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First Time Home Buyer Financing (Mortgage Loan) Requirements As a First Time Home Buyer, in order to qualify for a mortgage loan, you must prove to your lender that you have the ability to repay it on time. You must show them that you can make the monthly payment on time.
Your lender will look at three important items to see if you meet their current loan standards. These three items are: Your INCOME. Your CREDIT SCORE & HISTORY. Your amount of DOWN PAYMENT cash.
If your income is too low, your credit score and history are too low, or you don't have enough money for the required down payment, you will most probably not be offered a loan.
If you qualify at the lower end of their current standards you may receive a loan but the interest will be higher, the fees will be higher, or your loan amount will be smaller than what you expected.
You should shop around for the best loan rate and terms you can find. There is competition among lenders and their rates change daily and qualifying standards change periodically. See our Finance Guide page to find out How Much Can You Afford. There are different kinds of lenders. Banks, savings banks, credit unions, hard money (equity) lenders, and private individuals are direct lenders. Mortgage companies and mortgage brokers are usually middlemen who match you up with other lenders who provide the money. Your financial and credit situation determines which type of lender will be best.
There are government and private programs that provide aid to first time home buyers. The help comes in the form of a Tax Credit from the Federal Government and Down Payment Assistance from the State of Florida, counties, and private organizations.
APPLYING FOR A LOAN (Mortgage Loan Application)
It is advantageous to become Pre-Qualified, or even better, Pre-Approved for your loan before actively looking at homes. That way you will know exactly what price range and monthly payment will fit your financial situation and budget.
In order to make application for a mortgage your lender will ask you for documentation.
1. Social Security Number or Proof of Permanent Residency (Green Card).
2. Pay Stubs from the last 2 months.
3. W-2 Forms from the last 2 years.
4. Bank Statements from the last 2 or 3 months.
5. Federal Tax Returns from the last 2 years.
6. List of Current Debts such as credit cards, car loans, student loans, installment loans, etc.
Your lender will compare this information to current loan programs and calculate how much you can borrow and what terms are best.
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College Towns Offer Good Real Estate Investments When you have a son or daughter attending school, it can make sense to purchase a home or condominium (townhouse or flat) rather than renting an apartment. Although properties near colleges and universities tend to be more expensive than those in other parts of town, they hold their value better and usually show better than average appreciation. Extra rooms can be rented to other students thereby offsetting some of the mortgage payment.
If you are an investor, the stability of a student rental market can keep your property fully occupied all year long. Student enrollment in colleges and universities are expected to rise over 15% during the next 10 years (U.S. Department of Education). Graduate students are expected to increase by 25%.
The high demand for rental housing in college towns will continue to rise with the greater enrollments. Many students begin their college education during the summer and continue straight through all year long reducing vacancies in June, July, and August. This trend has been very evident in Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida has about 50,000 students and Santa Fe College has about 17,000 students.
NuwireInvestor.com rated Gainesville as the Number 3 small college town for real estate investment. They based this rank on growth potential, job markets, property values, cost of living, atmosphere, retirement appeal, and investment potential. They indicated that the steady stream of students and professors support a good rental market and the well educated population helps the local job market.
Nuwire noted that Gainesville has lower real estate prices than most of the other cities in Florida and its central location half way between Miami and Atlanta is advantageous for investment. Gainesville also attracts many retirees who enjoy the cultural events, sporting events, and educational offerings of a college town.
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Many features. Zoned for several uses.
• 9,710 sq. ft., 2 bath single story "Zoning: Church, School, Childcare, Club." -  MLS® $695,000 USD - Multi-Purpose Property Northeast Gainesville, Gainesville - OPPORTUNITY IS HERE! You can use the existing Special Zoning Classification for House of Worship, Church, School, Childcare, Private Club, etc. OR You can use the underlying RSF-2 zoning to create a small subdivision for homes. OR You can use both.
MANY POSSIBLE USES. Remodeled 9710 sq. ft. concrete block Building on 4.22 acres.
City streets on all 4 sides. Corner of NE 23rd Avenue and NE 15th Street.
INCOME PROPERTY! Currently leased to church for $4,500/month to March 2010, then $5250/month to December 31, 2010. However, tenant says they will voluntarily vacate the lease and move out if asked to by present or new owner. Tenant is also willing to extend the lease if new owner is willing.
Building showings usually need 24 hrs notice, by appointment only. Contact listing agent.
