The Veritas Real Estate Group, Inc.

Many of our local cities are having firework displays that start at 9PM. The most interesting ones, in my opinion, are on the beach. Ft. Lauderdale's fireworks display is at the end of Las Olas on the beach. You might have to park a fair distance away, but think of all the great exercise you can get by walking on the beach to the site.

Find local events at http://sunsentinel.com/fourth

Charter schools are public schools of choice. They are very popular—and among the fastest growing school choice options in Florida. Charter schools are largely free to innovate, and often provide more effective programs and choice to diverse groups of students.

Since 1996, the number of charter schools in Florida has grown from 5 to 389 schools in 2008-2009. Charter school student enrollment for 2008-2009 was well over 100,000 students. Over 50 new charter schools have opened in the 2008-2009 school year.

Click on the link to see the list of Broward County charter schools

 http://www.browardschools.com/schools/charter_list.htm

Times are tough down here in Paradise. Our major industry is tourism and if people don't have money they don't take vacations. That means we have fewer people in the hotels and restaurants.

Our economy is also driven by the housing market and there are a whole bunch of people hurting because of the upset in the market: real estate agents, mortgage loan originators, property appraisers, title companies, home inspectors, banks and builders.

So some of these people might want to consider temp jobs to help bring in some money until things turn around.

Two sites here in South Florida that might be able to help are:

http://www.careerxchange.com/jobs.php and

http://justtempjobs.com/

Florida is getting ready for its annual sales tax relief period. Starting August 13th and going through August 15th there is no sales tax on books, clothing, footwear and certain accessories selling for less than $50 and on select school supplies selling for less than $10.

So if you can wait to make your purchases you can save quite a bit of money. Enjoy the rest of the summer and let's hope it cools off some.

Scuba divers get ready! Two days of lobster hunting is about to start. At 12:01 Wednesday morning through midnight Thursday, divers are allowed to bag 6 lobsters each per day in most areas.

The regular lobster season is August 6 - March 31 and the catch limit is half what it is during the miniseason. Lobsters must be at least 3 inches long and measured in the water and no egg-bearing females are allowed to be kept.

Divers must have a saltwater fishing license ($17 for residences) and a $5 lobster stamp.

Unfortunately, every year there are stories of drownings. Individuals who have not dived for years jump in unprepared and without a buddy and the results are deadly.

Always, always, always dive with a buddy. Do that and you can have a great time in our warm water with no free of being tainted by oil.

Stay safe.

Many people are snapping up the lower priced foreclosures here in Florida. Many of them also want the new car in the driveway and the new furniture to go in the house. All of that is fine but just wait until you have the house keys in your hand before you start adding to your debt.

The lender may look at your credit report 1-2 days before closing and there is a good chance that you will no longer qualify for the loan if you have indulged yourself and run up the charges on your credit card.

A significant part of the loan approval process is the calculation of "debt-to-income" ratios. If your total monthly debt is more than 43% of your gross monthly income, you stand a very good chance of not being approved for the loan and, if you were previously approved, it may be retracted.

So watch what you spend and don't make any major purchases until after closing.

Pompano Beach has been buying up foreclosure properties, rehabbing them, and selling them back to the public.

Pompano Beach has a Neighborhood Stabilization Program in which they purchase foreclosures properties, fix them up and sell them to individuals with up to 120 percent of median income for Broward County. For a family of four that income could be up to $95,040.

Pompano Beach is currently taking applications and you can call 954-786-4659 for more information.

Good news for investors. A recent change in the Florida law no longer requires condo owners to show proof of hazard insurance to the governing association. As you might know, the condo building insurance covers all the common areas and the roof. Unit owners can obtain coverage for the inside of the unit; water and fire damage to the structure and flooring and coverage for personal possessions, if desired. In the past, associations could force unit owners to obtain coverage for structural damage. Now they can't.

For investors, this can significantly increase their cash flow since it is more money in their pocket. Of course, they are now at greater risk for out-of-pocket payment for damage. For example, a tenant who does not report a leaking pipe until it floods the unit and leaks through to the unit one floor below will cost the unit owner not only the repairs to their own unit but they also have to pay for the damage their tenants caused to any units below them.

