Cape Coral Real Estate

I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday about the renting market versus the owning market. While the scene is in California, this can be very similar here in SW Florida and especially in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres.

Agustin Gutierrez, a construction worker from this town in the hills northeast of San Francisco Bay, lost his job in 2009, then, 10 months later, he lost ownership of his home.

Now, the husband and father of 4 rents the identical five-bedroom ranch from McKinley Capital Partners, an investment company that is at the forefront of a brand new breed of big-money landlords.
McKinley, which has acquired more than 300 foreclosed single-family houses in the Bay Area over the past two years, lately teamed up with Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, a new York hedge fund, with plans to buy at least 500 more foreclosed houses in the subsequent year. Those homes, too, will probably be rented to people like the Gutierrez loved ones.

Acquiring foreclosed homes as investment properties has long been dominated by mom-and-pop investors. But now hedge funds, private-equity firms, pension funds and university endowments are dipping into that market place. The attraction is double-digit returns at a time when most bonds along with other income investments yield extremely small.

Essentially the most well-liked strategy is for a large investor to team up with a neighborhood organization that scouts out houses and finds the renters. The hope would be to flip the homes within the future when prices recover.

“It’s kind of the Wall Street meets Principal Street phenomenon,” says John Burns, an Irvine, Calif.-based real-estate consultant who has discussed investing in single-family rentals with hedge funds. “The Major Street guys need to have the capital, and Wall Street requirements the expertise.”

At the finish of May possibly, 3.five million loans had been at least 90 days delinquent or in foreclosure, based on investment bank Barclays Capital. In the very same time, the country’s house ownership rate has fallen, to 65.9% inside the second quarter of 2011 from its peak of 69.2% in 2004, based on figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau final month. That drop has produced millions of new renters and helped push the vacancy rate for rental housing down by about two percentage points, to 9.2%.

“The single-family rental market is truly very large,” said Dennis McGill, director of investigation at Zelman & Associates, a study firm that follows the housing market place. “The average American says, ‘If I’ve got two kids and a dog, I can’t live in a one-bedroom apartment.’”

Zelman lately issued a report saying that in Arizona, Florida and Nevada, states hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis, the number of families renting a single-family house increased 48% from 2005 to 2010.

Huge institutional investors could eventually help stabilize the marketplace by soaking up the huge overhang of foreclosures, which could allow housing to begin healing. However, the number of single-family houses being bought by institutional investors is still small compared to the millions of distressed properties. The biggest players in the industry are deploying hundreds of millions of dollars, not the billions necessary to make a major dent.

The federal government has a significant role as well. The Obama administration is currently considering ways of selling foreclosed houses to investors who agree to rent them out. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration own a lot more than half of all unsold foreclosed houses.

Being a landlord can be a costly hassle for significant investors. Unlike apartment complexes, which concentrate hundreds of rental units in one place, investors must obtain hundreds of single-family houses that are miles apart, each with separate maintenance problems. Tenants can be troublesome.

“You could have a bad tenant who doesn’t want to pay their rent, or maintain the pool,” says Guy Johnson, an investor who buys foreclosed properties in Nevada, Arizona and California and rents some of them out. “A hedge fund manager doesn’t want to have to be their own plumber or electrician.”

Purchasing foreclosed properties isn’t easy either. Investors sometimes have to pay thousands of dollars in “cash for keys” payments to the previous homeowners in order to entice them to leave the property, and foreclosed homeowners often damage their houses before they are evicted.

Private-equity giant Carlyle Group LLC tried its luck with the single-family property market two years ago but abandoned the strategy late last year after concluding that the returns weren’t big enough. Carlyle’s method was different. The organization formed partnerships with nearby asset managers in California that bought and flipped houses, rather than renting them.

For now, a lot more investors are plunging into the single-family rental marketplace. McKinley, the Oakland, Calif., business that owns Mr. Gutierrez’s house, has already begun to use Och-Ziff income to purchase houses. Its model would be to acquire houses at an average price of about $100,000 apiece, put between $10,000 and $25,000 in renovations into them, and set the rental rate of the house so that it produces a return of 8% to 12% annually. This often works out to a rent of roughly $1,200 per month.

