Squatters Settle Into Multimillion-Dollar Homes

Squatters Settle Into Multimillion-Dollar Homes

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2011

Squatters are finding a loophole in a Texas state law and are moving into residences, choosing some of the priciest, most luxurious homes to settle down in.

A study by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram found that squatters have overtaken numerous suburbian homes, some valued at more than $8 million, in Tarrant County.

"It's the craziest thing how anyone could be so brazen as to just break into a home and start living in it," Tarrant County Precinct 7 Constable Clint Burgess told the Associated Press.

The state law allows squatters to claim property if no owner is on hand to challenge it. They’re targeting vacant properties where owners have died or home owners are away because of a job or even illness. In one incident in Houston, squatters threw away the owner’s belongings in a commercial garbage bin and moved in while the home owner was having chemotherapy.

“Squatters are claiming houses they insist are abandoned by filing affidavits of adverse possession with county clerks, paying a $16 filing fee, keeping current with property taxes and pledging to live in the house for at least three years,” the Associated Press reports.

Source: “Squatters Occupy $2.7 Million Mansion and Other North Texas Houses Worth More than $8 Million,” Associated Press Newswires (Dec. 4, 2011)

Top reasons to sell home in winter

Top reasons to sell home in winter

Aside from less competition, low borrowing costs give buyers incentive

By Dian Hymer
Inman News™
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We're getting close to the end of the year, which begs the question of whether it's worthwhile trying to sell your home now. Is it a waste of time? Will it sit on the market and become shopworn? Should I take my house off the market for the holidays? Will the home-sale market be better for sellers in 2012?

The first question you need to ask yourself is: Are you emotionally prepared to sell? Selling is a challenge for most sellers, although some markets are better than others. Unless you bought more than eight to 10 years ago and preserved your equity, you may not be able to sell for enough to pay off the mortgages secured against the property and the other costs of selling.

For sellers who have no additional assets, a short sale or foreclosure may be the only option. If so, first look into government programs that might help you out financially. Also, talk to your attorney and tax adviser.

Sellers who have the resources to make up the difference between the sale price and the amount they owe need to ask themselves if they are willing to pay the additional cash in order to sell and move on.

There are two reasons why you might prefer bringing cash to closing. One is that your credit will not be negatively impacted, as would be the case with a short sale or foreclosure. The second is that many buyers shy away from short sales because of the lengthy and uncertain process involved.

The next thing to consider is the condition of your home. Is it ready for the market? The most salable homes are those that are in move-in condition.

Before racing to the hardware store, ask your REALTOR® about how much competition there would be for your home if you put it on the market before the holidays. Some areas are shy on inventory of good homes on the market. If so, now could be a good time to sell.

HOUSE HUNTING TIP: The supply/demand ratio plays a significant role in the health of a local real estate market. No matter what is said about the housing market nationally, it's the local picture that tells the tale in terms of the possibility of selling your home at any given time.

Most sellers don't put their homes on the market during the last or first couple of months of the year. The inventory of homes for sale tends to dwindle during the winter months. Interest rates are low. So, if there are buyers in your local market, you may be at an advantage selling when most sellers are waiting.

Some sellers feel that if they've waited this long to sell, they should put the process on hold until spring and get the house ready in the meantime. Certainly, it's not a good idea to put your house on the market until it looks great. But if you and your house are ready to sell, move ahead.

The market in general tends to slow down over the holidays. But rather than pull your house off the market and miss a likely prospect, change the showing procedure to require advance notice. And enjoy your holidays. A sale before year end could be a great holiday gift.

There is a lot of pent-up demand, on both the buyer and seller sides. Sellers have been waiting for a better time to sell. Buyers have been waiting for more quality inventory and a sense that prices have bottomed or are close to it.

THE CLOSING: Recent projections call for another five or so years of bouncing along close to the bottom of this market cycle. Many experts believe that the big price declines are behind us.

Dian Hymer, a real estate broker with more than 30 years' experience, is a nationally syndicated real estate columnist and author of "House Hunting: The Take-Along Workbook for Home Buyers" and "Starting Out, The Complete Home Buyer's Guide."

