I'm Benjamin Dona, a licensed Florida Real Estate Broker and Mortgage Banker. I specialize in Southwest Florida real estate and Florida home loans. My realty firm, Gulf Coast Associates represents buyers and sellers from St. Petersburg & Sarasota to Bonita Springs & Naples. Be sure to check out our Florida MLS search features on our website. And, if you're in need of financing, Metro Mortgage Company is a federally regulated lender specializing in originating Conventional, Jumbo and FHA/VA loans
After a unbelievable first eight months of the year, real estate sales in Southwest Florida were again strong in September. In fact, home sales for the year are up 120% in the Cape Coral-Ft. Myers and up 30% for Bonita Springs-Naples. September marked the fifteenth month in a row sales have climbed in both Lee and Collier counties. The Cape Coral and Ft. Myers market area saw total sales rise over 57% on a year over year basis and the Bonita Springs and Naples market area was far behind, up 31%. Read Full Story
After months of wrangling by Congress and the White House, the $8,000.00 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit has finally been given the go ahead for extention. And just to make things interesting, our esteemed leaders in Washington added a twist; all homebuyers who have been in their homes for at least five years can now also get a $6,500.00 when they sell their homes too. Read Full Story
Both the Senate and House voted yesterday to extend the current higher loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loans through December, 2010. The resolution was attached to a continuing resolution that passed late in the day and prevented the higher limits from expiring at the end of the year. Read Full Story
Just when you think you have all the bases covered in applying for your mortgage loan, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have added another stumbling block into the application process. Seems some unscrupulous individuals figured out that by disputing an account claim and having a notation added to your credit report removed that tradeline from being taken
into credit scoring consideration and thus was left out of the automated loan approval process. Read Full Story
The internet is a remarkable tool for real estate agents to use in their daily business life. The multitude of website providers and the information available to be used as website content is almost limitless. However, with such use also comes a fair amount of responsibility and accountability on your part as a professional. Flying by the seat of your pants and not taking these two things seriously are the stupidest things you can possibly do as an agent/webmaster. Read Full Story
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced yesterday they are adopting a new Cash for Keys program whereby lenders will pay borrowers with FHA-backed loans $2,000 for agreeing to turn their property over to the lender by using a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. By applying for and getting an approved deed-in-lieu under this program, borrowers will be released from their obligation to repay the mortgage and may also have their deficiency judgment waived too. Read Full Story
The Bonita Springs City Council has agreed to keep its tax rate the same as last year. The 2009 tax rate will be 82.73 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That’s great news for Bonita Springs homeowners, who will likely see a 17% decrease in their property taxes. Read Full Story
After a sizzling first seven months of the year, real estate sales in Southwest Florida remained strong in August. In fact, more homes were sold in the first 8 months of this year (by 13.6%) than in 2005, the biggest sales year ever in Southwest Florida. August marked the fourteenth month in a row sales have climbed in Lee and Collier counties. The Cape Coral and Ft. Myers market area saw total sales rise over 80% on a year over year basis and the Bonita Springs and Naples market area wasn... Read Full Story
We wrote a blog post a while back about how if you are purchasing a condo in Florida, mortgage financing is tougher than ever before. Well, it just got even harder to get condo financing, thanks to a new rule set to take effect on November 1, 2009. Read Full Story
According to the 2010 State Business Tax Climate report released this week by the Washington D.C. based Tax Foundation, Florida remains among the top 10 states in the nation when it comes to “business friendly” taxes. Florida ranked 5th in this year’s report and has had the best ranking among Southern states for several years in a row. A spokeswoman for the Tax Foundation stressed that the rankings don’t reflect how much money the taxes raise, but how broad and competitive the structure... Read Full Story
