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Orlando Foreclosures Expo to serve as a forum for investors and those facing foreclosure
For Immediate Release

Orlando Foreclosures Expo to serve as a forum for investors and those facing foreclosure

The first-of-its-kind event will be held at the International Plaza Resort & Spa on February 7-8, 2009

Orlando – The foreclosure crisis continues to affect everyone from homeowners and mortgage brokers to real estate agents and communities, especially in Central Florida. To serve as a forum for homeowners facing foreclosure and looking to sell their homes, and for real estate industry professionals who are involved in foreclosure-related transactions, the first-ever Orlando Foreclosures Expo (www.foreclosuresexpo.com) will be held on February 7-8, 2009.

Phil Peachey is the founder of the Expo. He started buying and selling foreclosed properties in 2006 and quickly found it challenging to locate available foreclosed homes that are not included in the MLS. This sparked the idea for an event that brings buyers and sellers in the foreclosure industry under one roof.

When the Orlando Foreclosures Expo takes place at the International Plaza Resort & Spa, it will bring everyone from real estate agents and brokers, real estate attorneys and REO department representatives from banks to lenders, investors, wholesalers, builders and others in the foreclosure industry to the International Plaza Resort & Spa. The Expo will also allow homeowners in danger of foreclosure to list their properties and the minimum price they need. There will also be a help desk where people facing foreclosure can talk to real estate professionals about their options.

“We have clients on both sides of foreclosure – individuals who are looking to buy foreclosed homes, and people who are facing foreclosure and looking to sell their homes,” said Chris Christensen, a real estate agent who operates a Real Living Real Estate Solutions office with his wife and fellow agent, Julie Christensen, in southwest Orlando. His company will be an exhibitor. “The Expo will be an ideal venue to find investors looking to buy properties and help clients who are facing foreclosure get out of their situation.”

Before the Expo begins, there will be a VIP breakfast where guests can get a preview of foreclosure listings prior to the general public. Also, a foreclosed home will be given away at the Expo. The inaugural event will feature workshops conducted by experts on how to avoid foreclosure and what to do if you are facing foreclosure. The networking among professionals in the industry can lead to immediate transactions and future business, Peachey says. Investors will be able to find listings of foreclosed homes for as little as $18,000. For homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, the Expo will give them access to a pool of several qualified buyers.

“The Orlando Foreclosures Expo was born out of the need for people in the real estate industry to promote their services to the public,” Peachey explains. “This will be the first event of its kind where real estate industry professionals and the public can learn about the foreclosure industry, network and links buyers and sellers of foreclosed properties.

“Most people, even real estate professionals, do not have access to foreclosure listings or to the people who regularly buy and sell them. Wholesalers typically offer their foreclosure properties to a very select few. Also, most REO (Real Estate Owned) departments of banks will not deal with the general public,” Peachey adds. “The foreclosure industry has been more like a private club where the public cannot obtain a membership. The Orlando Foreclosures Expo will break down those barriers.”

Peachey says that the Expo has room for as many as 50 vendors. Sponsors for the Expo include the Orlando Sentinel, Wachovia, Moneycorp Inc., Southeast Professional Title, Luxautica, Aston Martin, and ICEBAR Orlando.

After this initial Orlando Foreclosures Expo is held, Peachey plans to organize similar events across Florida in areas like Tampa/St. Petersburg, Miami, Jacksonville and Tallahassee.

“There is undoubtedly a great need for an event like this,” Peachey says. “It will benefit every professional associated with the foreclosure industry, and it will also help those people who are trying to avoid foreclosure.”

###

Media Contact:

Jeff Louderback
407-474-6149
jlouderback@cfl.rr.com



Sponsored by some major players in the industry, this will bring buyers and sellers of Foreclosure Property and its related industry's under one roof.

http://www.foreclosuresexpo.com

We all love Star Trek, this looks a little lively......

WASHINGTON – Nov. 26, 2008 – Calling it great news for homebuyers, home sellers and the U.S. economy, the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) praised a plan announced yesterday by the Federal Reserve. Under the plan, the Fed will purchase housing-related debts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, thus freeing up mortgage money on Main Street. The move is one of four points advocated by NAR in a recent Call-to-Action.

“This is one of the key actions we’ve been advocating ever since the Treasury altered its course on how it would use the $700 billion recovery package passed in September,” says NAR President Charles McMillan. “This is great news for homebuyers and sellers, and we applaud the Fed for taking this historic step. Housing recovery is the key to economic recovery in this country and it always has been.”

In a four-point plan submitted to Congress last month, NAR called for the Treasury Department to purchase mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from banks to provide price stabilization for housing. The Fed yesterday said it would purchase mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae for up to $500 billion.

“This will be critical to a housing recovery,” McMillan says.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, agrees that purchasing the debt obligations of Fannie and Freddie is an important move.

“We commend the Fed decision because it will directly bring down long-term interest rates,” Yun says. “The level of investment should be aggressive enough to bring interest rates down in a meaningful manner. As we’ve seen in past recessions, home sales rise when mortgage interest rates fall.” Yun says that interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are too high given the present state of the mortgage market.

“If Fed action brings down mortgage interest rates by even 1 percentage point, it would increase homes sales by 500,000 units,” Yun says. “That should help to draw inventory down and stabilize prices.” Yun says that the U.S. needs higher home sales to absorb inventory and stabilize prices. “Only with stabilization in home prices can we have a healthy housing and economic recovery.”

In its announcement, the Fed said it would purchase up to $100 billion of Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie debt from primary dealers through a series of competitive auctions that will begin next week. Selected asset managers will conduct purchases of up to $500 billion in MBS before year-end. Both the direct obligations and MBS purchases are expected to take place over several quarters.

TAMPA, Fla. – Nov. 26, 2008 – Homeowners facing foreclosure could find help in an unlikely place – the company that insures their mortgage.

As foreclosure rates skyrocket across the country, PMI companies have seen default claims – and their payouts – jump, too. One of the companies, Genworth Financial, is jumping in to help keep loans from failing and avoid having to settle with the lender.

When a lender says it can’t work out a loan modification with a homeowner and wants to foreclose, Genworth doesn’t just take the lender’s word. The company has an assistance team that negotiates between the homeowner and lender.

It can’t offer anything the lender can’t, but it makes sure all options have been explored.

The effort, company officials say, is paying off.

The company released a report card for the program Tuesday. In the past 12 months, it has helped 11,109 of its customers in obtaining loan workouts. All those customers avoided a foreclosure, and 89 percent stayed in their homes, the company said.

Of the top 10 states where Genworth does workouts, Florida has been one of the most successful. The company has mediated 901 workouts in the past year in the Sunshine State, second only to Texas. Florida has seen the largest increase in workouts among the states – 163 percent.

Buyers who took out conventional loans and had a down payment of less than 20 percent typically were required by lenders to carry PMI insurance, which insures a settlement for the lender if the homeowner defaults.

Most of the homes in foreclosure, however, don’t have PMI insurance. The companies avoided subprime loans made to risky borrowers, and those loans now make up the bulk of the nation’s foreclosures.


www.foreclosuresexpo.com

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Nov. 25, 2008 – Gov. Charlie Crist said Monday he is considering a temporary freeze on housing foreclosures in Florida to provide some holiday relief from the housing and financial turmoil that continues to shock the state’s economy.

“I think it would be a good thing to be able to do,” Crist said.

The governor is also warming to the idea of a 50-cents a pack increase in the state cigarette tax – one of several ideas he’s considering to staunch Florida’s growing budget gap, now at $2.1 billion.

He offered no details about the foreclosure freeze, although the Florida Home Builders Association urged him last week to adopt a plan similar to one proposed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That proposal requires lenders to wait 90 days before selling the home of a borrower in default to allow the homeowner to negotiate more affordable terms for the loan.

Second to California

According to data obtained by the Home Builders Association, there are 54,000 homes in foreclosure in Florida, second only to California, and one in five homeowners have mortgages that are “upside down,” with loans exceeding a home’s value.

The biggest resistance to a foreclosure freeze is expected from lenders and mortgage servicing companies.

Crist emphasized he wants to take into consideration Florida bankers’ concerns too: “I want to try to work with the banking industry and do it in a way that is not harmful to them because we want them . . . to continue to loan money, but we want to stop the foreclosures, especially during the holidays.”

His announcement came within hours of a very public plea from the Florida Home Builders Association, which is asking officials in Washington and Tallahassee to stop the banking industry from imposing harsh terms on their loans.

They warn that the struggling industry, already in steep decline because of the mortgage crisis and credit freeze, is being forced into insolvency because banks are demanding builders pay back huge portions of their construction loans.

“Anybody with a construction line of credit is toxic,” said John C. Fowke, a home builder from Valrico, at a Tallahassee press conference. “Our industry is being unraveled by the lending institutions.”

Here’s what they say is happening: Banks that gave loans to builders in better economic times are now reappraising the value of their loans based on dropping home values. Homes in subdivisions with several foreclosures have seen some of the worst drops in values – as much as 30 percent – and banks want builders to make up the difference by demanding large amounts of cash from these builders to restore the original loan-to-value ratio.

