Search results matching tags 'tampa homes for sale', 'tampa bay Seller Information', 'tampa bay short sales', and 'Carrolwood homes for sale'

Monthy Home Sales Report for the Tampa Bay Real Estate Market

773447 — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:32:00 GMT

With a decreasing inventory of homes for sale in Tampa Bay, it would be reasonable to expect a drop in the number of houses selling in and around the bay area. But according to home sales data reported in the Tampa MLS between June 26^th and July 25^th, 2012, the number of residential properties sold in the Tampa Bay area rose slightly during the 30 days tracked, showing a continued trend towards a strong and rebounding Tampa real estate market.

The number of homes for sale in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area has been falling for the past 20 months, yet home sales have remained higher than what they were when twice the number of properties were available for sale.

Tampa Bay New Home builders continued to make a comeback with 186 sales for the month reported in the MLS and another 318 scheduled to close.

Reports that home prices are rising are keeping the market very active as those who were waiting for the prices to bottom out now realize it’s time to jump in or pay more as time goes on. Interest rates for home mortgages are still at all-time record lows as well.

Foreclosures in Tampa Bay rose for the third month in a row, but the sale of these Bank Owned properties increased as well eliminating any additional inventory of distressed houses.

Short Sale closings were much higher than last month also, and most banks continue to opt for this process when homeowners who can no longer make their payments ask the lender to complete one.

The Monthly Stats:

Pending sales fell for the second month in a row, mostly due to a lower inventory.

10% of the Short Sales under contract closed.

Bank owned properties available for purchase are up for the 5^th month in a row but sales have offset the increase.

Distressed properties accounted for 41% of all home sales over the 30 day period tracked. This can be attributed to the higher numbers of foreclosures coming on the market as well as Lenders acceptance and closing of more Short Sale offers. The month saw the most closed Short Sales since my monthly reports began nearly 3 years ago.

Strategic Defaults May Be On The Rise

773447 — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:37:00 GMT

In 2005 and 2006, the Tampa Bay real estate market was booming. Mortgages were easy to obtain, home prices were rising, and everyone wanted in on the "American Dream". Owning a home has been the goal of nearly everyone I have known or met, and keeping that home has always been at the top of the list when hard times hit.

Then came the foreclosure crisis and a crashing economy. It has changed what was traditionally a strong tie homeowners had with their homes. What used to be an unthinkable option has become more and more common as homeowners watch banks, auto companies, and other big business get bailed out with tax dollars, while very little is done to help them with the crashing value of their home. Property values in the Tampa Bay area have fallen more than most places across the U.S., and the result has been a larger volume of what is termed a “strategic default” in our area.

And it appears that the likelihood of those types of defaults might be on the rise this year.

According to a new survey by FICO, bank risk auditors seem believe that more people may be opting for a “strategic default” over the next year, which in turn could slow the recovery of the housing market.

Of the auditors asked, 46% said they expect the number of strategic defaults in 2012 will surpass 2011 levels given that over 25% of U.S. homeowners are “under water” or owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. In the Tampa Bay area, the percentage of “underwater” homeowners is much higher. One bank representative said that “After five years of a brutal housing market, many people now view their homes more objectively and with less sentimentality."

Participants in the survey said they were concerned about changes in customers’ attitudes towards payment and debt obligations and when asked whether the current generation of homeowners sees a mortgage as their “most important credit obligation,” 49% of the bankers said no.

The results of the survey shows a strong belief that homeowners who find themselves upside down on mortgages in the future will likely consider strategic default as an acceptable exit strategy.

Has the Tampa Bay area turned to a "Seller's Market"?

773447 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:24:00 GMT

What’s the recent news for the local real estate market: Bidding Wars, Fewer Homes for Sale, Foreclosures snapped up as soon as they hit the market.

There’s a lot of talk in the local media, both Print and Television, about the Tampa Real Estate market and the appearance of it turning from a Buyer’s to a Seller’s advantage. The public’s response to these articles has been overwhelmingly, well let’s just say reserved.

The reality is that the news has been accurate, despite the grumblings of people who say it’s just hype by realtors trying to give a false impression of what the housing market in Tampa Bay is really like.

When 17 investors are bidding on a house that ultimately sells for $12,000 more than the asking price, or a first time home buyer is offering $8,000 more for a home than the asking price and still not getting it, I think it’s pretty clear that the market is changing and that people who are choosing to sell their homes now are having a much easier time doing it than they were 2 years ago. Or even last year for that matter.

In March of 2009 the number of homes for sale in Tampa Bay exceeded 32,000 properties.

In 2011, that number this same time last year was 24,163

Today it’s just under 16,000.

Despite these facts, the public perception is it can’t be a “Sellers Market”. The reason they think that could be they don’t understand what the term actually means.

