Cape Coral Homes

No waiting 30 days for a negotiator, No waiting 30 days for a BPO, etc. They order an appraisal or BPO right away; assign a negotiator right away and answer within 30 days – sometimes much quicker.

Another one is about to close next week. Quick decision. Great property; great deal for all.

If you have a property in Cape Coral that you you need to short sale and the lender is National City Mortgage, give us a call; we can help!

We know what they want; how they want it and have direct phone numbers for their negotiatiors and their new third party company that handles some of the files as well.

We look forward to hearing from you & assisting you in this troubling time.

Yours in Success,

Susan Milner

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

239-542-8521

Susan@SusanMilner

The recent blog I wrote about Countrywide short sales sure caused a lot of comments, emails and phone calls.

Not to worry, I have a solution.

Allow me to continue the story where we left off before….

After calling several phone #s of what I believe to be decision makers at Countrywide Home Loans, I get a call back. Sure, it was from an administrative assistant of a President of a department. But it was the first call I ever received that appeared like someone was really going to look into the situation.

The next day I get a call from a negotiator from the office of a President of a department.

This will amaze and awe: As we are the telephone she runs the numbers and completes her analysis. Yes, it took all of 10 minutes. She says that it appears to work and she just needs to check into one more thing and she’ll call me back. OK. She calls me back within the hour and says we will have the approval by the end of the day. YES. It took me 2 days of nearly 6 hours on the phone to get to the correct person but once I do it takes less than a day to get my approval letter. Crazy? Yes, very!

You have to understand that I have been working short sale files since early 2007. This is when they first started becoming an issue here in the Cape Coral and Ft. Myers real estate market. Most of the banks just told us no. They said they didn’t do them. That gave me the time to improve my systems. Better packages. More knowledge. Tons of research. The banks were also working on their processes. Now, in 2008, I’m ranked #3 out of our entire MLS for listing agents who close short sales. Not bad.

That being said I don’t send in bogus offers. I counsel the seller on this first thing. We compile their financials before I even list the property for sale. We counter low-ball offers from buyers. My package comes to the bank COMPLETE. I make the negotiators job EASY. Often times at many banks, the negotiator looks through my file while I am on the phone and THANKS ME for a great package. They say this one should be easy since I’ve sent in everything CORRECTLY. We have had approvals in as little as 3 days, see above. Many of my other approvals this year came back in 10-30 days. That is way ahead of the norm.

I understand the bank’s position. They are weeding through thousands of crappy packages. From low-ball offers with no supporting documentation to non-hardship situations to offers that are unsigned, etc. I’m sure there are agents who call and are rude to them. Try to tell them how to do their job, etc.

Think about this folks. If you work for a bank as their loss mitigation specialist and you have 300 files on your desk which one will you work on first?

1) Friendly, knowledgeable agent with complete package

2) Jerky agent with complete package

3) Clueless agent with incomplete package

4) Jerky clueless agent with incomplete package

It really it isn’t that hard to figure out. First of all banks, if you DO NOT look at short sales, make that known. I know of a few that don’t do short sales and yet somehow I still see these short sales listed for sale by other agents. Really that is the agent’s fault for wasting everyone’s time but maybe if the bank would be clear it would help too.

Agents, call the bank first if you are unsure! Ask! Get their Short Sale Package if they have one! Ask exactly what documents they want. Some want more, some less!

Here’s what I propose the banks do to collect the most money back on these bad loans:

1) Have an intake department with a checklist of items needed in package

(timeframe: same day of receipt)

a. Reject all that are missing items – send letter of explanation

b. Forward on all complete packages to analysis team

2) Analysis Team – reviews package

(timeframe: 2 days of review)

a. Verifies hardship

b. Verifies value

c. If good – forward to closing negotiator

d. If doesn’t work – send letter of why/reject

3) Closing Negotiator – closes file

(timeframe: 2 days of review)

a. Reviews file

b. Send approval

Ok, maybe I’m in dreamland but I think this would work. Banks would send approvals within a week. Sell off bad loans within 30 days. Our real estate market would improve as the inventory is sold.