But builders say they can’t manage it. “The cash call is forcing builders into insolvency,” said Jay Carlson, president of the Florida Home Builders Association.

75,000 jobs lost

The industry’s troubles have resulted in 75,000 lost jobs in the last year and are driving the state budget deficits, he said.

Home builders say these measures are necessary:

• A halt on banks calling in construction loans.

• Government help – both state and federal – for homeowners to stop the spiraling decline in home ownership and reduce the huge inventory of homes on the market.

• Congressional action to stop banks from taking bailout money on the front end, but closing credit to builders on the back end.

Crist said he was working with the Florida Banker’s Association “to see if there could be a little more flexibility” in how lenders handle construction loans.

“This is something that has to be done now,” Fowke said. “Without results now, the economic crisis that you read about will be a picnic compared to what’s coming.”


The Orlando Foreclosures Expo February 7th and 8th in Orlando
http://www.foreclosuresexpo.com

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 24, 2008 – For the second month in a row, Florida’s existing home sales rose in October, with Florida Realtors® reporting a 15 percent increase in activity in the year-to-year comparison; last month’s sales of existing condos statewide increased 5 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR).

A total of 10,443 existing homes sold statewide last month, up 15 percent over the 9,118 homes sold in October 2007, according to FAR. Florida Realtors also reported higher statewide existing home and existing condo sales in September compared to the year-ago levels.

Thirteen of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased existing-home sales in October; seven MSAs also showed gains in condo sales, marking the fourth consecutive month that a number of markets have noted higher sales activity.

Florida’s median sales price for existing homes last month was $169,700; a year ago, it was $222,200 for a 24 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in September 2008 was $190,600, down 8.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In California, the statewide median resales price was $316,480 in September; in Massachusetts, it was $295,000; in Maryland, it was $271,520; and in New York, it was $215,000.

Market conditions continue to range widely, according to the latest housing outlook from NAR. “A pattern of sharply higher sales in areas with large price declines is well established,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales. Historically during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives and it’s important for government to keep that in the forefront of housing stimulus decisions.”

In Florida’s year-to-year comparison for condos, 2,956 units sold statewide compared to 2,805 sold in October 2007 for a 5 percent increase. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $147,600; in October 2007 it was $192,300 for a 23 percent decrease. In the latest data available at press time, NAR reported the national median existing condo price was $199,400 in September 2008.

Last month, interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.20 percent, down from the average rate of 6.38 percent in October 2007, according to Freddie Mac. FAR’s sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

Among the state’s large to medium-size markets, the Miami MSA reported a total of 453 homes sold in October compared to 367 homes a year ago for a 23 percent increase. The existing home median sales price was $246,800; a year ago, it was $354,800 for a 30 percent decrease. In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, a total of 439 units sold in the MSA last month, up 1 percent compared to 436 condos sold the previous October. The market’s existing condo median price was $197,400; a year ago, it was $268,300 for a 26 percent decrease.


The Orlando Foreclosures Expo

Time to sell your Dollars??????? Make your own mind up.

For Immediate Release

Orlando Foreclosures Expo to serve as a forum for investors and those facing foreclosure

The first-of-its-kind event will be held at the International Plaza Resort & Spa on February 7-8, 2009

Orlando – The foreclosure crisis continues to affect everyone from homeowners and mortgage brokers to real estate agents and communities, especially in Central Florida. To serve as a forum for homeowners facing foreclosure and looking to sell their homes, and for real estate industry professionals who are involved in foreclosure-related transactions, the first-ever Orlando Foreclosures Expo (www.foreclosuresexpo.com) will be held on February 7-8, 2009.

Phil Peachey is the founder of the Expo. He started buying and selling foreclosed properties in 2006 and quickly found it challenging to locate available foreclosed homes that are not included in the MLS. This sparked the idea for an event that brings buyers and sellers in the foreclosure industry under one roof.

When the Orlando Foreclosures Expo takes place at the International Plaza Resort & Spa, it will bring everyone from real estate agents and brokers, real estate attorneys and REO department representatives from banks to lenders, investors, wholesalers, builders and others in the foreclosure industry to the International Plaza Resort & Spa. The Expo will also allow homeowners in danger of foreclosure to list their properties and the minimum price they need. There will also be a help desk where people facing foreclosure can talk to real estate professionals about their options.

“We have clients on both sides of foreclosure – individuals who are looking to buy foreclosed homes, and people who are facing foreclosure and looking to sell their homes,” said Chris Christensen, a real estate agent who operates a Real Living Real Estate Solutions office with his wife and fellow agent, Julie Christensen, in southwest Orlando. His company will be an exhibitor. “The Expo will be an ideal venue to find investors looking to buy properties and help clients who are facing foreclosure get out of their situation.”

Before the Expo begins, there will be a VIP breakfast where guests can get a preview of foreclosure listings prior to the general public. Also, a foreclosed home will be given away at the Expo. The inaugural event will feature workshops conducted by experts on how to avoid foreclosure and what to do if you are facing foreclosure. The networking among professionals in the industry can lead to immediate transactions and future business, Peachey says. Investors will be able to find listings of foreclosed homes for as little as $18,000. For homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, the Expo will give them access to a pool of several qualified buyers.

“The Orlando Foreclosures Expo was born out of the need for people in the real estate industry to promote their services to the public,” Peachey explains. “This will be the first event of its kind where real estate industry professionals and the public can learn about the foreclosure industry, network and links buyers and sellers of foreclosed properties.

“Most people, even real estate professionals, do not have access to foreclosure listings or to the people who regularly buy and sell them. Wholesalers typically offer their foreclosure properties to a very select few. Also, most REO (Real Estate Owned) departments of banks will not deal with the general public,” Peachey adds. “The foreclosure industry has been more like a private club where the public cannot obtain a membership. The Orlando Foreclosures Expo will break down those barriers.”

Peachey says that the Expo has room for as many as 50 vendors. Sponsors for the Expo include the Orlando Sentinel, Wachovia, Moneycorp Inc., Southeast Professional Title, Luxautica, Aston Martin, and ICEBAR Orlando.

After this initial Orlando Foreclosures Expo is held, Peachey plans to organize similar events across Florida in areas like Tampa/St. Petersburg, Miami, Jacksonville and Tallahassee.

“There is undoubtedly a great need for an event like this,” Peachey says. “It will benefit every professional associated with the foreclosure industry, and it will also help those people who are trying to avoid foreclosure.”

###

Media Contact:

Jeff Louderback
407-474-6149
jlouderback@cfl.rr.com

email us for more info


homes@totallyflorida.com

for more info email us homes@totallyflorida.com




www.foreclosuresexpo.com

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Please email us for more information







The Orlando Foreclosures Expo Feb 7th and 8th in Orlando
www.foreclosuresexpo.com

WASHINGTON – Nov. 19, 2008 – With home prices decreasing and interest rates holding at historically low levels, the number of potential homebuyers nationwide who can afford to buy new and existing homes has reached the highest level in more than four years, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).

According to the third-quarter HOI readings, 56.1 percent of all new and existing homes sold were affordable to families earning the national median income of $61,500 – far more than the 40.4 percent of families who could afford homes at the peak of the housing boom.

“If there is a silver lining to this crisis, it would be that some housing markets have become more affordable with a larger inventory to choose from,” said NAHB Chairman Sandy Dunn. “But this is undeniably a crisis and Congress needs to act on housing stimulus to get the market moving again.”

The two most affordable major housing markets in the country during the third quarter of the year were Indianapolis, Ind., and Youngstown, Ohio, according to the HOI. In both Indianapolis and Youngstown, 91.0 percent of homes sold in the third quarter were affordable to families earning the areas’ median household incomes of $65,100 and $52,000, respectively.

Also near the top of the list for affordable major metropolitan areas were Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.; Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.; and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., in that order.

One smaller metro market (fewer than 500,000 people) outranked all others in terms of housing affordability during the third quarter of 2008 – Springfield, Ohio, where 92.9 percent of all homes sold in the period were affordable to families earning that area’s median household income of $54,500.

New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J., was the nation’s least affordable major housing market for the second consecutive quarter. In the New York market, 10.6 percent of the new and existing homes sold during the third quarter were affordable to those earning the area’s median family income of $63,000.

Other major metro areas at the bottom of the housing affordability chart included San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.; Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.; and Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., in that order.

Among smaller metro areas, the other markets at the bottom of the affordability chart were San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.; Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.; Napa, Calif.; and Bend, Ore., respectively.

WASHINGTON – Nov. 19, 2008 – Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson expressed fresh reservations Tuesday about tapping a $700 billion bailout pool to provide mortgage guarantees to help stem soaring home foreclosures.

Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended their management of the bailout program on Capitol Hill, just one week after the administration officially abandoned its original rescue strategy of buying rotten assets from financial institutions.

The U.S. has “turned a corner” in averting a financial collapse, but more work needs to be done to get things back to normal, Paulson told the House Financial Services Committee.

He again cautioned against using some of the bailout money to provide guarantees for mortgages at risk of falling into foreclosure, but said the administration will look for ways to provide foreclosure relief.

