Awesome Old Florida Charm!!  Lovingly cared for over the last 26 years by the original owners! Walk up the stairs on to your front porch, open the front door and your real wood floors welcome you to a very spacious living room complete with beautiful stone wood burning fireplace.  Cook your heart away in the large recently remodeled kitchen. Granite countertops, stone tile backsplash and a complete set of black appliances. Now that I have wet your whistle come see the rest!

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Unbelievable Value!  Over 2000 square foot waterfront town home on Phillipi Creek! Awesome views, excellent location close to everything! Well maintained and upgraded this home features too much to list.  Some features are: New Paver deck at the front entrance.  Laminate wood floors in the open, two story high living room with vaulted ceilings.  Very functional kitchen with pass-through opening up to the waterfront family room.  Family room features built in custom wood shelving.  Many closets for plenty of storage.    Very spacious master with private bath and additional bonus room that takes in the incredible water views.  Large 2nd bedroom also with private bath.  All of this and more could be yours, take the first step it’s easy to view!                                Offered at $294,900

Features your own Dock right outside your back door!

Incredible views!

Well maintained and upgraded interior!

Hurry and call today, the last unit in this complex sold Quick!   Buck Settles 941-685-3600

Have they been listening to me?  I have been screaming for the past 4 years that we have to stop the foreclsures in order for the market to recover, and the more foreclosures the longer the price declines.  According to this article Bank of America has been processing more short sales than foreclosures every month for the past 18 months.  It states 7000 foreclosures to 9000 short sales for the month of May.  They credit this to the introduction of  HAFA (please see a previous blog for details on that program) in April of 2010.  Citigroup also credits HAFA with speeding up their processing from an average of 120 days to 83 days. 

If you need to sell your home, contact me, I am well educated in the short sale process.  If you have equity then I will maximize it for you!  I look forward to helping you!

Three Bedrooms, Two Baths and a One car Garage where you could eat off the floor!  This home is Clean, Clean, Clean!

All new kitchen featuring Maple cabinets with under cabinet

 lighting, granite counter tops, tumbled marble back splash,

Stainless steel double sink and all new appliances.   

All new bathrooms include new showers and and granite counter tops. 

Ceramic tile floors throughout with exception of the master and 2nd bedroom featuring new carpet.  Freshly painted down to the garage and lanai floors.  New recessed lighting and ceiling fans.  Crown molding. Wonderful Front Lanai. New hurricane resistant garage door. New water heater. 2 zone air conditioning. Round it all out with beautiful landscaping and newly sodded front lawn with sprinkler system.  Aluminum shed.  This one will not last long at $138,500.

By not re-negotiating a few loans, (i.e. – reducing principal) 4 years ago you have cost everyone, even those without mortgages 40 – 50% of their homes values!  The foreclosures must stop in order to re-bound, and I do not see any other way to do it other than re-negotiating loans and most importantly reducing principals.  Yes now it is going to cost alot of money however your inaction is costing alot more!!

STOP THE FORECLOSURES AND WATCH THE ECONOMY REVIVE!

Bank Bailouts Explained

Walk to the Beach from this perfect home on the Island of Venice. Ceramic tile flooring throughout with the exception of spotless Terrazzo floors in the Florida Room. Professionally Landscaped, private backyard. Beautiful Paver patios in the front and rear. Updated Kitchen and spacious eating area overlooking the Tropical landscape. Sliding Glass doors across the back from the master, living room and Kitchen providing indoor/outdoor living. Hurray and take a look while this home is still available.                                                       $289,900

First of all, I am specifically talking about the common sense adage “I don’t care who caused the problem, fix it!”

   Relating to the economy and the housing market I believe the “Ivy Leaguers” in Washington have forgotten this. A fellow Realtor said this morning that he just sold a 3000 Sq. ft. home with a guest house for $90,000, he said it would cost you $400,000 to re-build it and that it was a great time to buy!  He is absolutely right. It is a great time to buy, I have sold properties for similiar values, so even if the market is still declining and mortgage rates go up then your monthly payment will be the same, so the “buying power” is equal.  You can’t possibly go wrong buying a house of that value, correct?

However…

This is a HUGE problem!  If the banks do not stop foreclosures, that house may very well be worth $50,000 two years from now!  Since 70% of the loans are held by government backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac then guess who could fix this problem? And guess who this is costing? Yet I have not heard one word about fixing this issue from any Congressmen, Democrat or Republican, the housing market was not even mentioned in the State of the union address.  Do they realize how much of the economy and the job market is tied directly to housing?  You here alot about the problem and who one person or the other thinks caused it, but no solutions.  Not this time…here is the solution.

If you can’t make your mortgage payment then allow the homeowner to modify there mortgage or sell, with no derogatory credit mark.  Have an appraisal done by a licensed appraiser, if you can handle the payments from that principal balance then start making those payments and stay in your home if you can’t then sell it for that value.  Foreclosures stop the next day and the housing market starts to appreciate again because all of those buyers that are waiting for the market to stop dropping pour into the market.  Supply drops, demand raises and prices start increasing again, this will create a need for tons of companies to start hiring again.  Think about how many jobs are needed to handle one home purchase, Real Estate sales, banking, insurance, all service related fields including a/c (and heat for my northern friends), plumbing,  roofing, electrical, home improvement stores, furniture stores, I could keep going but you get the point.

But that would cost the government (taxpayers) and mortgage investors billions, right?  So you mean it is not costing them even more now in attorney’s fees (I heard that FNMA spends $160,000,000 per year in attorney’s fees) to handle the foreclosures, lack of people paying the mortage for the 2-3 years that it takes to foreclose here in Florida, and the fact that the homes are a wreck by the time they are up for foreclosure sale and sell for 25% of what they are worth?

This might just work…or maybe we can just build some really fast trains!

I sold a home back in April of this year, a week before the foreclosure sale.  Freddie Mac agreed to cancel the sale and review the file for approval.  It has been sitting on the desk of someone at Freddie Mac since April 29!  Over 4 months for someone to spend 15-30 minutes to say yes or no.  What should this teach you?  Maybe your foreclosing on too many homes?  Maybe you need to hire a few more people? (Jobs?)  

I have a listing that has been reduced over $250,000, why?  Because 30-40% of the homes selling are foreclosures.  Stop blaming Bush, stop blaming the greedy, stop blaming the few that bought more than they could afford and plug the leak.  Until you start with a major plan for principal reductions and working effectively with short sales, we are in for a LONG ride.

Anyone else have another idea?

Top Floor, updated condo on the Island of Venice.  This 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit is in the great complex of Case Seville. Less than a block from beach access, with slight view of the beach from your enclosed lanai.  Well maintained with an updated kitchen.  Low monthly maintanance fees include grounds maintanance, insurance, a reserve fund,  community pool and water and sewer.   Lowest price available in this complex, only 3 units for sale in Casa Seville.  Priced at $189,900