In the midst of this real estate crisis Governor Crist signed in SB 1196 & 1222 into law

In the midst of this real estate crisis Governor Crist signed in SB 1196 & 1222 into law. Below are some major points of the bill.

Bulk Buyers- There are now two classifications, "bulk buyer" and "bulk assignee"

"A 'bulk assignee' acquires more than seven (7) units in a condominium, and also receives an assignment of some or substantially all of the rights of the developer, which can be set forth as an exhibit to the deed from the original developer, or as a separate instrument. The assignment is to be recorded in the public records of the county where the property is located."

"A 'bulk buyer' is also a party who acquires more than seven (7) units, but does not receive an assignment of developer rights other than the right to: 1. Conduct sales, leasing and marketing activities within the condominium. 2. Be exempt from making working capital contributions as a result of the bulk purchase, and 3. Be exempt from any rights or first refusal held by the association and otherwise applicable to subsequent transfers of title from the bulk owner."

Insurance - This is a great aspect because it lowers the cost of owning a miami condo by removing the requirement that every owner must carry hazard insurance. It does require minimum $2,000 of property loss assessment coverage included in the condo owner's coverage.

Sprinkler Systems - Repeals the requirement to update sprinkler systems in condos over 75 feet high.

Past-Due Assessments on Foreclosures- This increases the requirement of lenders to cover 12 months of past due assessments or 1% of the original mortgage amount, whichever is less.

Denial of Common Areas - This allows association to deny owners or any occupant the right to use amenities except (utility services, elevators or parking spaces) if the owner is 90 days past due on their association payments. The association has the right to also deny voting rights. You basically have to pay-to-play...

Diverting Tenant Rent - If an owner is renting their unit and not paying the association this rent can be diverted to the association. There are a lot of issues with owners renting their units that are in pre-foreclosure (short-sale) and pocketing the money never paying the mortgage or association. Now this income can go to the association to help pay for the amenities this tenant is using.

As far as comeback stories there are few neighborhoods which can boast "rags to riches" turn-around such as Miami Upper East Side.

As far as comeback stories there are few neighborhoods, which can boast "rags to riches" turn-around such as Miami Upper East Side. This eclectic area includes such historic neighborhoods as Bay Point, Morningside, Belle Meade, and Bayside. These are quiet neighborhoods, which have more character then almost any other neighborhood in Miami. These areas do not allow drive through traffic, which cuts down on the noise dramatically and exclusive Bay Point has a guard station, which is paid by the homeowner's association. Also, Bay Point is one of the few neighborhoods in Miami where the homeowners actually own the streets, not the city. 

As for Morningside and Belle Meade, both neighborhoods have gates but allow public access and guards just write down guests' license plates as they drive through. Tucked away between 69th St and 72nd St is Bayside neighborhood, there is no gate just one entry thru 69th St. The advantage here is Starbuck's, Uva 69, Balan's, Dogma, Karma Car Wash and Metro Organic Bistro (just to name a few) are only a-walk-a-way. The home values in this area did take a hit, like most of Miami, but prices are on the rise again. The unpretentious atmosphere and good value, mixed with easy access to Design District, South Beach, 55th Station and Brickell make it very attractive for buyers. This neighborhood's home values will only go up as more people discover the hidden treasure of Miami's Upper East Side.

If you're thinking about buying or selling real estate in Miami

If you're thinking about buying or selling real estate in Miami, you probably want to deal with the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the industry. After all, for most people, real estate is the most expensive investment of their life. However, there are multiple pieces to each real estate transaction.

With over 20 years of experience in all aspects of real estate, Sunny Realty provides a full service turnkey solution. We offer in-depth knowledge of your building and area, top-notch personalized service in short-selling, marketing, legal, title and finance.

Today, over 90% of all real estate transactions are generated on the Internet. Sunny Realty has dominated the Internet with our unrivaled database of information regarding exclusive condo developments, exclusive neighborhoods and legal information. Please feel free to Google your particular building and chances are we are always on the first page, likely in the top position.

When selling your property, you need the most exposure. Our website is visited by 2,500 to 3,000 unique visitors daily who are searching for the property you want to sell! So piece that together with our services and experience, it equates your desired results. Please call us for a FREE consultation regarding any and all real estate matters.

Brickell
Home Values

Brickell, Miami, FL
Homes for Sale Get this widget

Buy vs. Rent and the Top 10 Cities to Rent vs Buy.

Today Trulia announced America’s Top 10 Cities to Buy vs. Rent and the Top 10 Cities to Rent vs Buy. Trulia calculated the price-to-rent ratio using the average list price compared with average rent on 2 bedroom apartments, condos and townhomes listed on Trulia.com. To create the list, Trulia analyzed the largest 50 cities in America, by population.

