ULI Meeting Notes - 2/22/13

Here are some interesting notes from last Friday's ULI (Urban Land Institute) meeting.

This meeting's topic was titled Pockets of Change: Fort Lauderdale 2013 and Beyond.

Kelley Shanley, CEO of The Broward Performing Arts, presented an overview of their $50mil expansion project.  Key points are to offer more private function and group space, provide a club-level, making the Center a point of destination for dining and socializing, as well as theatre attendees. Part of the project involves the addition of the Huizenga Pavilion on the New River.  Offering indoor and outdoor settings with gorgeous waterfront views, this two-story structure will offer casual fare in a bistro-style atmosphere. On the top floor of the glass-facade structure is planned a Ballroom, offering 3000 sq. ft of event space for special events and pre-and post-show social events. Also intended, is the Rose Miniaci Arts Education Center facing Avenue of the Arts. In short, one should expect and look forward to a complete updating and restoration of the Center. For more info on this, you may write me.

Next, Mayor Jack Seiler spoke. He touched on FTL economic growth and the positive look of it's future outlook. Key points? According to Mayor Seiler, Fort Lauderdale's unemployment rate is currently lower than the State of Florida average and the National average. Surely good news for the real estate market. Additionally, he mentioned that Fort Lauderdale real estate tax rates remain lower in FTL than most other florida cities such as Miami. He also touched on one of Fort Lauderdale's unique features, the FLL Int'l airport's proximity to the Downtown and Port. It seems this is an added attraction for businesses as well as a strong factor in our tourism business. So easy to fly in, see the city and take a cruise, all within a short cab ride of a few miles.

Here is what we really care about. Mayor Seiler confirmed that currently, there are 4000 new units in some form of application or planning targeted for Downtown FTL.  See? If you hadnt read this far, you would've missed my hidden gold nugget of helpful information! All in all Seiler felt all of these points were positive signs for the economic outlook of FTL.

Now, if I still have your attention...another interesting tidbit came from developer Asi(pronounced "Ah-see") Cymbal whom introduced his New River Lofts project. The project is for 1000 multifamily units planned to go on the Southside of New River.  Many of us know it as the former site of Shirttail Charlie's.  Yes, now this blog is getting interesting!

Lastly, Dev Motwani, owner of Las Olas Riverfront, spoke of his plans for Las Olas Riverfront. Purchased with a 10- year redevelopment plan, he announced his change of plans.  Due to recent positives in the marketplace, he is projecting his redevelopment plan to start sooner, in fact, much sooner. Hmmm. He also agreed with Seiler's outlook for FTL and added his own sidenote on the All Aboard Florida Transit. He said, " It would be a game-changer" as it will connect Miami to Palm Beach to Orlando.

I hope this information will help you in your interaction with Sellers and Buyers when they have those questions that make me cringe like " What will my resale value for this neighborhood be like in 10 years?"

Short Sale Fraud: Three Scams to Avoid

Short Sale Fraud: Three Scams to Avoid

Short sale buyers and sellers need to watch out for these common fraud scenarios.

If you are one of the many homeowners having difficulty paying your mortgage, you may be considering a short sale of your home. A short sale is a sale of a property where the proceeds of the sale are less than the balance owed on the mortgage covering the property. As the number of homeowners and buyers considering short sales increase, so does the number of incidents of short sale fraud. Short sale fraud schemes come in different guises, but a few are more common than others. Short sale buyers and sellers should be on the lookout for the three scams discussed in-depth here. (For a broader look at short sales, read Nolo's article Short Sale of Your Home: Is It Right For You?)

