Tampa is one of the cities who will benefit from the Recovery act under HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Tampa will receive $38 million according to HUD’s website. The money is meant to spur economic development and create jobs. There are 60 other cities receiving grant.

For more information go here

In order for a buyer to obtain financing Fha currently has a 90 wait period to purchase a home from a new seller, so this would apply mostly in cases when buying a home from an investor looking to flip a property. A buyer would have to wait 90 days after the home was purchased.

Hud has temporarily lifted this rule to help stabilize the market and help FHA borrowers from being shut out on homes being flipped.

The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and will be effective for one year

To read more about the new waiver go here

So what are your thoughts? Do you think the new lift will help homes sell quicker in heavily flooded foreclosure areas?

The Hillsborough County currently has *9644 active homes listed as of January 18th 2010 from data pulled from the MFRMLS Below is a breakdown of the Short Sale, Foreclosures, Owner occupied homes for sale in Hillsborough County.

• Short Sales  3380 properties
• Foreclosures 364 properties
• Owner Occupied  5524

There are currently 811 properties pending (under contract) Please check back at the end of the month for the sold homes report for January 2010

If you are in the market to buy in Tampa check out our Tampa Homes For Sale

Need to Rent your home out check out our Tampa Property Management Services

* All information provided is believed to be true but should be verified.
Price ranges are from current active listings as of January 18th 2010

Ok as we begin a new year many buyers still are looking into the crystal ball to try and find out if this is a good time to buy in the Tampa Real Estate market. Well me being in Real Estate and what I do for a living of course I am going to tell you it is a great time to buy, it certainly is not a sellers market, but what you should do is look at the facts and market conditions.

Is housing affordable? Yes When I say affordable I mean can you buy a comparable home and have a lower or equal payment in comparison to renting.
Are interest rates still low? Yes
Is the absorption rate down? Yes
Do you have a stable job? This is the key to whether it is a good time for you to buy. If you are secured in your employment and can afford it does make sense to buy in this market especially if you are a first time buyer.

Investment Opportunities
What you are now seeing is investment opportunities for new real estate investors but unlike what caused the Real Estate bubble due to speculation the new investors are buying with cash and not borrowing with that easy money the banks were so willing to give out. The affordability of buying real estate with a high capitalization rate is spawning more and more cash investors.

First Time Buyer Program
With the extension of the first time buyer credit many first time buyers are going to take advantage of the government incentive program and receiving the $8,000 tax credit. The program also offers an incentive to move up buyers who have lived in their current home for five years or longer. For more information to see if you qualify for the tax credit

Will Tampa foreclosures still dominate the market? Yes as a matter of fact I am sure a majority of the homes for sale in Tampa this year will either be short sales or foreclosures.

If you are ready to buy in 2010 we would love the opportunity to help you in your new purchase and you can begin searching Tampa Homes For Sale today , if you are not ready yet we hope you continue to come back to our website to check market conditions as we will be consistently updating it throughout the year.

Wishing everyone a happy, healty, and prosperous new year in 2010.

DR Horton was founded in 1978 and is one of the nations largest home builders. DR Horton is a publicly traded company (DHI) and has a solid financial foundation. DR Horton has built a reputation as one of the best home builders based on it’s principles of Quality, Integrety, and Service.

Schooner  Cove in South Tampa Florida features two and three bedroom homes with one and two garages. What a fabulous location especially for military families based at MacDill Airforce Base which is located a mile from the base.

Floor Plans

• Santa Barbara 2 bed 2 bath 1 car garage  1,156 SF Priced from: $169,990
• Catalina 3 bed 2.5 bath 2 car garage 2 story 1439 SF Priced from: $189,990
• Santa Cruz 3 bed 2.5 baths 2 story 2 car garage 1591 SF Priced from:$204,990

Amenities

• Heated Pool and Spa
• 4,000 Sf Clubhouse
• Fitness Center

US Military personal get  to 2% discount off price off their home. For additional information or to schedule an appointment to view homes in Schooner Cove fill out the form below or contact us at 813-760-8773

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With foreclosures hitting record highs all over the country, many homeowners facing losing their home are taking a more proactive route and trying to sell the property before losing it to the bank. Because prices have fallen in most markets, these homeowners aren’t able to sell their home for more then they owe. So in order to sell the property, they must get permission from the bank or company that owns their loan first. This process is called a short sale.

Now, it seems like a great idea. However there are quite a few catches. As I stated, a homeowner can’t simply decide to list their home for less then they owe the bank. Unfortunately, this does happen. Usually the person trying to buy the property doesn’t find out this information right away either. I have heard some horror stories of buyers finding out months later that the home they are trying to buy isn’t actually for sale at that price. Sometimes even the homeowner themselves are a victim (finding out later that their agent didn’t explain all of the details to them).

Another thing to remember about short sales is that the house could go into foreclosure, especially if the escrow takes too long. The mortgage lender could decide to change their mind and complete foreclosure proceedings and list the house on the market again as a bank owned property. The homeowner may decide to file bankruptcy and try to save their home through the court system. Of course, these are worse case scenarios. Short sales also face the same issues as regular sales as well, like passing a home inspection (unless you are paying cash, but you SHOULD have an inspection regarless), etc.