McKinley and Och-Ziff could see additional returns from selling the houses at a higher price after a few years, once the market place has improved. “Two years ago no one thought you could scale this business or that it could be institutionalized,” stated Gregor Watson, a principal with McKinley. “Now, you can get extremely good yields. It’s a quite good long-term strategy.” He declined to comment on the Och-Ziff investment. Och-Ziff also declined to comment.

Other significant investors have formed rental-housing partnerships.

G8 Capital, a private-equity fund based in Ladera Ranch, Calif., has bought 3,000 houses across the country since 2008, mostly to flip them. It decided last year to begin pursuing a hold-and-rent technique. It has since bought 250 foreclosed houses as rentals. Carrington Property Services LLC, a Santa Ana, Calif.-based property investment business that manages about 4,500 houses nationally, is in talks with investors to raise funds for a real-estate investment trust, to be called Residential National Trust, which would acquire foreclosed houses for rental. The company plans to purchase as many as five,000 far more rental homes in markets including Chicago, Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Waypoint Genuine Estate Group, an Oakland, Calif.-based firm, has bought 700 houses within the past two years as rental properties. Doug Brien, a former place kicker for the New York Jets who is now managing director of Waypoint, says that his company has approached pension funds, university endowments and big private investment groups about investing in his fund. In July, he says he closed on a financing deal from an Ivy League university endowment, but declined to name the university.

“At some point, there is going to be a shortage of housing,” Mr. Brien mentioned. “Everyone is realizing that single-family buy-and-hold is the way to go.”

In November, hedge fund manager William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management LP released a report arguing that single-family rental properties are an “under-owned asset class” that would make “an intelligent investment for institutional investors.” Pershing Square predicted that investing in single-family houses and holding them as rentals for 10 years could produce double-digit investment returns, even if U.S. residence costs only improved marginally.

All the activity is fueling a renewed debate over whether investors are good or bad for the housing industry. In the early days of the housing bust, some community groups discouraged banks from selling foreclosed houses to investors for fear they wouldn’t take proper care of the properties. Some communities riddled with foreclosed houses became slums.

Alan Mallach, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington, argues that instead of running from investors, local governments should provide subsidies to investors who buy, rent out and are good landlords for foreclosed properties. “If a neighborhood has a high rate of residence ownership, that’s obviously better,” he stated. “But in some markets, there was so much inventory coming on the market place that the sheer number of properties was destabilizing those markets.”

Mr. Gutierrez, the Vallejo construction worker, now pays $1,800 a month in rent, compared to the $2,500 per month he was paying to cover the cost of his mortgage when he owned the house. He says it bothers him that he no longer owns his property, but is happy to pay less and says his new landlords are good property managers.

He bought the house in 2003 for $340,000 using a $322,700 loan. He refinanced the house 5 times, driving up the total amount of debt on the house to $400,000. He lost the house to foreclosure in 2009. McKinley paid about $155,000 for the house that year.

“It’s confusing, because sometimes I think it’s my house, but I have to remind myself that it’s not,” mentioned Mr. Gutierrez, who says he doesn’t plan to try to repurchase the house. “It’s sad, but it’s what happened to a lot of men and women.”

Comments (0) Aug 06 2011

An additional hot spot will soon occupy the South Cape Entertainment district when the Dixie Roadhouse opens its doors in late August.

Because the closing of the Hired Hand Saloon far more than 13 years ago, numerous have anxiously awaited for the county scene to come back to Cape Coral.

Opening its doors on August 26, the Dixie Roadhouse will probably be a 10,000 square foot country and western nightclub located inside the heart of the city’s entertainment district. Coincidentally occupying exactly the same address as the Hired Hand Saloon as soon as did, the club can hold as much as 900 folks and promises to be new and distinctive option at the same time as a reason to get up off the couch and hit Cape Coral’s budding nightlife scene, “This will likely be one thing different than other clubs and restaurants. This is an actual nightclub,” says Dixie Roadhouse co-owner Lynn Pippinger.

