The Housing Boom Has Run Its Course In Florida
The Daily News reports from Florida. “Foreclosures are at a record high across the county, and you’re looking to snag a deal. The first step? Proceed slowly and carefully, said Okaloosa County Clerk of Courts Don Howard. ‘Anytime you’re buying foreclosed property, there is some risk involved,’ Howard said. ‘The availability of foreclosures is much more simply because the filings are up. Considering the falling prices, it might not be a bad time to look.’”
“Some real estate agents say it makes more sense to concentrate on the current market, which has started to correct itself. ‘I’d much rather be buying today than two or three years ago,’ said Jim Gilliland, a veteran Realtor on the Emerald Coast. ‘Prices are much lower.’”
The Palm Beach Post. “Foreclosure filings in the Treasure Coast more than tripled in August as the worst housing slump in 16 years continued to send shock waves through local households amid more evidence that severe economic problems could be on the horizon.”
“In Palm Beach County, lenders foreclosed on 1,210 homeowners last month, compared with 435 in August 2006, according to the county clerk’s office.”
“‘Owners of condos who speculated pre-construction are trying to dump them at their sales price,’ said real estate lawyer John Pankauski in West Palm Beach. ‘Investors will have to realize that to get rid of their condos — and to stop paying real estate taxes and maintenance fees - they will have to take a hit.’”
“Buyers have dried up, however, because of tougher credit practices and ‘the fact that the housing boom has run its course,’ he said.”
The Belleair Bee. “Mayor John A. Robertson has reiterated his claims that short term rentals in the town are ‘really a disaster.’ The town began prosecution of the owners of three beachfront homes last month, when he described neighbors complaining of debris littering the beach in front of those homes, noisy parties with cars parked indiscriminately and crowded beaches.”
“Robertson said, the property owners have continued to advertise their homes for rent. He said this appeared to be a snub of the town’s warnings. Rhonda Hogan of Hillsborough County, who owns two of the houses in question, allegedly has told Robertson that she must rent the houses until they are sold to avoid bank foreclosures.”
The News Journal. “Palm Coast resident Al Mascolo said he has spent 80 to 90 hours each week for the last few months finishing the construction of his new home. But it isn’t because he wanted to do the house himself. He says the builder left him no choice.”
“‘This is costing me a lot of money,’ Mascolo said.”
“Homebuyers like Anthony Rappa say Canterbury Estates Homes’s owners, Herbert Heron and Noel Richardson, didn’t pay the subcontractors who worked on their homes. But the company has left them scrambling to pay the people doing the work.”
“Ron Paulsen, owner of R&R Drywall (said he) didn’t get paid and placed liens against the homes. ‘Where’s all the money going if they’re not paying their bills with it?’ Natalie Krassner said last month when some of the affected customers gathered together to swap Canterbury experiences.”
“In an interview Thursday night, Richardson and Heron denied any intentional wrongdoing. They blame recent complaints against their company on the soft real estate market and sudden increases in material and overhead costs during the previous hot housing market.”
“They said their company has been hit with deficits in the tens of thousands on many of their contracted homes because they didn’t have the heart to reduce the quality of their work or pass the increased costs along to the customer. ‘Maybe that’s where we went wrong,’ Heron said.”
“Enrollment in Volusia public schools is down about 1,100 students from a year ago, meaning some teachers could lose their jobs and others will have to switch schools.”
“This is the first time Volusia school enrollment has declined in 25 years. Volusia officials don’t know why enrollment declined, but Superintendent Margaret Smith said they’ve heard some parents are moving away because of the slumping economy.”
“‘We’ve had some parents report to us they’re involved in mortgage foreclosures,’ she said, also pointing to some state reports indicating more people are moving out of Florida these days than coming in, especially if they work construction jobs.”
The St Petersburg Times. “This week was supposed to climax Trump Tower Tampa’s two-year pursuit of financing. Area developer SimDag LLC promised either to seal a deal to build the $300-million luxury high-rise or concede defeat and refund buyers’ deposits on condominiums costing up to $6-million.”
“But as the work week drew to a close Friday, the project found itself in familiar territory: limbo.”
“Buyers, who placed deposits of 20 percent on units costing from $700,000 to $6-million, had been told to expect a decisive turn of events by Wednesday. By Friday, it appeared they had been left hanging. ‘They’ve e-mailed us nothing new,’ George Galiourides, one of the condo buyers, said Friday.”
