Good News for for Condo buyers

This is what I can call good news!

I have hardly made a single sale that wasn't hard cash since 2007. 

My business is in large part about condos of all kinds and values. 

But a fact that is not usually known by the public is that getting financing for an average condo is more complicated than for a single family home.

A typical middle class FHA financed condo in Dade or Broward County should be limited to an approximate $250,000 to $270,000 value. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allow higher limits. 

However FHA has established very strict rules to govern its loans to condominium type properties. Among the requirements: a high percentage of owner-occupied units and a low percentage of investor-owned units; strict insurance requisites; rigorous re-certification steps to be taken periodically by the building associations; reserves requirements, etc. 

It often proved to be an overwhelming task to many condominium associations which simply found it too bothersome or costly. 

In reality, condominium management was never at the root of the big real estate crisis and the mortgage catastrophe was mainly the result of bankers, lenders and "financiers" greed and ruthlessness. But condominiums suffered much of its consequences; The eyes and vigilance of HUD and FHA were (as an example) transfixed on the fact that many of these condominiums did not have sufficient reserves to confront an unusual amount of failures. This was true but it was also true that reserves are not built up to tackle recessions and debacles of this magnitude, especially when they are caused by external macro-economics out of condo associations control.

This official policy has been a drawback on home affordability. 
I am a realtor and I daily observe it in my job.  

The bureaucratic fury against the least important factor in mortgage loans risk assessment had been -ironically- killing much of  Federal government's incentives to revive the "American Dream of Home Ownership".  

The following, let's hope, could be the beginning of a step in the right direction.

HUD eases FHA condo financing rules

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ed Golding announced changes to FHA condominium policies last night at the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) convention in San Diego.

Effective immediately, FHA will streamline the condominium re-certification process and expand its definition of acceptable "owner-occupied" units to include second homes not owned by investors. The provisions expire in one year "until the agency can implement a more comprehensive condominium rule change."

The change should qualify more condo complexes for FHA loans. That, in turn, will give more buyers access to FHA low-down payment mortgages.

The new rule:

•  Modifies the requirements for condominium project re-certification,
• Revises the calculation of FHA's required owner-occupancy percentage,
• Expands eligible condominium project insurance coverages 

Florida homebuyers, perhaps more than any other state, will benefit from FHA's new rule.

"This is going to be an amazing stimulus to the housing market for the first-time homeowner and entry-level housing buyer," says Frank Kowalski, president of Florida Realtors in 2005 and an insurance agent. "It's a catalyst for change and long overdue. 

Thousands of contracts could not use FHA financing, and buyers were forced to come up with 25 – even 30 percent down payments."

Kowalski says FHA's rule change should help more than just first-time buyers, however. Condo financing problems also frustrated the move-up market – condo owners who want to make the move to single-family housing.

"It's difficult to sell an existing unit if you can't find a qualified buyer," Kowalski says. "A lot of people are frozen in place: Those in (a condo unit) can't get out; those out can't get in."

According to Golding, the just-announced FHA changes are in line with ones requested by NAR, which has been an advocate for reform. NAR cited problems with a lengthy and complex recertification process, burdensome owner-occupancy requirements, and the limits on acceptable property insurance.

One major benefit for Florida condo owners: the property insurance rule change. FHA will now accept Citizens Property Insurance coverage – the Florida-owned company and largest condo insurer in the state. In addition, FHA changed the way it will view co-insurance clauses, which exist with most Florida condos.

That change alone will help up to 85 percent of Florida's condo associations, according  to Danielle Blake, the Miami Association of Realtors' government affairs director and a long-time advocate for FHA change.

According to Golding, insurance and recertification changes will take place immediately. Policy changes related to owner occupancy, commercial space percentage, FHA concentration and spot approvals would be addressed through formal rulemaking in the near future.

"Condos are often the most affordable option for homebuyers, especially first-time buyers, and making sure FHA financing is an option is important to supporting homeownership," says 2015 NAR President Chris Polychron.

This information was read in FloridaRealtors.org  on Nov. 13, 2015

 

HENRY B. NATHAN

 is a Realtor at

UNITED REALTY GROUP INC.

call me at:

 (954) 296-6741

or Email me at:  hbnathan@gmail.com

Traffic Cameras - Call it Big Brother's New Tax

Do you still think that Hallandale Beach the "City of Choice" ?

Not anymore for many drivers who, as you will read below, will try to avoid Hallandale's cameras trap.

One Million Dollars in six months! This is the take of the city and they have recently increased the fine from $125 to $158, so that they can share part of this revenue with the State of Florida.

And that's just the beginning.

$158 for not slowing down enough at a red light right turn, seems so excessive and such an hypocritical money grab!

Just more money-generating, privacy-invading, shameful scheme.

Every little chip hammered out of our Constitution brings us one step closer to George Orwell's and Aldous Huxley's perfect universes.

I'll take freedom over the so called "safety" any day of the week.

Big Brother has many Eyes!

Here is what I read today in the Sun Sentinel:

Rolling right turn could cost you $158

Red-light cameras are helping Hallandale Beach raise $1 million

In theory, red-light cameras are supposed to be about safety, curbing reckless drivers from blowing through intersections at high speeds.