So, life's a risk. At least now unit owners have a choice.

The Sun Sentinel reported yesterday that the South Florida metro areas had more loan modifications in June than any other cities in the United States. Statewide, Florida is second only to California in the total number of loan workouts.

The Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area had 35,621 loan modifications in June, which is approximately 3,000 fewer than May's numbers.

The Orlando area had 15,130 in June which was about 900 fewer than May. If you add the June figures for the two areas together they account for 6.7 percent all of national activity. In comparison, Los Angeles had 6.5 percent, New York had 6 percent and Chicago had 5.1 percent.

Bank of America has originated the largest number of permanent modifications with 72,232 nationally; Chase reported 54,722.

Of the more than 100 lenders that get tax incentives to reduce payments only $132 million has been spent out of a potential $75 billion.

It is speculated that the low numbers may reflect the borrower's weariness and frustration with the paperwork and the fact that they have to prove their income to receive the loan modification. With so many people out of work or on reduced wages, the Making Home Affordable programs may continue to have limited effect.

We need jobs. 

The Sun Sentinel reported this morning that the Bank of America is opening an outreach center in Fort Lauderdale to help distressed homeowners. The center will allow borrowers to have face-to-face discussions with a bank representative who might be able to facilitate a loan modification for them.

The center discourages walk-ins and consumers are encouraged to call 954-308-9592 for an appointment. The center is open 10-7 on weekdays and 10-2 on Saturdays.

Here is the last of my June figures. This is for the Ft. Lauderdale condo market. If you would like to see the trends for a particular city in the area, please let me know at poconnor@veritasrealestategroup.com and I will try to produce them for you.

Last week I posted a blog about the red light cameras in Broward County, Florida. In today's newspaper an article mentioned a product that you can purchase for approximately $100 that will warn the driver when they are approaching a camera location in their database. The database entries can be added at no charge by the public and incorrect entries can be reported for correction.

The product is called GPS Angel and apparently is available for world-wide locations. Here's the link http://gpsangel.com/  It is also available at http://amazon.com/ ; enter the keywords GPS Angel.

The local papers have been full of stories recently about grandparents losing money in a telephone scam. The caller will say that they are calling on behalf of one of their grandchildren who needs to have money wired to them right away. The grandchild has supposedly been in an accident, had a medical emergency, was arrested, etc.

The police believe that the grandparents are putting information about their grandchildren on social media websites, like FaceBook, and that this information is being used against them by thieves.

One individual who was called was alert to the possibility of a scam and asked for the grandchild's mother's name. The caller hung up.

So be alert and ask questions before you rush to the bank to help your family. It could be an imposter.

The Sun Sentinel newspaper today obligingly provided a link to an online map of current and proposed red light cameras in Broward County, Florida. A new state law recently granted cities permission to install them and charge $158, with no points, for the first offense. Subsequent offenses will incur higher fines. The notices are mailed to the license plate address.

Go to http://sunsentinel.com/redlightmap to view the camera locations.

The four graphs presented here depict the past 2 year history for the condo market in Coral Springs, Florida.

The four graphs presented here depict the past 2 year history for the condo market in Broward County, Florida.

The Sun Sentinel reported this morning that the August issue of Money Magazine named Coral Springs, Florida as #44 in its top 100 best places to live in the United States. The neighboring town of Coconut Creek came in at #48.

Let's hear it for South Florida!

If you have been reading my blogs you will notice that this is the third in a series of charts tracking 2 year housing data for single family homes. Previously I reported the statistics for Broward County and the city of Coral Springs. Later this week I will begin to present the 2 year data for condos.

Last week I posted the two year statistical data analysis for the Broward County single family housing market. Today, I am showing you the two year single family numbers for the city of Coral Springs. Charts for condos will be posted on a later date.

There is a new cop drama called "The Glades" which is being shot in Broward County. The pilot was filmed in Georgia and St. Petersburg, but the rest of the shows are being filmed here through Labor Day. I believe it premieres tonight on A&E at 10PM.

