The Brainerd Real Estate Blog

The Twin Cities housing market continues to post strong pending sales figures as fall progresses. For the week ending October 31, there were 826 pending sales. That’s down from the week before but 42.9 percent greater than the same week last year.

The extension and expansion of the tax credit means that first-time home buyer activity will remain strong, but don’t bank on the same blockbuster numbers we have seen this year. If you were a potential first-time buyer who was qualified to purchase in 2009, odds are good that you already bought. The fact that the income limits have been raised for eligibility does help since it widens the credit’s availability.

The $6,500 credit for second-time buyers will spur some sellers to put their homes on the market who had previously been on the fence. New listings will likely strengthen this winter and into early 2010 as a result.

Some updated numbers for this month:

• Days on Market is still shrinking, down to 128. That’s 9.4 percent below last October.
• The Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale bumped up to 94.6.

The Housing Affordability Index increased to 202, up 25.5 percent over 2008.

Most people I know have ADD when it comes to what they truly choose for their life.

The former part-owner of one of Northeast Florida’s biggest home builders has been indicted in a sweeping federal investigation of mortgage fraud.

Federal prosecutors allege Craig Scott, who was an owner of American Homebuilders Inc., took part in a conspiracy that promised prospective buyers they would be paid up to $100,000 by “rebates” or kickbacks coming from part of a Realtor’s commission and payments from the builder, according to an indictment.

The indictment contends the conspirators did not disclose the payments to lenders, but instead sought to “trick and deceive mortgage lenders” by inflating the sales price of homes on sales and purchase agreements. That resulted in lenders providing bigger loans than they otherwise would have, the indictment contends.

U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announced Wednesday that about 100 people are being prosecuted after an intensive, nine-month investigation of mortgage fraud in the Middle District of Florida, spanning the metropolitan areas of Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Fort  Myers.

In the Jacksonville area, the investigation resulted in indictments of 24 people in connection with at least $244 million in loan amounts for 200 pieces of property, Albritton said.

The people indicted worked during the housing boom in positions such as small business banker, title company employee and owner, mortgage broker, mortgage banker, employee of a real estate development company, real estate agent, real estate investor, title and closing agent, and real estate appraiser.

“All the people in the real estate industry knew what they were doing,” said Jim Casey, special agent in charge for the FBI.

American Homebuilders Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July. According to bankruptcy court filings, American Homebuilders was founded in 1992 and generated almost $40 million in sales during the peak of the real estate boom in early to mid-2005. After the real estate market crash, sales of lots and homes “dried up virtually overnight” and left the business unable to pay its debts.

The indictment against Scott contends that from mid-2006 through March 2008, he took part in a conspiracy with First Trust Realty Corp. owner Jean Tan Jones, mortgage broker Fe V. Tan, and real estate agent Jeffrey Rubin, who was a sales representative for American Homebuilders. All are Jacksonville residents, according to the indictments.

Scott left American Homebuilders in 2008, according to bankruptcy court filings.

Albritton said Florida has been “ground zero for mortgage fraud.” He said investigators from federal and state agencies  built their cases after foreclosures revealed signs of mortgage fraud.

“You will be caught, you will be prosecuted, and you will be sentenced to significant jail time,” Albritton said at a news conference in the federal courthouse in Jacksonville.

There are no pockets in a shroud

The absolute fundamental aim is to make money out of satisfying customers.

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