Buying a Home or Renting

by | Buying Real Estate

Buying a Home or Renting

Bying or Renting a HomeBuying a Home or Renting

Although, like any financial investment there are some risks and challenges associated with buying a home but the positive aspects of homeownership easily outweighs the risk. The exception to the rule is the unfortunate homeowners who purchased their properties during the height of the market and the artificial real estate boom of the past decade. Today’s market, however, offers a safe environment comprised of lower priced homes and all-time low interest rate. While renting was considered as playing safe in the past few years, it is an absolute waste of your money in today’s real estate market.

The Comparison Between Buying and Renting a Home

From the financial point of view, homeownership has been one of the most solid investments for the American families during the past decades. Think of paying your monthly mortgage payments like a mandatory saving plan. The more money you contribute to your mortgage amount the more savings you will accumulate. It is important to mention that although at the beginning the larger portion of your monthly mortgage payments will go towards the interest and a very small portion towards the equity but this ratio will change over time, becoming of the same value halfway through the loan. From the day you enter the second half of your mortgage, the ratio of interest rate/equity becomes more in your favor by allocating more of the monthly payments towards the equity and less towards the interest.

Another point to consider is the rising costs of the rental properties. Although the home ownership might prove to be more expensive than renting but over time, the tide will turn in homeowners favor. This is primarily due to the ever rising cost of rental while the monthly payment of any average 30-year-old mortgage will remain the same throughout the life of the loan. This means while the rental amount will adjust to the inflation rate in the coming years, paying the mortgage, on the other hand, is like an insurance that protects you against such inflation.

You receive all these benefits while enjoying the wonderful feeling of the home ownership and living in an environment that is designed by you. In comparison, many homeowners will eventually have the chance to make some improvements to their home in order to create a living area that matches their taste and personalities as well as the wants and needs of the families. But when it comes to renting any attempt to make such improvements to any rental property is either not permitted by the landlord or it becomes a waste of the tenant’s money when they move.

Most rental apartment buildings are designed to maximize the number of the rental units and there is a little chance to offer a storage space. Most landlords will not allow the slightest alteration to the rental units and some would not even allow any changes to the interior painting. In some instances. tenants are forced to live in an unsafe environment due to the landlord’s refusal to fix such problems.

Although there are many advantages in purchasing of a home but no one should take this venture lightly and become involved in a transaction that might result in the loss of their lifetime saving as well as their credit. Home buyers should always seek advice from real estate professionals who are licensed and act as an expert during the entire transaction, from finding a home, negotiating the price, all the way to the final closing day.

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Small Children and Buying a House

by | Buying Real Estate

Small Children and Buying a House

First Time Home BuyersBuying First Home

The old cycle of first-time home buyers purchasing a small house or condominium as the first home, birth of children and outgrowing the first residence and looking for a larger home is greater in today’s lifestyle than ever. While the cycle continues with buying bigger homes as the family grows and ends with downsizing perhaps to a condo again.  The role of a real estate professional remains the same throughout the entire cycle. The last phase of this cycle perhaps could be the first stage of the cycle and back to the condo lifestyle especially when parents become empty nesters.

The criteria for buying a new home in each phase of this cycle are as diverse as the people engaged in the cycle. Buying a house with small children is a perfect example of how such criteria could be defined totally different from others, for example from the homebuyers looking to downsize.

Their journey begins with the birth of the first child and the need for an extra bedroom as well as the play area for the child, which normally means graduating from condo life to living in a single family home. The need grows as the number of the children increases. To start the process, the parents need to save enough money for a down payment and closing costs that are associated with purchasing of a house. Meanwhile, a list of wants and needs grows longer to cover all future needs of children. The location and type of neighborhoods normally top this list, followed by the safety, the quality of the schools, the proximity to the parks and playgrounds and other amenities that are geared to accommodating children.

After establishing the criteria for the purchase of a house that matches most of their needs it’s time for house hunting. Our experience has shown that many of these first-time home buyers have little to no strategy about locating their ideal home. While many comb through local newspapers the others drive around looking for for-sale signs to call. These methods of locating a home most often results in wasting valuable time or engaging in bad deals that are a direct result of lack of representation by a professional real estate agent, or the safe and most cost effective method.

