Lucy Sells Homes

Realty Concepts of Pinellas

Assisting buyers and sellers in the sale & purchase of residential homes, condominiums, waterfront properties and investment objects in the greater Pinellas County area of Tampa Bay (Clearwater, Largo, Seminole, St. Petersburg, and the Gulf Beaches).
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May 3, 2008 Buyers with spotty credit could benefit from FHA loan SANTA ANA, Calif. – Tara Poulsen bought a four-bedroom house in Mission Viejo, Calif., for $469,000, after waiting out the housing market for more than three years. To do it, she and her husband went with a federal loan program that waned in popularity in some areas during the housing boom. They got a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which accepts borrowers with spotty credit. Poulsen’s husband has a midrange credit score and filed for bankruptcy about 10 years ago, she said. Some lenders and brokers say consumers who have dinged credit or are short of cash should consider FHA, which is filling the void left by the implosion of subprime lenders. FHA backing protects lenders from loss, so they are more willing to make riskier loans. Poulsen, who manages a medical office, said she recommends FHA to other buyers but warns that the process can be long, involves extra costs, and requires a lot of paperwork, including tax returns, paycheck stubs and bank statements. Her expected 30-day escrow turned into 45 days, she said. “It was super stressful,” Poulsen said. “I didn’t sleep for two weeks. Every night I was wondering, is our loan going to close?” But she said she is glad to finally have a house and to have gotten a loan amid the credit crunch. She and her husband have waited out the market since their marriage in 2004. Some FHA employees envision a comeback. “With everybody else walking away, FHA is absolutely the dominant player left standing,” said Meg Burns, director of the agency’s division that establishes policies to qualify borrowers. Burns likens the current market to a recession in the 1980s that hurt housing markets in Texas and other oil-producing states. Lenders tightened standards in those markets, and private mortgage insurers pulled back, leaving the FHA to step in and stabilize markets, she said. The FHA has a history of helping consumers and stabilizing markets. Congress created the agency in 1934 to boost homeownership amid the Great Depression. In the 1940s, the FHA financed military housing as well as home loans for World War II veterans. Today, consumers who might not have ever considered an FHA loan might find it their best option. The FHA accepts low credit scores and targets any homebuyer with little in savings. Al Hensling, head of United American Mortgage in Irvine, Calif., which brokered the Poulsens’ loan, said larger FHA-insured loans compare favorably to larger loans sold to government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. funder of loans. The FHA allows lower credit scores and lower down payments – as little as 3 percent – than Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do, Hensling said. He said GSEs require at least 10 percent down on larger loans. One downside: The FHA requires an insurance premium on all loans, usually 1.5 percent of the loan amount. The premium can be “financed” – added into the loan amount. GSEs require insurance on loans above 80 percent of the value of a home. Hensling said the recent collapse of investment banking giant Bear Stearns, a big player in mortgage-backed securities, illustrates the breakdown of a private market for loans. “There is no secondary market right now,” he said. He described the FHA as just about the “salvation for the market.” And the FHA is seen as a tool to stem foreclosures on subprime loans. President Bush has twice expanded the types of subprime loans the FHA can back. Last month the FHA said it can insure an adjustable-rate loan after a lender slashes the principal balance to make it more affordable, even if the borrower missed two or three payments. Still, some academic experts expressed concern over the FHA backing larger loans. Kerry Vandell, professor of finance and director of the Center for Real Estate at University of California-Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, said FHA loans tend to default more often than loans sold to Fannie and Freddie. The trend correlates with the FHA’s historical push into inner cities as well as generally to borrowers with marginal credit, he said. President Bush has said the FHA expansion will be funded by insurance premiums paid by borrowers and not with taxpayer funds. Vandell isn’t so sure. “Whether this movement is going to maintain the viability of the insurance reserve pool is another question,” Vandell said. “It’s not clear to me exactly what they are going to do or which part of that market they are going to take.” © 2008 The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.), Mathew Padilla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

April 1, 2008 REACHING FOR THE RESERVES. Amid fears of a deepening recession in an election year, state lawmakers are proposing giving Gov. Charlie Crist and a handful of legislators the power to spend up to $1.7 billion in reserves to avoid a deficit. The plan being advanced by House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and House budget chief Ray Sansom, R-Destin, underscores the growing worry that Florida's revenue slide will continue. The proposal, which would need Senate approval, gives the governor and an obscure group of lawmakers unprecedented authority to tap an emergency reserve fund set up after Hurricane Andrew and endowment set aside for health care programs. Crist and the Legislative Budget Commission could spend the money in the Budget Stabilization Fund and the Lawton Chiles Endowment if the state's checkbook balance drops below $200-million. Currently, a deficit must be declared - that future spending plans exceed future income - before the Budget Stabilization Fund can be tapped. (St. Petersburg Times)

March 4, 2008 EXPENSIVE ESSENTIALS: Crude oil futures continued their relentless rise, almost reaching $104 a barrel before settling at $102.45 on March 4th, 2008. At the same time, gold, wheat, coffee and other commodities are at or near record prices as the dollar nosedives against the euro, further squeezing budgets. (St. Petersburg Times).

