Clients access MLS through iPhone app
KEY WEST, Fla. – Feb. 10, 2010 – Realtor.com offers an iPhone app that allows mobile users to access home listings nearby, thanks, in part, to the iPhone’s built-in GPS. One Florida broker, however, says that he has taken the iPhone application (app) a step further by allowing users to tap into the local MLS.
The National Association of Realtors spent a number of years developing its Virtual Office Website (VOW) (http://www.realtor.org/law_and_policy/doj/nar_doj) policy, based in part on a lawsuit filed against it by the U.S. Department of Justice. The issue raised a number of legal questions as existing MLS rules clashed with emerging technology. Now that websites are engrained in the fabric of daily business, the introduction of an MLS iPhone app represents newer technology, and a new way to access MLS listings.
The Florida broker’s iPhone app is free to download. Once loaded into an iPhone, the broker claims users can review his featured listings and access his website in addition to searching the entire MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Searches can be personalized based on price range, area, number of bedrooms and other criteria, including foreclosures and short sales. Users can save listings and review them later on their personal computer.
The app includes information about local architecture, tourism, travel and relocation. Users can contact the broker directly about all listings by using the app.
© 2010 Florida Realtors®
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
4 reasons to sell now
ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 9, 2010 – Selling a property in this tough market can seem like a challenge. Here are four factors that actually make this a good time to post a For-Sale sign:
• Sell low and buy low. Because all property values are down, the loss on the property a homeowner sells is really only a paper loss because the next property he buys also will be a bargain. If he buys smartly, when prices come back up in a few years, he’ll be in better shape.
• Downpayment help is widely available. While nothing-down loans have disappeared, it’s easy to find downpayment assistance for lower-income and first-time homebuyers. Programs vary all over the country, but one good way to find them is to search online for “downpayment assistance programs” and the name of your region.
• Your Uncle Sam has money to share. Besides the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and the $6,500 move-up credit, there are an array of energy tax credits that can make home improvements pay off in cash.
• Good help is available. Really talented real estate practitioners, contractors and designers are available and eager for business.
Source: McClatchy Tribune
ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 9, 2010 – Selling a property in this tough market can seem like a challenge. Here are four factors that actually make this a good time to post a For-Sale sign:
• Sell low and buy low. Because all property values are down, the loss on the property a homeowner sells is really only a paper loss because the next property he buys also will be a bargain. If he buys smartly, when prices come back up in a few years, he’ll be in better shape.
• Downpayment help is widely available. While nothing-down loans have disappeared, it’s easy to find downpayment assistance for lower-income and first-time homebuyers. Programs vary all over the country, but one good way to find them is to search online for “downpayment assistance programs” and the name of your region.
• Your Uncle Sam has money to share. Besides the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and the $6,500 move-up credit, there are an array of energy tax credits that can make home improvements pay off in cash.
• Good help is available. Really talented real estate practitioners, contractors and designers are available and eager for business.
Source: McClatchy Tribune
Monday, February 8, 2010
Cash for caulkers: Appealing to home shoppers?
WASHINGTON – Feb. 8, 2010 – Congress is about to approve a program to put contractors back to work doing energy retrofits.
If the program nicknamed “Cash for Caulkers” passes, homeowners will be eligible for a tax credit worth up to $12,000 or half the cost of the retrofits, whichever is lower.
A homeowner who spends $24,000 to cut his energy use in half will save an average of $100 per month, estimates Lane Burt, manager of building energy policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. With a $12,000 tax rebate from the government, the payback will take 10 years.
Some real estate practitioners point out that energy retrofits might be a hard sell because they don’t raise a home’s sale value. “It sounds good on paper, but it’s just not how the American consumer makes choices,” says Jeff Geoghan, a Coldwell Banker Realtor® in Lancaster, Pa. “If you’re buying a house, and you see a furnace has a 95 percent efficiency rating, are you really going to make your decision based on that?”
Source: CNNMoney.com
WASHINGTON – Feb. 8, 2010 – Congress is about to approve a program to put contractors back to work doing energy retrofits.
If the program nicknamed “Cash for Caulkers” passes, homeowners will be eligible for a tax credit worth up to $12,000 or half the cost of the retrofits, whichever is lower.
A homeowner who spends $24,000 to cut his energy use in half will save an average of $100 per month, estimates Lane Burt, manager of building energy policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. With a $12,000 tax rebate from the government, the payback will take 10 years.
Some real estate practitioners point out that energy retrofits might be a hard sell because they don’t raise a home’s sale value. “It sounds good on paper, but it’s just not how the American consumer makes choices,” says Jeff Geoghan, a Coldwell Banker Realtor® in Lancaster, Pa. “If you’re buying a house, and you see a furnace has a 95 percent efficiency rating, are you really going to make your decision based on that?”
