Jacksonville Beaches Real Estate

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From Information, Inc WASHINGTON – Oct. 16, 2013 – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have stepped up their program to collect unpaid mortgage debt from “strategic defaulters” – underwater homeowners who skipped out on their mortgage even though they had the ability to pay. If a home is sold at foreclosure but the proceeds don’t cover the outstanding balance of the homeowner’s loan, the mortgage giants can pursue judgments against the homeowner forcing him or her to pay the deficiency. And the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that regulates Fannie and Freddie is pushing them to step up their efforts. FHFA says Fannie and Freddie haven’t been aggressive enough going after strategic defaulters; and, according to the inspector general, the mortgage giants could cut their losses by making it a priority – billions of dollars, the office says. So far, the office says it has identified about 58,000 foreclosures that Freddie Mac did not refer for collection – and estimated defic...

Jacksonville Deep Water Home Overview Maps Photos Description $719,000 Single Family Home Main Features 4 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms Interior: 3,109 sqft Lot: 14,400 sqft Location 4378 Seabreeze Dr Jacksonville, FL 32250 USA Ronda Densford Magnolia Properties (904) 885-9907 ronda@magnoliaagent.com http://www.rondadensford.com               See more Jacksonville, FL real estate for sale  

This is another example of how the bad guys can get very creative. You should get a phone call from your Brokerage or listing agent if your home is going to be shown. Never open your door to ANYONE that hasn't made an appointment. Cops: Duo Pose as Agent, Buyer to Rob Homes

Once again the American dream may be available to those with less than stellar credit. From The Washington Post   By Zachary A. Goldfarb The Obama administration is engaged in a broad push to make more home loans available to people with weaker credit, an effort that officials say will help power the economic recovery but that skeptics say could open the door to the risky lending that caused the housing crash in the first place. President Obama’s economic advisers and outside experts say the nation’s much-celebrated housing rebound is leaving too many people behind , including young people looking to buy their first homes and individuals with credit records weakened by the recession. More business news In response, administration officials say they are working to get banks to lend to a wider range of borrowers by taking advantage of taxpayer-backed programs — including those offered by the Federal Housing Administration — that insure home loans against default...

The time to sell is a waiting game for some   By Megan Hopkins • March 21, 2013 •   Real estate is always a game of knowing when to make your move. With that in mind, industry experts suggest move-up buyers remain mindful of how quickly home prices appreciate while riding the current market recovery. For move-up buyers wanting to wait out rising home prices to ensure they can sell their current home at a maximum price, analysts say the value of such a move depends on when the homeowner purchased their current residence.    Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, says homeowners who purchased during the down market of the last two or three years would be wise to move up in 2013 . "Because they bought near the bottom, these homeowners should have built up some good equity that can go toward the purchase of a new home, and waiting longer to build more equity likely won’t provide much advantage given that other homes that they might want to m...

Super Location In Jacksonville Overview Maps Photos Description Neighborhood $169,995 Single Family Home Main Features 4 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms Interior: 2,001 sqft Lot: 9,583 sqft Location 13143 Annandale Dr N Jacksonville, FL 32225 USA To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below: Ronda Densford Magnolia Properties (904) 885-9907 ronda@magnoliaagent.com http://www.rondadensford.com               Nearby properties for sale

NEW YORK – Feb. 26, 2013 – Many former homeowners who walked away from their homes in a “strategic default” are back on the market, eager to buy a home again. Owners who go through a strategic default choose to do so, calculating that the financial loss and any resulting hit in their credit report makes more sense than staying in a home that lost value. Nearly 80 percent of strategic defaulters say they want to buy a home again within the next 12 months, according to a survey by YouWalkAway.com, a website that helps borrowers in the legal pitfalls of strategic default. The market potential for these comeback homeowners could be huge: The number of eligible home buyers who have a foreclosure on their record will reach 1.5 million by the first quarter of 2014, according to data by Moody’s analytics. Borrowers who defaulted on their mortgage during the recent recession may fare better at qualifying for a loan again than those who defaulted on multiple credit accounts and auto loans to...

Fannie, Freddie to Allow Walkaways in Some Cases

Wow! What a difference a few months make! The short and sweet version of what's going on in the Jacksonvile Market is this: Our inventory is DOWN to a 6 and a half month supply. A "normal" or stable market is considered to be a 5-6 month supply.  We're almost back to normal! Break out the champagne! Have you been house hunting lately? Good luck! The inventory is VERY low.  It's hard to find very many houses to look at. Guess what this (historically) means?  Yep. Supply vs Demand = Higher home prices .  Keep that in mind if you're still sitting on the fence. Need more proof?  How about these factoids?  New listings crept up a little in February, but not nearly enough to keep up with the number of sold properties.. I'm thinking that means that we're exactly where we were this time last year. Know what that means? Yep. The bottom is here or so close I can almost see it! More evidence?  The median sales price was down a ...