January 31, 2008 What tax relief means: A day after Florida homeowners got a property tax cut, questions about Amendment 1 and how it will work continued to emerge. The basics: For most homestead owners, the savings will be $240 annually. People looking to move can save hundreds, if not thougsands, more under Save Our Homes PORTABILITY. And there are future protections for business and nonhome-steaded homeowners, with a 10 percent cap on annual assessments starting in 2009.

January 11, 2008 FLORIDA BUDGET: Florida lawmakers on Tuesday, Jan. 8th, 2008, got more bad budget news - yet another shortfall in state tax revenues by up to $600 million. "At this point it's definitely prudent to start building a reserve or a hedge against any further reduction in the forecast," says Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature's Economic and Demographic Research Office.

November 14, 2007 EMBRACING CHANGE. (Peggy L. McNamara). Do you ever wonder why some people deal with change better than others? Were they born with natural skills? Did they learn through trial-and-error? Or, are they just faking it? Truth-be-told, it is probably going to be a part of your life. Whether you create it through your own initiative, have it forced upon you due to employer downsizing or a personal lifestyle adjustment, change can be disconcerting. Find the courage to move ahead boldly by discovering what the alternatives are or options that you have. If you are making a career change, whether by your decision or someone else's, consider the alternatives. Do you need to get some education to go in a new direction? Is there something else you've been wanting to do, but just never fit it in? Can you decide to enjoy the break and use it for some much needed rest and relaxation? Is there some volunteer work that you've been thinking about doing, but never had the time? Stay focused on the end result and don't let your fears stop you. Anytime one makes a change, it is quite natural to begin to think about any negative thoughts you could possibly conjure. Don't let that happen. Take control and turn the pessimistic statements to positive ones. Write affirmations down if it helps. Concentrate on the overall benefits of the change. Learn to trust yourself and the results you are looking for. "At times, a change of routine can be most healthful." (Arnold Lobel)

October 6, 2007 PRICEY HOMES? IT COULD BE WORSE (St. Petersburg Times, Oct. 6h, 2007) Houses in the Tampa Bay area are a relative bargain compared with other parts of the country. You think home prices around here are off the charts? Ha! A home for which you'd pay $349,000 in Clearwter would cost a whopping $2,206,883 in Beverly Hills, Calif., the most expensive market in Coldwell Banker's annual home price survey. On the other hand, if you're willing to live in Killeen, TX, you could buy that house for $136,725. Killeen "regains its 2005 crown," as the nations' most affordable market. It was elbowed off the throne last year by Minot, N.D., which this year dropped to second place. The Florida Association of Realtors reported recently that median single-family home prices in Tampa Bay area fell 8 percent from August 2006 to August this year, from $232,400 to $214,100 for a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2-car garage, 2200 sqft home.

September 11, 2007 SOUTH FLORIDA MORTGAGE FIRMS LAY OFF HUNDREDS OF WORKERS. The dramatic collapse of the nations' mortgage markets has hit home in South Florida, with almost 800 people losing their jobs in recent months as lenders slash operations. Statewide, the financial services industry has eliminated more than 2,600 positions since the beginning of the year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement consulting firm. That's a sharp retreat from the boom years between 2000 and 2005, when mortgage companies grew quickly as they sold adjustable-rate and interest-only mortgages to consumers trying to get into homes some ultimately couldn't afford. With declining property values and rising interest rates now leading to mortgage defaults and foreclosures, demand for those loans has dried up and lenders are trimming payrolls or are shutting down. "The layoffs have impacted an industry that expanded like wildfire in recent years," said Alex Garcia, vice president of 1st Interstate Mortgage in Delray Beach. As mortgage companies scale back, potential borrowers across the region are left with fewer choices for home loans. Surviving lenders are swamped, and it's taking longer to process consumers' mortgage applications. Lenders are tightening credit standards, turning away borrowers without sufficient incomes, down payments or credit ratings. With borrowers struggling to get mortgages, fewer prospective buyers will be looking for homes and condominiums, analysts say. South Florida's depressed home sales are expected to remain weak at least into 2008, partly because of the mortgage mess.