Short Sale Scam #1: Undisclosed Payments

Victims: Sellers, buyers, lenders.
Perpetrators: Sellers, junior lien holders, real estate agents, short sale negotiators.
Red Flags: Payments made "outside of escrow" or "off the settlement statement."
How It Works: Lenders approve short sales to avoid foreclosure and minimize their losses. Before giving their approval, lenders often do one or more of the following:
Reduce commissions to real estate agents.
Require that sellers receive no financial benefit from the sale.
Reduce or even disapprove payments to other parties involved in the short sale (e.g., short sale negotiators, attorneys, etc.).
Primary lenders will also cap payments to junior lenders. If there is more than one loan on the property, the short sale will not go through without the release of the junior liens. In order to get this release, the primary lender will allow some payment to the junior lenders but will set a cap on these payments.
As you can imagine, those receiving reduced or capped payments are often unhappy with this situation. Taking advantage of highly motivated buyers or sellers, they request payments "outside of escrow" or "off the settlement statement." As a buyer or seller involved in a short sale, you may be tempted to make an undisclosed payment just to get the deal done. By doing so, however, you would most likely be a party to loan fraud.
All payments made as part of a short sale transaction should be disclosed to the lenders and other parties approving the short sale. According to Freddie Mac, short sale fraud occurs when someone deliberately misrepresents a fact or omits a fact in order to induce a lender, investor, or insurer to agree to a short sale that it would not have approved if it had known the truth. How do you know whether a certain payment would have affected a lender's decision to approve a short sale? You don't. To be safe, disclose.

Short Sale Scam #2: "Flopping"

Victims: Sellers, lenders.
Perpetrators: Real estate agents, buyers.
Red Flags: Double escrows; buyer is an LLC or a fictitious entity or purchasing under a power of attorney; purchase agreement gives buyer the option to resell property.
How It Works: "Flopping" occurs when a short sale is approved based on a misrepresentation of the value of the property. In a typical flopping fraud, the fraudster is the buyer purchasing the property from the short sale seller. In some cases of flopping, the seller's real estate agent is the buyer. The fraudster presents a low offer to purchase the property to the lender along with an artificially low valuation of the property, in order to convince the lender that the property is worth less than it really is. Meanwhile, any higher offers from bona fide buyers are withheld from the lender, since the lender would most likely reject the low offer if it knew that higher offers were on the table. Once the lender approves the short sale at the artificially low price, the fraudster contacts the bona fide buyer or markets the property at its true market value. Without the short sale lender's knowledge, a second escrow between the fraudster (as the seller) and a bona fide buyer is then opened to close simultaneously with the first purchase, or soon afterward. The perpetrator of the fraud buys low, sells high, and keeps the difference between the two sale prices.
Flopping occurs in about two percent of all short sales and may cost lenders more than $375 million this year, according to estimates from CoreLogic Inc., a real estate data and research company. Sellers can also be hurt by flopping, because lenders may hold sellers responsible for the deficiency, or the amount of the difference between what the seller owed and the sale price. If a lender forgives a seller for the deficiency, the seller may owe taxes on the amount of debt that is forgiven. (To learn more about income tax liability in short sales, see Nolo's article Short Sales and Deeds in Lieu of Foreclosure.)

Short Sale Scam #3: Predatory Short Sale Negotiators

Victims: Sellers, buyers.
Perpetrators: Short sale negotiators, real estate agents.
Red Flags: Upfront fees; fees required to be paid outside of escrow; negotiator is not licensed.
How It Works: Sellers considering short sales are particularly vulnerable to con artists hoping to take advantage of their stressful situations. These con artists, calling themselves short sale negotiators (or short sale processors, short sale coordinators, short sale expeditors, debt negotiators, debt resolution experts, loss mitigation practitioners, or foreclosure rescue negotiators) guarantee results for a flat fee or a percentage of the sale price. Oftentimes, the short sale negotiator takes the fee and does nothing or little in return.
Some states -- including California, Washington, and Oregon -- require short sale negotiators to be licensed by the appropriate state agency (most likely the agency responsible for licensing and regulating real estate agents). If you are considering hiring a short sale negotiator, you should contact your state's agency to find out whether short sale negotiators need to be licensed and, if so, whether the short sale negotiator you are planning on hiring is indeed licensed. In California, it is illegal for short sale negotiators to collect fees in advance of providing services, unless certain stringent requirements are met. You should also check if this is the case in your own state.
Before hiring a short sale negotiator, do your due diligence. Read documents carefully before signing. Ask questions. Ask for and contact references. Seek the advice of an attorney or other neutral third party. (To find an attorney in your area, visit Nolo's trustedLawyer Directory.) Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Additional Information

For more information about foreclosure rescue scams, get the Foreclosure Survival Guide by attorney Stephen Elias (Nolo), now also available from Nolo online at no charge. If you are a victim of a short sale fraud scheme or other foreclosure rescue scam, contact your state attorney general's office (find your state's attorney general on Nolo's State Resource pages), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov), or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (www.fbi.gov)
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Living Spaces: Inspiration set 1

