I saw this in a Realtors Q&A and thought it might be of interest…

Question: Several years ago, my brother and I bought a foreclosed house from the bank. He and I split the money, but only my name went on the deed. We downloaded a form off the Internet, creating a limited liability company and quit-claim deeding the property to our company. We just found out that the bank missed a lien during the foreclosure. We made a claim against our title insurance policy that was denied. What gives? – Charles

Answer: A title insurance policy is bought at closing to cover exactly this type of problem: an unknown defect or challenge to your ownership of the house.

But title insurance is a contract with the insurer, just like any other insurance policy. There are rules that have to be followed and exceptions to the coverage. Your problem is caused not only by the fact that you transferred ownership of the property to a separate legal entity, but also by the type of deed that you used to do it.

A quit claim deed only transfers ownership and provides no promises that the ownership is good – or even that your seller will help fix any problems that come up. You should have instead used a warranty deed, which contains these promises.

It may be tempting to save a few bucks by handling these matters yourself, but even a seemingly innocent mistake can cause you big trouble later.

It’s cheaper to live in Fla. than Northeast

Contrary to some consumer perceptions, it’s cheaper to live in Florida than most of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, according to a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

A study by the Tax Foundation showed that $100 in Florida buys $101.21 worth of goods, based on the national average. In the Northeast, only Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Maine stretched their dollars further.

$100 in New York only buys $86.66 worth of goods, according to the report. The D.C. area is the nation’s most expensive, with $100 only getting $84.60.

The figure is a statewide average. However, as the Clearwater Gazette reported, prices spike near cities, and Florida is no exception – but prices in and around Tampa are still cheaper than New York City and Boston.

And in Florida there’s no Income Tax.

I saw this on a FAR Q&A…

Question: I live in a 55-and-over condominium. A neighboring property recently was sold at a foreclosure auction to a young couple who moved in with their small children. This goes against the rules of our community. Is there anything we can do? – Anonymous

Answer: No. When the sale of a unit occurs by legal action, such as in a foreclosure or to an heir in a probate case, it is outside of the boards authority to approve or deny, similar to the way federal law will take precedence over state law. But just because the new owners get to live there without the boards consent, it does not mean that they will get a free pass for other association rules, including the requirement that they eventually sell or rent the condo to someone who is at least 55.Typically, 55-and-over communities require only 80 percent of the residents to meet the age restriction. The 20 percent cushion is in place to accommodate situations such as foreclosure and the death of a spouse whose widow or widower is younger than 55.

Palm Beach County’s new foreclosures up 7 percent from previous month

New foreclosures in Palm Beach County were up slightly in July, and up nearly 38 percent from the same time period the previous year, when new requirements for foreclosure cases took effect throughout Florida. There were 533 new cases in July, a 7.2 percent increase from 497 cases filed in June and a 37.7 percent increase from 387 cases filed in July 2013, according to the latest statistics from the Clerk & Comptroller, Palm Beach County. In 2013, the Florida Legislature passed a law that required plaintiffs to acknowledge in their foreclosure complaint that they have all the documents necessary to prove the case against the homeowner. The law took effect July 1, 2013, and had a significant impact on new foreclosure filings throughout Florida. “After the requirements for plaintiffs in foreclosure filings became law, we saw a substantial decrease in new foreclosure cases,” Clerk Sharon Bock said. “That change in the law happened as Palm Beach County’s real estate market continued to grow stronger, and the combination helped cut new foreclosures in half.”

Mortgages/Deeds Recorded

The number of mortgages and deeds recorded in Palm Beach County increased in July. There were 6,714 deeds recorded in July, a 6.27 percent increase from 6,318 deeds recorded in June, but a 3.9 percent decrease from 6,985 deeds recorded in July 2013. There were 3,460 mortgages recorded in July, a 14 percent increase from 3,036 mortgages recorded in June, but a 20.6 percent decrease from 4,358 mortgages recorded in July 2013. The Clerk’s office holds all of Palm Beach County’s official records, and records all deeds and mortgages submitted for recording in Palm Beach County.

Foreclosure Sales Results

There were 795 properties sold at foreclosure auction in July, according to statistics from Grant Street Group, the facilitator of ClerkAuction®. Of those, 620 were sold back to the plaintiff – typically a bank or mortgage company – in the foreclosure proceeding, and 175 were sold to a third party.

There were 410 foreclosure sales canceled in July, out of 1,205 scheduled for sale. The cancellation rate was 34 percent, compared with 34.6 percent in June

 

The Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches released their second quarter 2014 market report today and it shows a good steady growth.

q2-2014-pbc-market-update

The report shows single family homes sales are up 12% in terms of volume and 5% in terms of price.  Condominium sales however are DOWN in volume by 10% but up in price by a whopping 18%.

BY:  Chris Ryder

Recently, Fannie Mae announced that on August 16, 2014, they will be changing the waiting period associated with the purchase of a new home after a short sale or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, from a minimum of two years, to four years.

Right now, there is a staggered waiting period that allows a homeowner to purchase a new home with a Fannie Mae conventional loan two years after the finalization of a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure. In order to that, the buyer must provide a 20% down payment on the purchase of the new home and have had clean credit since the event.

However, on August 16, 2014, the waiting period for a homeowner to purchase a new home after a foreclosure becomes four years. The good news though is that new home buyers will be allowed to follow standard Fannie Mae guidelines and put as little as a 5% down payment down on the purchase of a home after a short sale.

In addition, if a homeowner can prove that the short sale was due to an extenuating circumstance (loss of job and/or wages), then the waiting period may still be reduced to two years. However, unless a buyer has strong documentation of this, the two year exception cannot be counted on.

For detailed information check out the Fannie Mae web page on this topic…

https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/selling/b3/5.3/07.html