In a break with the administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair, also testifying before the panel, pressed anew for using $24 billion of the bailout money to help some American households avoid foreclosure. As foreclosures mount, the government is “clearly falling behind the curve,” she warned.

Paulson also said that although having a U.S. auto company fail during such a fragile time for the economy would not be a “good thing,” he remains opposed to diverting $25 billion of the bailout money to aid Detroit as the panel’s chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and other Democrats want.

“I don’t see this as the purpose” of the bailout program, which is intended to stabilize jittery financial markets and get lending flowing more freely again, which eventually should help revive the ailing economy, Paulson said.

Focusing the bailout program on infusing billions into banks – and possibly other types of companies – to pump up their capital and bolster lending to customers was deemed a faster and more effective approach to stabilizing the financial system than the original centerpiece of the plan, Paulson said.

Buying financial institutions’ toxic debts would have required a “massive commitment” of the bailout money, Paulson told the panel. As economic and financial conditions quickly worsened, it became clear that the first installment of the money – $350 billion – for that purpose “simply isn’t enough firepower,” he said.

It’s crucial that the administration be nimble in assessing changing conditions and adapt the bailout strategy accordingly, the Treasury chief said. “If we have learned anything throughout this year, we have learned that this financial crisis is unpredictable and difficult to counteract,” Paulson said.

Last week, Paulson changed course and said the government would not use any of the $700 billion to buy bad assets from banks. That had been the focus of the plan Paulson and Bernanke originally pitched to lawmakers.

“There is no playbook for responding to turmoil we have never faced,” Paulson said. “We adjusted our strategy to reflect the facts of a severe market crisis.”

But lawmakers worried the administration was sending confusing signals to taxpayers and Wall Street investors.

“We all understand that when conditions on the ground change, policymakers must be agile enough to adjust to those changed circumstances,” said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala. “But changing too quickly, without adequately explaining why you’ve changed or what you’re going to do next, risks sending mixed signals to a marketplace that is in dire need of certainty and a sense of direction.”

Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., complained about the administration’s “180 degree change in policy,” which he didn’t necessarily fault, but suggested could hurt public confidence. “Do we have a plan? Where are we going?” Kanjorski asked.

Going forward, the ability of Treasury to use the bailout program for capital injections and to take other steps to stabilize the financial system – including any actions needed to prevent the disorderly failure of a major financial institution – “will be critical for restoring confidence and promoting the return of credit markets to more normal functioning,” Bernanke told the panel.

Paulson said the department will focus on rolling out a capital injection program to pour $250 billion into banks in return for partial ownership stakes in them.

Treasury also will search for new ways to boost the availability of auto loans, student loans and credit cards, which have been become harder to get due to the credit crisis.

Specifically, the department along with the Federal Reserve, is exploring using some of the bailout money to bankroll a new loan facility designed to help companies that issue credit cards, make student loans and finance car purchases. Paulson said he expected putting up only a “relatively modest share” of the bailout money for this facility.

So far, the Treasury Department has pledged $250 billion for banks and has agreed to devote $40 billion to troubled insurer American International Group- its first slice of funds going to a company other than a bank. That leaves just $60 billion available from Congress’ first bailout installment of $350 billion.

Paulson said he is not planning to initiate another capital injection program beyond those already announced. Thus he’s unlikely to tap the remaining $350 billion before the Bush administration leaves office on Jan. 20. That would mean the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama would decide whether and how the money should be spent.

The idea behind the capital injection program is for banks to use the money to rebuild reserves and lend more freely to customers. However, banks do have the leeway to use the money for other things, such as buying other banks, paying dividends to investors or bonuses to executives. That has touched a nerve with some lawmakers.

Locked-up lending is a prime reason why the U.S. is suffering through the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. All the fallout from the housing, credit and financial crises have badly hurt the economy, which is almost certainly in recession, analysts say.


The Orlando Foreclosure Expo

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Nov. 18, 2008 – Countrywide Financial Corp.’s agreement last month, which requires it to relax the terms of some 400,000 mortgages, was good news for struggling homeowners. But a New York law firm says the settlement isn’t fair to the people who invested in Countrywide’s mortgage-backed securities, and it’s trying to drum up interest in challenging the settlement.

That has some consumer advocates and lawmakers who pushed for the loan workouts up in arms, saying their work will be unraveled and that homeowners will suffer. But some of the investors, who have already taken substantial losses due to the withering housing market, say they could lose even more if those mortgages are renegotiated.

Successful or not, the potential lawsuit is a reminder that fixing the mortgage meltdown will be as complicated as the web of investors, securitizers and second-mortgage lenders holding stakes in almost every mortgage. The law firm, Grais & Ellsworth, held a meeting Tuesday morning in New York for securities investors interested in taking legal action against Countrywide and its parent, Charlotte’s Bank of America Corp.

Bank of America Corp. bought Countrywide, a California mortgage lender known for exotic loans, this summer. North Carolina and other states filed complaints alleging that Countrywide used unfair and deceptive tactics to give homeowners loans they couldn’t afford. Last month, Bank of America settled those suits by agreeing to $8.4 billion worth of mortgage modifications, also called loan workouts, which can help struggling borrowers avoid foreclosure with measures such as reducing their interest rate or waiving late fees.

Grais & Ellsworth may challenge the settlement because it says Countrywide is violating its agreements with securities investors. According to the law firm, those agreements require Countrywide to repurchase any loans that it modifies or any loans that violate standards on predatory lending. Countrywide has not said that its loans were unlawful.

Loan workouts are becoming increasingly common, as banks try to stem their losses from subprime loans and the government announces its own initiatives, such as the HOPE for Homeowners program, to help banks absorb the costs of the mortgage modifications. Though most parties – the borrower, the bank and the community – will benefit from a loan workout, a securities investor might not, said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

“It shows how crazy things have become,” Rheingold said. “We’ve created this system where stopping a foreclosure doesn’t help everybody.”

In a letter published on Grais & Ellsworth’s Web site, partner Bruce Boisture wrote that Countrywide “plans to pay not a cent of its own” toward the cost of the loan workouts, but will force the securities investors to foot the bill, “even though it is Countrywide’s own conduct (or misconduct)” that caused the settlement.

Bank of America spokesman Dan Frahm said the cost of the loan workouts will be fully incurred by Countrywide. “We’re confident it (the settlement) has benefits for both the customers and the investors,” Frahm said.

“The program has been public for a month, and we have not had any challenges from any of the investors that are in the program,” he added.

In a news release last month, Bank of America’s chief financial officer, Joe Price, said the cost of restructuring the loans was within projections that Bank of America made when it bought Countrywide. Through the settlement, the bank could eat the cost for up to $8.4 billion in bills it never collects on. Price indicated that the settlement could save money in the long term by stemming foreclosure losses. Bank of America also said that some of the loan workouts “will be subject to compliance with servicing contracts and some will require investor approval.”

Like other lenders, Countrywide did not keep most of the loans it made on its own books, but instead packaged them into securities and sold them to trust funds and other investors. Those funds pay their investors interest and principal from the payments they receive from the homeowners. If interest rates or principal balances on those loans are reduced, less cash comes into the trust. Boisture says when that happens, the trusts will not have enough cash to pay the obligations previously promised to bondholders.

Boisture estimates that 385 trusts, representing hundreds of investors and outstanding debt originally worth $465 billion, could be eligible for a lawsuit. Asked about reaction from investors, Boisture replied: “I would characterize it as a significant level of interest in learning about the issues and considering their options.”


www.foreclosuresexpo.com

Existing home sales in metro Orlando continued to outpace sales in most of the rest of Florida during the third quarter, with Orlando Realtors reporting 4,689 single-family homes sold during the three months ended Sept. 30. That was 14 percent of the statewide total.

Orlando sold almost four times more homes than Miami-Dade during the period, three times more than Fort Lauderdale and almost twice as many as Jacksonville, the report by the Florida Association of Realtors showed.

Only the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area sold more houses than Orlando, with 6,502 closings. But Tampa's volume sales increase from the previous year, 10 percent, was lower than Orlando's 17 percent gain, and Tampa's homes were selling for lower prices. The median sale price in Tampa was $169,700 during the quarter, and in Orlando it was $198,200.

Tampa real estate industry consultant Peter Murphy said his analysis of the markets shows that Orlando's foreclosure properties tend to be more expensive and in better condition than the average foreclosure in the Tampa Bay area. "I've been impressed with the quality of a lot of bank-owned properties in Orlando," Murphy said. "Tampa area foreclosures have tended to be more what you expect in a foreclosure."


Statewide, Realtors sold 5 percent more homes during the quarter than a year ago. The median price was down 20 percent, to $185,400.

Condo sales continued to languish, though, with 9,472 changing hands statewide, down 2 percent. The median price, which means half sold for less and half for more, was off 18 percent to $160,000.

Orlando's condo sales were off 7 percent, and the median was down 26 percent to $114,000.


The Orlando Foreclosures Expo

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 18, 2008 – Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida rose 5 percent in third quarter 2008 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest housing statistics from the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). A total of 33,203 existing homes sold statewide in 3Q 2008; during the same period last year, a total of 31,558 existing homes sold statewide.