Vacant land part - just go and look, but please don't talk to or disturb the tenant in the building. Property information
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Northeast Gainesville, Gainesville - Announcing a price reduction on 1414 N.E. 23rd Avenue, a 9,710 sq. ft., 2 bath single story "Zoning: Church, School, Childcare, Club.". Now MLS® $695,000 USD - Multi-Purpose Property. Property information
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This is a great time to buy a home in or near Gainesville, Florida USA even without a tax credit. Prices of existing and brand new homes have returned to pre-peak levels and many sellers and builders are willing to give upgrades and/or pay for closing costs. These incentives will in most cases make up for the lack of tax credit.
There are many bargains to be found here. Interest rates are still at historically low rates. Money is cheap. This makes monthly payments low and affordable.
Gainesville Florida USA is a great place to live. It has big city amenities in a small city environment. Its where "Nature and Culture Meet" in "The Heart of Florida." And if you need to go to a huge city, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa are short drives away.
The Gainesville Area has the University of Florida, Santa Fe College, over one hundred lakes, springs, rivers, Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean. Gainesville has top-notch hospitals, is becoming a prime retirement area for active senior citizens, and already is a great place for young professionals. There is a relatively stabile job market and clean - green industry.
Read all about Gainesville at www.GainesvilleFloridaHomes.com and www.EyemarkRealty.com. Take a look at our Gainesville Facts, About Gainesville, Attractions, Festivals & Events, Resources, and Connections pages to find out more about North-Central Florida.
Contact me directly for detailed information by sending me a message from www.GainesvilleFloridaHomes.com/CONTACT_MARK/page_220605
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Lots listed separately for $7,500 each.
• lot / land "High and Dry." - MLS® $15,000 USD - Includes 2 adjacent lots. Interlachen, Putnam County - Numerous nearby fishing and boating lakes. Quiet community with a mixture of mobile homes and site built homes.
2 adjacent lots in the heart of the Lake Region in Interlachen Lakes Estates, Florida. Each lot is partially wooded in front and mostly cleared in the middle and back, high and dry. Buy both together for a large homesite or buy only one.
Near community shopping center in the City of Interlachen.
Very affordable place for retirement. Easy drive to Gainesville and Palatka.
Property information
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Williston Highlands Golf and Country Club, Williston Highlands - 1/4 acre Lot. The PRICE IS LOW for 1140 N.E. State Road 121 MLS® 307133 is For Sale for $6,500 USD - Affordable & Easy Access. Property information
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Williston Highlands Golf and Country Club, Williston Highlands - THE PRICE IS LOW for 7/8 acre Lot at Corner State Road 121 & NE 11th Place. MLS® 307132 is For Sale for only $14,000 USD - Corner on paved road.. Property information
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Condominium (Condo) Description:
A Condominium (Condo) is a form of real estate ownership in which each owner holds title to his/her individual unit, plus a fractional (joint) ownership interest in the common areas of a multi-unit complex. The individual owners share the common space (land) and common facilities. There are residential (homes), commercial (offices, stores), and industrial (factories, warehouses) condominiums.
There is a Condominium or Homeowner's Association which acts as a community government and maintains and insures the common elements. The association levies a fee per unit to pay for its functions. The association has a board of directors that is elected by the individual owners from among those owners who are interested in serving. The condominium board hires an off-site property management company or an on-site staff to handle the day-to-day operation of the complex.
Each separate unit in a condominium complex is also known as a Condominium. It is an individually owned apartment, office, store, or warehouse in a multiplex building or group of multiplex buildings.
Each owner pays their own property taxes, insures the interior of his/her unit, and is free to sell, lease (rent), or mortgage it. A condominium owner's tax position is the same as that of a single-family home owner. However, there are covenants and restrictions (rules and regulations) that govern how each unit can be used and transferred and how the common elements can be used.
Types of Condominiums:
Buildings can have as little as two units (a duplex) or numerous units (a multiplex). There are rare cases where detached homes are set up as a condominium in which all of the land and exteriors of the buildings are maintained as common elements by an association.
Units within buildings that are single-story are known as Flats. The entire unit is on one floor.
Units with two levels (floors) and an interior stairway are known as Townhomes or Townhouses.
A multi-story building can be all flats or townhomes or a combination of both.
There is no limit to the number of stories a condominium building can have.
A condominium building can be all residential, all commercial, or a combination of both.
Advantages of Condominium Ownership:
1. Condos are generally less expensive to purchase than a detached single-family home of the same size, age, and features.
2. There is less work and responsibility than owning a detached home because the condominium homeowner's association maintains and insures the building structure, exterior walls, roof, lobbies, exterior stairways, elevators, landscaping, parking areas, recreation facilities, and drainage areas if included.
