10 Reasons to Buy a Tampa Bay New Home

Great Reasons to Buy a NEW Home:

1.     Get what YOU  want-Selection.

2.     Quality construction.

3.     Warranty.

4.     Energy savings.

5.     Great designs.

6.     Fabulous finishes.

7.     Easy maintenance.

8.     Safety and health.

9.     All New Appliances

10.   Closing Costs and Interest Rates

How to Keep a Home Ready To Sell

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – April 27, 2012 – When you own a home, it’s easy to stop seeing its flaws – the gate latch that never works, the faded shingles on the roof.

But potential buyers spot those problems in an instant.

To help Floridians look at their homes with a critical eye, a University of Florida (UF) housing specialist published a guide, based on the results of a national survey, that pinpoints areas that might need attention.

Randall Cantrell, a faculty member with the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, says the average homeowner spends $2,000 to prepare a home to be sold. So keeping up with needed repairs can make life a lot easier when it comes time to put your house on the market.

Cantrell conducted a national survey in 2011 of more than 400 homeowners, asking them to rate 81 items that could improve their home’s overall performance in three areas: maintenance tasks, energy and water conservation measures, and family operations. Based on their responses, he created a document for each category, suggesting short-term and long-term changes.

Cantrell said he was inspired to write the publication about keeping one’s home ready to sell after living through a painful home sale in 2011, before the real estate market began to perk back up. Even though his home had been well cared for, he still found himself paying for changes to make the home appeal to buyers.

“I thought if I can help people not have to go through what I just went through, I should do it,” said Cantrell, a state extension specialist in housing and community development.

In the short-term category for keeping one’s home ready to sell, he lists such tasks as ensuring that the doorbell works, that fences are painted, intact and have working gate latches, keeping cars parked neatly and taking care that the mailbox is properly maintained and has reflective address numbers.

Cantrell even suggests keeping a fresh-looking welcome mat at the front door.

“If a buyer sees one thing that looks like it hasn’t been taken care of, they will wonder what else hasn’t been taken care of,” he said.

In the long-term category, he suggests changes such as taking care that deck boards are flipped nice side up and fastened with screws rather than nails, ensuring that a garage door is sturdy and clean, that tree branches hanging near the house are healthy, and the roof’s shingles aren’t loose, wavy or faded.

He also suggests taking time to check that ceiling-fan blades are balanced – and dusted.

Installing photocell sensors on exterior lights ensures that lights will come on when it’s dark and won’t accidentally be left on during the daytime, conserving energy.

Mark Cramer, who has been a home inspector in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla., for 23 years, said the way a home shows correlates strongly with higher sales prices.

“There are some homeowners who tend to fix everything, and then there are others who ignore virtually everything until the ceiling’s literally caving in on their heads,” he said. “The former tend to get much better prices for their homes.”

The three-part series is at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/. It includes:

• FY1320: Improving Savings and Health through Minor Conservation Measures in the Home

• FY1321: Improving Savings and Health by Maintaining Your Home at a Ready-to-Sell Level

• FY1322: Improving Savings, Health, and Happiness by Modifying How the Family Operates the Home

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

Low Ball Offers Risk Losing the Deal

WASHINGTON – April 23, 2012 – When the number of home sellers grossly outpaces the number of buyers, no offer can be ignored, even if it’s 25 percent or more off the asking price. But in today’s rebounding market, those low-ball offers don’t often work. Many times, the potential buyer finds that they don’t get a counter-offer. And, in many cases, another more realistic buyer gets the home.

A low-ball offer – generally 25 or more off the asking price – allows buyers to see if they can land a great deal, even if they’re willing to pay more. In a survey last year conducted by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), one in 10 respondents cited low-ball offers as a concern. According to real estate columnist Kenneth Harney, a NAR survey conducted in March and not yet released found that almost no one complained about low offers.

When the number of listings outpaced the number of buyers, many potential homeowners submitted a shockingly low offer on the theory that they had nothing to lose. If the seller balked, most would still counter with something below their asking price. Today, however, offers close to the asking price – or even beating it – will probably come in fairly quickly from someone else if a home is priced correctly in the first place.

