Real Estate Information

I was starting to believe that there were no honest contractors left within the State of Florida that they had all been extinct like the Dinosaurs and the only contractors left were the dishonest Cockroaches.  But pleasantly I found, which I believe to be the only honest one that is left in the State or at least in Central Florida.  He seems to be the only one that really cares about doing things the right way, i.e. build by the book without cutting corners, finding the best and the lowest priced subcontractors, moving things along without delays and making sure that everyone on the job cooperates.  In addition to this I can honestly say that his manners are courteous and professional.  I do not expect to ever hear from him the words that one of his predecessor on this job said to me, when I pointed out to him that when he was asking for a change order, which was already in the contract: “ You f……, s… I will get you for this”.  After spending four years building a 1.175 Sq. Ft. heated home and being on the third contractor and finally finding an honest and hard working one, surrounded by honest and hard working subcontractors, I feel that I have to let everyone know, THAT THERE IS HOPE OUT THERE!  This is why I am listing his company’s name, the subcontractor’s names and their contact numbers:

Atlantic Development Corporation, Jeffrey Lantz, tel: 407-328-0123

Optimal Electric, Inc., Gary J. Monsees, tel: 407-323-0377

Direct Plumbing Solutions, Inc. John Ashworth, tel: 407-221-1249

Anthony’s Wallpaper and Painting, Anthony Biskner, tel: 407-221-4257

I want all to know that no one asked me to write this Blog, but I am getting tired of all the publicity that the bad guys get in the media so I wanted to let you know about the good guys.  Wouldn’t it be nice if the media would report about the honest hard working people that are out there instead of always talking about the negative ones in the news? 

It is admirable to see what the mortgage giant Freddie Mac is trying to do to soften the blow of foreclosure on owners and tenants after foreclosure.  They have launched a new program called “The REO Rental Initiative”, with the goal of soften the blow of foreclosure on owners-occupants and tenants after the foreclosure.  This program can make life much easier for the occupants of a foreclosed home, especially if there are children involved.

If the home is in safe, habitable condition and meets all local codes for rental properties, it can qualify for the program.  Then they will try to find out if the tenant or former owner qualifies for a normal lease based on what is happening in the area of the home and the finance situation of the owner or tenant, i.e. can they pay the normal lease and are they interested in renting the home on a month to month bases.  To learn more about this program CLICK HERE.  

It is unfortunate that some people always try to make money of other people hardship.  HUD and the U.S. government are franticly trying to stop these practices and guide people in the right direction.  This is why HUD has opened a page on their website which helps homeowners and guides them to HUD approved nonprofit counselors.  This is a part of Presidents Obama Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP), and has the purpose of helping you to get real results and avoid scrupulous scammers.  Here is a link to HUD’s website. 

The U.S. Treasury Department has also opened a website to assist and guide people that need to modify their mortgages and or refinance their homes.  You don’t have to be late on your mortgage to qualify for this program which is called Making Home Affordable.  They have also opened a telephone hotline: (888) 995-4673 and the website is: www.makinghomeaffordable.gov .  These websites have a lot of information and explain to homeowners how the system works and guides them in a safe way in the right direction.  If your mortgage is a burden to you, I urge you to check out these websites and wish you the best.    

I saw this article on Oregonlive.com explaining how Banner Bank in Oregon is going to offer 3.875% interest on loans for newly built homes.  There are 243 homes that are builder owned, that will qualify for these loans.  All the homes have been financed by Banner or Community Financial and are now builders inventory.  The funds come from the Governments TARP money and the bank is using the funds to ease pressure on the bank and the builders.

   The first winner is of course the home buyer, who is getting an outstanding loan with an already low priced home, which will make their life easier.

   The second winner is the builder which is getting rid of inventory that is only costing him money today and not producing any profit.

   The third winner is the bank, when the builders pay down their loans instead of going belly up.

   And the fourth winner is the government seeing TARP money do some good in the society, releasing pressure and moving the economy again.

This article which is written by Jeff Manning is an upbeat read and I recommend that you all follow this link and read it.

After reading this article I wonder, why we aren’t seeing other lending institutes doing the same thing.

Here is the link to Jeff’s article.

On March 4^th 2009 the Florida Realtors association published this article about retirement visas.  The article interested me, so I went a head and Goggled the issue and found three more articles about the issue of allowing foreign nationals to retire in the United States. 

