Real Estate Chatter

Miami Short Sale Tax Implications

June 25th, 2008 Categories: For Sellers, Real Estate Chatter, Short Sales

Several of my clients have been sellers of distressed Miami homes. Homes where the owners were no longer able to keep up with the mortgage payments. In some cases, short sales were good options. In others, a short sale was not the solution and the owner allowed the properties to be foreclosed on.

Why would someone who is facing a foreclosure in Miami not want to get out of it if possible? The simple answer is tax implications. Allow me to explain. If you own a property that is facing foreclosure and you work out a short sale agreement with the lender, that lender is going to give you a form 1099 for the amount that was short to pay the loan off completely.

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Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: 5 Comments »

Don’t Fall For Foreclosure Help Scams

May 4th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate Chatter

You may have seen the signs around Miami. They scream out at you. “Don’t Lose Your Home!!” “Stop Foreclosure Now!” And if you find yourself on the short end of a Miami-Dade county foreclosure proceeding, you might stop and listen.

There are a lot of scam artists out there. It sickens me to think that people whose homes are being foreclosed on are easy prey for these scams. Why don’t we kick them while they’re down, right? It’s wrong! It’s unscrupulous. And it’s being done all over the country not just here in Palmetto Bay and the Redland.

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Spoken by Maggie Dokic | Discussion: 3 Comments »

Adverse Possession Sickens Me

January 9th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate Chatter

I just read a very disturbing article posted on the Florida Realtors’ site. It is about an act known as adverse possession. Here is the mighty wiki’s definition of adverse possession. I call it stealing….albeit legally.

Basically a person can lose their land if someone else has prolonged, uncontested use of it.

I won’t explain how adverse possession can happen. The article above explains it fully. It uses a sit-up-and-take-notice case out of Colorado. The fact that the people who “adversely possessed” (legally stole) the land are two professional, educated adults is what sickens me. The fact that our laws allow this to happen completely throws me over the edge.

Here were property owners who paid their taxes and association dues on the land they purchased just 200 yards from their home while their neighbors walked their dogs on their land and later used this fact to lay a claim to the land…and win! What is wrong with this picture?

In Florida 7 years of uncontested use must take place before a person can lay claim to someone else’s land by means of adverse possession. How can you protect your property? I am no attorney and you should certainly consult one if you need specifics, but this is what seems to be appropriate:

• Fence the property to prevent others from being able to use it.
• Post No Trespassing signs on the property.
• If you don’t want to incur the expense of fencing or just want to be neighborly, you can provide written permission to someone to use the land (they can’t claim adverse possession if you’re allowing them to use it).

There you have it. Use it or lose it.

I “borrowed” the illustration from LandGrabber.org It expresses the point so succinctly. Please visit them for more information on this case.

Spoken by | Discussion: No Comments »

Mortgage Fraud in Dade County Revisited

December 19th, 2007 Categories: For Buyers, Real Estate Chatter

I am not going to make this one long-winded. After yesterday’s news of 31 arrests by the feds in a mortgage scam ring that spanned from one of Florida’s coasts to the other, you would think people would start re-thinking their beliefs about what is right and what is not when it comes to mortgages.

Alas, this is not the case. I think the fact that this has happened so frequently in our area has otherwise law-abiding citizens thinking that certain things are perfectly fine to do, when in fact they are illegal.

As a real estate agent I am frequently asked “how much will the house appraise for?” Even the very first time I heard it I knew what was going to follow: a quick lesson on mortgage fraud from me.

Who is teaching our Miami-Dade residents out there to ask this question? Is there an infomercial guru pushing that a home which appraises for more than the sales price can be used to tap into the equity? Are there coffee buddies discussing this somewhere? Are Miami housewives talking about this at cousin Maritza’s baby shower?

I am asked this question more often than I would like. And it is always by someone who innocently enough thinks it is ok to get a larger mortgage than the sales price simply because the house appraises for more. It isn’t OK. In fact, it is illegal. Not only is it illegal, it is a federal offense, you know, the FBI?

I was asked this question again yesterday. I could tell from the conversation that followed that they had no idea. They simply wanted to be able to pay off some credit cards with the extra equity.

Let’s start spreading the word about this. Here’s today’s homework: a link to the FBI’s publication on mortgage fraud.

hmmmm…maybe I made this a little long-winded after all. Oh well, it’s not as if it’s not merited.

Spoken by | Discussion: No Comments »

Send In The Clowns

November 3rd, 2007 Categories: Real Estate Chatter

Picture it… 11 homes listed in this subdivision. It’s a beautiful community made up of 92 gorgeous homes. The community is brand new. The developer closings on the first house took place a year ago and the more recent ones were finished 6 months ago. As a matter of fact, the builder still has 3 properties for sale (not listed on the MLS). They’re finished, but sitting vacant. In addition there’s also a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) fighting for attention from would-be buyers. The homes are mostly 2-story beauties with many upgrades. Even the smaller models are eye-catching.