Top 10 Cities to Buy vs. Rent

	City	Price-to-Rent Ratio
1.	Minneapolis, Minnesota	8
2.	Arlington, Texas	8
3.	Miami, Florida	8
4.	Fresno, California	8
5.	San Antonio, Texas	8
6.	Mesa, Arizona	9
7.	Jacksonville, Florida	9
8.	Phoenix, Arizona	10
9.	El Paso, Texas	10
10.	Las Vegas, Nevada	11

“At the peak of the real estate bubble, cities like Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas were not affordable for many. Now the opposite is true,” said Pete Flint, co-founder and CEO of Trulia. “Home sellers in these hard hit areas are forced to lower their prices to compete with all the foreclosures on the market. As a result , these unattainable markets are so affordable it makes better financial sense to buy than rent.”

Top 10 Cities to Rent vs. Buy

	City	Price-to-Rent Ratio
1.	New York, New York	33
2.	Omaha, Nebraska	26
3.	Seattle, Washington	25
4.	Portland, Oregon	22
5.	San Francisco, California	22
6.	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	21
7.	Kansas City, Missouri	20
8.	San Diego, California	20
9.	Cleveland, Ohio	20
10.	Dallas, Texas	19

“It is not a surprise to see cities like New York and San Francisco on the ‘Rent’ cities but I was surprised to see areas like Omaha, Oklahoma City and Kansas City on our rental list, “said Flint “We’re not suggesting that it’s unwise to buy in these areas, though - just that it’s significantly more expensive than renting. In many of these cities, even though home buying is much more costly than renting, prices are still much lower than they have been in a long, long time.”

To see the Top 50 City Rent v Buy Index, please click here to download.

Trulia.com’s Rent vs. Buy Index - Interpretation Key

Price-to-Rent Ratio of 1-15: It is much less expensive to own than to rent a home in this city Price-to-Rent Ratio of 16-20: It is more expensive to own a home in this city are The total costs of ownership of a home in this city are greater than the costs of renting, but it might still make financial sense depending on the situation. Price-to-Rent Ratio of 21+: The total costs of owning a home in this city are much greater than the costs of renting.

Definitions: Total costs of home ownership include mortgage principal and interest, property taxes, hazard insurance, closing costs at time of purchase and ongoing HOA dues and private mortgage insurance, where applicable. Total costs of homeownership include an offset for the tax advantages of homeownership, including mortgage interest, property tax and closing cost deductions.

Total costs of renting include rent and renter’s insurance.

What does short sale mean?

Q. I can no longer afford my home and I just got a job in a different state. My home lost all of its value over the last couple years. There’s no way that I can pay a real estate agent commissions to sell my home. I keep hearing the termshort sale. Can you tell me what that means?

A. A short sale is a term used in the realestate industry when you sell your home for less than what you currently owe on your mortgage. For example, if you owe $200,000 to your mortgage lender on a home that is only worth $100,000, then this home would be considered underwater. If you wanted to sell your home for less than what you owe, you would then have to apply with your lender to get approval in order to perform a short sale on your property because they will need a sign off and accept any offer that you would recieve on your home.

Please be aware that the mortgage servicer is going to be in charge of the sale at all times. You do not get to provide any input or accept any offers that you might receive on your home. You or your real estate agent are going to have to submit a written purchase agreements with estimated closing costs (estimated HUD) to your mortgage servicer and then they will decide if they want to accept the deal or not. This is easier said, than done.

We are currently in a massive foreclosure crisis with thousands of homeowners looking for help. This is causing the system to be bottle-necked with many unnecessary foreclosures. Many loanmodifications and short sales end up failing because of this communication and employee breakdown. You may get 3-5 offers before one goes through. So, this is a numbers and patience game. You and your agent have to make sure at all times that you do not get lost in the system by being that greasy wheel.

The best thing that you can do is consult with two or three lawyers in your state to determine your best options. Maybe they will tell you that it is just better to walk away from your home and a short sale is not a good idea because your mortgage is non-recourse. In addition, you should seek out a couple of highly experienced short sale real estate agents that you can interview to get their opinions. A good agent will tell you the truth and be able to help you through this process. This experienced agent will handle most all the headaches that come your way when dealing with the sale. Please do not use any company or agent that charges you an upfront fee. Find a Realtor that will work on commissions only and if your home sales, your lender will pay the agent and other closing costs out of the sale proceeds.

http://www.loansafe.org/what-does-short-sale-mean-2

Posted by Moe Bedard

CONSUMER FINANCE: Home Buyers, Get The Most For Your Money

The nation's housing inventory is cluttered with foreclosures, short sales, and home builders willing to make a deal. If you are in the market to buy a home today, you are likely weighing the benefits of each type of property available for purchase.

