Key West

Arnold Schwarzenegger fired 20,000 employees and reduced the wages of 200,000 state employees to minimum wage.  Cities and states are doing all they can to save money and make more money.  I was angry with our Monroe County Commissioners when they announced last week that they want to raise our taxes 18% (over the 2007 rate).  

Still, we're lucky because we haven't fired any cops, teachers or other city employees this year.  County employees and the Key West Police Department have cut all over time which has caused a surge in foreclosures and short sales of homes owned by Key West's Finest.    

Two weeks ago the Key West City Commissioners voted to stop issuing building permits if a homeowner owes money for parking tickets, speeding tickets, Code Enforcement violations or any other reason.  Maybe this will bring some needed money to the city.  Our city is getting creative with our fund raising.

Mandatory recycling was proposed this week by the City of Key West Commissioners.  Failing to recycle would become a Code Enforcement violation and you would be fined!  Garbage truck drivers would be told to tag any bag that sounds like it has glass bottles in it.  The drivers would be instructed to leave the bags on the curb.  In Key West if you've got any outstanding debt you owe to the city, "Pay Up!" 

The U.S. is in the seventh straight month of employee lay-offs at about 450,000 this year.  It was good news this week when we heard this week that just over 50,000 people lost their jobs across the country last month.  That is much better than the 70,000 and 80,000 of the prior months. 

You can find me in the Florida Keys and Key West at (305) 522-1398 or e-mail me at MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com.

Maya M. Thomas
REALTOR®
(305) 522-1398
MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com
www.ShowcasePortfolioProperties.com
www.myspace.com/topkeysrealtor

Could we fix the sub-prime mess by letting homeowners roll their 7 percent sub-prime 30 year mortgage into a 50 year 4 percent mortgage?   What about just letting them keep the 30 year mortgage and reducing the rate to 4%?

A pretty normal short sale in Key West Florida is a mortgage on $500,000 at 7 percent interest.  This payment is $3,326.51 before taxes and insurance.  In Monroe County you can safely add $14,000 per year for taxes and insurance which would bring the payment to $4,493.18.

We could save a homeowner $1,500 per month and maybe they could stay in their home with a 50 year mortgage at a reduced interest rate.  If a lender rolled the hypothetical mortgage into a 50 year 4% mortgage the payment would go $1,928.53 before taxes and insurance.  It would be $3,095.20 per month with taxes and insurance.

If a lender allowed a homeowner to keep the 30 year fixed mortgage at 4% the monthly principal and interest payment would be just $2,387.08.  The payment would go to $3,553.75 with taxes and insurance.

A $500,000 mortgage at 7 percent over 30 years would get the bank $1,197,543.60 in payments on the $500,000 loan.  The bank would get $1,157,118 in payments at 4 percent over 50 years for the $500,000 laon.   The bank would still get $858,484.80 in payments on a 4% 30 year fixed $500,000 loan.  Any of these numbers are a lot better than writing off $250,000. 

A homeowner could always make a bigger payment to principal with their tax return or a raise.  If a family member got fired, the family had a medical emergency or maybe at Christmas they could make the smaller payments. 

My grandmother used to tell me when I was a little girl to get a 30 year mortgage and pay it off in 15 years.  She would sit with me, pencil and paper in hand, and show me how much money I could save by paying off the mortgage early. 

You can find me in the Florida Keys and Key West at (305) 522-1398 or e-mail me at MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com.

Maya M. Thomas
REALTOR®
(305) 522-1398
MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com
www.ShowcasePortfolioProperties.com
www.myspace.com/topkeysrealtor

The car, truck and SUV deals are fantastic!  Hummer's sales are down 61%.  All of the car manufacturer's sales are slowing even if their name is Toyota or Honda.  You can buy an SUV for $15,000 off sticker price all over the country.  I've been told the trick is to go on the last day of the month...

You can lease a Nissan Pathfinder for $250 a month with no money down for 3 years!  I've been wanting a hybrid so I can be "Green" and energy efficient, but these good deals are making me want a big luxury SUV!

You can find me in the Florida Keys and Key West at (305) 522-1398 or e-mail me at MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com.

Maya M. Thomas
REALTOR®
(305) 522-1398
MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com
www.ShowcasePortfolioProperties.com
www.myspace.com/topkeysrealtor

Walmart told their employees to vote Republican today.  Not straight out, but they warned their employees of the dangers of voting for a Democrat. 

