The Era Of Less In Florida
Miami Today reports from FLorida. “Despite suffering through one of the worst housing market crises, Miami’s residential market is now doing better than the rest of the nation. ‘You’re getting a lot of Venezuelans, Canadians, Brazilians because they feel like there’s a bargain,’ said Michael Pappas, president and CEO of The Keyes Co.”
The Sun Sentinel. “Lowly apartments, transformed into condominiums across South Florida during housing’s heyday, are now turning back into rentals. Unit owners are split on whether the move is a blessing or a bust. In many cases, these complexes went condo for no other reason than to satisfy the incredible demand for homes in the middle part of the past decade.”
“Those who bought at the height of the housing boom won’t break even in a sale for 10 years or more, said Jonathan Kingsley, a unit owner at a Hollywood condo that’s operating unofficially as a rental. ‘You might as well get out now at whatever loss you can,’ he said.”
The News Press. “Where developers once dreamed of towering riverfront condominiums, six parcels in downtown Fort Myers sit quietly now — waiting for their time to come. They’re still the subject of calculations if not acquisitions by potential investors, wary of carrying costs that could go on for years. Investors have to judge how long it will take for The Vue to become viable for the 27-story tower it’s been approved for by the city council, said commercial real estate broker Steve Luta., and that’s hard to calculate. ‘Is it a three-year hold? Five years? Ten years?’”
The Palm Beach Post. “People selling their homes in Palm Beach County lost money nearly 46 percent of the time during the third quarter of this year, according to Zillow. Jeff Shanley, president of Pembroke Pines-based Ambire Group Holdings, said it’s optimistic to think South Florida home values will hit bottom in 2012. Shanley’s company manages foreclosures for banks. He’s concerned about the growing shadow inventory of distressed homes that are either in foreclosure or already repossessed but not on the market.”
“‘We’re going to see this continued market dive for another five years,’ he said Monday as he waited for Habitat for Humanity to take unwanted furniture from a foreclosed condominium on Riviera Beach’s Singer Island. ‘Next year, you’ll start seeing the banks unloading these homes left and right.’”
From Florida Today. “About a fourth of all mortgages in Florida, and about 18 percent in Brevard County, are either delinquent or in foreclosure, according to the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta. With a backlog of homeowners delinquent on their mortgage payments, banks seem to be pacing their foreclosures and evictions.”
“‘It’s like an overcrowded bar,’ said Melbourne attorney Hurley Partin Whitaker, who handles bankruptcy and foreclosure cases. ‘When two (foreclosures) go out, the banks let two more in.’”
“A growing number of homeowners who are living in their homes without paying for them as they wait for the bank to force them out. ‘It was a matter of fighting off the foreclosure process. I’ve been stalling them off for three years,’ said one delinquent beachside mortgage holder who asked to remain anonymous because he didn’t want to draw his bank’s attention. The 50-ish construction worker bought a home three years ago but was quickly overwhelmed when the economy went sour and payments on his adjustable rate mortgage ballooned.”
“‘You get used to not answering the phone,’ he said. He is just trying to find steady work and waiting until the bank boots him from the house he hoped to own. ‘Where’s my bailout now?’ he wondered.”
From WTSP. “For several years, however, 10 News viewers facing foreclosure or trying to get a loan modification have called us and sent in e-mails to complain about Bank of America saying they’ve experieced runaround and have been told their paperwork was lost or missing. William Pfanakuck of Port Charlotte is a Bank of America customer who says he too has been frustrated with the bank. He owes more on his home than its worth.”
“Pfanakuck says, ‘I’ve been trying to deal with renegotiating the loan for about two years now. I’m hoping for at least a reasonable payment that I can start making to help my credit and get back on top.’”
The Lehigh Acres Citizen. “Some delinquent mortgage holders are defying lenders and staying in their homes while living for free, sometimes for years. They have attorneys pleading their cases causing the lengthy foreclosure process to take even longer. Sometimes, banks are not pushing to go to foreclosure because they do not want to increase their inventory of repossessed homes. AARP recently reported, ‘Florida retiree C. Light is still holding on to his three-bedroom home in the scenic Gulf Coast community of Cape Coral, as well as a five-bedroom residence in the town of Bartow. It’s been almost two years since he made a mortgage payment on either one.’”
