FBC Mortgage Blog

Filings in Orlando area down for third straight month, but no one’s predicting a bottom

Foreclosure-related filings have fallen in Metropolitan Orlando for a third straight month, according to a new report by RealtyTrac Inc. Still, the Orlando area ranked eighth in the U.S. for foreclosure activity in November, with 7,349 legal actions filed, down 3 percent from October but up 21 percent from November 2008. Jeffrey Sachs, a senior mortgage consultant for FBC Mortgage LLC in Orlando, said it’s still too difficult to say whether Central Florida has hit bottom in terms of foreclosures, because banks are dealing with their legal filings and short sales at such different rates. “I firmly believe that what we see with the number of foreclosure filings is never an accurate reflection of where the market is,” Sachs said Thursday. “. . . At this point, we should be near the bottom — we’re seeing bidding wars on some bank-owned properties.” Florida had the nation’s second-highest rate of foreclosure activity in November: one in every 165 households received some sort of foreclosure filing during the month. Florida, behind only Nevada, took the No. 2 spot from California, which posted the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 180 housing units getting a foreclosure filing. The only Florida metro area with an activity rate higher than Orlando’s last month was Fort Myers, which was also fourth in the nation. Las Vegas and seven California metro areas filled out the rest of the national top 10. The four-county Orlando metro area had one foreclosure for every 120 households in October, according to RealtyTrac, a Californiabased
research company. In comparison, the nationwide rate of foreclosure activity in November was one household out of every 417. “Loan modifications and other foreclosure-prevention efforts, along with the recently extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit, are keeping a lid on the most visible symptoms of the nation’s ailing housing market — foreclosures and home-value depreciation,”
said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “This is providing a welcome respite for the real-estate industry, but a full recovery will only come when unemployment recedes to normal, healthy levels, and when availability of credit reaches a more rational
balance between the extremes of the past few years.”
Within Metro Orlando, Osceola was the only county that showed an increase in foreclosure filings, which jumped 56 percent from a month earlier, though they were up only 4 percent from November 2008. Lake County had an October-to-November decrease of 3 percent (also down 3 percent from a year ago); Orange, 5 percent (down 41 percent from a year ago); and Seminole, 40 percent
(down 3 percent from a year earlier). Outside the metro area, Volusia County recorded a 16 percent increase in filings (up 61 percent from a year ago), Brevard a 19
percent increase (up 9 percent from a year ago), and Polk a 58 percent increase (up 8 percent from a year ago).

Mary Shanklin can be reached at 407-420-5538 or mshanklin@orlandosentinel.com.