Source: CNNMoney.com
Friday, February 5, 2010
Fla. property taxes down 7.5 percent over 3 years
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Feb. 5, 2010 – Florida property taxes dropped by $2.28 billion, or 7.5 percent, over the past three years because of tax-cutting measures approved by the Legislature and voters as well as falling real estate values, according to figures presented to a legislative panel Thursday.
“I would classify that as dropping like a rock,” said Senate Finance and Taxation Committee Chairman Thad Altman, R-Viera.
Gov. Charlie Crist famously said he wanted taxes to “drop like a rock” as lawmakers began considering tax relief in 2007. They passed the law to roll back and cap property taxes later that year and then put a constitutional amendment on the January 2008 ballot that voters adopted for additional tax savings.
While taxes have come down significantly, the savings have been much less than the $24 billion over the first five years expected from the two measures before Florida’s housing bubble burst. That sent property values on a downward skid and knocked the tax savings forecast for a loop.
Crist spokesman Sterling Ivey said the governor is not disappointed.
“Any reduction in property tax is good news,” Ivey said. “There’s more money in people’s pockets. That’s the bottom line.”
Officials cannot be sure exactly how much of the tax reduction is due to the new law and amendment and how much has resulted from the real estate collapse, said James McAdams, the Department of Revenues property tax oversight program director.
Taxable values for school purposes, though, declined less than 1 percent from 2006 through 2009, which would indicate the law and amendment are mostly responsible.
Overall property tax collections nearly doubled from 2000 through 2006, triggering an outcry from taxpayers that resulted in the tax-cutting measures.
Collections increased again in 2007 to a peak of $31 billion but the growth that year slowed to just 2 percent as the tax-limiting law began to go into effect. All of the increase was due to school taxes, which were spared from many of the tax-limiting provisions.
School taxes increased by 7.6 percent in 2007, but they dropped by 1.2 percent in 2008 and 6.8 percent in 2009 for a three-year decline of just under 1 percent and $100 million.
Non-school taxes, including levies by cities, counties and special districts, declined by 12 percent over the same period for a three-year savings of $2.18 billion.
“One of the biggest problems we have on this is we have not gotten the word out to the constituents,” said Sen. Bennett, R-Bradenton. “Every time you go to a protest, every time you go to a speech, ‘When are you going to do something about property tax?’”
One reason property taxes haven’t dropped even more is what’s known as the “recapture rule” the state has applied to the Save Our Homes Amendment voters adopted during the 1990s. The amendment limits annual assessment increases to no more than 3 percent when values are going up. The rule, though, increases assessments by up to 3 percent if values go down.
What’s known as the portability provision of the 2008 amendment has not produced as much saving as predicted due to falling values. It lets primary homeowners take at least part of their accumulated Save Our Homes benefits with them when they move to another house.
That can offset all or most of the difference between the market and taxable value of the new home, but that gap has narrowed by more than half over the past three years because of falling home prices, said Bob McKee, the committee’s staff director.
The depressed market also has meant fewer people are moving and, thus, less savings from portability, McKee said.
The value decline also has meant few if any savings from a 10 percent cap on annual assessments for businesses and other non-homestead property in the 2008 amendment.
The 2007 law allowed local government bodies to exceed the rollbacks and caps by votes of more than a simple majority but relatively few did so. The only way they can raise taxing rates is with voter approval, but no such referendums have been held.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Feb. 5, 2010 – Florida property taxes dropped by $2.28 billion, or 7.5 percent, over the past three years because of tax-cutting measures approved by the Legislature and voters as well as falling real estate values, according to figures presented to a legislative panel Thursday.
“I would classify that as dropping like a rock,” said Senate Finance and Taxation Committee Chairman Thad Altman, R-Viera.
Gov. Charlie Crist famously said he wanted taxes to “drop like a rock” as lawmakers began considering tax relief in 2007. They passed the law to roll back and cap property taxes later that year and then put a constitutional amendment on the January 2008 ballot that voters adopted for additional tax savings.
While taxes have come down significantly, the savings have been much less than the $24 billion over the first five years expected from the two measures before Florida’s housing bubble burst. That sent property values on a downward skid and knocked the tax savings forecast for a loop.
Crist spokesman Sterling Ivey said the governor is not disappointed.
“Any reduction in property tax is good news,” Ivey said. “There’s more money in people’s pockets. That’s the bottom line.”
Officials cannot be sure exactly how much of the tax reduction is due to the new law and amendment and how much has resulted from the real estate collapse, said James McAdams, the Department of Revenues property tax oversight program director.