All Realtors working in the State of Florida are licensed professionals that are sworn to follow the Realtors Rules of Ethics. The Florida Real Estate Commission, also known as FREC, is the governing body that oversees the conducts of the Realtors and Real Estate Companies. They are also responsible for compensation granted to consumers who have faced financial damages due to the misconduct of Realtors or real estate companies. Considering all that, some home buyers still ignore services of a Realtor even though in most cases there are no costs to homebuyers for such services. In Florida, the sellers pay all commissions for the sale of their properties and, since the majority of the Realtors are considered to be Transaction Brokers, there is no commission or any other costs to home buyers for real estate services by Realtors.

Employing the services of the real estate professionals could help families in both processes of selling their existing residence and purchasing of the new home. Since in most cases the homeowners need the proceeds from the sale of their home for purchasing of their new home, the processing of both contracts at the same time proves to be a tedious task that requires the expertise of a Realtor. To accomplish a timely and smooth transaction the use of the same Realtor to handle both transactions is very crucial especially when it comes to close on both properties simultaneously.

The process of a double transaction begins with the listing of the existing home, followed by looking for a new home. Parents should take the time to explain the process to children while emphasizing the importance of having their rooms picked up and looking neat at all time. During this period, most often than none, the children face the anxiety of losing their classmates and friends and offer resistance to any change to their environments. It is the parent’s duty to understand their feelings and have a plan to work the problems out with their children without becoming combative and hostile. They could accomplish this with a little planning during the next phase of their journey in purchasing a new home, which is the house-hunting phase.

While the potential buyers are in and out of the current residence the process of locating that ideal home has also begun. It is an exciting and at times disappointing days when parents face challenges such as lack of showing, low-ball offers and other obstacles in the sale of their home, considering that all this is happening while they are also trying to find and negotiate on the new home. During this period, it is of most importance to get the children involved in the process of finding a new home. This will allow them to appreciate the advantages that the new house offers and reduces their resistance to such changes. A bigger bedroom, more bathrooms, large backyard or a swimming pool are enough reasons to entice the children to join their parents in making the dream of home ownership come true.

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Sensible Approach to Buying Real Estate

by | Buying Real Estate

Sensible Approach to Buying Real Estate

Port St Lucie Homes for PetsBuying Real Estate

While for our parents buying real estate meant a once-in-a-lifetime venture, the average family in today’s market moves every 7-8 years. Purchasing of real estate also means to commit the largest investment for any average family, regardless of how many years they plan to stay in the new home. For an investment of this size, there is no room for guess-work or errors and one must always seek assistance from real estate professionals. A local real estate agent is your best bet in locating, negotiating ad closing on a new home.

Buying Homes in Port St Lucie

When buying a home in Port St Lucie you must first call a reputable local real estate company to put you in contact with one of their professional Realtors. The locality of your Realtor, who is an expert in real estate in Port St Lucie, will prove to be of a great value in many different ways. The local ordinances, city water hook-up charges and the loans associated with hook ups could become a surprise cost in the future that you have not planned for. Also, planned future expansion of some roads could have an adverse effect in the value of your home in years to come. Many of the above-mentioned points could be exclusive only to the city of Port St Lucie and an out of the area Realtor most probably will not have any idea about these considerations.

The planned extension of Crosstown Parkway and the enactment of Eminent Domain by the city of port St Lucie have affected many homes in the path of this road. The proposed road is planned and the budget is approved to connect the Port St Lucie, especially the St Lucie West and the fast growing Town of Tradition, to US1. Construction of a bridge over the St Lucie River is part of the overall plan to bring the west side of the Port St Lucie closer to the east-side and beach areas. While most out-of-area Realtors might not have any knowledge of the upcoming construction plans for Crosstown Parkway, a local Port St Lucie Realtor on the other hand could warn you of the possible negative impacts that this expansion could have on your future home.

