When to list in Spring Hill (foreclose, mortgage, loan)

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by PriusH8r

I'm afraid you may be in trouble for two reasons.

1) Things are certainly, without question, picking up in the Tampa Bay market. However, it is nice homes in prime locations that are seeing a nice uptick. It will take some time to filter down to the areas further out.

2) The sinkhole issue is going to be a HUGE issue for you. Sinkhole homes simply do not sell well unless almost given away and then they are purchased by investors.

I wish you the best. You seem like an awesome person. Please let us know how it goes. It will be a good barometer for this market.

Thanks for the honest response. I guess Spring Hill will take several years to rebound.

Yeah … the sinkhole issue is a big one. Our realtor thought maybe marketing it as a repaired sinkhole home would be a plus. We have the engineer's report and everything that certifies it as being properly repaired. The sinkhole occurred over five years ago and the house hasn't experienced any ground movement since. We had the entire interior re-done and it is beautiful! Sometimes I wish we would have just gotten a lawyer and cashed out like so many of our neighbors did. My old next door neighbor did that. He lawyered up, cashed out, and with the money bought a vacation home in NC that he eventually left Spring Hill for a few years ago. He said he was just going to "dump" the house for whatever some investor would pay for it. I guess he and others like him are why the comps in the neighborhood sunk so low.

I will keep the forum posted on how it goes market-wise up there. Right now it seems like Spring Hill is a perfect buyer's market for investors and those wanting homes under 100K.

[HWTechGuy]

I wouldn't have a problem buying a repaired-sinkhole home if it was done right and had a guarantee. If they did the tons and tons of grout with the steel piers, I'd consider it.

What year was your house built that had the sinkhole?

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by HWTechGuy

I wouldn't have a problem buying a repaired-sinkhole home if it was done right and had a guarantee. If they did the tons and tons of grout with the steel piers, I'd consider it.

What year was your house built that had the sinkhole?

It was built in 1996. We looked into piers, but with the type of sinkhole we had, piers wouldn't have worked. We had 42 truckloads of cement/grout pumped beneath the house and then chemical grouting on top of that.

Like you, I would have no problem buying a sinkhole house that had been repaired. In fact, when we made the move to Safety Harbor, we actually looked for properly repaired sinkhole homes so we could avoid sinkhole issues in the future. (Safety Harbor also has issues with sinkholes, though not as much as Spring Hill.) Unfortunately though, the one house we found like that got bought up before we could even set up an appointment to see it!

The market here is so different from up in Spring Hill … decent homes don't stay on the market here for more than a week or so. I wish that were true for Hernando County … if it were, we wouldn't have the issue we're having. I just keep reminding myself it isn't too bad … at least we have a great tenant who is paying for the majority of our mortgage.

[HWTechGuy]

Interesting. Mine was built in 1985. I've had people tell me that's a good thing in this regard. Time will tell, of course.

[floridagirl777]

Our home inspector told us the same thing when we moved to Safety Harbor. He said he worries more about newer homes with cracking than with older homes. Our home here was built in the early 80's and has had no signs of sinkhole activity. We do have a few minor driveway cracks, but our inspector told us that's very typical for older homes … especially those surrounded by oak trees like ours is. He said it would be more concerning if the home was built last year. Honestly, sinkholes are not as frightening as some people believe. I have friends in Spring Hill who have been living in unrepaired sinkhole homes for 10+ years without any issues other than some minor cracks. One doctor we know bought an unrepaird sinkhole house for 14K 15 years ago, never repaired it, and the house is still standing and is in good condition. Go figure!

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by HWTechGuy

I wouldn't have a problem buying a repaired-sinkhole home if it was done right and had a guarantee. If they did the tons and tons of grout with the steel piers, I'd consider it.

What year was your house built that had the sinkhole?

There is the thought that eventually people will want to buy repaired sinkhole homes, as they will prove to be more stable.

Time will tell. Unfortunately the lawyers and greedy home owners made a mess of the situation.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

It was built in 1996. We looked into piers, but with the type of sinkhole we had, piers wouldn't have worked. We had 42 truckloads of cement/grout pumped beneath the house and then chemical grouting on top of that.

Like you, I would have no problem buying a sinkhole house that had been repaired. In fact, when we made the move to Safety Harbor, we actually looked for properly repaired sinkhole homes so we could avoid sinkhole issues in the future. (Safety Harbor also has issues with sinkholes, though not as much as Spring Hill.) Unfortunately though, the one house we found like that got bought up before we could even set up an appointment to see it!

The market here is so different from up in Spring Hill … decent homes don't stay on the market here for more than a week or so. I wish that were true for Hernando County … if it were, we wouldn't have the issue we're having. I just keep reminding myself it isn't too bad … at least we have a great tenant who is paying for the majority of our mortgage.

Yep. When we bought in Palm Harbor last year, including looking in Clearwater and Safety Harbor, we couldn't get to the homes fast enough before they were gone. 3 to 4 days for every home. It was crazy. We were the second offer on the home we ended up buying. 4 days on the market.

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by PriusH8r

Yep. When we bought in Palm Harbor last year, including looking in Clearwater and Safety Harbor, we couldn't get to the homes fast enough before they were gone. 3 to 4 days for every home. It was crazy. We were the second offer on the home we ended up buying. 4 days on the market.

We must have been looking at around the same time! One morning, I got on the MLS and saw a beautiful home in Coachman Ridge in Clearwater … it had been listed that morning. I immediately called my realtor and she set up a viewing that day for 1 pm. 2 hours after I called her, she called me back and told me someone just went through the house and put a contract on it! This type of situation happened to us several more times. It was a huge reality check. The bottom line is, if you're moving to a desirable locale in Florida in the current market, you have to act quickly.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

LOL. Well, maybe a druggie family with kids who swear like sailors would fit right in!

I'm really interested in exploring this lease purchase thing. How does one go about marketing that? Should I get a real estate agent in addition to a lawyer?

You can go either way, agent or FSBO. One problem for you would be the hour drive from SH to show the home and could be a reason to use an agent.
If you do use an agent I would tell them you will pay half the commission upon signing of the contract and deposit and the other half upon actual closing. Say you did a lease purchase with a 2 year term with a sales price of $150,000, 20% down would be $30,000, if you figure 6% total commission you would pay $4500 now and the other $4500 in 2 years when it actually closes.
The nice thing about lease purchase is if the home does not close within the 2 years you get to pocket about $25,000 and get the house back. The bad thing about lease purchase is if for some reason Lockheed Martin decided to build a 1 million sq ft manufacturing facility in Hernando County and home prices doubled you would still be obligated to sell for $150,000 (not likely to happen though so I think you will be OK).

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

That is helpful information you just shared. I hate that there's still a surplus of homes and that the homes are appraising for well under the listing price … it means awesome deals for buyers, but it stinks for people who are trying to sell.

We may end up just continuing to rent the place out unless this lease purchase thing turns out to be a good idea.

Any idea on how long the market will continue to be this way up there?

With going the lease purchase route you reach a large market of people that because of the current financial situation can not get a loan but may have saved up $20-$30K from not paying their last mortgage. While you would think you would not want to contract with people that were foreclosed on the difference would be the previous home they might have bought with no money down but this home they would have $20-$30K of their money locked into it. It gives them a whole different perspective.