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  • Long Term Real Estate Investors Are In For A Bonanza

    12:22 pm on July 8, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , , , long-term investment,   Filed under: Buyer Info, Consumer news and advice, economy, Interest Rates, investment

    by The KCM Crew on July 8, 2010

    More millionaires were created as a result of the Great Depression than at any time in the nation’s history. Noted rich-guy John D. Rockefeller has said, “The way to make money is to BUY when blood is in the streets.”  Another noted rich-guy, Warren Buffet, believes you should “be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”  Huge success comes to those who see confusion as an opportunity. Today, there is a significant opportunity.

    With interest rates at historic lows and home values where they are (the Housing Affordability Index is as favorable as it has ever been) I have one question… “Why hasn’t everyone jumped into the market?”  Housing is still one of the most basic of needs (food, clothing, and SHELTER). (More …)

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  • Investor Interest in Real Estate Triples in 12 Months

    4:08 pm on April 19, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , long-term investment   Filed under: Uncategorized

    RISMEDIA, April 16, 2010—According to a new Move, Inc., survey, interest in real estate as an investment has more than tripled in the past year. In fact, 17.2% of potential home buyers today say they plan to purchase a home in the near future as an investment compared to just 5.6% in March 2009.

    The survey also found just over ten percent (12.3%) of Americans planning to purchase investment property in the near future say they will pay for the property using 100% cash, and 12.8% will use cash for more than 50% of the purchase price and finance the rest. Almost half (49.2%) say they will buy the property with less than 50% cash down and finance the remainder. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that one in three U.S. homes are owned free and clear, without a mortgage.

    Nearly half of these potential real estate investors (46.5%) say they plan to own the property for six or more years, 16% expect to hold the property between two and five years, while 10.6% plan to own the property between six and 24 months. (More …)

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  • Will Baby Boomers Lead Housing Industry Toward Recovery?

    11:10 am on February 16, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , long-term investment,   Filed under: Buyer Info, People, Seller Info

    By Steve Brown

    RISMEDIA, February 5, 2010—(MCT)—Baby boomer buyers fueled a big run-up in U.S. home construction and sales in the 1970s and 1980s. Now beleaguered homebuilders say they’re hoping aging boomers, who are just entering retirement age, will once again give them robust housing sales.

    “We believe this segment of the market is going to lead the housing industry toward recovery as the market turns around,” said Sharon Dworkin Bell, a senior staff vice president of the National Association of Home Builders.

    The 55-plus home buyer is being targeted by builders all over the country and was a focus of the industry’s annual conference recently in Las Vegas. The numbers are certainly there. By 2014, a quarter of the U.S. population—more than 85 million people—will be 55 or older. “The number of people in that age group is increasing, and there is a lot of promise out there,” builders’ association economist David Crowe said recently. (More …)

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  • 6 ways to ensure a remodeling project pays off

    1:05 pm on February 11, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: long-term investment, ,   Filed under: Seller Info

    By Josh Garskof, Money Magazine contributing writer, February 10, 2010

    (Money Magazine) — Just a few years ago you could count on getting the bulk of your money back for almost any home-improvement project you took on. Today merely replacing a toilet seat can feel like throwing caution, and cash, to the wind. According to a study from Remodeling magazine, the average return on value for an upgrade declined from 87% in 2005 to 64% in 2009. But these six new rules will help you maximize your return on your remodeling investment.

    Rule No. 1: Repairs get the biggest returns

    The smartest money now goes into “undeferring” needed maintenance. That’s because while buyers might appreciate enhancements like Jacuzzis and Sub-Zeros, they won’t tolerate a house with a leaky roof or antiquated plumbing. “If a property is known to have issues, today’s buyers won’t even look at it,” says Austin real estate appraiser Jim Amorin.

    And trying to keep problems a secret can cost you big-time. If buyers discover them during inspection, it’s now common practice to ask sellers not only to pick up the tab for the repair but also to pay a penalty to compensate the buyer for the inconvenience of having work done.

    So the $20,000 you saved by putting off a roof repair, say, could turn into a $30,000 credit to the buyers at closing, says Amorin.

    (More …)

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  • Condo Groups In Financial Pain

    2:32 pm on January 5, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , , , long-term investment, , , ,   Filed under: Bradenton, Buyer Info, Condominiums, Sarasota, Seller Info, The Housing Market

    By MICHAEL BRAGA, The Herald Tribune – January 3, 2010

    The continuing foreclosure flood is creating severe financial problems for condominium associations across Florida, and members are complaining that banks and mortgage companies are doing nothing to help.