The News Journal. “When Florida mandated a residential foreclosure mediation program two years ago, its creators hoped that joining lenders and borrowers together would plug the stream of foreclosure cases that swamped the court system. That hasn’t come close to happening, lawyers and bankers say.”
“Sandy Upchurch manages the foreclosure mediation program in the state’s 7th Judicial Circuit. Participation numbers in the circuit, as in the rest of the state, are low. At her office in Daytona Beach, three drawers in a filing cabinet are filled with foreclosed residents who never responded to her staff’s multiple attempts to reach them. ‘The reason why they’re not buying into the program in bigger numbers is they know they’re underwater and don’t want to save their house,’ said Upchurch, of the firm Upchurch Watson White and Max. ‘Or they have no money at all and can’t afford a lawyer, and don’t believe we’re actually a free service.’”
From Reuters. “In a recent Gallup poll, 66 percent of Americans ranked not having enough money for retirement as their top financial concern. That was up from 53 percent a decade ago. There are multiple reasons for reversals in gains in fighting elderly poverty, including the impact of the financial crisis on stock prices and interest rates, the end of many traditional defined-benefit pension plans which provided people with a guarantee of retirement income, and the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble.”
“59-year-old Orlando-based Realtor Margaret Davis says she has shelved plans to retire next year after losing 75 percent of her net worth in the economic crisis and Florida’s housing bust. A daughter of hard-working Cuban immigrants, who retired comfortably in south Florida, Davis is partly disabled and now plans on working for at least another 10 years.”
‘Davis’ $1,200 monthly health insurance premiums are covered through a home equity line of credit. ‘I was the American dream. I worked 80-hour weeks as a single mom. I worked like a dog, very successful. I never felt entitled. I didn’t do anything wrong. And my money’s gone,’ Davis said. ‘I’m devastated. I’m disgusted at how marginalized people are,’ she added, referring to what she described as the yawning gap between the very rich and everyone else. Whatever the American dream was, it’s now out of reach for the middle class, and that’s why people are scared and pissed off.’”
The Daily Record. “Jacksonville was just .02 points from escaping the red-shaded real estate investment ranks of ‘generally poor’ to reach the yellow-tinged tones of ‘fair.’ The investment rankings were reported in the ‘Emerging Trends in Real Estate’ report from Urban Land Institute and PwC, the brand name of member firms of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The 2011 report was called ‘The Era of Less.’ The 2012 edition is ‘Facing a Long Grind.’”
“ULI Chairman Peter Rummell, a 42-year veteran of the real estate industry, moderated a panel discussion about industry trends. Rummell, also chairman of the Jacksonville Civic Council, is chairman of ULI globally. ‘I think we’re part way through it,’ he said of the real estate recession. ‘I’ve been in this theater before, but this movie is different,’ he said. ‘This is a very long movie.’”
“Rummell said he is guarded about the next few years in real estate, except for apartments. ‘The era of a rising tide lifting all ships is gone,’ he said.”
‘It was a matter of fighting off the foreclosure process. I’ve been stalling them off for three years,’ said one delinquent beachside mortgage holder who asked to remain anonymous because he didn’t want to draw his bank’s attention. The 50-ish construction worker bought a home three years ago but was quickly overwhelmed when the economy went sour and payments on his adjustable rate mortgage ballooned.”
“‘You get used to not answering the phone,’ he said. He is just trying to find steady work and waiting until the bank boots him from the house he hoped to own. ‘Where’s my bailout now?’ he wondered.”
Three years without paying a mortgage: check
Bought the house at the peak with no skin in the game: check
Adjustable mortgage: check
House on the beach: check
Construction Worker: check
Over 50: check
Claims to be a victim: check
Well, he does live on the beach. So he has that going for him.
“Well, he does live on the beach.”
And I’m helping to fund his delinquency…from the desert.
AARP recently reported, ‘Florida retiree C. Light is still holding on to his three-bedroom home in the scenic Gulf Coast community of Cape Coral, as well as a five-bedroom residence in the town of Bartow. It’s been almost two years since he made a mortgage payment on either one.’”
