Parkland Parrot

Appraisals: Why You Must Now Sell Your Parkland House Twice

Due to the large inventory of bank foreclosures and short sales currently on the market, banks and lending institutions are becoming even more stringent when qualifying potential real estate buyers for mortgages.  As a result, banks want to make sure that buyers have the ability to pay back money owed on the loans.

Banks also protect their mortgage investments by making sure that the mortgage’s collateral backing is secure.  The appraisal is now more important than ever, as banks want to make sure that if the borrower fails to make their payments on the loan, then the bank will be able to sell the home for at least the amount equal to the mortgage balance.  As a result, you cannot just find able and willing buyers to purchase properties at agreed upon sales prices.  Now, you have to take the extra step and sell these sales prices to appraisers.

Last week, the National Association of Realtors’ Existing Home Sales Report showed how appraisals are negatively impacting residential real estate transactions in the United States.  In fact, 14% of all transactions in April were either cancelled or renegotiated to a lower sales price, because of low appraisals!

Bottom Line:
When considering listing your home on the market, please work with a Realtor that can answer all of your questions and concerns regarding appraisals.  Remember, you will have to sell your home twice: first to the buyer and then the appraiser.  Do not get all excited when you agree on terms with a potential buyer, as that is only half the battle.  The second half is having the home appraised.  The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team emphasizes to each of our sellers that the appraisal is probably the most important aspect of the real estate transaction.  As a result, your Realtor should meet the appraiser and present him/her with the the following items:

1. Upgrades & features of the home
2. Floor plan
3. Survey
4. Clean copy of the purchase agreement
5. Comparable closed sales in the past 6 months

Remember, banks cannot have direct contact with appraisers.  So, the only individual that communicates with the appraiser is the listing agent in order to allow the appraiser access to the property.  Make sure your Realtor does their homework and meets with the appraiser at your home.  Appraisers come from all over South Florida and might not be affluent with your particular community.  As a result, make sure that you and your Realtor put together a plan for both the buyer and appraiser.  If you are thinking about selling your home and would like us to explain the home selling process as it relates to appraisals, please give us a call at: 954-609-0591.

Know the neighborhood.  Know the value.  Know your hometown agents:  The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team.  If you are interested in buying or selling in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.

Related Posts:
5 Reasons To Sell Your Parkland Florida Home Now
30 Parkland Florida Homes Sold In April 2011
Hooray For Parkland and Broward Real Estate Home Sale Increases

6 Affordable Ways To Fix And Sell Your Parkland Home For More Money

6 Simple And Affordable Do It Yourself Projects To Increase Value Of Your Parkland Home

Let’s face it!  Selling a home in today’s market is challenging.  With the plethora of foreclosures and short sales on the market in your area, there is a lot of competition.  You must take the necessary steps in order to make your home stand above the competition.  Below, please find 6 Worth-The-Price Fix-Ups to sell your home faster and for more money:

1. De-cluttering and cleaning: It’s important to depersonalize your home and declutter the countertops and closets.  It is also necessary to thoroughly clean your home.  Buyers are usually turned off by pack-rat sellers, so it is essential to make your home more open and look sparkling clean.  (Estimated Cost:  $290 – Estimated Return: $1,990)
2. Brightening: Grab the Windex and clean every window, both inside and out.  Also, replace old curtains, update lighting fixtures, and allow for the most amount of light to come into your home.  A home that is light and bright will appeal to a larger pool of buyers. (Estimated Cost:  $375 – Estimated Return: $1,550)
3. Staging: Every time we take a new listing, we always stage the home for the pictures.  Simply rearranging furniture or bringing in new accessories will enhance the rooms of the home.  It is also important to make your home look like and smell like a model.  Think when you go into a furniture show room, doesn’t everything seem to be arranged perfectly and have a fresh aroma?  When buyers feel more comfortable while looking at  homes, they are more apt to buying them!  (Estimated Cost: $550 – Estimated Return: $2,194)
4. Landscaping: Making great first impressions for a potential buyer starts before they even enter your front door.  Curb appeal is necessary to make your home pop and stand out.  Make sure to plant seasonal flowers and put new mulch out.  It is also important to landscape your backyard as well, as this is a major selling point for buyers will children and animals.  (Estimated Cost:  $540 – Estimated Return: $1,932)
5. Electrical and plumbing: Make sure to fix leaks under sinks and have the plumbing in your home in good working order.  If you need to, hire an electrician to fix and check all outlets and replace any old wiring.  If potential buyers see a home with leaky plumbing and non-working electrical outlets, they will believe that your home is in need of repair and look to pursue an offer on your neighbor’s home on the market instead.
6. Replace or Clean carpeting: There is nothing more of an eye sore than a smelly or stained carpet.  God help you if your home has a smoke or dog smell.   Replace or clean your carpet, and your buyers will appreciate it!  This could be the biggest return on your investment if your home has old, smelly carpet.  (Estimated Cost:  $647 – Estimated Return: $1,739)(Estimates & information provided by HomeGain’s annual home improvement and staging survey: homesalemaximizer.com)