“Coming on the heels of positive sales activity in September, Florida’s existing home sales are once again above year-ago levels in the third quarter,” says 2008 FAR President Chuck Bonfiglio. “Despite lending restrictions and the difficulties of finding affordable credit, we’re seeing buyers take advantage of homeownership opportunities in the current market – buyers who want to make a long-term investment in their future. And, more than ever, people are turning to Florida Realtors to find the professional expertise, knowledge and friendly guidance they need to make the complex process of buying or selling their home go more easily and smoothly.”

The statewide existing-home median sales price was $185,400 in the third quarter; a year ago, it was $233,200 for a decrease of 20 percent. In 2003, the third-quarter statewide median sales price was $163,700, which reflects an increase of about 13.3 percent over the five-year period. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half for less.

Twelve of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased sales of existing homes in the third quarter compared to the same three-month-period a year ago, while seven MSAs also showed gains in condo sales. A number of local markets have reported increased sales activity over the past few months, according to FAR.

Florida Realtors continued to report positive signs for the state’s housing sector in the third quarter, including an increase in pending home sales (based on contracts signed but not closed) and a slower rate of expansion of inventory levels in some areas.

To gain insight into current trends in Florida’s real estate industry, the University of Florida’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies conducts a quarterly survey of industry executives, market research economists, real estate scholars and other experts. According to the third quarter 2008 survey, the investment outlook for various types of properties remains steady. “People who have responded to our surveys have not lost their faith in Florida as a place to be and a place to invest,” said Dr. Wayne Archer, director of UF’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies. “We have 40 pages of comments from our respondents, and although the dominant theme is the disruption of financing, perhaps the second theme, as one person put it, is people being on the sidelines with full pads and helmets just waiting to jump back in.”

Over the long term, Florida stands to benefit from the migration of new residents, particularly as baby boomers age, Archer said, adding that the Sunshine State’s mild climate and outdoor amenities continue to make it an attractive retirement destination.

In the year-to-year quarterly comparison for condo sales, 9,472 units sold statewide for the quarter compared to 9,680 in 3Q 2007 for a 2 percent decrease. The statewide existing-condo median sales price was $160,000 for the three-month period; in 3Q 2007, it was $196,000 for an 18 percent decrease.

Continuing low mortgage rates remain another favorable influence on the housing sector. According to Freddie Mac, the national commitment rate for a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.32 percent in third quarter 2008; one year earlier, it averaged 6.55 percent.

The latest industry outlook from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) cautions the housing sector likely faces disruptions from the still-stabilizing credit market. “Inventory remains high, and price declines are pressuring owners,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Additional housing stimulus would stabilize prices more quickly, which in turn would bring faster stability to Wall Street. Removing the repayment feature on the first-time buyer tax credit and permanently raising loan limits would bring more buyers into the market and further reduce inventory.”


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MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. – Nov. 18, 2008 – With foreclosure cases swamping local courts, the area’s top judge is planning a novel approach: Forcing lenders to talk with borrowers.

Saying he wants to break “the wall of silence” between lenders and homeowners, 12th Circuit Chief Judge Lee Haworth soon will require them to discuss possible ways of avoiding foreclosure before it actually happens.

“Forcing the parties to slow down and discuss possible solutions is a good thing,” he said Monday.

The new Homestead Foreclosure Conciliation Program likely is the first of its kind in Florida, Haworth said.

The program applies to foreclosure suits filed on or after Dec. 1 against homesteaded residential properties in Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties.

When they file a foreclosure suit, lenders’ attorneys will be required to invite homeowners to a “conciliation conference” to discuss possible alternatives to foreclosure such as restructuring the loan, modifying payments or arranging a short sale. The offer can only be made to owners who live in the homesteaded property, not renters or investors.

The invitation also must notify homeowners that they can contact Legal Aid of Manasota to see if they qualify for assistance.

If the homeowner agrees to a conference, it must be held within 45 days and include the homeowner and his attorney, if he has one; the lender’s attorney; and a lender representative – who can be its attorney – who is authorized to agree to any foreclosure alternative.

If no agreement is reached, or the homeowner decides not to participate, the lender’s attorney can proceed with the foreclosure case but must certify that a conference was held or attempted before getting a foreclosure order.

Haworth said he created the program after hearing repeated complaints about the lack of communication among parties in foreclosure suits.

“The judges and the attorneys were telling me there was a serious disconnect between lenders and their attorneys and homeowners,” he said. “The purpose of the conciliation conference is to break through that wall of silence.”

That wall exists largely because just a handful of “foreclosure mills” file the majority of local foreclosure cases even though those law firms are based elsewhere in Florida, a Sarasota real-estate attorney said.

“Corresponding with lenders’ attorneys is virtually impossible because they have such a huge volume,” said Nancy Cason, who has represented both lenders and defendants in foreclosure cases. “It’s like an assembly line. One lawyer will file, another will take over, and so on.”

Those attorneys’ heavy workloads often result in missed court proceedings conducted over the telephone, causing delays and frustrating local judges, Haworth said.

That’s why Haworth also is requiring law firms that have filed five or more local foreclosure suits since 2006 to designate a primary contact person by Jan. 1. Haworth also will require foreclosure suits to be filed electronically beginning Dec. 1.

He hopes the changes reduce the number of foreclosed homes and help clear clogged court dockets.

“We’re going to push this thing as hard as we can,” he said. “There’s going to be some bumps along the road, to be sure. We’re breaking new ground here.”


The Orlando Foreclosure Expo Feb 7th & 8th
www.foreclosuresexpo.com

Home foreclosures in Hillsborough County rose 75 percent, while Pinellas County jumped 79 percent in October as the housing market still looks for a turn in troubling times.

In Hillsborough, that jump represented one in every 157 homes in some type of foreclosure for the month, according to new figures from RealtyTrac, matching the state average. However, the number of foreclosures dropped from September by 31 percent in the county, the largest month-over-month in the Tampa Bay area and a reversal of the 13 percent month-over-month gain statewide.

The Tampa Bay area has stayed out of the nation’s top 10 metro regions facing foreclosure, although Orlando has moved into the 10th spot in October as rates jumped 136 percent since last year in Orange County and 28 percent since September.

Florida moved ahead of California in nationwide foreclosure rates and is behind Nevada and Arizona. Nevada had six times the foreclosure rate of the national average.

However, California’s drop was partially due to law changes in the state that make it more difficult for banks to foreclose on properties.

“We’ve seen sharp declines in new foreclosure filings after legislation mandating delays to the foreclosure process was signed into law in several states, most notably in California where overall foreclosure activity was down by double-digit percentage points for the second straight month in October,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac, in a release. “Despite this, October marks the 34th consecutive month where U.S. foreclosure activity has increased compared to the prior year.”

Also, while legislation might help current foreclosure numbers, Saccacio warns that such laws may only delay inevitable foreclosures and could spread out the problem for an even longer term. “And in the meantime, the apparent slowing of foreclosure activity understates the severity of the foreclosure problem in these states,” Saccacio said.

Pasco County had the largest year-over-year increase in foreclosures in the Tampa Bay area with a 186 percent jump in October and 40 percent more than the previous month. One in every 129 homes is in some type of foreclosure in that county, putting Pasco among the top 10 counties in the state.

Polk County was up 49 percent compared to October 2007 but was down 28 percent from September, while Manatee County rose 32 percent year-over-year but dropped 2 percent from the month before.

Sarasota and Hernando counties are seeing some stabilization in foreclosure numbers. In Sarasota, foreclosure activity was up 15 percent year-over year but down 20 percent since September, while Hernando actually dropped 5 percent from the previous year but rose 1 percent from September.

RealtyTrac, based in Irvine, Calif., publishes a national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, resale and other lists with more than 1 million properties across the country.


The Orlando Foreclosures Expo. www.foreclosuresexpo.com

TAMPA, Fla. – Nov. 13, 2008 – The housing market may have bust, but many homeowners are still living in a bubble.

Despite dismal housing headlines and reports showing falling prices nationwide, owners in some once-hot areas still believe their home is gaining value or at least holding its own. And by hanging onto too-high expectations, sellers are unwittingly keeping the market from finding a bottom.

Real estate professionals across the country are reporting difficulty convincing sellers the true market value of their homes.

“It’s like pulling teeth in this market,” said Twyla Rist of Reece & Nichols Realtors in Kansas City, where prices are off between 7 percent and 15 percent. “Even with everything being said, you still have people that think my house is better than everybody else’s.”

A recent Coldwell Banker report showed that more than three-quarters of its real estate agents surveyed said most sellers have unrealistic initial listing prices for their homes.

Likewise, an unscientific study released last week by real estate Web site Zillow.com found that half of homeowners polled think their home’s price has increased or stayed the same in the past year.

“We expected people to get a little more in touch with reality especially over the summer, because you couldn’t turn on the TV or read the newspapers without seeing that home prices are falling,” said Amy Bohutinsky, a spokeswoman for Zillow.com. “It was very surprising to see this kind of disconnect.”