Taxable values for school purposes, though, declined less than 1 percent from 2006 through 2009, which would indicate the law and amendment are mostly responsible.
Overall property tax collections nearly doubled from 2000 through 2006, triggering an outcry from taxpayers that resulted in the tax-cutting measures.
Collections increased again in 2007 to a peak of $31 billion but the growth that year slowed to just 2 percent as the tax-limiting law began to go into effect. All of the increase was due to school taxes, which were spared from many of the tax-limiting provisions.
School taxes increased by 7.6 percent in 2007, but they dropped by 1.2 percent in 2008 and 6.8 percent in 2009 for a three-year decline of just under 1 percent and $100 million.
Non-school taxes, including levies by cities, counties and special districts, declined by 12 percent over the same period for a three-year savings of $2.18 billion.
“One of the biggest problems we have on this is we have not gotten the word out to the constituents,” said Sen. Bennett, R-Bradenton. “Every time you go to a protest, every time you go to a speech, ‘When are you going to do something about property tax?’”
One reason property taxes haven’t dropped even more is what’s known as the “recapture rule” the state has applied to the Save Our Homes Amendment voters adopted during the 1990s. The amendment limits annual assessment increases to no more than 3 percent when values are going up. The rule, though, increases assessments by up to 3 percent if values go down.
What’s known as the portability provision of the 2008 amendment has not produced as much saving as predicted due to falling values. It lets primary homeowners take at least part of their accumulated Save Our Homes benefits with them when they move to another house.
That can offset all or most of the difference between the market and taxable value of the new home, but that gap has narrowed by more than half over the past three years because of falling home prices, said Bob McKee, the committee’s staff director.
The depressed market also has meant fewer people are moving and, thus, less savings from portability, McKee said.
The value decline also has meant few if any savings from a 10 percent cap on annual assessments for businesses and other non-homestead property in the 2008 amendment.
The 2007 law allowed local government bodies to exceed the rollbacks and caps by votes of more than a simple majority but relatively few did so. The only way they can raise taxing rates is with voter approval, but no such referendums have been held.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Lifeline needed for underwater homeowners
NEW YORK – Feb. 4, 2010 – An estimated 4.5 million homeowners owe more than their homes are worth. That number is likely to peak at 5.1 million in June, affecting 10 percent of homeowners and making them increasingly likely to just walk away.
“We’re now at the point of maximum vulnerability,” says Sam Khater, a senior economist with First American CoreLogic, the firm that conducted the recent research. “People’s emotional attachment to their property is melting into the air.”
Consultants at Oliver Wyman calculated that 17 percent of owners defaulting in 2008 –about 588,000 – chose to default even though they could pay.
First American estimates that it would cost around $745 billion – about the same as the original 2008 bank bailout – to restore all underwater borrowers to the break-even point.
Doing so would be seen as highly unfair by many taxpayers, says Michael S. Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions, but doing nothing would be another blow to a fragile economy.
Source: The New York Times
NEW YORK – Feb. 4, 2010 – An estimated 4.5 million homeowners owe more than their homes are worth. That number is likely to peak at 5.1 million in June, affecting 10 percent of homeowners and making them increasingly likely to just walk away.
“We’re now at the point of maximum vulnerability,” says Sam Khater, a senior economist with First American CoreLogic, the firm that conducted the recent research. “People’s emotional attachment to their property is melting into the air.”
Consultants at Oliver Wyman calculated that 17 percent of owners defaulting in 2008 –about 588,000 – chose to default even though they could pay.
First American estimates that it would cost around $745 billion – about the same as the original 2008 bank bailout – to restore all underwater borrowers to the break-even point.
Doing so would be seen as highly unfair by many taxpayers, says Michael S. Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions, but doing nothing would be another blow to a fragile economy.
Source: The New York Times
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
FHA relaxes anti-flipping rule
WASHINGTON – Feb. 2, 2010 – Effective yesterday, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) started providing mortgage insurance for some home purchases in which the seller bought the property and held it for less than 90 days.
The agency changed what is known as the “anti-flipping rule” to speed up sales of renovated homes in communities with too many bank-owned and foreclosed homes, says FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens. Waiving the 90-day rule encourages private investors to buy vacant properties, fix them up, and quickly sell them to buyers who are eligible to buy them using FHA financing.
FHA’s change “is going to be absolutely terrific” for first-time homebuyers hoping to take advantage of the tax credit, says Bobby Taylor, an associate with Coldwell Banker Mountain West Real Estate in Salem, Ore.
The waiver is limited to sales that meet the following general conditions:
• All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
• In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.
• The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.
