Cape Coral Real Estate

If 2012 is your year for home hunting and purchase, here is a list of 5 things you should consider to do NOW before anything else.

1. 1. Check your credit. And I’m serious about that. Make a copy of your credit report online and review anything that can show negative transaction. Call the credit bureau in charge and fix your problem. There is nothing worse than finding the perfect home at the perfect price, getting ready with the down payment and everything and learn that you have been denied because of your bad credit. So, if there is any problem there, fix it now.

1. 2. Do your homework. Do you research online about 1 month before buying. Check the neighborhood, the market value, compare the foreclosure with the regular market, learn about short sale and see if it’s for you. Shop around for the best terms mortgage out there, call 4 or 5 mortgage broker and compare what they need and they fees/expenses. Ask them what documents you need to be qualified. Ask to be approved for a loan before even getting out to see properties. It’s frustrating to fall in love with a home that is price at $10,000 more than you can afford. Everything else will be disappointing at that point!

1. 3. Fluff up your down payment. Make sure to have a full understanding of the money you have to bring at closing, all fees including. Again, it’s frustrating to be short of a couple of thousands dollars in front of the home of your dreams. Get your finance in place and ready to go.

1. 4. Grow your cash. You’re gonna to move. So double check all that stuff that you didn’t use for the last 12 months or more. You won’t probably never use it ever. So make a big yard sale of that stuff, sell them on ebay or on craigslist and keep the money for your down payment or for some work you’ll need to do in your new home, like painting or new moldings.

1. 5. Be prepared. If you want to purchase a great deal, like a foreclosure, be prepared. I wrote a guideline about being prepared to make an offer on a foreclosure: Cape Coral Foreclosure . I have come across a lot of excited people like kids in front of a toy getting frustrated with those above asking price multiple offers. So being psychologically prepared will help you to handle your purchase.

Once you have everything ready and you have prepared yourself for your 2012 home purchase, feel free to give me a call at 239-240-7346 and I’ll prepare some visits and will help you during your transaction to make it as smooth as possible.

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Comments (0) Dec 17 2011

So, you have been looking to buy a home in Cape Coral for over 6 months now. There is something important for you to know.  Stop looking to buy a home right now.  You are wasting your time and energy. Cape Coral properties prices have been increasing for the last 6 months in a row. So, if you’re still looking, it’s not for finding the best deal of the century, it’s already too late. It has to be because you’re searching for the best floor plan or curb appeal possible, but then, the inventory is so wide, if you didn’t find it already, it’s because it doesn’t exist.

Not to mention all the time that is being wasted by professional lending and real estate brokers. They are not your taxi driver even if it’s my second job. They are not the ones to fix your poor credit scores.  They are not the ones to hold your hand every step of the way even if I do it on a daily basis.  They are there to help you not be taken advantage of by someone who is not committed to the home buying process.

Buying a home is a process and it doesn’t take over 6 months to complete.  A Realtor can help you with the home buying process, however, you the buyer must take action to make it become a reality.  Seeing every home that comes on the market for a year is insane!  It’s not that big of a deal to find the house you will come to know as home.  If you see a house you like and it’s within your means, then buy it.  Otherwise, go home and leave everyone alone.

You can read more at 1capecoral.com or in my blog. The time to buy a home was in the last 6 month, with a rock bottom price reached last December 2010/January 2011  or today…not in 6 months. Quit trying to out think the other guy or the sellers. Find what you like and buy it.  If there isn’t anything out there that you like then you probably are not going to find it.

Go home.  Stop wasting your time. Watch some football or NASCAR or a movie anything but get out of the home buying process as you are not a buyer.  You are a looker and you are frustrating people around you that can actually and willingly help you.

The time is ripe to buy a home today.  Interest rates are low.  Prices are still low. In most markets inventory is high.  Sellers want to negotiate on their homes. It’s easy and time for action. And if you think that a home priced below a car’s price is too high, you’ll never buy anything. So, do something else.

If you are angry right now…good.  Here is a way which may help.  Revisit why you wanted to buy a home in the first place and re-motivate or inspire yourself.  If that doesn’t work then forget about it.  You will never achieve your American Dream without concise methodical action on your part.  Now go out there and become a buyer and call me to seriously get started!

