Yesterday I read the silliest article yet about what’s happening in the foreclosure market…would you believe that down in Miami there’s a guy who is actually helping homeless people break into abandoned foreclosure houses and begin living there?  He says it’s “matching up homeless people with people-less houses”  You can read the story here
although it’s probably a tremendous waste of time…go make some money instead!

I get this question all the time, and there’s a lot of misinformation floating around out there, so I decided to get you some clarification.  This is as of 8/1/08 guidelines.

Please note, this is Fannie Mae’s Guidelines, so FHA, VA, and other types of loans will differ.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (liquidation):  4 years from the discharge or dismissal date

Chapter 13 (repayment plan):  2 years from discharge (paid as agreed) or 4 years from dismissal (kicked out)

Extenuating Circumstances: reduced to 2 years.

Multiple Bankruptcies:  5 years (exceptions may reduce it to 3 years)

Foreclosure:  must wait 5 years from the date of completion, and then from years 5-7, must put minimum 10% down and must have a credit score of 680 or more.  Primary residence only.  (extenuating circumstances can reduce it to 3%)

Deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure: must wait 4 years from the date you deed property back to lender.  Then from year 4-7 may require a larger downpayment. (extenuating circumstances: reduced to 2 years, but still may need larger downpayment from year 2-7)

Short Sale / pre-foreclosure sale:  2 years with no additional requirements or guidelines. (no extenuating circumstances)

As you can see from the guidelines, a short sale is better than a deed in lieu, and a deed in lieu is better than a full-blown foreclosure.

Hopefully this will help folks out who are facing tough decisions.

Here’s a link to see the actual FNMA guidelines that were released.

AndyTolbert

Now THAT’S a headline for you!

WINK News out of Fort Myers Florida obviously wants to draw your attention to the plight of the neighborhoods with abandoned houses with pools that may become breeding grounds for mosquitos.  I’m sure we may have the same concerns here in Seminole County when it comes to foreclosure houses.

Here’s the thing though, they made a big deal about it, but when the inspector actually looked, out of 100 “problem homes” there was only ONE that was a breeding ground.  Is the whole Florida Foreclosure Home Crisis getting blown out of proportion?

Yes, it’s just another sign of the times…

Here’s the link to the article if you want to see the cute fishy that eats the mosquito larvae!  http://www.winknews.com/news/local/26844234.html

See you next time.

Do you believe it? According to an article in the Orlando Business Journal, so far this year (Jan-July) 4.83 out of every 100 homes in Florida has had a filing already this year!

That’s almost 5%!  That’s about 1 out of every 20 homes!  How many does that mean are on your street?

Wow.

While I hate what is happening (in many cases to good friends of mine!) It does make a huge opportunity for you to buy a foreclosure home in Seminole County Florida!

The Seminole County Florida real estate market has always been and will continue to be very desireable, even in this market.  Are you ready to buy?  Check back to this new resource regularly and see what we have in store for you!

Andy Tolbert

p.s. Tell a Friend!

oh, p.p.s.  Here’s the link to the OBJ article: http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2008/08/11/daily7.html?f=et70&ana=e_du