Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a servicer?

Michael Petruccelli says; An organization that collects principal and interest payments from borrowers and manages borrowers' escrow accounts. The servicer often services mortgages that have been purchased by an investor in the secondary mortgage market.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is servicing?

Michael Petruccelli says; The collection of mortgage payments from borrowers and related responsibilities of a loan servicer.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a settlement statement?

Michael Petruccelli says; Settlement Statement also know as a HUD-1 settlement statement. A document that provides an itemized listing of the funds that were paid at closing. Items that appear on the statement include real estate commissions, loan fees, points, and initial escrow (impound) amounts. Each type of expense goes on a specific numbered line on the sheet. The totals at the bottom of the HUD-1 statement define the seller's net proceeds and the buyer's net payment at closing. It is called a HUD1 because the form is printed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD1 statement is also known as the "closing statement" or "settlement sheet."

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a survey?

Michael Petruccelli says;  A drawing or map showing the precise legal boundaries of a property, the location of improvements, easements, rights of way, encroachments, and other physical features.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a subdivision?

Michael Petruccelli says;  A housing development that is created by dividing a tract of land into individual lots for sale or lease.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is subordinate financing?

Michael Petruccelli says;  Any mortgage or other lien that has a priority that is lower than that of the first mortgage.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a third-party origination?

Michael Petruccelli says; A process by which a lender uses another party to completely or partially originate, process, underwrite, close, fund, or package the mortgages it plans to deliver to the secondary mortgage market.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is tenancy in common?

Michael Petruccelli says; As opposed to joint tenancy, when there are two or more individuals on title to a piece of property, this type of ownership does not pass ownership to the others in the event of death.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is sweat equity?

Michael Petruccelli says; Contribution to the construction or rehabilitation of a property in the form of labor or services rather than cash.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a title?

Michael Petruccelli says; A legal document evidencing a person's right to or ownership of a property.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a title company?

Michael Petruccelli says; A company that specializes in examining and insuring titles to real estate.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is title insurance?

Michael Petruccelli says; Insurance that protects the lender (lender's policy) or the buyer (owner's policy) against loss arising from disputes over ownership of a property.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What & When is Florida's statewide open house?

Michael Petruccelli says; Florida's statewide open house is March 26-27, 2011, more than 50,000 blue balloons featuring the Realtor® logo will be flying above mailboxes at open houses from the Panhandle to Key West. It’s all part of the second annual statewide open house weekend! From the east coast to the west coast, the signature blue balloons will showcase thousands of open houses in the Sunshine State. It’s a buyer’s dream!

Michael Petruccelli asks; Why is Florida's statewide open house a buyers dream?

Michael Petruccelli says; The timing couldn’t be better for buyers. Interest rates are low. There’s a supply of homes at all price points. And the Florida Open House Weekend happens at the height of the spring home selling season. Take time now to prime move-up and first-time buyers to go to contract.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is the new 'talking' contract?

Michael Petruccelli says; This online "flipbook" tutorial goes over the new Florida Realtors/Florida Bar Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase. Here is the link, check it out.
 http://floridarealtor.imirus.com/Mpowered/book/vresid10/i1/p1

Michael Petruccelli asks; How are these Single, Tech Savvy & motivated buyers finding homes?

Michael Petruccelli says; For four in 10 home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking on line for properties. Real estate professionals were viewed as useful information sources by 98 percent of the buyers who used an agent while searching for a home. The typical buyer searched for 12 weeks and viewed 15 homes. This compares to 12 weeks and 12 homes viewed by the typical buyer nationwide.

Michael Petruccelli asks; Are they working with professionals?

Michael Petruccelli says; Seventy-nine percent of buyers purchased their home through a real estate professional. Seven percent of buyers purchased a home in foreclosure-slightly higher than the share of buyers nationally.

Michael Petruccelli asks; How are they paying for the home?

Michael Petruccelli says; Eighty percent of buyers financed their home purchase compared to a much higher 91 percent of buyers nationwide.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What are they buying?

Michael Petruccelli says; The typical home purchased was 1,800 square feet, built in 1998 with 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. When considering the purchase of a home, 73%of buyers considered communiting costs very or somewhat important.

Michael Petruccelli asks; Who are the new Florida home buyers?