The definition of a Seller’s Market is when there are more buyers than homes for sale. Since supply is less than demand, homes can be priced a little higher than they were before and will sell faster because of the lack of inventory.

Now, add to this scenario the fact that Twenty Percent of the homes for sale in the Tampa Bay area are Short Sales AND homes available in the most sought after areas are limited because so many people owe much more than its current value and don’t want to take a loss or do a Short Sale.

What is created-a market that allows a seller to move their home quickly at a price that might be higher than they would typically get.

This describes many neighborhoods throughout the Tampa Bay area.

It doesn’t mean you can sell your home for whatever price you choose, and that home values are skyrocketing-which seems to be what people think when they hear this term.

Now obviously this is not the case in the entire Tampa Bay area. There are still places that are flooded with short sale homes and they outnumber the regular sales 3 to 1 in some cases. These communities still have a ways to go before they will see the same situation that others are currently experiencing.

But for the neighborhoods that have a lack of inventory, very few short sales, and even fewer foreclosures, the ability to sell a home quickly and at a higher price hasn’t been this good in years.

Tampa Real Estate-Attention Investors!

773447 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:48:00 GMT

Tony Delgado | Homeward Real Estate | (813) 493-0882

207 E Wood St, Tampa, FL

Great Investment Opportunity

2BR/1BA Single Family House

offered at $27,400

Year Built	1947
Sq Footage	736
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1 full, 0 partial
Floors	1
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	5,800 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

This is your chance to own a great rental property in Tampa. This 2 Bedroom 1 Bath block home needs some work, but it's worth it at this price.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

- Central A/C

- Central heat

COMMUNITY FEATURES

- Covered parking

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Photo 1	Photo 2
Photo 3	Photo 4
Photo 5	Photo 6
Photo 7	Photo 8
Photo 9	Photo 10

Contact info:

Tony Delgado

Homeward Real Estate

(813) 493-0882

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Mar 20, 2012, 7:34am PDT

January Home Sales Report for the Tampa Real Estate market.

773447 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:22:00 GMT

According to data reported in the Tampa MLS for the period between December 26th, 2011 thru January 25^th, 2012, home purchases fell by 16% in the Tampa Bay area from the previous months sales, posting the lowest number of homes sold on a monthly basis in last 14 months.
While that may sound like a bad statistic, it's not really unusual as January has been a slow month for home sales historically and the number of homes closed was only 29 less than the same time last year. There is also a much smaller inventory of homes available, so I’ll take this as a continued sign that homes sales in Tampa and the surrounding communities are stable.
The inventory of properties available declined by a little over 700 homes. A total of 2,431 properties expired without selling or were withdrawn from the market for various reasons. Coupled with the number of houses that did sell, the inventory should have dropped by just a little over 4,800 homes. But there are still many properties being added to the market on a daily basis, fortunately not at a pace that would cause a dramatic rise in the inventory of homes for sale.
11% of the new listings were Bank Owned Homes- 21% were Short Sale properties.
Pending sales increased for the first time in 6 months which could be a sign of increased buyer interest going in to the new year.
The main and continued problem with the pending sales number is that 64% of the homes under contract and scheduled to close are Short Sales, and only 9% of those types of sales actually closed in the past 30 days. We still have a long ways to go in eliminating the distressed inventory of houses in the Bay area.
Items of interest:
The number of REO Properties in Tampa Bay available for purchase declined, as did the number of Foreclosures that sold.
Bank Owned properties that sold represented 18% of all closed transactions and Short Sales accounted for just under 26% of the monthly home sales.
Condo sales dropped slightly.
78% of the homes sold were under $200,000.
Cash transactions accounted for 54% of all purchases.
76% of the homes under contract and scheduled to close are distressed (REO or Short Sale) properties.

HARP II-The answer to a troubled housing market?

773447 — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:36:00 GMT

After spending this past Sunday looking at homes in the Brandon & Riverview areas, my clients realized several things:

First

-There are a lot of 3 or 4 bedroom homes with 2 car garages priced under $150,000 in newer subdivisions available for purchase.

Second

-70% of those homes were Short Sales.

Third

-The majority of those Short Sales were in poor condition or not maintained very well.

My realization was a little different. HARP II could have prevented this situation.

It’s too bad that the new guidelines in HARP II were not in the original HARP program when it was introduced several years ago. If they were, I believe the inventory of Short Sales in Tampa and the surrounding communities would be much smaller and the areas hit hardest by the downturn in the Tampa real estate market would be in much better shape today.

I knew the original program was destined to fail, at least in our area, because the decline in property values was so substantial. No one who bought a home in the peak years would ever qualify, yet they were the homeowners most likely to default. The result, as with any program that is not well thought out, was HARP did not meet it’s goal of preventing foreclosures and keeping owners in their underwater homes.

The guidelines that had to met were impossible to achieve in our market and the number of Short Sales in the Riverview market is a prime example of the failure.