Mokena - Solid Brick Ranch - Large Lot (745689)

Mokena - Solid Brick Ranch - Large Lot (745689)

Join me at an Open House this Saturday, November 12th, from 12-3 at this beautiful Mokena home! Brought to you by Century 21 Pride!

Recipe of the Month: October 2011

Pumpkin Bread

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin purée
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs

Preparation:

Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin and oil.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; add pumpkin mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Makes 2 loaves of pumpkin bread.

Source: http://southernfood.about.com/od/pumpkinbreadrecipes/r/bl40328i.htm

Man Found Squatting in $2 Million Home

Man Found Squatting in $2 Million Home

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 01, 2011

Police are warning that squatters are getting more clever, even presenting fake deeds to try to prove ownership of a property without ever paying a dime.

A Raleigh, N.C., man was recently arrested and faces several charges for allegedly squatting for at least seven months in a home valued at nearly $2 million and filing a fake deed and paperwork with the county, according to police.

Thomas Everette Jr., 31, allegedly created a fake company--the International Fidelity Trust--and created forged documents and a false deed that he filed at the county’s Register of Deeds to transfer the home to himself at no cost, according to police reports.

The $1.9 million, 7,664-square-foot home, which fell into foreclosure last year, boasts six bedrooms, six full bathrooms, theater and game rooms, a wine cellar, elevator, and a swimming pool.

A neighbor had contacted police to report someone living in the home since February. Everette avoided arrest back in February by showing paperwork that showed him as the trustee of the property.

State Attorney General Roy Cooper recently warned city officials that a group of residents had been filing fake paperwork at the county’s Register of Deeds office trying to claim ownership of at least six foreclosed homes.

Source: “Man Accused of Being a Squatter in N. Raleigh; $2 Million Home, No Money Down,” The News & Observer (Aug. 31, 2011)

Google+ Tops 20 Million Visitors

Google+ Tops 20 Million Visitors

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2011

In just three weeks since its launch, Google+ has boasted 20 million unique visitors worldwide--more than 5 million in the United States alone--which has many saying that it’s poised to be Facebook’s biggest competitor. Google Inc.’s new social networking site has particularly impressed observers since access to it is still by invitation only, which means a current member has to send you an invitation in order for you to join. Google hasn’t yet unleashed Google+ to its more than 1 billion monthly visitors who use its search engine, Gmail, and other services.

Still, analysts acknowledge that Google+ has a long way to go before reaching Facebook’s 750 million users and even Twitter’s 200 million, but many are expecting it to give steep competition to both.

"I've never seen anything grow this quickly," Andrew Lipsman, vice president of industry analysis at comScore, told The Wall Street Journal. While Twitter in 2009 was also able to capture as many new visitors, Lipsman said it happened over several months--not three weeks.

Google+ allows you to build a social “circle” of friends, easily separating out family and friends from work contacts, and then lets you share comments, articles, photos, and videos with your designated “circle” of friends or even the public. Google+ also boasts a “hangout” feature that lets you do video chats to several contacts simultaneously.

Google+ features will eventually be incorporated into services like YouTube and in Google’s suite of online software for businesses.

Source: “Google+ Pulls in 20 Million in 3 Weeks,” The Wall Street Journal (July 22, 2011)

Couple Served Foreclosure Notice Via Facebook

Daily Real Estate News | June 22, 2011

Couple Served Foreclosure Notice Via Facebook 

For lenders who can’t find a defaulting home owner, they may turn to Facebook or other social networking sites to track them down. That’s what a lender in Australia did. The lender used Facebook to track the defaulting couple down and send them a foreclosure notice via the social networking site, AOL Real Estate reports.

The lender was unable to find a physical address or e-mail for a couple in Australia who defaulted on their six-figure mortgage. So the lender’s lawyer located them on Facebook, verifying the couple’s identities by matching up names, birthdates, and the fact that they “friended” one another.

Australian courts recently upheld the lender’s right to use Facebook to send foreclosure notices. The court ruled that the couple didn’t have any privacy protections on their Facebook accounts and were frequent visitors so it served as a reasonable way to send a notice.