The other matter that could be different from other municipalities is the connection fees that the city has in place for connecting the sewer system of many homes to the city sewer services. While there are still some homes that depend on their septic tank system only, most other homes have been connected to the city sewer. Based on the agreement between the City and the citizens of Port St Lucie the connection fee could be paid in full or through a loan installment. When it comes the time to place an offer to purchase a home in Port St Lucie, your local Realtor should be able to advise you of the existence of such a loan. The common practice in the area is for the seller to pay the installments until the closing day and for the buyer to pay thereafter. But this, like any other point in a real estate purchase contract, could be negotiable during the offer procedure.

Steps to Buying Home in Port St Lucie

There are few steps that you should take before buying home in Port St Lucie or any other neighborhoods in the Sunshine State. These steps are designed to help buyers to be prepared in advance to face any obstacle on their way and to make the purchasing of a home a pleasant ad exciting venture. To begin with the buyers should have their financials and the necessary documentation in a row. This means to calculate the amount of monthly mortgage they could afford along with the necessary funds for down payment and closing costs. The rule of thumb for estimating the monthly mortgage used to be one week salary but in recent years most financial advisors like to see this number to be equal to 1/3 of the total monthly salary.

After coming up with a monthly cost of the mortgage, contact a lending institution and see if, based on your credit, you could qualify for such monthly payment. Your mortgage advisor could easily calculate the maximum price of a house for the amount of monthly mortgage payment that you’re pre-qualified for. This calculation is primarily based on the amount of down payment, the credit worthiness of the borrower as well as the interest rate at the time of the loan. Most often the local banks that you conduct your day-to-day banking are the best source for applying for a loan to purchase a home. At this time after you have an idea of the price range of a home that you would qualify for. The next step is to ask your mortgage advisor for a “Pre-Qualification Letter”. A typical PQ Letter would state that, based on your income/debt and credit score, you have been pre-qualified for obtaining a loan for that amount.

With a pre-qualification letter on hand, it is time to enter the house-hunting phase of the journey in buying a home and contacting a real estate agent. For this, ask friends and neighbors to refer an agent they have worked in the past. If you don’t know anyone in the new neighborhood, you could simply call one of the reputable real estate companies and they will be happy to assign one of their licensed Realtors to assist you in locating your ideal home. When contacting a realtor you should have a list of your wants and needs along with the pre-qualification letter on hand. This list could include the number of bedrooms/baths, garage, pool, school district or the area near expressway or your work. If you are not familiar with the area ask your Realtor to show the area that could match your criteria in the map of the city of Port St Lucie and also show you sample of the available homes in the MLS on the map along with their price range.

Upon locating number of listings that match your wish-list, your real estate agent will set up all necessary appointments and accompany you on a tour to preview the homes. Your Realtor is your ally and the best source that you have in finding the right home, negotiating the right price and following up with all steps in the contract, such as the appraisal and inspection. If all pieces come together you will reach the best part of your journey, which is the closing day and obtaining the keys to your dream home. Again, your Realtor should be able to go through the closing documents line by line and explaining each line-item to you. At any time if you are not clear about a charge or credit ask questions and do not sign any documents until you have clear answers to your questions. Remember, the only bad questions are the ones that you don’t ask. If you are not satisfy with your Realtors explanation of the items in question ask the title company representative who is conducting the closing and they should be able to clarify any area of the closing statement, or HUD-1 as it is known in the industry.

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Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part V

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Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part V

Real Estate contractPlacing an Offer in Real Estate Owned, REO Properties

Placing an offer and dealing with the Real Estate Owned, REO properties required a different pricing strategy in comparison to the purchase of any real estate through traditional channels.  The overwhelming number of foreclosed homes and short sale resulted in different procedures for the purchase of such properties.  As Foreclosed properties suddenly became an integral part of the real estate inventory, the Realtors, the buyers, and the mortgage bankers scrambled to adjust to the monstrous effects of addition of these properties in the real estate negotiations and transactions.