The nightclub will probably be open its doors Wednesday via Saturday beginning at 5pm.

Looking to attract all ages, the club will offer line dance lessons nightly beginning at 7pm. At 10pm, music to pack the dance floors will start and play via the rest of the night, “The earlier entertainment and line dancing lessons will attract the older crowd. Once 10pm hits, the music shifts mixing country with classic rock, dance, retro and Best 40. That is when the younger crowd will come in and hit the dance floor,” says club co-owner David Townsend.

Whilst this may be the first club Townsend has opened in Cape Coral, he can be a veteran with the night club scene, having owned approximately a dozen clubs nationwide. He and Lynn also currently own Saddle Up in Chicago.

Townsend and Pippenger said they researched close to 200 properties across the nation when they decided to open up yet another club. Following narrowing their choices down to 25 properties, the duo hit the road and began visiting various places and buildings. When they drove into Southwest Florida, they knew they were on to one thing, “We came here and saw a marketplace with over 700,000 individuals, 3 country stations and no country nightclub,” mentioned Townsend.

The developing that Townsend and Pippinger had their eye on was the developing situated on SE 47th Terrace and SE 11th Place. The building was once the property of the Hired Hand Saloon and later the Bamboo Club, “We have really been seeking at the creating for the last year plus a half. It was built for a country and western nightclub. It had the bars in the precise locations we would have put them. Every thing was pretty significantly here. It’s far less costly to remodel than to construct. It was a ideal fit,” says Townsend.

Even though the creating may have as soon as been a country night club, do not anticipate the familiar appear that when was. The club is currently undergoing major renovations that consist of expanding the two,500 square foot dance floor, adding an additional bar, producing 3 bars total, two enormous fans over the dance floor and a new lighting system, at the same time as much much more.

Together with the new look, Townsend says they are also making innovative ways to make certain everybody will have an excellent time at a moderate cost. Drink costs, he says will probably be on par with other clubs and there is going to be methods to make the most of the $5 cover charge to obtain inside the doors. The club will supply poker chips with a $1 value to several of its customers. For example, if you come towards the club among 5pm and 8pm, if you pay the $5 cover charge, you are going to obtain five $1 poker chips to utilize toward drinks in the club during your go to. An additional way is if you want to reserve a table for the night, you pay the $100 fee for reservation and you are going to obtain 100 $1 poker chips to utilize toward drinks.

The club will also begin highlighting drink specials and hope to attract national music acts for particular events.

Townsend also says he considers the August opening phase one. He hopes to launch phase two within the next couple of months that can, l if all goes in accordance with program, a brand new deck on the back with the club, a patio on the front and utilize the roof best location with the constructing for patrons. He also hopes to hold a “Battle of the Bands” for local bands using the grand prize getting the chance to attend and play live in the Country Music Awards held later this year.

The club opening has also positively impacted the job marketplace, as it plans to hire roughly 60 local residents to function at the club with positions ranging from security, to bar staff, to advertising and marketing and much more.

Excitement for the club opening has raced across the city with the club’s Facebook page already garnering over 1,500 fans, “People are so excited we’re coming. We can’t wait to jump in and open the doors. It’s going to be exciting,” says Pippenger.

The club will open its doors August 26 and then have their grand opening September 25. To discover far more information concerning employment in the club you can pay a visit to their Facebook page where they also have VIP passes available for download.

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Comments (0) Jul 29 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

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

Lee Home Appraiser Ken Wilkinson is used to fielding complaints from people who think their home assessments are too high.

After all, a increased assessment translates into greater taxes.

But what a difference the housing crash makes.

Now some individuals have a new complaint: “My assessment is too low.”

“Before two years ago, I never got a call,” Wilkinson said. “This year I got two calls. They wanted higher value since they needed to sell it.”

The News-Press also received calls from individuals upset about low assessments since Truth in Millage Notices were sent out with house values and tax rates last month.

Things changed when property values fell sharply right after the residential real estate boom ended in 2006 and commercial house followed suit two years later.