Even buyers who still want to low-ball an offer on a home many times switch tactics after they lose a property or two to a more aggressive buyer.

Florida Realtor Marnie Matarese works with J Wood Realty in Sarasota. She told Harney that fewer buyers want to low-ball an offer in her area, but they still come in – mainly from out-of-state or out-of-the-country people who have read about the state’s foreclosures and short sales. That news, however, is old – it has not kept up with reality in many areas.

Matarese says some people still insist on making a low-ball offer, but that she doesn’t mind. “You can’t blame a buyer for trying to get a good deal,” she says.

In some cases, a seller isn’t offended by a low-ball offer, but their counter-offer shaves only a little bit off their original asking price. An Olympia, Wash., real estate agent had a $150,000 offer for a $250,000 listing, according to Harney. But after the dust settled and the seller shook off his irritation, he and the buyer agreed to $230,000.

Harney closed his column with this advice: “Rolling low-balls at sellers may have been an effective approach between 2008 and early 2011. But in 2012’s environment – at least in rebounding markets – it could be counterproductive if you truly want to buy.”

Source: Ken Harney. Distributed by Washington Post Writers Group.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®

Buy Low, Sell High. Buyer Alert!

WASHINGTON – April 20, 2012 – It’s an old investment adage that remains true: “Buy low, sell high.”

National Association of Realtors® (NAR) President Moe Veissi, who served as Florida Realtors president in 2002, explains why conditions have never been better to buy a home in an online radio interview.

The Real Estate Today interview can also be forwarded through Facebook and Twitter to friends, family and clients.

Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc. in Miami, says today’s real estate market has “less folks looking, less inventory and more contracts working. … We’re just now seeing appreciation in real estate prices in some areas of the country. … This is a wonderful time to take advantage of interest rates that are lower than they’ve ever been.”

Veissi quotes investor Warren Buffet’s outlook on the current real estate market: “Warren Buffet appeared on CNBC about two weeks ago, and the young lady that was interviewing him asked where you should invest your money. Warren said, ‘If I had the capabilities, I’d buy 200,000 homes across this county … I think that housing in America today will outstrip the investment capabilities of the Wall Street blue chips over the longer term.”

To hear the five-minute radio interview and forward to friends and clients, visit the Real Estate Today website at: http://retradio.com/?p=4916.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

Florida's Housing Recovery: Location, Location, Location

ORLANDO, Fla. – April 18, 2012 – The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) Housing Commission held a public forum in Winter Park yesterday to discuss Florida’s response to recent problems in its housing market. The group focused on U.S. policies, state policies and local conditions that led to the recent crisis, as well as those that helped or hindered a recovery.

The forum, held at Rollins College, featured former U.S. Senator and Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD) Mel Martinez, co-chair of the BPC Housing Commission and vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

It also included regional housing experts from Central Florida. According to CoreLogic’s February foreclosure report, the Orlando and Tampa metros tied for the state’s highest foreclosure rate – 12.3 percent (1 in 8) of homes with a mortgage in some stage of the foreclosure process.

The forum’s goal was to look at the way national and state policies impact a single region. Some of the discussion was based on new research from the University of California, Berkeley, comparing the U.S. housing finance system to other countries.

“By studying both the real-world effects of this nation’s financial crisis on regional housing markets and how other countries handled similar crises, we can examine ways to spur our own economic recovery and learn effective strategies to better handle the temptations of another hot housing market in the future,” said Mel Martinez.

Speakers pointed out that many factors influence regional housing markets, including demographics, income levels, local economic growth and job creation. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, Florida’s 9.4 percent unemployment rate in February, for example, was significantly higher than the 8.2 percent rate for the nation as a whole. Clearly, they said, unemployment helped fuel foreclosures in Florida.

“We cannot begin to talk recovery in Central Florida’s housing market without first addressing the region’s economic development as a whole,” said Dr. Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. “Housing and the labor market are the Siamese twins of Florida’s economy. When unemployment rates rise, so do foreclosures. When people have paychecks, they have money to buy houses. Until the labor market stabilizes, economic recovery in Florida will continue to be slow.”