These simple, yet affordable changes, could be the difference from getting a sold sign in front of your home in weeks.  If you fail to make these small, but necessary changes, your home will become stale and not sell for top market value.  When our team first meets with a new seller, we go through our Home Enhancement Checklist in order to assist our clients in getting their home ready to be put on the market.  If you are interested in receiving our Home Enhancement Checklist, please feel free to email us at: Michael@ParklandParrot.com or give us a call at: 954-609-0591.

We know the numbers, we analyze the market, our clients make better decisions. If you are interested in selling or buying a home in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

To stay updated with all Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts via email by subscribing here. After registering, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended On Pending Contracts

Pending Parkland and South Florida First-Time Homebuyers Receive 3 Month Extension For Tax Credit

Good news for homebuyers that are currently under contract on a home.  The Federal Government has extended the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit on all pending contracts until September 30, 2010.

Previous tax credit required buyers to close on or before April 30, 2010.  Due to the overwhelming amount of purchases, the lending process is taking longer.  Also, many pending sales were on short sale or distressed properties in South Florida, which take longer to negotiate than a convention sale.  As a result, first-time homebuyers currently under contract will have an extension of 3 months (September 30, 2010) to close on their properties giving lenders more time to process the loans.

This 3 month extension will definitely help the real estate market!  I just wish that the government would extend the tax credit to new buyers.  I wrote a previous article entitled: Calling President Obama! Bring Back Real Estate Homebuyer Tax Credit! The tax credit really helped unload a quantity of South Florida real estate inventory, especially foreclosures and short sales.

But, what will the future hold?  What new plan will the government and real estate community come up with in order to get new first-time home buyers off the fence to purchase this Summer and into the end of 2010?

To stay updated with all of the current Parkland and South Florida real estate home information, receive our blog posts directly to your inbox by subscribing to the squawk.

If you are interested in buying or selling a real estate property in Parkland, Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, or the rest of South Florida, please give us a call at 954-609-0591 or send a note to the squawk.

Parkland Real Estate Sales Up And South Florida Foreclosures Down

40 Parkland Single Family Sales In May, 2010 While South Florida Real Estate Foreclosure Filings Are Down

The Sun-Sentinel reported yesterday that Foreclosure filings down in Broward, Palm.  Have we hit the peak of the foreclosure problem?  Is our market showing signs of life?

According to a research report by CondoVultures.com, a South Florida real estate consulting firm, there was a 55% drop in Broward County and a 36% drop in Palm Beach County foreclosure filings.

The Squawk also also reported in our Monthly Parkland Market Update Report that there was a record 40 Parkland home sales in May, 2010 showing a significant increase in sales over the past few months.

RealtyTrac Inc., another foreclosure listing and monitoring company, believes that nationwide foreclosures will remain at high levels but sees foreclosures leveling off in the hardest hit areas around the country, including South Florida.

The reason for the optimism is that banks and lending institutions are starting to get with the program and are implementing better systems to help distressed homeowners through loan modifications and short sales.  As a result, less people are walking away from their mortgages and avoiding foreclosures.  Read our recent article: Should I Short Sale Or Let My Home Go Into Foreclosure?