In fact, the median sales price of an existing home dropped 9 percent to $191,600 in September from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

It took John Cicero and his wife an appraisal, some convincing by their real estate agent and some hard-to-swallow facts to get them to lower the $525,000 listing price on their five-bedroom home in Valrico, Fla. They closed two weeks ago for about $380,000.

“We didn’t really understand the severity of the market,” Cicero said. “We lost close to $100,000 in equity so we were walking away from real money.”

They built the stucco home four years ago for $380,000 and poured more than $80,000 into it, putting in hardwood floors, granite countertops, ceiling fans, blinds, drapes and a built-in surround-sound stereo system. They also expanded the deck by the pool, turning it into what Cicero called an “executive entertainment area.”

“You think you have this wonderful home and people will want to buy it,” he said, “but you’re wrong.”

Dan Ariely, a behavioral economics professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and author of “Predictably Irrational,” said the “better-than-average” effect is at play. And knowing your next-door neighbors sold their house for $500,000 makes it even more imperative for a homeowner to top that price.

“We feel that we’re better than other people. We’re unique. We’re special,” he said. “It stands to reason that our houses are also special.”

The attachment to a house only intensifies the more a homeowner personalizes it, creating an extension of themselves.

“The moment we invest in something, we fall in love with it,” Ariely said, which applies to something as sentimental as children or as trivial as origami.

That puts real estate agents in a precarious position of pricing a house to sell, but not insulting the homeowner by recommending a lower asking price. To a homeowner, a low, but realistic, listing price is “like someone calling your kids ugly,” Ariely said with a laugh.

Nancy Batchelor, a real estate agent at Esslinger Woooten & Maxwell Realtors in Miami, says she usually agrees to list the owner’s asking price as long as they can reevaluate the price in 30 days if the house doesn’t sell.

“I would like to believe their house is different, but I also don’t want to do them a disservice,” Batchelor said.

Joni Herndon, an appraiser in Tampa, Fla., said real estate agents are calling her in to help homeowners grasp the reality of their home’s value. Herndon frequently fields questions from disappointed homeowners after an appraisal, and has to explain how broadly the market is declining and why what a neighbor got two months before for his house doesn’t apply anymore.

“But sometimes you just can’t get through to people,” she said.

She said homeowners who bought newly built homes at the height of the boom are the most stubborn because they’re trying to get back every penny they spent on customized changes.

One homeowner Herndon did an appraisal for refused to lower her listing price for the third time, insisting that such features like a raised roof and more space between two windows in an upstairs bonus room set her house apart from others just like it.

“It’s the mine is better than yours mentality,” Herndon said.

The homeowner originally asked the builder to move the windows another foot apart and raise the roof by 12 inches so the wall could fit her big-screen television. She also spent $15,000 in extra landscaping and exterior lighting, and $2,900 on designer fans, Herndon said.

“You could have put $1,000 worth of fans in the house and blown just as much air,” Herndon said. “Owners are very concerned about how much they paid for particular changes, but buyers out there don’t value them.”

Herndon appraised the house, also in Valrico, Fla., at $430,000. The seller put it on the market in April at $500,000, and cut the asking price to $469,500 in July. The home is still on the market, and the seller declined to be interviewed.

The market would bottom out sooner if sellers weren’t so stubborn and didn’t keep prices artificially high, Arielly said.

Homeowners can’t stand taking a loss on their properties, yet keeping their home on the market at an inflated price could wind up costing them more. Homeowners need to look at the larger financial picture, Ariely said, and determine how much there is to gain or lose by keeping a home on the sales block longer.

Real estate agents press this point on their clients, saying no one wants to buy the most expensive house on the block. After the first reduction in listing price, a psychological barrier, subsequent cuts come easier, most agents say.

“Like any type of loss, there’s a grieving process,” Batchelor said. “First, they’re in denial, then angry, then depressed and hopeless. But then they eventually move on if they want to sell it.”


www.foreclosuresexpo.com

The number of homeowners caught in the wave of foreclosures in October grew 25 percent nationally over the same month in 2007, data released Thursday showed.

More than 279,500 U.S. homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in October, an increase of 5 percent over September, according to RealtyTrac Inc. One in every 452 housing units received a foreclosure filing, such as a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession.

More than 84,000 properties were repossessed in October, RealtyTrac said.

In Ohio, one out of every 417 homes received a foreclosure filing last month. The state’s foreclosure activity rose nearly 6 percent from September but was down 30 percent compared to October 2007, the report said.

A nasty brew of strict lending standards, falling home values and a tough economy is filtering through the housing market. By the end of the year, the company expects more than a million bank-owned properties to have piled up on the market, representing around a third of all properties for sale in the U.S.

The collateral damage in the financial markets forced the government to pass a $700 billion financial rescue package last month. The plan was initially to buy bad assets from banks, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that the rescue package won’t purchase those troubled assets.

That plan would have taken too much time, he said, so instead the Treasury will rely on buying stakes in banks and encouraging them to resume more normal lending.

Also Wednesday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston said the government may let more borrowers qualify for a $300 billion program designed to let troubled homeowners swap risky loans for more affordable ones. The program was launched Oct. 1, but there are concerns that lenders won’t participate because they have to voluntarily reduce the value of a loan and take a loss.

In RealtyTrac’s report, three states – Nevada, Arizona, Florida – had the nation’s top foreclosure rates. Nevada posted the nation’s highest rate for the 22nd consecutive month in October.

In Nevada, one in every 74 homes received a foreclosure filing last month. Arizona saw one in every 149 housing units receive a foreclosure filing, and in Florida it was one in every 157 homes.

Other states in the top 10 were California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio.

However, RealtyTrac noted that, while California had the highest total number of foreclosures in October, the rate in that state was down 18 percent from the previous month.

James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said new laws requiring delays in the foreclosure process have reduced the volume of foreclosure filings in several states. In California, lenders are now required to contact borrowers at least 30 days before filing a default notice. A similar law in North Carolina gives borrowers an extra 45 days.

“While the intention behind this legislation – to prevent more foreclosures – is admirable, without a more integrated approach that includes significant loan modifications, the net effect may be merely delaying inevitable foreclosures,” Saccacio said. “And in the meantime, the apparent slowing of foreclosure activity understates the severity of the foreclosure problem in these states.”

Among cities, Las Vegas had the highest October foreclosure rate among the 230 metro areas tracked in the report, with one in every 62 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

Four Florida metro areas ranked in top 10 – Cape Coral-Fort Myers was second, Miami third, Fort Lauderdale eighth and Orlando 10th. California also had four metro areas in the top 10: Stockton fourth, Merced fifth, Riverside-San Bernardino seventh and Modesto ninth.

The remaining member of the top 10 was Phoenix, which came in sixth.

www.foreclosuresexpo.com

Guru Josh, Infinity 2008.



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The Orlando Foreclosure Epxo

For sale for just $115,900 with possible owner financing. large house on large lots in quiet close. Ideal for kids and pets. Lots of space. New paint, carpets, cabinets.






The Orlando Foreclosure Expo June 6th and 7th 2009

www.foreclosuresexpo.com

MIAMI – Nov. 11, 2008 – Providing more mortgage credit and helping first-time buyers purchase a home should be the top priorities for the president in his first 100 days in office as he deals with the embattled U.S. housing market, a survey released Monday shows.

The survey, commissioned by Move Inc. and done about a month before the election of President-elect Barack Obama, also showed that half of Americans believe the president should make helping distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure a priority.

“Consumers are looking for an event, like a new president, to ignite their confidence in the housing market,” said Lorna Borenstein, president of Move, which operates the Web site Realtor.com.

The U.S. housing market is expected to continue to face serious obstacles heading through next year. Foreclosures are at disturbing highs, home prices keep falling, and strict lending criteria are clogging the mortgage credit pipeline for potential home buyers.

By the end of the year, foreclosure-listing service RealtyTrac Inc. expects more than a million bank-owned properties to have accumulated on the market, representing about a third of all properties for sale in the country.

The survey, completed on Oct. 10 through Oct. 12, showed that about one in five Americans believed that making more mortgage loan credit accessible should be the president’s main priority in his first 100 days as he deals with issues related to the housing market.

About one in seven think that helping first-timers buy a house should be the main priority, the survey showed.

The government, through the Federal Housing Administration, is currently offering a $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers through July 1, 2009.

The $700 billion bailout was meant to ease the credit crunch, but some economists believe more could be done to keep families in their homes, said Bill Weaver, real estate professor at the University of Central Florida.

Weaver said giving bankruptcy courts the direct power to change existing residential loan interest rates could help the mortgage situation. Also, the government could purchase mortgages directly from lenders that are in trouble and lower the interest rates. That would help solve liquidity problems by getting mortgages off lenders’ books and replacing them with cash, he said.

“I imagine that there are several ways that the government could more directly address individual homeowner problems – the clear message is that something more is expected,” Weaver said of the survey results.

Of the 37 percent in the survey who said they were very interested or somewhat interested in buying a house in the future, about two in five said the overall economic situation was the reason they were holding off buying a home. Lack of financing and fear of future price declines were also reasons prospective homebuyers are holding off.

