New roof, furnace, a/c, windows, plumbing, wiring, paint, baths, appliances are a few of the things that were done to update this home.

This home features 3 bedrooms on the upper floor and one of the bedrooms with a private entrance to the bathroom, new carpet and paint.

On the main floor, a huge living/family room with all the original woodwork such as hardwood floors, window trimming and built-in cupboards as well as a kitchen with all new appliances and a huge window facing the deck; 1/2 bath, detached 2 car garage.

Basement was once finished but now is waiting a new owner to redecorate it.

Offered at $135,000

  I have lived in many places throughout the world, I have experienced many cultures and traditions in many countries.  Having all of these experiences has taught me to appreciate the local community of Northfield, MN where I now call home.  Northfield continues to show the surrounding areas its spirit of giving and taking care of each other.  One example of this is coming up next week with Thanksgiving right around the corner.

  The Millis Dining Hall will be hosting the 10^th Annual Laura Baker’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Thanksgiving Day.  Thanksgiving dinner will be served from 11am – 1pm at the Mills Dining Hall located at 211 Oak Street.  If you are in the mood for turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, cranberry sauce and of course pumpkin pie then stop by.  This event is a Thank You to the local community for their continued support of this facility.

  It is events like this that are a regular happening here in our community that portray the friendly, and caring attitude that Northfield has become known for.  

For more information on happenings in Northfield please visit www.northfield.org

The dropping of house prices in recent years has left many of us with a bigger loan on our homes than what they are worth on today’s market.  This is especially true for people that bought or refinanced their homes between 2002 and 2006. 

Short Sale happens when a lending institution agrees to accept less than the outstanding amount of the loan owed on a property for which there is not enough equity in the home to cover the monies required to pay out the loan.  More and more lenders are willing to negotiate a short sale - even though some take some convincing.  That is why having a great Real Estate Agent or a Real Estate Lawyer can be of tremendous assistance to you in helping to contact and negotiate with the lenders in setting up the option for a short sale.

When time comes to sell your home and you have decided that short sale is the right option for you, price it right to prompt an offer immediately, and submit the offer to the bank. The bank will require various things such as a “Hardship Letter,” where the homeowner explains why they are not able to pay the mortgage as agreed; bank statements and copies of your most recent pay stubs.  Your Realtor has to submit a CMA (comparative market analysis) so the bank can see how much the homes in the area are selling for, etc, etc. It takes the bank between 3 to 4 months to determine if they are going to agree to the short sale offer.   There is quite a lot of paperwork involved and lots of patience is required – but it is worth the effort. 

When choosing a Realtor, choose someone with experience in short sale and with good negotiating skills.

 How Does Short Sale Affect Your Credit?

  According to various loan and credit specialists, a short sale, as well as a foreclosure, can result in a big hit to your credit report.  However, there have been other instances where short sale consumers have seen their FICO score drop only 60 to 80 points.  Every seller and their situation will probably produce different results regarding their credit report.  In reality, the credit score is a very complex formula - no one can predict exactly how it will affect your FICO Score.

  Most agents report that the good news for those that have been through the short sale process is that the waiting time before buying another home and being able to receive decent financing options is much shorter than it used to be.  Can a buyer purchase another home  in less than two years?  Probably not, however Fannie Mae guidelines now require only 24 months “seasoning”, and that is good news for buyers. 

I believe that due to the increased number of people that have been forced to sell their homes through Short Sale,  many lending institutions are looking to your past payment history and not relying so much on your credit score alone.

But is it?

There are good news for Minnesota!   Being one of the states with the highest foreclosures, our law makers approved a law that came into affect June 15, 2009 to help homeowners delaying the process.  Unfortunately, not may people are aware of it so it has not been taken advantage like it was expected. 

Did you know that if you are served with papers for foreclosure, you can apply for a delay of 5 months thus giving you time to sell the property?  For more details, visit Minnesota Home Ownership Center at http://hocmn.org/en/foreclosurepostponement.cfm . 

This will give time for the homeowner to try to sell the property even if it is thru short sale.  Usually, once a property has gone to foreclosure sale (“Sheriff’s Sale), the homeowner has 6 months of redemption period, in other words, if in the next 6 months the homeowner comes up with the total of the loan due and all the late fees, the homeowner can keep the property, other wise they have lost it.   With this new law, once you get notice of foreclosure sale, you can apply for extension on the foreclosure sale for 5 months, thus giving you time to bring your mortgage current (not the total loan amount) , or sell it.  This request for extension has to be done only after receiving a foreclosure sale date and has to be filed at least 15 days before the scheduled “foreclosure Sale”.  It can only be done once and once the 5 months are passed, then the redemption period is only 5 weeks and homeowner has to vacate the premises.