Don't be fooled. Not all bank-owned foreclosures are sold at deep discounts. Not all builders are slashing prices. Short sales can be a crapshoot, with some buyers enduring months of waiting...wrote the Wall Street Journal.

A Fresh Look at Rent vs. Buy

"Why on Earth would you buy down here when you can rent?" asked a friend of mine in Miami Beach not long ago. "Buying is so over."

He promptly moved to Manhattan for work reasons–and bought a $1 million loft on the Upper West Side.

View Full Image

Getty Images/Tetra images RF

Note the typical behavior. People want to buy when prices are up, and turn more wary when they've collapsed. Logically it makes no sense. Research out Thursday adds some hard numbers.

Real estate website Trulia.com has looked at major real estate markets across the country and asked: Is it cheaper to buy, or to rent?

By Trulia's math my friend was moving in exactly the wrong direction.

Rent in Manhattan: Home prices there are way too high, says Trulia. (Ditto San Francisco.)

Buy in Miami. And Phoenix. And Las Vegas. And most of the other places that have been flattened by the crash. Homes there are cheap compared to rents.

The cross-over point is about 15 times annual rent, the company believes. In other words, as a rough rule of thumb, homes are probably fairly valued in a city when they cost about 15 times a year's rent. So, for example, if you're paying $10,000 a year to rent a place, think twice about buying a home that costs more than $150,000. Dean Baker, economist at the Washington, D.C. think-tank The Center for Economic and Policy Research, came to a similar conclusion in research on the subject in recent years. Fifteen times is the historic average, he said.

So what's the multiple in New York right now?

About 32 times, says Trulia. The average two-bedroom condo or townhouse in New York city costs about 32 times as much to buy as it does to rent. Other major markets over 20 times include Seattle (24 times), San Francisco (22 times) and Portland, Ore. (22 times).

On the other hand Miami list prices are now about eight times annual rents, says Trulia. Phoenix is about 10 times and Las Vegas about 11.

Trulia's data need to be taken with some caveats.

Trulia looked at list prices rather than actual transaction prices, so its figures for prices may be too high.

Furthermore drawing the cut-off point at 15 times rents may be on the low side.

Mr. Baker, in conversation yesterday, said that figure assumes that you're only going to stay in your home for the typical seven years. If you stay a lot longer, he says, the transaction costs of buying and selling become less and less important. That makes owning more attractive.

Nonetheless the Trulia analysis seems directionally correct. Work done by the C.E.P.R. last year came to similar conclusions: Namely that markets like New York and the California coast remained expensive compared to rents, while the hardest hit markets now look cheap.

And Trulia's research emphasizes two points that are absolutely spot on.

First, homeowners need to look first and hardest at present cashflow. The cult of homeownership made no sense. If renting is much cheaper than buying, think seriously about it.

Second: The markets that have fallen the furthest now look like good places to buy, while those that seem to be "safest" aren't. As the saying goes: There is no such thing as a "safe" investment, merely one whose risks are not yet apparent. It's a principle that a lot of people forget time and again

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575282910161870380.html?mod=WSJ_Stocks_MIDDLEROI

Evidence of a strengthening market

Providing further evidence of a strengthening market, South Florida home buyers signed contracts at a fast clip in May, catapulting the number of pending home sales up 54 percent in Miami-Dade and 51 percent in Broward, compared to the same month last year.

The figures reflect the surge of international buyers taking advantage of low real estate prices and favorable exchange rates, as well as first-time and existing buyers benefiting from record-setting affordability conditions.

Total pending home sales -- including single-family and condominiums -- in Miami-Dade increased to 10,456 in May, up 0.62 percent from April, according to figures released Wednesday by the Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service. April figures included a last-minute surge by home buyers taking advantage of a federal tax credit that expired on April 20.

``Current South Florida real estate market statistics are positive signs of a resurgent market,'' Terri Bersach, chairman of the Realtor Association of Greater Miami, said in a statement. ``Pending sales are considerably higher than they were a year ago when the market was already strengthening, and home median prices have begun to increase, while average home prices have been increasing for some time. These figures validate the demand for local residential properties and confirm the local market's recovery.''

In Broward County, pending home sales fell 3.23 percent to 3,719, in May, compared to April, due to the impact of the expiring tax credit.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/02/1659819/south-florida-pending-home-sales.html#ixzz0pnQYr8bb