Wow, talk about a negative word! 

So what is a Housing Misery Index? 

Trulia created a program on their website called the Housing Misery Index. I am not going to link to it:). 

Florida has a score on the misery index of 62 while Nevada was given the score of 73. The higher the score the more miserable you are as a housing state. Really??? 

The Center for Housing Policy in Washington DC state that [...]]]> Did you know that Trulia has a Housing Misery Index? 

Wow, talk about a negative word! 

So what is a Housing Misery Index? 

Trulia created a program on their website called the Housing Misery Index. I am not going to link to it:). 

Florida has a score on the misery index of 62 while Nevada was given the score of 73. The higher the score the more miserable you are as a housing state. Really??? 

The Center for Housing Policy in Washington DC state that Miami/Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties have the nation’s highest burden of housing costs. That means that more of your money is going to pay your mortgage payments, insurance on your house, HOA fees and property taxes. This center is a non-profit organization. 

This organization reports that 43% of the working households spent more than half of their take home wages on housing. This figure comes from data gathered and concluded in 2010. That is 714,733 working households taken for that study. 

33% of Floridians out of the 2.5 Million working households used more than half of their income for housing expenses and only California topped that at 34%. 

They say that Florida tops this list for three years now. 

To get a housing misery index Trulia combines the percentage decline in home prices from the peak of the real estate boom to now and factors in the mortgages that are at least 90 days past due. 

While it is true that the underwater mortgages caused evaporation of equity almost overnight their housing misery index is not accurate. 

The data they are using is not the correct data to use. 

They are factoring in all those who are NOT paying their mortgages and then saying that is because they CAN NOT afford their house payment- that is just not true. 

There are many strategic defaults in Florida. There are many people who are saving those house payments to buy another house or a condo or to rent or to move or…. 

There are many people who are living in their properties on purpose without paying. A huge percentage of those in foreclosure have been living the last 2 to 4 years without making a house payment. To say they can not afford it is not reality in most cases in South Florida. 

They are also not taking into account local facts like the fact that there are working households who own their homes without mortgages on them. In South Florida about 60% of all home sales are cash purchases with no lender involved. A lot of these households are working households so it does not make sense how Trulia and the organization are analyzing the data. 

Every time the government comes out with some kind of program that is supposed to help homeowners there are companies that use marketing tricks to take advantage of that information. 

There is nothing wrong with piggybacking off of the news or events. In fact that is very smart to do in your marketing for any company. 

However, there are laws that must be obeyed when it comes to advertising and there are laws against false or deceitful advertising especially [...]]]> Beware of Mortgage Payment Reduction Notices 

Every time the government comes out with some kind of program that is supposed to help homeowners there are companies that use marketing tricks to take advantage of that information. 

There is nothing wrong with piggybacking off of the news or events. In fact that is very smart to do in your marketing for any company. 

However, there are laws that must be obeyed when it comes to advertising and there are laws against false or deceitful advertising especially in the real estate and mortgage space. But that does not stop those who will use false advertising from doing it. And they tend to do it on a big scale. 

The biggest trick they use it to make their mail look official as if it is from the government or from your lender. 

Be very careful. There are so many scams out there. And there are a lot of “almost scams” – the ones that just toe the line to really look out for. 

Right now there are these “payment reduction notices” being mailed out. We actually received one. The dead give away on ours was it was stating on the notice that our bank had our payment reduction in their “pending review” department. Well, the pending review that was listed was from a bank we had over 8 years ago and had refinanced with a new bank since then. 

They make the mailer look very official. 

It contains: 

• An official looking ID number. 
• Department phone number that looks official ( after all we call government offices, departments) 
• Payment Reduction Status- then it says there- PENDING REVIEW
• Code- Oh yes, a code sounds important, doesn’t it? 
• Then it says they have important information about your loan. Sounds serious! 
• Address Personal ID number- yes, that sounds official, like a government usage of words
• Notice Type: Homeowner relief ( this is the part that makes it appear like it is the government program) 

Regarding: Home Loan Assistance Program. Hmmmm, that is the name of the government program. But this is NOT the government program they are sending out. This is where you need to be very careful. If you think you are calling the homeowner’s relief program you will likely believe that the offer being offered to you is something that is good for you when in actuality it is not going to be. 

