Today Fannie Mae launched a new consumer education website on foreclosure options.

The way I found out about it was when I received a call from the Orlando CBS affiliate, Channel 6 News asking if they could interview me about the new site… www.KnowYourOptions.com

So while he was asking me questions about the ramifications of a foreclosure on your life (credit, jugdments, etc.) I pulled the site up quickly to take a peek!  It’s actually a pretty good site!

A lot of the information they are sharing is similar to the info I put on MY info site, www.BeforeYouShortSale.com which is for Orlando Short Sale Homeowners info.

They cover the options for when you want to keep your home, including something they call “Deed-for-Lease” which is where you deed your home to the lender (called a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or dil) and then they will rent it back to you for a specific period of time for current market rent value.  The other options when you want to stay in your home are: refinance, repayment plan, forebearance, and modification and on the site they explain what each of these are and the benefits.  But remember… if you want to stay in the home you will need to be able to qualify for the payment, so if you are without income you will most likely not qualify to keep your home.

They also cover the options for when you can’t or don’t want to keep your home.  These include Deed-in-Lieu and Short Sale and cover the what’s, how’s, and benefits of these options for your family.

Within an hour of my “phone interview”, the reporter from Channel 6 was here in my office with his camera guy to do an interview and find out more about what options a homeowner has in Orlando if they are facing a challenge with their mortgage or facing short sale or pre-foreclosure.  The spot will run tonight on Channel 6 between 6-7pm and I’m figuring will be re-run on their website www.clickorlando.com

If you are a homeowner facing trouble with your mortgage, check out the site: www.KnowYourOptions.com it has some really good information that might make your decision easier.  And if you are in Seminole County or the Orlando area… give me a call!

UPDATE: Here’s the link to read the article and watch the video replay, CLICK HERE

All of these properties could qualify for the $8,000 rebate for first time home buyers (haven’t owned a home in the last 3 years) or the $6,500 for “move-up” buyers.

Here’s a link to take a look… or drop me an email or call me… I’ll set up a custom search for you!

Here’s the link again: http://mfr.mlxchange.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=368941749&s=MFR&t=MFR

Bank Repo Class At The Lake Mary Library
Learn the 9 step system to buying a pre-foreclosure in the Central Florida area. Free educational seminar is open to the public. Being held at the Seminole County Public Library in Lake Mary. Large lenders are offering foreclosures and pre-foreclosures for tens of thousands of dollars below market value and this class will show you how YOU can capitalize on their losses. No charge to attend this seminar.  Details and to register: http://www.OrlandoBankRepoClass.com

p.s. The government will PAY you up to $8,000 to buy a home but only until April 30^th!

Andy Tolbert, The Blue Jeans Broker, has launched a new website to help homeowners make one of the most difficult decisions they’ve ever faced… what to do when you can’t afford your home any more!

When Andy sits down with a homeowner, she spends as much time as is needed to answer all of their questions about their situation.  To help more homeowners, she has recorded videos of the top questions and answers and has posted them on a website for you.

visit www.BeforeYouShortSale.com now for all of your answers!

Several people have already forwarded this to me, so I thought I’d share… No Candy This Year!

It actually looks that way!

Florida’s rate of foreclosure filings in August was down 4.11% from July (but it was still 29.67% higher than August of last year!) so while it appears to be slowing down, it is still quite a large problem and unfortunately, we’re seeing it right here as we see the Seminole County foreclosure market still continue to be a large part of our market.  In August, Seminole County had 877 filings, the 2nd highest number all year, and we’ve had 6,309 filings so far this year!  We are on track to have an annualized rate of 6.78% of all households or 1 out of every 14.75 houses!

Also, the Ft. Myers/Cape Coral market, which was #1 in the NATION in July, fell to 6th in August. Let’s all look at these little indicators as the beginning of the end (hopefully). In Florida in August, 1 out of every 194 households had some kind of a foreclosure filing against them. Wow.

To read the article that Forbes Magazine just ran on this topic, click here.

If you are looking to purchase a home in this market and you’ve been waiting for it to hit bottom, it looks like it might be time… please call me first…I’ll give you all the pros and cons to buying a foreclosure so you can make an informed decision. I can be reached at 407-842-7700.

This site is the sounding board for the Seminole County Foreclosure Market, including available properties and statistics.

Authored by Andy Tolbert, the Florida Foreclosure Expert, and Tim Tolbert, Mortgage Finance Expert, who also just happen to be  15-year Seminole County residents AND Florida natives!

Check back often to see what’s happening in your own backyard (or let me help you FIND your own new backyard!)