New Home Sales Rise YAY!

New home sales rose by 4.8% in September. That's a great positive sign that we could be seeing the beginning of the end of the real estate downturn that's been happening over the past 2 years.

FL House Passes Propert Tax Reform Package

The Florida House passes a tax reform package that will now go to the Senate for approval. Here is a complete article: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-102307.cfm

Florida Property Insurance

Well, we're almost through the 2007 Hurricane season. If we get through this one without any major incidents - we should continue to see more loosening of the belt in the insurance industry. Companies will not have such an excuse to have such high rates!

FHA being Sued by Ameridream and Nehemiah

Ameridream and Nehemiah are non-profit real estate companies that help facilitate the 3% downpayment required by FHA borrowers as a gift coming from the seller. FHA Rules require the 3% down payment to come from the Borrower and one of the allowed sources of that down payment is through a gift. Ameridream and Nehemiah would "gift" the money to the buyer after the seller "donates" the same amount of money to the non-profit org. I was pretty surprised when I first heard about this practice and that FHA allowed it. I guess FHA finally got wise and said that it wasn't allowed anymore. That must have made Ameridream and Nehemiah pretty upset because now they are suing FHA.

Florida Property Tax Estimator

Here is a tool I found that calculates the expected taxes you will pay if the Super Homestead exemption passes. https://midas.fgcu.edu/cob/taxsim/

Insurance Industry is BOOMING In Florida

Looking for a new business to start? Insurance may deserve your consideration. Big insurers reported $150 BILLION in profits over the last 3 years - even after paying off billions in hurricane claims! Insurance companies have also have the benefit of reduction in expenses due to state legislation that reduced the costs of re-insurance (the insurance insurance companies get). Governor Crist is not too happy about the fact that these large companies are making such record profits and yet have not reduced insurance rates commensurate with their profits! He all but accused them of collusion which is a serious federal offense and breaks anti-trust laws. If he can prove it - there will be a major shake down in the insurance industry! And who will benefit? Us! The everyday consumer! Lower rates, here we come!

Fed Cuts Fund Rate

As you probably already know, the FED cut the fund rate yesterday. What does that mean? Well, it affects short term rates (ARMs, HELOCs, and credit cards) that use the Fed funds rate as an index. It doesn't directly impact 30 year fixed rates on mortgages, though. Over the last 7 years there has been no direct or inverse relationship between the 30 year fixed rates, and the Fed funds rate (e.g. in Jan 01 the fed funds rate was 6.01% and 30 year fixed was at 7.03% by Dec 01 the Fed fund rate was all the way down to 4.25% and the 30 year fixed rates were up to 7.07%). There is a lot of uncertainty about what the Fed's move will do in the marketplace, although one thing is for certain: there is a lot of volatility. If you are waiting for a better 30 yr fixed rate, you could be waiting for a very long time. Historically (that is in the last 20 years) rates are very low. They have been as high as the high teens). If you would like a mortgage consultation, contact a reliable mortgage lender. Contact me if you would like to get the name and number of one!

Beware of Condo Conversions

Okay, the cat is out of the bag. It turns out that some developers cut corners when they were "rennovating" apartment buildings for condo conversion. This is so disappointing to me because it hurts the public trust. If you're considering buying an ex apartment building, just beware of some of the potential dangers. If you're not certain, just avoid them all together because unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to confirm or verify that a good job was done before closing on a contract. Unless you can observe the construction / rennovation project as it is happening.

Mortgage Rates Down This Week!

Average rates on 30 year fixed loans on a national basis dropped to 6.31% that was the lowest since May. Last weeks the rate was at 6.46% according to Freddie Mac. An estimated 2 million loans will start adjusting with the market over the next 18 months. Loans that have an introductory period with a lower that average interest rate, but begin to change according to some predetermined index after a certain number of years are called ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages). They were very popular over the last 5 years, and a lot of them are beginning to "mature" so to speake. Bush officials met with large mortgage servicers on Wednesday to talk about solutions to the challenge.