On this year’s county tax roll, as an example, of properties the use of which hasn’t changed, 459,226 went down in value (compared to 2009); only 36,716 went up; and 22,525 stayed the same.

But those who wish to promote or refinance aren’t all happy about the declining values.

“Our lot is appraised at $18,000? That’s insane,” mentioned certified public accountant Leslie D’Alessandro, who with her husband, Peter, has owned a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Caloosa Yacht & Racquet Club along the Caloosahatchee since 1999.

The value of their property on the notice sent out by Wilkinson’s office last week was $169,279, which Leslie D’Alessandro also considers a lowball figure. It’s down from $282,020 in 2009 and $390,730 in 2008.

“It concerns me as far as homeowners insurance,” she said. “How much is the replacement value?”

Refinancing the home also would be more difficult due to the fact of the low assessed value, D’Alessandro stated, and selling would be even harder.

“I’m just glad we don’t have to sell our house,” she mentioned.

Wilkinson mentioned his hands are tied. Even though house owners would pay more taxes if their home were adjusted up in worth, state law requires he assess everything equally.

The notices sent out by the home appraiser every August also are not intended to reflect current worth, he stated; they’re based on comparable sales no later than the end of the previous year.

They’re also more conservative than a private appraiser’s estimate, Wilkinson said. Sales costs are deducted from the total figure, for instance.

Mike Hagen, an attorney who handles home tax value appeals, stated he hasn’t been asked to get anyone’s home value higher. But he said that typically he’d advise someone making the request to leave well enough alone.

Insurance companies and banks deciding whether to refinance don’t rely on the property appraiser’s figures to make their calculations, Hagen mentioned.

A larger assessed worth would help only when trying to sell a house.

“There’s no question a potential buyer may look at the house appraiser system, see what their opinion is,” he said.

Bill Davis thinks his house value is too low but doesn’t blame the home appraiser.
Davis, a retired banker who lives in Marietta, Ga., owns a unit in the Renaissance condominium on Winkler Avenue.

Over the past three years his assessment has fallen from $133,000 in 2008 to $76,430 in 2009 and $22,200 this year.

His unit is worth more than that, Davis stated, but lenders who are dragging their feet on foreclosures keep the complex in limbo.

Dominic Calabro, president of the Tallahassee-based taxation watchdog group Florida Taxwatch, stated there’s some concern about overly low assessed worth by commercial property owners.

“They have a myriad of different loans to support the activity and they’re often leveraged,” he said. “It does (cause problems) in the sense that it can affect whether you have a net loss of worth: whether the banks will continue to renew loans for the appraised value.”

But generally, Calabro said, it’s a perfect storm of low house values and a difficult lending environment that has some people today in denial.

“Florida’s seen some house tax declines once every 30 or 40 years,” he said. “It’s just we haven’t seen the decline in value at the same time as tight money.”

One thing remains constant, he said.

“Property taxes are a lot like the weather: Men and women are never happy with them,” he stated.

If you need more info about Lee County properties, feel free to check the Cape Coral Real Estate website

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Comments (0) Sep 07 2010

I had an interesting day today. I had planned to go to the Yacht Club pier to see the kids fishing derby in Cape coral with my family. The event was supposed to end at 11:30am and it was about 10:45am when I parked the car in the parking lot. And guess what? Everybody was already leaving with their prizes and catches.

So we let them go and went to the end of the pier anyway. Still few fisherman left were fishing and we stop to watch for a while. When something happened. A seagull thought it was a good idea to catch the fresh shrimp that a fisherman used to fish with.

Fortunately, the seagull was not hurt by the hook itself but its wing tangled in the fishing line. It was fighting to get away but the fisherman was trying to get it back on the pier to freedom the bird.

It was a really good feeling to see the seagull freed and taking off by itself. My daughter was immobilizing the bird while somebody was cutting the line with a knife. I guess we all made the bird’s day

We then bought a lunch and heading the Rotary Park for a pic-nic, as we do quite often.