    Rich DiBello is the sales and rental director for Villagio Condominiums in Sarasota. Condo associations are facing financial difficulties, and many say lenders aren't doing enough to help.

    In fact, condo owners say that many lenders are delaying foreclosures to avoid paying association dues. That is requiring associations to slash costs and cut amenities, and forcing owners to fork over more cash to keep complexes humming.

    In something of a Catch-22, the financial problems at condo complexes also are prompting banks to tighten restrictions on lending.

    Banks will not lend in complexes that have not set aside 10 percent of their budgets for reserves. They will not lend when more than 50 percent of the units are rented. They also will not lend where a few owners control too many of the units or where too many owners are in default on their mortgages and dues.

    Those restrictions only make the crisis worse by driving condo values down and prompting more people to bail on their units, said Perry Corneau, a Sarasota real estate agent who specializes in condos. (More …)

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  • First-Time Home Buyers Setting Records

    2:44 pm on November 19, 2009 | Comments:0
    Tags: 2009 Realtors Conference & Expo, , , , , long-term investment, , , , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, Seller Info, The Housing Market

    NAR Survey Shows First-Time Home Buyers Set Record in Past Year

    sign check(1)Source, National Association of Realtors®

    First-time home buyers reached the highest market share on record during the past year, according to the latest consumer survey of home buyers and sellers. The study was released here today at the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo.

    The 2009 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers is the latest in a series of large national NAR surveys evaluating demographics, preferences, marketing and experiences of recent home buyers and sellers. Among national surveys, NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers is unprecedented in size and scope.

    Paul Bishop, NAR vice president of research, said several factors have been at play. “Tax incentives, record high affordability conditions and a pent-up demand brought a record share of first-time home buyers into the market,” he said. “These buyers are critical to housing and a general economic recovery because the market always heals from the bottom up – they absorb inventory, free existing owners to make a trade and stimulate related goods and services.”

    For more information, contact:
    Walter Molony 202/383-1177 wmolony@realtors.org

    (More …)

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  • Tax Credit May Offer Foreclosure Buffer

    10:57 am on November 10, 2009 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , , long-term investment, , , , , , ,   Filed under: Bradenton, Buyer Info, Sarasota, Seller Info

    By Tom Bayles, Tuesday, November 10, 2009

    Stan Humpfries, Zillow.com chief economist

    Stan Humpfries, Zillow.com Chief Economist

    Home values are still falling in the Sarasota-Bradenton market, but the trend is showing signs of slowing — and might slow further with the recent passage of an extended home buyers tax credit, Zillow.com’s chief economist said Monday.

    Stan Humphries, who last month predicted through an analysis of the regional market for the Herald-Tribune that a new wave of foreclosures would further depress prices in Manatee and Sarasota counties, said Congress’ move to extend the tax credit both in length and breadth could ameliorate some of the potential drop in Southwest Florida.

    “We could see a bump in demand that could partially offset the increased supply of foreclosed homes on the market,” said Humphries, chief economist for the online home valuation service. “The credits are likely to bring continued stabilization in prices over this period versus the price declines that we almost certainly would see otherwise.“  Zillow released an analysis on Monday that showed home values in Sarasota-Bradenton fell 14 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2008. Prices in the Charlotte County market dropped 10 percent during the same time frame. But prices in the region were near what is considered statistically flat from the second quarter to the third, which ended in September.

    Meanwhile, another set of data from housing tracker Metrostudy also found some signs of life in new home construction in Southwest Florida.

    Builders in the region started more homes in the third quarter than in the previous two quarters combined, and the boost was not limited to the lower price ranges, which has been where the builders who have remained busy during the downturn have focused.

    There were 155 new homes started in the region at a price below $200,000 during the most recent quarter, a 9.9 percent increase from the second quarter. In the $200,000 to $350,000 range, there were 131 starts, up 4 percent. Forty-three homes priced above $350,000 were started in the third quarter, nearly double the second quarter tally, Metrostudy reported.

    The company also uses finished vacant inventory as a fundamental indicator to monitor the health of housing markets. That inventory in this region dropped 30 percent in all price ranges, though the total still remains above a level of equilibrium, Metrostudy said.