The big deal is that Walmart is worried that a Democratic President will make it easier for unions to organize and unionization at Walmart would drive up costs.  A Democratic President, Senate and House would likely increase the minimum wage which would also increase Walmart's costs.

This election affects everyone is so many different ways!

Businesses and everyday citizens are trying to save money.  In my past, before I was a REALTOR®, I noticed something curious about the employees that I worked with in Key West.  At big companies most employees silently resent or even hate their employers and feel taken advantage of by them. 

Big companies often give employees a good reason to resent and mistrust them.  One big company I worked with would find all kinds of ways to cheat their employees and managers.  I wonder if Walmart employees will silently vote Democrate so that the do get a pay raise and can "stick it" to Walmart?  This Key West company cheated employees by having them clock in and out on two different time cards for two different departments to get around paying overtime and dozens of other no-no's.  They cheated managers that were salary non-exempt by decreasing their hourly rate of pay so that the paycheck at the end of the week was the same every week.  Salary non-exempt employees are supposed to be paid "half" their hourly wages for over time and can not be docked for sick days so they cheated them every week. 

I can't even go into the stuff they did to the contract labor!  On top of this, health insurance was subsidized for Managers and free for Directors, but full price for hourly employees so of course no hourly employees could afford to have insurance.

I watched employees go to the Human Resources Department and get fired for asking about their pay. 

Today I recommend that an employee go directly to the Department of Labor when they find themselves in a situation like this and ask the DOL will keep their name confidential so they don't get fired or retaliated against.  If the company does it to one employee they are likely to do it to others.

You can find me in the Florida Keys and Key West at (305) 522-1398 or e-mail me at MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com.

Maya M. Thomas
REALTOR®
(305) 522-1398
MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com
www.ShowcasePortfolioProperties.com
www.myspace.com/topkeysrealtor

Hi Friends,
I just went to an excellent work shop with a real estate attorney who is on the Florida FAR BAR committee.  He reminded us about the changes this year.  He gave us some great insight that I'll share with you!

Keep in mind that I'm NOT an attorney and I must recommend that you consult an attorney regarding all of the information that I share with you.  Consider this a friend at lunch telling you what she heard that could be helpful to you.

On the subject of seller credits:  Be careful what you call them.  For an FHA mortgage you can only include closing costs and pre-pays such as insurance as a seller contribution.  Use the wording "and/or pre-pays" when including seller contributions on a contract.  You can include only the first year of wind, flood and homeowners insurance.  Be sure to get a good faith estimate in writing!  There is a 3% cap on conventional and FHA loans and a 6% cap on VA loans.

Hope this helps you!

You can find me in the Florida Keys and Key West at (305) 522-1398 or e-mail me at MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com.

Maya M. Thomas
REALTOR®
(305) 522-1398
MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com
www.ShowcasePortfolioProperties.com
www.myspace.com/topkeysrealtor

Real Estate professionals assume everyone knows what a Short Sale is.  I had a showing yesterday with a buyer, accompanied by a buyer's agent, who asked me, "What is a Short Sale?"  This was a good reminder for me that we have our own jargon and it's important to get back to the basics when we are writing our Marketing Remarks on a listings and working with buyers.

A Short Sale exists when a homeowner is selling their home and they can only sell it for less than the amount of their mortgage.  Simply put, they own the bank more than their home will sell for. 

A seller has a couple of options:  The seller's agent can negotiate with the bank and the bank may accept less money than they are owed.  The seller will then get a 1099 showing the "gift income" received or the bank can issue a Deficiency Judgment.  The second option for the seller is to take a loan for the difference or pay off the difference from assets or savings.

Short Sales can be complicated for a real estate agent and a homeowner.  The process requires cooperation between the agent and the owner.  The homeowner will need to provide the financial information the agent needs to work with the lender or multiple lenders.  Even more difficult for many agents and owners is the need to be patient.

Short Sales are even more complicated in a different way.  Most loans have been sold on the "secondary market" to investors or as "securitized instruments."  Finding the owner and gaining cooperation is time consuming and difficult.  The lender will need to get permission from Fannie Mae or Feddie Mac.  The agent may also need to work with private mortgage insurance (PMI) companies when there has been a low down payment or no down payment on the home.

If you find your self facing these issues contact a REALTOR® in your area that you trust and feel comfortable with and talk about what's happening.  They will guide you through the process.

You can find me in the Florida Keys and Key West at (305) 522-1398 or e-mail me at MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com.

Maya M. Thomas
REALTOR®
(305) 522-1398
MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com
www.ShowcasePortfolioProperties.com
www.myspace.com/topkeysrealtor