I’m sure there are thousands of incomplete, bogus-offers files sitting somewhere at every bank. If they would just reject those upon receipt it would give their staff time to work on files that actually make sense.

By the way, we will still handle Countrywide short sales. Just keep in mind that they might take longer than the others – at least until Countrywide fixes up their process.

Any loss mitigators out there? I’d love to hear your comments!

As always, if you are considering buying or selling in the Cape Coral and Ft. Myers area, we’d love to assist you. Buyers, search thousands of homes for sale on our website. Sellers, if you need help with a short sale let us know. We’re here to help.

Yours in Success,

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

www.Florida-Future-Realty.com

(239) 542-8521

Susan@SusanMilner.com

copyright 2008 Susan Milner | Florida Future Realty, Inc.

Countrywide Short Sales SUCK. This is my story about it. I wish this weren’t true because they have more of the defaulting loans than any other lender (at least around here). But I just can’t handle countrywide short sales any longer.

I’m sorry. I cannot help you if your loan is with Countrywide. My sanity is worth more than that. After having successfully closed short sale transactions with Countrywide home loans for customers with homes in Cape Coral, Florida earlier this year, I thought I could keep doing it.

This year we had a short sale offer submitted in April. Unfortunately Countrywide hadn’t file a Lis Pendens yet so they weren’t too motivated to look at the offer. The customer hadn’t made a payment on her mortgage since last Oct. Strange. Well NOW, 6 months later, they are calling about the short sale. Wondering if I want to ‘reopen’ it. Well, sorry but that buyer is LONG GONE Countrywide.

Yesterday I receive a letter of denial on another Countrywide short sale file. Reason? The appraisal came in too far below the amount owed. Well, isn’t that WHY it is a short sale? And just to be clear about my thoughts: Countrywide can have whatever guidelines it wants. But tell me what they are. My problem with this is at that they wasted my time for 2 months. Wasted my seller’s time, wasted the buyer’s time. They knew what the offer was up front. Why go through the hassle of requesting additional documentation? Why hire an appraiser? WHY? If you knew the price was too low anyway? ABSURD Countrywide, you are CRAZY. By the way, this is my first EVER denial letter on a short sale. We have had a couple of banks say they won’t do short sales but they tell us UP FRONT. And we move on.

A month ago I submitted a Countrywide short sale package. A previous offer was already approved and this offer was actually going to NET Countrywide MORE money. We have a time sensitive closing because the buyer is working on an FHA loan (you know those guidelines changed last month). I advised them of this and asked if they had everything they needed and asked if there was anyway I could help Countrywide Home Loans with this file. I was assured that it was put through to ESCALATION (Want to do something fun? Call and ask if that exists. 9 out of 10 operators will tell you you are crazy. 1 will say it is in Escalation). Anyway, back to the story. Call for updates, needed Hud1 revised, was told to send it back within the HOUR or else the file was going to be CLOSED.

Seriously, that’s what my negotiator said. So, luckily I was in the office as was the title company and she got her revision within the hour. Ok, great I thought. It was supposed to go over to the investor for their approval. Called again, no notes about that. Negotiator is ignoring my phone message and email. GREAT. Got told by one nice man at Countrywide, “Never rely on a negotiator to update the system. Always email and fax and call to confirm receipt.” Nice. 

So I call the investor. Bank of New York. They don’t make the final decision I’m told. Countrywide has the full power to make these decisions. So, if everything is ‘good’ to Countrywide then WHAT ARE THEY WAITING FOR? They gave me a name/# to try at Countrywide.