Posted by Arseny Vesnin on 02 01 2013 20:09 · in Inspiration Sets, Interior design sets, STAFF PICKS

This year is going to be huge for Designcollector as we just entered our 10th Year of online existence. During the New Year I was thinking to go beyond normal posts and focus on what we love to do – collect things under different categories. So we start the year with 1st Inspiration set of Living Spaces or simply great Interior Design examples (mostly done in Rustic, minimalists and industrial style) collected in ourPinterest

 

Bill to Speed Foreclosures Passes

By The News Service of Florida, Herald-Tribune

/ Thursday, February 7, 2013

TALLAHASSEE

Hoping to speed up the rate of foreclosures, a House panel on Thursday approved a measure backers say will allow mortgage holders and consumers to more quickly resolve their issues and get on with their lives.

But the panel got an earful from consumer advocates and homeowners, who contend that they are being asked to do too much to reduce the number of foreclosed homes in Florida, which leads the nation in the percentage of homes facing some type of foreclosure proceeding.

Sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, the bill (HB 87) makes changes aimed at shortening the time period involved in a foreclosure proceeding and relaxing restrictions on who can request an expedited procedure and the standards for what can be filed.

Passidomo said the bill is an attempt to remedy a problem that extends far beyond the state and on which the state has limited authority.

"The relationship between the borrower and the lenders …begins way before it reaches a foreclosure proceeding and is something the state does not regulate," Passidomo told members of the committee.

Florida posted the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate in 2012, according to statistics compiled by RealtyTrac. That report found that 3.1 percent of Florida housing units, one in 32, received a foreclosure filing during the year.

The bill, a version of which passed the House last year, raised concerns Thursday from a number of stakeholders including bankers, legal aid organizations and homeowners, who objected to different aspects of the measure that would also significantly reduce the amount of time lenders and lien holders have to challenge a homeowner.

Among its more contentious provisions, the bill would reduce from five years to one the length of time a lender could pursue a claim after a foreclosure action and require lenders to provide more, a provision that Florida Banking Association lobbyist Anthony DiMarco called "draconian."

Homeowner advocates, meanwhile, are skeptical of changes making it easier for a judge to forgo further proceedings if the paperwork is in order.

"The bill appears to diminish the rights of consumers to streamline the process," said Lynn Drysdale, an attorney representing Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.

The bill is expected again to draw considerable attention. On Thursday, representatives from different sections groups of lawyers took opposing sides in the debate, with those who work in consumer law opposing the proposal while a representative of the Bar's probate section offered his support.

Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, is expected to file a Senate version. Latvala said Thursday that his proposal would differ from a measure he filed last year but would not elaborate on what changes he will propose this time around.

Last modified: February 7, 2013
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The Best Day to List a Home...

So maybe you don't believe in superstition...and you shouldn't. But, I've always been one to try and hedge my bets. I mean, it doesn't mean anything if it doesnt work, right? So yes, I've tried burying the St. Joseph figurine upside down outside of tough to sell homes. I've listed the homes with odd numbers that only I understand but, I think are lucky for me. Did they work? Who knows! What I do know is that whether it was nonsense, luck or something related to "The Secret" (you know the book)...I was happy with the end result.

Today, I come across an article in the WSJ. Have you ever heard the the acronym T.G.I.F? No, not the restaurant but close.  More like, what you think of when you go to the restaurant. Relaxation, fun, blowing off the steam of a busy work week. Well, apparently there is more to Friday.  Apparently, according to a study done by Redfin, which covers 19 US real estate markets, Friday is THE best day to list. According to their stats, homes listed on Fridays sold for 99.1% of the seller's original asking price, a better percentage than homes listed on any other day of the week. They also say that nailing that perfect listing day can get you up to 4 times more traffic on the day of debut, than any other day.

But wait, there is more. Properties listed on a Friday also sell the fastest. In fact, they sell for an average of 81 days according to the study(provided you are pricing them right). Plus, listing a home on Friday rather than say Sunday, the worst day to list, could mean a 1% difference in selling price.

It makes sense to me. For whatever reason, I always seem to have more energy on Friday and be in a more relaxed state of mind. I don't know why. Apparently I'm not the only one. So, if you find yourself putting off listing a home until Saturday morning because it 's been a long day....here are a few good reasons why you may not want to wait.