Feb 6, 2009

Americas On The Park #1503













Americas on the Park Condominium
Walk to Fort Lauderdale Beach Cafes & Shops
Approx 82 Units – Built 1977 –18 Floors
Security Guard at Gated Entry
Pool with Intracoastal Views
Rental Boat Slips to 45 Ft Vessel

One Car Secured Garage Slip – Guest Parking Also
Approx 2623+/- Sq Ft Living Area

Recreation Room with Kitchen
East Views – Views Intracoastal & Inlet & Ocean
Hurricane “Impact” Glass Throughout
Private Balcony with Ocean Views
Huge Living & Dining Areas with Water Views
Dining Area Views Intracoastal Waterway
Neutral Colors
Original Kitchen needs Updating

3 Bedrooms & 2 Full Baths & Powder Room


OUR WEBSITE: (paste web address in browser)
www.LasOlasLifestyles.com

777 Bayshore Dr, #1503,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
Offered at $529,000
MLS ID: F984953

Contact:
SUZANNE WRIGHT: 954-328-0594
RORY VANUCCHI: 754-246-7758
JEAN WHITSON: 954-494-4636

Fax: 954-467-6714
eMail: RoryScottVan@gmail.com

INTERCOASTAL REALTY, INC.
1500 East Las Olas Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

Jan 18, 2009

Commercial Hard Money Loans

Hard are a specific type of asset-based . In this type of loan, a borrower receives funds that are secured by the value of a parcel of . These are paid back with a higher interest than conventional commercial or . This type of loan is rarely, if ever, issued by a commercial or other deposit institution.

Hard are very similar to bridge . Bridge typically have similar criteria for lending. They also have similar costs to the borrower. The primary difference between a hard and a is that a frequently refers to a commercial property or property that is in . The property may not fully qualify for traditional financing yet. Hard commercial refer not only to asset-based with a but also for a situation that is possible distressed. Examples of this include cases where someone is on an existing or where and are already in process.

Hard mortgages, both commercial and residential, are made by private . They typically make only in their local areas. The of the borrower is not important because the loan is secured by the value of the property. The to is 65-70%. This means that if a piece of property is worth $100,000, the lender would give the borrower $65,000 to $70,000. This low (loan-to-value) ratio gives the lender added security in the event that the borrower cannot pay and the lender has to foreclose on the property.

Commercial hard are similar to traditional hard in of the requirements and . A commercial hard lender is typically a strong institution with the deposits and abilities to make discretionary on that are non-conforming. These do not conform to the standards of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or other residential conforming credit guidelines. Since it’s a commercial property in question, the loan does not generally conform to a standard guideline either.

Traditional commercial hard are very high and have a higher than average default . Just like in a normal , when a defaults on a commercial hard loan, he or she can potentially lose the property to .

For more information on hard lending, please visit http://www.pitbullmortgageschool.com.

Joseph Devine

source:

http://offshoreblog.net/commercial-hard-money-loans/

The End of Large-Bank Wholesale Lending - Time For the Mortgage Banker


Posted on January 16th, 2009 in Daily Mortgage/Housing News - The Real Story, Mr Mortgage's Personal Opinions/Research

The End of Large Bank Wholesale Lending - A Resurgence of Middle Market Mortgage Banking – Chase…a Leading Indicator

This week Chase shut down wholesale mortgage lending but kept retail and correspondent alive. I believe this hasty move is a result of the terrible performance (low pull-though rates and low margin) despite loan application volume soaring. This may be the first visible sign of how tough the mortgage industry really is right now and how little of this recent surge in loan applications are actually resulting in profitably funded loans. As a matter of fact, significant losses can occur when a mortgage bank can’t effectively manage its pipeline of locked and in-process loans. Of note, Credit Suisse recently shut down their wholesale division (Lime) in December out of the blue. This was a newer operation formed in 2008 only doing Fannie, Freddie and FHA loans with no baggage.