More than one in four of total respondents said a new president would instill the most confidence in the housing market, the survey showed.

OmniTel, which is part of GfK Custom Research North America, conducted the survey. The random-sample survey of 1,004 respondents has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

www.foreclosuresexpo.com

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 11, 2008 – Saying it will target borrowers in markets likely to face extreme economic distress and further declines in home prices, Citigroup, one of the nation’s largest banks, will expand its foreclosure prevention efforts to include borrowers who are still current on mortgages, the company announced Tuesday.

Up to 500,000 Citi customers are expected to qualify for the new mortgage assistance program. The company estimates about 130,000 homeowners will receive help over the next six months, affecting $20 billion in mortgages. These include homeowners in South Florida.

Citi’s plan will be extended to customers regardless of the type of loan they have, unlike other foreclosure prevention efforts that have sought to stem losses among borrowers with high-risk subprime, adjustable-rate, and negative amortization loans.

Last month, JP Morgan Chase said it was launching a new effort to help more than 300,000 customers avoid foreclosure on $70 billion worth of mortgages and would hold off on filing new foreclosures for 90 days. Citi is indefinitely suspending new and existing foreclosures while it attempts to contact eligible borrowers.

Loan modification plans will include a combination of interest-rate reductions, principal forgiveness or term extensions. The company said it also was working with investors to extend mortgage assistance to loans not owned but serviced by Citi. So far, the bank says it has averted foreclosure for 370,000 customers since the start of 2007.

Citi’s loss mitigation program builds on renewed efforts within the lending industry to more aggressively reach out to at-risk customers amid mounting losses. There also has been increased pressure from congressional leaders resulting from the passage of a $700 billion financial rescue package. Last month, Citi reported a $2.8 billion loss for the third quarter. Reports published Monday said that Citi was likely interested in tapping rescue funds for the purchase of a regional bank.

Sanjiv Das, chief executive of CitiMortgage, said the bank was charting a new path by focusing on customers who are still current.

Rather than responding to the region’s vast number of borrowers who owe more on loans than their homes are worth, Das said the bank would look at the broader economic indicators to target at-risk customers, particularly living in areas hit by job losses and falling home values that exceed the national average. South Florida made that list, Das said.

“This is in response to a lot of borrowers who are current with us, but are likely to default because of some significant change in their economic circumstances,” Das said. “Rather than having them go through the pain of missing a payment or missing several payments and getting into deep delinquency and foreclosure, why don’t we reach out before? That way it doesn’t damage their credit score. It’s the same loan modification at the back end, so why wouldn’t we offer it to them on the front end?” Citi will open several new Borrower Relief Centers with additional staff. The company said its modification model will be patterned after efforts by the FDIC to restructure the loans of IndyMac customers after the bank failed in July.

The IndyMac plan uses a simplified formula that determines payment affordability as 40 percent of a borrower’s income and can include a reduction of the interest rate and principal as well as an extension of the time period over which a loan must be repaid.

Das said some customers would see interest rates reduced to as low as 1 percent for periods up to two years, or enough time to see them through their difficulties.

Citi said eligible customers are those who live in the mortgaged property as their primary residence, work with the company in good faith, and have sufficient income for affordable mortgage payments.

www.foreclosuresexpo.com

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 11, 2008 – When families lose their homes to foreclosure, communities, the housing market and the economy all suffer. Short sales are one way that some troubled homeowners can avoid foreclosure, a topic discussed by Realtors at the Short Sales Solutions session, part of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) 2008 Conference & Expo in Orlando.

“Homeowners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments must have more options available to them to avoid foreclosure,” said NAR President Richard Gaylord. “Short sales can benefit not only the homeowner in question, but also buyers, lenders and the surrounding community. With their established lender relationships and insights into complicated real estate transactions, Realtors can add real value for both sellers and buyers interested in short sales.”

A short sale is a transaction in which the seller’s mortgage lender agrees to accept a payoff of less than the balance due on the loan. The lender often receives a higher amount of the remaining loan balance than it would from the sale of the property after a foreclosure. This helps support home values in the surrounding community. Short sales also help homeowners maintain some level of credit.

According to Freddie Mac, 50 percent of homeowners entering the foreclosure process did not have any contact with the lender first. One of the most valuable services Realtors can provide to clients who may be facing a foreclosure is guiding them through the lender’s short sale process and facilitating communication, according to session panelists Michael and Stacey Spikes of America’s Home Rescue.

“The process for short selling an FHA loan is different than the process for shorting a Veterans Administration or conventional loan,” said Stacey Spikes. “Knowing the type of loan the seller has, and understanding the proper steps for short selling that loan and the order of those steps, is critical.”

Homeowners who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments and who may be considering a short sale must generally meet three qualifying criteria: they must be behind on their payments, be able to prove a legitimate hardship, and have little or no equity in their home.

While a typical real estate transaction involves two real estate professionals, a seller, a buyer, and the buyer’s lender, a short sale can include all of these parties in addition to the seller’s loan servicer, housing counselor, junior lien holders, mortgage investors and mortgage insurers. In addition to the number of parties involved, Realtors say that other challenges can make short sales difficult. These include burdensome paperwork, appraisals that do not consider the sellers’ duress or the number of foreclosures in a community, over-burdened loss mitigation departments, and complications created by second mortgages.

NAR has created a working group to examine the problems and difficulties surrounding short sales and to educate its members on how to best work with their clients through this process. NAR is also reaching out to its partners in the housing and mortgage industry to encourage adoption of principles and practices to streamline the short sale process.

“Short sales give many families in financial difficulties the possibility of salvaging their credit and avoiding the embarrassment of a foreclosure,” said Gaylord. “Realtors across the country stand ready to help.”


The Orlando Foreclosures Expo coming to Orlando February 7th & 8th

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Ryan Palmer birdied the final hole today to break away from a pack of five other golfers and win the $4.6 million Ginn sur Mer Classic in Palm Coast, FL. It was somehow fitting that the final holes were played under rain clouds.
The golf community empire of Bobby Ginn remains in default of a $675 million loan from Credit Suisse and there is talk that the bank could soon put four Ginn properties in the same condition as hundreds of thousands of Americans, in foreclosure. Key members of the Ginn executive team have left in recent weeks, and the executive page on the organization's web site is gone, according to Toby Tobin, a real estate professional in the Palm Coast area who has been following the Ginn troubles closely.
The Credit Suisse loan covers four of the Ginn communities, including Ginn sur Mer in the Bahamas, Tesoro and Quail West in Florida, and Laurelmor in the mountains of North Carolina. The Bahamas resort is a nearly $5 billion project. Ginn has also turned over two of his other communities to other management firms.
Sotheby's has scheduled an auction of some Ginn properties on Nov. 8th in downtown Orlando, and bidders worldwide can join live online. Twenty Florida homes, condos and home sites at Ginn Reunion Resort, Bella Collina and Ginn Hammock Beach Resort will be sold. A Sotheby representative indicated strong interest from the UK, Canada and Europe. Deep discounts are expected, consistent with such a messy situation.


The Orlando Foreclosure Expo sponsored by The Orlando Sentinel
Feb 7th and 8th in Orlando
www.foreclosuresexpo.com

The City Council is trying to figure out how to deal with more than 8,000 foreclosed properties saturating the city.

Staff from the city’s Code Compliance Division this afternoon floated some options they hope will help. During a discussion with the City Council this afternoon, the department asked council members to consider new laws that would push more of the responsibility for maintaining the properties on the banks that hold the mortgages.

City officials want Cape Coral to follow Coral Springs and North Lauderdale, which have started to hold banks responsible for maintaining property from the moment foreclosure proceeding begin. In Cape Coral, banks are not held culpable until the foreclosure proceedings are finished – a process that could drag on for months.

“The foreclosure process is taking a long time because of the sheer volume of them,” said City Attorney Dolores Menendez. “And banks are not rushing to in quickly to foreclose on them; they are not looking to hold many, many properties.”

While a foreclosure is working its way through the courts, the property is often left neglected, allowing it to deteriorate into an eyesore.
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During a meeting with the city’s staff this afternoon, Councilwoman Dolores Bertolini suggested the city also look to builders and developers for some type of a deposit on new construction.

“My thought is there could be some kind of a bond or security deposit we could put on projects so that if someone walks away at lease we have the bond to cover the cost of finishing the project or demolishing the project,” Bertolini said.

Councilman Tim Day suggested the city work with the local power company, LCEC, to shut power off on properties facing mounting fines from the code compliance division.

The city’s staff also offered a plan to extend an amnesty program that will allow property owners to pay less on delinquent code violation fines.
In your voice

With condominiums selling for less than single-family homes, the condo-heavy MetroWest area racked up more new residential closings than any community in Metro Orlando during the first half of this year.

Six builders in the west Orlando development sold 153 properties -- all condos -- with a total sales volume of $35.3 million, according to a recent analysis of closings by location by Charles Wayne Consulting Inc., a Maitland-based real estate research and consulting company.

That average sales price of $230,600 in MetroWest was second-lowest of the 10 most-active sales communities, the report showed.