Now the “victims” have two houses for “free”…
“Where is my bailout?” - Quick - call OWS and have them protest for you…
‘Bill Clinton Q&A’
‘Q: You support allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2013 which would disproportionately hit the wealthiest Americans. What do you say to those who believe this is class warfare?
A: It’s not class warfare. We’ve had the biggest increase in income inequality since 1981 in our history. It isn’t class warfare. It’s class warfare if we’re saying ‘rich people plundered the middle class and if we just brought them down to our level everything would be wonderful.’ That’s not what I’m saying.’
‘My argument is it’s not class warfare for asking for higher revenues to deal with the debt and to invest in what we need to.’
Q: What do you think of the (Occupy Wall Street) movement? Do you support them? A: Very sympathetic to what they said and with highlighting income inequality. One of the reasons I ran for President in 1991. I’ve been giving speeches about this since late 1980s. I’m thrilled. Ever since I left the White House I’ve been talking about how the whole world was too unequal, too unstable and not sustainable. I like that about Occupy Wall Street.’
Here’s your movement being co-opted protesters:
‘it’s not class warfare for asking for higher revenues…’
Do you think the govt is going to give this money to you? Or do you think they’ll spend it bombing the bejesus out of some brown people halfway around the world?
‘asking for higher revenues to deal with the debt’
Oh yeah, the debt owed to all those mega banks, (debt they buy with money borrowed from the Fed at 1% or less); gotta make sure they get paid.
‘and to invest in what we need to’
See, just give ol’ cuddly Bill the money, he’ll “invest” it for ya!
I voted for the man twice, but his time is over and he should be quiet. So should Alan Greenspan, Dick Cheney, and everybody else who spent the last twenty years engineering the mess we find ourselves in.
I will never forget Billy Boy and his NAFTA signing. Yep, he sure did his part for “income inequality”.
I’m personally still confused over what the definition of “is” is. And now Herman Cain has added to the confusion, thanks to the vast liberal conspiracy which is trying to wrongfully pin sexual harassment charges on him.
“Scenic” Cape Coral? That’s funny. Most of the towns trees were bulldozed decades ago to make way for the thousands upon thousands of residential lots that were sold to unsuspecting northerners. Of course the developers didn’t think about also creating enough space for commercial use, creating the problem today of too many houses, not enough businesses.
“Lowly apartments, transformed into condominiums across South Florida during housing’s heyday, are now turning back into rentals.”
Repartments are the new black.
“A growing number of homeowners who are living in their homes without paying for them as they wait for the bank to force them out. …‘Where’s my bailout now?’ he wondered.”
What additional bailout is he hoping to receive in addition to three years of rent-free living in a home he doesn’t own?
Your “not a lawyer” is showing again, Bear.
He does own it. He owns it until someone else who has the right to take it from him does so. The fact that someone could take it from him means nothing until that someone actually does it. Nature abhors a vacuum and real estate law abhors a break in the chain of title. You can’t say X has lost ownership until Y takes ownership.
“He does own it.”
Now I fully grasp why my colleague at work is often heard to say, ‘Possession is 90% of the law.’
“Florida retiree C. Light is still holding on to his three-bedroom home in the scenic Gulf Coast community of Cape Coral, as well as a five-bedroom residence in the town of Bartow.”
______________________________/
Cape Coral and Bartow. That’s a pair of deuces right there. And I can’t say I’ve heard anyone describe Cape Coral as “scenic” before. Maybe they have it confused with Cape Cod.
I’ve located his records on the property appraisers’ websites for those counties; after purchasing the Cape Coral house in 2002, he bought the Bartow house, which is 4,350 square feet, in August 2005, right at the bubble peak for $345,000. For those who haven’t been there, Bartow is a low-wage phosphate mining town.
One thrust of these articles I agree with: mass retirement soon will be seen for what it is — a historical anomaly limited to particular circumstances which are now ending. In the future nearly all of us will work until we physically cannot. The consequences to areas with economies tied to retirees will be severe. How many people in this state know that?
One thrust of these articles I agree with: mass retirement soon will be seen for what it is — a historical anomaly limited to particular circumstances which are now ending. In the future nearly all of us will work until we physically cannot. The consequences to areas with economies tied to retirees will be severe. How many people in this state know that?
In the book The Retirement Myth, Craig Karpel said the same thing. He predicted that widespread retirement would disappear.
