Florida Mortgage | Green News ~ BioFuel Alliance on shaky Political Grounds

Lurking in the shadows of the current Florida Property Tax issues, Florida Governor Charlie Crist (R) has been traveling with several key Florida Legislators through South America working different trade agreements.  The most lucrative of which would have created an enormous trade agreement with Brazil to import Ethanol into the United States. 

Florida would serve as the National Headquarters for this effort potentially bringing billions in profits to the state to help fill our tax coffers when they are depleted from property tax cuts.  Unfortunately, the deal with Petrobras seems to be on the back burner -- indefinitely.

According to an article on Tallahassee.com, the issue at hand for Governor Crist is that Petrobras (NYSE stock symbol PBR) has confirmed business links to Iran.  That linkage violates the spirit of a bill he signed in June that forbids the state from investing its $140 billion pension fund in companies that do business with Iran.

This is a big disappointment considering the benefit it would have for the Florida Economy as well as the National effort to "Go Green".  This also shows that the US needs to consider its many options for producing its own Ethanol and other Bio-fuels domestically to reduce the US dependence on Foreign Fuels.

To learn more about this political issue, please follow the link to:

Florida Mortgage | Green News ~ BioFuel Alliance on shaky Political Grounds

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More Florida Mortgage and Real Estate News You Can Use From
David A. Podgursky, MBA
TheMortgageGoToGuy.com
Your Source for Residential, Commercial, Investment and Relocation Mortgages in Florida

Technorati Tags: florida, mortgage, real estate, charlie crist, biofuel, bio-fuel, ethanol, Go Green, petrobras, boca raton, boynton beach

Florida Mortgage | Short Sales & Bank Owned Properties

Right now one of the most popular requests that I am hearing is that someone wants to buy a bank owned or short sale property.  These two property types are very similar in that they both entail negotiating with the bank for the ultimate purchase price.

The other similarity is that in both instances you are asking the bank to take a loss on their asset - their asset is the mortgage on the property you want to purchase.  This is not always as easy as some of the Real Estate Experts might say... but if you have your ducks in a row, then it can be accomplished in a way that can save you a good bit of money on the property you want to purchase.

The most vital step in the process that is often pushed until later-on in the process is making sure that the finances are in place.

This can mean any number of things... but we can narrow them down with one simple question:

Do you have enough cash to close on the property without financing and without hurting your financial well-being?

If you answer is no... and for most people it is, then you need to pull back the reins and start at square one... get with your favorite mortgage broker, like me!

Your Mortgage Broker will help you understand the process involved in financing a short sale property.  He will also help you understand the costs...

Right now there are some amazing deals out there... foreclosures on properties with lots of equity.  Getting your team together before you start trying to find the property is important... but getting your Mortgage plan in place is key.

For more information on Short Sales and Mortgages, please follow this link to learn more about the different options of financing a short sale:

Florida Mortgage | Short Sales & Bank Owned Properties

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More Florida Mortgage and Real Estate News You Can Use From
David A. Podgursky, MBA
TheMortgageGoToGuy.com
Your Source for Residential, Commercial, Investment and Relocation Mortgages in Florida

Florida Mortgage | Builders Focus on Value

This is a little departure from my normal posts that are mainly informational - call it an Opinion Piece.

The Real Estate Industry in Florida is hurting as evidenced in all the bad news being reported.  It isn't all bad, as the reporters would like you to believe.  Houses are selling because there are people that need to buy and there are those that are finding bargains already.

Now builders are spending their time marketing value and affordability into their homes... the reverse of the trend when they were marketing luxury and amenities.  Honestly, they should have caught on sooner.

Affordability... Value... Attainable... Steven Webster at the Florida Workforce Housing Network discusses how these new buzzwords are showing up in builders' marketing efforts.  He cites that Lennar challenged local builders to build affordably and Centex chose the path of becoming Florida's leading affordable housing builder. 

This article would not be complete without discussing the other side of the story... the Real Estate Industry has another industry that it works hand in hand with that needs to be a consideration of these builders - the Lending Industry.

You see... the big, production builders builders can control most of the costs related to the homes they are building.  What they can't control is mortgages.... only the market itself can do that!

My recommendation to builders is to keep in mind what buyers need - affordable payments.  This means making sure that the larger homes stay within conforming lending limits so that the interest rates stay low.  It also means to quit blackballing lenders and mortgage brokers from projects.  The buyer should have free choice of who they use and all the enticements from the advertisements to buy.

For buyers who will need 100% financing, builders should make sure to keep an eye on the median home prices in the area - that will be the lending limit for FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 100% loan programs.  Builders could offer to pay closing costs up to 3% of the loan amount as an enticement for $0 down homes.

For more information about this trend, please follow this link to visit my main site: Florida Mortgage | Builders Price your homes appropriately

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More Florida Mortgage and Real Estate News You Can Use From
David A. Podgursky, MBA
TheMortgageGoToGuy.com
Your Source for Residential, Commercial, Investment and Relocation Mortgages in Florida