Why is the Association giving me $7,000?

A.  It's my birthday and they wanted to do something nice,

B.  One of the alligators in the retention pond ate my cat,
C.  The condo lawyer told them they didn't have a snowballs chance in Hell of winning the June 10 case,
D.  None of the above


For the correct answer go to: http://nautiluscovesuit2008.blogspot.com/

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Misc Info:  A mailing to 50 Owners is going out 5/28 with some information regarding several matters of potential interest.  The mailing is not going to all 112 condos, those with past due assessments, in foreclosure or for sale have been omitted.

More Foreclosures - Market won't bottom until at least 2012

The only good Florida property news is found in Ft Myers where home values increased last quarter by 2.4%. The rest of us continue to lose value and according to Zillow the bottom of the housing market won’t be reached until 2012. So all of you ‘new owners’ at NCC – you would have gotten better deals if you had only waited until next year.

"Home value declines are currently equal to those we experienced during the darkest days of the housing recession. . . it is unreasonable to expect home values to return to stability by the end of 2011. . . it (is) almost certain that we won't see a bottom in home values until 2012 or later . . . foreclosures rose throughout the first quarter as banks unfroze moratoriums and allowed foreclosures to resume. Foreclosures had fallen in late 2010 due to the slew of moratoriums brought about by the "robo-signing" controversy.”
Details at: http://zillow.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=159&item=228

More on Strategic Defaults -

You will notice considerable information on this blog regarding this topic, this is something that several owners have taken advantage of and others will also do this. 

Throwing good money after bad simply makes no sense at all.  Once upon a time it was considered disgraceful to default on a debt, today that stigma no longer exists and the theory is simple - the banks and mortgage companies created this mess, and to walk away from an underwater condo presents no stigma in todays society, most people think that the banks deserve it.

"If you own a home that is 50% underwater, 70% underwater, it will never ever, ever come back to where you purchased it." said Suze Orman, consumer advice columnist, who continues,  “Do the calculations everybody. How much is it costing you to actually stay in that house? How many years will it take for you to pay more than that house is worth? If it’s 3 years, 4 years, 5 years; are you kidding me? That’s a house you really need to say bye bye. It’s not worth the money.”

Why pay a mortgage when you can rent the same unit for 2/3rds of the mortgage cost, PLUS not pay taxes, quarterly dues, and insurance?  Of course your credit will be dinged for 7 years but that seems a small cost to pay to get out from under a major monthly payment that really has no benefit for you.  Banks and mortgage companies are in no rush to toss out non-paying owners, they don't want the units either and letting them go for a year or more is not at all unusual.  You can usually continue to live in the unit for 12+ months after you have stopped paying.

Sites below are The Consumerist and CBS TV Sacramento: 
http://tinyurl.com/5rk4l76  and http://tinyurl.com/3jbanrd