Hopefully, it will have a good following and interest people from outside the area to come and visit us and perhaps consider buying a home here.

After all, it is paradise.

Why is the foreclosure process so much faster in some states than others? Basically, it is because the United States is divided into two types of states: lien theory states and title theory states.

Florida is one example of a lien theory state and it is also known as a judicial state because the borrower gets the deed to the house at closing and so the lender has to go to court and go through a complex foreclosure process in order to claim possession of the property. The process starts with the lender filing a complaint and recording a notice of Lis Pendens. Once the homeowner receives the complaint they have the right to be represented by an attorney and the opportunity to be heard in court and this can delay the process considerably because some courts have a large backlog of cases and a good attorney might be able to cause multiple delays.

Georgia is an example of a title theory state and these types of states are known as  non-judicial states because the lender keeps the deed after closing and the homeowner only gets it when the loan is satisfied. The lender does not need to go to court in non-judicial states because they already have the deed. Instead, the homeowner who is in default will be mailed a notice and if the homeowner does not pay what is owed a notice of sale is sent to the homeowner and the property is listed at auction. Timeframes for the various steps are set by the individual state laws.

Click on the link to view the map of the states and see how the country is divided. As a property owner you are probably better off in a lien theory state during hard financial times.

Come on down to South Florida and buy some property!

The Sun Sentinel reported today that Palm Beach is using $640,000 of state allocated funds to hire two senior judges, six case managers and four clerical assistants to help ease the backlog of foreclosure cases in Palm Beach County.

The newspaper article states that there is an estimated backlog of 500,000 foreclosures in the state of Florida and that the state has allocated $6 million to help the courts clear the cases.

In my opinion, unless the housing market in South Florida improves, this money won't help much. So much of our economy is based on housing that more and more individuals who have hung on for as long as they could are becoming economically tapped out and will have to roll the dice and see how long they can stay in their home if they stop making payments.

Currently that would be about two years minimum in Florida. A recent ruling by the Florida Supreme Court may extend that even longer; if the lender can't provide evidence of the original note (the borrower's IOU), they might be able to stay there permanently without making payments.

Interesting times.....painful for those of us living through it, but fascinating none the less. Feels at times like I am watching a train wreck in slow motion and the train is headed straight toward me.

The following graphs shows the 2 year history for single family homes in Broward County, Florida. You might need to use the scroll bar.

The Florida Sun Sentinel reported today that someone had fraudulently gone on-line in June to the US Post Office's web site and changed the mailing address for the Florida state-run Citizens Property Insurance Company.

The result of this is that application fees, social security numbers and names, addresses and birthdates of the applicants  were all routed to another mailing address. Citizens stated that this most likely occurred between June 14 - June 19 of this year.

If you feel that you have been a victim of identity theft as a result of this you can call 1-888-685-1555.

The most amazing thing to me is that this hasn't happened before. There does not appear to be any safeguards against this on the USPS site.

What do you think?

This morning's Sun Sentinel reported the following figures for jobs gained and lost over the past year. Federal government jobs increased by 28.4%, college and university jobs were up by 9.7% and home health care positions rose by 7.3%. On the flip side metal fabrication jobs decreased by 18.1%, building construction was down by 17.9% and printing fell by 10.6%.

The Florida unemployment rate peaked in March at 12.3% and in May had fallen to 11.7%. The national rate is 9.5%. Our economy here is so centered around the housing market that economists say we cannot have a robust recovery until housing picks up.

In my opinion that is not going to happen until credit loosens up and private mortgage companies begin operating in Florida again. To buy a condo now, the purchaser needs to have a 25%-30% down payment because no one will issue a PMI policy. Great environment for cash buyers, though, as long as the condo and homeowners associations remain solvent with money in reserve.

The Sun Sentinel article went on to discuss that the international business trade may pick up in this part of Florida and that our tourist industry may increase if our beaches remain oil-free. Let's hope.

Meanwhile come on down and buy property. I'm happy to help.