The Housing Commission also released a study by the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, entitled, “A Comparative Context for U.S. Housing Policy: Housing Markets and the Financial Crisis in Europe, Asia and Beyond.” The study examines how local economic, national and global financial forces shape housing markets in the United States and around the world. It looks at popular mortgage products in other countries, such as adjustable rate mortgages and non-recourse loans, to see whether U.S. homebuyers should consider shifting homebuyer financing in some way to avoid a future market collapse.

According to the worldwide study, some countries had early interventions that helped keep the housing problem from reaching a crisis level – ones that required less government intervention down the road. Successful responses in other countries generally involved more conservative lending practices and stronger regulations.

However, the report found that no country is completely immune from irrational behavior. Still, recent events such as the current housing crisis tend to dampen similar irrational behavior in the near future.

“The way different countries handled the global financial crisis … illustrates the tradeoffs between tightly regulating markets, which offers more stability but narrower choices, and more dynamic systems that are riskier for borrowers and lenders,” said Dr. Cynthia Kroll, one of the report’s authors.

“Moving forward, policymakers will have to weigh these pros and cons and determine whether it is possible to strike an optimal balance in housing policy that would retain its dynamic features and encourage mobility, while still protecting homeowners and borrowers … and lenders,” said Dr. Ashok Bardhan, another of the report’s authors.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

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Fannie Mae National Housing Survey - Upbeat in Home Buying

WASHINGTON – April 9, 2012 – According to Fannie Mae’s March 2012 consumer attitudinal National Housing Survey, more Americans may decide the time is right to buy a home.

In tracking results from its monthly survey, Fannie Mae says an increasing number of Americans now expect home rental costs and home purchase prices to increase over the next year. Nearly half expect higher rental prices – the highest number recorded since monthly tracking began in June 2010 as 33 percent expect home prices to increase, up five percentage points since last month and the highest percentage recorded in over a year.

In addition, confidence in consumers’ views of their own finances is stabilizing. For three straight months, 44 percent of respondents have said they expect their personal finances to get better over the next year.

Taken together, these trends give Americans an increased sense of urgency to buy a home, said 73 percent of Americans surveyed in March, up from 70% in February.

“With an increasing share of consumers expecting higher mortgage rates and home prices over the next 12 months, some may feel that renting is becoming more costly and that homeownership is a more compelling housing choice,” says Doug Duncan, vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae.

Survey highlights

Homeownership and renting

• Thirty-three percent of respondents expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months, a five-percentage point increase from last month and the highest level over the past 12 months.

• On average, Americans expect home prices to increase by 0.9 percent over the next 12 months (up slightly since last month).

• Thirty-nine percent of Americans say that mortgage rates will go up in the next 12 months, a five-percentage point increase from last month.

• The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to buy rose by three points to 73 percent, the highest level in over a year, while the percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to sell rose one point to 14 percent this month.

• On average, respondents expect home rental prices to increase by 4.1 percent over the next 12 months, a significant increase since February, and the highest number recorded to date.

• Forty-eight percent of respondents think that home rental prices will go up, a three percentage point increase from last month and the highest number recorded to date.

• Sixty-six percent of respondents say they would buy their next home if they were going to move, up one point since last month, while 30 percent say they would rent, up one point versus last month.

The economy and household finances

• The rise in confidence in the economy’s direction leveled this month, with 35 percent responding that they think the economy is on the right track, consistent with February’s total. The percentage who say the economy is on the wrong track rose slightly from 57 percent to 58 percent.

• Only 12 percent think that their personal financial situation will worsen in the next 12 months, consistent with February as the lowest value in over a year, and tied with January 2011 for the lowest to date.

• Twenty-one percent of respondents say their income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago, up 1 point versus February, while 63 percent say it has stayed the same – consistent with February’s values.

• Thirty-four percent say their expenses have increased significantly over the past 12 months (a slight increase of one percentage point).