Orlando Business Journal – by Christopher Boyd Staff Writer

New Federal Housing Administration rules promise relief for some badly stressed condo projects — but mortgage and real estate
brokers said the impact could be short-lived.
The changes are important, though, because condo prices have plunged from speculative highs in 2006, with units in many
buildings now selling for a quarter of what they cost back then. As lenders watched values shrink, they became reluctant to
finance sales to anyone without a big down payment — typically 20 percent or more.
That has left some new condo towers in downtown Orlando relatively empty, with some deciding to lease out unsold units.
“Given how hard it is to get financing, this certainly will help the condo market — but it won’t set it on fire,” said Joe Nunziata,
CEO of FBC Mortgage LLC in Orlando.
The metro Orlando condo resale market has 2,873 unsold units. In downtown Orlando, just 118 condos were resold this year
through the end of October, for an average of $153,859 per unit, said the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
The revamped guidelines are temporary and would benefit only condo developments with a limited number of investor-owned
or foreclosed units. Nonetheless, they offer potential relief for some sellers after a long period when financing has been difficult
to find.
Among the temporary changes:
• FHA loans would require down payments as small as 3.5 percent of the sales price.
• The guidelines extend the amount of time lenders have to submit so-called spot loans, or loans on individual condo units in buildings that don’t have
overall FHA loan approval, to February. Spot loans were supposed to go away in December.
• The rules increase from 30 percent to 50 percent the units in a condo project the FHA will finance.
• The FHA will finance buildings in which just 30 percent of new units have been sold. Private-sector lenders generally require sales of 70 percent or
more.
• The FHA will offer financing to all the units in a project if all of them have been sold, no single entity owns more than 10 percent of them, a
homeowners association operates the project and owners occupy half of the dwellings.
The looser new rules take effect Dec. 7 and remain through the end of next year, when they likely will become more restrictive.
Lindsey Pfaeder, sales and marketing manager for the Vue at Lake Eola condo tower in downtown Orlando, said her building is seeking FHA
approval to create a financing channel for its unsold units. The developer has sold 210 of the building’s 375 units.
“It is nearly impossible to get conventional financing, even if a buyer has $1 million and can put 80 percent down,” she said. “We all have buyers for
condos, but they can’t buy because of financing.”
Less-restrictive FHA rules could mean more sales and increase the potential that conventional lenders would provide financing on the remaining
units, said Pfaeder.
Ernst Urbainczyk, an agent with Keller Williams Heritage Realty in Lake Mary, said the revisions could stimulate sales, but the prospect that
they’ll change again is a drawback. “If I buy a condo today under these FHA rules and the rules change, where will I find a buyer two years from now
when I want to sell it?”
Marcus Burke, owner of the Condo Metropolis brokerage in Orlando, said another FHA requirement, which demands at least half the units in a
building be owner-occupied, will limit the number of eligible condos. “A lot of older buildings won’t qualify because so many units are foreclosures or
delinquencies.”
Cristian Michaels, an agent with Re/Max Town Centre in Orlando who specializes in downtown condo towers, said price is another problem. Even
with the new rules, the FHA won’t finance units costing more than $400,000, which are still fairly common despite the plunge in prices. “I don’t think
it will increase our sales because of the price points.”

By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel
December 10, 2009

Foreclosure-related filings have fallen in Metropolitan Orlando for a third straight month, according to a new report by RealtyTrac Inc.

Still, the Orlando area ranked eighth in the U.S. for foreclosure activity in November, with 7,349 legal actions filed, down 3 percent from October but up 21 percent from November 2008.

Jeffrey Sachs, a senior mortgage consultant for FBC Mortgage LLC in Orlando, said it’s still too difficult to say whether Central Florida has hit bottom in terms of foreclosures, because banks are dealing with their legal filings and short sales at such different rates.

“I firmly believe that what we see with the number of foreclosure filings is never an accurate reflection of where the market is,” Sachs said Thursday. “. . . At this point, we should be near the bottom — we’re seeing bidding wars on some bank-owned properties.”

Florida had the nation’s second-highest rate of foreclosure activity in November: one in every 165 households received some sort of foreclosure filing during the month. Florida, behind only Nevada, took the No. 2 spot from California, which posted the nation’s third-highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 180 housing units getting a foreclosure filing.

The only Florida metro area with an activity rate higher than Orlando’s last month was Fort Myers, which was also fourth in the nation. Las Vegas and seven California metro areas filled out the rest of the national top 10.

The four-county Orlando metro area had one foreclosure for every 120 households in October, according to RealtyTrac, a California-based research company. In comparison, the nationwide rate of foreclosure activity in November was one household out of every 417.

“Loan modifications and other foreclosure-prevention efforts, along with the recently extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit, are keeping a lid on the most visible symptoms of the nation’s ailing housing market — foreclosures and home-value depreciation,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “This is providing a welcome respite for the real-estate industry, but a full recovery will only come when unemployment recedes to normal, healthy levels, and when availability of credit reaches a more rational balance between the extremes of the past few years.”

Within Metro Orlando, Osceola was the only county that showed an increase in foreclosure filings, which jumped 56 percent from a month earlier, though they were up only 4 percent from November 2008. Lake County had an October-to-November decrease of 3 percent (also down 3 percent from a year ago); Orange, 5 percent (down 41 percent from a year ago); and Seminole, 40 percent (down 3 percent from a year earlier).

Outside the metro area, Volusia County recorded a 16 percent increase in filings (up 61 percent from a year ago), Brevard a 19 percent increase (up 9 percent from a year ago), and Polk a 58 percent increase (up 8 percent from a year ago).