Please be careful and don’t fall for these false advertising Mortgage payment reduction notices. 

Last month almost 1,200 homes went into foreclosure! That is an increase of 58.5% over the same time last year. 

Sharon [...]]]> Palm Beach County Foreclosures are back in full swing again. The robo-signing disputes are pretty much over. All of 2011 we did not see very much foreclosure activity or many foreclosure lis pendens filings because 1. the banks were dealing with the robo-signing problems and 2. the big banks were waiting to see what they were going to end up negotiating with the administration. 

Last month almost 1,200 homes went into foreclosure! That is an increase of 58.5% over the same time last year. 

Sharon Block, the Court Clerk said she was not suprised at all. They were expecting this increase because of the delays from last year. 

The state of Florida is loooking for ways to deal with the 368,000 backlog in foreclosure courts. We need to be mindful of what those changes will be because you want to protect your property rights. There is a bill that just passed the house and is now in the state Senate regarding a fast track for foreclosures. 

Completed foreclosures are now also on the rise. In February there were 929 properties advertised for sale and about 68 % of these were closed on schedule. That is compared to about 49% from a year ago. 

If you have been living in your house without making payments for a few years, that time may be coming to a quick end for you shortly. It may be time for you to start making your plans about where you are going to move once the bank forecloses on your property. 

There may still be time for you to complete a Palm Beach County Short sale. Contact Nestor Gasset or Katerina Gasset at 561-753-0135 for a confidential short sale evaluation on the phone. You may even qualify for relocation cash to help you move from your lender. 

International Properties and Investments LLC- we are members of three Realtor® boards in our markets. We are members of the Realtor Association of the Palm Beaches, the Realtor® Association of St Lucie and we are also members of Miami Association of Realtors®. 

Miami Association of Realtors® is our favorite board of realtors®. Miami Association of Realtors® combined with some boards in Ft Lauderdale, Broward county and areas of Miami/Dade county. There [...]]]> Why we are members of Miami Association of Realtors® and How That Benefits You

International Properties and Investments LLC- we are members of three Realtor® boards in our markets. We are members of the Realtor Association of the Palm Beaches, the Realtor® Association of St Lucie and we are also members of Miami Association of Realtors®. 

Miami Association of Realtors® is our favorite board of realtors®. Miami Association of Realtors® combined with some boards in Ft Lauderdale, Broward county and areas of Miami/Dade county. There used to be so many boards to join in South Florida that it was actually cost prohibitive to do business in the Miami metro areas and Broward county because you would have to belong to so many different boards if you had agents in many markets. 

The smartest thing that Miami Association of Realtors® did was merging and becoming the power board they are now. There is power in numbers. 

How does being a member of the Miami Association of Realtors® benefit our sellers and those who are thinking about listing with International Properties and Investments LLC? 

The reach is huge… if you want your property marketed on an international scale and be front and center with foreign buyers there is no other board who can deliver the power of international marketing the way that Miami Association of Realtors® can.

Your property gets marketed in 19 different languages and vast U.S. and International exposure on over 500 websites. We also send your listing to all the members of our network with foreign companies in the International Referral network. 

Miami Association of Realtors® partners with real estate professionals in many other countries like Brazil, Columbia, Panana, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Belize, Chile, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Hungary, France, Spain and the United Kingdom. 

South Florida is the leader in selling properties to foreign buyers.

Foreign buyers like Polo Players and Equestrian riders and horse owners come to Wellington Florida to purchase Wellington Equestrian horse farms.

Foreign buyers come to the Miami Beaches to buy waterfront condominiums.

Foreign buyers come to South Florida for lifestyle and to open up new businesses here. We welcome foreign buyers. 

Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset are Certified International Property Specialists and network with real estate professionals from many different countries. 

List your property with International Properties and Investments LLC for to get your South Florida property marketed to more foreign buyers. 

International Properties and Investments - we are members of three Realtor® boards in our markets. We are members of the Realtor Association of the Palm Beaches, the Realtor® Association of St Lucie and we are also members of Miami Association of Realtors®. 

