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Altha, FL - Abal Auction Real Estate announces the auction of a 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath lakefront home on 5.11 acres. lakefront Florida panhandle home on October 16, 2008 according to Dr. Joe Abal, auctioneer and broker.

“What to do when “What to do when your property is on its third traditional listing and hasn’t sold in two years?” asked Abal. “We are finding that more and more homeowners are turning to the proven method of auction marketing.” Abal explained, “We received a phone call from the homeowner who told us her daughter in California had checked us out on the Internet and liked what she saw.”

Already known for their online bidding platform for real estate, the Abal Auction team saw the challenge to sell at auction a family home estate that dates back to 1972 when it was constructed.

Abal said that the current owners retired to Altha, where they purchased this property and completely redid the house inside and out. The property features a dock and boat access to beautiful White Pond Lake (formerly Lake Kathryn). White Pond Lake is a private lake governed by County ordinance prohibiting gas engines.

“This is a pristine, country property,” added Abal. “When I shot the video I actually stopped talking on the video, man was it quiet, just the birds,” added Abal.

The house was built with family entertainment in mind and has a great family entertainment recreation room. The home has three bedrooms and three and half baths, including an attached private guest quarters with it’s own private entrance.

Abal commented, “This is a great house built with a concrete block and it is solid. A new owner is going to get some type of wind force insurance discount with this construction.”

The home is only a 50-minute drive from the new Panama City airport and only 15 minutes from downtown Marianna - just one hour from the State Capitol in Tallahassee.

The auction is being bid online now at www.abalauction.com, with a live event occurring October 16, 2008, at 11:00 a.m. central. To download a complete digital Property Information Package visit the website. Financing information is also available in the lender section of the website. The property is offered by Seller Confirmation with a 10 percent buyer’s premium.

Miami, FL - In a market where only the fittest survive, Bayshore Land Group is flexing its innovation muscle to continue serving clients. The Florida commercial real estate specialist is updating its strategies with the shifting economy, offering new advisory services for banking and lending institutions inheriting commercial and residential real estate in the wake of swelling foreclosure rates.

As MacNair described, Bayshore’s REO management process offers three service areas: acquisition/analysis, preservation/renovation and disposition. The firm is currently helping lenders reconcile 60 foreclosed properties, and is prepared to at least double that volume in the second half of 2008.

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Tampa, FL - Florida custom home builders Arthur Rutenberg Homes stole the show at the 2008 Tampa Bay Parade of Homes, scoring the most awards of any single-family home builder there. Most notably, franchises of Arthur Rutenberg Homes swept the category for single-family homes priced $650,000 to $699,000, taking the two top awards for luxury homes in this price rang.

“We are honored that our homes have received such high recognition,” said Tessa Madasz, vice president of sales at Arthur Rutenberg Homes. “Receiving just one award would be a tremendous honor, and our franchises brought us four separate awards.”

The largest franchiser of independent custom home builders in the nation, Arthur Rutenberg Homes was represented in the Tampa Bay Parade of Homes by three award-winning franchises: Arthur Rutenberg Homes/Lyons Heritage Tampa, Arthur Rutenberg Homes/Lyons Heritage Pasco, and Arthur Rutenberg Homes/Custom Craft Homes. Lyons Heritage Tampa was a two-time winner with both a grand and a merit award, while Lyons Heritage Pasco and Custom Craft Homes earned a grand award and a merit award, respectively.

Two of the awards; a grand award for Lyons Heritage Tampa’s Tradewinds VI at Connerton in Land O’ Lakes, and a merit award for Custom Craft’s St. Augustine IV at FishHawk Ranch in Lithia — were both in the category for single-family homes priced $650,000 to $699,000. Arthur Rutenberg Homes was the only single-family home builder to sweep a category.

