Sellers get the payment at closing.  While each agreement with Bank of America is unique, the offer generally requires sellers to satisfy junior liens to provide clear title to the property; a full walk through appraisal; and a closing before September 26,2012!

This program only applies to pre-approved short sales not sales that start with an offer; and eligible homeowners must actively participate in a short sale program.

Two of these programs are HAFA and Bank of America’s proprietary program.

If you are already working on a short sale through Bank of America you are also eligible if you meet the requirements.  You will be contacted by letter if you qualify.

This is good news for sellers who are looking for a way out.

If you are thinking of selling, now that inventories have shrunk, it is a great time.  You probably will get as much today for your property as you will if you wait another couple of years. We have buyers from Latin America, Europe and Canada.  South Florida has a great influx of people willing to invest in American real estate.

BUT THINK OF THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY THIS IS TO BUY YOUR NEXT HOUSE WITH INTEREST RATES THIS LOW!

Take advantage of this opportunity.  Properties above your price limit, may now be affordable.  Let me know how I can help you both sell your home and buy a new one.

Sunny Isles Beach is becoming uber fashionable with the advent of the PORSCHE and now CHATEAU-BEACH !!

Construction will begin in September of this year and will be completed in 2014.  If you want to live in fabulous style, call me today because only 84 lucky families will get to live here!

These are a few of the ultra luxury features: size starts at 1500 square feet up to 9000 sq. ft. These residences will have 2 stories, deep terraces and a private swimming pool.

All the residences will have floor to ceiling glass with panoramic ocean views.

Full concierge services, spas, wine lockers and a cigar bar.

Pre Sales will begin immediately with construction.  Call as soon as possible for more details.

Less than a year ago, Turnberry discarded its association with Fairmont .  Now it is the 3rd Miami based hotel to join and the 32nd in the Autograph roster.

The great news  for Aventura  is that now anyone with a Marriott Rewards surplus can use those points to book any hotel with the Autograph collection.

Turnberry is great for all kinds of events, weddings, anniversaries, business meetings with its fabulous facilities, golf courses, and 408 rooms and suites.

Great change for Turnberry and Aventura.

1200 Property Owners in Broward county received rejection letters because they did not pay their taxes before March 31st.  Under the new law, which went into effect July 1 of 2011, owners who want to appeal their taxes must pay at least 75% of the amount before April 1 if they want their appeals considered.

A word to the wise is sufficient!!

ANOTHER TERRIFIC TIP THAT WILL SAVE BUYERS MONEY!!  AVOID HIGH ENERGY COSTS IN YOUR PROSPECTIVE NEW HOME!!

When considering a new home and are ready to write your contract, add another inspection along with the usual home owner inspection.  This inspection is called HERS and it stands for Home Energy Rating System.  This is an energy audit that checks all specific features of energy use in the home.  It interprets its findings into dollars spent on inefficiencies.

If the house needs a great deal of upgrading into better efficiency, and if the seller doesn’t want to reduce his price accordingly, or if the seller doesn’t want to make these changes, you can walk away from the property.  Even if you decide to go ahead with the purchase, at least you will know what you are buying and how you can fix it.

This audit has been available to the public for years and rarely does anyone take advantage of it.

15% said it was a good time to sell. 

The percentage of Americans who believe the economy is on the right track in this survey was 37%.  56% said it was on the wrong rack.

This survey was based on a national representative sample of 1000 respondents who were 18 and older from April 2011 through April 27, 2012.

We, here in South Florida are seeing very good sales.  Our inventories are going down every week because of the influx of foreign buyers from South America and Canada.

Our sellers have been pricing their properties correctly listening to the comparables in their areas and it has paid off.  Condos that are priced right disappear almost as soon as they are listed.  So keep up the good work and South Florida will experience a terrific renaissance.

There is now  only 6 months inventory of rental units in Sunny Isles.  This translates into 400 properties available for rent.

Sales of new condos in Sunny Isles Beach fell by 9% for several reasons….Boom Era inventory decreased….prices for developer units increased and there are 5 more new luxury condo towers being planned.