Mary Shanklin can be reached at 407-420-5538 or mshanklin@orlandosentinel.com.

Written by David Welch, Agent in Winter Park
December 1, 2009 8:44 AM Market Conditions in Orlando

I looked back at my predictions for 2009 last December, and I have to say with the exception of price we have exceeded every expectation I had. I was hoping to see sales in the 1,600 per month range through the second half of the year. We have actually been seeing sales above the 2,000 mark since June. I was also hoping to see our inventory level drop below 22,000. The faster sales, slower foreclosure rate and the MLS rule requiring short sales to be pended has pushed our inventory down to just over 16,000. Foreclosures and short sales are continuing to pressure prices lower with a median sales price in the $120’s in November. Our “normal” sales, however, are typically around my forecast $180,000 mark. Later this month I’ll take a shot at forecasting 2010.
Right now, November sales are not disappointing at all. I posted yesterday on Twitter that our closed sales stood at 1,788 with a median sales price of $123,250. Jeffrey Sachs with FBC Mortgage texted me when he saw this pop up on Facebook. Jeffrey wanted to let me know that his company had 43 closing scheduled for yesterday to add to that total. FBC does close a fair amount of loans in our market, but there are a number of other lenders in and around Orlando that also had home purchase loans closing yesterday. Jeffrey and I have been working together for ten years, and I highly recommend Jeffrey Sachs and FBC Mortgage for your financing needs. I closed two transactions last month with Jeffrey, and both were ready ahead of schedule. Both buyers were pleased not only with the loans that they received, but also the service that Jeffrey and his team provides. Contact Jeffrey for your loan, then contact me for your home.

Orlando Real Estate, David Welch Real Estate Optimist, As Seen on HGTV’s House Hunters

orlandoRealtor NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2009

Orlando-based FBC Mortgage, LLC reports
that the average credit score of its
clients with closed mortgages saw sharp
increases in the first and second quarters
of 2009. According to FBC Mortgage, LLC
President Rob Nunziata, the average credit
score has been trending upward for the
past two years due to the elimination subprime
lending, tighter underwriting and
minimum credit score guidelines of 620.

Orlando Business Journal – by Christopher Boyd Staff Writer

New Federal Housing Administration rules promise relief for some badly stressed condo projects — but mortgage and real estate brokers said the impact could be short-lived.

The changes are important, though, because condo prices have plunged from speculative highs in 2006, with units in many buildings now selling for a quarter of what they cost back then. As lenders watched values shrink, they became reluctant to finance sales to anyone without a big down payment — typically 20 percent or more.

That has left some new condo towers in downtown Orlando relatively empty, with some deciding to lease out unsold units.

“Given how hard it is to get financing, this certainly will help the condo market — but it won’t set it on fire,” said Joe Nunziata, CEO of FBC Mortgage LLC in Orlando.

The metro Orlando condo resale market has 2,873 unsold units. In downtown Orlando, just 118 condos were resold this year through the end of October, for an average of $153,859 per unit, said the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

The revamped guidelines are temporary and would benefit only condo developments with a limited number of investor-owned or foreclosed units. Nonetheless, they offer potential relief for some sellers after a long period when financing has been difficult to find.

Among the temporary changes:

• FHA loans would require down payments as small as 3.5 percent of the sales price.

• The guidelines extend the amount of time lenders have to submit so-called spot loans, or loans on individual condo units in buildings that don’t have overall FHA loan approval, to February. Spot loans were supposed to go away in December.

• The rules increase from 30 percent to 50 percent the units in a condo project the FHA will finance.

• The FHA will finance buildings in which just 30 percent of new units have been sold. Private-sector lenders generally require sales of 70 percent or more.

• The FHA will offer financing to all the units in a project if all of them have been sold, no single entity owns more than 10 percent of them, a homeowners association operates the project and owners occupy half of the dwellings.

The looser new rules take effect Dec. 7 and remain through the end of next year, when they likely will become more restrictive.