The other two awards were a grand award for Lyons Heritage Pasco’s Camelia at Southern Hills Plantation in Hernando County, a home in the $900,000 to $999,000 price category; and a merit award for Lyons Heritage Tampa’s Bonaire II at Grand Hampton in Hillsborough County, a home in the $550,000 to $599,000 price category.

“Lyons Heritage Pasco, Lyons Heritage Tampa, and Custom Craft Homes are all top-notch luxury home builders in Florida,” Madasz said. “Arthur Rutenberg Homes is proud to have these builders represent our company.”

The 2008 Tampa Bay Parade of Homes visited the counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando, featuring 132 model homes in 105 different communities. The event, which is held every spring, is sponsored by the Tampa Bay Builders Association.

For more information about Arthur Rutenberg Homes and its franchises, please visit www.ArthurRutenbergHomes.com.

Miami, FL - Short Sale Real Estate Attorney in Miami, Florida, Christian N. Folland, Esq, offers specialized legal and closing services for international buyers interested purchasing luxury South Beach waterfront condominiums at deep discounts though short sale or lender-owned transactions.

Christian N. Folland, Esq., is the owner of the South Florida law firm, Folland & Associates, LC and the Miami title company, South Pointe Title Company. Folland is a Florida Bar Certified real estate attorney, which is the highest level of expertise recognized by the Florida Bar. Also a Realtor, Folland is very familiar with the Miami and South Beach real estate markets and keeps an updated list of available pre- and post-foreclosed or otherwise discounted properties.

“We have seen a lot of recent international interest in Miami and South Beach Miami properties, particularly luxury South Beach condominiums, from buyers and investment groups in Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Russia and even India,” said Folland, who pointed out that all the negative real estate news headlines spark interest from buyers and investors looking to purchase properties for less than the the actual value. Combined with the currently weak US dollar, buying financially distressed pre-foreclosure properties through short sale negotiation or lender-owned properties adds up to a good investment opportunity for foreign cash buyers.

The definition of short sale or short payoff is when a mortgage lender agrees to accept less than the outstanding loan amount to satisfy the seller’s loan. Mortgage short sales have become a common method to assist owners in selling real estate which is appraising much lower than when they purchased the property. Most lenders will accept a deeply discounted loan payoff based on the fair market value of the property, rather than pay attorney fees and wait for the foreclosure process to be completed. Lender-owned properties are those retained by the lender after a foreclosure sale.

“Considering the real estate mortgage market, short sales are the best solution for sellers in distress, lenders with non-performing loans, and savvy buyers, particularly foreign cash buyers taking advantage of the weak US dollar,” says Folland, who coordinates with buyers, sellers, and lenders to negotiate short sale closings. “Cash buyers have a definite advantage, as some properties need to be sold before a foreclosure sale occurs.” On one recent transaction, the cash buyer snapped up a new waterfront condominium just days before the foreclosure sale for $320,000.00, originally purchased by the seller for $590,000.00 in 2005.

Every situation is different, noted Folland, and each lender has specific requirements for borrowers to qualify for a short sale or short payoff. Sellers typically must demonstrate financial distress warranting the short sale of a home, and are not allowed to receive any equity out of the property at sale. “The approval process is becoming very streamlined on the lenders’ end, meaning quicker approvals.”

The staff at South Pointe Title Company are experts on short sales and the requirements to qualify, as well as the short sale listing and approval process. Our Florida title company will assist sellers in completing their short sale applications, document submissions, and draft their Florida sales contracts, which are contingent on the acceptance of the short sale, as well as help them market their property. Our Miami real estate attorney provides consultations on foreclosure avoidance and short sale potential. Our real estate attorney and title company staff will work with lenders to provide the valuation documentation required in the lender’s mortgage short sale application.