While industry experts say they haven’t heard of lenders sending foreclosure notices via social networking sites in the United States, “it’s bound to happen,” Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, told AOL Real Estate. "The real concern the courts have is whether it's a fair notice that the person actually receives."

As long as it’s obvious the person is a frequent user of the site, legal experts say the ability to serve foreclosure documents via social network sites seems like a justifiable way to send a foreclosure notice.

Source: “Your Facebook Status: Foreclosed,” AOL Real Estate (June 17, 2011)

Study: Tough Times Ahead for Rental Market

Daily Real Estate News | June 6, 2011

Study: Tough Times Ahead for Rental Market 

While there appears to be an excess in rental housing presently, renters will likely find a very challenging rental market in the months ahead as vacancy rates vanish and rents rise, warns The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies in its latest report on America’s rental housing.

Contributing to the challenge, a dwindling number of multifamily units are being built. Typically, the development of new multifamily housing needs plenty of lead time too. Therefore, as more people opt to rent, vacancy rates will continue to disappear, which will cause rents to rise.

Owners and investors of rental housing stand to profit in the coming months from the tightening rental market. But for renters, they’ll find the rental market increasingly challenging, the study says.

Single-family home foreclosures may help relieve some of the pressure in the rental market, according to the study. With the number of foreclosures skyrocketing, some of these single-family home foreclosures may add to the number of rental units and even help stabilize distressed neighborhoods that have been badly hit by the foreclosure crisis, the study says.

Source: “Harvard Study Warns of Rent Bubble,” RISMedia (June 2, 2011)

Recipe of the Month: May 2011

Homemade BBQ Sauce


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, hot pepper sauce, garlic powder, mustard powder, and salt. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before brushing on your favorite meat.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bar-B-Que-Sauce/Detail.aspx

I hope you'll give this a try because it's so tasty!

- Ashley

Monthly Garden Update: May 2011

I pretty much have my garden in full swing now!

Parsley Plant

Eucalyptus Plant

Rosemary Plant

Sugar Snap Peas and Green Beans

Coleus Plant

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, & Celery Plants

Awesome new flower from Sunrise!

Peach Flowers : )

My favorite yellow!

Beautiful!

I'm sure by the next post, I'll have a ton more flowers in the ground!

- Ashley

Recipe of the Month: April 2011

Chicken Marsala

I found this yummy Chicken Marsala recipe on my favorite website, allrecipes.com. 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded 1/4 inch thick
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup Marsala wine
• 1/4 cup cooking sherry

Directions

1. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Here is the URL to the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Marsala/Detail.aspx

I always read the feedback below and I modified it by not using cooking sherry. I also added a little bit of heavy cream to the sauce to make it a creamier marsala sauce. Let me know if you try it! It was delicious!

- Ashley

First Garden Update of the Year: April 2011

I am so excited that I already bought a few things for my garden this year!

Pansies : )

Spearmint

Dill

Garlic Chives - yummmmmmm!

Beautiful!

Cider vinegar to keep flies away!

I was reading how to keep fruit flies away, which is always annoying when you have plants indoors. I have a small spray bottle with a water and a free and clear dish-soap solution. It really helps when you notice the flies to mist the plant and cover the leaves with the solution. The plant won't get harmed and the flies and eggs will die. Also, I was reading that if you put a little bit of cider vinegar in a small dish and cover it with plastic wrap, leaving a small hole at the top, the flies will be attracted to it. They will fly inside the hole, but not be able to get out. So far, I haven't noticed many tiny flies, so I am not sure if it's working!

I also planted my sugar snap peas and green beans last week. I can't wait until I start getting sprouts! I'll be sure to post some pictures in time for my next monthly newsletter : )

- Ashley

Agents Urged to Review Safety After Shooting

Daily Real Estate News | April 13, 2011

Agents Urged to Review Safety After Shooting 

Following the death of a 27-year-old real estate agent in Iowa last Friday, real estate professionals in the state and elsewhere are being urged to review safety procedures to learn how they can better protect themselves while on the job.

Ashley Okland, an Iowa Realty agent, was fatally wounded in West Des Moines while holding an open house at a model townhome on Friday. Police have yet to identify a suspect and have released few leads.