Comments (0) Oct 25 2011

Do you think you can write an offer on a Cape Coral foreclosure for sale without the help of an agent? The answer is a big YES!

If you think about it, my guess is you want to save the typical 6% commission that we make. If it’s the case, you are completely mistaken. First, our commissions are not set to be 6%. It’s negotiable. And in the foreclosure and REO world, it’s the bank that decides how much they really want to pay. Most agents doing foreclosure make about 1 to 2% of the closed price as the seller representative. So the buyer’s agent is really doing something like 2 to 4%. In that case, if you represent yourself for that foreclosure home purchase, you’re really saving about those 2 to 4% commission.

Now, prepare yourself to get an accepted offer on that Cape Coral foreclosure house for sale. You will need a few things checked with the listing agent, and I have been in contact with most of them, they use to be very difficult if they are not in front of another agent because they think they’ll have to do all the work believing that you won’t be able to do your part:

• What kind of paperwork do they want?  Typical is proof of funds, pre-approval letter from your bank, etc…
• How many offers are on the property? Maybe it is a multiple offers situation already.
• Is there a mandatory minimum MLS marketing time?
• How do they want to receive your offer?  Fax, website or email.

So, once you have all that done, you’ll be able to put a good offer but you will need to know something important: the price. Don’t google that. You will not be able to rely on sites like Zillow or Trulia for pricing. They are not accurate. Hire an appraiser instead, especially if you do not have access to your local MLS. The point here is that you don’t want to pay too much or too little. Too much and you may overpay for the property and too little,you may lose the home to higher bidder.

You can also read this buying a foreclosure in Cape Coral post for more tips.

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Comments (0) Sep 26 2011

I read an article in the newspaper regarding the number about renting Vs Buying in Lee County. And it makes totally sense. These days, lots of people just can’t get a loan and have to rent. The high demand for rentals make prices going up, while, for the same reason, buying a home in Lee County, including Cape Coral, is affordable. Of course, if you still need to find a place to rent in Cape Coral, Fort Myers or Lehigh acres, feel free to visit my Cape Coral rental site and contact me from there

Fort Myers-Cape Coral is amongst the most affordable locations within the place to purchase a residence, but rents are far above regular.

A report unveiled with the Washington-based Center for Housing Coverage stated the median house cost right here is now $95,000 (the same as 2010), generating the area tied with Scranton, Pa., for 186th outside of 211 metro regions.

The median monthly lease for a two-bedroom apartment, nonetheless, was $996 – 56th greatest about the list – even though down from $1,029 previous year.

Solidly atop equally lists was super-expensive San Francisco, No. 1 with a median rent of $1,833 plus a median property price tag of $550,000.

Most inexpensive lease was Springfield, Mo., at $594 and Lima, Ohio, had the most cost effective houses at $63,000.

Driving the high rents in Lee County is a ongoing influx of foreclosure refugees staying kicked from their properties, said Susan Lutter, broker for Fort Myers-based Gulf Waters Rentals and Management.

“We still have renters declaring, ‘Hey, I have to become out by Wednesday’,” she said.
Houses are low-cost and there’s a strong industry from traders, but when it comes to potential buyers of the residence to reside in, it could be difficult to close the deal regardless of the lower rates, Lutter said.

It is especially difficult to borrow cash for any condominium, she explained.

“Trying to get into nearly anything with a condominium association you fairly significantly should shell out hard cash because the financial institution will not lend the cash and numerous models must be operator occupied,” Lutter stated.

Nationwide, the center’s report, unveiled Friday, located that although employment is picking up, a lot of workers even now can not manage to buy a residence.

The report said “while some task is evidently much better than no career, a lot of the newly produced employment just don’t shell out adequate to permit employees to make ends meet.”

That is specially accurate in the pricier metropolitan areas, the report states: “In far more expensive metro regions, even accountants make too minor to find the money for fair market,” even which has a standard wage array of $44,000 to $63,000.

