According to a recent article in the Sun-Sentinel, 69 percent of all South Florida home sales last month were cash deals. Across the state, 66 percent of home sales were cash, compared with the national rate of 40 percent- which many housing experts are calling “astounding.” With one of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates, South Florida has a large supply of bank-owned properties.
Lenders have become less interested in waiting for traditional buyers to qualify for mortgages, and instead, have opted to sell to investors who are willing to pay cash for properties. This in turn, has shut out many entry-level homebuyers.
So who are these cash buyers? Much of the cash buying in South Florida is from foreigners who view condominiums as safe investments. In the past year, large funds have entered the region, buying single-family homes and renting them out for a year or longer.
Among Florida’s metropolitan areas, the South Florida metro area — covering Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties — was second only to Brevard for cash deals. One factor in cash buyers’ favor has been the tightening of mortgage requirements following the easy-lending standards that proceeded the 2007-09 recession.
Click here to read more on the increasing number of cash sales for homes in South Florida.
Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the website, www.miamibankruptcy.com.
This week, Federal regulators proposed a new rule that would make mortgage lending standards less restrictive. The proposed Qualified Residential Mortgage rule was supported by both consumer advocates and mortgage industry members- an otherwise rare occurrence- largely because it eliminates much stricter down payment rules that the previous version of QRM would have created. 
People who file for bankruptcy can sometimes feel ashamed, hopeless and overwhelmed. But it may be a comfort to know that you are not alone. According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, the number of July bankruptcy filings came to 87,684. 
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is allowing borrowers who went through a bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed-in-lieu or short sale to reenter the market in as little as 12 months. Previously, borrowers who experienced a foreclosure had to wait at least three years before getting a chance to be approved for an FHA loan. To qualify for the more lenient approval process, documents must show ‘certain credit impairments’ were from loss of employment or loss of income that was beyond the borrower’s control. The lender must also verify the income loss was at least 20 percent for a period lasting for at least six months. 
Last week, President Obama introduced a proposal that would give colleges federal money based on performance and affordability to students. This so called ‘ratings system,’ Obama said would require accountability at colleges across the country in an effort to curb the escalating costs of student loans. 
President Obama recently went on a two-day bus tour to push a new proposal aimed at creating a college ratings system that evaluates schools on a number of criteria including tuition, graduation rates, debt of graduates and alumni’s earnings. 
A Manhattan bankruptcy judge recently approved a plan for Eastman Kodak to emerge from Chapter 11 as early as September 3rd, 2013. The new company will be vastly different from the once dominant film company that virtually invented amateur photography. 
Several hundred to possibly thousands of Florida homeowners will have an opportunity to own their house free of charge as a result of a Florida law. The statute is common contract law that says a person has five years to sue on a debt, with the right to collect that money expiring at the end of the time period. The most common scenario of how this occurs is: The bank filed the initial foreclosure, then dismissed it for whatever reason and failed to refile during the five-year period. It is possible that cases currently in the system, and older than five years, could get dismissed and then will not be refiled because the allotted time has run out.