Lindsey Pfaeder, sales and marketing manager for the Vue at Lake Eola condo tower in downtown Orlando, said her building is seeking FHA approval to create a financing channel for its unsold units. The developer has sold 210 of the building’s 375 units.

“It is nearly impossible to get conventional financing, even if a buyer has $1 million and can put 80 percent down,” she said. “We all have buyers for condos, but they can’t buy because of financing.”

Less-restrictive FHA rules could mean more sales and increase the potential that conventional lenders would provide financing on the remaining units, said Pfaeder.

Ernst Urbainczyk, an agent with Keller Williams Heritage Realty in Lake Mary, said the revisions could stimulate sales, but the prospect that they’ll change again is a drawback. “If I buy a condo today under these FHA rules and the rules change, where will I find a buyer two years from now when I want to sell it?”

Marcus Burke, owner of the Condo Metropolis brokerage in Orlando, said another FHA requirement, which demands at least half the units in a building be owner-occupied, will limit the number of eligible condos. “A lot of older buildings won’t qualify because so many units are foreclosures or delinquencies.”

Cristian Michaels, an agent with Re/Max Town Centre in Orlando who specializes in downtown condo towers, said price is another problem. Even with the new rules, the FHA won’t finance units costing more than $400,000, which are still fairly common despite the plunge in prices. “I don’t think it will increase our sales because of the price points.”

By Richard Burnett Sentinel Staff Writer

Orlando-based FBC Mortgage LLC is expanding into the Tampa market by acquiring certain assets of First Alliance Mortgage Co., the companies said Monday.

As part of the deal, FBC Mortgage has absorbed the management, loan officers, support staff, office facilities and loan pipeline of First Alliance in Tampa, company officials said.

The deal became final last week. Financial terms were not disclosed.

With the move, FBC took on nearly 20 new employees, increasing its work force to 100, the company said. It hopes to double the size of its Tampa unit during the next year.

The company operates out of headquarters in the Plaza office towers, on Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando.

Joining FBC as part of the transaction are James Girard, Robert Pinion and Mary Pinion — a trio of former First Alliance executives.

Girard was made senior vice president and operations manager for FBC.

Robert and Mary Pinion, First Alliance’s senior managers in Tampa, will head up the Tampa operation for FBC.

FBC Mortgage LLC acquired certain assets of residential mortgage lender First Alliance Mortgage Co. in Tampa for an undisclosed price.

Among those that will remain with the company are mortgage veterans Rob and Mary Pinion, who will manage the Tampa office and help develop the Tampa Bay area for FBC Mortgage, said a news release. In addition, James Girard will join FBC Mortgage as a senior vice president and operations manager in Orlando, the release said.

“We are extremely pleased to be joining such a sound, stable and successful mortgage banking organization,” Girard said in a prepared statement. “With the support of the FBC Mortgage platform, we expect to be able to significantly increase our ability to serve the mortgage needs of the greater Tampa area.”

Orlando-based FBC Mortgage, an employee- and community-owned residential mortgage lender, is among the largest privately owned mortgage lenders in Central Florida.

Copyright 2009 bizjournals.com

 August 21, 2009

Orlando Business Journal – by Anjali Fluker Staff Writer

With a single deal, 

Federal regulators on Aug. 14 arranged for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T (NYSE: BBT) to take over the failed Alabama-based

Locally, BB&T operated 11 bank branches in Central Florida, while Colonial operated 35 financial centers here as of the Aug. 14 asset acquisition, said FDIC data.

BB&T had $288.4 million in Central Florida deposits through June 30, 2008, placing it 17th among the area’s largest banks. Colonial Bank had

$2.2 billion in total Central Florida deposits in that same time frame, which placed it fourth on the list, trailing only SunTrust, Bank of America and Wachovia.

BB&T previously had its strongest market share in West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, where it ranked among the top three largest banks in those states, with Florida being one of its quieter markets.

Now, with a significant portion of Colonial Bank’s Central Florida customer deposits under its wing, industry experts speculated that BB&T’s local market share will rise considerably.