The listings range in prices from $320K to $480K. That high end of the range is pushing it quite a bit as it really should be listed at around $435K tops. The one at $320K is a pre-foreclosure, priced to sell at exactly what the owner paid 11 months ago and it’s been on the market exactly 2 months today without going pending yet. Nothing is moving!

Then along comes Bozo and lists his phenomenal house at $589,000! No that’s not a typo. He (or his Seller) actually thinks someone out there is going to be umm… shall we say stupid enough to pay a full $125,000 more than the other one just like it that’s listed (and has sat for 3 months without selling)? Let me repeat that, $125,000. One hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Does anyone other than myself realize how much money that is? At the federal minimum wage of $5.15 it would take a person 11.66 years to earn that kind of money! And that’s a bad comparison since the person is expected to actually spend the earnings to live. Have we lost our senses? And get this, the owner bought the house almost 6 months ago at $435k! Does he not realize they will use his own house as a comp on the appraisal? HELLO?? Anybody home?? To add further insult to injury it’s been 2 weeks and there are no pictures. This home is so stunning that pictures wouldn’t do it justice, I guess (that’s sarcasm, in case you didn’t catch it).

For those of us who might want to offer the benefit of the doubt and say…

• But Maggie, maybe his house is better. It isn’t. Don’t argue with me. The builder made them pretty much the same. Upgrades were extras such as a second sink in the master bath for an extra $550.00. How many sinks could he have gotten? Even an Octopus family wouldn’t need that many sinks!
• But Maggie, maybe he improved it. What can you possibly do to a brand new house that’s already got vaulted ceilings, high-hats, granite counters, cherry wood cabinets, keystone pavers in the driveway, 20 x 20 ceramic tile, etc? OK let’s say he did want to make improvements, I still need to interject this, we’re in Dade County; where a contractor who shows up when he says he will is as good to have as the very best neurosurgeon. He would have had barely enough time to pull his permits in the 6 months since he bought.
• But Maggie, maybe the agent is just using this listing to get buyer calls. Aha! I knew you would go that route. Wrong again! There are no signs allowed in this community. A 12×12 inch sign may be placed inside the window. How much exposure is that going to provide to anyone? My riders are bigger than that!
• But Maggie, maybe the house really is worth that much money. I’m shaking my head now. If I have a buyer who can afford to spend that kind of money, I would advise him to go where the average home is worth $600K and buy the cheapest home there. Better ROI in anyone’s book.

My take on this is pure and simple. The seller is greedy and the agent is clueless. He needs to add a curly red wig and a rubber nose to his business attire. I’m disgusted with these people.

Spoken by | Discussion: 6 Comments »

Do You Not Understand Its Mortgage Fraud?

August 18th, 2007 Categories: Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, For Buyers, For Sellers, Kendall, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Real Estate Chatter, Southwest Dade

I like selling real estate in the Miami Redland. I’ve met some great people in my business. I’ve helped lots of folks and knowing I’ve done a good job is extremely satisfying to me.

Yesterday I didn’t like one of the people who contacted me. I was on my way to a meeting in Aventura and driving on I-95. I’m not that familiar with the area and was keeping an eye on the exits.

My phone rang and I answered, “Hello, this is Maggie!” The gentleman on the phone asked me about some homes in an area of Homestead. I told him that I didn’t have homes available specifically where he said but a little further away I have a development listed with 15 homes still available for sale and affordable.

He asked me for the prices and if there were any incentives. I answered all his questions and he said something about wanting “cash back.” I told him we were not offering cash back at closing. I went even further and told him it was mortgage fraud and illegal.

He said to let him worry about that. He asked me again for the prices. I repeated them. “What will they appraise at?” he asked me. OK, now I see he’s trying to skin the cat a different way. I know where he’s headed with this.

I tried really hard to not sound arrogant when I replied, “they will appraise at what they’re priced at. If they were to appraise higher, we would be selling them for more money.” Now this may seem like common sense, but I did understand where he was headed. He’s familiar with appraisals that come in, magically, at numbers that are inflated. These inflated appraisals are key in being able to commit mortgage fraud. I guess he thinks he knows my business better than I do.

Mr. Cash Back must have realized that my patience was wearing thin. He told me he’d call me back if he decided to look at these homes. I’m happy if he loses my phone number. The only orange I look good in is perhaps an orange scarf. An entire jumpsuit might be a bit much. Besides that, I worked hard for my license and am actually proud of it. I won’t be risking losing it anytime soon.

By the time I hung up I realized I had passed my exit by 5 miles. Dagnabit!

Spoken by Chris Hotz | Discussion: 10 Comments »

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