The oldest article that I found was an interview with Tony Macaluso, a past international operations chairman of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), on Workpermit.com.  I would like to quote this sentence from the article “Whilst close neighbors such as Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and Belize have a variety of programs designed to encourage international pensioners to settle and buy homes there, the U.S. offers no simple path for a foreign citizen to retire to destinations such as Florida or California”.  Here is a link to the article.

Then I found an article about the National Association of Realtors (NAR) stand on this issue.  Their policy is as follows: “NAR has no policy on the issue. After discussions with the NAR policy committees with jurisdiction over the issue indicated a lack of agreement as to how to precede, the NAR Leadership team directed staff to work with outside experts to measure the degree of interest among foreign citizens in a retirement visa or "silver card".  Here is a link to their article about: Retirement Visa – Issue Summary.

The third and the newest article that I found was on news-press.com, which is an interview with a German retirees and Eugene Borosch a south-west Florida businessman.  Where he states that allowing foreigners to retire in Florida could save the Florida economy.  Here is a link to that article.

After reading these articles, I feel that the Government needs to CHANGE their opinion and attitude towards foreign national retirees.  They need to allow: retirees with steady income, which would buy property in the US and pay taxes here to stay.  This would definitely help our economy and spur business, which is desperately needed here.  We also have to look at our competition as our neighboring countries like: Mexico, Panama, Belize and Costa Rica mentioning few, all welcome retirees and have opened their countries for them.  Even though I don’t think that it is the intention of the Government to send our work out of the country. “It is my belief that these restrictions on retiree immigration is doing so”.  This is why I urge Orlando Regional Realtors Association (ORRA), the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR), the National Association of Realtor (NAR) in association with home builders associations and any interested associations to act and push for reforms.       

It is amazing how inventive people and companies are.  Watching WFTV news last night I saw their article about Eagle Creek community.  The homeowners received a letter from the Management Company for the community, stating that if you don’t pay up your homeowners association fees, you will be locked out of the community.  See article HERE.  

Eagle Creek is one of the worst hit community in the Orlando area with extremely high percentage of foreclosures and prices of homes have dropped 40 to 60% from their highest level.  So it is understandable that the Homeowners Association and the Management Company wants to do something to stop this and pressure for payments.  But taking action like this and hearing this news makes me wonder and ask a lot of questions, for example:

Why this Wall Street Attitude?

Do they think they are above the law?

Aren’t any provisions in the law that they can use to collect?

Won’t this lower home value more in the subdivision?

Has the legislator failed Homeowners Associations?

Does someone that is having hardship and loosing thousands of dollars deserve this?

Than I wonder, with all these foreclosures and housing problems.  Will we see Homeowners and Condo Associations next on the court house steps?

The National Association of Home Builders has created an outstanding Home Page that explains the $8,000 tax credit for the first time homebuyer.  On that site you will find explanations about how it works, frequently asked questions, the law’s other provisions and then some outstanding resources for the first time homebuyer.  The setup of this web-site is simple and extremely easy to navigate.  If you are a first time homebuyer, I recommend strongly that you look at this web-site.  Good work NAHB.  To link to this site just click HERE .

Finally, let’s not forget the things that brought people to Florida in the first place, and will continue to attract them – beautiful beaches, fabulous weather and a friendly business climate, with no state income tax.  It’s no wonder that Florida’s combination of temperate climate, outstanding recreational amenities and economic opportunity has consistently put us at the top of Harris Poll’s “most desirable places to live” survey.

Summing up the benefits, 2007 Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR) President Nancy Riley says, “Florida Realtors know buying a home is a very personal investment – an investment in a family’s future. Although research shows it is the largest single investment most families make and helps to provide security for the future, owning a home isn't just a financial investment. Ownership is about having a place to call home: a place where families build a future and become part of a community.”

People who own homes have a strong financial stake in what happens to their community and tend to become more involved in community and civic affairs. Studies show that homeowners also interact with their neighbors to gain wider influence over their neighborhoods and communities. Homeowners join up to 41 percent more civic and/or nonprofessional organizations than renters, such as the PTA or Scouts; vote in local elections 15 percent more often; enhance their neighborhoods with gardens 12 percent more often; attend church about 10 percent more often; and have a 3 percent greater chance of being interested in public affairs.

Studies show that children raised in homes owned by their families are more likely to stay in school and more likely to graduate high school. They’re also shown to have a higher lifetime annual income.