“Banks have steered clear of financing the project in the slumping housing market. According to Trump’s lawsuit in May, fewer than 70 percent of the 190 units had ‘bona-fide purchase contracts.’ Several buyers have sued to get their money back.”
The News Press. “A Charlotte County golf course that had become popular with Cape Coral golfers closed this week. A few golfers had parked Friday near the almost-deserted Tern Bay course, where Tom Cavanaugh of Sarasota-based Double Bogey Transport loaded up golf carts that were headed for Cart Guys in Punta Gorda. ‘This joint’s closed,’ Cavanaugh said.”
“The course at Tern Bay seems to be another victim of the current housing market in Southwest Florida. ‘The project is not dead,’ said Geri Waksler, who represents the developer on land-use issues. ‘The market is dead.’”
“Waksler said Tern Bay would remain dormant until the housing market rebounds. ‘As recently as a couple of weeks ago, they were still working on permitting for the project,’ Waksler said. ‘The only thing that is not happening is a function of the market — houses are not coming out of the ground.’”
“Fourteen homeowners live in Tern Bay, which was planned to have 1,800 homes. Twenty coach homes and 15 single-family homes are either waiting to be sold or are under construction, according to Lennar Corporation, the project’s builder. But a Lennar spokesman said the company has no plans to continue building.”
“Waksler said she represents other developments in the area experiencing the same problem, but she declined to name them.”
We are working on the posting problems.
..
‘The project is not dead,’ said Geri Waksler, who represents the developer on land-use issues. ‘The market is dead.’”
‘The only thing that is not happening is a function of the market — houses are not coming out of the ground.’”
I guess that I am old school - is there a difference between the ‘project is not dead’ and ‘the market is dead’. I don’t see a difference, of course I never got ‘Rap’ music either.
Maybe I am old skool.
just a flesh wound;-)
I am the Black Knight, I am the invincible developer. Having no customers is just a flesh wound.
May I suggest a new moniker for it…
“Turd Bay”
Save the link!
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/muggyFL/BK.jpg
The market is deep, deep, in the rough. The developers and homeowners are hoping to get a free drop. The course closed, however. Game over.
- Take a ‘mulligan’?
“Some real estate agents say it makes more sense to concentrate on the current market, which has started to correct itself. ‘I’d much rather be buying today than two or three years ago,’ said Jim Gilliland, a veteran Realtor on the Emerald Coast. ‘Prices are much lower.’”
Translation:
Those people really overpaid for their Titanic tickets a few years ago, I can get you a much better deal on those same tickets, today.
Hurry up and make your decision, the ship of fabled failedness sails soon…
“Mayor John A. Robertson has reiterated his claims that short term rentals in the town are ‘really a disaster.’ The town began prosecution of the owners of three beachfront homes last month, when he described neighbors complaining of debris littering the beach in front of those homes, noisy parties with cars parked indiscriminately and crowded beaches.”
This is prime evidence why people are so down on renters…
People barely care about their own stuff in this country, and if it isn’t yours?
People seem to not care at all.
Hey, I rent everywhere I go, Florida, Canada, Maine or here in Manhattan. When I rent a new place, I give previous landlords’ phone numbers/addresses as references. There are plenty of good tenants and good landlords around–and being respectful of the landlords’ property and neighbors goes with the territory.
That area has some of the most expensive houses in the county. Tom Cruise and John Travolta were neighbors there at one time, although I’m not sure if they still are. Downtown Clearwater and the huge Scientology complex is just minutes away, which would explain their interest.
This short term rental crap was peddled as a vehicle to make otherwise psychotic cap rates look kinda palatable, without going through the usual due diligence of checking local codes. It’s happening in my town as well, with the “everybody does it” mantra used as the only defense. Just another example of making their own reality.
Funny scientology aside…
About 15 years ago, “dianetics” in paperback was continually on the NYT top 10 selling book lists~
Daring dianeticists had figured out which book store in NYC was gauged by the NYT, and the cultists were instructed to make purchases there.
The kicker is, it was a chain book store and most of the copies of the tome were returned for a refund, at another location.
Actually, I’m reading that book right now, interesting stuff, IMHO.
Check out Fads and Fallacies: In The Name of Science by Martin Gardner. Dover Press.
Are you referring to the property tax cap?
