Watermark Properties Real Estate

Chris Tucker — Real Estate Disaster in Florida

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:08:21 +0000

It appears the real estate bubble exploded all over Chris Tucker — the tax-troubled star is trying to sell his Florida mansion for $2 million … even though he paid $6 million for it just three years ago!

According to public records, Tucker took out a $4.2 million loan to score the 8861 square foot home back in 2007 … a home that includes 5 bedrooms, a wine cellar, pirate ship-themed home theater and a library with a SECRET ROOM! The home is located in swanky Montverde … a suburb of Orlando.

Tucker owns multiple properties in California — according to RealEstalker.com — but it’s unclear if he’s looking to unload any of those as well.

As TMZ first reported, Tucker is dealing with some serious tax issues at the moment — the IRS claims he owes more than $11 mil … which makes the timing of this sale much more relevant.

Berkeley’s Hot, Florida’s Cold, Says New Real Estate Report

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:54:03 +0000

By Aaron Crowe Jul 23rd 2010 @ 4:41PM

California has the hottest markets for selling homes over the original asking price while Florida has the most places where homes sell for less, according to a new report.

The quarterly report from ZipRealty looks at ZIP codes across the U.S. to see where homes are selling the most above and below asking price. Seven of the top 10 ZIP codes are in California, and seven of the bottom 10 in the country are in Florida.

Home sales hit a three-month low in June across the country, but in Berkeley, ZipRealty agent Wayne Cory said he hasn’t seen sales as good since he started in the business six years ago. Berkeley homes in the 94703 ZIP code led the country and sold for almost 108 percent of the asking price, or an additional $45,000 over list, on average.

“We’re still experiencing over-asking prices for nice, clean homes,” Cory said.
Here are the top 10 “hottest” selling markets in the second quarter of 2010, followed by their ZIP codes and percent of asking price:

Berkeley, Calif.: 94703, 107.73%
Chicago, Ill. – Loop: 60603, 106.56%
Oakland, Calif.: 94621, 105.93%
Oakland, Calif.: 94603, 104.33%
Forest Park, Ga.: 30297, 104.03%
San Jose, Calif.: 95122, 103.86%
Rodeo, Calif.: 94572, 103.42%
Las Vegas, Nev.: 89030, 103.41%
Adelanto, Calif.: 92301, 103.11%
San Jose, Calif.: 95111, 103.03%

Read the complete story.

Free WIFI hotspots in California

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:39:24 +0000

Numerous cities, state agencies provide free wi-fi services.

View this page for more information.

One of Russell Simmons’ Silk Building Apartments Back on Market

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:19:12 +0000

Britney Spears’ pricing-confused old place may be off the market, but this is the Silk Building, where the celebrity leftovers never run out. Newly on the market is Spears’ neighbor, PH1108. And like Spears’ former pad, the 3,400-square-foot PH1108 appears to have once been owned by rap mogul Russell Simmons, who’s had something of a love affair with the building. He sold it for $1.65 million back in 1996, and it’s now asking $4.695 million.

Sting, Elton John and Lady Gaga Team to Save the Rainforests

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:17:16 +0000

This year’s 21’s anniversary of the Rainforest Foundation FUND benefit concert is on May 13, 2010, and will feature Elton John, Lady Gaga, Sting, Shirley Bassey and Trudie Styler, according to Planet Green.

Concert tickets are $600, but you can also buy post-gala supper tickets for $2,500. Proceeds will go towards projects that aid indigenous and tribal populations of the world’s rainforests.

Styler and Sting founded Rainforest Foundation International in 1989, which aimed to establish global awareness for the conservation of tropical rainforests. It was replaced by the FUND in 1999, when it started pulling its financial support from benefit concerts.

The concerts have raised more than $30 million for the fund.

These participating celeb musicians are known for their philanthropy. Elton John has his own charity, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and Gaga recently donated the proceeds of her Monster Ball show in New York City to Haiti relief.

-Marjani Clarke, Celeb-sessed Staff Writer
Email:Marjani Clarke@Move.com

Treasury Revising HAMP Redefault

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:08:44 +0000

by JON PRIOR

Fannie Mae and a third-party consultant are revising redefault rates for mortgages modified under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) released by the Treasury Department earlier in the month.