This story just out by National Mortgage News points to the gist of this story - just because rates fall and ‘applications’ are up does not mean loans are ‘funding’ banks are making money. Moves like this are to get better clarity about what in the pipeline is real and what may actually fund. This way they can manage and hedge their pipelines better and potentially pass better rates onto the borrower. I can’t post the entire story because NMN is subscription - sorry:

“As the refinancing boom gathers steam selected residential funders are beginning to charge “rate lock” fees to both consumers and loan brokers, according to industry participants.”

Wholesale is priced better than retail because it is supposed to be easier on the lender, leveraging and army of mortgage brokers to aggregate the necessary paperwork and qualify the borrowers prior to the wholesale lender ever seeing it. Because this makes the loan process for the wholesale lender much quicker and efficient, they offer a below market rates to the broker in order for the broker to add in their fees and still be able offer a market rate to the borrower. But wholesale has turned into a very expensive origination channel since rates turned down in late Nov.

The mortgage application/rate lock fall-out, especially on the wholesale side, is extreme due to a) brokers locking and submitting with multiple lenders trying to get the best rate and the largest commissions b) appraisals coming in too low killing the deal c) borrowers not qualifying for today’s sensible underwriting standards d) turn-times being so long borrowers switch lenders for better rates/quicker funding creating even longer turn-times e) rates not really being what borrowers hear quoted in the news or up-front by the loan officer f) lack of reasonably priced Jumbo money. Many of these ‘challenges’ also effect the retail channel as well.

If fall-out and profitability in wholesale were not a problem, then why not ramp up that division? It is not like they are lending their own money – all loans now are Fannie, Freddie and FHA and sold/securitized post-haste. The primary cost of doing wholesale loans comes from the employees and overhead and risk from hedging and buybacks – much of the same as with retail.

We know that based upon primary vs secondary market prices, many banks are not passing through to the home owner all that they could. Instead they are choosing to make a great deal of money on each loan – hey more power to them. But when up to 75% of all wholesale loan applications fall out after submission by the broker, there is a major problem seriously affecting the lender’s ability to perform profitably across their entire mortgage platform.

Of course not all lenders are running at a 75% fall out but three that I track closely have relayed to me that they expect wholesale pull-through rates in the bubble states to be about 25%-30% in January. Back during the boom when literally ‘everyone’ could qualify pull-through rates were at 75-80%. Now even the best lenders are not running at greater than 50%. This is one of the greatest challenges affecting the mortgage space in general with the worst performance coming from the mortgage broker/wholesale side.

Chase’s decision to exit wholesale was simply a choice to do fewer loans more profitably by focusing on retail and correspondent. On the retail side, banks have better control of their own employee loan officers because they can fire them if they do a bad job with respect to quality and pull through. In addition, most bank loan officers do not broker their loans out so the bank has a better idea of what will actually fund. This is unlike wholesale where the bank is always guessing as to what is real but still have to hedge the deals. On the correspondent side, banks also have better control than with wholesale because their middle market mortgage banker clients must deliver what they commit to and the bank has recourse to make the mortgage banker buy back the bad loans.

I believe that you will see other large banks follow Chase’s lead out of wholesale over the near-term. This will prove bad for the mortgage and housing industry as a whole, as there will be less competition in the mortgage finance arena. When fewer players control the market, rates will suffer as profitability is focused upon.

However, as large banks exit wholesale and focus on retail and correspondent it will provide a playing field in which local and regional middle market mortgage bankers can flourish. That is of course, if they can get the warehouse capacity. Fewer banks and more local and regional middle market mortgage bankers slugging it out on their home turf is great for mortgage and housing. -Best Mr Mortgage

source:

http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.com/2009/01/16/the-end-of-large-bank-wholesale-lending-time-for-the-mortgage-banker/



