Texas

According to industry experts at this weekend’s Fort Lauderdale Foreclosure Convention, the foreclosure freezes by big lenders won’t have a dramatic effect on the South Florida housing market. They stated that inventory may be tight, but plenty of distressed homes remain for sale even as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and other institutions have pulled properties from the market during the past six weeks over concerns about paperwork errors.

Peter Zalewski, principal at CondoVultures thinks the banks likely will take the rest of the year to review filing procedures before resuming foreclosures at the beginning of 2011. He states: “Come January, they’re going to get very, very aggressive.” Even though questions have been raised about what might happen to properties that were improperly repossessed by lenders and later resold, Zalewski concluded he doesn’t envision investors losing their money. He maintains that investors and other buyers who get title insurance shouldn’t have any worries.

This past weekend at the convention, Boca Real Estate Investment Club founder David Dweck encouraged investors to be careful but insisted there is opportunity. He told them to buy inexpensive homes and hold the properties for three to five years while earning rental income. He states: “Do not get caught up in all the hype. If you overpay, you will pay later.”