<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/utility/FeedStylesheets/atom.xsl" media="screen"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xml:lang="en"><title type="html">Katie Creek</title><subtitle type="html" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/atom.aspx</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/default.aspx" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/atom.aspx" /><generator uri="http://communityserver.org" version="2.1.61019.2">Community Server</generator><updated>2009-02-27T09:14:00Z</updated><entry><title>SHORT SALE UPDATE</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/07/14/short-sale-update.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/07/14/short-sale-update.aspx</id><published>2010-07-14T18:03:00Z</published><updated>2010-07-14T18:03:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I just got finished doing a new site about short sales.&amp;nbsp; You can view this site at:&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.shesellshortsales.com" title="SHORT SALES Q &amp;amp; A&amp;#39;S"&gt;www.SheSellShortSales.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although it&amp;#39;s rather lengthy it does give you some insight on short sales and the process that we go through.&amp;nbsp; Short Sales do not happen overnight although with plenty of perserverance, it will get done!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;Here are a few things that I&amp;#39;ve learned through my journey this last few weeks, and I thought that I would take this opportunity to share them with you!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri" size="3"&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;It appears that interest rates will continue to stay low for a while longer, however lenders are warning that inflation is about to hit and the rates will begin to rise soon.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Some are talking double digits by the end of next year.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s certainly hope not, but history does repeat itself!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Short Sales should remain plentiful as lenders are currently holding back many homes to help our market stabilize.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;I look for Short Sales to continue for a few more years.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Our economy will be the determining factor when we really are &amp;ldquo;through the worst of it&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Also, did you know that De-Cluttering and Home Staging will bring you the most return on your investment dollar?&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;As a Realtor and ASP (Accredited Staging Professional) I can show you the way to get your home ready for sale and reap that ROI&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Cleaning and de-cluttering remains in the top priority.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;A whopping 872% return according to&amp;hellip;&amp;hellip;seems like I can clean and clean my closets, but the clutter always wants to remain!!!!&lt;br /&gt;Second place is held by Home Staging with a WHOPPING 586% return.&lt;br /&gt;Third, and usually not realized is Lighting and Brightness...one that is often overlooked can cost you.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The return on this investment?&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;572% bet ya didn&amp;#39;t know that one..???&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Forth, landscaping.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Did you know that when selling Real Estate that this is the very first impression that people get.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s not the inside&amp;hellip;but the outside that can really sell a home!&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;This return come in at 473%. and one again that could be overlooked.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Did you know that I&amp;nbsp;once showed property listing&amp;nbsp;that never once mentioned the beautiful Koi (humm...this may not be spelled right, but you know what I mean) pond.&amp;nbsp; It was so beautiful and I was so shocked when I walked up on it.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Needless to say, I felt&amp;nbsp;sad that&amp;nbsp;this was not even mentioned in the MLS listing.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Inexpensive home improvements &amp;amp; just basic&amp;nbsp;cleaning will greatly enhance the value of a home along with the salability and selling price. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Katie Creek&lt;br /&gt;727-415-4669&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hudsonbeachpeach.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;www.HudsonBeachPeach.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.SheSellShortSales.com" title="Short Sales Q &amp;amp; A"&gt;www.SheSellShortSales.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=714487" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Announcements" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Announcements/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="florida" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/florida/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>5 + ACRES WITH KEY WEST STYLE HOME</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/06/13/5-acres-with-key-west-style-home.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/06/13/5-acres-with-key-west-style-home.aspx</id><published>2010-06-13T11:27:00Z</published><updated>2010-06-13T11:27:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;AT THE END of a cul-de-sac sets a newer home on Wild Cat in New Port Richey.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Complete with beautiful inground pool come home to the peace and tranquility that is deserved in this 3 bedroom, (possibly 4 or more) 3 bath home, and 3 car garage on 5 + Acres complete with pond.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Entertain in your tiled pool area surrounded on both each side by your home.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Look out over the pool area from all area&amp;#39;s of the home through the french doors and watch mother nature at her finest, where the deer and turkey stay.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Could be used for horses if you have them, and&amp;nbsp;also could be used as Nanny or Mother-in-Law Suite.&amp;nbsp; Close to all the &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Make sure you check out this home by giving me a call at your convenience.&amp;nbsp; Or check this out online at:&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.realestatehomesflorida.com/"&gt;http://www.RealEstateHomesFlorida.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Katie Creek&lt;br /&gt;Florida Luxury Realty&lt;br /&gt;727-415-4669&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=694130" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="florida" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/florida/default.aspx" /><category term="beaches" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/beaches/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>Single Story For Sale in Willow Woods</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/04/24/8e3cd86915314825b1a9cfd526c27720.