Jan 13, 2009

Lagging economy hits Palm Beach as homes languish a little longer on market

By MEGAN V. WINSLOW, Daily News Staff Writer
Saturday, November 22, 2008

Megan V. Winslow
(enlarge photo)
211 Tangier Ave.: Listed for $10.95 million, 478 days on the market. View more PB homes on market
Palm Beach has enjoyed a hearty share of eye-popping home sales figures this year, including closings of $77.5 million and $95 million.
And according to a fall 2008 residential market report from Brown Harris Stevens, those heavyweight figures have thrust the average price for Palm Beach single-family homes up 80 percent between April and September compared with the same period last year.
But like other luxury home markets across the country, Palm Beach has also seen an increase in the average number of days single-family homes sit on the market. The Brown Harris Stevens report indicates an 8 percent increase from 171 to 184 days between April and September compared with last year.
That's well above the average number of days on market for single-family homes within luxury ZIP codes across the country. According to a Nov. 16 report from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing in Dallas, the average among 31 major U.S. metro areas is 137 days. That's up from 120 in September and about 110 in January.
Like those local record sales, the high Palm Beach average could be attributed to a few outliers.
According to Multiple Listing Service reports, one Banyan Road home has been on the market for more than 370 days. A Tangier Avenue home, priced at $10.95 million, has been on the market for more than 470 days. And one North Ocean Boulevard home listed for $9.85 million has sat idle for more than 660 days.
Gregory Heym, chief economist for Brown Harris Stevens' parent company Terra Holdings, prepared the local fall report. He said a higher average for days on market in Palm Beach is not surprising in the current economy.
"I think it's a modest increase considering everything that's gone on in the last year," Heym said. "I think it's certainly something to watch. I think you look at that and see the number of sales is down as well (and) you certainly see that there are signs of activity slowing in the market."
Compared with the April-through-September period last year, the number of single-family homes on the market decreased 17 percent from 72 properties to 60, according to the Brown Harris Stevens report.
But island broker Jeffrey A. Cloninger believes the Palm Beach real estate market is still robust — and he doesn't put much weight in days-on-market figures.
While a buyer should be wary of a home that has sat idle for long periods, days on market doesn't always paint an accurate picture, Cloninger said.
Some owners request that an agent not show their home for months so they can enjoy the local season. And with second or third homes, affluent sellers often don't need to unload a property right away and can afford to wait until they get their price, Cloninger said.
"They figure they'd rather take two years to sell a property and sell it at the price they desire than sell it in six months and take a haircut," Cloninger said.
It's also possible that a seemingly new property isn't new at all.
MLS listings can expire, and then the real estate agent or broker will re-enter the property. Doing so causes the days on market number to drop back to zero.
"It's kind of like asking a lady how old she is," Cloninger said. "Is what she says going to match up with the DMV record? Days on market is not a scientific number, because it can be manipulated."
Brown Harris Stevens Executive Vice President Ava Van de Water believes the best way to gauge the health of the local market is through median price.
Heym's report shows a 7 percent increase in median price from $3.25 million in 2007 to $3.47 million in 2008 for Palm Beach single-family homes.
The Luxury Housing Report puts the nationwide average median price this month at near $1.16 million. Ten months ago, that number was $1.18 million.
"A 7 percent increase is very, very good in this market," Van de Water said.
While Cloninger said it's never been a better time to be a buyer — especially in Palm Beach, where property has historically held its value — Heym believes it could take time before buyers creep out of a money-holding pattern and perhaps scoop up some of the properties languishing on the market.
"Like any other market, (Palm Beach is) dealing with a lot of the same uncertainty that's hitting most of the country right now, with everything that's gone on with the economy," Heym said. "I think that, so far, Palm Beach has fared better than most. And I think we'll learn a lot over the next couple of months."

source:

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/biz/content/business/2008/11/22/DOM1123.html

Jan 11, 2009

Mediators foresee gloom, doom in condo industry

  Bill and Susan Raphan.
Bill and Susan Raphan.
CANDACE WEST / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

mhatcher@MiamiHerald.com

Working for the state's Office of the Condominium Ombudsman is dirty, sometimes even ''disgusting,'' work, say Bill and Susan Raphan, who supervise the Fort Lauderdale satellite office.

The tempers, the misunderstandings, the complaining -- the slapping, the threats and, at least once, the brandishing of a firearm.

''You would not believe some of the things we see,'' said Susan Raphan, who with her husband began working, first as volunteers, for the office soon after the Florida Legislature created it in 2004.