Is HARP II the fix to a bad plan? It seems to be. Unfortunately it's a bit late for those who already stopped making their payments.

But if you have continued to make your payments and would like to refinance at a much lower rate, now may be your opportunity.

This new and improved plan could stop the flow of desperate homeowners abandoning their houses, but struggling to do so after seeing a 40 to 50 percent drop in the value of their home. HARP II will help borrowers who are deep underwater that have been unable to refinance. This will save them hundreds of dollars per month and make it somewhat easier to stay in a home that may never rise to the value it was mortgaged for.

The rules:

The program applies to borrowers whose loans are held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The loans must have been sold to one of the two corporations prior to April 1, 2009.

HARP was limited to borrowers whose homes were worth no less than 125% of what they owe on their mortgages. Now that restriction has been removed, so there is no ceiling whatsoever for folks with traditional 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and even less common 15-year fixed loans.

For everyone else, there are still ceilings on the loan-to-value ratio. For fixed-rate loans with a term greater than 30 years, the maximum LTV is 105% as well as adjustable-rate mortgages with initial fixed-rate periods of five or more years or ARMs with terms longer than 30 years.

You can’t have been late with your house payment at any time during the previous six months and tardy no more than once in the previous seven to 12 months.

The program has been extended through Dec. 31, 2013, so eligible borrowers still have time to get back on track with their payments in order to qualify.

Borrowers must benefit in the form of lower monthly mortgage payments or a more “stable” loan product, such as moving from an adjustable-rate mortgage to one with fixed payments.

You must have a credit score of at least 620 and your debt-to-income ratio cannot exceed 45%. Also, lenders are required to verify your income and assets.

Another important change: The standard waiting period has been removed for borrowers who declared bankruptcy or have a foreclosure blotting their credit records.

One of the reasons HARP hasn’t performed as well as the White House and others had hoped is because lenders have been reluctant to write down loans that they might be forced to repurchase because fraud or some other defect might be discovered somewhere down the road. The required lender representations and warrants have been waived — for both the loan that is being refinanced and the new loan that is being originated.

Also, so-called “loan level price adjustments” — a.k.a. “risk-based fees” — that lenders charged have been reduced significantly, meaning that the new mortgage rate will be somewhat lower than it would have been under the old rules.

According to CoreLogic, more than 20 million borrowers have insufficient or negative equity positions on their properties, and 4.7 million of those are upside down by 25% or more.

In an effort to help homeowners figure out whether they qualify for the revamped HARP plan, Zillow has launched an easy-to-use HARP Eligibility Calculator.

Visit the Zillow calculator.

Homeowners are asked a series of six questions to find out if they’re likely eligible for a HARP refinance. If a homeowner’s answer disqualifies him from the HARP plan, they are given a reason as to why they are not eligible.

Tampa Bay Real Estate-CLOSED-Another happy Home Buyer!

773447 — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:30:00 GMT

Tony Delgado | Homeward Real Estate | (813) 493-0882

3206 Hanford Ct, Tampa, FL

Fantastic pool home located in the Carrollwood area of Tampa.

4BR/2+1BA Single Family House

offered at $239,900

Year Built	1985
Sq Footage	2,159
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2 full, 1 partial
Floors	2
Parking	Unspecified
Lot Size	.18 acres
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

This beautiful 4 bedroom 2 and a half bath pool home is located in the North Tampa community of Hampton Village and is convenient to schools, shopping, restaurants and more in and around the Carrollwood area. This home has been well maintained and updated. The kitchen features Granite Counters & Center Island with Granite Top, Double Pantry Areas, a pass through to the lanai and large ceramic tile. The wood stairway to the second level extends into the upstairs hallway and 1 bedroom. The screened lanai and pool open to a large backyard with oak trees and is perfect for entertaining. The home also has separate formal areas and a spacious family room with wood burning fireplace. The master has Crown molding, an updated Master Bath, and a large walk-in closet. All bedrooms are upstairs(check out the room sizes)! The home features a freshly painted exterior, a newer roof, newer 4 ton AC, new water heater, fenced back yardand a 2 year old irrigation system. The front porch sitting area is tiled and has an exterior ceiling fan to enjoy and relax. This home is in a well maintained community and has no HOA fees or CDD fees.

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

- Central A/C	- Central heat	- High/Vaulted ceiling
- Walk-in closet	- Hardwood floor	- Tile floor
- Family room	- Living room	- Dining room
- Dishwasher	- Stove/Oven	- Granite countertop
- Balcony, Deck, or Patio	- Yard	- Swimming pool

COMMUNITY FEATURES

- Garage parking

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Photo 1	Photo 2
Photo 3	Photo 4
Photo 5	Photo 6
Photo 7

Contact info:

Tony Delgado

Homeward Real Estate

(813) 493-0882

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Oct 19, 2011, 12:49pm PDT