Lutter stated she does not see a lot of first-time homebuyers right here recently.

“I’ve handled a single (couple) and they are in their 50s,” she explained. “They’ve lived here for many years and they’ve often rented and so they ultimately made the decision it is time.”

Comments (0) Jul 28 2011

I saw the big title in the newspaper today. There had been 656 foreclosure lawsuits filed in Lee County in October, the lowest range in a lot more than three years, according to statistics released Monday by the South West Florida Real Estate Investment Association.

It was a rare ray of hope in a grim situation: The Lee County and Cape Coral  foreclosure rate is normally within the top five metropolitan areas nationwide, with only Las Vegas consistently worse.

October’s variety is down 31 % from September’s 953. Yes, you read me: 31% less than the month before. The pace hasn’t been this slow since quite a long time.  555 had been filed in February 2007 as the wave of mortgage failures that followed the housing boom was just obtaining under way.

Experts stated that the decline likely was part of a long-term downward pattern — but that’s not all.

Foreclosures possibly plunged at least in aspect since for the past month, some banks have been holding off on foreclosures whilst they sort out issues including who truly owns the note and whether attorneys basically read all the paperwork, but the holding was only for 1 week and from 2 banks, including a major one though: Bank of America.

But the recent lender troubles alone couldn’t have caused a drop as sharp as October’s. Bankers “did knock some things out, but in the totality with the trend, no. 10 to 20 percent of your mortgages might be affected,” but not enough to account for the whole drop.

County Clerk of Court Charlie Green said that whatever the trigger, the downward pattern has helped whittle away at a daunting backlog of foreclosures within the court system: Public auctions disposing of properties are now outnumbering new filings.

Only about 14,700 cases are from the pipeline now, Green mentioned, down practically half from the 26,000 when the difficulty peaked at the end of 2008.

Still, he cautioned that there’s a substantial “shadow inventory” of houses that banks are selecting not to foreclose on. “I believe we’re clearing some out, but the banks are holding back.”

But we don’t really know how many far more. Next month will give us a better indication as to whether or not it was a normal trend or lenders stopping until they figure out what the issue with their process was.”

Also the pace of foreclosure doesn’t occur in a vacuum: if the winter tourist season is strong, it will reduce unemployment and keep far more people financially able to keep their homes, which is the case in South West Flroida, which include Cape Coral.

I think it will be only in April, May, June of next year that we’ll see how this season’s sales and the economic effect of your season influenced foreclosures.

A big builder in Cape Coral, stated that whatever the short-term pattern, foreclosures can’t sustain themselves at that pace. It’s going to sooner or later start slowing up. And I think it is happening right now.

Also, the issues with the foreclosure process have made some prospective buyers skittish about buying a previously mortgaged house.

However, while I find it easier to sell to prospective renters a house where owners are living in than a foreclosure, that  non distresses market has a hard time to compete with the foreclosures. Plus, new potential buyers have still a hard time to accept the fact that most of the time, there is a multiple offer situation on every foreclosed properties, ending by an accepted offer above the asking price. Often, those buyers go through a 3 step buying process. The first is the below asking price period where the buyer experience the frustration of being outbid. Then there is the full price offers period of time, which is usually shorter than the first one. Most of the time, the buyers learned their lessons and go the third period, the above asking price offers moment where they finally get a property under contract.

It’s now even more difficult with the decrease of the number of foreclosure and with a possible increase of pricing, even for foreclosures.

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Comments (0) Nov 02 2010

So you want to purchase a property in foreclosure here, in Lee County in general and in Cape Coral in particular? Good move. It’s time to buy. Properties values are increasing little by little, month after month since spring 2010 and you can expect a sweet equity very soon, especially if your purchase a Cape Coral foreclosure.

However, lots of potential buyers I talked to believe that if a foreclosure is price at, let’s say, $100,000, they can offer 10% or 20% less than the asking price, empowered by a solid down payment, and thinking that after all, it’s foreclosure time for everyone.

Well, the reality is not as simple.

So far, 100% of my buyers who actually were successful at purchasing a foreclosure, paid more than asking price.
And, all of them learnt how to get that property after several offers. Some below asking, where they were outbid. A few at asking price, where they were outbid. And finally their own purchase, paid at higher than asking price, like everybody else.

