[l2ridehd]

I have tried to buy a couple of these properties. And for some unknown reason it is almost impossible to work with the bank that owns them. I do want to restore and sell them, so they would be done up right. But either the price is so high or the red tape so onerous that it seems they will just sit there and go downhill. Makes no business sense what so ever. Bank stock holders beware.

So if you see one of these that you know can be bought (all issues with ownership resolved), please let me know. I will help your neighborhood improve.

[OhSuzannah]

Hi everyone - I used to be a land title abstractor in Gainesville. Now, I live in NC and am thinking about moving to TV. From what I've read a home with a reverse mortgage is owned by the deceased persons estate. It should be sold by them - the family member(s) who inherited the home. It is typically sold to satisfy the reverse mortgage obligation. Then the family (estate) gets the remainder. And if the banks don't get their money within a year they get it from the agency that insured the reverse mortgage in the first place. The problem may be that no one knows who now owns the property. And who wants to spend their money to satisfy the legal issues ? The best thing would be to either find the owners (likely out of state) and work with them, or
buy the property at tax sales if no one is paying the property taxes. I, for one, would like to have a lot for cheap to put a new mobile home on.

[janmcn]

Originally Posted by gocubsgo

The usual.."We are aware of the situation and we are looking into it" That was 3 years ago on some of these!

There are a million of these stories all over the great state of Florida, just pick up any local newspaper from any corner of the state. The cities and towns say it's not their job to clean up these properties or they don't have the money in their budgets. The banks can't keep up with all the properties, and they just sit there rotting away.

[gomoho]

So my husband and I took a ride this afternoon to see for ourselves just what is going on in Silver Lake. I am pleased to report the historic section is alive and well and Harold Schwartz would be proud EXCEPT for a few bad eggs like any other neighborhood.

In the OP's defense if these homes "with the white signs in the window" were in my neighborhood I would be beside myself as well. I was absolutely shocked that this has been allowed to go on in The Villages.

I have a feeling they are foreclosures though and not reverse mortgage situations because I believe when you contract a reverse mortgage you actually sell the property to the company providing such so there would be no question of ownership or how it can be disposed of. They in turn would want to sell asap to limit their exposure on the property and the carrying costs involved.

[Mack184]

If you use the real estate website Trulia and go home hunting in TV (32162)without turning on the "foreclosure" filter it is amazing just how many homes in TV are either in short-sale, full or pre-foreclosure status. It's rather eye opening.

As far as compliance goes, the community standards board, lawn gestapo or whatever else you want to call them can levy fines, but there's not much that they can really do, and in almost every case, those homes that are in violation are owned by people in some stage of bankruptcy which means that most of those fines cannot legally be collected. The fines only work if the homeowner is solvent, and if the bank has taken possession of the home, it's pretty hard to make them pay up. The best you can hope for is that a new buyer comes along and fixes things up.

[gocubsgo]

Originally Posted by gomoho

So my husband and I took a ride this afternoon to see for ourselves just what is going on in Silver Lake. I am pleased to report the historic section is alive and well and Harold Schwartz would be proud EXCEPT for a few bad eggs like any other neighborhood.

In the OP's defense if these homes "with the white signs in the window" were in my neighborhood I would be beside myself as well. I was absolutely shocked that this has been allowed to go on in The Villages.

I have a feeling they are foreclosures though and not reverse mortgage situations because I believe when you contract a reverse mortgage you actually sell the property to the company providing such so there would be no question of ownership or how it can be disposed of. They in turn would want to sell asap to limit their exposure on the property and the carrying costs involved.

You guys needed to drive down Schwartz Blvd and see how many are down there as well. Also, drive up around Orange Blossom in Silver Lake. It's a mess. There is actually a house on my street that hasn't been lived in for 3 years. The inside is so full of mold and old dog urine, in order to enter, you have to wear a mask. The odor is noticeable from the front of the house. Health Dept has been called, Deed Compliance and even the Lady lake Police. Nothing has been done...and probably won't be. In the meantime, how easy will it be to sell my well maintained house when 8 doors down is this house?
( Were you guys in a yellow convertible? If you were, I saw you!)

[JB in TV]

Originally Posted by gomoho

...


I have a feeling they are foreclosures though and not reverse mortgage situations because I believe when you contract a reverse mortgage you actually sell the property to the company providing such so there would be no question of ownership or how it can be disposed of. They in turn would want to sell asap to limit their exposure on the property and the carrying costs involved.

Which is why I questioned the OP early in the thread regarding the difference between reverse mortgage and foreclosures. I suspect many don't know the difference.

[Mack184]

Originally Posted by JB in TV

Which is why I questioned the OP early in the thread regarding the difference between reverse mortgage and foreclosures. I suspect many don't know the difference.

In a reverse mortgage the bank fully requires you to keep up the condition of the property and abide with all of the various deed restrictions or you can actually lose that mortgage.

In a standard mortgage situation the last thing that the bank wants is to wind up owning the house. With a reverse mortgage it's just the opposite. That's their payback asset. When they finally take title to the home, you can bet that they will have it in tip-top shape and expect to sell it for a profit ASAP. So I doubt the "broken window" houses are from reverse mortgage contracts.

[SusanOfWoodbury]

If the bank owns them, why do they not take these homes out of the park.. Contract a real estate company, put in a new home and sell it? I noticed over in Orange Blossom they have taken out a lot of older homes and new homes are going in.....