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Americas Watchdog and its Homeowners Consumer Center are the premier consumer advocates for homeowners in the United States. The Homeowners Consumer Center is one of the best known homeowners advice, or homeowners information resources in the United States. The Homeowner Consumer Center has just released its top seven list for smart homeowners wishing to survive the 2008 real estate disaster, along with some hard cold truths about the future of the US real estate markets. As follow:

1. Home prices will continue to fall in the US. Americas Watchdog’s National Mortgage Complaint Center expects a 10% decrease in 2008 and at least a 10% decrease in 2009. According to the Federal Reserve, currently 1 out of 7 US homeowners owes more on their home than it is worth. Americas Watchdog expects that by mid 2009 1 out of 5 US homeowners will owe more on their home than it is worth. This is because with 2 million expected foreclosures in 2008, banks are slashing home prices by as much as 40%, to get rid of the property. Americas Watchdog says, “dramatic sales price reductions by banks has the affect of creating new comparable home sales data for a neighborhood, and by doing so the value of all homes in a neighborhood is decreased.

2. If a homeowner is currently more than 10% upside down on the value of their home related to their loan amount, they should consider contacting their attorney about going deed in lieu of foreclosure (simply walking away from the home), or doing a short sale (where the bank accepts whatever price the borrower can get for the house). According to the National Mortgage complaint center, why continue to make payments on a mortgage, that is greater than the homes value?”

3. Potential homeowners or real estate investors should be extremely wary of real estate auctions or foreclosure events according to the Homeowners Consumer Center. The group says, “why buy a house in 2008 that will be worth 15% less in late 2009″.

4. Americas Watchdog is still demanding that Congress do away with the worst case of mortgage fraud in US history, where banks and mortgage bankers are allowed to get a huge kick back called a “yield spread premium” with no disclosure to the consumer. According to the group, “mortgage brokers are required to disclose this kick back, but banks and mortgage bankers have no such requirement even they get this huge kick back too”. Americas Watchdog estimates that 50 million US homeowners pay a higher monthly mortgage payment than they should have received, because a mortgage banker or bank received a huge hidden kickback for increasing the borrowers interest rate/monthly mortgage payment, with no requirement to disclose it to a unsuspecting consumer. All US homeowners should write their Congress Person & US Senator & demand this double standard be changed. All US Presidential candidates should have to explain this double standard to the voters.

5. All US homeowners who intend to stay in their homes need to update their homeowners insurance policy. Six months ago the Homeowners Consumer Center completed a study where it was discovered that less than 5% of all US homeowners have updated their homeowners insurance policy. Americas Watchdog used to be based in New Orleans, before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. The group is begging all US homeowners to do the following:

All homeowners insurance policies should include loss of use insurance, in the event the home floods, or has a fire. Loss of use will provide rental assistance to a homeowner if their home is undergoing repair work rendering it unsafe to occupy.

If a homeowner has not updated their homeowners insurance in at least two years, they should invite their insurance agent to come by their home & make a list that includes all home electronics, jewelry, home improvements, etc. Have the agent verify in writing the additional items covered.

If a homeowner lives in an area that could flood or be impacted by a hurricane, get flood insurance & flood insurance contents coverage (All states along the Atlantic & Gulf Coast)

6. If a homeowner intends to stay in their home, they should gather recent home sales information in their neighborhood, and appeal their county property taxes. US real estate values are down at least 15% to 25% in almost every major US real estate market. Why pay a higher property tax bill than required?

7. Americas Watchdog’s Homeowners Consumer Center is encouraging all US homeowners to review their free mortgage guide. The 20 page guide was designed to assist all US homeowners understand the mortgage process and the tricks of banks and mortgage lenders related to mortgages. The free mortgage guide is located on the Homeowners Consumer Center’s resource page. The Homeowners Consumer Centers web site is located at http://HomeownersConsumerCenter.Com.

Americas Watchdog & its Homeowner Consumer Center are all about truthful Homeowners advice, consumer protection and corporate fair play. Americas Watchdog thinks this is vital information for all US homeowners or potential homeowners. The group asks that readers of this press release forward it onto friends, co-workers and family members.