So, contact me if you want to purchase a foreclosure in Lee County, but make sure to be ready:

1) Get your Pre-approval document

A foreclosure’s owner is a bank or sometimes a person or a company who made a private financing for the buyer. You will most likely make an offer to a bank though. Banks are not in the Real Estate business but in the money business. Therefore, they don’t want to waste any time and want to make sure that the next buyer is fully capable of buying. They will not review your offer if there is not a pre-approval document, signed by your bank or mortgage broker even if your offer is twice their asking price. A pre-qualification will not help. Just get your pre-approval in hand.

2) Get your proof of fund for the down payment.

Most banks, if not all of them, required a proof of fund for your down payment or if you plan to pay in cash. If the bank can’t see a proof that you have the money, they will not sign your offer. Period.

3) Be prepare to offer a price HIGHER than the asking price.

For this one, you will have a hard time to believe me. Fair enough. But know right now that 95% of the time, your below asking price or even your asking price offer will not fly. I have seen attractive foreclosed homes sold with an easy 15% higher than asking price. So be prepared.

Now, don’t make me wrong. Ultimately, you will be the buyer, the one who will pay and with the last word. But then again, you’ll be entering in the club of the buyers who need a proof of what I’m saying here.

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Comments (0) Oct 24 2010

Drywall imported from China and commonly referred to as “Chinese drywall” is causing quite a stir. But I also heard from my own office manager that no less than 9 different countries- including the USA – were actually making defective drywall and US builders were buying and importing them into the United States. So while those drywall are known as Chinese drywall, I prefer to call them defective drywall instead.

Defective drywall was imported to the United States in massive amounts during the housing boom between 2004 and 2008. It appears that when the importation of defective drywall first began, no one knew how much trouble it would cause. But then again, I challenge builder to open their imported container full of those defective drywall and not noticing the smell, which could have thrown a red flag right there.

Over time defective drywall begins to emit toxic fumes and odors that smell like rotten eggs. As if the smell isn’t bad enough, many people have become ill from chemicals found in drywall from those countries and homes themselves are falling apart as a result of the defective drywall. For instance, copper pipes are corroding and appliances are breaking down, all as a result of the drywall.

Desperate homeowners have filed claims regarding the problems associated with defective drywall with their insurance agencies only to find that problems as a result of defective materials used in construction are not covered in their policies.

To add insult to injury, the insurance policies on homes constructed with defective drywall are then canceled. To complicate matters further, other insurance agencies don’t want to write up policies on homes constructed with defective drywall, so desperate home owners are left without insurance on their homes. Since it is required to have insurance on homes that are not completely paid for, this puts home owners in a real bind and some of them even lose their homes because of it.

Replacing defective drywall may seem to be the only solution to this problem, but such a fix is neither cheap nor easy. Depending on the size and construction of the home, the two quotes I got from a contractor were roughly around $20,000 for each 1,000 s/f of home. Not only these drywall need to be replaced but the isolation also need to be replaced. Plus, all copper pipes and electric wired need to be fixed as well.

Most of the homes that have defective drywall were built in Florida, but other states, including Colorado, were also constructed with defective drywall. Here, in Cape Coral, when I show some properties to potential buyers, I have a lots of questions to answer in regards of defective drywall. I hope the public will find their questions answered here.

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Comments (0) Sep 23 2010

First of all, understand the short sales.

A short sale is a transaction that happens when a homeowner is owning more money on his/her home than what it is worth in today’s Real Estate market, and when the bank or the lender is willing to take less than what the homeowner owes.
Most of the time, that bank or lender will be able to collect more money with a short sale than if the homeowner goes into bankruptcy or foreclosure. That’s why they will be listening to short sales under certain circumstances.
For the homeowner, the short sale transaction is a better situation than going bankrupt or foreclosed. They credit will be hurt for 2 or 3 years instead of the 7+ years in a foreclosure situation.

