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| TREASURE COAST FLORIDA HOMES |
Gabe Sanders & Susan Maxwell |
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Martin County Florida Ranked 11th Best Family-Friendly County In America
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Martin County has been recognized as one of the top family-friendly areas in the country, according to Forbes magazine.
Forbes judged every county in the country with more than 65,000 residents and named Martin County the 11th best place in America to raise a family.
Martin County has been named 11th best county in the country from all counties with a population of over 65,000 residents, by Forbes Magazine. Martin County on Florida’s Treasure Coast has long boasted the best school system in Florida and a wonderful climate and setting for families.
Forbes periodically ranks communities for different factors. The Port St. Lucie area was listed in April as one of the best for job growth, based on economic information gathered over the last five years.
The magazine used the following ranking criteria:
Schools: Top-ranked counties had high test scores and graduation rates and less than half their school budgets came from property taxes. Martin County schools usually rate among the best in the state.
Quality of life: Low crime rates, short commutes and good air quality mattered. Martin County's crime rate is lower than the surrounding counties.
Cost of living: The best counties had relatively low housing prices and high per capita income. Martin County has the highest per capita income on the Treasure Coast
Link to the full story from Forbes Magazine
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Six Ways To Prepare Now For Rising Interest Rates
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Take Steps Now to Soften the Impact
For several years before 2005, interest rates were at historic lows, enticing people to spend more on credit. When interest rates rise, what do higher rates do to your personal finances? When you hear of the possibility of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve (the Fed), is there anything you should do to prepare?
Read the full article at: About.com
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If you paid points to get a better rate on a home loan, you might be able to get a tax break.
According to bankrate.com, you can deduct points the same year you paid them if the loan you took was to purchase or build the home you live in. Also, the points you paid had to be part of the established business practice of your community and it had to be within the usual range.
You don't get as good a tax deduction if you paid points to refinance your house. The points are deductible, but only over the life of the loan. So if you paid $2,000 points on a 30-year mortgage, you would get to deduct a little more than $5.50 per payment you made during the year. If you made 12 house payments, you would get to deduct about $66 in point payments.
But wait! On the other hand if you use the cash from your refinancing to do home improvements, then you can deduct some of the points (those made directly related to home improvements) in the same year you paid the points.
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What is a short sale? Should we be wary of one?
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In a short sale, a buyer pays less than the amount a seller owes the lender.
There are more cases of 'short selling' in markets where home values are dropping.
Typically, when a homeowner can't pay his mortgage because he has suffered some sort of hardship -- loss of a job or divorce for example -- he simply sells his home. But when home values are dropping, this can be a problem. In some cases, a homeowner might find he owes more on his mortgage than his home will sell for. In these cases, lenders will sometimes accept less than the amount owed on the home, assuming the homeowner doesn't have other assets that can be sold to make up the difference. The lender then doesn't have to go to the expense of selling the house at auction.
The question you have to ask yourself is: Are you really getting a great deal?
If the house was purchased at the peak of rising home values, then the homeowner might have paid a premium price for the property. If values are dropping today, the lender may only be able to discount the property to current market values. So in that case, you wouldn't really be getting a bargain at all.
You'll have to know what similar houses in the market are selling for to find out if you are getting a good deal.
Find out how long the home has been on the market and make sure you get good inspections. A seller who is in financial trouble often can't keep up with repairs. You'll want to have a good idea what has been neglected. Short sales are tricky legal propositions. You'll want to make sure you have an attorney experienced in this sort of sale. You will also want to know who the lender or lenders are and remember the lender will be looking for a better deal than a short sale will offer so the lender probably will not instantly agree. |
How can you get a CMA and what is it?
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CMAs are only as good as the information in them. In Florida a CMA, otherwise known as a comparable market analysis, is given complimentary to prospective or existing clients. Agents currently can't sell them. An alternative would be to contact a certified appraiser for an appraisal. It's important to note that a CMA is a tool, but only one in an agent's toolbox. CMAs aren't appraisals by lenders, nor are they broker's price opinions. They are support documents that help an agent and seller understand recent neighborhood trends to determine a market price at which the home will sell. In other words, the CMA doesn't choose the price -- the homeowner and agent choose the price, based on the information.
