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Equator's technology delivers unparalleled efficiency in processing and negotiating REO’s, so it was no surprise that the company chose our very own Henry Benito - a pioneer in the real estate industry and well-versed in technology. Please click here to view the Equator Winter 2012 Agent Newsletter.

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Very interesting article from the Miami Herald: "The push is on in Florida to cut the courts out of the foreclosure process. Supporters of the concept — which is used in nearly 30 states — say it will speed foreclosures, get houses back onto the real estate market and boost the economy. Opponents say it puts property owners at the mercy of banks..."

The article continues: "Bottom line: Foreclosures take longer and are more expensive in states that involve courts, said state economist Amy Baker"

Continue reading here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/21/2417050/rick-scott-gop-to-consider-taking.html

To continue reading the full article click here.

"Active listings are properties where no current sale contract exists; pending sales are properties in which a contract for sale has been executed, but not yet closed. Listing brokers control the status of a property listing."

Continue reading the article at The Real Deal

"A home in Lauderhill is the first of dozens of homes in South Florida that will get rid of toxic Chinese drywall at the expense of the company that developed it.Three-hundred homes with defective Chinese drywall will be repaired by the manufacturer in a new pilot program."

"It's not just removing the drywall and putting in new," said Howard Ehrsam, of Chinese Drywall Screening. "You have to get rid of all the particulate, the gases, and treat everything before you can start putting it back."

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Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is making the rounds in South Florida on Thursday, signing a condominium relief bill in three ceremonies.

Crist officially signed Senate Bill 1196 on June 1 but is in town to shake hands and hobnob with some of the people instrumental in getting the measure approved.

The bill is meant to help condo boards hammered by financial problems caused the housing meltdown. Provisions that will benefit community associations include:

• A delay in the compliance requirement with existing elevator retro‐fit requirements
• The ability for associations, by vote of the residents, to opt out of sprinkler retro‐fit requirements in common areas
• Granting associations the right to collect rent from tenants of delinquent unit owners
• A doubling of the amount of back‐due assessments associations can collect from banks to the lesser of 12 months or 1% of the total mortgage
• Protections for sensitive unit owner information
• Provisions that would encourage investors to purchase units in distressed projects to stabilize the condominium market
• The bill goes into effect on July 1, 2010.

You can watch the video here.

Miami-Dade County- Certificate of Use Inspections, Ordinance No. 08-133

The Certificate of Use (CU) requirement is a consumer-protection legislation enacted in December 2008 for unincorporated Miami-Dade County.  There are several municipalities in Miami-Dade where the CU legislation is not required.   The APN parcel number (folio #) should start with 30- to ensure that the CU legislation applies.  The process of the new CU is to document and disclose to the public/buyer, the extent as to which residential properties (i.e. single family, condominium, townhouse, or duplex) acquired through foreclosure comply with all applicable building codes and zoning codes.

The holder of a property, acquired through a Certificate of Title (i.e. lending institutions and mortgagees), is responsible for obtaining the CU on properties acquired after 12/12/2008.  The CU report is performed by a licensed contractor or engineer.  The report is then submitted to the County for review and recording.  The ordinance reads that the recorded report must be available for review by a Buyer prior to going under contract.

Some inspections that are being conducted on these CU required properties are turning up with repairs needed.  As per the CU ordinance, repairs are not grounds for violations. The Department's main concerns are illegalities. Once the inspection report is submitted, if any illegalities are noted, a violation case will be opened immediately.  Please note, a violation(s) will not affect the recording of the CU, the report will still get recorded with the County.

Particular attention should be given to which CU firm is selected.   An immense number of CU Mills sprouted up by individuals wanting to capitalize on this opportunity when the legislation passed.  Most will not inform the Broker / Seller as to illegalities and possible preventable measures that can be taken before the report is actually recorded.  Such preventable measures can assist in bringing a property into compliance so that a violation(s) never comes to fruition.

Miami-Dade has major problems with illegal garage conversions and additions. Resolving these issues at a minimal expense, before the actual recording of a CU, will reduce marketing time and make the property available to financed Buyers.  

For further clarification or questions feel free to contact our office.

In its proposal, which is currently being reviewed by the Treasury Department, Florida Housing outlined two strategies that will help homeowners either stay in their home or achieve an outcome that is better than losing their home at a foreclosure sale. In addition, the agency proposed a third strategy designed to protect home values across the state."

Very informative. For the full article click here.