3. They make excellent student residences, single-parent residences, second homes, and vacation homes because of item 2.
4. There might be some utilities and services such as cable television, high-speed internet, water, sewer, or trash collection included in the association fee.
5. The complex might be gated or have security guards on duty 24 hours.
Disadvantages of Condominium Ownership:
1. You are legally obligated to pay monthly or quarterly Condominium Association fees to cover your share of the common maintenance items. A lien will be placed against your unit if you fail to pay the required fees.
2. The Condominium Association is the equivalent of a local government and disagreements among board members with differing opinions and politics might become annoying.
3. Everyone lives in close proximity and noise from adjacent units or those above or below can be disturbing.
4. If there is no attached garage and no reserved parking spaces, as is true with many condo complexes, you may have to park away from your unit.
5. You may need a stairway or elevator to reach your unit.
6. You may have to carry trash to a dumpster far from your unit.
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Definition of a Short Sale
A Potential Short Sale is when the Listing Price (Asking Price) may not be high enough to cover the payment of all liens (mortgage loans, taxes, HOA fees, etc.) and closing costs and the Seller says they will be unable or unwilling to bring sufficient funds to the closing to do so. The Seller might be SHORT of the money necessary to become free and clear of all liens associated with the property. The Seller is usually in the process of negotiating with the lien holder(s), especially the mortgage note holder, to have them agree to take a loss. That way the Seller might be able to sell the property and not continue to owe money to anyone after the sale closes.
A Short Sale occurs when, at the closing, the Sale Price (Purchase Price) is not high enough to cover the payment of all liens and closing costs and the Seller is unable or unwilling to bring sufficient funds to do so. The Seller is SHORT of the money necessary to become free and clear of all liens associated with the property and all or some of the lien holders have already agreed to absorb a loss. In most cases the Seller won't continue to owe money to anyone after the sale closes.
The Term "Short Sale"
There are many homes on the market now that are listed as short sales. While the occurrence of short sales is not new, the large number of them at the same time is something not often seen locally or nationally.
Many people purchased homes in or near the peak of the housing market with a variety of mortgage loans designed to get them into a home quickly and easily. These loans were not designed to take into account that the housing market, like all other markets, won't rise continuously forever.
Those borrowers have now found out that whatever rises too high will correct itself and fall back down. The rise can be gradual or sudden and the fall can also be gradual or sudden. When the reduction in value is quick and not much principal has been paid off a mortgage loan, these home owners (borrowers) can find themselves "upside down" on their mortgage. They owe more to the lender on the balance (principal) of the loan than the property is worth.
Willing buyers will offer a lower price to one of these sellers than the seller needs to pay off the loan. The seller might be willing to sell at or near a buyer's offer because they are behind on the loan payments and all other recent comparable sales have been in that price range. However, unless the seller can bring money to the closing, the money available at closing will be SHORT of the amount needed to satisfy all or some liens and closing costs. Of course if the seller doesn't have enough money to make the regular payments, how will they bring money to the closing?
The seller is most likely looking at a foreclosure on the home by the lender and a foreclosure will have a very negative impact on their credit history and score. A short sale will also have a very negative credit impact but not quite so bad as a foreclosure.
Short Sale Negotiations
In order for a short sale to happen, the Purchase & Sale Contract that was negotiated and signed (executed) by the Buyer and Seller must be approved by the lien holder(s). In almost all cases that means that the contract has to be submitted to the lender (bank, credit union, or mortgage company) for approval before the closing can be scheduled.
The lender can do three things when a short sale contract is submitted to them. They can reject it and proceed towards foreclosing on the home. They can counteroffer it back to the seller who then has to renegotiate the contract with the buyer at a higher price. They can accept it as written.
When the lender accepts the price negotiated between the buyer and seller, it is actually agreeing to write off some of the seller's debt as uncollectible. The lender will take a loss by accepting only part of the balance (principal) still owed on the mortgage loan at the closing. The remaining amount, in most cases, will be forgiven, but noted as paid in full at a lower amount than still owed. In some cases the lender will still require the seller to pay off the difference later. Sellers (borrowers) should make sure that they know whether or not they will be free and clear of the lien or still have a lien against them after closing.
A lender will agree to a short sale in cases where the alternative of foreclosing on the property and taking ownership is projected to cause a bigger loss. The expense of foreclosing, the time involved, and a potentially lower priced sale later, sometimes makes a short sale more appealing to a lender.
Short Sale Timeline
Short sales have a history of taking considerably more time than regular sales. The seller must realize that even though the lender may have agreed to consider a short sale, a foreclosure is imminent. Most lenders won't even talk to sellers about a short sale until the seller (borrower) is at least three months behind in payments. The seller must submit a "Hardship Letter" and proof of income and assets to prove that they do not have the financial ability to continue living in their home and making mortgage payments. They must also prove that the current sale value of their home is much lower than the mortgage balance.
