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A Divorce Decree Does Not Convey the House!

Oct 14th, 2011
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Even though a divorce decree may state that one spouse is required to relinquish their interest in favor of the other, a former spouse may still be required to sign when the property is resold.

 

In order to convey the property to a new owner, the title insurance underwriters will require more than just a copy of a divorce decree. The underwriters will require that the relinquishing spouse sign a quit-claim deed at closing, if they had not already done so. This is often overlooked in divorce situations and has been known to cause unnecessary delays when it comes time to resell.

 

We recently experienced a closing delay of more than one month because a former spouse claimed to be in China and could not get to the Embassy to have the deed witnessed and notarized. So far as we know, this person may have actually been in Omaha. The emails could have been coming from anywhere. Excuse after excuse and the clock kept ticking. We eventually got it closed judicially, but having to deal with a bitter former spouse on the day of closing is not an enviable position.

 

 

The moral to the story? Get the quit-claim deed signed simultaneously with all other divorce related documents!

 

For information on Destin Florida area short sales, bank foreclosures and general real estate topics, please visit www.FloridaBrokers.com or email us at smith@realtor.com

October is Fire Safety Month!

Oct 4th, 2011
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Yes, it’s that time of year again. October is a great time to change out all the batteries in your smoke and fire alarms! According to organizations such as the National Fire Prevention Association and FireSafety.gov, almost all home fires are both preventable and survivable. Changing your smoke and fire alarm batteries annually and replacing alarms that are more than 10 years old will greatly improve your odds!

 

For many great tips and guidelines pertaining to fire safety, please visit http://www.nfpa.org  and http://www.FireSafety.gov

 

For information on short sales, bank foreclosures and general real estate topics, please visit www.FloridaBrokers.com  or email us at smith@realtor.com

Citizens Raises Sinkhole Coverage Premiums

Sep 13th, 2011
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State legislators have allowed Citizens Insurance to dramatically increase the premiums it charges for sinkhole coverage. Citizens is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt government corporation.  Citizens was established to act as a safety net, or insurer of last resort for the thousands of Florida property owners who were unable to get coverage elsewhere. Unintentionally, Citizens became the largest property insurer in Florida with more than 1.4 million policies now in place.  That equates to more than $500 billion in property coverage and nearly $3 billion in annual premiums.

 

Fortunately, sinkholes are not a major concern in NW Florida. However, counties such as Orange and Hillsborough have been plagued with them.  Citizens has proposed sinkhole premiums coverage increases of up to 2,000 percent in such sinkhole prone areas. Citizen’s board voted to limit the rate increases (for sinkhole coverage) to 50 percent next year and then phase in the remaining increases over the next several years.

Rescuing the Housing Market

Aug 31st, 2011
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According to a CNNMoney article today, many experts believe that the best medicine for the housing market is to speed up the foreclosure process,  and they believe that the Obama administration should pave the way!

 

Those of us who work in the trenches fully realize the futility of the attempts thus far by the Obama administration to stem the rising tide of delinquencies and foreclosures.  Jacksonville Florida based  Lender Processing Services, Inc.  states that of the 2.2 million loans in foreclosure today, approximately 37% (more than 800,000) have not made a single payment in more than 24 months. 750,000 of them have not made a payment in more than 12 months.

 

A rapidly growing number of such properties are in a declining state of disrepair, many are abandoned. How can this be good for neighborhoods, communities, and/or the housing market in general?  That which is good for the communities is good for our economies. That which is good for our housing markets is good for our economies. Want to create jobs and put people to work?  Stimulate the housing market!  

 

Generally speaking, I believe in and fully support a more limited federal government role in our lives. However, a very wise man once said, “If you find yourself in a hole, quit digging”. That is exactly what needs to be done in this case.  Somehow, some way, the nation’s largest lenders must be encouraged to accelerate the processes of a) Modifying the rates and/or terms on delinquent loans in their portfolios; b)  Approving short sales; c) Foreclosing the rest.

 

Often, it is the most complex problem that has the most simplistic solution. But don’t try to sell that in Washington, ‘cause as we say in the south, that dog won’t hunt.