Related has had disappointing sales at two other twin-tower condo developments near its new project: the Plaza, with 1,000 units, and 500 Brickell, with 633 units.

But they pale next to the performance of Icon Brickell, where condos were listed at $400,000 to $800,000. “It could very much be that his masterpiece will also be his downfall,” said Jack McCabe, the chief executive of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield, Fla..."

A great read. For the full article click here.

CWCapital, who services the defaulted $79 million dollar loan, has already rejected two workout proposals. While moving forward toward foreclosure, the loan service company is weighing a third proposal to modify the loan for owner PMAT Real Estate Investments of Mandeville, LA.

The four-level, 196,492-square-foot lifestyle center at 3015 Grand Ave. was built in 1990. It is more than 85 percent leased to well-known tenants such as Muvico Premier Theater, The Gap, Maui Nix Surf shop, The Cheesecake Factory and Chili’s."

Interesting read. The original article can be found here.

"The Miami facility is the first in a series of local centers that the mortgage financier plans to open across the country. Fannie Mae says the goal is to accelerate the response time for struggling homeowners and improve the company’s resolution of problem loans."

"At the center, borrowers will meet directly with housing advisors to discuss their mortgage situation. Fannie Mae says these face-to-face meetings will help borrowers better understand the entire range of foreclosure prevention options and work closely with servicers to ensure a prompt response."

A more likely scenario, says Sharga, is that many of the loans that are only modestly delinquent will be cured or re-financed. “Of the loans that go into foreclosure, probably 50-60% will either be sold at foreclosure sale or taken back by the banks,” forecasts Sharga.

In addition, Sharga says that 20% of that number is already on the market, and are therefore not “shadow” inventory.

So what’s the real number of shadow inventories? “The only shadow inventory we can really be certain of is that which has already been repossessed by the banks, and isn’t yet listed for sale,” explains Sharga. “We estimate between 400,000 and 500,000 such properties. Everything else is pure speculation.”

The worst case? “If you were to assume that 50% of loans in all stages of delinquency would enter foreclosure and that 50% of those (as well as 50% of the homes currently in foreclosure) would ultimately wind up as REOs, and add these to the current off-market REOs, that would give you potentially 3.7 million homes in the pipeline.

“If 20% of those are currently listed, you come down to 2.96 million properties. Given processing timelines, which range from 3 weeks to 600+ days, and other delays in the system, predicting when these homes become REOs and hit the market is virtually impossible right now.

“And it doesn’t factor in two other important variables: how many loans are yet likely to go into default during this cycle, and how rapidly will buying activity increase? At the end of the day, we’re not looking at 7 million properties that are likely to flood the market all at once; but we will have several million properties go through foreclosure over the next 3 years and ultimately keep market prices from recovering as quickly as everyone would like.”

That could mean a long, slow recovery through 2013, predicts Sharga, rather than another precipitous drop in home prices. The foreclosure pipeline will continue to be slow, but what will hold the finger in the dyke is sheer volume, accounting and strategy.

“Even with the current slowdown, foreclosure activity is running at 6 times what it was four years ago, and REO activity at 10 times,” says Sharga. “Secondly, there are financial reasons to slow down foreclosures and subsequent resales.

“When the “mark to market” accounting rules were relaxed last year, it meant that lenders didn’t need to write down the value of their real estate assets until the assets were re-sold. This allows lenders to repossess properties at full loan value (on their books) and defer the losses for months or even quarters. Finally, now that we’ve reached “critical mass” – a point where releasing all of the REOs onto the market would probably drive prices down – lenders realize that it’s a better strategy to gradually release the properties back onto the market, and may even benefit from a small bounce in prices which will minimize some of their losses.”

Actually, the housing market in many areas such as California, could use more inventory, so lenders would do well to release some foreclosures for resale. In some recovering areas of Southern California, for example, there is less than one month’s inventory for sale on hand." ( End of his statement.)

That last sentence is most relevant to South Florida. This year, and next year, will be very similar to 2009, where the number of foreclosures actually becoming available to be purchased, has been quickly swallowed up by a veritable tsunami of ready, willing, and ready buyers.

Frankly, we agents in South Florida would LOVE for the inventory of available properties to double, or even triple - but unfortunately - for the hungry buyers - that isn't likely to happen.

"Lenders repossessed an average of 83 properties per day in South Florida in 2009," said Peter Zalewski, a principal Condo Vultures.  "The number of bank repossessions could have been higher if the South Florida court system was not overwhelmed with foreclosures right now."

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