In my experience, if you get the 5 extra months, you can short sale the property.  Price it right to have a offer immediately and submit offer to the bank.  It takes the bank between 3 to 4 months to determine if they are going to accept it.  Once they do its only a matter of days to close it. There is quite of paperwork involved and lots of patience required but it is worthed.  Choosing the right Realtor is very important; someone with experience in short sale and good at negotiating skills.

   From what I have seen, been told, and have worked with, there is less damage to a credit report after a short sale involving late pays than a foreclosure.  With a short sale, there is a “Satisfaction of Mortgage“.  It will show in the credit report a delay paying but it will also will say that loan has been paid off (even though sometimes it says pay off for an amount lesser that owed). Another advantage for those with delinquencies on their credit is the ability to buy another home at that 24 month period vs that of a foreclosure which could be in the range of 5 – 7 years. 

  There are basically ten things that look the worst on your credit report. Here they are, listed from the best to the worst: Credit inquiries, credit rejections, late payments, past due and unpaid payments, court judgments, collections, loan defaults, repossession, foreclosure, and bankruptcy.

From this, you can see that it is better to pay your loan vs. foreclosure as credit score is concern.  There are, though, some people, that the best solution could be foreclosure.

Always seek legal and tax advice before making this type of decision.

La Regatta

This modern and unique building is just a block away from the beach, and on the intercoastal.  Have the best of both worlds. Love the beach? Just cross the street and you can enjoy the beautiful beaches of Miami Beach, but if boating is what you fancy, then this is right place for you.  The docks are just a few steps from the pool. 

 The pool is very private and includes a Jacuzzi. This building also has a Gym that faces the water so you can stay in shape and at same time never get bored as you are exercising looking at the passing boats.

  Have you been looking for the indicators to show that our economy is again on the mend and improving?  How about looking at Coffee and Wine Sales?

  In looking at various indicators out there to show that our economy is on the mend I came across some very interesting ones that are reported by retail chains, and they are the increase in specialty coffee and premium wine.

  When heading into the recession and during the past couple of years consumers were ordering less lattes and more regular coffees as well as the percentage of premium wines being purchased at retail stores dropping significantly.  Consumers were being more careful of spending and making minor adjustments to their spending habits in passing the latte for a regular cup of coffee as well as cutting back on premium wine purchases.

  Many retail stores such as Safeway are now reporting that shoppers are again trading up for the lattes and the premium wines.  Could this be yet another indicator of our positive turn in our economy?  Well I for one will be stopping by our local coffee specialty store and purchasing my Hot Chocolate and celebrating this great news and to add my purchase to this often forgotten indicator of our economy.

Yale University economist Robert Shiller, co-author of S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index says current data suggests the housing market is on the mend.  “The sense that something is changing is definitely in the air, after three years of decline Robert Shiller feels that we are seeing a turnaround”.

Nationally U.S. home prices increased 2.9% in Q2 com0panred to Q1, this was the first quarterly gain in more than two years.  Another data point to support the housing recovery is that new home sales increased in three U.S. regions in July according to the U.S. Commerce Department data.  Sales surged 32% in the Northeast, 16% in the South and 2% in the West.  Many parts of the Midwest also experienced sales gains but areas that were impacted significantly by the troubled auto industry continued to struggle.

There are a couple of driving factors that are contributing to this rise in sales.  The federal governments $8000.00 income tax credit for first-time home buyers as well as comparatively low interest rates are the two most attractive factors driving increased sales.  All told things are looking up for those that are both in the buying and the selling mode!

Need storage space?  No problem!  Both bedrooms have a large walk-in closests and because of the height of the ceiling, the master closest has additional space on the top.

It’s perfect for a starter home or a small family. The family dog and the children will enjoy the back patio, all fenced to give the adults peace of mind, knowing that the “little ones” are safe, and it is a perfect place for the occasional BBQ get together.

Water heater is the new efficient on-demand kind which helps save on the electric bills while helping the enviroment!

It has 2 assigned parking spaces plus guest parking available.

As per the community, it has various play areas for the children, and a lake for running, walking or just enjoying the view.

The schools are  A rated Schools.

It is located in the heart of Pembroke Pines, close to the shopping and restaurants yet in a quiet street.

Check  inside pictures:

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