CMAs aren't intended as free tools for sellers who want to market their own homes. Using the market knowledge, experience and time of a real estate agent without compensating them is a lousy thing to do, although that certainly happens. But Karma has a way of catching up with people like that -- those are the ones who typically overprice their homes, can't sell them, end up taking a bigger discount, and clearing far less than they would have with an agent.
For that reason, CMAs are fairly tightly controlled, presented at listing presentations or at substantive buyer's meetings, and taken away if the agent doesn't get the listing or a commitment from the buyer. Why give free information to put yourself out of business? Some agents are generous with CMAs, but if they are, it's a sure bet they didn't spend much time preparing it. In fact, some agent productivity software can spit out a so-called CMA in a few seconds.
What you want is a true in-depth market analysis, not a quick fix tool. A CMA can be a very personal document designed to help you understand the competition, yet it is done without destroying the agent's relationship with other agents, or their buyers and sellers. It's simply a compilation of homes for sale and those that have sold in a given area, without including your home for sale in the mix.
That said, a CMA can be rendered worthless in minutes. All it takes is the sale of a property, and all the variables change. A good agent will occasionally produce a fresh CMA for a client, to track how the market is changing, because it changes all the time.
If you are planning to sell your own home without the services of an agent, let me caution you. "Unrepresented sellers often do not understand the complexity, range and timing of tasks they will have to perform if they don't use a professional," says the National Association of Realtors (NAR.) For sale by owner sellers have dropped from an all-time high of 20 percent in 1985 to 12 percent of home sellers in 2006. You may wonder why, in this age of Internet marketing with free classified sites and other sites clamoring for free home listings, that sellers are less often choosing to market their homes themselves.
The big reason is profits. According to NAR, sellers who use a real estate professional make 16 percent more on the sale of their home than do sellers who go it alone. These numbers are easy for NAR to track -- they simply get their local association affiliates to compile sold data from public records, and they extrapolate the homes
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New home pricing increases affordability
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Shopping for a new home invariably brings an upgrade in expectations. That is, you would rather have the home that is somewhat out of your reach than the one you would qualify for today.
Today’s new pricing could bring the home you want within your reach. Many sellers are adjusting their asking prices to reflect the changing times. That means you and others who were interested before could be even more interested now.
Check with us to determine which homes with new pricing could work for you.
Another factor that could help involves a lender’s credit for energy-efficient upgrades. Energy-efficient windows, for example, could save a homeowner $600 a year.
Depending on the interest rate, that reduction in utility expenses could allow you to qualify for up to $10,000 more on a 30-year mortgage.
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Consider Buying Your Retirement Home Soon
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This is a great time to buy a retirement home. Why, because you have bargaining power.
Here’s one facet of the real estate market you can be pretty certain of. Ten years from now, prices will be far higher than they are today. That’s particularly true of properties with spectacular views. But whether you are looking for a cottage in the mountains or a house on the beach, the place doesn’t have to generate the same rate of return you demand for other investments. You are buying a lifestyle. That situation has put people in their 40s, 50s and 60s into the market. While sales of primary residences fell last year, vacation home sales rose nearly 5 percent, says the National Association of Realtors. The typical buyer of a vacation or retirement home was 44 years old. There’s no question that second homes come with expenses, so you have to ask yourself if you can afford one. Don’t rush into buying. If money is tight, however, you could consider buying now and collecting years of rent to defray your costs. For the first time in years, higher rents mean they will cover, or almost cover, the costs of mortgage, taxes, insurance, and maintenance.
The benefits of a vacation/retirement home are many. The transition from work to retirement is eased because over time you have met people and become part of the community.
Buying while you still have children at home is a plus. They look forward to being at the vacation place. As they grow up and change jobs and cities, it will always be a gathering place. It will be a place to come for a vacation and for Christmas or Thanksgiving. In today’s market, many sellers are eager to make a deal.
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For Information, Help or Advice about Stuart Florida Real Estate, Contact Gabe or Susan at any time. We will prompltly answer all questions or information requests. Thank you for visiting. Please come back soon! |
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Address: |
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2 N Sewalls Point Rd. |
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Stuart, Florida |
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34996 |
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United States | |
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Email Gabe
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Email Susan
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Toll Free: (800) 915-8517 |
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