The new law went into effect on July 1 so that people who have pre-existing medical conditions and have been refused health care coverage, can now be insured. In Florida if people qualify and apply by July 15, they can start receiving coverage on August 1. To apply online go to http://healthcare.gov and click on the link for Florida policies or you can call 1-866-717-5826 to hear the details. Rates will not be published until July 15.

To qualify a person needs to have been uninsured for at least 6 months, show proof of a pre-existing condition and been turned down in the past for health care.

Speaking from personal experience I sat next to man who was visibly ill on a six hour flight from Paris. I became ill shortly after arriving home. After spending two weeks in bed thinking I had the flu I started to feel better and went for a walk on the beach. I collapsed. Went to the doctor and found out that I had caught a virus and it affected my heart; the tip of my heart wasn't beating. Well, guess what? It was diagnosed as viral myocarditis (or something similar) with congestive heart failure. Now guess what? That's a pre-existing condition and I cannot get insurance. This all happened five years ago and the cardiologist said I was at no greater risk for future heart problems than anyone else in the general public, but I let my crappy Humana policy lapse two months ago because I wanted to sign up with another provider and now I cannot get insurance. Who knew? So I have to toss the dice and go uninsured for four more months before I can apply for the new policies. It has got to be better than Humana's which really sucked; in-network coverage for only 14 counties in Florida. How stupid is that?

Anyway, I voted for Obama not knowing that this health care reform would directly affect me, but what a relief that I don't have to wait until I am 65 and qualify for Medicare. And that is just my story; self-employed, no group coverage and I caught a virus through no fault of my own. I can only imagine the hundreds of thousands of people who will benefit from this. I am a registered Independent, but Thank God for the Democrats.

For those eligible  buyers who had a signed real estate contract in effect by April 30, 2010  the tax credit closing date was extended from April 30, 2010 to September 30, 2010. This should help many of the buyers whose closing was delayed due to short sale negotiations and who could not close because they could not get a flood insurance policy.

The federal flood insurance program was extended until September 30, 2010. Apparently there were so many claims because of the damage caused by Katrina, that the program is operating at a severe deficit and I guess these intermittent extensions will continue until the Congress figures out how to handle the matter. But meanwhile, much of Florida is in a flood zone and we cannot close on many single family home purchases that are being financed without the insurance being available because it is too risky for the lenders.

So let's hope the lawmakers get their act together and provide a more permanent type of relief to those of us living on this peninsula we call Florida. They are helping to slow our housing recoevery with their inactivity and failure to refund the program. More than once they have recessed without renewing the program and left us unable to close on home sales. Give us a break. We are hurting enough down here.

Newspapers are starting to issue warnings to would-be renters about the possibilities of being scammed and losing a great deal of money. Florida is a prime tourist destination and the ocean is a lovely 85 degrees. Sounds warm but it is delightful.

We enjoy having tourists but you should verify the authenticity of the rental listing before you plop down money on a property that no one has seen, hop on a plane and arrive to find that you have nowhere to stay.

Craiglist ads are one of the favorite spots for scammers. They will copy a photo and listing information from another ad and substitute their own contact information. You send them a check or give them your credit card info for the deposit and then they've got you.

In this part of South Florida you can verify the owner's name at http://bcpa.net which is the Broward County property appraisers web site.

There are most likely similar county web sites searchable by the public in most areas of the country; an internet search for the area you are interested in should produce the link. The search criteria should be something like "Broward county property appraiser" and you substitute the name of the county that you plan to visit. If you only know the city name, then an internet search for the city and county should bring up some page that mentions the county. For example "Ft. Lauderdale county" in a Google search brought up multiple links and the subject on the first link stated that it was located in Broward County. Pretty cool.

Or you could shell out some money and use a Realtor who specializes in vacation rentals. That is what they are there for; to help protect you and to ensure that the property in question is available when you need it. We are not just pretty faces, folks. Believe it or not, we do actually earn our commissions and try very hard to make your purchasing or leasing experience a pleasant one.

So continue to search Craigslist but just use caution before you pay for anything.