Highlands County Talk

...and it's no wonder: Sun'n'Lake of Sebring is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Sebring. Not only is it conveniently close to US 27 to give you access to all the shopping and dining you could ever ask for; it is also a safe and family friendly neighborhood. The Florida Hospital is located right at the main entrance of Sun'n'Lake at the corner of  Sun'n'Lake Blvd and US 27.

Residents take advantage of the two championship golf courses located within Sun'n'Lake. The community pool is popular with everyone and there are plenty of paved hiking and biking trails for the nature enthusiasts. Sun'n'Lake offers prime spots directly at either of the two golf courses, there are 55+ condos, duplexes, deed restricted neighborhoods as well a  older homes available for re-sale. Truly, there is something for any taste, and life style and any budget.

Currently, there are 98 properties for sale in Sun'n'Lake. Prices range from $55,000 to $599,000 including Single Family Homes, Condos, 55+, and Duplexes.

Since January 2009, 62 homes have sold in Sun'n'Lake of Sebring. Prices range from $40,000 to $285,000. Compare that to Sebring Hills and Sebring County Estate: 43 sales (combined) ranging from $40,000 to $175,000 within the same time period.

If you are considering selling your home in Sun'n'Lake, now is the time to do it because you are in the hot zone!

We hope this article about Selling in Sun'n'Lake of Sebring was helpful to you. If you have any questions or concerns, just drop us a line.

Highlands County Chat Forum - come and join us on "Florida Talk"

Do you live in Highlands County (or anywhere else in the world) and have been wondering when someone would finally come up with a local forum where people from Highlands County can connect with each other online?

Have you been waiting to discuss the proposed Sam's Club on US 27 with other locals?

Are you curious to find out who's going to move into the old Barnhill's restaurant and when the MowerPlex season starts in Avon Park?

Join us on Highlands County's Chat Forum "Florida Talk" to discuss anything about Highlands County. All we ask is to keep it clean.

Why not pull up a chair! We hope to see you soon on Highlands County's Chat Forum "Florida Talk"

 
Short Sell My Property in Highlands County - Step 1 - Documentation: Let's assume you own a home in Highlands County, Florida are behind on your payments and your home is worth less than what you owe on it. You are considering a short sale. After you have hired a competent Realtor that specializes in short sales you call your lender and let them know that you are listing your home as a short sale.

Along with a good offer, your lender will require a good deal of paperwork. To make the process less stressful and prepare our clients for what to expect, we have put a package together for them to help them navigate their short sale:

1. Most recent Proof of Income. This can be payroll checks, stubs, unemployment stubs, disability stubsd, social security stubs or sub contractor invoice copies.

2. Bank Statments. Checking and Savings accounts. To get the process started online printouts are okay but be to get hardcopies from your bank.

3. Last Mortgage Statement (Payment Coupon) showing loan number and balance due.

4. Authorization - your Realtor needs your authorization to talk to your lender on your behalf. We give our clients an authorization to sign at the time we list the property. We have an in-house short sale negotiator that handles all negotiations with the lender.

5. Financial Statement - this is a sample financial worksheet detailing all your income and expenses. Your lender will likely have their own form for you to complete but it will help to go over the sample form and fill in the numbers ahead of time.

6. Hardship Letter - your lender wants to know why you are not able to make payments anymore. You are asked to write a hardship letter. Examples of hardships are divorce, job loss, illness, death of a spouse etc. We include 3 sample letters with our package to give sellers a starting point.

7. Listing Agreement - this is a plain Jane listing agreement spelling out asking price, terms and conditions. The listing agreement comes with a short sale addendum.

In a nutshell, this is the short sale package we give to our clients at the time we list their home as a short sale to help them navigate the short sale process. To us, this is no big deal, we do this on a daily basis. For most homeowners though the process to get started might be overwhelming. Our short sale package is designed to explain each step and guide the homeowner in gathering all documents required to ensure a successful transaction.

This post was originally posted on www.millsrealestate.net/blog
If you have questions or concerns regarding short sales, just give us a ring: 863-202-0729

We hope this post Short Sell My Property in Highlands County - Step 1 - Documentation was helpful to you.

Highlands County  Back to school Immunization
It's only 4 1/2 weeks until students flock back to school in Highlands County. Being parents of a middle schooler, we are not going to be devastated about going back onto a regular schedule. On top of shopping for school supplies and clothes, parents should add one more thing to the list: Immunizations!

The Highlands County Health Department is holding a FREE Back-To-School Immunization Walk-In Clinic starting August 4th, 2009. Below are dates, times, and locations:

For more information call the Highlands County Health Department in:

Sebring: 863-386-6040
Avon Park: 863-452-0180
Lake Placid: 863-465-2252

More locations for 1st Grader Immunizations:

This entry was originally posted on www.millsrealestate.net/blog

 We hope this article about Highlands County Back to School Immunization was helpful to you!

Often times it is very hard for sellers to talk to us about their financial troubles and inability to make their mortgage payment. In a society were a nice home is among the top status symbols, it seems out of the question to admit that one can't afford their status symbol anymore.

We did a search on all home sales in our local MLS since January 1st, 2009. We only searched for Single Family Homes. We came up with 541 sales. 224 of these sales were distress sales, meaning they were either foreclosures, short sale, REO, pre-foreclosure or pre-auction. That's  41% of all sales!!! We suspect the number to be even higher because sometimes an agent forgets to check the "distress sale" field in the MLS.

Within the same period in 2008, we had a total of 430 sales (same search criteria). How many of them were distress sales? 6 or .01% of all sales. Distress sales have increase by over 39%. Overall sales have increased by 21%, which is great news!!!

So, if you are a homeowner in distress, if you are behind in your payments and feel you have no other option than letting your home go into foreclosure - YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  About 40% of the homeowners that have their home on the market are in the same boat with you!

For more information on Short Sales and if you are a good canditate for one, visit our blog, give us a call or drop us a line!

Andrea: 863-202-0729
Darrin: 863-202-5017
www.millsrealestate.net

This post was originally posted on www.millsrealestate.net/blog