The Huffington Post broke the story this week. The Treasury reported in July that those 3,643 mortgages permanently modified in Q309, 7.8% had fallen into 60-plus day delinquency six months after the conversion from a trial period. Of the 126,527 mortgages that received permanent modifications in Q110, 4.1% have fallen behind by 60 days or more. Those initial results drew extensive criticism.

But Barclays Capital released a report soon after charging the Treasury of misleading the public by ignoring HAMP-modified loans 90 or more days delinquent in the report. A footnote the table provided by the Treasury read, “a HAMP permanent modification is canceled for non payment if it is more than 90 days delinquent.” Barclays analysts interpreted this to mean that the Treasury removed these loans from the delinquent numbers.

In place of that table the Treasury responded in a revised June report:

“Since the Making Home Affordable report was posted on July 20th, Fannie Mae, which administers the program, has reported to Treasury an issue in its implementation of the delinquency statistic methodology used to report performance of permanent modifications. Fannie Mae is now revising the data, and Treasury has retained a third‐party consultant to provide additional review and validation. Upon completion of that independent review, a revised table will be provided.”

A report released in June by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported a different view of the HAMP redefaults.

At three months after a HAMP modification, 7.7% of were 60 or more days delinquent, compared to 11.3% overall. At three months, 16.7% of HAMP modifications were 30 or more days delinquent, compared to 24.6% of all modifications, according to the report.

Write to Jon Prior.

10 U.S. Cities Where It’s Cheaper To Buy Than Rent from Huffington Post 10 U.S. Cities Where It’s Cheaper To Buy Than Rent

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:02:56 +0000

10 U.S. Cities Where It’s Cheaper To Buy Than Rent (PHOTOS)

If you’re looking for a quick and easy calculation about whether you should finally buy your dream home, you’ll likely want to first check out your area’s price-to-rent ratio.

Trulia, the online real estate data provider, recently took a look at this hand statistic in the 50 largest U.S. cities by population. By comparing the average purchase price of a 2-bedroom home –including mortgage fees and maintenance expenses — with the average rental price for 2-bedroom apartments, condos, and townhouses, Trulia calculated the price-to-rent ratio to determine whether it is better to rent or buy in a particular city.

Cities with low price-to-rent ratios (under 15) indicate that is cheaper to own a home than rent.

Read the whole story.

Website Resources for Foreclosure Help

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:49:03 +0000

Website Resources for Foreclosure Help

Published: July 27, 2010

Here are some legitimate resources to help you fight the foreclosure crisis.

You’ve been warned about foreclosure scams. But sometimes it’s really hard to tell if something is a scam or not. Some less-than-reliable outfits have even taken to including “hud” or “gov” in their URLs to fool you into thinking they are legitimate foreclosure counselors. It pays to be wary. Below are some websites from government and non-profit agencies that can help you with foreclosure. Some are seeking volunteers and donations to help stop the foreclosure crisis.

HOPENOW.ORG
Research your options with this web form
Find your mortgage lender
Find a foreclosure counselor in your area
Focused on helping homeowners in crisis, this alliance helps you determine your options

FTC.GOV
Find a foreclosure counselor
Raise your own credit score
Fix mistakes on your credit report
The Federal Trade Commission has expert advice

FINDAFORECLOSURECOUNSELOR.ORG
Find a legitimate foreclosure counselor near you
This non-profit organization was created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts

MAKINGHOMEAFFORDABLE.GOV
Making Home Affordable
Making Home Affordable: short sale documents
Making Home Affordable: deed in lieu documents
The official government site for loan modifications and foreclosure alternatives

PORTAL.HUD.GOV
Find resources to avoid foreclosure in your state
Consult state and local resources

REALTOR.ORG
FAQs on credit scores
Download a PDF

ANNUALCREDITREPORT.COM
See your credit report
Get all the details on late payments and other information, but not your actual credit score

RESPONSIBLELENDING.ORG
The Center for Responsible Lending
A non-profit organization that works to stop predatory lending practices

CREDITEDUCATION.ORG
Volunteer to be a credit counselor
Non-profit agency that works to provide financial literacy

LIVEUNITED.ORG
United Way
Donate or volunteer to decrease the number of families that are financially unstable

NCRC.ORG
Donate to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Send a donation to help NCRC “ensure that people in traditionally underserved communities are treated fairly and justly when applying for credit, opening a bank account, getting a mortgage, a loan, or other financial product or service.”