“He predicted that widespread retirement would disappear.”
And how that will happen might be a whole lot different than one may imagine. When things fall apart, they fall apart fast and I think we’re at the tipping point.
I have a front row seat to snowbird season. “They’re BAAAACK!” Oblivious as ever.
What are these folks gonna do when TSHTF, which could be any day now?
Skepticism isn’t necessarily good for your health or popularity, regardless of how old you are. It’s just a lot easier not to ask questions.
I dunno, snake, skepticism has been good for my health in some ways, such as avoiding scams and creeps, etc.
Many of the retirees around here are in their own little bubble, as long as they got their little winter nest, Social Security, Medicare Advantage plan, golf cart and early bird (and Viagra if you’re an old goat), life’s good. But it’s unsustainable at this point.
I think the “I got mine” attitude is about get the wind knocked out of it.
Of course, I said this last year and nothing’s changed yet.
Bartow, the county seat of Polk county, is a nice little town where middle-class people actually still live and work downtown. That said, a $345,000.00 house is about triple the average price of one of those downtown area homes.
Heh. To each his own. I can tell from your handle that you are much better suited to that area than me. One thing it does have is good fishing in some of those old pits.
From WTSP. “For several years, however, 10 News viewers facing foreclosure or trying to get a loan modification have called us and sent in e-mails to complain about Bank of America saying they’ve experieced runaround and have been told their paperwork was lost or missing. William Pfanakuck of Port Charlotte is a Bank of America customer who says he too has been frustrated with the bank. He owes more on his home than its worth.”
I’m convinced that there’s a Department of Vanishing Paperwork over at the Bank of America. It’s located next to the Office of Robosigning.
“A daughter of hard-working Cuban immigrants, who retired comfortably in south Florida, Davis is partly disabled and now plans on working for at least another 10 years.”
Tell it to your boy Marco Rubio. He’s got solutions.
The part that really bopped me over the head was her $1,200-a-month health insurance premium. I don’t know about the rest of you, but if my insurance ever got that high, I’d just drop the damn policy. No insurance is worth that much money. Especially when you consider that it’s just insurance, not health care.
True story about a friend: Both she and her husband are unemployed. And wouldn’t you know it, she was recently diagnosed with Graves Disease. For which she needs treatment.
I’m hearing through the grapevine that she’s getting some sort of free care. And I’m also hearing that it’s much better than what she would be getting if both she and her husband were employed and had that crappy employer-provided insurance that’s so prevalent nowadays.
Moral of my friend’s story: Insurance ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Say, WTF happened there in AZ to my man Russel Pearce? Recalled????!!!! In favor of a RINO????!!!!
Sounds to me as if a lot of, uh, non-citizens got to vote. Either that, or AZ has already fallen to Mexico.
Of course, we’re going down that road too, here in FLA. Except LaRaza doesn’t have a firm political target yet.
I think free care is available but you’d better not have much in assets or income.
‘The era of a rising tide lifting all ships is gone,’ he said.”
One of the commentators over at Zero Hedge wrote a piece called “A Rising Cesspool Lifts All Floaters”. Love it.
I think that’s what we’re seeing right now, on a number of fronts, political, financial, entertainment, sports, etc. The cesspool is rising and the floaters are coming to the top.
‘The era of a rising tide lifting all ships is gone,’
Welcome to the era of a rising tsunami tide sinking all ships.
South Florida is definitely an interesting marketing… many different incomes and cultures. Hopefully the housing marketing can improve there and everywhere.
Me too, catawba county nc real estate,
South Florida is working off of a totally new economic model than any of us have ever experienced in the past. I predicts that a limited supply of land coupled with demand from baby boomers and foreigners will prolong the boom indefinitely.
They are working off an entirely different model there.
Oops — sorry Muggy; didn’t notice until it was too late that you beat me to the punch.
No problem. We keep it real, like original haranguesters do.
Why does the blogger harangue? Because he is a blogger.
Lol.
Has anyone been to Legoland yet?
No, but I have seen pictures–there’s a lego model of downtown Tampa, to scale. My brother and I played with legos quite a bit as kids, so I might be willing to pay the place a visit.
Yet? I was there in Carlsbad a few years ago with my family.