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

CoreLogic: Florida Home Prices on the Rise

SANTA ANA, Calif. – April 4, 2012 – CoreLogic today released its February Home Price Index (HPI) report. Excluding distressed sales, month-over-month prices nationally increased 0.7 percent in February from January, but fell year-over-year by 0.8 percent if distressed sales are backed out of the equation and 2.0 percent if they’re included.

In Florida, however, prices rose in February 2012 compared to February 2011 whether distressed sales were included or not. The CoreLogic HCI found that Florida home prices rose 4.7 percent overall, and 1.6 percent without distressed sale numbers. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

Even with the declines, however, the national housing market shows signs of improvement.

“House prices, based on data through February, continue to decline, but at a decreasing rate. The deceleration in the pace of decline is a first step toward ultimately growing again,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Excluding distressed sales, we already see modest price appreciation month over month in January and February.”

“Non-distressed home sale prices, which represent two-thirds of all sales, have appreciated by just over 1.0 percent since the beginning of the year,” adds Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

HCI highlights February 2012

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: West Virginia (+8.6 percent), Michigan (+5.8 percent), Florida (+4.7 percent), Arizona (+4.5 percent) and South Dakota (+4.1 percent).

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-11.2 percent), Connecticut (-7.9 percent), Rhode Island (-7.8 percent), Illinois (-7.1 percent) and Georgia (-6.6 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: South Dakota (+5.9 percent), West Virginia (+5.6 percent), Maine (+4.5 percent), Utah (+3.7 percent) and Montana (+3.6 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-8.7 percent), Connecticut (-4.9 percent), Nevada (-4.6 percent), Vermont (-4.0 percent) and Minnesota (-3.3 percent).

• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to February 2012) was -34.4 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -24.6 percent.

• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines including distressed transactions were Nevada (-60.2 percent), Arizona (-49.8 percent), Florida (-48.6 percent), Michigan (-44.0 percent) and California (-43.7 percent).

• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 67 are showing year-over-year declines in February, nine fewer than in January.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

NAR: No Need for Bulk Sales to Investors

WASHINGTON – April 2, 2012 – Investment home purchases represented nearly one-third of all existing-home sales last year, according to a National Association of Realtors® (NAR) report on second homes. This robust investment activity underscores the importance of limiting the government’s use of real estate owned (REO) bulk sales, as NAR recommended in a letter sent to regulators this week.

The 2012 NAR Investment and Vacation Home Survey shows that investment-home sales surged 64.5 percent to 1.23 million last year from 749,000 in 2010.

“Investors are already absorbing much of the nation’s housing inventory, and Realtors are concerned that a bulk sale or rental program in areas where such a program is unnecessary could delay or impede local market recoveries,” says NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami and 2002 president of Florida Realtors. “Realtors know their markets, and the demand is clearly out there.”

In its letter to the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Department of the Treasury, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, NAR urged policymakers and lenders to focus on expanding the availability of financing for qualified homebuyers and investors to increase the REO absorption rate.

“More must be done to expand the availability of financing for qualified homebuyers and investors to help draw down REO inventory rather than focusing on programs that could line the pockets of Wall Street companies and financial investment firms,” says Veissi. “NAR’s research shows that nearly half of investors last year – 49 percent – paid all cash, underscoring the tight credit issue.”

NAR also recommended that any REO bulk sales program be limited to small geographic areas where alternatives to individual investors are needed, and relying on the expertise of local businesses, nonprofit organizations and local government for implementation.

NAR’s letter urged caution when evaluating the benefits of certain “mortgage-to-lease” programs, like the pilot program recently announced by Bank of America.

“As the leading advocate for homeownership and housing issues, NAR believes that any family who loses a home to foreclosure is one family too many. Realtors believe pre-foreclosure efforts should be intensified to help reduce the number of properties that end up as REOs,” says Veissi. “We hope that efforts will remain focused on keeping families in their homes as homeowners, rather than on programs that consolidate hundreds or thousands of properties into rentals and require large financial institutions to act as landlords.”

© 2012 Florida Realtors®