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/04/24/8e3cd86915314825b1a9cfd526c27720.aspx</id><published>2010-04-24T11:48:00Z</published><updated>2010-04-24T11:48:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p align="center" style="float:right;margin-left:10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/Dunedin/Florida/Homes/Pinellas/Willow_Woods/Agent/Listing_2927454.html"&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.point2.com/p2a/listing/0d81/32b2/b601/13dc08d779f11a22f4bd/w475h356.jpg" class="Photo ListingPhoto" alt="161 Chelsea 001" border="0" style="border:black 1px solid;"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span class="cutline"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IN THE HEART OF DUNEDIN&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="summary" style="margin-top:0px;"&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span&gt;1,176 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;-&lt;/span&gt; &lt;img border="0" id="Price_mi" src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/OFFICE/PortalOfficeShared/images/1x1.gif" style="position:absolute;width:34px;height:20px;" title="MLS&amp;reg; #7413483" /&gt; &lt;span id="Price_r" style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;font-weight:bold;"&gt;MLS&amp;reg;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span id="Price_pl"&gt;$139,900&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;- ESTATE SALE&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="dateline" id="LeadIn" style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Willow Woods, Dunedin&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; NEW PRICE, PAINT and CARPET in this ESTATE IN THE HEART OF DUNEDIN. Great community, great area, and fantastic location!!! This 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1 car garage home is much larger than it appears. Eat in Kitchen area with Refrigerator, Range, Microwave, Dishwasher and Pantry. Plenty of kitchen cabinets for those extra pots and pans!! Living/Dining/Great Room Combination with Cathedral Ceilings, with walk out sliders to the Large Lanai. Great Master Bedroom with walk in closet and private bathing area, also boasts sliders to the outside Lanai where you can view the pool and tennis courts. Master bath with setting area and closet holds plenty of your linens! 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are both generous with large wardrobe area. Tile in Both baths.&lt;br /&gt;Low Maintenance Fees of only $85. a month includes: Lawn, Cable, Trash and Grounds upkeep. American Home Shield Home Warranty is already in place and transferrable to buyer! OWNER SAYS SELL!!!! &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/Dunedin/Florida/Homes/Pinellas/Willow_Woods/Agent/Listing_2927454.html"&gt;Property information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=664634" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="florida" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/florida/default.aspx" /><category term="beaches" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/beaches/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>IS A SHORT SALE HOME A GREAT DEAL?  YOU DECIDE!!!</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/03/28/is-a-short-sale-home-a-great-deal-you-decide.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/03/28/is-a-short-sale-home-a-great-deal-you-decide.aspx</id><published>2010-03-28T12:35:00Z</published><updated>2010-03-28T12:35:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;This depends upon a few different things,&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;first how much the home initially is, second if the lender will accept your offer, third you&amp;rsquo;ve heard this before, location, location, location, forth, what the &lt;u&gt;&amp;ldquo;real cost&lt;/u&gt;&amp;rdquo; of the home is.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;While many great deals are out there classified as &amp;ldquo;Short Sales&amp;rdquo; there are a few things that a buyer should be aware of.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;First and foremost, has the lender OK&amp;rsquo;D the price of this home?&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;In other words told the listing agent that they will sell this home at a certain price?&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s been my experience that there&amp;nbsp;are some agent&amp;rsquo;s low balling the selling price of a home to get multiple offers on a home.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Thus creating an auction like process.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;Best suggestion before making an offer on a home is to check and see if there are multiple offers.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;This will not only influence your offer but, what you offer will be carefully looked over by the lender.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;Another thing that many people don&amp;rsquo;t realize is the cost of a short sale as lenders now are doing several different things to regain some of their losses.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;First, they may try and negotiate an offer, by asking for a higher selling price.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Second, they may ask that you pay the DOC Stamps on the Selling price of the home.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Third, they may ask for you to pay Title Insurance, or possibly both. Forth, they may ask for the buyer to pay all Closing Cost.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Fifth, be aware&amp;nbsp;many lenders will not turn on the electric or water for your inspections leaving you &amp;ldquo;in the dark&amp;rdquo; about what may (or may not) be wrong with the home.&amp;nbsp; Of course, you can pay for this if wanted.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;So, let&amp;rsquo;s take a look at a 100,000 home for instance.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;If you are asked to pay Title Insurance on this home, it could be around $775.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Doc Stamps would run approximately $700.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; C&lt;/span&gt;ommissions vary but with 6% commission your cost would be $6000.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;And, administration fees, they vary now anywhere from around $250 to $399.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;So you see, closing costs on a home can really adds up.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;Your $100,000. Home just cost you about $108,000. More or less.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;However, if you need to purchase a mortgage for this home there will be other charges, the mortgage company will charge you for the mortgage, this usually varies from lender to lender.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Along with this charge there will be Escrow for the insurance company, (this is usually one year in advance) Escrow for your taxes.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;You may want a Home Warranty then there is another charge, and so on and so on.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;So, it could be by the time you are looking to purchase that $100,000. Home it may cost you more like $120,000.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Then it becomes your call if you think the home is worth the extra monies.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;By the way, the selling price of the home remains the same of $100,000.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;All the while,&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;this process could take several months to complete!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;Hope this helps in your process of purchasing a &amp;ldquo;Short Sale&amp;rdquo;.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri"&gt;Katie&lt;br /&gt;Florida Luxury Realty&lt;br /&gt;727-415-4669&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=644261" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="condo" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/condo/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>COUNTRYSIDES BEST KEPT SECRET</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/02/21/countrysides-best-kept-secret.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/02/21/countrysides-best-kept-secret.aspx</id><published>2010-02-21T17:54:00Z</published><updated>2010-02-21T17:54:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Tucked way back off the major roads is this quaint little spot called Bonaventure.&amp;nbsp; If you haven&amp;#39;t been there and are looking for a property please drive back there to see the huge oaks, and&amp;nbsp;layout of this quite complex.&amp;nbsp;This is where I have a listing that is just what the First time home buyer may be looking for.