You just bought your first home and you are all excited, now it's time to go to your closing. You walk into the room and then you realize, you have no clue who is sitting in the room with you! Besides your agent and mortgage lender, many other individuals/companies have been busy doing research on your behalf, reviewing and preparing documents. It’s on your closing day that you will possibly meet some of them face to face. The main players, though, involved in the closing are the title agency, attorney and the notary public. The Title Agency The real estate title agency has several different roles in the closing process. It should always be noted that the title company, and its agents, are impartial service providers. One of our duties as a title agency is to put together an abstract of the property. The abstract explains in abundant detail the location and history of the property and as part of this, a survey may be ordered. A title search is also conducted which will identi...

Chocolate Day is the perfect opportunity to eat you favorite chocolates in ample portions. Do you really need another excuse to over indulge with your favorite food treat? Chocolate is America's favorite flavor. It's the flavor of choice in candies, ice cream, cakes, breakfast cereal, toppings, and a whole host of desserts. Unequaled in popularity, it certainly deserves a day in it's honor. Did you know? Chocolate is a vegetable. It comes from the Cacao tree found in rainforests. We don't need to tell you what to do to celebrate this day, do we? Eat Chocolate! May we offer these suggestions for your menu today....... Breakfast: Your favorite chocolate cereal along with two or three chocolate cream-filled donuts. Wash it down with a little chocolate milk. Mid-morning snack: A chocolate candy bar(with or without nuts) to hold you over and give you a boost until lunch. Lunch: A big tall glass of chocolate milk is a must along with your meal. Try a piece of...

Straight from the famous Queen lyrics! We want it all and want it now! Don’t we?! You might be starting your home search and think that you’re pretty level-headed about what you want. Most people do. I did too when I was looking for my last home. When I ask someone what they’re looking for, it makes me chuckle after minutes go by and they suddenly realize their list kept getting longer and longer and longer! What I encourage every buyer to do is to write down the following list: 1.) One column for Must-Haves 2.) One column for Can Live Withouts 3.) One column for Indifferent Once you’re done making that list, rate them all highest to lowest priority in each column. For instance, if you had 13 must-haves, put them in order of what you would want first, 1-13. I know it sounds crazy, but there’s a reason behind it. Let’s say a pool and tile floor is on your must-have list, but they were ranked 9 & 11 in that column. These are things that may have been deal breakers before this ...

U.S. News and World Report lists “real estate agent” as one of the country’s best jobs in 2012, at least sort of. While sales agent appeared nowhere on its main list of hottest jobs in the nation, it did appear as No. 19 on a side list of “business” jobs — and the article took pains to make sure readers understood the difference between a “real estate broker” and a “real estate agent.” Real estate broker was not listed as a good job. The magazine quoted Labor Department statistics, which suggest there will be a 12.2 percent growth in the number of agents needed over the next decade. It placed the median wage of sales agents at $40,030, while noting that the top 10 percent of agents can make as much as $95,200. The best job across all professions was “registered nurse.” (Old Republic Real Estate Digest, May 2012) If you are an agent or a broker, what do you think your profession would be today if you weren't doing this? Title Junction wants to know!!!

What do you all think of these for Boat Slips/Houses? ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW!!!!

In a market flooded with foreclosures, homebuyers can find steals easily. Or that's what many of them think until they begin searching. Soon, they learn that only savvy buyers get the best deals. Understanding how banks negotiate foreclosure deals is a must if you want to buy low in today's market. Here are five secrets every homebuyer must know when shopping for a foreclosed home. It's useless to make lowball offers on bank-owned houses that have been on the market for only a few days, says John Thompson, a Realtor at Samson Realty in Chantilly, Va. "When you haven't had opportunity to expose your property to the marketplace long enough, you would be reluctant to take a lowball offer," Thompson says. "Most of the banks are aggressive with their pricing, but they are not going to give the properties away." Asset management companies handle sales for banks. These companies price the foreclosed homes close to what they think the properties are worth. A...

Non-government holders of delinquent mortgages are offering more payment plans with debt forgiveness as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac resist, according to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Principal reductions were granted in 8.5 percent of the 116,153 delinquent mortgages that received permanent modifications in the fourth quarter, according to a report by the unit of the Treasury Department. That’s up from 8.1 percent in the prior three-month period. Debt forgiveness was included in 16 percent of loans held by private investors, 25 percent of loans held in bank portfolios and in none owned by the government-run companies. Read more at Boston Globe How do you feel about this? Let TITLE JUNCTION know!