The preserve is a 97 acres of mostly salt marsh, some upland and a lot of rock just under the surface, this park is the result of funding from a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection stipulating the area be preserved. In the mid-1980’s, the Rotary Club of Cape Coral was looking for a worthwhile project where they could utilize the funds they raised through various activities on something to benefit the community.

The site currently known as Rotary Park was then city property with no plans for development. So, after many years of hard work, Rotary Park opened in 2001 as the result of the combined effort of three local Rotary Clubs, the Department of Environmental Protection and the City of Cape Coral.

The preserved area can not be developed (that’s why it’s called a preserve) excluding the 9 acres of upland that the building, the dog park and the open areas currently occupy. The 4,200 square foot environmental center is used for gardening and nature related classes, exercise classes, summer camp, and is home to the Burrowing Owl Festival and large native plant sales. It is also available to rent for small to medium sized gatherings, as long as you don’t mind partying with a few creatures! A variety of small critters reside in the nature center including snakes, frogs, lizards, turtles and even alligators if we can trust the sign below

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Comments (0) Apr 18 2010

Ideal 4 cabins rental properties on 8 Acres for owners/operators and qualifying for E2 visa.

This business will qualify for foreign investors seeking an E2 investor Visa.

Grossing $75,000+/year and could be better if on site owner and if rented as overnight.

Possibility to built 2 more units and cottage on the creek side.

20 minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with 11 millions visitors/year!

This property has huge potential. I strongly suggest to use the basements and garage as home theater and game room/entertainment area with big flat screen TVs. With the 2 other cabins built, this property will have 6 cabins in total. The potential rent for those completed cabins could be as follow:

1 X 4 bedrooms cabin: $45K/year

2 X 2 bedrooms cabin: $64K/year (2 X $32K)

3 X 1 bedroom cabin: $75K/year (3 X $25K)

Cottage/camping site/RV space could go from $25/night to $60/night with a potential of $$36K/year

So the total potential gross could reach the $220,000 mark per year.

The 2 cabins that can be built would cost a roughly $160K for both.

The cottage are smaller studio like cabin that can be extremely competitive if priced below $60/night because that will be a cheaper alternative to hotel room while bigger,more private and located in a better environment.

Asking: £590 000/$945,000/725,000 Euros | 70% financing in place already | £180,000/$315,000/225,000 Euros down (30%)

Claude THOMAS

1-865-237-5043
www.isellsevier.com/156868

Sevierville cabin E2 investor visa business for sale

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Comments (0) Feb 08 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

Once you have sent your offer of 55% of the lowest average comparable and deducting for any repairs to the bank, the bank is going to hire a third party company to have a look at the property that is being discounted or what it is called a short sale transaction.

The following steps are what you have to consider to have a successful outcome from that third party that is doing the BPO/Appraisal.

Make yourself the contact person for the process.
When the third party company that is calling you to schedule an appointment, you want to make sure that the person on the phone knows the fact that this property is been foreclosed and do they know that it has a contract to be sold. Most of the people just want to come out and take pictures and run to the next one. They are in it to get as many done in a day as possible because they are getting paid minimal money to do this task, most of them being Real Estate agent that are not producing enough for a living. Build a rapport with them right out of the door and ask them a few questions while you have them on the phone. For examples:

Do you know that the bank is looking for a quick sale value on this home?

How long have you been doing BPO/Appraisals?
As you are listening, you are on a mission to gain information. You will be able to use this information to give you more details on how to proceed with this particular person before meeting them at the property.

How many of these inspections are you doing a day?
How many have you done in the last month/last week? And so on…

What is the name of your company/Phone #/Fax #/cell phone#?
So you can contact them ahead of time to confirm your meeting when set.
I also call some of them time to time for tips about new foreclosures.

If it is a Realtor, ask if they do a lot of REO’s.
This is a bank foreclosed home that Realtor’s like to list after they have been foreclosed on. You want to be sure on this because it will help you know how to proceed in handling the person in the field.