Even when everything is done correctly, a short sale listing can take months to close escrow. Some banks are so bombarded with foreclosures and homes going into default that they may take months to give their approval. Quite often banks don’t have any internal system set up to deal with so many properties going into default. You’re more likely to run into this problem in hard hit areas like the Las Vegas real estate market, the Phoenix real estate market, Tampa real estate market and many other parts of Florida. Purchase contracts seeking bank approval may sit for days or even weeks before someone get around to looking at it. And it gets even worse. If there is more than one mortgage holder on the property, each mortgage lender has to sign off on the sale causing further delay.

This article isn’t meant to scare you away from short sales, but to fully disclose how much they differ from other listings. You can get some amazing deals buying a short sale property, but you must be prepared to wait and possibly not get it. If you are buying a property you intend to live in, you might want to reconsider looking at short sales, especially if you are under a time constraint. Even if you are an investor, you might not want to possibly tie up funds in a purchase contract with so many other properties on the market.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Charles Richey is a blogger and real estate investor in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is also the webmaster for his wife’s website who is a Las Vegas real estate agent with Realty One Group. Together they also author a blog about the Las Vegas real estate market.

Guest Post by David Taylor

As one of the first of the Baby Boomer’s and having come to Florida in the last 5 years. I feel that I can give you an informed look at Florida and retirement living in the Sunshine State. I am living in SE Florida in a condo on the beach. What a change from the mid west and I love it. The first thing that I will tell you is that if you decide to retire to Florida, living on the beach is absolutely the best and a must in my opinion as it tends to be several degree’s cooler than inland.. Waking up to the sunrise over the ocean and going to bed watching the full moon rising over the silvery sea is spectacular and breath taking. Everyone always told me take Florida is to hot and muggy but I have found it much to my liking as it is never as hot or cold as it can get up north. There is always sea breeze every day cooling you off, the crystal clear water is wonderful for swimming and snorkeling. I hardly ever see a insect as the breeze sweeps everything inland and leaves the beach’s free for long walks without bother. You never know what you will see in or on the ocean, whether it be a beautiful yacht or a large ray , manatee , fish and then the bathing beauties to to distract you for a while.

Living an active lifestyle is important for a long and fruitful retirement. To this end there are so many activities all around us and I cannot think of much that is not available. I love the happy hours at the many tiki bars in the area, many with two 4 one drinks,live music, and food specials. They are great places to meet new friends from all over the country.

This is now my main point to you. If Florida interests you for your retirement please get this —– Now is The Time To Buy Your Retirement Home. Real estate prices have dropped as much as 60% in some areas,in my building the condos have dropped from $450,000 in 2006 to $225,000 now, but in the last couple of months they are selling quickly and the inventory of home have dropped by significantly . Interest rates on mortgages are now below 5%. It does not matter how much you present home as dropped in price or how much you lost in the stock market, take action now to secure your retirement as you are buying your retirement home at historic lows discounts.

Believe this ——–every day that goes by from today on, the available properties will decrease and the prices will rise. You are not the only one looking to retire, remember there are millions of us, and also I can not emphasize the number of foreign buyers coming to Florida, as our dollar falls in value Florida Real Estate is a real bargain to them. Also you are now getting historic low interest rates and please how long do you think they will be here???

Book your travel to Florida ASAP and get your future secured.

I am currently looking for quality Real Estate professionals who are interested in writing gust blog posts on my Real Estate blogs. You can be an out of town Realtor, mortgage professional, home inspector, title agent, pretty much anything related to the Real Estate industry.

In turn the reward you will get is up to three backlinks within the post you write pointing to your websites, backlinks if you didn’t already know will help benefit your website in regards to seo as well as gain traffic from the post itself.

All I ask is the post be original content not a cut and paste job, also the post must not be local to your area it has to be able to benefit my readers as well.

I look forward to hearing from you and if you have any questions or would like to volunteer to write a guest blog article please fill out the contact form below.

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So you thought 100% financing was a thing of the past? Well for the most part 100 percent financing is unless you are a veteran who qualifies for a VA loan however you may qualify for a government program called the USDA rural.

The home you are buying must be located within an eligible rural area defined by the USDA, many areas of Hillsborough county do qualify.In order to be eligible for many USDA loans, household income must meet certain guidelines as well.

Some benefits of the USDA Rural program
No Down Payment
Closing Costs can come from any source including a gift
Repairs and Improvements can be rolled into the loan
Competitive 30 year fixed rates
Choose from local authorized lenders

If you don’t qualify for the USDA 100% financing then your next best option would be the ever growing popular FHA loan which only requires a 3.5% down payment.

To find out if you may qualify for the USDA Rural program please contact Dan Nappi @ 813-263-7442 or fill out the contact form and one of our agents will contact you.

Nice clean and nicely painted single family home in Town & Country . Nicely tiled in living and dining rooms. Screened in Lanai with fenced back yard. Home can be rented furnished. Rent for $1300 per month This home has been withdrawn from the market.