Michael Petruccelli says; Of recent home buyers who responded to the survey, 44 percent were first-time owners, compared to 50 percent nationwide. The typical first-time buyer was age 31, while the typical repeat buyer was 54; nationwide, first-time buyers were typically 30, and repeat buyer was 50. The 2009 median household income of Florida buyers was 463,300-slightly lower than the $72,200 median income of buyers nationwide. Of recent buyers, 19 percent were single females and 11 percent were single males. Nationwide, 20 percent of recent buyers were single females and 12 percent were single males.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a title search?

Michael Petruccelli says; A check of the title records to ensure that the seller is the legal owner of the property and that there are no liens or other claims outstanding.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a transfer tax?

Michael Petruccelli says; State or local tax payable when title passes from one owner to another.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a transfer of ownership?

Michael Petruccelli  says; Any means by which the ownership of a property changes hands. Lenders consider all of the following situations to be a transfer of ownership: the purchase of a property "subject to" the mortgage, the assumption of the mortgage debt by the property purchaser, and any exchange of possession of the property under a land sales contract or any other land trust device.

Michael Petruccelli asks; Why are these High Seasons so important?

Michael Pertuccelli says;  These are  your High Season as a Realtor  also. This is the time to meet & greet, plant seeds that will grow with time and advertize you name everywhere you can. The impression you make will be associated with the great weather and fun time these vacationers have.  They are your target audience. The future home, condo & vacation rental buyers of tomorrow.

Michael Petruccelli asks; Why Indian Rocks Beach? Are you jaded, do you take where you live & work for granted?

Michael Pertuccelli says;  Get out there and go for a walk on any of the white sandy beaches at Sunset.  Soak up the warm sunshine embrace the small towns feel with all the modern convinces within minutes in either direction.  Take a day to go fishing or spend the evening on a local Dolphin watch sunset cruise. Visit the Aquarium, Bird Sanctuary or other local attraction. Remember why you moved here to begin with or why you stayed here.  See Indian Rocks Beach through the eyes of a tourist.

Michael Petruccelli asks; Do you get a lot of Spring break college students in Indian Rocks Beach?

Michael Pertuccelli says;  Spring break college students tend to go to Daytona and the Keys more than Indian Rocks Beach. We are more community minded smaller beach town that is family oriented.

Michael Petruccelli asks; When is the second High Season?

Michael Pertuccelli says;  It starts with Memorial  week and goes through July. These vacationers are mostly families from Georgia and locals that want a vacation on the white sandy beaches. A break from the hectic everyday life, a nice family vacation before school starts up again.

Michael Petruccelli asks; When is the third High Season?

Michael Pertuccelli says; Fall/ Winter we have an array of Northerners, escaping the cold, heavy snow and grey skies of winter. Yearning for the mild sunny weather we call winter. These snow birds start migrating to Indian Rocks Beach in late Fall and stay until Spring, just before the family  vacationers arrive for Easter break. These snow birds are typically mature semi retired, retired or empty nesters.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is High Season in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida?

Michael Pertuccelli says;  It is when a high volume of visitors from out of town or out of State flock to our area for  vacation.

Michael Petruccelli asks; When is High Season?

Michael Pertuccelli says;  Actually there are 3 high seasons in Indian Rock Beach, Fl. (Aka; Tourist seasons).

Michael Petruccelli asks; What time of year are these High Seasons?

Michael Pertuccelli says;  It usually starts with a childhood family vacation or a College Spring break.  That revolves around Easter break from school. Every State has slightly different week(s) off. Therefore Spring Break may start as early as the beginning of March and goes through up to two after Easter.

Michael Petruccelli asks; Is Tampa Bay's ailing retail real estate industry stabilizing?

 Michael Petruccelli says; After slumping for three years, two vital signs of the Tampa Bay area's retail real estate industry have stabilized and are showing signs of improvement this year.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is a two- to four-family property?

Michael Petruccelli says; A property that consists of a structure that provides living space (dwelling units) for two to four families, although ownership of the structure is evidenced by a single deed.

Michael Petruccelli asks; What is the Treasury index?

Michael Petruccelli says; An index that is used to determine interest rate changes for certain adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) plans. It is based on the results of auctions that the U.S. Treasury holds for its Treasury bills and securities or is derived from the U.S. Treasury's daily yield curve, which is based on the closing market bid yields on actively traded Treasury securities in the over-the-counter market.