted to go and check out this supposed "curse." I will admit that I did hear a bunch of noises when I was over there. It sounded like the whole house was moving. But it wasn't from ghosts. It was from a rat infestation. 4 dumpster loads of trash later, the house was empty. Still took me a few weeks to kill off a dozen or so huge black rats. I ended up selling that house about a year ago. Nobody that ever rented from me mentioned ghosts or curses, but I did have one more incidence of rodents getting into the house. Who knows for sure?

I'd love to hear other people's "haunted house" experiences. Have a happy and safe Halloween!

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

City of Casselberry Florida proposes new rental regulations and taxes

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:50:52 -0500

The City of Casselberry Florida has a new rental regulation and tax on their horizon. The City of Casselberry is planning on increasing revenue by a "very conservative ... $22,000" by tacking on yet another layer of fees and regulations onto the back of rental property owners most of whom are already strapped financially.

Proposed resolution 09-2088 would force owners of rental properties including single-family homes, condos, mobile homes, and apartment buildings to pay an additional tax each and every year for every unit they own in the city limits of Casselberry. Additionally the property owner would be required to provide their contact information to city hall so that code enforcement could more easily get a hold of them in case of a violation.

Now granted, the tax collector can easily get a hold of property owners each and every November when the property taxes come due. And the Seminole County Property Appraiser website already has maintained on a list of owners and addresses for every parcel within the county. But this isn't good enough. The solution is to tighten the noose around rental owners yet again and end up forcing more of them into foreclosure or bankruptcy in a tough economy.

The 1st hearing on this proposed rental regulation ordinance is this Monday, October 26, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Casselberry city commission chambers.

You can read the entire proposed ordinance here.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Will the $8000 tax credit get extended? Washington is undecided.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:24:50 -0500

An interesting debate is going on in Washington. The National Association of Realtors is doing everything it can to get the $8000 tax credit extended beyond the November 30, 2009 deadline.

However, the White House is still undecided. In a recent CNN article, Shaun Donavon, the Secretary of HUD says the statistics aren't in just yet to show whether this tax credit has spurred the economy.

Apparently the IRS is screaming all types of fraud saying that a significant portion of the tax payers filing for the tax credit may have done so fraudulently. Over 107,000 questionable files have been opened by the IRS according to Fox News. To me that's not surprising. Look at all the fraud and "bonuses" that have been paid out as a result of the TARP money in Fall 2008. Everytime the government creates some new handout or incentive there is always lots of fraud that happens.

Personally I still have mixed emotions on extending the deadline on the tax credit. So I haven't contacted my Congressman either way. Seems like nearly 40% of the buyers in my market are paying cash. So while the tax credit has had some impact, it probably hasn't been as much as they are hyping it up to be. However at the same time I know the tax credit has knocked some buyers off the fence which is a good thing.

It will be interesting to see what happens in December if they don't extend the deadline. If you are planning on taking advantage of this, you better get a contract signed quickly because the time is running out fast.

My bet is that like the Cash For Clunkers program, Washington will allow this program to end and not revive or extend it. But who knows for sure.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com

Keep your Florida real estate license active - no Realtor dues required

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:30:56 -0500

That's right. If you are considering not paying your Realtor dues this October 31, you can sign up with our firm Sand Dollar Referrals LLC and still sell property without being a member of the local board of Realtors or the MLS.

We have 2 different plans available.

If all you want to do is refer leads of family and friends to us, we have our "Hands Off" plan where you can simply send us the lead and we will work on it for you. Or one of our Realtors can match up with you and help you buy or sell a home. When the deal closes you get a referral fee.

Or we have the "Hands On" plan where you can do nearly everything that a dues paying Realtor would do except you don't have to join the board or the MLS.

For exact details on how each plan works, visit our website at www.SandDollarReferrals.com . Then give us a call and we can set up a confidential appointment.

Serving all of Central Florida - Orlando, Winter Park, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Kissimmee, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Sanford, Oviedo, Deltona, Deland, Daytona Beach, Mount Dora, Clermont, Leesburg, Ocala, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Davenport, Melbourne, Titusville, Cocoa Beach, and more.

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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com