Sullivan Ranch in Lake County averaged $228,200 per sale; it came in sixth place, with 72 closings totaling $16.4 million.

Baldwin Park in northeast Orlando was the second-busiest for closings between January and the end of June, with 81 properties -- condos and single-family homes -- sold, for an average price of $441,600 apiece.

Of the 20 communities with the most new-home or new-condo closings in Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties and part of nearby Polk, 12 were in Orange County, with two in each of the other counties.

The 1,167 single-family homes and condos sold for a combined $352.8 million, or an average of about $302,400 each.

The 20 communities reported a total of 58 active single-family subdivisions and 38 active multifamily (condo and attached-housing) projects.

Those 20 busiest communities accounted for more than 20 percent of all new homes sold and closed on in the survey area during the first half of the year, the Charles Wayne analysis showed.


International

Foster Conant & Associates, Orlando's oldest landscape architectural practice, has gone international, working many projects in Brazil. The 14-person firm is the landscape architect and overall manager of a massive urban community known as Brooklin Village, a mixed-use project in the Morumbi district of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populated city.


More landscaping

Closer to home, Foster Conant & Associates has secured its 135th contract for landscape architectural services with apartment and town-home developer Atlantic Housing Partners. The landscape architect's newest contract is for Southwinds Cove, a town-home community developed through the corporate entity Southwinds Partners LLLP. With 112 units in seven two-story buildings, the complex is on 9 1/2 acres in Leesburg. Slocum Platts Architects of Winter Park designed the complex, and Madden Engineering of Maitland provided civil engineering. Throughout its 17-year relationship with Atlantic Housing Partners, Foster Conant has provided site-specific landscape architectural services for 135 apartment and town-home communities that total 30,000 residential units in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Ohio and New York.


Leasing

Cushman & Wakefield's Orlando office announced two recent leases brokered by Richard Solik and Betsy Owens. Solik and Owens represented the landlord, America's Capital Partners, in a 15,000-square-foot lease to MHNet Specialty Services, for an expansion of the company's presence in Interlachen Corporate Center in Casselberry. Cherry, Bekaert & Holland leased 8,400 square feet in One Orlando Centre from landlord Eola Capital, represented by Solik and Owens. The transaction represents a renewal and an expansion of the tenant's presence in the building. Staubach represented the tenant.


Expansion

Real Property Specialists Inc., a 17-year-old development, leasing and management business based in Orlando, has expanded its operations into the Tampa Bay market and hired local real estate executive Bruce Swain to run the new regional office. Swain has been active in all aspects of the shopping-center business the past 30 years, mainly in commercial leasing, representing both regional and national tenants and the development community. Swain will serve as vice president of marketing and retail operations and will operate in an office in Westchase Town Center, near downtown Tampa.


Construction

J-Car Inc., a commercial-construction company in Winter Park, is completing the second phase of a small-bay, flex-space warehouse in south Orlando at Orange Avenue and Lancaster Road. The $2 million second phase totals 31,446 square feet; the 18,200-square-foot first phase is fully leased, said James Bankston, who founded J-Car in 1998. Bankston's real estate development company, Holly Investments Ltd., owns the 2.62-acre site and has J-Car handling the general contracting work. Bankston said he has two signed tenants for the second phase: a 2,400-square-foot lease to Pan American Diagnostic Services Inc. for one year and a 2,700-square-foot lease to Starline Limousine Inc. for two years. . . .

Harkins Development Corp., the full-service development and general contracting division of Sanford-based Harkins Cos., was awarded a $775,000 contract to construct a 6,000-square-foot medical-office building for the 3,000-square-foot dental office of Paul F. Hettinger on Old Winter Garden Road in Ocoee. Completion is planned for April, according to Harkins Development President Matt Harkins. The project was designed by DSI Architecture of Lake Mary. The remaining 3,000 square feet of office space is for sale or lease.


More small bays

Small Bay Partners LLC, one of Central Florida's more active developers of industrial facilities for small-bay users, has opened industrial facilities totaling more than 63,000 square feet in the first phase at Poinciana CommerCenter, on U.S. Highway 17-92 at Poinciana Boulevard in Osceola County. Howard Schieferdecker, a Small Bay principal, said three buildings have opened. One is reserved for retail showroom space, while two others in the first phase offer office-warehouse space. Small Bay has developed other CommerCenter facilities in Sanford, Winter Garden, southeast Orlando and northeast Orlando totaling more than 500,000 square feet, designed for users who need 1,350 to 25,000 square feet of space.

NEW YORK – Nov. 4, 2008 – As the luxury real estate market slows to a snail’s pace, real estate brokers find themselves struggling to sell a growing number of “trophy homes” that are quietly gaining a new title: white elephants.

The term hails from a legend that Siamese royalty gave albino elephants – revered but financially ruinous to maintain – to unpleasant courtiers. Today, the financial burden of carrying an overly big, overly unique manse is being shared by many wealthy owners, who are finding out the hard way that not everyone is willing to pay up for their vision of a dream home. Realtors concede a growing number of these pricey pachyderms are sitting unsold for months and selling at steep discounts, if at all.

Some sellers are getting creative. On Thursday, the owners of Castlewood, a gothic castle in West Orange, N.J., hosted a live jousting competition to generate buzz among real-estate brokers. Designed in the 1850s, the 5,000-square-foot stone house is on two acres and features two towers, a staff apartment and a round bedchamber with a 28-foot-high domed ceiling. On the market for two years, the homeowners switched to a new agent, Sam Joseph of Re/Max Village Square and dropped the asking price to $2 million from $2.8 million, originally.

For most of the housing market’s history, homeowners knew that big custom-designed homes that aren’t in scale with their environs might eventually cost them. “You build a white elephant because you were successful in your career and you want to treat yourself,” says Ed Kaminsky, who runs Premiere Estates, a California-based luxury auctioneer that specializes in marketing unique, hard-to-value houses. “But you can’t expect to get your money out.”

But it seems that tenet was forgotten during the boom. And in the meantime, formerly profligate consumers have become extremely price-conscious, says Gregory Hague, owner of Arizona-based Hague Partners, an affiliate of Christie’s Great Estates. “It used to be that buyers looked for something that got them excited and emotionally engaged and then tried to negotiate a good deal. Now they’re looking at price first.”

Steven L. Good, head of Chicago-based real-estate auction firm Sheldon Good & Co., says the division of the company that specializes in selling homes that cost from $1.5 million up to $40 million has seen a sharp increase in offerings in the last year from wealthy homeowners who are frustrated because their homes aren’t selling. And real-estate Web site Zillow.com turns up a number of unsold homes whose price tags and amenities are far fancier than their immediate environs might suggest.

In Broadview, a Seattle neighborhood known mostly for modest ranch houses, an Italian-style villa for sale features a four-car garage and an indoor koi pond. Nearly 10,000 square feet, the house has an asking price of $2.75 million and has been on the market for over a year.

Barney Garton, the listing agent, says the home’s rare Puget Sound views make it “a great value.” He says it hasn’t sold because of its “unusual” architecture and the downturn.

In Truckee, Calif., a lake community about 17 miles north of Lake Tahoe, a $3.95 million lakefront contemporary house with an elevator, indoor lap pool and two garages stands out from the neighboring A-frame log cabins. Built in 1985 and designed by the owner’s son, an architect, it was listed in June and is the most expensive house for sale on the lake. While it’s received less traffic than expected, the owner is in no hurry to sell, says one of the listing agents, Charles White, of Donner Lake Realty. A more recently remodeled home with fewer amenities but more lake frontage recently sold for about $3 million.

In Dallas, Braden Power, a developer of apartment complexes, spent more than seven years designing and building his dream house: an 8,500-square-foot showpiece with contemporary, traditional and Moorish influences that opens to a central “natatorium,” a double-height entrance courtyard with marble floors, two fireplaces, a mezzanine balcony and a central fountain and reflecting pool deep enough to swim in.

Mr. Power spared no expense: He hired an army of both traditional and contemporary designers. The automated exterior and interior lighting systems cost $500,000; the chandeliers are hand-carved, the floors are all solid marble or limestone (both indoor and outdoor) with radiant heating – a rarity in Dallas where the temperature seldom dips below 40 degrees.

“This house was basically a creative outlet,” says Mr. Power, who says his inspirations were the Los Angeles and Miami boutique hotels designed by Ian Schrager.

But last year, Mr. Power decided the home was too big for a bachelor and he put it up for sale, unfinished. With a price tag of $13 million, it attracted a flurry of local press.

Despite being located on three-quarters of an acre on picturesque Turtle Creek, the home didn’t sell and now Mr. Power has relisted the house for $9.8 million with Doris Jacobs, of Allie Beth Allman & Associates.

Although Mr. Power acknowledges that he may not recoup his building and carrying costs, he says the home will become a good investment if fans of the design purchase his architectural plans and custom molds.

He has no regrets about building the house. “Honestly, this house is a dream to me,” says Mr. Power, who also plans to list the home for rent. “I think it’s the most perfect place that I’ve ever been in my life.”