&amp;nbsp; Priced to SELL with Owners motivated, this 2 bedroom split floor plan condo is only a short walk to the Pool and Excercise Room.&amp;nbsp; The Lanai area contains a&amp;nbsp;storage unit for&amp;nbsp;your washer and dryer, is open but screened in, and a perfect location to have that moring cup of Java.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For those cool winter nights you have a WOOD BURNING FIREPLACE!!&amp;nbsp; Perfect if you want to just snuggle up with a great book or watch some TV while the fireplace keeps your home warm and toasty inside.&amp;nbsp; No need to turn on the heat or worry what to do if the electric goes out!!!&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Location is Great with CLEARWATER-ST. PETERSBURGS AIRPORT AND TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT just minutes away.&amp;nbsp; Countryside Mall is within 10 minutes (mol), and International Plaza is close by.&amp;nbsp; All your favorite restaurants are close by, along with many of our famous beach areas!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Maintenance is reasonable and covers most everything.&amp;nbsp; Kitchen is Large and has all your Major appliances.&amp;nbsp; Plenty of Storage space and a huge pantry.&amp;nbsp; Large Master bedroom with Master Bath and walk in closet and this happens to be a GROUND FLOOR UNIT.&amp;nbsp; Best part of this is that it is&amp;nbsp;NOT A&amp;nbsp;SHORT SALE!&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Katie Creek&lt;br /&gt;727-415-4669&lt;br /&gt;Florida Luxury Realty&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://RealEstateHomesFlorida.com" title="COUNTRYSIDES BEST KEPT SECRET"&gt;http://RealEstateHomesFlorida.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=622210" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="tax credit" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/tax+credit/default.aspx" /><category term="airports" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/airports/default.aspx" /><category term="florida" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/florida/default.aspx" /><category term="beaches" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/beaches/default.aspx" /><category term="condo" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/condo/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>THE MORTGAGE REVOLUTION:  WALKING AWAY</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/01/27/the-mortgage-revolution-walking-away.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2010/01/27/the-mortgage-revolution-walking-away.aspx</id><published>2010-01-27T14:51:00Z</published><updated>2010-01-27T14:51:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;The following article appeared on Housing Watch by Alyssa Kalz, January 25, 2010.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;After sending it email to many of my friends I got such feedback that I wanted to share this with many of you.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:red;font-size:12pt;"&gt;THE NEW MORTGAGE REVOLUTION:&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;WALK AWAY!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Big real estate developers do it all the time - like yesterday, when the owner of New York City&amp;#39;s Stuyvesant Town complex decided to stop paying its $3 billion mortgage. So why are you still writing a check every month on that mortgage that&amp;#39;s much bigger than your home is actually worth? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Good question, &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/business/economy/24view.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#004173;"&gt;University of Chicago economist Richard Thaler&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; says. Thaler tells &lt;em&gt;New York Times&lt;/em&gt; readers that it&amp;#39;s not just alright to walk away from one&amp;#39;s over-sized mortgage -- it may actually be a moral imperative. (&lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10FOB-wwln-t.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#004173;"&gt;An earlier &lt;em&gt;Times&lt;/em&gt; article&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, by Roger Lowenstein, said much the same thing.) After all, lenders had no second thoughts about lending more than many borrowers could afford or than the homes might actually be worth. It&amp;#39;s just not fair to expect borrowers to follow rules that the lenders don&amp;#39;t.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But why stop there? Some commentators are now calling on borrowers to start a mass mortgage strike. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/8/822987/-Remember-Burning-Draft-Cards-Burn-Your-Mortgage." target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#004173;"&gt;&amp;quot;Remember burning draft cards? Burn your mortgage,&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the blog DailyKos told readers recently:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&amp;quot;The real risk to the banks and investors is that the people in those homes might just decide to walk away. And that&amp;#39;s what we must do. Doesn&amp;#39;t have to be everybody, of course; but anyone who finds themselves seriously underwater with no hope of ever recouping their investment....just walk away Renee. Morality has nothing to do with it. You are a cog in the wheel of a machine that is killing this country and if you remain a cog you enable it. Remove your cog and the machine will not keep running. Remove millions of cogs and the machine gets replaced.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Now the call for a borrowers&amp;#39; revolt is being joined by folks who know an opportunity when they see it: real estate agents. Over the past month, agents have been rushing to declare 2010 &amp;quot;the year of the strategic default.&amp;quot; Here&amp;#39;s &lt;a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/1368563/2010-year-of-the-strategic-default-" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#004173;"&gt;Connecticut Realtor Minna Reid&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Loan modifications do not address the real problem of heavy negative equity and are sure to fail most of the time. Even if the homeowner lowers their current payment they are left more trapped than ever. There will be no quick recovery this time. Years later when there is a need to HAVE TO move, the original problem of being upside down remains and the modified homeowner is left to short sell or foreclose once again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Isn&amp;#39;t it better to just cut the losses upfront ?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know many will consider strategic default wrong or immoral, but as for me, I stopped passing judgment long ago.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Reid is far from the only real estate agent using mass revolt against the banks as a sales strategy. &lt;a href="http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20100125_sandiego.htm" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#004173;"&gt;San Diego broker Bob Schwartz&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; asks, &amp;quot;How many homeowners will suddenly wake up to the fact that their home is now worth tens of thousands of dollars less than their mortgage balance? Only the naive will believe that their San Diego home&amp;#39;s value will bounce back anytime soon.... Defaulting &amp;quot;strategically&amp;quot; can entice more walk-aways by buying all the major items they may need in the near future, such as a car or even a house, right before they take a hike. As long as you stay current with other mortgage lenders, one could potentially have a good credit standing in 2 years after the walk-away.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And Phoenix agent Bob Stahl joins the chorus, &lt;a href="http://bobstahl.topproducerblogs.com/?p=374" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#004173;"&gt;assuring borrowers that a strategic default followed by a short sale&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; won&amp;#39;t hurt their ability to get a mortgage in the future. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Many of the agents calling for a mass movement of strategic defaulters specialize in short sales -- selling a home for less than the mortgage on it &amp;ndash; something that mortgage servicers will often only consider once a borrower has begun to miss payments. It&amp;#39;s ironic that after years of helping push prices up to maximize commissions, real estate agents are now pushing borrowers to dump their properties in short sales, so they can jump in and close a deal. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Still, they may be on to something. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Calling for mass strategic defaults is the equivalent of shouting &amp;quot;fire&amp;quot; in a crowded theater, prompting a stampede to the exits, and stampedes can leave a lot of people hurt &amp;ndash; in this case, all the homeowners who live next door to the borrowers who stop paying, and suddenly see their property values plummet. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But there&amp;#39;s also potential for millions of borrowers to gain if strategic defaults occur on a large scale. &lt;a href="http://www.housingwire.com/2009/11/24/23-of-all-borrowers-underwater-says-first-american-corelogic/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#004173;"&gt;Nearly one in four borrowers nationally owes at least 20 percent more&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; on mortgages than their home is actually worth, and in Nevada and Arionza it&amp;#39;s more than half. &lt;em&gt;The Wall Street Journal&lt;/em&gt; reports that about 1 million borrowers deliberately decided to stop paying their mortgages in 2009, or one in four of all mortgage defaults. When a critical mass of borrowers stops paying, it makes lenders &amp;ndash; really, we&amp;#39;re talking about the investors in mortgage-backed securities -- a whole lot more receptive to the idea of lowering the principal borrowers owe on their mortgages to persuade them that it&amp;#39;s worth continuing to pay. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;People are spending far more on mortgage and ownership costs than they would to rent the same unit and there is almost no realistic prospect that there will ever get equity in many of these homes,&amp;quot; says Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and author of the book &lt;em&gt;False Profits: Recovering From the Bubble Economy&lt;/em&gt;. &amp;quot;Walking away will save them money and also free up money for consumption, thereby providing a boost to the economy. Banks will likely be far more forgiving of people who default in this crisis than they would ordinarily be. This isn&amp;#39;t altruism -- they want to be able to make loans.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;This is just one of the articles in Housing Watch...Here&amp;#39;s the link:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.housingwatch.com/"&gt;http://www.housingwatch.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;Katie Creek&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;727-415-4669&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:kdsrealestate@yahoo.com"&gt;kdsrealestate@yahoo.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';color:black;font-size:12pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=605074" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Richard Thaler" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Richard+Thaler/default.aspx" /><category term="underwater mortgage" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/underwater+mortgage/default.aspx" /><category term="mortgage srike" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/mortgage+srike/default.aspx" /><category term="Roger Lowenstein" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Roger+Lowenstein/default.aspx" /><category term="strategic default" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/strategic+default/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>NEW SHORT SALE GUIDELINES MAY HELP YOU RESTART</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/12/04/new-short-sale-guidelines-may-help-you-restart.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/12/04/new-short-sale-guidelines-may-help-you-restart.aspx</id><published>2009-12-04T11:27:00Z</published><updated>2009-12-04T11:27:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I just received the following from my title company.&amp;nbsp; This may help if your possibly thinking about a Short Sale and moving to another location.&lt;br /&gt;Here are the Guidelines, see if you qualify!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:14pt;"&gt;Government Announces &lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1259924221_0" style="border-bottom:#0066cc 1px dashed;cursor:hand;"&gt;Short Sales&lt;/span&gt; Guidelines&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;The U.S. &lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1259924221_1" style="border-bottom:medium none;background:none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%;cursor:hand;"&gt;Treasury Department&lt;/span&gt; announced new guidelines this week designed to make short sales go more smoothly. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;Scheduled to launch in April 2010, the Home Affordable &lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1259924221_2"&gt;Foreclosure&lt;/span&gt; Alternatives Program (HAFA) will offer up to $3,500 in incentive payments to qualified borrowers, servicers and investors who complete &lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1259924221_3" style="border-bottom:#0066cc 1px dashed;cursor:hand;"&gt;short sale&lt;/span&gt; transactions for properties with loans on the verge of foreclosure. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;HAFA allows the borrower to receive pre-approved short sale terms before the property is listed and frees them from future liability for the debt. Also, servicers utilizing the program are prohibited from requiring a reduction in the real estate commission agreed to in the listing agreement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;To qualify under these new guidelines:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;The property must be the home owner&amp;rsquo;s principal residence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;The home owner must be delinquent on the mortgage or close to defaulting.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;The loan must have been made before Jan. 1, 2009, and be for less than $729,750.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;The borrowers&amp;rsquo; total monthly mortgage payment must exceed 31 percent of their before-tax income.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;The following incentives will apply:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:10pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol;font-size:10pt;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;middot;&lt;span style="line-height:normal;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-size:7pt;font-weight:normal;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:10pt;"&gt;The borrowers will receive $1,500 from the government for relocation expenses. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol;font-size:10pt;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;middot;&lt;span style="line-height:normal;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-size:7pt;font-weight:normal;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:10pt;"&gt;The mortgage-servicing companies will receive a $1,000 from the government to cover administration and processing costs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol;font-size:10pt;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;middot;&lt;span style="line-height:normal;font-variant:normal;font-style:normal;font-size:7pt;font-weight:normal;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="line-height:115%;font-size:10pt;"&gt;Investors who hold the first mortgage will receive up to $1,000.00 from the government for allowing the second-mortgage holders to receive up to $3,000.00 of the sales proceeds in exchange for releasing their liens.