Miami Association of Realtors® is our favorite board of realtors®. Miami Association of Realtors® combined with some boards in Ft Lauderdale, Broward county and areas of Miami/Dade county. There [...]]]> Why we are members of Miami Association of Realtors® and How That Benefits You

International Properties and Investments - we are members of three Realtor® boards in our markets. We are members of the Realtor Association of the Palm Beaches, the Realtor® Association of St Lucie and we are also members of Miami Association of Realtors®. 

Miami Association of Realtors® is our favorite board of realtors®. Miami Association of Realtors® combined with some boards in Ft Lauderdale, Broward county and areas of Miami/Dade county. There used to be so many boards to join in South Florida that it was actually cost prohibitive to do business in the Miami metro areas and Broward county because you would have to belong to so many different boards if you had agents in many markets. 

The smartest thing that Miami Association of Realtors® did was merging and becoming the power board they are now. There is power in numbers. 

How does being a member of the Miami Association of Realtors® benefit our sellers and those who are thinking about listing with International Properties and Investments ? 

The reach is huge… if you want your property marketed on an international scale and be front and center with foreign buyers there is no other board who can deliver the power of international marketing the way that Miami Association of Realtors® can.

Your property gets marketed in 19 different languages and vast U.S. and International exposure on over 500 websites. We also send your listing to all the members of our network with foreign companies in the International Referral network. 

Miami Association of Realtors® partners with real estate professionals in many other countries like Brazil, Columbia, Panana, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Belize, Chile, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Hungary, France, Spain and the United Kingdom. 

South Florida is the leader in selling properties to foreign buyers.

Foreign buyers like Polo Players and Equestrian riders and horse owners come to Wellington Florida to purchase Wellington Equestrian horse farms.

Foreign buyers come to the Miami Beaches to buy waterfront condominiums.

Foreign buyers come to South Florida for lifestyle and to open up new businesses here. We welcome foreign buyers. 

Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset are Certified International Property Specialists and network with real estate professionals from many different countries. 

List your property with International Properties and Investments LLC for to get your South Florida property marketed to more foreign buyers. 

In this video we are talking about warning signs to look out for from fraudulent short sale companies and other scams.

Never sign your title over to a company or person you don’t know. Never give your mortgage payment to anyone other than your lender.

Contact Nestor and Katerina Gasset at 561-753-0135 for a private confidential short sale evaluation over the phone in privacy or learn more at  Wellington Short Sale agents answer the Top Ten short sale questions.

Contact Nestor and Katerina Gasset at 561-753-0135 for a private confidential short sale evaluation over the phone in privacy or learn more at http://short-sales-florida.com.

The short sale lenders treat the different loan products differently. If you took out two mortgages, a first and a second at the same [...]]]> Wellington Short Sale Agents – Top Ten Questions Video Series-  Question #7- Can I do a short sale when I have more than one mortgage on my property? 
Many homeowners have one mortgage on their property but many others took out a second mortgage or have a home equity line of credit which is commonly known as a HELOC in the banking industry.

The short sale lenders treat the different loan products differently. If you took out two mortgages, a first and a second at the same time in order to buy your Wellington home than you can most likely be able to work with both of your lenders to approve a short sale with a minimum amount to your second home loan.

However, if you have a HELOC it will depend on what you did with the money from your HELOC. If you bought an Escalade or other auto with your HELOC money than your bank is going to expect some type of payment from you. After all, the money was not spent on the property. You don’t have a car payment and if you stop making your HELOC payment the bank is looking at it as if you got a free car.If you took the HELOC out to pay for surgery or some sort of emergency situation your lender is going to be much more lenient about forgiving that debt. It all depends of course on the policies of the investors who own the note that your bank is servicing.

This is #7 in our video series of Wellington Short Sale Agents answer the Top Ten Questions about Wellington Short Sales. 

In this video we explain the reasons for keeping your HOA fees current especially in light of all the new laws that are there to benefit the HOA.

Call Nestor and Katerina Gasset at International Properties & Investments Inc at 561-753-0135 for confidential short sale consolation today.