Despite the job's tribulations, the Raphans said they know that more than 1.5 million condo owners in Florida depend on them as a resource for understanding the rights and responsibilities that come with condo living. And they find satisfaction in helping people. Of the 16,000 phone calls the office got last year, Bill Raphan said roughly 90 percent were from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and handled by Fort Lauderdale's staff of seven.

Their primary duties include acting as mediator between boards and angry owners, holding classes and seminars about condo law, and monitoring elections. But as the South Florida real estate market enters another year of soaring foreclosures and sinking home values, the Raphans expect a host of new problems they do not have the power to remedy -- condo associations entering bankruptcy, buildings closing and unit owners walking away from their long-held investments because they can't afford to carry the cost of empty units.

The reason: unpaid maintenance fees.

''It's a major problem,'' Bill Raphan said.

The Miami Herald sat down with Bill Raphan to discuss the issues facing condo dwellers.

Q: What are the biggest issues facing condo owners right now?

A: The condominium market, the problems in foreclosures, obviously, liens and delinquencies are a big problem right now. That's the biggest problem at this point, and it's up to the government to try to help us. There's not a lot our office can do. This is a national problem that is happening everywhere, but we have so many condominiums here. It's just more acute in this area.

Q: What kind of complaints have you been fielding?

A: People are complaining about foreclosures and their maintenance fees. I always explain it to them this way: Your condominium has to run like a business, and the business has to collect enough income to run the business, in this case, the association or the condominium itself. In order to maintain the property, you have to take in X amount of money. [The total amount needed] is like a big pie, and each person has a slice of that pie that they have to pay. So, for every person in your condo [who] is not paying, it means the slice of your pie gets bigger. In other words, if you're paying $100 a month and some people aren't paying, you might have to pay $110 or $120. You might have to pay $200, and there are places with 50 percent or more delinquencies. That means if you are paying $100 a month, you're going to pay $200 to keep that place going. People can't afford that nowadays. People are losing their jobs.

Q: What are condos doing to deal with the problem of budget shortages?

A: Some condominiums have actually eliminated their maintenance people, and they are cleaning up and doing things themselves. They've eliminated their landscapers and are cutting lawns. They've cut down as best they can on things they buy. The situation is very difficult. The people who are getting assessed that extra money are angry. They want something done, but there is not a lot that can be done.

Q: What about accusations that lenders are stalling foreclosures to avoid paying maintenance and association fees? Is there any truth to that

A: [Lenders] are not going to say they are stalling, but what condo owners are complaining about is a Florida statute that gives lenders a cap that says they don't have to pay more than six months of assessments or 1 percent of the value of the unit [before they foreclose on it. Then they must pay full association fees like other unit owners.] That's one of the things [Florida legislators] may be looking to change this year.

Q: Do you think there is a solution to getting lenders to pony up their share of maintenance fees?

A: It has to be legislative on any level, maybe even up to the federal government, who knows? It's a major thing. This is something that needs to be looked at on even a national level.

Q: What are the consequences of association-fee problems going unaddressed?

A: I know of several condominiums that are on the brink of people just walking out. They can't afford to maintain their units anymore. Their slice of the pie has become so big that they can't afford it. They are just packing up and leaving their largest investment because it doesn't pay for them to stay. You are going to be hearing about this very soon. This is going to be a real problem.

Q: So unit owners who've been in their condos for many years, who have equity in their condos and even may have paid off their mortgages, are still having to move because they can't afford maintenance fees?

A: Yes, and some condos can't take in even enough money to pay their water bills. They're shutting off the water. They're shutting off the electricity. They can't come up with the money because there are so many delinquencies. The few who are left can't come up with enough money to pay all the bills for everybody. It's sad.

Q: How do these problems affect sales in the buildings? I've heard it described as a ``death spiral.''

A: Sales are very poor because people don't have the money to buy, No. 1. And, they don't want to take over places with debt problems. Sales are very bad. Everything is very bad. Let's face it.

source:

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/home/story/834433-p2.html