In the Destin Florida real estate market, there are 3105 properties for sale— 935 single family homes, 1869 condos, 206 townhomes and 401 lots.  For purposes of this report, the Destin and Sandestin markets have been combined.  Sandestin is in the Miramar Beach Florida postal area of Destin, in Walton County.  The Destin market sub-area is in Okaloosa County, Florida.

The average list price for Destin real estate is $373,685, a drop from $556,136 one year ago. 

The average sale price for Destin properties is $327,609, down from an average sale price of $502,099 one year ago.

The median sale price for Destin real estate is $267,000, down from $344,000 one year ago.  Note the “median” statistic may be more indicative of market trend than “average”, because “median” indicates that one-half of the sales were higher and one-half were lower. An “average” may be skewed higher due to some more expensive home sales that affected the resulting figure.

The report indicates 222 days average market time for Destin houses, condos and townhomes.  This figure is low, and does not reflect all listing periods of a single property. It only tracks the last listing period of the sold home.  If a property were listed multiple times and failed to sell during those times, that is not reflected in the figure.  Many Destin homes were listed more than once until they finally sold, or “re-listed” by the same real estate agent. 

The “Months Inventory” figure for Destin Florida real estate is 45 months, or almost four years.  Months inventory indicates how many months it would take to sell all the improved properties in the Destin real estate market at the current rate of sales. Normal markets inventories are usually six to seven months.

The inventory of Destin homes for sale is 3105, down from a year ago at 3474. 

Destin Florida has 476 short sales and foreclosures for sale, or 15% of the all properties for sale.

The post Destin Real Estate Market Report first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

The Treasury Department has just announced the incentives for lenders to accept short sales.  Here is the excerpt from the updated Making Home Affordable plan that may help the Destin real estate market and Emerald Coast short sale properties sell better and perhaps faster:

Limiting the Impact of Foreclosure When Modification Doesn’t Work:

Servicers will receive incentives to take alternatives to foreclosures, like short sales or taking of deeds in lieu of foreclosure. For those borrowers unable to maintain homeownership, even under the affordable terms offered, the plan will provide incentives to encourage families and servicers to avoid the costly foreclosure process and minimize the damage that foreclosure imposes on financial institutions, borrowers and communities alike. Servicers will be eligible for a payment of $500 and can make reimbursable payments up to $1000 to extinguish other liens, and borrowers are eligible for a payment of $1500 in relocation expenses in order to effectuate short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. Such methods reduce vacancy, neighborhood decline, and overall costs for financial institutions, borrowers, and affected communities alike.

Summary and Analysis:

1. The plan may aid in disposing junior liens by a $1000 reimbursement to first mortgage holders.  This may make it easier to sell short sale properties with more than one mortgage.  There should be a dollar amount that is set to pay second mortage, such as $3000, with adjusted criteria for seller’s financial situation.  If a seller meets certain criteria, they might pay a promissory note or do a cash contribution.  This would help stem rejections by junior lienholders asking for outrageous amounts to release their liens.

2. It adds a very minimal incentive of $500 to offset some of the lenders expenses for approving a short sale.  Add up the 150,000 short sales currently in process at Countrywide, though, that would total $75,000,000. Not bad.

3. The borrower will receive a $1500 in relocation expenses.  $1500 is an overpayment in my estimation and/or unnecessary. Many short sale sellers are already out of their properties, and relocated for new employment purposes.  Or the properties might be investment properties. In  addition, short sale sellers usually have six months to two years “notice” they are moving, and have been “saving” by not making mortgage payments for that time period. The money could be used instead as a “bonus” for short sale lender approval in a timely manner, such as 30 days.  Or added to pay the second.  Or paid to the Realtor.  (Fannie Mae just changed guidelines to allow real estate agents to receive their pre-negotiated commission of 6% or less, instead of cutting it, which is long overdue).

The short sale process is lengthy, and depresses prices beyond the normal economic cycle.  Recognizing and correcting deficiencies in the process will help stabilize the Destin real estate market and decrease the foreclosure rate.

The post Destin Short Sales – Treasury Plan May Help Real Estate Market first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

Most of us have read the Treasury Department’s new Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan

After reading the plan, with details to be unveiled on March 4, I want to know- “How will the plan affect Short Sales? ” Most of the plan is focused on aiding homeowners whose primary residence is at risk of foreclosure.  Not everyone will be helped by this plan.  Some of those who won’t may include homeowners with loans not guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.  Many have lost jobs or have lost so much income they would not qualify. Other owners may have rental properties that cannot be sustained.  In my area on the Emerald Coast of Florida, military families from Eglin Air Force Base or Hurlburt Field are required to relocate to change bases.  These airmen often keep their past residence as a rental property.  Now they are losing tenants.  Why?  Many unsold homes go on the rental market.  Thus rental rates have declined significantly due to the oversupply of these properties.  They can no longer cover their mortgage payments. There are also investors who were not “flippers”.  They might have saved their whole lives to buy a condo in Destin, to find that the resort-rental market has declined by 35%.  There is no aid to them in the plan. Many areas in Florida and other parts of the country have economies that depend on tourism and the resort industry.  Those who will not be assisted by the plan will have to resort to their best alternative, a short sale, or worse, foreclosure.