Oil Spill Dollars on the Way

Aug 26th, 2011
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Our Florida legislators have seen fit to earmark $30 million dollars for economic development in NW Florida. The funds will be doled out to the tune of $10 million per year for the next three years to the eight counties most affected by the BP oil spill last year. The recipient counties include Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Santa Rosa. NW Florida’s most prolific economist, Rick Harper will administer the funds through the University of West Florida Office of Economic Development.

 

The Oil Spill Recovery Act will place NW Florida front and center in terms of any state sponsored incentive programs. According to Harper, “This money can then work in concert with existing state incentive funding and local dollars to give more firepower to economic development opportunities. Counties outside the eight-county region will also benefit, by providing residential areas and helping meet increased regional demand for labor.”

A Normal Realtor?

Jul 15th, 2011
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According to an article in this week’s Destin Log, a “normal” Realtor in Florida had 10 sales transactions in 2010. Additionally, the article states that only 60% of Florida Realtors have a website and only 10% have a blog, yet 40% use social media.

So what is normal really? Based on the extremely high percentage of Florida agents that work part-time, an average of 10 transactions per agent sounds rather optimistic.  Large companies throughout the state and even in the local markets average 5 transactions per agent or less. Agents at RE/MAX Coastal Properties have typically averaged about three times the national average. Ed and Terri personally closed 99 transactions in 2010.

However, even more curious is the stat that 60% of Florida agents have a website. That means that 40% do not? All agents associated with RE/MAX Coastal have multiple websites. It is inconceivable that any agent in today’s market could survive without good internet presence.

Social media and blogs are relative newcomers in terms of real estate marketing, but there is no doubt that they are both here to stay. But regardless, in this rollercoaster of a ride that we call a real estate market, normal may just be a moving target for a while longer!

Are Foreclosures on the Rise?

Jul 14th, 2011
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According to many sources, the banks are now ”gearing up to play catch up” … After nearly a year of stalled foreclosure actions resulting from the “robo-signing” debacle last year, most lenders are now ratcheting up their foreclosure efforts. This will have some impact on the market as the REO inventories increase nationwide. Some markets had actually been seeing decreases in overall inventory levels.  This may soon change.

Brighter in Florida

Jun 24th, 2011
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According to Florida Trend, the revenue at the 150 largest public companies and the 200 largest private companies in the state rose more than 8.5%, which is a reflection of the improving economic climate in Florida. The Florida Trend article went on to state that new home constuction continues to lag due to lower resale prices and “a glut of supply”. Of the 13 private companies showing the biggest drop in the rankings, 10 are real estate related.

Consistent with that assessment,  new construction simply cannot compete with resale pricing here in the Destin and Emerald Coast real estate markets. You can buy a great home today for much less than the replacement cost, i.e., cost of construction.

For information on short sales, bank foreclosures and general real estate topics, please visit www.FloridaBrokers.com  or email us at smith@realtor.com

Florida Population Still Growing

Jun 20th, 2011
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According to a study by the University of Florida at Gainsville, Florida saw the third-largest numeric increase and the eighth-largest percentage increase in population in the country between 2000 and 2010. That represents an increase of 17.6 percent and brought the state’s total up to 18,801,310.Okaloosa County and City of Destin growth rates mirror that of Florida – Okaloosa County now has a population of more than 196,200; Destin weighs in at 12,300. Of course, the Destin population swells to more than 60,000 during tourist season.

Florida Takes Aim at BP

Jun 15th, 2011
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State economists convening in Tallahassee today will attempt to place a dollar amount on sales tax and other revenue losses attributed to the BP oil spill last year. State and local governments in Florida have received close to $150 million through the Ken Feinberg Gulf Coast Claims Facility so far. According to BP, $1.56 billion has already been paid to federal, state, and local governments in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. This number probably includes the tourism marketing  dollars that BP contributed as well.

Towns like Destin will see little if any BP dollars. This is primarily because Destin sees very little return in sales taxes collected here. While Destin contributes approximately 35% of Okaloosa county’s ad valorem taxes and 40% of the sales taxes, very little actually comes back to the city as expenditures are allocated based on the permanent resident population. Destin has a permanent population of 12,300.

In a nutshell, if Destin could be annexed by neighboring Walton County to the east, Okaloosa County’s budget would be would be devastated.

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