Do you consider yourself frugal? Smart? Sophisticated? All of the above? For many, the answer is “yes.”

So why leave hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on the table when selling, buying or refinancing property in Florida?

“Title companies in Florida are prohibited from discounting a title insurance premium rate set by the state. But they can offer a rebate,” said Assure America Title Company president Anthony Crupi. “Just by asking, consumers can receive from my company title insurance rebates of up to 20 percent.”

A $500,000 home sale in Florida requires payment of title insurance at $2,575. A $1 million dollar home costs $5,075 in title insurance.

“In most counties in Florida, a 20 percent rebate could put $515 back in your pocket if you sold a $500,000 home, or $1,015 on a $1 million home,” Crupi said.

“The buyer pays the title fee in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, while the seller pays the fee in Palm Beach County and the rest of the state. Theoretically, a person selling a home in Palm Beach County and buying a new home in Broward or Miami Dade would have to pay title insurance fees twice,” Crupi said.

“There are many closing costs involved in buying and selling property. You pay real estate commissions, attorney fees, and taxes to record the sale and transfer of a property. With the economy sluggish and real estate prices down in many cases, it makes sense to be an educated consumer and seek to cut costs where possible,” Crupi added. “The state allowed title insurance rebate program we offer can be significant.”

Assure America Title Company provides a variety of title services to protect home buyers and lenders against losses because of title defects or liens on property. The company offers services throughout the United States but has a particularly strong presence in Florida. Services offered include:

Settlements for Purchase/Refinance
Free Short Sale Processing Title and Liens Searches
Deed Preparation
Escrow Services
Closing Services
Commercial Title Services
1031 Exchange

To learn more about the types of services Assure America Title Company offers, including the Florida Title insurance rebate program, call 1-877-427-9696, or visit the company web site at http://www.assureamericatitleinsurance.com.

The unnoticed benefits of a Short Sale…Recently we helped an Air Force Officer and Homeland Security Guard avoid foreclosure by successfully completing short sales on their behalf. A short sale meant more to them then most may realize, foreclosure didn’t just mean losing their home, it meant losing their security clearance at work. The lesser impact of a short sale and by avoiding a foreclosure judgment, both individuals were able to keep their security status at their jobs. Confirming what we learned at Clearancejobs.com, the #1 reason individuals are denied security clearance is “Financial Considerations”.

After helping and getting to know both of these individuals, we realized the underlying benefits that go along with a short sale. There are many benefits to a short sale vs. a foreclosure and sharing them with potential clients will help you solidify those relationships. Maybe you know a Government worker who is facing foreclosure and doesn’t realize the severity of it. Maybe this experience will help them.

There are many ways we can work together and support you with your clients.

When it comes to short sales, we offer 2 levels of service:

Full Short Sale Processing – From listing to closing we will help gather documents, provide a free preliminary title search, submit file, follow up and obtain a Short Sale approval. NO UPFRONT COSTS…We get paid when you get paid at Closing! No Attorney or Short Sale Processing Fees.

24 Hr. HUD Service – Many realtors like to retain control of their short sale and our 24 Hour HUD service was created to support them. We will provide you with a Free Preliminary search and all the updates you may need to successfully complete the short sale.

If you’re interested in hearing more about how we can help you,

Please Call Me… 1-877-427-9696

Short Sale Package Available Upon Request

Thank You,

Anthony Crupi

Assure America Title Company

“Our Knowledge is your Advantage”

FHA Short Sales…Get Paid to Move out!

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is helping borrower (s) move from their home with a program called Pre-Foreclosure Sale (PFS Program). This program allows borrowers who have fallen short on their payments and are now in pre-foreclosure sell their homes short of what they owe.

Basically, how the program works is if you meet certain criteria set forth by HUD…HUD will perform a new appraisal of your home and accept roughly 88% of the current homes value satisfying he old mortgage note.

Key Factors are:
• Borrowers/Sellers will receive cash incentive of up to $1,000
• The Mortgagee (your lender) or HUD will not pursue the borrower for a deficiency judgment
• Borrowers/Sellers must professionally & actively market property for up to 3 months which will delay any foreclosure proceedings.
• Must have a marketable title, title search must be performed and all liens should be cleared/discharged prior to closing
• Borrower can be current at time of submission but must be delinquent by at least 30 days prior to the closing
• Property values are determined by an FHA certified appraiser, using a “as-is” Fair Market Value (FMV)
• Mortgagor/Sellers must maintain property in “ready to show” condition
• Mortgagee/ lender must respond within 5 working days from receipt of the executed contract

HUD allows up to 1% of the buyer’s mortgage amount for closing costs to be included in
the “Seller’s Costs” on the HUD-1 for all transactions that involve a new FHA-insured
mortgage.

Eligibility:
• The property must be owner-occupied, no “walk-a ways” or investment properties. Exceptions: when it is verifiable that the need to vacate was related to the cause of default (job loss, transfer, divorce, death), and the subject property was not purchased as rental investment, or used as a rental for more than 18months.

• The Mortgagor must be 31 days or more delinquent at the time of the Pre-foreclosure Sale closing.

• The Mortgagor must provide documentation substantiating a reduction in income or an increase in living expense, and documentation that verifies the Mortgagors need to vacate the property (if applicable).

For more information call 1-877-427-9696

Short Sale Title Company

What is a Short Sale

Bank of America short sales are on the move….

With Bank of America short sales starting to move quicker into closing, we should be setting up for the best spring home buying season in years. Thanks to B of A’s implementing the equator system getting files submitted and worked on has become a much quicker process. The equator system allows the person who submitting the short sale whether it’s the client, realtor or title company submits via an online portal versus the old fashion fax method they were using.

This short sale process for Bank of America eliminates a lot of the phone calls or going back and forth emails that you would normally have to deal with making sure that your file was received and is being worked on.

What’s great about the B of A equator system is that it sends you email notifications letting you know what you are missing or may need to fix within your package, again eliminating huge amounts of waste time you used to spend doing follow up calls.

Although great, it does have some draw backs. For instance, if the your are requesting a huge reduction request like over $150,000 or more your file may get kicked back and you will have to submit via fax.

All in all with B of A adopting the equator system for short sales and other banks like GMAC who has also implemented some features from the system, we expect at our Title Company closing will be robust for the Spring home buying season

For more info on short sales try what is a short sale

For many years, Fannie Mae used nearly the same addendum for REO sales as banks. The addendum stated the buyer must use the seller’s title agents and cost of transfer taxes and stamps would be the buyer’s responsibility.

Fannie Mae issued a new addendum that allows a buyer to select his or her own title agent.

The addendum now states “The closing shall be held at a place so designated and approved by the Purchaser.”

This is a turnaround from previous versions wherein it stated that the purchaser must use the seller’s title agent.

Additionally, the contract no longer states that regardless of local custom, Fannie Mae will not pay any portion of the transfer taxes and stamps.