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Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM (954) 263-6287 Copyright, Velie Real Estate Svcs, LLC |
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Articles and opinions here in do not necessarily reflect the opinions of EXIT Realty or any of my business, social, or voluntary affiliations or associations. |
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No One Knows Coral Bay Like Eddie Velie Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM |
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At Home In Coral Bay — May-June, 2008 |
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A Mortgage & Real Estate Newsletter By Eddie Velie Real Estate Services, LLC |
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Think a CDD Charges Assessments & Not Taxes? “Maintenance taxes, authorized in Section 190.021(3), F. S., will be used to defray the costs of maintaining the water management and landscaping systems which will be owned by the district. These taxes will be assessed on each benefited taxable unit (dwelling unit, structure, or portion of an acre) within the CDD.” (Coral Bay P.U.D., CDD Petition, Version: 11/1/89, Page 14) |
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Which Escape is Better? The question of the year may very well be, “Which is better, the short Sale, bankruptcy, foreclosure, or deed in lieu of foreclosure?” Lenders are asking themselves the same question. Basically, if you have to take a loss, how do you minimize it? The short sale is most favorable to the owner in terms of credit scores and the ability to buy a home in the future. But it also requires the lender to forgive the short amount, which they usually do. The entry on your credit report will show the mortgage paid off but you’ll have a few late payments (more than 30 days). A bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 10 years while the actual individual charge offs will go away after 7 years. New proposed legislation could make you wait 5 years to purchase a new home. In the past, a person could get a mortgage in a year or more. A foreclosure could cost you more than 200 points on your FICO score. Since the crash of the subprime market, it is unclear if and when the individual could get a mortgage again. The deed in lieu of foreclosure is a mutual agreement between lender and owner to transfer ownership back to bank. For the bank’s, the upside is shorter process. The bank’s downside is, it doesn’t clear all liens on the property like a foreclosure. The borrower could also still be liable for a shortage. My best advice if you are considering any of these things is to consult an attorney. If not, read, read, and read some more on the subject to arrive at a logical decision. Copyright: Velie Real Estate Services, LLC |
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No One Knows Coral Bay Like Eddie Velie Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM |
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At Home In Coral Bay — May-June, 2008 |
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A Mortgage & Real Estate Newsletter By Eddie Velie Real Estate Services, LLC |
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CDD Editorial–Unity But Little Else If nothing else comes of this recall, we know it has done some good. The CDD board is working in unity for the first time as far I can ever remember. There is nothing like a common enemy to cause a group to circle the wagons and work together. This became seriously evident at the May 12, 2008 CDD board Meeting during the “supervisors comments” part of the meeting, where each supervisor takes turns commenting on issues that they are concerned about. I had to leave the meeting during the onslaught of verbal abuse attacks directed at me by Tony “The Tax Man.” I’m used to their constant innuendoes they throw around when the rest of the audience leaves. No problem. It is their opportunity to throw barbs, when I can’t defend against it, in a public meeting where you can be arrested for causing a disruption. The thing they don’t really understand is people don’t need to go to their boring meetings to judge their job performance. All we have to do is drive around the community and we can see their job performance. This is especially true if you have lived here for several years and remember what we had. Two other board members complained aloud about my newsletters but they were not abusive. John’s complaint was about the email I sent to my mailing list on June 7, 2008. The email was an example of a local developer marketing a new community with kids playing basketball on a nicely painted court and a couple leaving their home with tennis rackets in hand. He deferred to the district’s attorney indicating that they had addressed this issue before. But, John, no one asked you to spend FEMA money or the 1.3 million dollars in taxes the board collects each year to advertise Coral Bay. We are asking that you maintain our amenities so that we can promote and be proud of them instead of being embarrassed. You certainly didn’t consider it a misappropriation of funds when you used the bond money— that voters approved for lighting the basketball courts— for something else. |
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Sandi’s complaint was that I only report half the story and that I don’t report their side. Hello? Why should anyone sit and listen to the board’s side. In all but one meeting members of the board have been spewing innuendos like vomit from a drunk. Her real unspoken complaint may be that she was included in the recall which is regrettable, but there are reasons why it was necessary. My real unspoken complaint is that she didn’t step up from vice-chair to be chairperson and allowed Antonio “the Tax Man” to take it. Other than that, you’re the best Sandi. Antonio “The Tax Man’s” complaint seemed to lack point. After he voiced his displeasure at being called Tony “The Tax Man”, it was a continuous stream of insulting descriptive words. Apparently, since the slander & defamation lawsuit against him and Islamorada was concluded last week, he feels inspired to start another larger one with even more innocent citizens paying for it. Wouldn’t that be an ironic paradox? That is if my warnings over the last year and a half that Tony “The Tax Man” could get us into a lawsuit became a self fulfilling prophecy? The bottom line is the board is working together better than ever and with unity. The fencing has started in Indian Key and on South Bay Drive. The Boat Ramp is fixed. They are discussing cameras and gating options with contractors. However, they appear to lack an ability to juggle many things at once. For example, I don’t think there are any plans for replacing the palms at the S Bay drive entrance, or the trees to our west, or resurfacing the courts, or fixing the docks, or speed bumps, or resurfacing the roads, or, or, or, or — Copyright: Velie Real Estate Services, LLC |