One of the changes in the procedure was the use of third-party vendors to register and evaluate the foreclosed homes. To expedite the process, instead of traditional appraisal companies, they hired the Realtors to do the valuations of the properties.  This Valuation is called BPO or Broker Price Opinion.  Due to many circumstances, some of these valuations failed to portray the real fair market value of the foreclosed homes, most often pricing them below when compared to non-REO properties.  The undervaluation of these properties resulted in the influx of investors and speculators to the real estate market.  The cash buying investors had negative effects on home buyers who were planning to become owner occupants, which eventually resulted in the change of rules by many financial institutions.  One of the primary rules was to limit the market to owner occupant during the first days of the listing, usually the first 10 to 15 days.  If no owner occupant put an offer on the foreclosure home then the property opens up to investors.

It is important to mention that not all the foreclosure properties were evaluated at lower than fair market values through BPO valuations.  Some of these homes in actuality were priced in and around the market value and some listed at an even higher price than compatible non-REO properties.  For this reason, working with a real estate broker who is experienced in the BPO and REO process is crucial in negotiating the best price when buying foreclosure homes.  As a former licensed real estate appraiser, I have been doing Broker Price Opinion (BPO) for many mortgage servicing companies for over a decade.  These companies represent major national banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Bank of NY Melon and more…

Having a comprehensive knowledge of pricing and BPO process is the best tool I can offer for home buyers and investors in helping them to purchase foreclosure homes at the best compatible prices possible.

The series of article will continue in Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part VI

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Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part IV

by | Buying Real Estate

Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part IV

real estate offerPlacing an Offer to Purchase a Home

When it’s time to place an offer to purchase a home in the State of Florida it is your Realtor’s or Real Estate Attorney’s duty to write the offer along with the proof of funds, proof of escrow deposit and all the other related addendum and submit them to the seller’s agent.  This writing an offer process might vary in other states and is left to attorneys and the Realtors duty is to solely find you the property.  But your Florida Realtor is in charge of writing an offer, which becomes a contract when signed by all parties, counter offer if necessary and see the process through all the way through the closing day.

Placing an offer if the art of negotiation that a professional Realtor should be able to perform on buyer’s behalf and to the best of his or her interest.  The common method Realtors use to determine an offer price is a quick Compatible Market Analysis that will show how much other buyers have paid for the similar properties in the same market.  Normally the properties considered for this analysis share the following characteristics:

  • Sold within the same subdivision or located within one-mile radius of the subject property
  • Sold within the past 3 months
  • Same size, the number of the rooms and amenities.  If the exact compatible properties are not available for comparison, the proper adjustments must take place on all comps in order to bring them to the same level as the subject property.  Appraisal 101: never adjust the subject property, all adjustment should always be made on comparable properties.
  • Comps must be arm-length-transactions.  This means that any property sold for less value, such as Quite Claim Deeds or transactions between the family members for a lesser value, could not be considered as a good comparable.

The final price of the offer is normally less than the listing price.  There are many reasons for this strategy.  The most common one is to have a price in mind then offer around 10% less hoping the seller will counter offer at the desired price.  That said, it is important to know that each seller is different and this strategy might not be suitable for all negotiations.  This is most true during the sellers’ market when sellers receiving more than one offer, which at times forces the buyers into a bidding war and offering perhaps even more than the asking price.  While your Realtor is the best source in putting a strategy in place on the offer price negotiation but at the end of the day, it is your money and should be your decision to know when it’s time to offer more than the asking price or when to fold.

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Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part IIl

by | Buying Real Estate

Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part IIl

Coldwell Banker Thomas J. WhiteFinding the Best Homes for Sale

In the previous article, we walk you through the preliminary steps in getting all the financial docs in a row, having pew-qualification letter from your financial institution or a mortgage broker, and finally finding a licensed Realtor.  Now it is the time to look for that house of your dream.  The first step is to have a list of wants and needs that would accommodate all the requirements that you and each family member might have.  Start writing everything down and have it ready for your family and the Realtor’s review.  This list could include the number of Bedrooms/Baths, Garage, Swimming Pool, the Location, within a Planned Community or not and so on.  When it comes to the location try to be as flexible as possible as you don’t want to miss out on purchasing of a better home just because of 5-10 extra minutes of the drive-time.  Also, remember not to tie yourself down by factors like the proximity to your work if you are not sure you will be at that job for a long time.

