Potential buyer for Belleview Biltmore steps

BELLEAIR — A man who introduced himself to the mayor as the "next and final owner" of the Belleview Biltmore said he will close on the historic hotel this week.
"Trust me," Thomas Gavin wrote in an e-mail late Friday to Belleair Mayor Gary Katica. "I am in contact with the present owners of the Biltmore and ready to sign a contract this week to purchase and close this year."
Gavin described himself as the chairman of Lifestone Capital Corp., a company that is not listed in Florida corporation records.
He said he has stayed in the presidential suite at the Biltmore, an experience that gave him "the full appreciation of the presence and the need to preserve the legacy of such a grand hotel."
Gavin said he doesn't want to destroy the hotel, but complement it. He was unavailable for comment Monday, but participated in a 15-minute conference call with Katica and Town Manager Micah Maxwell.
Katica, who said he would be thrilled if Gavin closed this week, said Gavin repeated his desire to restore the hotel.
"When you get something exactly the way you want it," Katica said, "you hope that it's true.
"They just want to take the pagoda entrance down, make a five-star hotel, enhance the golf course, be a good neighbor."
The Biltmore's mortgage is held by former owner Urdang & Associates. The company declined to comment.
Three years ago, Latitude Management, formerly known as Legg Mason Real Estate Investors, bought the property for $30.3 million. That agency could not be reached Monday night.
The Biltmore closed more than a year ago for a three-year, $100 million makeover. But lawsuits and the lagging economy have stalled the project.
Interest in the Biltmore waned until September, when Tampa lawyer Ron Weaver called officials and inquired about commercial and residential possibilities.
Miami brothers Daniel and Raphael Ades flew in this month to find out what development the community would allow.
Then on Friday, Gavin became the third interested buyer.
"I think every one of them has said that they had a contract on it," Maxwell said. "We have yet to see any movement on it. People can say whatever they want, and we'll just see who ends up with the hotel."

Owners Seek to Sell at Loss as Banks Push Foreclosure

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39827922

Mortgage Applications Slump as Rates Rise

Home Builder Confidence Rises For First Time in Months

Home builder confidence for newly built, single-family homes rose three points to 16 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for October.

This was the first improvement registered by the HMI in five months, and returns the index to a level last seen in June of this year, according to the survey.

Readings below 50 indicate negative sentiment about the market. The last time the index was above 50 was in April 2006.

High unemployment, slow job growth and tight credit have kept people from buying homes.

But all three of the HMI’s component indexes registered gains in October.

The index gauging current sales conditions rose three points to 16, while the index gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose five points to 23 and the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers rose two points to 11.

Builder confidence also improved across every region in October. The South and West each posted four-point gains, to 18 and 12, respectively, while the Northeast and Midwest each posted single-point gains, to 17 and 13, respectively.

SMR - StockMarketReview.com (Foreclosures)

if you wish to acquire an affordable property in a solid location then foreclosed homes in Tampa may just appeal to you as it has to a good number of people. The market for foreclosures favors buyers with the low prices of homes, good home conditions and easy financing options.
To be able to acquire foreclosed homes in Tampa one need only have the capability to pay for one either in cash or through a financing program. So before you even check out listings for these properties it would be best to secure your finances first. If you do not have the cash to purchase a property in its entirety, you can always take out a home loan from any lending outfit or bank. The way to do this is simply to walk up to one and get pre-qualified.
The Search
Seasoned buyers of foreclosed homes know that the only way to succeed is to come prepared with all the data and knowledge pertaining to the home they wish to purchase. It is a good thing that most everything one needs to know about the subject can be found online in user-friendly formats that are easy to navigate. There are numerous web sites that offer listings of foreclosures plus other related and helpful data which buyers can use to speed up the decision-making process.
A Sense of Urgency
Once you have found what you set out to look for further research is needed to determine the cost of repairs, to discover hidden taxes and liens and to compare the price of the home with that of like homes in the neighborhood. If you are relatively new to the business of buying foreclosed homes in Tampa it may be prudent to seek the help of a local real estate agent or broker who can ably represent you in the transaction.