But the reality at one South Florida intersection seems more like a game of "Gotcha," with an astounding 93 percent of violations going to unwitting drivers making rolling right turns on red. "This feels like a money grab," said Phil Kodroff, one of almost 11,000 drivers to get snagged by Hallandale Beach's red-light camera since it started snapping away in January.

The city's take by mid-June: almost $1 million.

"Let's be honest about it, we're here to gouge you," said Hallandale Beach Commissioner Keith London, an opponent of red-light cameras. "To say it's about public safety is pretty disingenuous. It's all about the revenue." Love them or hate them, the cameras soon will become fixtures of South Florida life. Now that the devices have gotten the green light from the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist, more cash-strapped cities will be turning to them for easy money.

In the past week, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Boynton Beach have moved forward with plans to install cameras. They will join Hallandale Beach, Pembroke Pines and West Palm Beach, which already have cameras running. Royal Palm Beach installed cameras in November but has been issuing only warnings; fines likely will start by September. Under the law that took effect July 1, fines for the first offense increased to $158 from $125, with the money now divided between the state and cities.

"The mentality of the South Florida driver is going to have to change," said Mark Antonio, interim city manager of Hallandale Beach. Said Hallandale Beach Police Maj. Dwayne Flournoy: "It's the 'Halo effect.' If you get compliant at one intersection, your behavior will change at all the others."

Kodroff, of Hollywood, said his behavior has changed: He is avoiding Hallandale Beach's camera intersection at Federal Highway and Hallandale Beach Boulevard, along with the businesses on that corridor.

After a steak dinner at the Gulfstream Park casino complex May 22, Kodroff thought he had an uneventful drive home to his beachfront condo. A month later, he opened his mail to find a $125 ticket. His speed when he made the right on red onto Hallandale Beach Boulevard, according to the violation notice: "0." "It's not sensible," Kodroff said. "I hit my brakes, I thought I came to a full stop."

A Miami-Dade judge put the brakes on the cameras in February, when he ruled that Aventura's program was improper. But legislators rewrote state law to allow them. Fines are sent to the registered owners of vehicles. The owners can appeal or get the fine transferred if they weren't driving. Under the new law, the vendor no longer gets a percentage of revenue, but a fixed monthly rate. American Traffic Solutions of Scottsdale, Ariz., dominates the market, managing the programs for all the South Florida cities.

Camera advocates say they make red-light runners think twice before blowing through intersections, reducing devastating T-bone crashes. But critics say the cameras could spur an increase in rear-end collisions, as people slam on their brakes at the last second. "If it's used in the right context, catching people who blow through a light, I don't have a problem with it," said Kodroff, who paid his fine without disputing it. "But getting people making a right on red, if they stop after the crosswalk or are going two miles per hour, seems a little shady."

Hallandale Beach is alone in enforcing right-turn violations

The Sun Sentinel - July 10, 2010 – By Michael Mayo.


Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.

Visit my websites: GoldenIsles-homes.com

and Golden-Beach-Homes.com

and The Beach Club Condos

Hallandale Beach Blues - 2010

The City of Hallandale is having a nasty dispute, that can be seen on several blogs, between some of its commissioners, residents, and some condo association societies.

The fact is that, after years of paying the City Manager incredibly high salaries and benefits, it appears that this Manager wasn't even going to work most of the time.

They have finally decided to fire him.

The dispute is apparently about paying him now 11 months of severance package, plus health insurance for life, I think, and some additional benefits. And that the total bill could be almost a million dollar.

Some time ago, and looking at the high property taxes in Florida which we had to endure during the last few years, due to the accelerated increase of assessed values, I wrote that our cities cannot understand that, since we are in a period of recession, they have to learn how to spend our money more wisely.

I wrote a few times, on how they found the turnaround way of avoiding what our legislators had mandated: reduction of taxes.

This is an example.

The City manager, recently fired, made apparently between $250,000 and $450,000 a year (depending on whose information you read).

If in fact he made these last figures, I bet that not even the City manager of Los Angeles, Tokyo, or Paris would match it. That's really something to brag about!

Hallandale Beach is a city of about 40,000 residents. Schools are some of the worst in the state.
Services are very expensive and considered inferior.

But the City Hall is impressive...

You just draw your conclusions.

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.
Visit my website: http://www.condo-southflorida.com
where you can search for Aventura Condos, Florida Condos, Sunny Isles Condos,

I like this book

FAME and OBSCURITY - By Gay Talese.

I discovered this writer recently.

An Italian (born Gaetano Talese) who wrote in the New York Times, years ago, his portraits of famous people are delightful. In this book: Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio, Joe Louis, Peter O'Toole.

If you are a fan of good writing, you will enjoy Talese, a writer and a non-fiction painter of vivid portraits.

The book also includes The Bridge, a chronicle on how the Verrazano-Narrows bridge was built in New York and a history of the "boomers", builders of bridges and skyscrapers.

And there is some more in the book that I will leave you to explore.

Sorry, it's supposed to be a Real Estate Blog, but it's a lazy summer day.

Henry B. Nathan is a Florida Realtor at United Realty Group Inc.
Visit my website: GoldenIsles-homes.com
where you can search for Golden Isles Real Estate