• Specific conditions and other details of this new temporary policy are in the text of the waiver, available on HUD’s website: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/waivpropflip2010.pdf.
Source: Washington Post
WASHINGTON – Feb. 2, 2010 – Effective yesterday, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) started providing mortgage insurance for some home purchases in which the seller bought the property and held it for less than 90 days.
The agency changed what is known as the “anti-flipping rule” to speed up sales of renovated homes in communities with too many bank-owned and foreclosed homes, says FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens. Waiving the 90-day rule encourages private investors to buy vacant properties, fix them up, and quickly sell them to buyers who are eligible to buy them using FHA financing.
FHA’s change “is going to be absolutely terrific” for first-time homebuyers hoping to take advantage of the tax credit, says Bobby Taylor, an associate with Coldwell Banker Mountain West Real Estate in Salem, Ore.
The waiver is limited to sales that meet the following general conditions:
• All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
• In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.
• The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.
• Specific conditions and other details of this new temporary policy are in the text of the waiver, available on HUD’s website: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/waivpropflip2010.pdf.
Source: Washington Post
Monday, February 1, 2010
It’s not if interest rates will rise but when
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Feb. 1, 2010 – According to Dr. Mark Dotzour, chief economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, mortgage interest rates are low right now but don’t expect that to last. When the government quits buying mortgage-backed securities, rates will head up and away.
Dotzour says that mortgage rates were low at the end of 2009 because “the global consensus among bondholders appeared to be that inflation will remain low in the United States for an extended period. This caused the ten-year U.S. Treasury rate to fall to between 3.2 and 3.6 percent for much of the second half of 2009.”
With extraordinary levels of federal deficit spending, Dotzour says it is unlikely that the low-inflation scenario will be popular when the economy starts to rebound. Consumers should expect mortgage rates to rise when signs of improvement appear.
A second factor contributing to the low mortgage rates is the Federal Reserve Bank’s unprecedented purchase of nearly all the mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2009, he adds. Totaling more than $1 trillion for the year, this program has been extended through the end of March 2010.
“The Fed has never done this before in its history,” says Dotzour. “They are doing this to stimulate the economy by keeping mortgage rates as low as possible. When the Fed stops buying these securities from Fannie and Freddie, mortgage rates are likely to increase, and possibly quite abruptly.”
How far will rates go up when the Fed terminates its buying program? Dotzour says that question is difficult to answer precisely because this has never been done before; but many experts think that rates could move up one-half to 1 percent.
“The combination of extraordinarily low mortgage rates and current price levels are making homes extremely affordable to American families. In fact, national and Texas housing affordability indices indicate that homes are more affordable than ever. But this will not last. When the economy recovers and the Fed stops purchasing mortgages, rates will rise.”
To read more on the subject, see Dotzour’s article “Rate Expectations” in the January 2010 issue of Tierra Grande magazine at http://recenter.tamu.edu/tgrande/.
© 2010 Florida Realtors®
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Feb. 1, 2010 – According to Dr. Mark Dotzour, chief economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, mortgage interest rates are low right now but don’t expect that to last. When the government quits buying mortgage-backed securities, rates will head up and away.
Dotzour says that mortgage rates were low at the end of 2009 because “the global consensus among bondholders appeared to be that inflation will remain low in the United States for an extended period. This caused the ten-year U.S. Treasury rate to fall to between 3.2 and 3.6 percent for much of the second half of 2009.”
With extraordinary levels of federal deficit spending, Dotzour says it is unlikely that the low-inflation scenario will be popular when the economy starts to rebound. Consumers should expect mortgage rates to rise when signs of improvement appear.
A second factor contributing to the low mortgage rates is the Federal Reserve Bank’s unprecedented purchase of nearly all the mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2009, he adds. Totaling more than $1 trillion for the year, this program has been extended through the end of March 2010.
“The Fed has never done this before in its history,” says Dotzour. “They are doing this to stimulate the economy by keeping mortgage rates as low as possible. When the Fed stops buying these securities from Fannie and Freddie, mortgage rates are likely to increase, and possibly quite abruptly.”
How far will rates go up when the Fed terminates its buying program? Dotzour says that question is difficult to answer precisely because this has never been done before; but many experts think that rates could move up one-half to 1 percent.
“The combination of extraordinarily low mortgage rates and current price levels are making homes extremely affordable to American families. In fact, national and Texas housing affordability indices indicate that homes are more affordable than ever. But this will not last. When the economy recovers and the Fed stops purchasing mortgages, rates will rise.”
To read more on the subject, see Dotzour’s article “Rate Expectations” in the January 2010 issue of Tierra Grande magazine at http://recenter.tamu.edu/tgrande/.
© 2010 Florida Realtors®
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