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Teresa Turner, Realtor & Broker, with The Teresa Turner Realty Group at Keller Williams Town & Country Realty, is one of the most established and respected names in NW Florida Real Estate with 25+ years of experience in Residential Real Estate. Over that time, she has developed a superior pipeline of connections and is the go-to person for getting results in Residential Real Estate. She understands and cares for people and is excellent at coming up with unique marketing strategies to solve complex problems and get homes sold. She keeps your personal information confidential and considers discretion to be her duty in dealing with your real estate situation. Teresa maintains a strong work ethic and is committed to building relationships based on trust and integrity. She is a Real Person with Real Solutions to your real estate needs.
Tag Archives: fannie mae foreclosures
4 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Foreclosure
Foreclosures can offer big bargains, but buyers need to be careful that they don’t get over their heads in purchasing a home that may need more repairs than they bargained for.
Foreclosures are usually sold as-is, and homes that are left vacant standing too long can have a lot of maintenance problems.
Real estate experts suggest buyers consider the following questions:
1. How long has the home been vacant? Be cautious of a foreclosed home that has stood vacant for more than a few weeks or had its utilities shut off a long time. Marvin Goldstein, a home inspector for many foreclosed properties, says a home can deteriorate quickly when heating, cooling, electricity, and running water have been turned off for awhile.
2. How old is the home? Goldstein says that homes that are more than 50 years old may have a failing plumbing system or inadequate electrical wiring.
3. How does the home look? Are there broken windows, gutters hanging down, or damaged siding? “Trust your instincts. If the house looks bad from the outside, it’s probably worse than you think,” Goldstein told The Oklahoman.
4. Is there anything missing? Sometimes former owners remove anything of value from the home, such as built-in light fixtures, bathroom tile, water heaters, air-conditioning units, and hardwoods, says Bill Jacques, president-elect of the American Society of Home Inspectors.
Housing experts encourage buyers to get a home inspector to look at the property, even if it is sold as-is, so that home buyers know any repairs needed and cost estimates before they purchase the home.
“Buying a bank-owned home gives you the opportunity to enter the market at a very low price level,” says Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of REALTORS®. “You can find terrific values among foreclosures, especially if they’re not in too bad shape. But, remember, these houses are discounted for a reason.”
Source: “Foreclosed Homes May Need Extensive Repairs,” The Oklahoman (Jan. 28, 2012)
Everything You Need to Know About Buying a Bank Owned Property
Buying a bank-owned property is a little different than buying an “arms length” 
type property. One of the major differences is that there is no emotion involved with the banks.It is strictly numbers, and rules. Most banks want the property sold and off their books in120 days or less.
Most bank owned properties are vacant so they are easy to look at, but many of them don’t have power so you need to make arrangements to get there during daylight hours. There is a coded lockbox on the property, but this is for the banks and the property preservation companies to have access. You should contact a Realtor to set up a time to see the property and not try to go in on your own.
Most banks will not accept contingency contracts. If you have a property to sell to qualify for your finanacing, and it is not disclosed, the bank will consider this fraud and will cancel the contract and keep your deposit.
ALL bank owned properties are sold “as is” with all their faults. There may be some instances that the bank will do some repairs prior to closing, but it is rare. If work is to be done, then in most cases, it will be completed prior to marketing. There are no Sellers Property Disclosures. In most cases, the seller/bank has never seen the property or physically visited the property. The Buyer will have the right to inspect the property. The inspection time is usually 7-10 days from the date of the fully executed contract. Getting the signed contract back from the bank can take anywhere from 24 hours to 5-6 days.
Banks do not usually want to finance their bank-owned properties; however there are a couple of exceptions to this. BB & T now offers special financing on their bank-owned properties, and Wells Fargo and Bank of America require a pre-qualification from one of their lending officers to be submitted with the contract. The Buyer is not required to get their financing with either Wells Fargo or Bank of America, but they want the opportunity to offer the Buyer financing.
Most banks have their own special addendums. Some banks have a standard addendum that they want with the contract package and others negotiate the contract and then generate the addendum that are specific to the contract. THERE ARE NO CHANGES ALLOWED ON THE ADDENDUMS. If the Buyer wants to make changes, then they will not get the property. It is important that you understand the addendum before signing it.
The Buyers are not to have access to the property prior to closing. This is a liability issue for both the Real Estate Agent and the Brokerage Office. Buyers are not to be in the property without their Real Estate Agent present. Under no circumstances should the Buyers be given lockbox codes to access the property at will.