July 25, 2007 Money Matters! Reverse mortgages. Two million older Americans could tap into the equity they have built up in their homes by obtaining reverse mortgages if Congress passes legislation to modernize HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA), according to a government estimate released last week. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson is urging Congress to quickly enact the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007, which would raise the FHA's Home Equity Conversation Mortgage (HECM) loan limit equal to the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conforming loan limit. By increasing and simplifying the loan amount, this change would help those seniors who have homes valued above the current FHA loan limit of $362,790 but less than $600,000, obtain a reverse mortgage through FHA. Eligible seniors would still have to be 62 years of age or older and have paid off their mortgages or have only a small mortgage balance remaining. The loan amount would depend on the value of the home, the age of the homeowner and the expected interest rates. The reverse mortgage would not have to be repaid until the borrower moves out of the home permanently.

July 10, 2007 REGULATION OF HOME INSPECTORS AND MOLD SPECIALISTS: It will take three years to implement, but effecitve July 1, 2010, home inspectors, mold assessors and mold remediators will be regulated by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation like many other trades. Among other things, home inspectors wil be required to complete 120 hours of pre-license education and 14 hours of continuing education every two years. Mold assessors and remediators must have a two-year degree in specific areas and one year of field experience. The law also requires assessors and remediators to carry errors and omissions insurance of at least $1 million.

June 4, 2007 ONE STEP CLOSER TO TAX RELIEF! House and Senate leaders require cities and counties to cut property taxes based on a formula tied to how much they've increased taxes in the past. The lower rates would take effect with the November property tax bill. Areas where taxes have grown the most on a per capita basis would be required to cut taxes the most. Conversely, cities and counties with the lowest increases would face the smallest cuts.

May 14, 2007 The Office of Insurance Regulation last week approved a request by Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state's insurer of last resort, to exclude sinkhole coverage for all 67 counties. In Pasco and Hernando Counties, the counties most affected by sinkhole claims, Citizens will send renewal notices without coverage for sinkholes, although policyholders may add this coverage through an endorsement. For the remaining 65 counties in the state, the endorsement will be included automatically although poliyholders will have the option to deny this coverage. Policyholders living in Pasco County may have rate savings up to 60% if sinkhole coverage is excluded. Rate reductions will be similar for Hernando County, where consumers may save up to 58% if sinkhole coverage is excluded. The savings would most likely be in the 2-3% range for the other 65 counties.

April 2, 2007 MARKET WATCH: Rising gas prices, a soft housing market and a sudden dip in the stock market contributed to a six-point drop in Florida's consumer confidence to 86 in March, its lowest level in six months, according to UF economists. "Much of the homebuying in recent years has been fueled by exotic loans and speculative buying has been rampant," explains Chris McCarty, director of the Survey Research Center at UF's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, which conducts the monthly study. He predicts residential property values will continue to decline at least through the second quarter and possibly into the third. NEW HOME SALES: The U.S. Commerce Dept. reported sales of new homes fell 3.9% in February to a seasonably adjusted annual rate of 848,000, the slowest sales pace in nearly seven years. That decline followed an even larger 15.8% drop in sales in January, which had been the largest one-month plunge in 13 years. FORECLOSURES: Florida had the most homes in the foreclosure process nationwide in February, according to RealtyTrac, which reported a two-fold year-over-year gain in delinquencies - more than 19,144 statewide. Foreclosure filings are also recording double-digit increases in California, Nevada and Arizona.

March 12, 2007 MARKET WATCH: The pace of the state's home sales remained slow in January with 9,382 single-family existing homes changing hands - a decrease of 27% compared to the same time a year earlier. The median sales price for the month, $239,300 was down 2% from the January 2006 figure but up 85.6% over a five-year period, according to FAR records. A total of 3,007 existing condos sold statewide in January, 30% lower than January a year ago, while the existing condo median price for the month was $147,600, a drop of 13%.

February 19, 2007 Florida officials may sidestep National Association of Realtors' (NAR) push for national disaster insurance because it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Under this plan, a group of at-risk states would ban together and the fund would cover everything from earthquakes to hurricanes and perhaps even terrorism. Florida Insurance Comissioner Kevin McCarthy and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink started discussions last week in Atlanta at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' conference.

January 8, 2007 MARKET WATCH: Florida existing home sales dropped in November - traditionally a slow month for the housing sector. At the same time, many local boards/associations of Realtors reported that inventory levels in their markets continue to stabilize. Statewide, 11,912 existing singe-family homes changed hands in November, a 30% drop from the 17,088 homes sold during the same period in 2005, according to Florida Association of Realtor's latest housing stats. The statewide existing-home median price was $242,500 in November, 3% below 2005 levels but 88.3% higher than five years ago. It was a similar story for the condo market. November sales dropped 36% and the median price fell 4% to $215,100. More info: http://media.living.net.

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