Buying Homes in a Homeowners Association Community

Regarding the planned communities there are pros and cons that you have to evaluate before jumping into living in one.  The following will explore the pros and cons of buying homes in a homeowners association community.

The positive points living in a community that is run by a homeowners’ Association are:

  • Security-  Most HOA communities are gated and normally offer some sort of security
  • Uniformity- All Homeowner Associations have some sorts of rules and regulations, such as predetermined collection of colors for the exterior paint, no trucks, boats or motorcycle allowed in the community and etc.…  These regulations are designed to keep the community maintained and preserve the values of all homes in the community.  It also means you would not have to look at a dark purple home across from your residence!!
  • Landscaping- Depending on the association either the HOA will take care of the entire landscaping, including in and around each homeowner property or they are just responsible for the common area
  • Amenities- Most associations offer an array of amenities, which could become a great advantage and could be a good selling point in the future. The two of the most common HOA amenities are the swimming pool and the clubhouse.  Just imagine being able to take the kids to the swimming pool and enjoy your time there without having to worry about maintaining it.

The cons for living in a community run by the homeowners’ association are:

  • Weak Homeowners’ Association- While the homeowners’ Associations are run by a board that is comprised of the elected homeowner-volunteers but there are many horror stories of misconduct, mishandling of the funds or just pure mismanagement by these board members or the property management companies that they have hired.
  • Stringent Rules and Regulations- The same rules and regulations that are supposedly in place to protect the homeowners could become a double edge sword and work against them.  One example that we encountered not long ago was about a homeowner who traded in his car for a shiny red truck just to find out a week later that trucks are not allowed inside the community and there is no other place outside either that he could park the truck and walk to his residence.
  • Age Restriction- Although you will be notified by your Realtor or by the board, during the interview process, if the community is a Housing for Elder Persons or HOPA but you should take a minute and call either the HOA or their management company about the age restriction as well as other limitations that might affect your decision in buying a home in that community.

The bottom line is all homebuyers, regardless if first time or not, have to be proactive and ask questions.  They should not rely solely on what the Realtor might tell them.  This is simply because the information that he or she is conveying could be from the last deal they had in that community, but the rules have changed ever since.  Remember that associations could change whole or parts of their rules and regulations as long as they have enough votes from the board and homeowners.

In continuation of these series about our guide for homebuyers, we will explore the house hunting, appraisal, inspections process all the way through the closing day.  Look for Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part III in upcoming articles.

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Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part II

by | Buying Real Estate

Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part II

House Inspection Port St LucieGuide to Purchasing Homes Part II

In previous two articles, we examined different stages of the home buying process from the start to having finances, finding a Realtor and creating a comprehensive list of the criteria that the new home must possess.  Now that you have an idea who is going to assist you in obtaining a loan and who is going to find the home for you, it is the time to look for your dream home.  After your Realtor receives the list of the amenities and the preferred location for the new home he or she will conduct many searches in order to come up with a list of the candidate listings that match your list.  Next, he or she will make the necessary appointments and accompany you in previewing them.

Guide to Identifying Problems with a Home

This section will assist you in what to do and identify possible problems with a home during the preview of the homes for sale:

  • Try to look, observe and make notes on details of each listing.  Your notes also should contain points that describe the layout of the house, pros and cons and other remarks that could help you in recalling of those details.  The experience has shown that after previewing 4-5 listings the homebuyers could not recall the exact layouts and become confused on the exact location of the different rooms in the house.  To avoid this type of confusions I have always advised my buyers to make a note of what room they see first, second and so on when they enter the house as well as to grade each home on a scale of 1-10 for their desirability.  Take some time to evaluate each listing after previewing a number of homes.  Eliminate the homes that are far from being an ideal home and grade the rest as being keepers or not.

Now, it is much easier to comb through the few homes that scored the highest as keepers.  If you still not completely satisfied with what you’ve seen ask your Realtor to show you some more listings and let him know which homes scored highest and for what reasons you have decided against them.  This will allow your Realtor to have a better picture of your priorities and narrow down the listings that would be as close to your taste as possible.  Don’t rush but learn to compromise when possible as well.