Watch for information from me about a fantastic new tower called PORSCHE.  Different in all ways!!!

OTHER NEWS….SOUTH FLORIDA FORECLOSLURES ARE UP 60%.

THERE WERE 4,122 FORECLOSURES FILED IN SOUTH FLORIDA IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR (according to Condo Vultures).  Half 2,025 came in Broward County.

One thing, for sure, our market is moving in all directions.  But I see inventories shrinking in AVENTURA.  I see prices not only stabilizing but rising especially in communities like GOLDEN POINTE.

RECENT SALES WERE $471k FOR A 1900 sq. ft unit ON THE DRY SIDE AND $800k FOR A 2500 sq.ft.unit ON THE WATERFRONT.!

In 2011, luxury condo resale activity jumped by 29 percent according to Condo Vultures. But while foreign buyers, with strong currency drove the market last year, indications are that the market is here to stay for now.

There is a wave of new developments like the proposed Porsche Tower for Sunny Isles B each.

The high rises in Sunny Isles Beach have been selling steadily and for good prices all last year and the thriving beachfront is reason to hope that South Florida’s condo market will continue to do well in 2012 as well. 

FORECLOSURE SALES IN THE TRI COUNTY AREA FELL BY 25% in the third quarter of last ear according to data from Realty Trac.  This was a symptom of foreclosure freeze of 2010.

However this freeze may be thawing and forecosures will be flooding the market with prices declining in face of the rising inventory levels.  These forecosures will be in the single family market as well as in the condo market.

This will present itself as a good time to buy. Opportunities will abound with affordable prices and attractive properties. 

Well, that’s it for now.  I will keep you posted as new information is available.

I was invited to a presentation breakfast this weekand listened to the descriptions of the units and this is what I came away with.

For those of you who need an exclusive, boutique style building with only 70 residences, this 24 story building is for you!!

These apartments are large, 2300 square feet to 2700 square feet, each with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 baths.

The top two floors will have extraordinary penthouses that will each encompass nearly 5000 square feet.

Poggenpohl kitchens and marble in baths and granite counters in kitchens, private elevators and 10 foot ceilings and hurricane-rated impact resistant glass,

SO many amenities….24 hour concierge, 2 story lobby, fitness center, media room, Kid’s game room, beautifully landscaped sundeck with resort style pool and spa and a large cabana area, all overlooking the Williams Island Marina.

Bellini will be a wonderful addition to Aventura with completion scheduled for 2013.  Remember the best apartments will be sold first, so if this seems interesting to you, call me as soon as possible to see the property floor plans.

Mortgages

First, let me define MERS….Mers is an innovative process that simplifies the way mortgage ownership and servicing rights are originated, sold and tracked.  Created by the real estate finance industry, MERS eliminates the need to prepare and record assignments when trading residential and commercial mortgage loans.

NOW THAT WE HAVE DEFINED IT…LET’S UNDERSTAND THE UNDERLYING CONDITION THAT LED TO THIS PROCESS.

The mortgages that are written to this day, are sold to service providers (these are the banks that collect the payments) who ultimately sell them to other service providers.  All this in the effort to make money on these sales.  Finally, these loans are sold to Wall Street firms that package them and sell them as investments.

When homes sales began declining and some were worth half of the original price, many banks could not even locate the original loan in order to make modifications or to prove how much was owed in back payments.  Paper, paper, everwhere and not a piece that was the right one.

MERS COMES IN….THIS IS AN ELECTRONIC  SYSTEM OF TRACKING THE ORIGINAL MORTGAGE NO MATTER WHERE IT WINDS UP. 

Until this system becomes the only way of doing mortgages, we will not get out of the lengthy foreclosures still waiting to be finalized.  Once these mortgages are dealt with and either saved or completely foreclosed and back on the market for sale, the housing slump will hang around for a long time.

The U.S. government would have to make this a mandatory way of doing business for all l banks and mortgage lenders for this to be effective.  Let’s hope this happens!

Just thought you should know.