IRS.GOV
The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act
Get the details about when you might owe taxes on any debt that is canceled through a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure

OCC.GOV
Download a PDF on identifying a loan modification scam
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency provides detail about scams, including “10 Warning Signs of a Loan Modification Scam.”

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/website-resources-foreclosure-help/#ixzz0uu6RnWpt

Don’t hold your breath for a bounce in home prices

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:09:24 +0000

Don’t hold your breath for a bounce in home prices

By ALAN ZIBEL AP Real Estate Writer

Posted: 07/26/2010 02:41:03 PM PDT

Updated: 07/26/2010 06:20:50 PM PDT

Nation’s new home sales up, but sales remain slow

>WASHINGTON — Thought the housing crisis was over? Not quite.

Despite four years of falling prices and recent signs that they were finally bottoming out, homes are expected to lose still more value in many metro areas over the next year.

Parts of the country already pummeled by the housing crisis, like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami, will be hit hardest. But even some places that have rebounded or held up relatively well — including New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. — will suffer, too.

That’s the conclusion of economists who have been reducing their estimates for home prices as the outlook for the economic recovery has darkened. The number of homes for sale or headed for foreclosure is so high that they think prices will be even lower by next July.

Because housing is such an important engine of the economy, lower prices could dim the recovery. When home values fall and people have less equity, they tend to cut back on spending. And as prices decline, potential homebuyers stay on the sidelines, slowing sales even more.

Earlier this year, analysts said they thought home prices had finally reached their low point and were ready to start rising slowly in most areas of the country. Now, they think the actual bottom could be nearly a year away.

The average home price in the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index of 20 big U.S. cities is forecast to drop nearly 2 percent this year from a year earlier,

according to the average estimate of more than 100 economists polled this month by MacroMarkets LLC.That’s more pessimistic than in May, when the consensus was for prices to be nearly flat. Other, more bearish analysts think prices will sink 10 percent or more.

Price drops of more than 10 percent are expected in the Phoenix, Miami and Las Vegas areas over the next year, according to Moody’s Analytics. Those areas have already been scorched by 50 percent declines in home values.

Moody’s predicts that other areas — New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Detroit, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Tampa, Fla.; and Washington D.C. — will see declines of 2 to 8 percent by next July.

Many analysts expect home prices to rise for a few months because a tax credit offered to homebuyers through April increased demand. But the gains probably won’t last. By this time next year, Moody’s expects prices in 17 of the 20 cities to have fallen.

Why further price drops for already hard-hit areas, as well as in healthier markets like New York and Los Angeles?

There’s already a glut of homes left in each area by the real estate bust, and more foreclosures are expected as Americans fall behind on mortgage payments. Foreclosures add to the supply of homes on the market, bringing down prices.

In Miami, nearly a quarter of mortgage borrowers have missed at least three months of mortgage payments or are already in foreclosure, according to Moody’s. That’s the highest level in the country. In four other Florida cities — Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral, West Palm Beach and Naples — the proportion exceeds 15 percent. The same is true for Las Vegas.

On top of that, so-called short sales, which happen when lenders let homeowners sell their houses for less than what they owe on their mortgages, are rising. They can drive down the value of neighboring homes, too. In Sacramento short sales made up about 26 percent of homes sold in June, up from about 17 percent a year earlier.

Contributing to the problem is an economy grappling with high unemployment, relatively flat pay and tightened credit, all working to limit the number of people buying homes.

It could be a decade before the average price nationally reaches the peak it hit four summers ago, says Celia Chen, chief housing economist at Moody’s. Even when they do resume rising, prices may not outpace inflation.