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;In total, each transaction under HAFA will cost the Treasury up to $3,500 in incentive payments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:10pt;"&gt;&lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1259924221_4"&gt;Borrowers&lt;/span&gt; who complete a short sale under the program must be &amp;quot;fully released&amp;quot; from future liability for the debt, according to the guidelines.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:11pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Courtsey Keystone Title&lt;br /&gt;Port Richey, FL&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Katie Creek&lt;br /&gt;727-415-4669&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.RealEstateHomesFlorida.com" title="New Short Sale Guidelines"&gt;www.RealEstateHomesFlorida.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=578940" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="Announcements" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Announcements/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>AMERICAN FORECLOSURES KEEP ON LOOMING</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/11/27/american-foreclosures-keep-on-looming.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/11/27/american-foreclosures-keep-on-looming.aspx</id><published>2009-11-27T21:32:00Z</published><updated>2009-11-27T21:32:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;As the economy continues to get blasted from all ends, mainstream Americans are seeing their homes value continue to plummet.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Recent reports show that more than 23% of people that have a mortgage on their property owe more than it is worth. &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;Another &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;2.3 million that are within 5 % of being underwater (meaning, owing more than their home is worth) bringing the total to approximately 28 percent.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Being a Realtor in these tough times is not the easiest thing in the world to do.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Owners can&amp;rsquo;t get out of their homes to take on another job, or afford to retire to another location if they would like.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Their previous &amp;ldquo;nest egg&amp;rdquo; has seen much better days, and walking away from a home may not be the best option for them.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Although, I have to admit, I have seen it done.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;With all the Federal Programs out there to help people now, you would think that the lenders would be willing to help out these people however; only about one in five actually are getting help from the lenders.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;It seems that they would prefer to foreclose on a property than to try and help the owners stay in their homes.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;So, let&amp;rsquo;s take a look at the picture from my point of view.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Lender not willing to help owners,&lt;br /&gt;Lender then proceeds with the Foreclosure Process&lt;br /&gt;Lender hires an attorney (not cheap) &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Attorney files all paperwork&lt;br /&gt;Now were in the court house stage, where this could set for a year or so.&lt;br /&gt;Meanwhile, owner is living on or in the property without paying anything to lender.&lt;br /&gt;Short Sale may be an option.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;However, owner may not have cash to bring to closing table.&lt;br /&gt;People then move, via Short Sale or Foreclosure.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Have you any idea what the price tag of this maybe?&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Needless to say if the house has been abandoned, repairs may need to be done, lawn needs to be mowed (extra expense as county will mow) or anything extra that may need to be done could fall back on the lender.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;However, most sales are &amp;ldquo;as is&amp;rdquo; therefore, you better know what you&amp;rsquo;re buying. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;In the meantime, the lender has lost a year or so worth of payments, had to pay an attorney, perhaps even a Realtor.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;I have said it before and I&amp;rsquo;ll say it again.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;If a lender can afford to give someone access to a home for 4% interest to start, do you think that this lender is making money?&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Of course they are!&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Just not as much as they would like to up front, but plan on it, on the back end.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;With that being said, while the Lenders are giving themselves HUGE BONUSES &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;you, the average, hard working middle class American take the hit for more taxation and more control by the Government! &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Wall Street and the Players of bigger Government have proven to us repetitiously, that they cannot restraint themselves when it comes to the American Taxpayer Monies.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;This being said, if we don&amp;rsquo;t soon find ourselves someone with real common sense when it comes to matters such as these we may want to consider what our next lifestyle may be.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Perhaps a commune?&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;UNDERWATER MORTGAGES:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:'Arial','sans-serif';"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;California:&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;35 Percent&lt;br /&gt;Michigan: &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;37 Percent&lt;br /&gt;Florida: &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;45 Percent&lt;br /&gt;Arizona:&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;48 Percent&lt;br /&gt;Nevada:&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;65 Percent&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;"&gt;&lt;font face="Calibri" size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;Katie Creek&lt;br /&gt;727-415-4669&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.realestatehomesflorida.com/"&gt;www.RealEstateHomesFlorida.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=576400" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Announcements" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Announcements/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>THE GOOD, BAD or UGLY HISTORIC HOME CHART</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/11/11/the-good-bad-or-ugly-historic-home-chart.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/11/11/the-good-bad-or-ugly-historic-home-chart.aspx</id><published>2009-11-11T16:29:00Z</published><updated>2009-11-11T16:29:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;A few months ago I had the privilege of watching Glenn Beck.&amp;nbsp; He is a huge fan of mine as I feel he is one of the most upfront commentators on the tube today.&amp;nbsp; The episode that he had on was a chilling tale of what we may be headed for and I think that most Americans would agree that History just may be repeating itself again like it has so many times in the past.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even though this video is now 9 months old, it&amp;rsquo;s nice to review the chart he created of the American Home sales where they were in what&amp;nbsp;era (which got my attention as a Realtor) and where they may actually be headed.&amp;nbsp; Because many of you do not work in Real Estate you may not feel the same effects that I do, but I think it would behoove us all to take notice of this video and think about it seriously.