Secondly, here are a list of documents you will need in order to prepare the short sale transaction with the bank representative:

FOR THE REALTOR:

• ~ Signed letter of authorization from seller authorizing you to negotiate with the lender on their behalf.
• ~ Letter of facts about the property. Everything that is wrong with the property and why it is impossible to sell it at a higher price.
• ~ Current Market Analysis. Highlight comparable sales that reflect the lower value.
• ~ Photographs. Remember, the photographs aren’t to highlight a charming house. Photograph evidence of damage, bad location, etc…
• ~ Evidence of all showings and feedback. Explain to lender results and conversations you’ve had while trying to sell the property.
• ~ Copy of listing contract/MLS Listing/MLS history.
• ~ Current “AS IS” CMA.
• ~ Copy of purchase contract if you have one.
• ~ Preliminary HUD
• ~ Make sure the seller has a detailed, tear jerking letter of hardship. See an example here
• ~ Sales and services Quotes

Also, insert copies of the following if any:
1. Code Violations
2. Fines
3. Hearing Information regarding the maintenance of the property
4. Evidence of lawsuits the City is filing against lenders
5. Evidence of pending litigation or changes in the law
6. Insert Tenant / Landlord provisions if it helps your case
7. Evidence of the town / city’s enforcement of fines against other banks
8. Latent Material Defect
9. Sexual offenders and predators

FROM THE SELLER:

-Two years tax returns and W-2’s.
-Three months bank statements.
-Pay stubs for last 30 days.
-Detailed monthly budget.
-All mortgages with account numbers.
-Copy of the deed.
-Copy of the note and/or mortgage
-Pending bankruptcy, or other action/judgment or lis pendens.
-Tear jerking hardship letter. See an example here

Buyers generally get a lot more house for their money in a short sale situation, because these properties are usually very competitively priced in order for the sellers to unload them before they end up in foreclosure. It’s a very good situation for them. The only downside I see is often the multiple offers situation for those short sale properties. But there are a lot of short sale properties available in the Cape Coral Florida market than in other parts of the country, so this area is the place to buy!.

So, if you are thinking of buying a short sale, here are 3 tips:

1 – Find a Realtor with short sales experience. There are many rigorous short sales and foreclosure training programs available to real estate agents, including the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) and the Short Sales and Foreclosures Resource Certification (SFR). If you wish to purchase a short sale property in Cape Coral, Florida, or anywhere else for that matter, you will greatly increase your chances of getting your deal to closing if your agent is experienced and comfortable with short sales….either through a short sales certification program, or through hard knocks experience in the field.

2 – Get pre-approved. No short sale offer will be considered without a pre-approval or a proof of funds letter. If you have not yet been pre-approved by a local lender and are not sure who to call, your real estate agent is a good source of referrals. The pre-qualification process generally takes less than 30 minutes, and can be done over the phone, however, a pre-approval takes longer but is better than a pre-qualification. Make sure you work with a local lender – today’s wild & woolly finance environment means that you greatly increase your chances of closing a deal if you use a local lender with a good reputation. All short sale offers must be submitted with a pre-approval letter, or with a proof of funds, as bank’s statements, in the case of a cash transaction.

3) Submit your highest and best offer the first time around! Lenders generally do not counteroffer….they will either say “Yes” or “No”. So if you are going to go through the process of waiting 60 days or more to hear back from the lender, you will greatly increase your chances of hearing that “Yes!” if you submit a good, solid offer with no contingencies.

Once you submit an offer that is approved by the seller, the seller has to submit your offer to their lender to see if the lender will accept the offer as well….remember, in a short sale situation the lender is agreeing to accept less than what the homeowner owes on the mortgage…..and the lender is going to do whatever they can to minimize the amount of that loss to their bottom line. Parting with their profits is not something that comes easy to lenders…..so it takes awhile to find out if they are willing to take the level of financial beating that is inherent in the amount you are offering. Sometimes the wait can be up to 90 days….sometimes much more (the amount of the wait often depends upon which lender holds the paper).

Look at the frustrating wait time as the price you pay for getting the chance to get a home you might not otherwise be able to afford.

If you want to receive listing from banks, this program will give tremendous help to get in the game as well.