The median price peaked at $230,300 in July 2006 before tumbling 28 percent to a low of $164,700 in January 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median has since risen to $183,700.

Nationally, about 7.1 million homeowners — more than 13 percent of households with a mortgage — have either missed at least one payment or are in foreclosure, according to data provider Lender Processing Services Inc.

In some Sun Belt cities, investors armed with cash are gorging on deep discounts for some homes, yet the foreclosures keep coming. The local areas remain stuck with depressed economies and a glut of vacant and soon-to-be-vacant homes.

“Even when demand picks up, prices aren’t likely to budge all that much,” said Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities.

Moody’s forecasts flat or only slightly lower prices over the next year in Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and Portland, Ore. And Seattle and Charlotte, N.C., are expected to enjoy slight price increases. In those areas, the supply of foreclosed homes is smaller, and the local economies are faring better.

Sales of new homes jumped last month, but it still was the second-weakest month in the 47 years records have been kept, the Commerce Department said Monday. Sales for April and March were also revised downward.

Michael Gao, 31, a software engineer in Mountain View is watching home listings but feels renting is the wiser option for now. He fears the economy will worsen and thinks the home market will suffer.

“It’s really not looking good,” Gao said. “If the housing market will dip, then why would you buy now?”

Adequate inspections can be critical

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:05:50 +0000

Robert B. Jacobs: Adequate inspections can be critical

By Robert B. Jacobs
Contra Costa Times Correspondent

Posted: 07/25/2010 12:00:00 AM PDT

This is the second in a series which concern broker duties to persons other than buyers and sellers in a real estate transaction.

The previous column discussed an ancient legal principle known as caveat emptor, which means “Let the buyer beware.” Here we discuss a real-life case where a California court ruled that a real estate broker had no duty to advise the son of a purchaser that a home was contaminated with dangerous mold.

Real estate brokers who sell property have a duty to “conduct a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection” of such property and to disclose all facts “materially affecting the value and desirability of the property.” But a very unfortunate case shows that this duty to inspect is not necessarily extended to every person who may be injured or damaged due to defects in real property.

Several years ago, a buyer purchased a beachfront home with a balcony supported by steel beams. During a party at the new house, the balcony’s steel beams failed and the balcony fell. At least 36 people were injured or killed.

A suit was filed by 36 plaintiffs against the brokers who sold the residence. The plaintiffs claimed that a structural engineer had told the brokers that there were defects with the steel beams supporting the balcony. As a result, the plaintiffs claimed that the brokers were liable to the injured plaintiffs for their losses and injuries.

The trial court initially held

that the plaintiffs may have a valid claim against the brokers. But on appeal, the court ruled that the brokers were not liable to any of the 36 plaintiffs or their heirs, since none of the plaintiffs were buyers or sellers of the property. The Court of Appeal ruled that the brokers’ inspection and advisement duties did not extend to the plaintiffs because they were not involved in the purchase of the property.The appellate court therefore held that because there was no duty, then there could be no claim by the plaintiffs against the brokers who sold the residence.

If the owner had been injured, then the result may have been different such that the owner may have had a valid claim for his injuries. But because the invited guests were not involved in the real estate transaction, none of them had a valid claim against the selling brokers in this case.

Brokers have a duty to visually inspect real property for conditions that materially affect the value or desirability of a property. But the broker’s obligations to perform such inspection may not extend to all persons who may be affected by a defect in the property.

When buying a property, buyers can sometimes be concerned about inspection fees, but the risks of defective construction or conditions can be so great that the small cost savings of avoiding inspection can often be far offset by the amount of loss or damage if there should be a problem with property defects. Buyers may reduce their risk when they have their potential purchases fully inspected by qualified inspectors.

In reaching its decision, the court in this case analyzed and relied on complex principles of duty, negligence and both case and statutory law. The court’s opinion did not discuss whether persons other than the selling brokers might potentially be liable to the plaintiffs for their injuries. The court’s decision in this case is no indicator of how a court may rule in any given situation.

Persons with potential legal claims should always consult professional, experienced, competent legal counsel when evaluating their claims or determining whether or not such claims have legal merit or validity.