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Coral Bay Owners Pay More “Taxes” Per Square Foot In finishing the analysis of single family homes in four different communities (2927 properties), I find what I have been saying all along. That the homeowners of Coral Bay Community Development District pay a disproportionate amount of taxes for the same services that everyone else gets for less. The analysis is subject to the accuracy of the data provided by the Broward County Property Appraisers (BCPA) office as downloaded using IMAPP’s IRIS software. It has been my observation that the BCPA makes many errors in their records. But, having said that, the samples are quite large and should represent a fairly accurate picture as to our situation. Additionally, since all appraisals and CMAs are based on square footage, this piece of data should be correct even if all else is wrong. After all, our taxes are based on the value and the value is based on the square feet. It is difficult to measure taxes per square foot of space because our Florida real estate tax structure is very complex. The complexity is due to tinkering by the legislature in hopes of formulating a fair system for all. For example, senior citizens and disabled veterans get extra homestead exemption deductions, and paraplegics are completely exempt from any real estate taxes. Further, all homeowners whose primary residence is in Florida get a homestead exemption and a cap on tax increases. The longer an owner stays in one home, the more they save in taxes over new home buyers and seasonal residents. With the new portability law passed in January it will be, the longer you live in FL, the lower your taxes. The right side of the above chart shows the average length of time the owners in each communities owned their homes which indicates when the homestead exemption and cap of 3% (or the CPI) was started. The last row shows the percentage of homes that are homesteaded in each community. In our case, 77.58% of the homes are homesteaded. To look at it another way, 22.42% of Coral Bay’s homes are either rental investments or seasonal residents living in another state or country. This presumes that if it were their primary residence they filed for homestead exemption. Lastly, there are two CDDs in my analysis, Coral Bay and Turtle Run. Even though Turtle Run is a CDD, they have significantly less taxes per square foot than Coral Bay. The logical question should be, “why is this true?” It’s a good question that does not have an immediate answer. I can only say that on the course we are going, it will get much, much, worse. And the reason may surprise you —- |
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No One Knows Coral Bay Like Eddie Velie Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM |
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At Home In Coral Bay — May-June, 2008 |
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A Mortgage & Real Estate Newsletter By Eddie Velie Real Estate Services, LLC |
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How Much is Not Ad Valorem? This chart was derived from data from MLS listings this past year. The data is as accurate as the data entered by the real estate agents and offices. Part of a Realtor’s job is disclosure of HOA and condo associations to prospective buyers. The Coral Bay CDD amount is from my own tax statement. Turtle Run’s CDD taxes are unavailable this year for unknown reasons. Tax amounts were not broken down detailed enough as in past years. Turtle Run’s CDD taxes are reflected in the square footage numbers above. |
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Florida foreclosures up again in May Florida had more foreclosures than any other state except California, a RealtyTrac report showed. The Sunshine State saw 37,364 foreclosures in May -- one for every 228 homes. That is up 6 percent from April and 72 percent from a year ago. California had 71,930, while Arizona was third, with 12,959. Miami-Dade and Broward counties saw year-over-year growth in the number of May foreclosures. Both stayed in the top 10 metropolitan areas by foreclosure rate, but slipped from April, the data showed. RealtyTrac said there were 4,874 foreclosures in Miami-Dade in May, down 17 percent from April and up 11 percent from a year ago. About one in every 196 homes was in some stage of foreclosure, and of those 4,874 homes 979 are real estate owned. The county ranked No. 9 according to rate of foreclosures. There were 4,449 foreclosures in Broward, down 17 percent from April and up 50 percent from a year ago. One in every 179 homes was in foreclosure and of those 4,449 homes, 663 are real estate owned. The county ranked No. 6 according to rate of foreclosures. Palm Beach County's 2,616 foreclosures were up 35 percent from April and 218 percent from a year ago. That's one foreclosure for every 241 homes, and of those homes, 131 are real estate owned. The county ranked No. 16 according to rate of foreclosures. Nationwide, foreclosure filings rose 7 percent between April and May, with 260,000 homes, or one foreclosure for every 483 households. Friday, June 13, 2008, South Florida Business Journal, All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved. |
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The Banking Industry Paradox With only 9 sales in Coral Bay YTD, we are in serious trouble. We are not alone but that is of little comfort. Home prices are caught in a snow ball effect that is being fed by the banking industry trying to rectify itself but while doing so, is making the problem bigger, hence the snowball effect. Last year we saw for the first time, that few people showed up at the public courthouse auctions to bid on foreclosure properties. With so many properties upside down so fast, the usual foreclosure buyers could buy a property off the MLS for $250 K while the lender’s representative at the courthouse auction was trying to get bidders close to the $300 K owed on a comparable property on the same street (for example). The result is that the number of bank owned properties (known as REOs = Real Estate Owned in the industry) is still growing relatively fast. The only way to dump the properties is to price property the lowest in a given neighborhood. When it sells, the closed sale results in a comparable that drags down prices further. With so few closed sales, there is not enough to absorb or ignore the bank owned, and short sales as comps. Now we have come full circle on the problem, a paradox, where one action is the cause of itself. The snowball gets bigger because now more people are upside down. Now more people are walking away and the banks have more REOs to dump. Copyright: Velie Real Estate Services, LLC |
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No One Knows Coral Bay Like Eddie Velie Consultant, Realtor, Mortgage Broker, CAM |
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At Home In Coral Bay — May-June, 2008 |
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A Mortgage & Real Estate Newsletter By Eddie Velie Real Estate Services, LLC |
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CORRECTION: from “Opposite Perspectives” “When this concept was first introduced, the best information at the time suggested a range of district taxes between $40 and $60 per year which will remain fixed through December 31, 1993.” (Source: Letter to Coral Bay Home Buyers, RE: CDD Assessment Program, Icon Development Corp., May 4, 1990), introducing the first assessments to Homeowners.) |