When the lender agrees to consider a short sale, they might give an indication of the lowest amount they might accept, but in most cases they will just wait for an offer to come in from a buyer.
Even the fact that an offer has been submitted to the lender won't stop foreclosure proceedings with many lenders. The short sale and the foreclosure can be handled by different departments that sometimes don't share information.
The buyer must have tremendous patience. Several weeks to several months can go by before hearing back from a lender and then the only communication might be a rejection or counteroffer. Many banks and credit unions are swamped with short sales and are considering them with reduced staff.
Many times the original lender is merely the collector of the payments and is no longer the holder of the lien. Lenders usually sell their mortgages to investors or U.S. Government backed entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In recent years many mortgages were bundled together and sold as securities to domestic and foreign brokerages that sliced them into pieces and sold parts to other investors. It may take a long time for the servicing or handling bank to track down the actual owner of the lien and get their approval of a short sale.
Due to the time involved many buyers drop out before a short sale is approved. Therefore many sellers will accept "Back-Up Offers" to keep their hopes alive. It's not unusual for a seller to accept several offers with the intention of finding one that their lender will approve.
Summary
Short sales are a complex and time consuming solution to the declining residential real estate market. They work only in a small percentage of cases where the lender agrees to take a loss on the mortgage loan and the buyer has the time to wait for this decision to be made. The seller, buyer, lender, realtor, and closing agent must work together diligently. It takes experience, knowledge, and skill to successfully negotiate a short sale.
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In Gainesville Florida we have a bus transit system operated by the city. It has routes that cover the entire urban area, within and outside the city limits, and is named the Gainesville Regional Transit System (RTS). A high percentage of riders are students and personnel connected to the University of Florida so the bus system has many routes that converge on and go through the campus. In order to assist riders to time their waits at bus stops there are two websites that show the real-time location of every bus on every route. You can see each bus progress towards your location on your monitor or cell phone. This useful system is called the Gator Locator - Real-Time Bus Location System Map. Officially it is known as the Gainesville RTS Transit Visualization System. Go to http://www.ufl.transloc-inc.com or http://GPSRTS.ufl.edu to see it in action.
Mark Cohen
Broker
Eyemark Realty, Inc.
www.EyemarkRealty.com
www.GainesvilleFloridaHomes.com
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Fairbanks, N.E. Gainesville, Florida - New listing at 11160 N.E. 81st Street, a 5.3 acre lot / vacant land "Wooded lot for site-built or mobile home.". Only $20,000 USD - THE PRICE IS RIGHT. Property information
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No other commercial land in area.
• lot / land "Vacant Commercial Zoned Land" - MLS® $490,800 USD - Commercial Land Airport Area, Gainesville - 4.23 acres of Commercial Zoned Land just east of Gainesville Regional Airport. Across the street from the Florida Dept. of Transportation Office and Materials Research Center. Florida Division of Forestry Regional Office will be under construction across the street soon.
Many research and office workers within walking distance.
475 site mobile home park with approx. 700 residents is behind this land.
There are no other commercial parcels in the area.
Consists of two adjacent parcels, same zoning, both in City of Gainesville limits.
Property information
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Building & Land For Sale.
• 2,898 sq. ft., 3 bath single story - MLS® $198,888 USD - Commercial Income. Cedar Ridge, Gainesville - Triplex converted to a Children's Daycare Center - School. Located in the middle of a residential appartment community with many children. Property has a Special Use Permit for school zoning since 1997 and has capacity for 43 children. Building and Land for sale only. Daycare Business leases premises from seller for and has been operating since 2003. Tenant is willing to sign a long term lease.
Property information
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SELLER REALLY WANTS TO SELL NOW. $198,888. SELLER HIGHLY MOTIVATED. SELLER MIGHT FINANCE.
4.62 Acres Vacant Land Great for Retail Stores, Offices, Drive-In Restaurant, Bank, Distribution Center, Warehouse, Manufacturing. Located near new Santa Fe College Branch Campus.
196 ft. frontage on Archer Road (SR 24) zoned Commercial-General. Back is zoned Industrial. HIGH-DRY-LEVEL. Use as one large parcel or 4 lots per approved site plan from engineer.
Archer, Florida, USA. The City of Archer welcomes development.
At US 41-27 & ONLY 10 miles to I-75. Convenient to Gainesville, University of Florida, and all North Central Florida.
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