The Treasury Department states the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan will be effective because it will, among other things, limit “the Impact of Foreclosure When Modification Doesn’t Work: Lenders will receive incentives to take alternatives to foreclosures, like short sales or taking of deeds in lieu of foreclosure. “

 In my opinion, to receive incentives to approve short sale, banks must be required to:

• Shorten approval time frames to 30 days
• Require second mortgage holders to accept a set amount, such as $3000, to release their lien
• Consider incentives for approving investment properties that meet certain criteria, as mentioned above
• NOT report a “charge off” or “settled for less” to credit reporting bureaus

Further, I believe all who have had short sales should have credit reports revamped to remove the negative impact of the event. If they don’t, perhaps only 10% of borrowers might qualify for a loan at the best rates! If the government is “intervening” at all, then do it right.  Thus far, the banks have done little to reduce the backlog of short sales and free up credit.  If they are just given an “incentive” without definitive guidelines, then we might expect to see more of the same.

The post Destin Real Estate and Homeowner Stability Plan first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

Talk about a pleasure to work with!  You are the consummate professional.  Your honor and integrity are unquestionable.  You have the patience to persevere even in the face of adversity and difficult circumstances.  Your compassion for the people you serve is a model for humanity especially in this current economic environment.  You recognize what it means to be a beacon of light for many who are in dark places. 

Thank you for your insatiable appetite for good will and for the effort you put forth in every situation to try to make it better.   It’s easy to see why you are the top short sale specialist in Northwest Florida.  Keep up the good work!  May every blessing you give out be returned to you in great abundance!    

Sincerely,

Beverly, Default Loan Workout Specialist

EverHome Mortgage Company

Loss Mitigation Department

The post Destin Real Estate Agent Recommended for Short Sales first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

Rulnick Realty announces that Jeff Corl has joined the company.  Jeff has been a Realtor® in the Destin Florida area since 2005 and has worked with properties from Navarre to Inlet Beach to North Walton County.  Most recently he worked to acquire 160 acres in the North part of Florida’s Panhandle for developers to create a Planned Use Development and will work with them to bring the homes and commercial property to market.

Prior to that Jeff was a corporate vice-president for a Fortune 500 telecommunications company.  He currently is on the Board of Directors, serving as vice-president, of the Beach House Condominium and the Treasurer of St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church.

Wendy Rulnick, Broker, says “Jeff’s thorough analyses of properties and buyer opportunities will bring value to his clients.  We are thrilled to have him join our Destin real estate office.”

You may reach Jeff Corl at 850-650-7883 or toll free 1-877-487-9639.

Rulnick Realty, Inc.

The post Rulnick Realty Adds New Real Estate Agent in Destin Florida first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

Dear Senator Martinez,

I am a real estate broker in Destin Florida.  I primarily represent sellers who are in the process of short sales.  As you know, a significant amount of our population has lost jobs and income and are unable to keep up with their mortgage payments or keep their properties. Their best solution is to sell their property as a short sale.  Unfortunately, the sellers’ lenders processing these requests take three to six months and sometimes longer.  During that time, buyers lose interest or must go on to buy other properties.  These long delays are contributing to declines in market value over and above the economic cycle we are in. My suggestion is to REQUIRE those banks getting bailout funds, and all of them, to staff up their short sale departments, so that this inventory can be reduced and home purchase time can be normalized to a standard 30 day period.  By speeding up short sale approvals to normal time frames, there will be one less contributing factor to price declines.  Further, speeding up short sales will reduce the amount of foreclosures in our market.  Foreclosed properties cause surrounding market declines.  In many cases, these short sale lenders reject offers or lose buyers, end up foreclosing, and sell the properties for even LESS than they would have received in a short sale.  If the banks are being granted funds from the citizens, then they have to STOP causing further losses and START helping the taxpayers and property owners. I would be happy to speak with you in more detail, as every day I get calls from homeowners trying to do the right thing, who are prevented from doing so by the very banks we are giving funds to.

Wendy Rulnick

Broker, Rulnick Realty, Inc.

Destin FL 32541

The post Letter to Senator Martinez From Destin Real Estate Broker first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

Wendy Rulnick, Destin Florida real estate broker, was recently interviewed by Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine.  In the February 2009 edition, Kiplinger describes foreclosure avoidance and short sales.  Some of Rulnick’s Destin real estate clients, who recently participated in a short sale, had their story told.  The homeowners plight unfolded from buying at the top of the Emerald Coast real estate market to their mortgage interest rate hike and personal job loss.  Rulnick helped the sellers complete a short sale on their home, which cancelled about $100,000 in mortgage debt.

The Kiplinger article stresses “Short sales are best conducted by an experienced real estate agent who can negotiate the obstacles imposed by lenders or investors.”  Rulnick provided much of the information regarding the short sale process to the reporter.  The story is “Fighting a Foreclosure”.

The post Kiplinger Magazine: Wendy Rulnick Helps Destin "Short Sale" Sellers first appeared on Rulnick Realty.