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;font-size:9pt;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://app.quickblogcast.com/bcCreateEntry.aspx?id=1978278##"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/22010/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:12pt;"&gt;http://glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/22010/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;font-size:9pt;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;font-size:9pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Since this has been broadcasted we have had the First Time Homebuyers Program, a National Stabilization Program, a Lease Back Program and now a tax credit for people that want to move if they have been in their home for 5 years or more.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Interest &lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;is remaining low and is projected to creep up gradually.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Inventory is still quite high here in the State of Florida, and the prices are exceptional.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;All of these incentives for you to move or to buy a home and yet today, a national poll states that only 5% of American expect to move this coming year.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Please watch this video and give me your feedback.&amp;nbsp; I would love to hear what your opinion is of this either way....good or bad.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As they Say &amp;quot;the proof will be in the pudding&amp;quot;.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#191389;"&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Katie&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:#336699;"&gt;727-415-4669&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.realestatehomesflorida.com/"&gt;http://www.RealEstateHomesFlorida.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=569562" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>HEY, WHERE'S THE STIMULUS MONEY?</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/05/05/hey-where-s-the-stimulus-money.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/05/05/hey-where-s-the-stimulus-money.aspx</id><published>2009-05-05T12:26:00Z</published><updated>2009-05-05T12:26:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;Where The&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; STIMULUS&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Money Went&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Despite hundreds of billions of dollars given to banks in late 2008 and early 2009, they&amp;#39;re plainly not lending as much as they could. Instead, much of the money has gone to build up capital, acquire other companies and make sure that no executive misses a fat paycheck for the leadership efforts that created the mortgage meltdown in the first place. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;As an example, the New York state comptroller&amp;#39;s office &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/jan09/012809.htm"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;says&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt; that in 2008 &amp;ldquo;the bonus pool paid by the securities industry to its employees in New York City totaled $18.4 billion in 2008 based on personal income tax collections and other factors, including industry revenue and expense trends. This represents a decline of 44 percent compared with the $32.9 billion paid in 2007. The decline is the largest on record in absolute dollars and the largest percentage decline in more than 30 years, but the size of the bonus pool is still the sixth largest on record.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;It was Adam Smith who said we are each guided by the&lt;strong&gt; &amp;ldquo;invisible hand of self-interest.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/strong&gt; In the case of the nation&amp;#39;s banking system there&amp;#39;s nothing invisible about it. &lt;strong&gt;Money from the U.S. government that was plainly intended to restore the lending process has instead been diverted into lender vaults and executive accounts. Having been spent for other purposes, that money is simply unavailable to mortgage borrowers, regardless of their credit standing or the value of their homes. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;So, this explains to&amp;nbsp;me why I have a First Time Homebuyer that has been waiting for almost 2 months for a CLEAR TO CLOSE.&amp;nbsp; Thank GOD for patient sellers!!&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Any comments please feel free to email me at: &lt;a href="mailto:kdsrealestate@yahoo.com"&gt;kdsrealestate@yahoo.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;Katie&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;727-415-4669&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#404a4f;font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com" title="HEY, WHERE&amp;#39;S THE STIMULUS MONEY?"&gt;www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=463663" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Announcements" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Announcements/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Product Reviews" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Product+Reviews/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>CHINESE DRYWALL CONSUMER SCAM</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/04/30/chinese-drywall-consumer-scam.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/04/30/chinese-drywall-consumer-scam.aspx</id><published>2009-04-30T13:56:00Z</published><updated>2009-04-30T13:56:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;h2 style="text-align:center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:large;color:#ff0000;"&gt;Please&amp;nbsp;Tell anyone you know that may&lt;br /&gt;have purchased a home recently, where&lt;br /&gt;this may be a concern&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:large;color:#ff0000;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h2 style="text-align:center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:large;color:#ff0000;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h2 style="text-align:center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:large;color:#ff0000;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:large;color:#ff0000;"&gt;CONSUMER ALERT!!!&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;AVOID THIS CHINESE DRYWALL SCAM&lt;span id="1240832904802E" style="display:none;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h2 style="text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:#000000;"&gt;At least two types of fraudulent activity involving the defective drywall have been reported to the Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum&amp;rsquo;s Office by individuals in the building industry: bogus tests to determine the presence of the product and quick cure remedies that falsely claim to remove the corrosive properties of the drywall.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;According to reports, defective Chinese drywall in a home causes black corrosion to appear on copper air conditioner coils and non-insulated copper wiring. If the air conditioner coils are corroded black, there is a strong likelihood that defective imported drywall is present in the home. Most homes that contain defective imported drywall were built between 2004 and 2008. Other homes probably do not have Chinese drywall. &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;McCollum says there are two easy ways to find out if defective Chinese drywall was used in a home: Ask the homebuilder or have a qualified professional air conditioner technician conduct a visual inspection. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h2 style="text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:#000000;"&gt;However, the presence of defective imported drywall cannot be determined by &amp;ldquo;testing&amp;rdquo; the air in the home. Additionally, if the toxic version of drywall is found during a visual inspection, it cannot be remedied with a spray or an ozone generator. McCollum says those products can actually make the problem worse. &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;The Florida Attorney General&amp;rsquo;s Office has had the following specific complaints so far: &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;bull; Sale of bogus test kits. These can be expensive, often costing thousands of dollars, and are generally ineffective. The presence of defective imported drywall can only be determined through visual inspection. &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Solicited home inspections costing thousands of dollars by &amp;ldquo;experts&amp;rdquo; with no apparent qualification. Homeowners should beware of cold calls and door-to-door solicitors. &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Sale of sprays and applications that claim to miraculously cure the corrosion problem. Not only are these products ineffective, but moisture could accelerate the corrosion. &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Sale of ozone generators. Ozone will actually increase the chemical reaction between the drywall and copper and accelerate corrosion. &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Consumers can file a complaint about scams by calling the Attorney General&amp;rsquo;s fraud hotline at (866) 966-7226 or by filing a complaint online at &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:x-small;"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="http://myfloridalegal.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:#000000;"&gt;http://myfloridalegal.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:#000000;"&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;h2 style="text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:#000000;"&gt;&amp;copy; 2009 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS&amp;reg;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Katie Creek&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/"&gt;www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;727-415-4669&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:small;color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;h2 style="text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=461603" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Announcements" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Announcements/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Product Reviews" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Product+Reviews/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>HOLDING FHA RESPONSIBLE:  BUYER BEWARE</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/04/15/holding-fha-responsible-buyer-beware.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/04/15/holding-fha-responsible-buyer-beware.aspx</id><published>2009-04-15T17:18:00Z</published><updated>2009-04-15T17:18:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;Here we go again with the lending institution and right now I am so upset with the lenders of these institutions that I want you all to be aware of what just has happened to me so that it doesn&amp;#39;t happen to you, unless of course it already has.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Buyer on said property made an offer on a short sale.&amp;nbsp; No big deal this is done every day right.&amp;nbsp; Right, however the lender chose another offer over hers so, the hunt for that perfect property was on again.&amp;nbsp; Enter my listing, not a short sale, all the paperwork done and contract in place.&amp;nbsp; Now the buyer is of course going through the loan process.&amp;nbsp; It has now been 10 weeks.&amp;nbsp; Yup, I said 10 weeks, and guess what the hold up is, the lender said that she had been denied a loan for this short sale.&amp;nbsp; What???&amp;nbsp; How can this be when she never went to a lender, because the lender on the short sale chose another offer?&amp;nbsp; Beats me!!!&amp;nbsp; What does submitting a loan with a pre-approval have to do with an actual loan?&amp;nbsp; And, since her contract was nixed, why would she be jeopardized?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, if this is happening to her, I am sure that it is happening to thousands of people out there that are requesting a loan through FHA on property.&amp;nbsp; Even though they may have submitted an offer on a short sale, they may be turned down because they SUBMITTED THE OFFER!!!!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;HEADS UP GUYS....we need to be making these lenders RESPONSIBLE for what they are doing.&amp;nbsp; Or, is this just another gimmick not to lend money to a good buyer?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Katie&lt;br /&gt;www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com&lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=454321" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Announcements" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Announcements/default.aspx" /><category term="Events" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Events/default.aspx" /><category term="Technology" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Technology/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Product Reviews" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Product+Reviews/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>IS THIS ETHICAL ON SHORT SALES?</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/04/08/is-this-ethical-on-short-sales.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/04/08/is-this-ethical-on-short-sales.aspx</id><published>2009-04-08T12:20:00Z</published><updated>2009-04-08T12:20:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;OK, SO&amp;nbsp;A Buyers agent yesterday took a class on &lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239191906_0" style="cursor:hand;border-bottom:#0066cc 1px dashed;"&gt;Short Sales&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp; At this time they were told they are only to submit &lt;strong&gt;ONE&lt;/strong&gt; offer to the lender, not several.&amp;nbsp; So the two of us&amp;nbsp;had a long discussion that followed that went something like this. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;So, we are only suppose to submit&amp;nbsp;one offer.&amp;nbsp; Lets say several days go by and then another offer comes in for this same&amp;nbsp; property but lets say, $35,000. more than the previous offer.&amp;nbsp; Still we can&amp;#39;t submit this to the lender?&amp;nbsp; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Isn&amp;#39;t it &lt;strong&gt;OUR JOB&lt;/strong&gt; to get the most for my client as possible on this&amp;nbsp;property?&amp;nbsp; So, I find this a &lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239191906_1"&gt;double edged sword&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The lenders want to get as much for the property as possible, you also in turn want to do the best job you can for your client.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We all know most of these lenders will be taking months to make a decision on the property, and isn&amp;#39;t this leaving the lender open for a possible suite against them or us, if we don&amp;#39;t&amp;nbsp;submit&amp;nbsp;all offers?&amp;nbsp; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I understand that&amp;nbsp;Our job is to present all offers to our sellers.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;When we have lenders involved, &lt;u&gt;which in reality they are the sellers,&amp;nbsp;shouldn&amp;#39;t they be making this decision?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/u&gt;&amp;nbsp;And by not presenting these offers to the &amp;quot;sellers&amp;quot; are we not destroying our ethics and everything that we stand for?&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Katie Creek&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/"&gt;www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=450935" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="For Sale" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/For+Sale/default.aspx" /><category term="Events" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Events/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>INTEREST RATES AT NEAR ALL TIME LOW!