  • When previewing any home, especially the ones that had caught your interest, look around and above.  Look around for any imperfections including cracked tiles, cracked driveway or foundation as this could signal structural problems.  Look above all over the ceilings and the walls for the signs of any leaks as well as any imperfection in the plaster; the latter could be the result of the previous repairs due to leaks.
  • When you finally locate the home that you wish to put an offer, ask your realtor to show you the transaction history in the MLS system, which would show you the transfer of ownerships in the past and how much the previous owner has paid and when.  Although this could become helpful when deciding on the offer price but don’t get stuck on how much the previous owner has paid and concentrate more on the current fair market value.  Your Realtor is equipped with many tools to assist you in calculating that value.  Sometimes we have used the MLS history to evaluate the previous listings along with the description and photos to determine how much of an upgrade and remodeling the house has gone through when compared with the older listings.

In the following article, Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part IV, we will examine the process of placing and offer, escrow agencies, appraisal and inspection processes.

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Guide to Purchasing Real Estate

by | Buying Real Estate

Guide to Purchasing Real Estate

Guide to Purchasing a HomeGuide to Purchasing Home Part I

In this article, our goal is to assist homebuyers in their journey through the process of purchasing real estate.  We hope to make buying homes simpler and explain many advantages and pitfalls of buying real estate regardless if you are a first time home buyers, investor or have purchased homes before.  This article is compiled from over 15 years of experience is sales and rental of many single family homes, condominiums, businesses and commercial properties.  We believe if we could assist only one family in reducing their stress in purchasing their home is worth the time to research and write these series of articles on the process of purchasing real estate.

Mortgage Qualification

This should be the very first step, which home buyers should take before even searching for a home or contacting a Realtor®.  Contacting lenders first and asking to become pre-approved for a loan offers the following benefits:

  • The Price Range
    • Based on each buyer’s financial standing the lender will calculate their creditworthiness and how much mortgage loan they can afford.  The Expense/Income Ratio plays a significant role in most lenders decision on how much of a loan to offer each person.  This means a buyer making a substantial income does not necessarily will qualify for a loan if the monthly fixed expenses such as student loans, car loans or credit card payments are too high.
  • Placing an Offer
    • When it’s time to place an offer on a home you like, the sellers and their Realtors® will ask for a letter of Pre-Approval from a reputable lender and most probably would not waste time on unqualified buyers, especially in sellers’ market when they have other offers to entertain.
  • Credit Problem
    • To issue a Pre-Approval letter, the lenders will run a detailed credit report on buyers.  At times, the home buyers are not aware of issues on their credit report till lenders notify them.  Some of the credit issues such as errors ad paid out accounts could easily be resolved by contacting the 3 credit bureaus, which will help the buyers credit scores.  A higher credit score will generally result in better rates and terms for loans.

First Time Home Buyers Guide to Purchasing Homes

For first time home buyers, our first advice is to learn how to overcome the anxiety of buying their first home that could result in rushing into unfortunate situations.  Being anxious to own the first place to call one’s home is the tempting factor that could prevent the first-time home buyers from patiently conducting their due diligence on the properties or perhaps failing to evaluate their real financial ability to purchase a home in a certain price range.  In the following segments, we will walk you through different stages of the home purchasing process and assist you in employing the right real estate professional to walk you through every step of the home buying process.   While assistances from different professionals such a licensed Realtor or mortgage broker is a must but beginning step for the first time home buyers is to assess their financial standing on their own.  This includes the financial assessment of the homebuyer’s ability to pay the down payment and closing costs as well as the purchase and payoff of the mortgage on a home in a timely manner.

1-     Financial Assessment by the First Time Home Buyers

The joy of owning a home could often alter the judgment of the first time home buyers on evaluating their true financial ability in paying the monthly mortgage payment.  To avoid such mishaps, the homebuyers must familiarize themselves with different charges that together will become the monthly mortgage payment.  To get to this number homebuyers must always factor in the costs of the homeowners’ association fees (if applicable), insurance and taxes along with an allowance for incidental expenditures for repairs and other unexpected expenses.  Not having enough saving as a cushion for such items will eventually put the new homeowners in financial hardships that may result in severe financial hardship and even the loss of their long awaited dreams of homeownership.  Home buyers should also evaluate the stability if there are any changes to their jobs and income stream.  Having savings that could cover total housing expenses for at least 6 months will offer the security when disaster strikes.