The cap rate only applies to people claming homestead exemption and living in their homes. If they aren’t living there, they’re guilty of fraud, and the county can come after after them the full property taxes. I suspect that most of the properties sold over the last five years protected by homestead exemption, actually do not quality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization_rate
Thanks. Me dumb.
I’m more interested in the Capitulation Rate.
“I’m more interested in the Capitulation Rate.”
I am, too — it appears to be climbing fairly rapidly in Central Florida. Seems that an awful lot of closing prices are about 20% below what they were listed at 6 months earlier. And that’s for the ones smart or lucky enough to get out before the big move for the exits.
“A Charlotte County golf course that had become popular with Cape Coral golfers closed this week…. Fourteen homeowners live in Tern Bay, which was planned to have 1,800 homes.”
F..O..R..E ! ! ! ! !
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
A Golf Course closing!
This is getting serious.
Yeah, a sure sign this has gone too far.
Loved this Schiff quote from yesterday:
“Home prices are a function of what future buyers can afford - not what past buyers paid.”
I enjoyed that quote also. Peter Schiff has been spot-on on many predictions. It is going to be very scary if he is right this time.
Schiff is the Man. I remember that interview when those dolts on Foxnews were ridiculing him and calling him un-American because he said home prices would crash and a recession would follow. The long-haired freak was claiming that home prices normally appreciate at 10%.
Statsman,
Oh, he’s right. Count on it. I think even Schiff’s dire predictions are conservative.
“Considering the falling prices, it might not be a bad time to look.’”
Let’s put some numbers to this oft-quoted gem of Realtor (TM) logic. If I buy an overpriced stucco box in 2007 that would have sold in 2005 for $600,000 at a current discounted price of $500,000, how would I have done by 2008 if the price fell to, say, $417,000?
Better than if it fell to 300K and worse than if you had rented until 2009.
Jim Gilliland (realtor) “I’d much rather be buying today than two or three years ago.” Is that a fact, Jim? Didn’t you say two or three years ago that prices can only go up and use that beaten to death realtorwhore phrase, “Now is a great time to buy,” as you pulled in another sucker. Here’s a better phrase. “I’d much prefer prices to to drop to 1999/2000 prices which they will before thids mess is over.”
You have to admit that he chose his words carefully. I’d rather be buying now than two or three years ago also as you would LOSE less. That said, who wants to lose money?
That line never gets old in the eyes of the RE junky. Doom and Gloom has to be next on the list.
Has anybody asked him if he IS buying right now, himself???
“Banks have steered clear of financing the project in the slumping housing market. According to Trump’s lawsuit in May, fewer than 70 percent of the 190 units had ‘bona-fide purchase contracts.’ Several buyers have sued to get their money back.”
How much do you want to bet that these “bona-fide purchase contracts” were to flippers? Also I wonder how much fewer then 70 percent it was, 50 percent, twenty percent?
“Ron Paulsen, owner of R&R Drywall (said he) didn’t get paid and placed liens against the homes. ‘Where’s all the money going if they’re not paying their bills with it?’ Natalie Krassner said last month when some of the affected customers gathered together to swap Canterbury experiences.”
1300’s Canterbury Tales: Road Trip
2000’s Canterbury Tales: Lawsuit
Where’s all the money going if they’re not paying their bills with it?’ Natalie Krassner said last month.
Got a heads up for ya, Nat. It ain’t in your account. These guys probably saw this coming and stopped paying bills and stockpiled cash and just let it play out. When the music stopped thay got into their BMW/Hummer or whatever and beat feet to parts unknown. If they had enough money they’re probably in a country that we have no extrdition treaty with.
Unetical, probably illegal but as a practical matter a pretty smart move.
There are not enough cops/courts/lawyers/jails to possibly find, prosecute and recover money from all these types of guys.
Back around 1980 when ‘Waterbeds’ were a hot item, in Joplin Missouri there were a ton of waterbed stores. Others were buying wholesale from Manufacturers. One Guy decided to Start his own Factory, open his own Retail stores and blow the competetion away . He kept building Waterbeds , opening stores for about 3 Years.
His big Deal was layaways. Anyway all of a sudden He started advertising huge sales. I went in one day to look as many of my friends told Me what a great sale He had going on. Many had put beds on layaway or bought one.
I was browsing by a $ 600 bed. The guy said I want to sell You a bed today. I said it’s too expensive. $500. No thanks, $400 No. Half Price ? No. He said I don’t want You to leave without buying a Bed. He said ,” Look, give Me $150 . If You only got $75 I’ll put it on Layaway.