Most Bank Owned Property closings are “dry” closings for the Real Estate Agent. The banks have their own title company that they retain to take care of the closings and these title companies are usually out of town. The good thing about this is that they pay the Buyers’ owners title insurance. The Buyer is responsible for the work fees and the mortgagee’s policy (if they are getting a mortgage). The title company sends a mobile notary to a designated location that is mutually agreed upon, and they are responsible for getting the closing documents and funds back to the title company. The commission checks for the Real Estate Agents are cut and and mailed once the title company receives all of the closing documents, and this usually takes anywhere from 2 days to a week.
If you want to purchase a foreclosure, it is helpful to understand how the process works. Bank owned properties can be a great buy, but you the Buyer, have to be willing to deal with any and all repairs and play by the bank’s rules to get that property.
Information provided courtesy of Cindy Crona-Hudson, Keller Williams Town & Country Realty
Update! State of Florida’s Foreclosure Mediation Program Ends
This information was just released…
Florida’s statewide managed mediation program for residential mortgage foreclosures is finished. Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady signed an administrative order on Monday, December 19th, 2011, terminating the 2-year old program. This follows a panel recommendation in October that Florida’s 20 judicial circuits should, instead, be allowed to set up local programs.
The Florida Supreme Court ordered the mediation program last year. It was designed to help clear foreclosure cases that have clogged Florida’s courts in recent years. Canady appointed the workgroup in September to determine if the program was working. However, Canady said reports suggest it didn’t work as well as hoped, and the courts could no longer justify the system.
The panel cited several problems, including economic incentives for lenders not to settle cases. According to some homeowners facing foreclosure, lenders did not take the process seriously.
Foreclosures already in the mediation process will continue on that path as they work their way through the system. New foreclosure cases, however, will not be referred to mediation.
Information provided by The Tallahassee Democrat and Florida Realtors®
Can Foreclosure Mediation Really Help You?
Many of my clients that are in foreclosure have asked me about the mediation option and how viable it really is in the State of Florida. Mediation is a process in which both sides of a dispute meet with an unbiased third party trained to help people work out their differences. In mediation, each side has a chance to compromise and agree to a solution so that a judge doesn’t force a solution on the parties. Mediation can end in a successful settlement or it can reach an impasse in which the parties don’t agree to a resolution.
Two years ago, the Florida Supreme Court ordered that mediations must take place in every foreclosure case involving a person’s primary residence. The homeowner has to fill out a lot of paperwork and submit financial information before the mediation.
Unfortunately, the program has been expensive for lenders and not successful in resolving the foreclosure problem. Statewide, between March 2010 and March 2011, only 3.6% of all cases referred to mediation ended in a written agreement. A committee is recommending changes to the program.
It appears that there is a systematic failure by the program managers to get the borrowers to participate, and unprepared lenders are only going through the motions. Also, many homeowners mistakenly think their foreclosure cases are somehow on hold until after the mediation.
Mediation should not be mandatory, but it should be available to homeowners by request only. For a successful mediation, you must send in all of the required paperwork on time and go in with realistic expectations. If you have more than one lender and/or lien, you have to get all the parties to agree, which can be somewhat involved.
Information courtesy of Gary M. Singer, Sun Sentinel
Is the place you want to rent in foreclosure?
In representing bank owned properties, one of the unpleasant tasks I handle is to confirm occupancy on a property that has been recently foreclosed on. Almost every time I check on the property, there is someone living there and they are usually surprised to see me. They are usually leasing the property and paying rent and had no idea that the property was in foreclosure. It’s very upsetting to them and we have to work together towards a smooth transition.
In talking with the last tenant, she asked me how would she have known the house was in foreclosure? It got me to thinking that there are probably many more people like her out there who may be renting a place and need this information. Probably the easiest way to make sure that your landlord is current with their lender is to ask to see their latest loan statement. While a landlord may be reluctant to share this information, tell them that it’s justifiable for you to see it, given all the foreclosures on the market. You can also call the Homeowner’s Association and ask if your landlord is in good standing.
Another option is to do a search of the public records. You can do this by accessing the website of the clerk of the court in the county where the property is located and searching under your landlord’s name for any legal actions. If there is a Lis Pendens filed with your property address, then there is a good chance the property is in foreclosure. There is also a section on Foreclosures where the sale dates are posted. You can check this calender to see if your landlord and/or property is listed.
There are laws protecting a tenant’s rights to finish out their lease, even if the property is foreclosed on. You will need to document your lease and prove that it is valid by providing a written lease that is not expired and is signed by all the parties along with copies of your last five (5) rental payments.