Miami Real Estate Slows Down As Foreclosures Freeze

Miami, Fla. The major banks decision to freeze foreclosures is slowing down the Miami real estate market.
JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and GMAC are taking more time to process applications, in some cases it takes up to 90 days to answer buyers offers and the closing dates become more uncertain due to the long waiting times.
Since banks last shift on the foreclosure conditions most buyers are looking into the traditional ways of buying real estate and normal properties are becoming more attractive to them. Foreclosures and short sales are getting less popular because buyers don’t want to be waiting an indefinite time, they like fast answers to their offers and closing dates. Buyers and investors can search for properties at www.miamirealestatelistings.org where they will find a free access to the Miami MLS listings service.
The positive side of this new market turn, is for the homeowners to sell their properties. They will have a better chance because foreclosure or short sales are becoming too complicated to deal with.

30-Year Mortgage Rate at New Record Low

U.S. mortgage rates reached new record lows in the latest week as economic data raised the appeal of safe-haven government debt, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.

While rock-bottom rates offer a glimmer of hope for a housing market struggling to find footing in the aftermath of the expiration of popular home buyer tax credits, their impact on home loan demand has been tepid. A weak jobs market and flailing economy continue to weigh on consumer confidence.

Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely used loan, averaged 4.27 percent for the week ended Oct. 7, down from the previous week's 4.32 percent and the lowest on record, according to the survey.

Rates were also below their year-ago level of 4.87 percent. Freddie Mac started the survey in April 1971.

Meanwhile, 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.72 percent, down from 3.75 percent last week, the lowest since Freddie Mac began surveying this loan type in 1991.

"The 12-month growth rate in the core price index for personal consumption, which the Federal Reserve closely tracks, has been drifting lower over the past six months ending in August and suggests inflation is running at a tepid pace at best," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.

"This allowed mortgage rates to ease to new or near record lows this week," he said.

Mortgage rates are linked to yields on Treasuries and yields on mortgage-backed securities.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday U.S. mortgage applications for home purchases rose for a second straight week, with demand at its highest level since early May as potential homeowners took advantage of record low interest rates.

Michelle Meyer, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York, said potential homebuyers have remained on the sidelines despite the improvement in affordability from record low mortgage rates.

"The missing link is confidence — consumers are still worried about future income prospects given high unemployment rates and many believe home prices will fall further," she said. "In addition, credit conditions remain tight, making it difficult to get financing."

"Mortgage rates are only one input into the decision to purchase a home, and seemingly subordinate to current and expected income, she said.

Freddie Mac said rates on 5/1 ARMs, set at a fixed rate for five years and adjustable in each following year, was 3.47 percent, down from 3.52 percent last week, reaching the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking this loan type in 2005.

One-year adjustable-rate mortgages were 3.40 percent, down from 3.48 percent last week.

A year ago, 15-year mortgages averaged 4.33 percent, the one-year ARM was 4.53 percent and the 5/1 ARM 4.35 percent.

Bank of America is latest to put hold on foreclosures

Bank of America, the nation’s largest bank, yesterday became the latest lender to put foreclosures on hold in 23 states because of concerns that came to light in a Massachusetts case that court documents the bank submitted were improperly prepared.

Bank of America and other mortgage companies have been under pressure to review their paperwork after employees and contractors said in sworn depositions that because of the enormous volume, they had not had the time to read the documents or check them for accuracy.

“To be certain affidavits have followed the correct procedures, Bank of America will delay the process in order to amend all affidavits in foreclosure cases that have not yet gone to judgment,’’ spokesman Dan Frahm said in a statement.