So I call again. “Didn’t you already call today?” I was rudely questioned. “Yes, as a matter of fact I did. However, I was told that it was going to the investor for approval when in fact the investor does NOT give a final approval”. To which she responds with “it doesn’t matter who is giving you the approval. It is under review. We don’t know when we’ll know anything else.” I advise that this is NOT an acceptable answer and I want to know when I will hear something. And she says to call back once a week. OMG. I’m about to lose it. I start to again tell her that I need a better answer and she politely says, “Thank you. Good Bye” CLICK. Yep, she hangs up on me!

Wow, I am so upset. These poor people with loans through Countrywide. I am so sorry for everyone who is attempting to be proactive here with them. I wish I could help you but I can’t.

I will still work my @ss off on the files I currently have with Countrywide lenders but from now on I am NOT ACCEPTING ANY COUNTRYWIDE SHORT SALES. I just can’t. My sanity/health are worth way more than this.

No rhyme or reason. Insane, uneducated, rude operators (except for you Randy – you were helpful) at Countrywide.

Just to confirm, no more Countrywide short sale files. Any other lender, please contact me. I’m still ranked #4 agent out of our entire mls for listing/closing short sales.

Contact me today for short sale help (Unless your lender is Countrywide. Then I’m sorry).

Update: We will handle Countrywide Short Sales – See my newest article with a solution for Countrywide short sales.

Copyright 2008 Susan Milner

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

www.Florida-Future-Realty.com

(239) 542-8521

Susan@SusanMilner.com

Are you looking for an investment property? Second home? Retirement property? SW Florida was hit hard with the decline as we experienced such a high in the boom.

You can now purchase great homes in Cape Coral under $75,000! You can purchase gulf access vacant land under $75,000!

You can buy a gulf access condo under $150,000. You can buy a gulf access single family house under $200,000.

Looking at a smaller investment? You can buy an off water vacant lot in Cape Coral under $15,000!

These are just some opportunities that are available.

Real estate is safe. So long as you pay your taxes your investment is very secure.

If you’d like to chat about the possibilities of investing in real estate in SW Florida: Cape Coral, Ft. Myers and Lehigh Acres feel free to call me.

I can be reached at 239-218-2229 or via email at Susan@SusanMilner.com

You can also search for real estate: Lee county real estate for sale

I look forward to working with you!

Yours in Success,

Susan Milner

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

Your Future In Florida Awaits!

I broke out the short sales because in our MLS short sale yes/no is a mandatory field. I was unable to get exact figures on bank owned properties because checking off ‘foreclosure’ in not a mandatory field and many do not check it on the bank owned properties. I would guestimate that half of non-short sales were bank owned, but that’s just my guess.

Total Residential Sales (Just out of MLS):

July 2007 ~ 553

July 2008 ~ 980

Residential Short Sales Sold in Lee County:

July 2007 ~ 12

July 2008 ~ 124

As you can tell the number of sales are up as are the number of short sales. Many agents and customers are still believing that ‘nothing is selling’ or that ‘short sales don’t close’ but we beg to differ. Many properties that sold went for above list price because they were priced very competively and the buyers had to fight over them.

You can search for all of the properties available in Lee County right online from the comfort of wherever you have internet access. Our website contains a user friendly real estate search engine and is 100% free to use. Go ahead, check it out: Lee County Real Estate Compare properties, see photos, get notified of new listings that match your criteria, save your favorites, schedule showings and more!

We look forward to hearing from you!

Yours in Success,

Copyright 2008

Susan Milner

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

239-542-8521

Cape Coral pre-foreclosures/short sales and Cape Coral bank owned/foreclosed properties are our speciality right now.

If you are interested in buying a pre-foreclosure or foreclosed property in Cape Coral or Fort Myers, Florida, let us know. We’d be glad to show you what is available in Lee County near your price range.

Or, you can search online anytime on our very user friendly website: Find Cape Coral Real Estate!

We look forward to hearing from you!

Yours in Success,

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

 (888) 764-6665 

 (239) 542-8521 

Susan@SusanMilner.com

copyright 2008 Florida Future Realty, Inc.

We also show other real estate office’s listings as well. Each and every month we help buyers buy bank owned properties that were listed for sale through our Multiple Listing Service.