Since the September 2008 conservatorship, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed nearly 1.1 million loan modifications, according to the FHFA’s fourth quarter 2011 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance report. Overall, the GSEs have completed more than 2.1 million foreclosure prevention actions since the same time period. “Data from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency show that in the two years ending in the third quarter of 2011, modifications on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans accounted for 40 percent of all loan modifications,” said General Counsel for the FHFA Alfred M. Pollard in a written testimony before congressmen Monday. For just the 2011 fourth quarter, about 71,100 loan modifications were completed, compared to about 83,500 in the third quarter. Pollard said a contributing factor to the decline in modifications seen may be that the initial backlog of eligible borrowers in 2009 has been addressed to some extent, and added the GSEs offer substantial incentive pay...

Despite a prolonged downturn in the housing market, real estate is still the best long term investment, according to 84% of respondents in OwnAmerica's recent survey on real estate investing. Comparatively, stocks/mutual funds, bonds and savings accounts were ranked best by only 9.9%, 4% and 2%, respectively. Among the respondents who have invested in real estate, 81.6% say they have made money and 82% expect real estate values to "definitely" appreciate over the next ten years. (53.5% believe property values will definitely increase over the next five years.) "The most significant outcome of this survey is the overwhelming confidence in a long-term recovery. People understand now, more than ever, that building wealth in real estate takes time." says OwnAmerica CEO Gregory Rand. Investors cited Florida (15.4%), California (11%) and Virginia (8.8%) as the states in which they are most interested in investing. Others to make the list include: Colorado, North Carol...

Homeowners in Florida, along with those in California, will get more than half of the $26 billion settlement the nation's attorneys general reached Thursday with the nation's biggest bank over foreclosures abuses, because the state has so many delinquent loans and underwriter properties. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the top legal officers in nearly every other state announced the deal Thursday, a settlement that will bring in $8.4 billion in Florida. That amount was second only to California. The bulk of that is for loan modifications, including principal reduction, with about $170 million available for cash payments to Florida borrowers who lost their home during the most recent economic turmoil. The banks, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroug and Ally Financial will reduce balances for almost 1 million households and send checks of about $2,000 to about 750,000 Americans who lost their homes to foreclosure improperly, the attorney general said. The settle...

Join Us for Coffee & Doughnuts Wednesday December 14, 2011 Title Junction will be hosting our final class this year titled: "Year End Review" This class will be held at our Fort Myers office. Jennifer will be discussing: HUD-1 & GFE, and the importance of FIRPTA. So mark your calendar and bring lots of questions, Jennifer will be happy to answer them all. What a fantastic way to start your day with great conversation, coffee and of course who doesn't like doughnuts! When: Wednesday December 14, 2011 Where: Title Junction, 6225 Corporate Court, Suite A-100, Fort Myers, FL 33919 Time: 10:00 am - 11:00am To RSVP: please visit www.title-junction.com on or before 12/13/2011 We look forward to seeing you here! Watch out for new details for next year, Jennifer will be launching a new series of classes.

Title Junction will be hosting an open house on November 17 at our new office location; 6225 Presidential Court, Suite A-100, Fort Myers, FL 33919. Join us between the hours of 11:00 am - 1:00pm. Stop by and see our new office, and enjoy a few refreshments. Jennifer looks forward to seeing you here. Please call (239) 415-6574 or email swylie@title-junction.com to RSVP on or before November 15, 2011

Hello All, I'm proud to tell you that I'm being locked up...that's right, I'm going behind bars to help Jerry's Kids© and MDA. To be released on good behavior I have to raise bail and I need your help! All you have to do is click here to make a secure, online donation before 9/28/11. Your donation will help families living in our community and help guarantee me an early release. Your donations will go directly to a person in need, a person living in your community. MDA serves people in our community with neuromuscular disease by providing clinics, support groups, assistance with the purchase and repairs of wheelchairs, leg braces and communication devices, along with sending kids to summer camp. MDA also funds research grants to find treatments and cures for some 43 neuromuscular diseases that affect people of all ages, right here in our community. We all know these are difficult times and it is tough to make ends meet but remember "tough times never last, toug...