If it is an appraisal you are going to
You want to know this as well because an appraisal will be a little longer than a BPO. They are going to measure the property just like they did when it was purchased. They will do the size of bedrooms, how many rooms, all interior pictures, front and back pictures of the house and more…

Compiling all the right paperwork to take to the meeting at the house consist of the following:

A folder that has all information about the property
Write in big “Foreclosure” and “Working with banks and sellers to liquidate properties” on the front of the folder.

A copy of the purchase and sale agreement
You sent it to the loss mitigation department. It should be completed and executed in a time frame of 30 days or less.

A hardship letter
The hardship letter we were talking about here from the seller explaining why they are losing their home.

A repair estimate of the house
All documents supporting the value that is being offered. Made you homework here. You’ll get better at it with experience though.

Low comparable from the property
Get you comps from Real Estate agents, MLS and so on. Get the lowest 3 similar LISTED and 3 SOLD properties. The keyword is lowest here!

Articles from newspaper or online articles
Try to get newspaper articles explaining the down turn of the market or any problem of the area where the property is located. Check online local newspaper as well.

Copy of the building sketch of the property
If it is an appraisal, supply the appraiser with a copy of the building sketch of the property. This will put a smile on the appraiser face because it helps them get their job done sooner. This move will instantly put yourself as knowledgeable and therefore, your numbers as much more accurate, even if you may be a bit low

The day when you are meeting them at the property
Make sure you call and confirm they are going to be on time. Be professional.

Arrive early so you have a chance to get a feel of the house
Drive by the neighborhood and look for any signs in yards. Take them down if any and remove any flyer/advertising you may have at the house. You do not want them to know what you are marketing it for. Look around the house for any new damages or negatives to point out.

When the agent gets there
DO NOT HAND them the package you have. Lay it down somewhere visible in the house (kitchen counter or on bar). Start building a rapport with them. Have a conversation about anything, something in common (have a quick look at his/her car bumper sticker. You most probably see something he/she like to talk about: pets, football team, etc…). Ask how they are doing and get a little personal.

Do not start bashing the house
As if you want a low value, it is important though that you don’t bash the property. Let them in and walk the house showing them around from behind them. That will let you read their body language. Do not get up in their face. Be nice and have a sense of humor about the meeting and that you two are in this together.

The Big Question!!
When the agent/appraiser asks who you are in this process, whenever this comes up, either on the phone in the beginning or on the way there when you are confirming the appointment, DO NOT LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE AN INVESTOR. You are just the person meeting them there to show them the house. Minimize yourself. If they ask you if you are the listing agent or the Realtor® and you are not, let them know that our company works with the seller and the bank to liquidate the property. If you are a Realtor® then answer yes I am a Realtor® but working to help the seller.

What should I wear to this meeting?
Try not to over dress or look like you are better, smarter or know more than they do. Play at their level or below. Allow them to be in control or at least think they are in control (better results). Ask them if there is anything else that they need. Include a couple of newbie’s questions about their field. Leave an impression that you know he/she is the professional here.

Getting the package in their hand.
Talk a little about the market and show them things that need repair along the way. However, be helpful not forceful. When you pass by the package pick it up and let them know you have a copy anyway. Inform them that it contains info like comps, the current purchase agreement, etc… You don’t have to tell them everything in it because they can see it for themselves. You want them to ask you for it. Let it be their idea of getting it instead of it seeming like you are forcing it in their face, you must take this type of approach.

What do you think of the value?
After the meeting, hint around about the value. “What do you think the value will come in at?” “Ballpark figure”. Come across with the seller needs to sell attitude rather than they want to sell. If the agent/appraiser will tell, that is okay.

Can I follow up with you?
Have either yourself or someone else follow up with them 24 hours after the value was done. Thank them for coming out, be polite and ask them if they have completed the value and sent it in to the bank.

Calling 24 hours later.
Start out asking them how it is going. Then ask them if they have completed any more inspections since the one they did with you. By this time you should have an idea of how well they are going to respond. Just ask what they thought the value came in at and did the value come in around the contract price.

After that, call the bank and ask if they have received the value and can they accept the offer that you have submitted. If not, ask them to call you back with the approval as soon as they get it.

Comments (1) Dec 27 2009