Often times this process can take a while to find that right house for the right price. But having a real estate agent on your side to help you through the process can make this process easier.

Our agents have been trained in foreclosure sales. They are out viewing properties every week to keep up to date on the best deals out there.

Sometimes something you like may already be pending but we’ll help you find the next best deal. Often times we find a ‘diamond in the rough’ left unnoticed by many other buyers.

When it comes to purchasing a bank owned home in Cape Coral and surrounding areas, it pays to have an experienced agent on your side.

Feel free to view our website to search available homes for sale. We’d be more than happy to answer questions you may have.

And our agents will never pressure you into anything. We will work with you until the time is right.

You can search all of the bank owned homes currently for sale right on our website at:

http://cape-coral-homes.listingbook.com/

24 hours a day, 7 seven days a week, log on in the privacy of your own home or office. Leave us a note if something interests you or if you have any questions.

We look forward to working with you.

Yours in Success,

Susan Milner

Broker/Owner

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

http://cape-coral-homes.listingbook.com/

 Toll Free 888-764-6665

Local: 239-542-8521

As many have noticed, there are plenty of short sales and bank owned properties for sale in Cape Coral.

We get calls every day from buyers asking about short sales in Cape Coral. Some of these Cape Coral buyers have been reading a lot on the internet and some have spoken with many different real estate agents as well. Funny thing is, they are getting plenty of different answers about how short sales work. Some advice they get about Cape Coral short sales is good. And some advice not so good.

Our office has a system in place to handle the short sales in Cape Coral. At times negotiating short sales can be trying. It is a lot of work but they are closing.

I wanted to find out how many short sales were actually closing in Cape Coral so I did some research. I pulled the information from the Ft. Myers MLS. So of course, this is not inclusive of EVERY sale in Cape Coral. Some may have been handled in other MLSs or possibly by owner or through an investor.

But this does give us a GOOD IDEA of what is going on in Cape Coral.

Today is 4/29/2008. I pulled the data from 1/01/2008 through yesterday 4/28/2008. I’m sure many closings will take place today and tomorrow since we are at the end of the month. I’ll update that in a few days.

During this time period, 999 residential properties have closed in Cape Coral. This includes single family homes, condos, town homes, villas and manufactured homes. It does not include multi-family properties or vacant land.  Of those 999 sales, 878 were NOT short sales. They may have been bank-owned (previously foreclosed on) or they were sold directly from the seller.

121 of the homes sold were labeled as short sales. I went through a lot of these listings and found a handful that were labeled as short sales for some reason but were actually bank owned. So I’m sure this # is off a bit. But then again, some of them that were not labeled a short sale might have been short sales.

Garbage in = Garbage out. Overall though, this is a fairly accurate portrayal of the truth.

So what does this data mean? In my opinion

1)  Not everything selling in Cape Coral is a short sale – only about 12% of sales are in fact, short sales.

2)  Short sales do SELL. I know there are consumers out there and even some real estate agents who don’t think they are selling. But here’s proof that they are.

3)  MANY PROPERTIES ARE SELLING IN CAPE CORAL!

We may still have quite a bit of inventory to absorb but overall we’re doing A-OK. In fact, many of these short sales, bank owned properties, and well priced typical sales are actually obtaining MULTIPLE OFFERS. Something that has been going on recently and was nearly unheard of since the peak in 2005.

If you are looking for a great buy in Cape Coral, Florida, contact us today to learn more about this truly amazing market.  I’m no fortune teller but the facts speak pretty loudly here!

The price range of these Cape Coral real estate properties ranged from $39,000 all the way through to $1,700,000! Hence, we have a home in Cape Coral for EVERY price range!

Active as of today 04/29/2008

Total in Cape Coral: 5,524

Short Sales in Cape Coral: 2,107 (38% of actives are short sales)

Prices ranging from $39,000 through to $8,000,000

Search these Cape Coral properties now!