WASHINGTON – Nov. 4, 2008 – The government expects only 20,000 troubled borrowers will apply to refinance into more affordable home loans by next fall under a new mortgage aid program passed by lawmakers over the summer.

The $300 billion “Hope for Homeowners” program was launched Oct. 1. Designed by lawmakers eager to respond to the mortgage crisis, the Congressional Budget Office had projected it would let 400,000 troubled homeowners swap risky loans for conventional 30-year fixed rate loans with lower rates.

But the early results are discouraging: the government received only 42 applications in the program’s first two weeks, according to the Federal Housing Administration. The low turnout was first reported by the industry newsletter Housing Wire. Since the applications take about 60 days to process, no loans have been approved yet.

Steve O’Halloran, spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, called the projection of nearly 20,000 borrowers “an extremely preliminary estimate of early applications for a program that is barely a month old. Borrowers and lenders are continuing to sign up.”

Since the program requires lenders to voluntarily reduce the value of a loan and take a loss, it’s unclear how many lenders will participate. In addition, the program may be unattractive to some borrowers because those who sell their properties must agree to share some of their profits with the government.

“It just reinforces that none of the federal efforts to date seem to be getting the job done,” said mortgage industry consultant Howard Glaser, a former housing official in the Clinton administration. “There’s just no question that when a new president and Congress come back to town, they’re going to take much more aggressive intervention.”

To participate, homeowners can try to persuade their existing lender to join the program, but the decision is ultimately up to the lender. The banking industry appears likely to favor options that don’t require an immediate reduction in principal, such as deferring payments, allowing partial payments and lowering the interest rate.

“We’ve said from the start that it would be a tool that would be used after other loss mitigation programs and opportunities would be exhausted,” said John Courson, chief operating officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Hope For Homeowners is limited to borrowers who are spending more than 31 percent of their income on mortgage payments. Loans made after Jan. 1 of this year are excluded.

Brian Brady, managing director of mortgage banking and brokerage firm World Wide Credit Corp. in San Diego, said the industry could well accelerate its use of the program in the coming months. Many in the industry “are probably just waiting to see how it works ... Mortgage banking is a monkey-see, monkey-do business. Everybody waits for someone to do it first.”

There is broad agreement on using the FHA to help struggling homeowners refinance into mortgages they can afford. And the Bush administration has broadened the agency’s authority under a program it calls FHASecure.

Over the next year about 770,000 borrowers were expected to use that program, though only 14,700, or fewer than 1 percent, were likely to be delinquent on their mortgages.

Meanwhile, consumer advocates and the banking industry alike have been eagerly awaiting an announcement of an ambitious plan to help around 3 million borrowers avoid foreclosure, though it remained uncertain whether the Bush administration would do so.

“The question on the table is, do we need to do more to help homeowners? If that answer is yes, then there’s a lot of other issues that have to be analyzed,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said Monday.

Still, many believed the Bush administration would eventually act, as foreclosures continue to skyrocket. “I think they finally get it,” said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a consumer group in Washington.

WASHINGTON – Nov. 3, 2008 – With an unstable American economy and slowdowns in the housing market, most consumers are open to the federal government taking a more active role in overseeing mortgage and lending practices, according to the 2008 National Housing Pulse Survey, an annual survey released today by the National Association of Realtors®.

The survey, which measures how affordable housing issues affect consumers, also found that affordable housing concerns are the lowest in six years of polling.

“As the leading advocate for homeownership and housing issues, NAR has supported more government oversight in lending as a result of abusive and predatory lending practices that have caused families to lose their homes and savings and led to increased foreclosure and vacancy rates,” says NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif. “The survey also clearly shows that falling home prices have improved housing affordability, allowing many Americans – some of whom may have been priced out of the market a few years ago – to achieve the dream of homeownership.”

More than half of those surveyed (56 percent) favor the federal government taking a more active oversight role in lending and mortgages, while 38 percent prefer that private companies oversee their businesses. That is a marked shift from the 2007 survey, which showed respondents were more evenly split on the issue of government involvement.

With home prices down in many parts of the country, concerns about the lack of affordable housing are the lowest they’ve been in six years of polling (39 percent); down from 48 percent last year and the survey high of 51 percent in 2005.

Nearly eight out of 10 consumers believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, and a majority (55 percent) rates the current state of the economy as poor. Survey respondents don’t expect to see improvement in the economy anytime soon either; more than two-thirds believe the economy will stay about the same or get worse over the next year.

Regarding the economy, Americans are most concerned about high energy costs including gasoline and utilities, followed by inflation and higher priced staples such as groceries, increased health care costs, job security and reduced wages, as well as challenges in the housing market, including foreclosures and reduced home values.

Despite troubles with the economy and difficult housing news, Americans remain surprisingly confident about the housing market. Eighty-five percent of respondents believe buying a home is a good financial decision, down 2 percent from last year. Two-thirds of Americans believe now is a good time to buy a home, up nearly 12 percent from 2007.

“Homeownership offers immediate benefits and long-term value, and despite recent slowdowns in some markets, consumers continue to believe that now is a good time to buy a home,” Gaylord said.

When it comes to challenges facing their communities, Americans are less concerned about the lack of affordable housing than a lack of affordable health care options, job layoffs and unemployment. This year’s results shows that the economy, energy, the war in Iraq, health care and taxes are among Americans’ top voting issues.

Foreclosures also remain a concern among many Americans. Over one-quarter of respondents expressed concern that their home or the home of a family member may be foreclosed upon because of their inability to make mortgage payments. Nearly half of respondents (46 percent) report that foreclosures are a problem in their area, up from 38 percent in 2007; and 42 percent say the rate of foreclosures has increased over the last year.

“Realtors® care as much about keeping families in their homes as they do about helping them find a place to call home,” said Gaylord. “NAR is aggressively working with government agencies, lenders and consumer groups on behalf America’s homeowners to help more families keep their homes.”

Nearly four out of 10 say the economy has taken a personal toll and report their personal financial situation has gotten worse over the course of the past year; the majority, 47 percent, feel their personal financial situation has stayed about the same. Despite these challenges, people remain optimistic that they could secure the credit they need; eight out of 10 are confident in their ability to refinance should they have the need. Only 8 percent of respondents say they are worried about being able to make their mortgage payments over the next year.

Of those with a mortgage, 26 percent have some type of variable-rate mortgage, including interest-only (19 percent), adjustable rate (7 percent) or balloon or other large payment due in the next 5 years (1 percent). Two years ago, the percentage of respondents holding a variable-rate mortgage was twice as high (56 percent).

The 2008 National Housing Pulse Survey is conducted by NAR’s Housing Opportunity Program. The telephone survey was among 1,000 adults living in the 25 most populous metropolitan statistical areas. The study has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The region’s citizenry expressed “strong support” for proceeding with development of the Central Florida Commuter Rail project as a viable alternative to solving the region’s issues of traffic congestion, according to a survey commissioned by myregion.org and unveiled at the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce last week.

The scientific survey of 502 registered voters from the four counties that will be linked by the proposed Central Florida Commuter Rail (Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Volusia Counties), was conducted by Dr. David Hill of Hill Research Consultants and explored attributes about public transportation that matter most to the region’s citizens. The survey also asked citizens to voice their opinion about the look, feel, and name of the proposed Central Florida’s Commuter Rail project.

An estimated 3.5 million people live in the rapidly growing Central Florida region, and traffic congestion is a growing frustration. As a region, Central Florida now has a rare opportunity to invest in a cost-effective and efficient alternate mode of transportation with the Central Florida Commuter Rail project, which will run along a 61-mile stretch of existing rail freight tracks in the four-county area.

“In significant aspects, the survey concluded that transportation is an important issue for residents across the region, as they expect that it will only worsen in coming years,” said Dr. Hill. “Whatever their lack of awareness or reservations, the public wants progress to be made.”

Other survey findings included:

* Consistent with “wrong track” sentiments nationally (and their own commuting experience personally), the majority of residents across the region (49%) expect the transportation situation to worsen in coming years, while only 20% felt that it will “get better.”
* Respondents overwhelmingly believe (87%) that the solution to Central Florida’s transportation issues lies outside of the automobile and that “now is the time” for our region to invest in a new, modern mass transit system, according to 79% of those surveyed.
* Concerns over traffic congestion (and a desire to cut commute times) drive public demand (39%), with safety being a critical priority (31%).
* The majority of survey respondents (72%) expressed that they would like to ride a “cutting-edge, modern, high-tech” train, versus a nostalgic, retro, “Orient Express” type of train (23%), that is painted in cool colors (blues, greens and purples) that match our skies and environment.

“These results are not a surprise,” said Shelley Lauten, president of myregion.org. “In addition to the scientific research that Dr. Hill presented, almost 1,700 business and civic leaders have responded to our questionnaire about the brand image, attributes and benefits of the Central Florida Commuter Rail and the opinions we gathered are very similar. In fact, close to 50% of the business and civic leaders said that they would definitely use a Commuter Rail Transit system and have submitted more than 300 unique names to us. People are making their voices heard, loud and clear.”

For complete presentation results please visit: www.myregion.org.