You can almost feel it in the air. Now that the inventory of homes on the market continues to drop........ Buyers really aren't in the drivers seat anymore. I sold a house last week and we (of course) got into a multiple offer situation. I explained to my Buyers how it works in great detail. Then I suggested that they "sleep on it" and consider their "highest and best offer". Keep in mind, they LOVE this house. We looked at a dozen others AFTER we looked at this one back in November. Everytime we left a home, they compared the others to this one. They asked me if I thought they should go in at full asking price. After another CMA and a lot of discussion, they decided they wanted it bad enough to offer full price. We did and we got it!  I had written a sweet cover letter and I'd like to think that helped the Seller make his decision. My Buyers are ecstatic and we're well into the process of getting the financing together. So there you go... Another home ...

Merry Christmas! I hope the holiday season brings you lots of rest and maybe a present or two. I'm showing houses tonight so maybe my Buyers will get a signed acceptance before Santa comes! Let's see what the New Year brings in the housing market. Wish I had a crystal ball... Warmest Christmas wishes,

Jacksonville Beach FL numbers are in for November. Let's take a look at the scoop. The average median sales price of Lender Mediated (short sales, foreclosures and REO's) homes was $204,750.  The average sales price was $237,402. The median sales price of Traditional Sales was $245,000.This is an increase of 30.7%. The average sales price of Traditional sales was $349,883.  This is up nearly 23%. November Days on Market is down 17% and the inventory of available homes is down a whopping 26.1%. Jacksonville Beach is down to a 7 month supply of homes. This is very close to what is considered a "normal market". Closed sales were up 18% in November. It appears that Jacksonville Beach is on the road to recovery. Inventory is down and prices are up!!! It looks like things are headed in the right direction for this market. Let's see if the trend continues. If you were waiting for "the bottom". We may be there. Don't wait . Interest rates remain ...

As they say, "the numbers don't lie".  The Beaches area markets are all over the place! Without giving out TMI (too much information), I'll give you the hightlights and the lowlights of the Beaches market. I'll give you the condensed version. Jacksonville Beach has fewer listings than it did in Oct 2010 (-31.7%) but the median sales price price was up 9.1% ($232,300.00) over October 2010.  Year to Date in Jax Beach median sale price is up only 1.4%.  BUT---the key word here is UP! Inventory is down 24.3% from the same time last year. We are down to a 7 month supply of inventory in Jacksonville Beach. That's a GREAT thing! Neptune Beach took a huge hit on the median sales price. It was down a whopping        -59.7% compared to October of 2010. Year to date numbers are a whole lot better -  up 16.7% to $280,000.  The median sales price in October 2010 was $501,500 and this year the median sales price was $202,000....

I've finally stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to try and list some REO properties! I'm a little spooked about it. I've heard the lenders can be difficult to deal with but I think I can handle it! You know that there are plenty of these listings to go around. I am so detail oriented and have been accused of being a little TOO concerned about the "small stuff". I have created a web site and would appreciate any comments about it. It's simple, all I wanted to do was give people a way to get in touch with me. In the meantime.... I've started doing BPO's. These are Broker Price Opinions and are critical in the process of selling a short sale. When the lender gets an offer on a property, they order a BPO so they'll know if the offer is a good one. They are time consuming but I think they'll keep me very active in my market. I will also have a better understanding of how to help MY buyers make offers the lender would accept. I won't ...

Sales in Jacksonville increased over last years numbers. There were 701 "normal" sales and 614 "distressed" sales in September. Inventory dropped an incredible 32%.  Guess what?  We're almost down to a "normal market". When we have a 5-6 month supply of properties on the market, we're considered "normal". In September we were down to a 7 month supply. Along with the good news, there is some bad news (for sellers anyway). Prices on normal sales dropped 6.5%  and prices on lender mediated (short sales and foreclosures) ROSE 4.5%!!! So in a nutshell: inventory down. Foreclosure prices up. Normal sales prices down. We are very close to a "normal" market!!!

Posting this story has become a tradition for me! I didn't want a year to go by without posting it. Unfortunately, the story rings true today like it did many years ago.................................. Halloween Horror Story for a REALTOR Once again it's time for me to repost the scariest real estate story ever! It's become an annual tradition to repost this article. I call it my "List Em and Leave Em" post. Don't let this happen to you! The names have been changed to protect the slackers and the victims... I continually hear people say that their realtor bugged them for weeks to get them to list their house with them. They finally agreed to list it and they never saw the REALTOR again!! I'm not exaggerating! Check out this story.... New example of a "list em and leave em" real estate company Wednesday, May 02, 2007JANESVILLE, Wis. - A couple checking out a house for sale were shocked to discover the 55-year-old homeowner dead in...

Home sales up 12.9% in NE Florida From WOKV News Talk Radio Jax Jacksonville, FL — In February home sales were up 12.9% from a year ago in northeast Florida. The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors is reporting sales are up but prices are down 12.9%. NFAR communications director Melanie Green says most of the homes sold last month were not traditional sales. "The sales that occurred in February were weighted heavily by lender mediated sales, those are your foreclosed and short sales." She says that's a bit of bad news but it does indicate that investors are coming back into the market. We also heard from consumer warrior Clark Howard. He says right now is the perfect time to buy, the reason being that the timing is right. "If you're buying a home now, man everything is smiling on you, the prices are phenomenal on the homes, the cost of money to borrow and finance those homes is still great, and this is not a gotcha this is an opportunity....