Palm Beach Real Estate and Loans

Starting tomorrow morning I'll be reviewing the second quarter sales numbers for these major Palm Beach Gardens communities:

PGA National

BallenIsles

Mirasol

Mirabella

Old Marsh

Old Palm

Steeplechase

and San Michelle.

It's been rather busy (regardless of what the newspapers say!) so I'll be going over what sold in the last 3 months and what's still available.

BTW - as so many people have already found out, if you've found a Palm Beach Gardens home that you really like, then you need to get serious about making an offer.  I run into people all the time that want to wait 'just a bit longer' only to come back to see that someone has already bought 'their' home.  

It doesn't even have to be a long wait - I showed a newer listing last week that was actually under-valued.  In the few hours that the prospective Buyers stalled, someone else bought the house. I hate to say 'I told you so...".

Those who wait, lose.

Today's post comes from Jason Price of Knightlines Mortgage Services.

Sorry this one is a bit long, but very important.

HVCC: The Mortgage Killer

Whether you live in Bonita Springs, Florida (Lee County), Eustis, Florida (Lake County), Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (Palm Beach County), or anywhere in the USA for that matter, your need to finance a home loan mortgage may be killed thanks to a 'wonderful' idea called Home Valuation Code of Conduct, or HVCC.

What is HVCC? Quite simply it is government intervention that forces a total hands-off involvement of the appraisal process in determining a property value for the purpose of financing. Who is hurt by this?

The Appraiser and the Borrower.

The Appraiser:

1. Forced to join a management company that will collect up to 40% of the appraisal fee. Yes, that is right. The appraiser will now lose almost 50% of his/her income by being forced to join in order to keep working.

2. Only targets appraisers. Other valuation models, such as AVM (Automated Valuation Models) and BPO (Broker Price Opinions) are not affected. This will lead lenders to accept these values (which are less accurate) due to the less restrictions.

3. No communication between the broker or lender or anyone else that stands to earn money from the deal. Single-handedly destroyed all relationships with these entities literally overnight.

Borrower:

1. If a new lender is needed, a new appraisal is needed. In the past, the Broker could simply submit their appraisal to the new lender. (Now the Borrower needs to pay AGAIN.)

2. Increased time to fund loans. Lenders and Brokers can no longer communicate with Appraisers to expedite orders, which means longer rate locks (ie Higher interest rates).

3. Forced to stick with current Lender even if not what they want because of increase fees to having to obtain a new appraisal. And there is one big issue that surrounds this whole crazy plan... what is the property worth? Well, now without the communication from the broker or lender, an appraiser is left to appraise the value of the property. Sounds good in theory, but lets look at reality.

Appraiser is given an order to appraiser property 123 Main Street, Anywhere, USA. Appraiser is not told the loan amount or an estimated value on the property. (PROBLEM 1: IN THE PAST, AS A COURTESY, THE APPRAISER WOULD CONTACT THE BROKER TO SAY YES OR NO ON THE ESTIMATED VALUE BEFORE WASTING ANYONES' TIME OR MONEY.) Appraiser determines value of property, but to keep in good favors with the management group and to avoid future legal actions for why they valued the property at $x.xx shaves several dollars off the top. (PROBLEM 2: THE ORIGINAL VALUE MAY HAVE BEEN THE RIGHT NUMBER TO DO THE DEAL, BUT TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AGAINST A NOW UNKNOWN, THE DEAL IS DEAD.)

Real life scenario: Borrower wants to refinance house. Eligible for RefiPlus, so we can go to 105% of the appraised value. Appraisal was ordered. Cost $400. Original appraisal cost before HVCC $350. (Appraiser needs to charge more because he has to pay someone now.) We needed at a minimum $x.xx to make the deal fly, but appraiser does not know this. Appraisal took over one week to obtain, when in the past took only 48 hours. Appraisal is returned with a value of $10,000 less then $x.xx. Deal is dead. Borrower is out $400. Broker is penalized by lender for fallout of locked loan.

Had this been pre-HVCC. The appraiser could have said it will be a tight deal on the value and let the borrower decide on whether to proceed. Now, the borrower is out $400 and had no decision. Pre-HVCC, the appraiser would have looked harder for comps to get the value that was needed just to keep the relationship with the broker/lender. (There is nothing wrong with this provided that the comps are there and justifiable.) Pre-HVCC would have allowed the borrower to get a 15-21 day rate lock offering a lower interest rate, instead of a 30 day lock or floating the rate in the current volatile market.

HVCC is a big deal when it comes to financing your home. It costs you, the borrower, more money. It eliminates your options to shop with multiple lenders when using a broker, which means you might not be getting the best deal. It is just all around bad news.

Help us help you in getting your rights back when financing your mortgage loan. A moratorium is being requested for 18 months. Should this happen or even if it does not, contact your state legislature to voice your opinion on the issue. Or take the time to sign a petition against HVCC.

From now through 7/31/2009 you can buy 113 San Marita Way in BallenIsles and get a full golf membership and a golf cart at no extra cost!

It really is simple - to expedite the sale of 113 San Marita Way, the Owners are giving away their full golf membership at BallenIsles Golf/Country Club AND the Buyer will also get a golf cart.

Not a bad deal.......

BallenIsles has been ranked as one of the top 5 Most Highly Thought of Residential Club Communities in America by the Platinum Club and now you have the opportunity to purchase one of the best homes in the subdivision and get a bonus.

Call me at 561-282-7406 to set up a time to see the property.

I could go on and on about how things are improving with real estate in Florida - but as great as I am, Jim Cramer does it better!

And while Florida is my primary concern, the other states that got hit the hardest - Callifornia, Arizona and Nevada are also on their way back.

Cocky? Sarcastic? Yes I am! But Cramer is in a league all of his own.

(Please excuse the TD ad at the beginning - but hey, the video IS free.)

You're interested in finding out the value of a particular home in the Palm Beach Gardens area.

• Maybe you're looking to purchase and you want to find out what the home is REALLY worth   OR
• You already own a home and want to refinance   OR
• You're a serious seller and you want to price the home to sell, not to sit  OR
• You just want to find out how much your place is currently worth to see if you made a good investment.