Jason Painter's Blog: All Categories

It seems nearly every day I am asked by my website users to explain what a short sale is to them.  The question is so common that I decided to just write a page about it on my website so I don’t have to keep telling the same story as it may.

Short sales are new to many people and seem to be a creation of a sharply declining housing market.  A short sale is when a seller attempts to sell their property at a price that is insufficient to cover their mortgage and related selling expenses.  The idea is that a seller can avoid foreclosure by finding a buyer for the bank.  The bank may decide that rather than foreclosing on a client they may just grant a short sale.  You might wonder why a bank would do this?

The banks…

There are some exciting things happening around the office at PROGRAM Realty. This week Jason and Amanda Painter were approached by the producers of a television show for Home and Garden Television (HGTV) called “House Hunters.”  The show follows buyers and their real estate agents while going through the process of buying a home.  

The show works like this.  It starts off by filming the buyers in their current home.  The show then shows the meeting with the Realtors and the viewing of three perspective homes.  The buyer chooses a home to purchase, then is followed up with after the closing has taken place and the new owners have moved in.

The shows that Amanda and Jason were picked for is for Gulf Front homes and Million Dollar homes.  If you are… Read Full Post

I have experienced a few surprises at the closing table recently and I thought I might blog about it here on this website.  It seems that a new trend in real estate is hidden fees at closing. 

Usually for a new home here in Englewood, Florida there is a commission of 6-7% that is generally split evenly between the buying agent and the selling agent.  This commission is evidently just not enough for some real estate companies as they have decided to charge their customers an extra $250 to $400 “Documentation Fee” or “Transaction Fee.”  This fee will show up whether you are buying or selling with these agencies, and if you use that same agent to both buy and sell your property, you can get hit with the fee twice!

When asked to explain this new fee,… Read Full Post

As I sit here writing this article, it is late January and we are in surprising cold snap.  This cold snap is a change from what so far has been a very mild winter.  The eastern half of the nation in particular has experienced a very warm winter, possibly one of the warmest on record.  What does this have to do with real estate you may ask?  Well, quite a bit actually…read on!

Usually in January when it’s freezing up north, people flock to Southwest Florida to escape the cold and dreary weather.  This year has been a little different, although the weather up north is not up to par with what Floridian’s experience, its still not as bad as it normally is.  This has translated in some folks not feeling the need to visit Florida this year.  Since the… Read Full Post