A $600 bed for $150? This guy is insane or somethings wrong, so I left.
About a week later this Guy was a a club buying rounds for the House ( 300 People). What the ? Then a few days later I heard He was in Mexico. Come to find out this guy was selling beds a cost or whatever, layaways and such all the while ” Building his Good Name and Credit.”
Then for about 6 months , He Built Beds, Sold Beds, and took Deposits on Beds, ” All on Credit”. The Lumber Yards, Mattress suppliers, Truck Lines and sold several 1000’s of beds on Layaway.
Then when He gathered up about $ 5 Mill , He threw a big Party and went to Mexico.
I wonder How Many Builders have tried or are going to try to puul off something like this?
“But as the work week drew to a close Friday, the project found itself in familiar territory: limbo.”
Ode to Belafonte…
Lemon Deposits, not so pretty and the Lemons smells of defeat
But the fruit of the bad Condos, is impossible for Trump to eat.
Trump has his name attached to more disasters than anyone in history.
Do you think Trump Casinos will file for bankruptcy again?
CSpan3 is spending the entire morning doing programs about the Great Depression.
Gummint can’t get people to give (choose: rights or money) unless they find a way to scare them first. I suppose if they can scare enough people, via the MSM, about the possibility of another GD, then they can throw bailout money at the banskters and the sheeple will be snookered. My bet is they are hoping that an exogenous event will give them the excuse easier and sooner.
Link to that PBS Newshour report from yesterday, sorry no video…
http://www-tc.pbs.org/newshour/rss/media/2007/09/07/20070907_market28.mp3
“The first step? Proceed slowly and carefully.”
That’s also good advice when you are walking across a cow pasture!
Or a minefield.
Just got back from shopping at the local wholesale club…I was surprised to see all the Halloween products already on the shelves…the prime shelf spaces near the registers…
Question #1? Who takes their kid to buy a costum or stocks up on candy 2 months BEFORE Halloween? Aren’t we just finishing up Back To School shopping? Is this an ominous sign?
Question #2 How well will the Trick or Treaters do this season? It’s going to be rough time for them…with all the vacant houses…perhaps they will retaliate by vandalizing?
Nevermind Christmas shopping almost certainly going to be a bust…I figure this Halloween seen be a bust?
This year, enterprising trick or treaters will nail themselves plenty of new granite countertops, stainless steel sinks and hundreds of pounds of copper tubing — provided they go dressed up as meth-addicted dirtbags with pickup trucks.
Just got back from shopping at the local wholesale club…I was surprised to see all the Halloween products already on the shelves…the prime shelf spaces near the registers…
Question #1? Who takes their kid to buy a costum or stocks up on candy 2 months BEFORE Halloween? Aren’t we just finishing up Back To School shopping? Is this an ominous sign?
Gosh I’ve been seeing Halloween stuff out since Aug and that happens every year. By Oct 1st the Christmas stuff should be on the shelves. Seasonal merchandise hits stores earlier and earlier every year. Just try to buy a bathing suit in Aug or a winter coat in Feb. Look at the holiday and the seasonal merchandise will be on the shelves 3 months prior.
I’ll name names, all of the rest of the developments.
“Waksler said she represents other developments in the area experiencing the same problem, but she declined to name them.”
People around my parts keep wondering how much worse the economy is going to get. I’d say with this article it’s going to get even worse:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070908/BIZ03/709080395
“About 55 percent of mortgage loans made in 2006 in Metro Detroit were subprime loans”…”the news is even worse in Wayne County, where nearly two of three home loans were risky, high-cost loans.”
I don’t see things getting better around here anytime soon.
Again, the sub prime borrower depicted as the victim.
And again if RE prices had continued the rise and they refi’d out of their sub-prime ARM, what would they have done? Gotten another no doc, stated income, teaser rate ARM and sucked out every dime of equity they could have, thinking “In 2 years we’ll just refi again”
And they would all sleep soundly, content with the notion that they were indeed savy real estate investors.
But alas, now there victims and looking to the Gub’ment to save them!!
“We are about to witness a drop in home (all real estate) prices not seen since the Depression of the 30’s,” said the CFO of CFC, that was once the nation’s largest mortgage lender…
When CFC recently announced 1200 layoffs they said that maybe if the FED cuts rates 1/2 a point they won’t have to layoff so many employees…this is nonsense and they know it! It was the availability and ease of getting a mortgage and the belief that prices would continue to appreciate at a 25% clip that caused the bubble. Now that the bubble has burst, cutting the interest rates while imposing stricter lending standards along with a 20% down payment will not ease the crisis one iota.