</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/04/04/interest-rates-at-near-all-time-low.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/04/04/interest-rates-at-near-all-time-low.aspx</id><published>2009-04-04T20:29:00Z</published><updated>2009-04-04T20:29:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;With the interest rates taking a tumble it&amp;#39;s become a hot topic of wheather or not you think&amp;nbsp;now would be the time to refinance. Well, let me tell you my professional opinion.&amp;nbsp; Anyone that&amp;#39;s worked with me can tell you &amp;quot;I am the tell is like it is girl&amp;quot;.&amp;nbsp; So, I must tell you what I think at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;First we know that&amp;nbsp;the rates are extremely low.&amp;nbsp; There is also a tax rebate to the first time homebuyer of $8000. this year.&amp;nbsp; This does not mention the National Stabilization Programs that are out there in many of these counties including Pasco.&amp;nbsp; So, all this combined, yes, yup, and yaaaaa....it&amp;#39;s a great time to buy or refinance which ever you chose.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have to tell you though straight up, that as a Realtor the one thing that I hate is handing over my hard earned paperwork to the lenders.&amp;nbsp; I never know who I&amp;#39;m going to be dealing with and I espectially don&amp;#39;t know how they will be treating my clients.&amp;nbsp; I have suffered through many emotional trials because of our lenders and let me tell you ladies and gentlemen, it isn&amp;#39;t pretty!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, I have joined Real Estate Partners, this is a mortgage company owned by myself and my fellow Realtors that allows&amp;nbsp;me to GUARANTEE you more than just low interest rates and closing costs.&amp;nbsp; They actually quote you FIXED closing cost instead of &lt;u&gt;estimates&lt;/u&gt; that often change before or even AT CLOSING!&amp;nbsp; Get this, they will actually match any offer from any source you can find and prevent that last minute surprise (like 5% extra that just happened to one of my clients)&amp;nbsp;from start to finish!!!&amp;nbsp; (I am currently waiting on one that was suppose to close on March 19, and didn&amp;#39;t, it is now April 4th at the time of this writing)&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So who are you going to call, when it&amp;#39;s time to do this?&amp;nbsp; Call me, your Realtor.&amp;nbsp; Many of you have worked with me and know,&amp;nbsp;as your Realtor I have your best interest at hand.&amp;nbsp; With the countries financial woes traced to abuses by the loan orgination companies, I feel compelled to take steps that would &lt;u&gt;protect&lt;/u&gt; my clients in any home financing or refinancing situation.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#39;t want my clients to run into bad advice, or lack of concern by people that I&amp;#39;ve seen so often.&amp;nbsp; I want to continue to be your trusted advisor and be able to guarantee a successful mortgage so you know exactly where your at with no surprises at the end.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Call me today, I&amp;#39;ll be glad to help you any way I can.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;Katie Creek&lt;br /&gt;727-415-4669&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/"&gt;www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=449222" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="Announcements" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Announcements/default.aspx" /><category term="Events" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Events/default.aspx" /><category term="Industry" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Industry/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry><entry><title>IS THE MARKET PICKING UP?</title><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/02/27/is-the-market-picking-up.aspx" /><id>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/2009/02/27/is-the-market-picking-up.aspx</id><published>2009-02-27T14:14:00Z</published><updated>2009-02-27T14:14:00Z</updated><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;This questions will be on every Realtors mind as we continue though this year of 2009.&amp;nbsp; The fact that our President has just given the lending institutions another Stimulas may just be the key to what we need.&amp;nbsp; Question is, is it?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;The problem lies in the fact that no one has forced our lending instutions to lend monies as of yet and the lenders continue to&amp;nbsp;come up with&amp;nbsp;certain &amp;quot;road blocks&amp;quot; along the way.&amp;nbsp; One for instance just happend to me last month.&amp;nbsp; Here it is in a nut shell.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;My clients had been dealing with this instution for roughly 3 months.&amp;nbsp; Everything was in place to purchase the &amp;quot;home of their choice&amp;quot;.&amp;nbsp; One minor exception.&amp;nbsp; Two weeks before closing they were told that they would have to come up with another 5% down.&amp;nbsp; Now, most Realtors know that this right here is a deal killer as most people would not have that extra stashed away somewhere.&amp;nbsp; However, my clients happened to be the &amp;quot;older generation&amp;quot; and did have to break that CD to be able to purchase this home.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;The reason&amp;nbsp;my client was told is was&amp;nbsp;that &amp;quot;the mortgage business was slow right now and that they needed more capitol down&amp;quot;.&amp;nbsp; Go figure!!!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Regardless, I don&amp;#39;t think that this was fair to my client or any person that may have been purchasing a home.&amp;nbsp; This is only one of the many I am told are out there.&amp;nbsp; However, this was a first hand experience.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As I continue to fight for you, the American people, please feel free to follow my blog at: &lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/controlpanel/blogs/www.dadsunshine.com" title="Dadsunshine"&gt;www.dadsunshine.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I try and write as often as I can and show property and be as good to my clients as I possibly can.&amp;nbsp; After all, isn&amp;#39;t that what we&amp;#39;re really suppose to do MR. LENDER?????&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Blessings to you my friends, &lt;br /&gt;until I write again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Katie &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/controlpanel/blogs/www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com" title="Florida WaterFront Property"&gt;www.FL-WaterFrontProperty.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;727-415-4669&lt;/p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=429985" width="1" height="1"&gt;</content><author><name>342234</name><uri>http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/members/342234.aspx</uri></author><category term="Real Estate" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Real+Estate/default.aspx" /><category term="Market Conditions" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Market+Conditions/default.aspx" /><category term="Events" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Events/default.aspx" /><category term="Point2" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Point2/default.aspx" /><category term="Finances" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Finances/default.aspx" /><category term="Buyer Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Buyer+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Seller Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Seller+Information/default.aspx" /><category term="Community Information" scheme="http://www.fl-waterfrontproperty.com/blogs/katie_creek/archive/tags/Community+Information/default.aspx" /></entry></feed>