Orlando Short Sale Expert | Orlando Short Sales, Orlando Short Sale Realtor / Agent

The last, best hope for housing right now is robust investor activity; I’ve been saying that for years. Unfortunately, investors may be pulling back on the housing market, despite a surge in rental demand and prices. The investor share of the home buyers fell to 19.6 percent in July according to one survey by Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance, the lowest level in a year. The National Association of Realtors had it even lower at 18 percent.

While the investor share is still high in the most distressed markets, like Miami and Phoenix, the fact that it’s falling overall is a troubling sign, because investors have been a huge help in clearing distressed inventory. “The inability of most investors to resell homes in the current housing environment has put a damper on their participation in the housing market this summer,” the Campbell survey report. “Investors will ultimately rent out 48 percent of the properties acquired in the month of July 2011. A comparable figure for the month of July 2010 would have been investors renting out 28% of acquired properties.”

But with rental demand rising, and rent rates rising, you would think investors would want to get in more, not less; alas, it seems investor mentality is still rooted in the final payoff, the sale of the home, and not the monthly dividend potential from rent. Investors are clearly being influenced negatively by the increasing warning bells from economists. As the housing numbers turn ever more negative, the rumbles of action in Washington grow louder. Refinance and rent-to-own proposals, principal forgiveness plans, big bank settlement payoffs…they’re all out there and they’ve been out there, but suddenly they’re getting more traction.

President Obama is expected to make some kind of housing announcement in his post-Labor Day speech on the economy, but all ideas are still on the table, each with its own barrier to entry. Years ago I suggested we stop vilifying investors as the negligent “flippers” who originally bid up the market to its inevitable destruction, and use them for the value they can offer. Consumer sentiment has shifted to renting and home ownership is falling. This is not a permanent phenomenon, but it will hang on until housing is firmly rooted in recovery, and the numbers start going up instead of down. This is a prime time for investors, with the help of government benefits, breaks and financing, to put a bottom in housing.

**************************************************************************************
Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert and Foreclosure Specialist who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, East Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Oviedo, Apopka, Lake Mary, Clermont, Ocoee Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area.
Please visit:
Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com, or http://ShortSellMyOrlandoHome.com
Our Website http://JerryLaRose.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com, or http://OrlandoRealEstateVoice.com ,
If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals – http://InvestmentPropertyDealsOrlando.com
Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.
P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange, Seminole, Polk, Lake, Osceola and Brevard County Florida and Orlando, East Orlando, St. Cloud, Davenport, Clermont, Longwood, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Apopka, Lake Mary, Oviedo or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent and realtor who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. The short sale process is complicated and we can help simplify it.
We also have now expanded to help homeowners to Stop Foreclosure in Brevard County Florida. Servicing Melbourne, Coco, Coco Beach, Satellite Beach, Palm Bay, Indian Harbour Beach, South Patrick Shores, Palm Shores, Rockledge, Cocoa West, Merritt Island, Port Saint John and Titusville Florida
Call us at 407-580-7011 or email at jerry@JerryLaRose.com to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.
Orlando Short Sales, expert, specialist, Realtor, Keller Williams Realty, agent, broker, short sale, stop foreclosure

“Last week I interviewed an investor who buys foreclosed properties and rents them out long-term for solid returns. He claims that’s the only way to right the housing market — get long-term investors to eat up the excess inventory. The biggest roadblock, however, is credit. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both limit the number of investor mortgages. Multiple sources now tell me that the Administration, specifically over at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is considering ways to get more investors into the housing market, possibly with the help of Fannie and Freddie. HUD would not confirm that, but Fannie Mae’s chief economist Doug Duncan said it is definitely on the table both at HUD and at Fannie.

“We’re certainly exploring the opportunities to expand that,’ said Duncan in an interview, cautioning, ‘the data in our own portfolio show that when you get to a certain number, like ten is the number we’ve chosen, if there’s any default issue, all the loans go bad at the same time, so at the present time we have two mandates, one is to help provide liquidity and help with funding, but the second is to protect taxpayers as well.’

No question that any such program would have to require investors to have significant skin in the game, that is, large down payments on all properties, and perhaps a designated capital reserve level to protect against losses. Underwriting would have to be stringent, unlike what went on in the heyday of the housing boom. Part of the problem is that the Administration doesn’t want to spend any more money on housing, and it is particularly politically unpalatable to offer financial assistance to investors, who are widely blamed for causing the housing crisis in the first place.

But we’re talking about a different kind of investor here. There is an awful lot of hedge fund capital just sitting on the sidelines, if and only if the banks would let them on the field. With home prices falling yet again, a collective $1.7 trillion of collective home equity lost in 2010, according to Zillow.com, and mortgage rates rising, more potential home buyers are being priced out of the housing market. 23 percent of borrowers are now underwater on their mortgages, which means they can’t sell to move up. Inventories are still far above a healthy level, and the shadow inventory of foreclosed properties will only add pressure to prices.

I’m sure the Administration is well aware of all that, which is why officials are putting ever more pressure on Fannie and Freddie to write down mortgage principal. ‘The Administration believes strongly that the FHA short refi [which involves principal write-down] is a viable option to deal with borrowers with negative equity, and outright refusal to implement a program which could have economic value to the institutions bearing the risk, we think is shortsighted,’ FHA commissioner David Stevens told me. Whether it’s principal write-down or investor incentives, it is becoming ever more abundantly clear that the housing market is not going to right itself on its own without considerably more pain.”

More on write downs and the short refi program on my next post.

***************************************************************************************
Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, East Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Oviedo, Apopka, Lake Mary, Clermont, Ocoee Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area.
Please visit:
Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com, or http://ShortSellMyOrlandoHome.com
Our Website http://JerryLaRose.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com, or http://OrlandoRealEstateVoice.com ,
If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals – http://InvestmentPropertyDealsOrlando.com
Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.
P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange, Seminole, Polk, Lake or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, East Orlando, St. Cloud, Davenport, Clermont, Longwood, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Apopka, Lake Mary, Oviedo or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. The short sale process is complicated and we can help simplify it.
Call us at 407-580-7011 or email at jerry@JerryLaRose.com to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

Fannie Mae modified a policy that allowed real estate investors to have only four financed properties. The number can now be five to 10, depending on whether certain eligibility, underwriting and delivery requirements are met. Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR) President Cynthia Shelton raised the investment issue with Fannie Mae officials last week.

“Many of our members have voiced concerns about Fannie Mae limiting investors to four properties,” says FAR Vice President of Public Policy John Sebree. “This comes as good news.”

The change is noted in a just-released update of Fannie Mae’s “Multiple Mortgages to the Same Borrower Policy.” The change is effective March 1. To qualify, borrowers must meet Fannie Mae’s criteria. They cannot, for example, have a history of recent bankruptcy, or a delinquency payment over the past 12 months.

Fannie Mae offers more information about its new policy in Announcement 09-02, released on Friday. To download the policy guidance (PDF format) and get more information on qualifying and underwriting, go to: https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2009/0902.pdf

*************************************************************************************** 

Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area. Please visit http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com for your real estate needs.  Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange County Florida and Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden,  or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 407-580-7011 to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.