Dan;
I agree. It’s beyond the point where it could and should have been stopped. The real problem is the unpaid debt based on “equity” that vaporized. At one point somebody leant someone real money.
The Fed cutting rates and sane lending practices don’t address that issue.
And why didn’t the Gub’ment see this coming and head it off in ‘04? Hell, us bloggers saw it! Maybe ‘04 would have been too late, but it surely would have been more manageable!
Where were the regulators? Relatively few people, up to this point, have been prosecuted for fraud or shady loan practices, etc. They’re still not doing much. Actually it’s pointless now. What pisses me off is that this has the possibility of f**cking up the rest of us, to a degree who were not stupid enough to participate.
The RE market/industry is in a Depression. Passed Recession awhile ago. It’s going to spill over into the rest of the economy. It already is clobbering directly related industries, building supplies, furniture stores, ect. It’s going to ripple out. All these sub prime lenders had coffee services, cleaning companies, computer companies etc. These guys lost a client and their revenue suffered, etc.
I know you guys know all this but I’m just pissed. It reminds me of Marine Corp basic, when one guy screwed up everyone had to do a 20 mile hump, full pack, at night, in the rain. Can we beat the FB’s with a sock with a bar of soap in it?
Actually, i thought i read that for whatever reason house prices did not drop much in the depression. Anyone remember that, and what the explanation was?
I remember reading that during the Great Depression the overall National drop was 10% in price . Apparently lenders worked with the borrowers and worked out rental agreements and loan rewrites until the market picked up again .
DEFLATION adjusted.
I thought that mortgages were done very differently prior to the depression. You paid interest only for a certain amount of time (I don’t think the load periods were as long, maybe 10 or 20 years). After that period of time, the entire principal was due. Obviously this created problems during the depression as most could not pay the entire principal when it was dude.
I think fully amortizing loans were encouraged by the federal government as a result of the depression.
Not sure how accurate this is… anybody know?
According to Hard Times by Studs Terkel, in the early 1930’s banks could call home loans.
This led to losses for the the homoaners AND the banks (which dropped like flies in ‘33-’34), so the states changed their laws.
I’m not aware of any state now where primary mortgages are callable. Nor would the banks want to call the loans–they’re not stupid.
I would chalk up the “cutting the interest rate will solve the housing problem” to the same idiots who said, “The Job report will show an increase in jobs..” NOT! First of all these economist 3 figure paycheck wastes are forgeting several things:
If your home is WORTH LESS than what your mortgage balance is, How the heck is a cut in rate going to help you?
Second, chances are if you were a subprime borrower in a teaser rate scenerio how the heck is a refi in to a HIGHER RATE no matter what it is going to help?
Third, most subprime borrowers did NOT prove their income, now those loan programs that got them into the house are not around, so how the heck are they going to PROVE income to afford the house their in(Full Doc is king now)?
BTW, the psychology in Florida is in full reverse. I constantly hear at work about people wanting out. Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee, Carolinas, New Jersey, New York, Maine… you name it, they want to go back.
I was even asked this week, “How did you know this was coming?” Umm, yeah, did you feel like paying $300k for a block chitbox in ‘da ‘hood?
Case solved.
I should add that all of the Florida nonsense becomes a blaring red siren when you aren’t “getting paid” to live here.
We were going to buy in FL next year. I’ve followed the prices for the area I wanted and they doubled to tripled in 5 years. I hate winter, but I’ll be hard pressed to give up a newer 2000sf colonial on 6 acres that’s paid off w/ re taxes of $2150/yr and insurance at $538/yr. For the same price down there I’d get a 1000-1100sf box on hardly any lot with taxes of $5000/yr and insurance @$1500-2500/yr. It’ll be cheaper and less hassle to rent for $1000/mo for the winter months. This is why people are NOT moving to FL anymore. I have relatives both places so I’ll pick the most reasonable place to live even though we could afford either place. I’d rather travel more and spend less on housing. And to think at one time our area and the area in FL we wanted to move to were virtually the same pricewise.