Still, other real estate analysts believe the worst is not behind us yet.  These skeptics think that that banks have not released all of their foreclosure inventory all at once in order not to flood the market with distressed properties.  Banks fear that if more foreclosures are listed on the market, then there will be another major drop in prices causing nationwide panic.

The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  We feel that the nation is not “out of the woods” just yet.  But, we are confident that the South Florida real estate market is improving, especially in Parkland.  As mortgage interest rates are now below 5% and low home inventory, it is the best time to purchase a real estate property in Parkland or South Florida. Please give your Parkland and South Florida real estate experts a call today at 954-609-0591.

To stay updated with all of the current Parkland real estate home information, receive our blog posts directly to your inbox by subscribing to the squawk.

If you are interested in buying or selling a real estate property in Parkland or South Florida, please give us a call at 954-609-0591 or send a note to the squawk.

Should I Short Sale Or Let My Home Go Into Foreclosure?

Short Sale Easy Button – No To Foreclosure! Yes To Short Sale!

Almost every day, I receive this question from potential customers, friends, and even family members.  Many people are perplexed with what to exactly do when faced with not being able to pay their current mortgage and housing payments.  Have no fear!  Banks and the government are FINALLY starting to get their acts to together.

Short sales are on fire in the distressed property market.  In the not so distant past, short sales could take 6-12 months or longer to even come to fruition.  A short sale is when a homeowner owes more on the mortgage than the property is worth.  As a result, the bank agrees to sell the home short of what the borrower owes on the mortgage.

Unfortunately, these potential transactions turned into “long sales,” as the process took countless months of trying to get the bank to agree to the short sale but to no avail.  But, banks are starting to organize themselves better by hiring more mortgage professionals to help in their short sale negotiating departments.  As a result, short sales account for almost a quarter of all real estate sales in the first quarter of 2010 and will continue to grow.

Specifically, Bank of America, who holds the most residential mortgage loans in the country has recently started using an online program called Equator to process not only their bank foreclosure properties (REO’s), but now their short sale inventory.  Short sales now offer the banks an easier solution to getting properties quickly off their books.  Also, short sales are becoming a better financial options for banks.  When a bank forecloses on a property, it can cost them up to 50% of the home’s worth in fees and carrying costs.  Short selling can cost the banks 20%, which is a significant difference!

Under the new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program rolled out by the government earlier this year, distressed borrowers will now earn a $3,000 “relocation incentive”  to help with moving costs.  Servicers of loans will also receive $1,500 for handling each short sale.

The goverment program also helps investors that own the mortgage notes with $2,000 in exchange for working with the second-lien holders and sharing the proceeds of the short sales. Finally, the 2nd lien holder will now receive up to $6,000 for releasing their claims and allowing the short sale to take place.  This last incentive is truly helping expedite the process, as 2nd lien holders demanded a lot of money from the proceeds and would  “kill the deal.”

Many banks are also providing release of debts to distressed homeowners at the closing of the short sales.  In a recent Sun-Sentinel article, analysts expect a barrage of lawsuits to recoup the mortgage debt loss from borrowers that walked away from their homes.  “Under Florida law, banks have 5 years after they finally foreclose on a home or after the deficiency judgment and up to 20 years to collect.   Lenders and banks can make claims on borrower’s assets and even garnish wages.

It is very important to learn the facts from an experienced real estate professional and real estate attorney.  Know your rights!  Your bank has an attorney, and so should you!  Short selling your property also allows you to clean up your credit faster and actually enable you to purchase a new home in as little as a few years instead of 7 years or more if you had a foreclosure on your record.

Please give your South Florida short sale experts a call today at 954-609-0591.  Our team is here to help answer any and all of your questions and concerns and to discuss all of your options.

To stay updated with all of the current Parkland real estate home information, receive our blog posts directly to your inbox by subscribing to the squawk.

If you are interested in buying or selling a real estate property in Parkland or South Florida, please give us a call at 954-609-0591 or send a note to the squawk.