The first time home buyers could also ask their mortgage broker for an approximate cost of closing on the amount of the loan they are pre-approved for.  These costs are to cover the down payment, pro-rated taxes, pro-rated insurance, appraisal fee along with all charges associated with mortgage origination and underwriting.   It is important for the homebuyers to do their homework to find out about the down payment assistance programs that are sanctioned by the federal government and local municipalities.  The amount of the down payment assistance could be substantial and it is offered in a form of a low interest to no interest loans and grants to first-time home buyers.  Currently, the average down payment assistance in different US counties amounts to $11,565.  For more information about the availability of such down-payment assistance programs in your area please visit:  Florida Housing Finance Corporation

2-     Finding the Right Real Estate Professional

Engaging in any real estate transaction in the State of Florida requires a Real Estate Salesperson License or a Real Estate Broker License.  There are distinct differences between a licensed real estate professionals and Realtors.  Any person who obtains a real estate license could engage in selling, buying and renting of properties in the State but cannot be called a Realtor® unless he or she joins the local, state and the National Board of Realtors or Associations.  All Realtors® are required to take an oath to conduct themselves in a professional manner and most importantly preserve the public interest during any real estate transaction.  There are also many classes and workshops available to all Realtors to assist them in polishing their trades and specializing in specific fields.  Some of these workshops are conducted as educational courses that result in obtaining different designations by the attending Realtors.  Some of the better-known designations are Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI), Transnational Referral Certification (TRC), Certified residential Specialist (CRS), Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) and Seller representative Specialist (SRS).

Look for additional information on HomeBuyers Guide to Purchasing Real Estate Part II

 

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Home Buyers Mortgage Problems

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Home Buyers Mortgage Problems

Home Loans Port St LucieMortgage Problems for Home Buyers

In the aftermath of the economic meltdown of the last decade, a new underwriting standard was introduced by the federal government to combat the risk of mass failure by the banks and reduce the mortgage problems for home buyers.  The process for obtaining a mortgage tightened up with the addition of the new regulatory measures on one side and the banks reluctance in approving mortgages, which would have been approved previously, on the other hand.  According to NAR, National Association of Realtors, while NAR supports the strong underwriting policies, but they feel that many homeowners have lost the opportunity to purchases a home due to “unnecessary regulatory burdens”.

For more about this article please visit: http://bit.ly/1HMczFy

#newhomes #newhomebuyers #NAR

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Port St Lucie Communities

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Port St Lucie Communities

Relocating-to-Port-St-LucieBuying Home in Port St Lucie, FL

Port St Lucie has many beautiful communities offering different amenities and social activities.  There are golf clubs, senior 55+ lifestyle communities, affordable communities, lock and go communities for our seasonal residents.  Whatever your lifestyle you will be able to find a place you can call home. 

About Port St Lucie?

Port St Lucie has one of the lowest crime rates stated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.  With a population of near 170,000 the crime rate is 47% lower than it was in 2002.  The City prides itself on “Keep Port St Lucie Clean” and offers a small town feel to each of the neighborhoods.  There are many parks and recreational activities for Children and Adults alike.  Wildlife has natural habitat areas where you can take walks to enjoy the outdoors. 
 

