Flood Insurance Update

Congress passed a stop-gap measure to extend the National Flood Insurance Program until November 18th, 2011. It was originally scheduled to end on September 30th.

This is good news for home buyers in Florida, as it means there has been no lapse in the NFIP authority to issue new flood insurance policies.

However, debate is still continuing in Congress on legislation to extend the National Flood Insurance Program for 5 years. The program...

Positive signs are emerging for the local real estate market.

According to an article in today's Sarasota Herald Tribune, the top 10 lenders in Sarasota county made 5% more loans in August than July and the dollar volume was also up.

Another Tribune article gave an overview of the foreclosure filings for August as well as the past few months. Although forecasters were expecting Lis Pendens filings to be trending up in August, they actually fell slightly. http://insiderealestate.heraldtribune.com/2011/09/13/big-sarasota-lenders-see-a-slight-drop-in-early-stage-foreclosures-in-august/...

Forbes magazine recently rated 154 metro areas across the country, looking for the most recession resistant cities for real estate.

The Sarasota - Bradenton area came in 7th on the list. FL had 5 other cities make the top 25, more than any other state.

Forbes teamed up with the real estate site Zillow on this project. Zillow studied the value of homes using list prices, final sales prices, tax records and property histories.

If you’d like to read the...

Foreclosures can be great deals for buyers as they are typically priced under the current market. However, not every foreclosure property will be a good deal. So how do you tell the difference between a great deal and a not so good one? Knowledge is a key factor in making wise choices when it comes to REOs.


So what exactly is an REO?

An REO, or “Real Estate Owned” property is one in which a lender or bank has taken title and is now re-selling post-foreclosure....

Considering the number of short sales on the market and the potential for “bargains,” many buyers today are interested in purchasing a short-sale property. However, not all buyers are good candidates for short sales. So how do you know if a short sale is right for you?

Here are six questions to ask yourself if you are considering purchasing a short-sale property:

(1) If you are going to obtain a mortgage, are you pre-approved for a loan?

In a short sale,...