I would recommend renting for 2 years..housing prices are going to tank there in the land of sunshine..until you start to hear some increases I wouldn’t put a dime into a buying there..and better check those numbers on insurance and your deductible..when I left for a regular home..it was 8K plus a 56K deductible(alot depends on the age of your home..older homes have high insurance due to hurricane codes cost verses newer homes, which of course are expensive)..and your insurance company can be here today and gone tomorrow especially after a hurricane. Many found the phone number for their insurance companies disconnected after Wilma and many are till fighting to get money from a 2005 storm..Also taxes are generally 2% of the sale price of the home(300K=6K in taxes)
I’m planning on heading South after my youngest graduates in spring 2011. Who knows, maybe it’ll be a great time to buy in Florida. If not, no problem, renting is a small price to pay to be able to wear shorts and flip flops on New Year’s Day like I did this year.
Maybe I’m just jaded after living in FL for 4 years but if I did not have my current job (not planning on leaving it) I’d pack up and my family would be out of here in a NY minute. Not sure if it’s the housing market that has soured me or not but I just don’t like it that much anymore. The summer is brutal and I do miss having seasons. I’d rather just come down and spend a week here each year. BTW-I’m in the Sarasota/Bradenton area and the housing bust is becoming brutal here…..
Not surprised..many Floridians are underwater when it comes to their mortages, have several friends who businesses are down 20-30%, mortgage people who have closed shop and have to get use to living on 50K or less instead of 200K, not pretty and not getting any prettier..
NO BANK QUALIFYING, NO CREDIT CHECKS! OWNER WILL FINANCE!
Beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, in lovely West Palm Beach, FL, in the beautiful, brand new, gated community of Terraccina. A well maintained neighborhood, great security. Call soon because this property will go fast. Because properties in the Terraccina are going like hot cakes.
Asking: $560,000 or Better Offer. With $25,000 down. Will consider a lease option to buy. Pictures are available upon request. **No Brokers Please!
Property address: 7050 Aliso Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33413
Contact: Teresa 561-214-3586
** Please don’t hang up without leaving a message, or I will never be able to get back with you. Thanks
http://www.ownerwillcarry.com/FL.html
Sales Information
Sales Date /Page Price
Oct-2006 20987/1027 $530,000
Jul-2006 20628/1830 $437,327
Total Market Value:
2007 P 2006 2005
$305,000 $70,000 $61,000
NO BANK QUALIFYING, NO CREDIT CHECKS! OWNER WILL FINANCE!
Beautiful 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath Condo, in lovely West Palm Beach, FL, overlooking Palm Beach on Flagler Dr., and the Inracoastal, in walking distance to City Place, with great shopping, fine dining. Condo is very spacious, with over 1000sf, beautiful balcony overlooking the water, Exit onto balcony from living room and kitchen. Lots of closet space. Doorman, 24 hour security, assigned parking, workout room, pool, lush gardens, well maintained. Near the best schools, Palm Beach Atlantic College, and many churches. Call soon because this property will go fast. Properties on Flagler Dr., in West Palm Beach, are going like hot cakes[/B}. Asking: $509,000 or Better Offer. With $25,000 down. Will consider a lease option to buy.
Pictures are available upon request. **
No Brokers Please!
Property address: 1801 S. Flagler Dr., West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Contact: Teresa 561-214-3586** Please don’t hang up without leaving a message, or I will never be able to get back with you.
Sales Date Book/Page Price Sep-2006 20950/0980 $455,000 WARRANTY DEED EVANS TERESA A
Assessed and Taxable ValuesTax Year:
Assessed Value:
Taxable Value:
2007 P 2006 2005
$289,000 $188,000 $129,986
$289,000 $188,000 $104,986
Saw this on that site, for a rent-to-own place:
“Rent to Own Terms: $3,000 down / $1,300 per month; $4,000 down / $1,250 per month; $5,000 down / $1,200 per month; $10,000 down / $1,000 per month.
Pay $100 over the required monthly rent and receive a $200 credit toward the down payment; pay $200 over the required monthly rent and receive a $400 credit toward the down payment.”
Do people actually fall for this rent-to-own stuff? Especially in this market, where the purchase price will be less next year and the year after?
“Rhonda Hogan of Hillsborough County, who owns two of the houses in question, allegedly has told Robertson that she must rent the houses until they are sold to avoid bank foreclosures.”
Now there’s a dilemma for the neighbors. Live with rowdy tourist renters while the owner claims to be trying to dump the properties, or suffer the even-worse property appearance if the houses are foreclosed and potential fall in comps that could result from a foreclosure sale/auction.