A Bank of America executive, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition in Massachusetts that she signed as many as 8,000 foreclosure documents a month without reviewing them. The deposition is similar to others taken from document processors at J.P. Morgan Chase and Ally Financial, which have also frozen foreclosures in the past week. The statements were taken by lawyers for homeowners contesting the seizure of their homes.

On Wall Street, the stocks of companies that insure titles for homes were battered on fears of the worst-case scenario: that flawed paperwork could be used by those who have been evicted to reclaim resold properties. At least one such company, Old Republic Title, has stopped insuring homes that were foreclosed on by Ally Financial or its GMAC mortgage unit.

Federal and state law enforcement officials have stepped up their scrutiny of foreclosure practices. Connecticut’s attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, announced a moratorium on foreclosures by all banks in the state, the first jurisdiction to take such wide-ranging action.

Blumenthal called the actions of J.P. Morgan and Ally a “possible fraud on the court undermining the integrity of the legal process and consumers’ ability to fight foreclosures.’’ He added, “This freeze should stop a foreclosure steamroller based on defective documents and enable effective remedies.’’

California broadened its moratorium on foreclosures by Ally Financial to include those by J.P. Morgan Chase. Calling the companies’ review of key foreclosure documents a “ruse,’’ Attorney General Jerry Brown ordered J.P. Morgan to prove it is following the law before it resumes foreclosures in the state.

The 23 states where Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, and Ally suspended foreclosures require a court order before a home can be seized. This approach is considered favorable for homeowners because mortgage companies must submit more extensive documentation before they can foreclose. Massachusetts is not on that list but Connecticut is.

At the federal level, officials in the agencies responsible for policing banks and the home loan market said they were disturbed by the use of “robo-signers’’ at mortgage companies.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said it had asked the companies to work to make sure the loan servicer companies they contract with to manage their loans are complying with the law. Fannie and Freddie both use Ally and J.P. Morgan to service some loans.

Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee more than half of the $11 trillion mortgage market.

Over the past week, the Treasury Department ordered some of the largest banks to review their foreclosure procedures.

Some judges have reprimanded banks that submit faulty documents. In Maine last week, a state judge vacated his own decision to allow GMAC to foreclose on a house after learning that an employee wasn’t reading the legal documents

Pending Home Sales Rise, but Below Last Year's Pace

The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in August for the second straight month but remained far below last year's pace. The weak economy and fears that prices will fall are keeping many consumers away from the the housing market.

National Association of Realtors said Monday that its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 4.3 percent to a reading of 82.3. That's still more than 20 percent below the pace in the same month a year earlier.

Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected the index would rise to 81.4.

The index provides an early measurement of sales activity because there is usually a one- to two-month lag between a sales contract and a completed deal.

A reading of 100 indicates the average level of sales activity in 2001, when the index started. The reading was above that threshold from March 2003 through April 2007. It sank during the recession, only to surge above 100 a year ago when the government first offered tax incentives to spur sales. When the credits expired in April, the index sank.

"With underlying economic conditions still so weak, a robust housing recovery remains highly unlikely," Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics, wrote in a research note.

The sales report was driven by a nearly 7 percent jump in the South, a 6 percent increase in the West and a 2 percent rise in the Midwest. Pending sales fell nearly 3 percent in the Northeast.

High unemployment, weak job growth and tight credit have hurt the housing market, despite the lowest mortgage rates in decades. Sales picked up in the spring when the government was offering some homebuyers tax credits of up to $8,000. Once the incentives expired April 30, sales plunged.

Potential buyers are holding off on purchases because they are worried about jobs and the economy. Many have been scared away by the prospect that home prices could fall again -- something most analysts expect.

Others are having trouble meeting tighter lending standards and can't qualify for mortgages. And some potential sellers aren't putting their homes on the market because they don't feel buyers will pay enough.

Completed sales of previously occupied homes rose in August, but at the second-slowest annual pace in more than a decade. July's pace was the slowest in 15 years.