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Comments (0) Dec 31 2009

As you may know, the first-time homebuyers’ $8,000 credit has been extended. I think it’s time to let you know what you should do before purchasing your first home.

1. Check the selling prices‘ of comparable homes in your area. Web sites like Zillow, Trulia or Homegain are not giving you an acccurate idea of what you should expect to pay. You can also do a quick search of actual multiple listing service, or MLS, listings in your area on a number of Web sites. The best will be to ask a Realtor® of course. Choose one that work in the area you are looking to buy.

2. Use a mortgage calculator to get an idea of what your monthly mortgage payments would be if you bought today. They are plenty of them online, just google it.

3. Find out what your total monthly housing cost would be, including taxes and homeowners insurance. In some areas, what you’ll pay for your taxes and insurance escrow can almost double your mortgage payment. Make sure you can afford that

To get an idea of what you’ll pay in insurance, pick a property in the area where you want to live and make a call to a local insurance agent for an estimate. You won’t be obligated to get the insurance, but you’ll have a good idea of what you’ll pay if you do buy. Just remember that exemptions and the intricacies of local tax law (like Florida’s Save Our Homes value cap) can create differences between what a homeowner is currently paying and what you can expect to pay as a new homeowner.

4. Find out how much you’ll likely pay in closing costs. The upfront cost of settling on your home shouldn’t be overlooked. Closing costs include origination fees charged by the lender, title and settlement fees, taxes and prepaid items like homeowners insurance or homeowners’ association fees. You can see what closing costs average here.

5. Look at your budget and determine how a house fits into it. Fannie Mae recommends that buyers spend no more than 28 percent of their income on housing costs. Go much past 30 percent and you risk becoming house poor.

6. Talk to a reputable Realtor® in your area about the real estate climate. Do they believe prices will continue falling or do they think your area has hit bottom or will rise soon?

7. Remember to look at the big picture. While a buying a house is a great way to build wealth, maintaining your investment can be labor-intensive and expensive. When unexpected costs for new appliances, roof repairs and plumbing problems crop up, there’s no landlord to turn to, and these costs and can quickly drain your bank account.

So consider whether you’re ready for the expense and effort of homeownership before pulling the trigger.

Then, prepare yourself for the hunting!

If the numbers make sense for you, taking a few steps at the beginning of the homebuying process can save you time, money and aggravation.1. Examine your credit. Right now, blemished credit or the inability to make substantial down payment can put the kibosh on your homeownership plans. That’s why it pays to look at your creditworthiness early in the home-buying process. Get a credit report and comb through it for errors and unresolved issues. If you find mistakes, contact the credit reporting bureau to make sure they are corrected. It’s also a good idea to get your FICO score, which will cost you a small fee.

2. Get your docs in a row. Collect pay stubs, bank account statements, W-2s, tax returns for the last two years, statements from current loans and credit lines, and names and addresses of your landlords for the past two years. Have them ready to show to the lender. This may seem like a lot, but in this age of tight credit, don’t be surprised if your lender needs a lot in the way of documentation.

3. Find lenders and get preapproved. Getting preapproved for a mortgage helps you bargain from a position of strength when you are house hunting. The institution where you bank and a local credit union are good places to start your search. Applying to multiple lenders in the same month helps increase your chances of getting a loan approved at the best rate possible without dinging your credit score too much.

4. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try … the government? If you can’t find a bank willing to lend to you — and in the current tight credit market, it’s possible you won’t — consider getting an FHA loan. The Federal Housing Administration has a program that insures the mortgages of many first-time homebuyers. As a result of this guarantee, lenders who might otherwise feel queasy about your qualifications will be more inclined to lend to you. As a bonus, the FHA only requires a 3 percent to 3.5 percent down payment from first-time homebuyers.

5. Finally, don’t forget about the first-time homebuyer’s credit. Get your hands on Form 5405 ahead of time and send it in with your tax return immediately after your home purchase to ensure you receive the $8,000 credit as soon as possible, especially since the credit is set to expire April 30, 2010 and you must close by July 31.

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Comments (0) Dec 07 2009