Disturbing Trend Forming in The SW Florida Home Rental Market

June 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Disturbing Trend Forming in The SW Florida Rental Market

We have been noticing a trend beginning to form lately  - a trend that is becoming more and more prevalent – it is hurting hard working families and could quite possibly have long term, and potentially devastating effects on families just starting out.

Over the past few weeks, we have had about a dozen desperate phone calls, and 4 people walking into the office looking for homes. They are desperate for a place to live because they have been notified by the lenders of the homes they are living in that the house is being auctioned off at the courthouse steps and they need to vacate within 14 days or face eviction.  Within a 30 second time-frame, their lives are turned completely upside-down.

About 1/3 of the calls have been from people who were planning on buying the home via a Lease-Option agreement they made with the seller. Unfortunately, no-one told them to record the option and now they are left with nothing. After paying a considerable option fee of $3,000 to $10,000, and paying a higher than normal monthly rent, they have no other recourse but to pack up, leave and start again.
Sadly, it is one of "The Pitfalls of Buying Homes with a Lease-Option”

What happened is this: the Optionor/ Seller vanished, pocketing the option consideration and all the rent, without paying the bank a penny.
Unfortunately, these people are pretty much “screwed” and have no recourse.

If they had done the lease option via a reputable real estate professional, the option would have been recorded and they would have an equity position in the property. Although it may not stop the foreclosure process, the Optionee/Buyer would have been notified much earlier by the bank, and the property management company could have stepped in and quite possibly gotten the bank to agree to a short settlement and allow the Optionee to locate financing and avoid loosing the home. Unfortunately, the option agreements were not recorded, the unscrupulous Owner/Seller vanished, and now they have nothing.
In both instances, it looks like a disturbing trend is beginning to form. With the banks announcing they are stepping up the foreclosure process, it has the potential to devastate many SW Florida families – particularly families just starting out.

Adding insult to injury and making matters even worse is many of them could qualify for either the 100% USDA financing program, or the 96.5% FHA financing program.

Contrary to the media hype about mortgage money being hard to come by, the UDSA and FHA loan programs are very easy to qualify for, and your readers need to know about them.
•   The USDA Home Loan program is available in rural areas such at North Port (north of 41) and parts of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda. Purchase financing of up to 100% is available to those who qualify.
•   The FHA program also allows for up to 6% seller contribution toward closing costs. (96.5+6% = 102.5% financing!)

With property prices being where they are, and interest rates being incredibly low, and super low down-payment requirements, more people should know about the opportunities available to them.

A new report has just been released which identifies a foolproof 3-point plan which any homebuyer can use to secure the absolute best financing rates when they buy a home.  The experience of thousands of area homebuyers has been summarized in this report entitled “Best Financing:  A 3-Point Plan”. It tells your readers where they should go, what questions they should ask, and how to manage the process to their personal advantage.

Your readers can request a free copy of this report by calling 800-261-0454 ID # 1020 and listening to a free recorded message, or by visiting the website www.BestFinancingPlan.com.