“BB&T now becomes a major player as a result,” said Jack Greeley, partner and banking attorney with the Smith Mackinnon PA law firm in Orlando. “BB&T so far has shown it can operate a very good franchise in today’s environment. When you give them more core deposits and branch outlets, that’s significant for them.”

BB&T spokeswoman Cynthia Williams said the company did not have any detailed information on plans for the Orlando market, or breakouts on any other individual markets.

Following the Aug. 14 acquisition, BB&T installed about 425 “ambassadors” in all of Colonial Bank’s branches and named seven new regional presidents in Florida and Alabama — all experienced BB&T managers.

Although it’s unknown whether all of Colonial Bank’s former retail customers will remain with BB&T, it’s more than likely those customers won’t leave, said J. Clay Singleton, a finance professor at

“It’s difficult to change banks these days, especially when you have automatic payments and those things,” Singleton said. “I don’t think retail customers see a big difference in the bank. I suspect many of them choose a bank based on convenience.”

It’s also unclear whether BB&T will take on some of the riskier business lines that Colonial Bank was known for — including warehouse lending.

Colonial Bank was one of the Orlando area’s largest warehouse lenders — where a financial institution provides a line of credit to a loan originator to fund a mortgage that’s later sold on the secondary market.

BB&T also has a small presence in the warehouse lending area and appears to be carrying on business as usual for now, said Joe Nunziata, CEO of Orlando-based

Nunziata said although nothing official has been announced, his firm has not had any interruption in business, funding a total of about $8.9 million in loans between Aug. 14-18 through warehouse lending.

“We’re being told Colonial’s warehousing group was part of the acquisition and they’re answering the phones as BB&T,” Nunziata said. “If BB&T takes on this group and keeps it intact, keeps funding the same customers, it can become one of the biggest warehouse lenders in the country.”

BB&T’s Williams said the company is still evaluating its business plans and has made no decision at this time on either warehouse or commercial real estate lending.

The bank also did not detail potential layoffs that may happen because of the deal. BB&T told investors Aug. 17 that the $5 billion in expected losses in the loan portfolio it has acquired from Colonial Bank will not have a negative impact on earnings because of the loss-sharing agreement it has with the FDIC.

Under the agreement, the worst-case scenario in terms of earnings for BB&T would be a pretax exposure of about $500 million if the entire covered portfolio of the Colonial loans were to be charged off, the bank said.

If credit losses end up being less than the expected $5 billion, BB&T would have to share some of the upside with the FDIC.

BB&T Corp. is poised to become one of Central Florida’s largest banks. Colonial BancGroup Inc. from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the state-appointed receiver. In the deal, BB&T acquired 346 Colonial Bank branches and $21.8 billion in assets. Rollins College. FBC Mortgage LLC, which was part of a group previously attempting to prop up Colonial Bank prior to its collapse. BB&T’s gainsWinston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T Corp. took over the failed Alabama-based Colonial BancGroup Inc., a move expected to grow its market share in Florida. Here’s some of what BB&T garnered in the deal: Bank branches: 346 Customer deposits: $20.1 billion Loans held/other real estate: $14.2 billion Marketable securities: $4 billion Liabilities: $23.7 billion Source:U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filing

By Mary Shanklin Sentinel Staff Writer

August 24, 2009

Borrowers are younger and are purchasing less-expensive homes as the November deadline approaches for first-time buyers to qualify for this year’s federal tax credit, according to a report by FBC Mortgage.

“Overall, the market seems to be improving, and we expect activity in the first-time buyer market to increase as the tax-credit deadline in November is fast approaching,” said Rob Nunziata, FBC’s president.

Earlier this year, the average age for home-loan borrowers was 46, but it dropped to 43 in June and to 38 in July. Other trends in the July report include an increase in government loans vs. conventional mortgages, and a decline in the proportion of refinances as activity picks up with primary mortgages. Down payments have hovered in the $40,000-to-$50,000 range in recent months, while purchase prices have been about $180,000.

Because of tougher underwriting guidelines, average credit scores have been above 720 during the past two quarters — their highest point in more than three years, Nunziata said.