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by another Linda

For homes that have a reverse mortgage, when the owner dies the property reverts to the bank that extended the reverse mortgage. If that is really the case, I wonder if the banks don't have more than they can handle. Whomever is responsible, it is bad advertising for TV to have this situation. Makes you wonder what areas are next.

I think that since these are manufactured homes, many have no value other then the land. The bank probably has no interest in maintaining them as all they will be selling is the land. I don't know that much about reverse mortgages, but I would guess that the bank doesn't give full value of the home when these deals are made. Most of these lots are worth about $40,000. If the bank gave $35K-$40k in a reverse mortgage they are not interested in putting a lot of money into a house which they feel will probably be torn down and replaced.

[JP]

I lived in a neighborhood where everything was great until the developer pulled out. After he left, there wasn't any money/legal power left to fight people on rules or compliance issues and the neighborhood gradually slipped into disrepair with neglected houses and lawns. As time went on, lesser quality houses were built on lots the developer sold at rock bottom prices that brought down the whole value of the neighborhood. It was all a downward spiral and is even worse today. With no money or political/legal power, I feel these neighbors and neighborhoods have no recourse. It is going to get a lot worse and will probably spread to other neighborhoods as time progresses.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by gomoho

So my husband and I took a ride this afternoon to see for ourselves just what is going on in Silver Lake. I am pleased to report the historic section is alive and well and Harold Schwartz would be proud EXCEPT for a few bad eggs like any other neighborhood.

In the OP's defense if these homes "with the white signs in the window" were in my neighborhood I would be beside myself as well. I was absolutely shocked that this has been allowed to go on in The Villages.

I have a feeling they are foreclosures though and not reverse mortgage situations because I believe when you contract a reverse mortgage you actually sell the property to the company providing such so there would be no question of ownership or how it can be disposed of. They in turn would want to sell asap to limit their exposure on the property and the carrying costs involved.

I agree. I live in Silver Lake and I don't see this horrible widespread blight that the OP is talking about. Yes, there are a few houses here and there that have been foreclosed on, but I've never seen trees growing through roofs.

[KeepingItReal]

[QUOTE=gocubsgo;688226]We live in Silver Lake, which I consider to be the Reverse Mortgage/Abandonment Capital of TV. On our street alone, there are 3 house that have gone in reverse mortgage/abandonment after the owner's have died and there are at least 2 more that will be in reverse mortgage soon. These houses are SO run down and neglected, there are actual trees growing out of the gutters. They are covered in mold and have weeds taller than the front doors! (one of them doesn't even have a front door...it's leaning up against the house under the carport!). Old, moldy filthy furniture piled under carports and Hearing Notices or Abandoned Property notices on the windows. Calls to the banks and Deed Compliance are a waste of time. No one cares. In fact, Silver Lake has gotten so bad, we have decided to move and get out of here. It's embarrassing to invite people over and have them drive past these houses.

If these properties are located within the Lady Lake boundaries the code enforcement department might be able to help.

Contact Lady Lake Code Enforcement
409 Fennell Blvd.
Lady Lake, FL. 32159
352-751-1562

[Uptown Girl]

Originally Posted by gocubsgo

You guys needed to drive down Schwartz Blvd and see how many are down there as well. Also, drive up around Orange Blossom in Silver Lake. It's a mess. There is actually a house on my street that hasn't been lived in for 3 years. The inside is so full of mold and old dog urine, in order to enter, you have to wear a mask. The odor is noticeable from the front of the house. Health Dept has been called, Deed Compliance and even the Lady lake Police. Nothing has been done...and probably won't be. In the meantime, how easy will it be to sell my well maintained house when 8 doors down is this house?

Do you know if any of these departments offered feedback after being contacted? I wonder what procedure/criteria must be met before a property can be considered a health or fire hazard.... and if it is, what happens next. Does anyone know?
I would be disheartened as well, to see this on my block. It saddens me to see it anywhere.
If I may be so bold as to ask, if you do place your home for sale gocubsgo, do you think you'll remain in The Villages?

[ilovetv]

This article below sheds light on what could be a large part of the problem.

As a side note, a few months ago, I looked with a friend at several manufactured homes in the original section of TV. They were decent, but all needed facelifting. I couldn't understand why a person would pay $115,000 for a manufactured home in need of $10,000+ in maintenance/facelifting, when one can buy a more solidly built patio villa with tried-and-true floor plan in a newer, northern section for $135,000.

Anyway, there are concepts to know in this article:

NAPLES — Dennis England’s mobile home in East Naples looks the same as it did a year ago.

There’s nothing different about it — inside or out.

But when he got his renewal policy from Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer, he felt like part of his home — and nest egg — had blown away.

Since England and his wife, Ruth, in their 70s, first signed up with Citizens years ago, they’ve had $64,000 of coverage on their mobile home, not including personal property or other structures. Their renewal policy — effective in May — cuts that same coverage more than 70 percent, dropping it to $18,000, nowhere near the home’s market value or what it would cost to replace it.

Citizens, created as the insurer of last resort, has been looking for ways to reduce its risks. One way has been to depreciate older manufactured and mobile homes.

In January 2006, Citizens began requiring that all policies like the Englands be written for actual cash value, not replacement cost. The law kicked in for renewals beginning in 2010, but the change happened slowly, reaching some in Southwest Florida for the first time this year....

........“Someone was telling me that roughly 40 percent of mobile homeowners in the state of Florida have elected not to have insurance because of either the cost or the inability to purchase enough insurance. To me that is an alarming number,” said Jim Ayotte, executive director of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association......

East Naples mobile home park owners, like many, feel pinch from Citizens insurance » Naples Daily News