"It's unfortunate that it takes such a horrible tragedy to increase awareness," says Kurt Schade, president of the Iowa Association of REALTORS®.

According to a 2010 U.S. Department of Labor report, 71 industry-related "real estate and rental and leasing" deaths occurred in 2009--30 of which were homicides.

Tracey Hawkins, a former real estate professional who owns Safety and Security Source, says that agents are often at risk since they’re meeting with strangers at empty homes, holding open houses, and agents are often perceived as wealthy and have photos with their listings that could attract potential criminals.

Hawkins told the Des Moines Register that with a sluggish housing market, she has noticed an increase in safety threats posed to agents. She says real estate professionals are being exposed to new dangers, such as encountering squatters or finding drug labs in foreclosed homes.

Iowa Agents Shaken

Shortly after news broke of the shooting of Okland on Friday, most real estate agencies in West Des Moines canceled their weekend open houses due to safety concerns with a shooter still at large.

Earlier this year, another Iowa real estate professional had been attacked during a showing by two men and was held at knife point, tied up, and robbed. She was able to escape, and the two men were later arrested and charged.

But the two safety incidents so close together has many real estate professionals in the state on edge.

"One thing we've learned is that no one is immune,” says Les Sulgrove, president of the Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS®. “We're all exposed. You can't say it won't happen to me."

Source: “Realtors Group Pushing Safety,” Des Moines Register (April 12, 2011) and “Real Estate Job Carries Risks, Experts Say After Agent Killed in West Des Moines,” Des Moines Register (April 11, 2011)

NAR Applauds Short Sales Bill

Daily Real Estate News | April 13, 2011

NAR Applauds Short Sales Bill 

A new bill to improve the process for approving short sales may soon bring relief to distressed home owners who are unable to keep their homes and hope to avoid foreclosure. The bill, introduced in the U.S. House yesterday and strongly supported by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, would impose a deadline of 45 days on lenders to respond to short sale requests.

The legislation, the “Prompt Decision for Qualification for Short Sale Act of 2011,” was offered in Congress by U.S. Reps. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) and Robert Andrews (D-N.J.). “The current short sale process can be time-consuming and inefficient, and many would-be buyers end up walking away from a sale that could have saved a home owner from foreclosure,” said NAR President Ron Phipps.

“REALTORS® and consumers continue to raise issues about delays in the short sale process, because lenders are unable to decide whether to approve a short sale. After many months of delays, and with no response from lenders, potential buyers are losing patience and cancelling their contracts, often resulting in the property entering foreclosure. A short sale minimizes the negative impact on sellers and generally costs the lender less than a foreclosure,” said Phipps.

NAR has been actively pushing the lending industry to improve the process for approving short sales, which represent about 13 percent of recent home sales according to NAR data. Phipps praised Reps. Rooney and Andrews for their efforts on the bill and urged Congress to pass the bill quickly.

“As the leading advocate for home ownership and housing issues,
REALTORS® want to help more home owners avoid foreclosure by facilitating a short sale when a family is absolutely unable to keep their home; however, that can only happen if lenders and servicers approve short sale offers in a reasonable amount of time,” said Phipps. “Streamlining short sales transactions will reduce the amount of time it takes to sell the property, improve the likelihood that the transaction will close and reduce the overall number of foreclosures. This benefits sellers, lenders, buyers, and the entire community.”

— NAR

Fannie Offers Closing Cost Help for REOs

Daily Real Estate News | April 13, 2011

Fannie Offers Closing Cost Help for REOs 

Fannie Mae is trying to lure more buyers to its foreclosure properties by offering to cover 3.5 percent in closing costs for home owners who close by June 30 on its HomePath properties.

Fannie’s HomePath program provides low down payment financing on REO property sales and has no requirements for mortgage insurance or appraisals.

During the fourth quarter of last year, Fannie offered closing cost assistance and was able to recoup 55 percent of unpaid principal balance on defaulted mortgages through the sales.

Source: “To Move REO, Fannie Offers Deals to Consumers,” National Mortgage News (April 12, 2011)