Buyers Believe

This is a call to all buyers out there who are dragging their feet on their next real estate purchase. Now is a great time to buy! You will be paying less for what you get than people who bought six months ago! Real estate has always been a sound investment and it doesn't depreciate for long. Once the market begins to pick up again, you will not have such a buyer's market!

Westchase Super Target going up!

I was out at Westchase the other day and they are putting a brand new Super Target on the south side of Westchase (near Hillsborough and Countryway). There were also other retail shops going in with Target as the anchor of course.

State Budget Cuts

Governor Crist weighed different options on how to cut $1 billion from the state budget. At the same time he is considering increasing spending for low income families.

Positive Signs in Real Estate Market

There are underlying signs of improvement in the new home market according to a recent UF study. Experts have sited our high growth rate as a factor supporting a quick recovery from the recent real estate setbacks. They also site the moderate production of new homes to help keep things in balance. Their main concern, though is the turmoil in the investor market securities backed by sub prime loans. Institutional investors have slowed and/or stopped their purchase of these securities due to the high rate of foreclosure and default. The problem this creates is a lack of funds banks can use to re-lend to new borrowers.

Tampa Bay Youth Culture

The clean young adult scene in the Tampa Bay area is always improving. This weekend (September 8,9) a local church (The Sanctuary) is hosting a young adult / youth worship conference by a dynamic / prophetic worhip leader by the name of Jason Heilman. Young adults in our area are demanding something to fill the void in their hearts that only heartfelt worship can do.

Rates Jump on Jumbo Loans

Jumbo loans appear to becoming more costly. Word on the street is that the rates went from the high sixes to the mid eights last week. That is a pretty significant hike. I think this is a result of the turmoil in the Alt-A lending environment.

Lending Atmosphere Rapidly Changing

If you haven't been following the recent developments in sub-prime lending, here is a brief update. Sub-prime refers to more risky loans written by banks for borrowers who cannot or would rather not qualify for a more conventional loan. Conventional would refer to loans where the borrower's income and assets are fully documented and verified, and the loan to value is no more than 80%. There is also a Federally insured loan program (called FHA - Federal Housing Administration) that will offer up to 100% financing. Any other exotic loan products where the borrower is "stating" their income but not providing supporting documentation, and they are borrowing up to 106% of the appraised value of the home are commonly referred to as "sub-prime" or "Alt-A" loans. This market has almost completely disappeared. My preferred mortgage broker has informed me that she is no longer aware of any sub-prime products out there. What that means for you is that if you are a first time home buyer and you need to finance 100% of your purchase price, you are probably going to have to use an FHA loan (which technically will only finance 97% but the other 3% can come in the form of a gift).

Harbour Island

Harbour Island is a great little town right in downtown Tampa. It's an island away from the hustle and bustle, but it is still right in the middle of all the action. Today I showed a really nice condo on Harbour island. It is nicely priced at $339,900 with plenty of square feet (1600) a 2 car garage, and a tri-level design floorplan.

Buyers: Take Advantage of a Free Service (Follow Up to last post)

In my last post I gave a basic overview of how agents make their money (for the benefit of all you first time home buyers out there). I did want to give a small caveat, though: although the seller pays a comission to the listing firm who in turn shares that comission with the selling firm, there are typically processing fees that are charged both the seller and the buyer. So, as a buyer you might be asked to pay such a fee (it could range anywhere from $200 to $400). This is also a contingency based fee and it is only due at closing as part of your expected closing costs.

Buyers: Take Advantage of a Free Service

If you have a Buyer's agent, you are basically getting a free service. That is because the comission comes out of the Seller's proceeds at closing. What happens (in my part of the country, anyway) is that when a seller wants to sell a house, most of the time they will hire a real estate agent to find a buyer for them. The fee they pay the agent is a contingency based fee paid by the Seller at Closing. The agent who listed the property will try to sell it him/herself, and will also offer (usually half) of the comission to any other agent who brings a Buyer.

Condos Downtown Tampa

OK, the other day I showed a condo downtown in the Channelside district. I was amazed, it was very nice but boy do you pay for location, location, location! This was a 600 SF studio for $190,000 and that is a deal! It's right next to where the cruise ships come into port, and there is a real electric cable car you can ride to Ybor City (which is party central for the Tampa area).