    HOME FACTS

    The Zillow Home Value Index measures the value of all homes, not just those those that were on the market and sold. The online home valuation service released this data Monday on Southwest Florida’s real estate market.

    SARASOTA-BRADENTON

    Nearly 50 percent of single-family homes with mortgages were underwater at the end of September.

    Homes that sold for a loss numbered 47.2 percent of all homes sold in September.

    Home values dropped an average 14.3 percent in September compared with the same month in 2008 to $155,300. But in the short-term, home values were nearly statistically flat with a drop of 1.1 percent from the second quarter to the third.

    CHARLOTTE COUNTY-NORTH PORT

    About 40 percent of single-family homes with mortgages were underwater at the end of September.

    Homes that sold for a loss numbered about 41 percent of all homes sold in September.

    Home values dropped by 10.6 percent in September compared with the same month in 2008 to $122,400. But similar to Sarasota-Bradenton, the drop was nearly statistically flat with an increase of 1.1 percent from the second quarter to the third.

    SOURCE: Zillow.com

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  • Moody's bearish on housing recovery

    10:51 am on September 22, 2009 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , long-term investment, , , , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, Charts, Communities, Seller Info, The Housing Market

    Analysts say it will take more than 10 years to recapture peak home prices

    By John Spence, MarketWatch

    BOSTON (MarketWatch) — Moody’s Investors Service threw cold water on optimistic projections of a V-shaped recovery in the battered U.S. housing market, predicting it could take more than 10 years to get back to boom-level prices.

    “For many reasons, the rebound will be disproportionately small compared to the decline,” Moody’s said this week in its latest outlook on the residential market. “It will take more than a decade to completely recover from the 40% peak-to-trough decline in national home prices.”

    Shades of recovery

    The housing market is in the third year of the current downturn, one of the worst corrections in U.S. history as a result of the economic recession and the mortgage industry nearly grinding to a halt during the credit crunch.

    “The bursting of the housing bubble precipitated a crisis in financial markets the likes of which have not been seen since the Great Depression and plummeted the nation into recession,” Moody’s said.

    To view the entire article, click here.

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  • 25 Best Places to Retire

    2:41 pm on September 10, 2009 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , , long-term investment, , , , , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, Communities, Seller Info, Vacation

    Thinking about your post-work home?

    You’ll get huge bang for your buck — plus lots of other perks — in these towns.  Port Charlotte, Fla.port_charlotte_fl

    Population: 48,000

    % over 50: 44%

    Typical 3-bedroom home: $170,000

    Housing prices down: 63%

    State income tax: None

    Lots of places in Florida have been battered by the housing bust. But this laid-back Gulf Coast town, just across Charlotte Harbor from pricier Punta Gorda, arguably best hits the sweet spot of great prices and great amenities.

    Homes here cost less than half what they did in late 2005, and about 40% of them sit on canals and waterways leading to the harbor – which has 270 square miles of cruising waters and 219 miles of protected shoreline. – CNNMoney.com,  by Sarah Max and Beth Braverman

    To view the entire article, click here.

    To see complete data, including tax rates for Port Charlotte, click here.


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  • Sarasota-Bradenton Home Sales Spike 30% in July

    3:15 pm on August 21, 2009 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , , long-term investment, , , , , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, Communities, Seller Info, The Housing Market

    National home sales, as reported by the National Association of Realtors for the month of July, were the best in several years.

    SarasotaBradentonhomesalesspikeFriday, August 21, 2009

    Home sales in the Sarasota-Bradenton market rose 30 percent during July as buyers scurried to lock in a tax credit of 10 percent of the purchase price, or up to $8,000.

    Prices in the market were down 22 percent from a year ago at $179,500, but continued to show stability, rising 10 percent from $162,700 in June, according to data released Friday by the Florida Association of Realtors.

    In Charlotte County-North Port, sales rose 24 percent in July, but the median sales price of $105,000 was down 26 percent from a year ago and 28 percent from June.

    Statewide, home sales rose 37 percent, with the median dropping 24 percent to $147,600. That price was roughly flat with $148,000 last month.

    Nationally, sales in July posted the largest monthly increase in at least 10 years, perhaps a sign that the U.S. housing market is rebounding quicker than expected. – HeraldTibune.com (article by Tom Bayles & Aaron Kessler)

    To read the entire article, please click here.

    Related Links (Provided by, Florida Association of Realtors and the University of Florida Real Estate Research Center):
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