Port St Lucie Developments and Communities

Country Club Pointe
Fairway Isles
Midport Place                                                              
Midport Place II
Norsemens Harbor
Osprey Ridge
Parks Edge (Villas of Windmill Point)
Portofino Isles  (same as Newport Isles)
Presidential Cove 
River Park
River Place
River Point
River Vista
Rivergreen Villas
Sanctuary
Sanctuary Apartments
Seagrass Condominiums
Sorrento Court
South River Shores
Southbend Lake Estates
Southern Grove
Spanish Lakes Golf Villas
Tarpon Bay
Tarpon Bay Moorings
Tarpon Bay Villas
Tarpon Bay Yacht Club
The Club at St Lucie West
The Cove
The Estates at Tradition 
The Meadows
Treasure Coast Airpark
Tropical East
Veranda Plat 1
Vikings Landing
Vikings Lookout
Villas of Rosewood
Villas of Sandpiper Bay
Villas of Sandpiper Bay Unit 1
Villas of Sandpiper Bay Unit 2
Villas of Torino
Villas of Village Green
Vineyards
Walden Woods
Walton Court
Walton Hills
Walton Lakes Apartments
Westbrook Isles
 

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Tips on Buying a House

by | Buying Real Estate

Tips on Buying a House

Important Tips for First Time HomebuyersImportant Tips for First Time Home Buyers

Purchasing a home is by far the largest single investment for majority of the families in US and the following important tip for home buyers is a must read for first time home buyers.  In Florida, most standard real estate sales and purchase contracts are drafted by real estate agents and typically lean more toward protecting the buyers than the sellers.   Regardless of who is writing the real estate purchase contract there are many points in contracts for buyers to be aware of that will save money and headaches when something goes wrong.  

The first area to pay attention is wherever the term “contingencies” is used in the contract.  Contingencies are  provisions in the contract that could work for or against any buyer if certain conditions are not met.  Based on some of these contingencies the buyer could void the contract and have all of the deposit and down payments returned to him without any further penalties.  There could be many contingencies in any contract, but the 3 most prominent contingencies in all real estate purchase contract are:

  • Appraisal Contingency- if the property is appraised for less than the contract price then the buyer has the right to cancel the contract.
  • Mortgage Contingency- if the buyer is unable to secure a loan from financial institutions the contract is cancelled
  • Inspection Contingency- if an inspection by a professional inspection company reveals problems with the house normally there are few remedies that precedes the cancellation.  If the repairs are minimal  the seller might offer to fix them or compensate the buyer by offering cash at closing accordingly.   

There are more contingencies in the purchase contracts that could vary depending on the type of the property and the state that the property is located in.  The examples are the Mold Contingency that calls for a Mold Inspection or HOA Contingency that puts the approval by the homeowner or condo association as a condition for the contract to succeed.   

Working with an experienced real estate professional is not only finding the right home but to enjoy the legal rights that are set to protect the buyer and sellers when deemed necessary.

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Residential Income Producing Properties

by | Buying Real Estate

Residential Income Producing Properties

Income Producing PropertiesBuying Residential Income Producing Properties

When it comes to buying residential income producing properties, real estate market offers many opportunities that will suit different investors with different needs.  While the demand for such properties is good as long as they have an acceptable rate of Return on Investment (ROI), there is also more demands for these properties with the new wave of renters entering the rental market.  The new renters are generally comprised of the millions of homeowners that had the misfortune of losing their homes through short sales and  foreclosure.  These renters have lost their good credit and do not have the cash to buy  another home.  While many smart developers also survived the economic turmoils of past few yeas by converting their developments to the rental community, the supplies still could not meet the demands.
A licensed Realtor is your best source to find that perfect income producing property that would match your requirements.  To reach that goal, a real estate professional would compile a comprehensive market analysis pertaining  to the location and other specifications of each property that you are interested in.

Real Estate Investment Trust REIT

Many REITs, Real Estate Investment Trust, have also joined the bandwagon and enjoyed levels of returns that have been better than the stock market’s performance in 2010.  Taking advantage of the residential income producing opportunities could be simply through an acquisition of stocks in the REIT specialized on this sector or direct purchase of an income producing property.  In either case, to reduce the risks associated with such investments, the guidance of a professional is strongly recommended.  To succeed with REIT, one should seek assistance only from licensed and reputable firms who are specialized in identifying  the sound REITs.  On the other hand, if you would like to be hands on and acquire your own portfolio, employing an experienced real estate professional is your best bet.  Please note that while a residential Realtor could be a great help if you are purchasing from 1 to 4 units, a commercial Realtor is more knowledgeable in contracts, due diligence and market analysis of 5+ rental units, businesses or other commercial properties.

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