3 Keys to Buying in Ocala Housing Market

Posted by Duke Rountree on

3 Keys to Buying in Ocala’s Housing Market

Buying a new or existing home can be a challenge for 1st time homebuyers and even for the experienced homebuyer. However, if you take a few steps and learn the process it can help ease some of the stresses that go along with your home purchase.

NUMBER 1 – REALTOR

Find a good, NO Great REALTOR! First, ask for a referral from a friend or family member. Word of mouth is the best way to find a REALTOR in your area to assist with the process. It can be simple(internet) or difficult(print advertising) to sit at your home, office or restaurant and search for hours looking at property listings. A local REALTOR will have the insight, knowledge and tools to make searching easier.

Example: How can 2 similar homes, one located in Silver Springs Shores(Under $100k) and another in the Magnolia Pointe(Under $200k) have such different price. It could be features, supply or most importantly LOCATION.

 NUMBER 2 – LOCATION

This is the first thing they teach you in real estate school. It determines everything! You can have the nicest house in all of Central Florida, but if the location is bad it will have a huge negative effect including lower price and overall salability of the property. Are your interested in certain schools, being close to work or recreation. Many REALTOR programs can be set-up to do auto searches for particular areas, price ranges and any other features you desire.

NUMBER 3 – LENDER

Interest rates are at an all time low with many 30 year mortgages hovering around 4% for those with great credit history. Here are a few loan products to chose from; USDA, Rural loan allows for up to 102% of appraised value to be financed; FHA is 3.5% Down with approx. another 3% in closing cost which can be paid by seller; VA is 0% down for active or retired military with funding fee paid at closing. There are many more options and loan products and finding a GREAT Mortgage Broker with years of experience can save you lots of time and money.

IN CONCLUSION

Finding a team of professionals to help in buying your next home, and finding them early can save you TIME and MONEY! If you need a GREAT REALTOR, please contact me at 352-572-1739 or duke@ocalarealtyonline.com. Looking for a GREAT LENDER? Contact me too.

 

“Until Next Time”

 

Homeowners Monthly Payments Down Almost 40%

Posted by Duke Rountree on

Monthly median-priced single family home today is $700

Inexpensive homes for sale in Florida and United States, plus historically low interest rates mean homeowners are paying less per month and that is great. Thats a 40% less than the $1,140 monthly average payed in 2006 according to Fiserv.

Here in Ocala, Florida homes sales prices have dropped a whooping 50% since the peaks in 2006. In rural areas such as Fort McCoy, Sparr, Anthony, Citra, Orange Spings, Williston, Belleview, Summerfield and many more the values have dropped even farther. In many other areas of the state and country values have only dropped around 35%. That means there is some great value in Marion County and we are poised to see a future rebound of the housing market. We are slowly starting to see home prices level off in the area but we are still not there yet.

Just as an example, let’s say you are borrowing $85,000.00 for 30 years with an interest rate of 5.000%. If the value of your home is $300,000.00, your property taxes $1,500.00 per year and your insurance is $1,200.00 per year, you can expect to be making a total payment of $681.30. This is because you need to pay $456.30 toward the actual loan, plus $125.00 for real estate taxes and $100.00 toward insurance.

Source: “Monthly Mortgage Payment Almost 40% Cheaper Than 2006,” HousingWire (Nov. 9, 2011) and Fiserv

© Copyright 2011 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

“Until Next Time”

 

August- Existing Home Sales Surge

Posted by Duke Rountree on
Existing home sales increased in August despite tightened credit and issues with low appraisals problems.Total existing-home sales rose 7.7% to seasonally adjusted average of 5.03 million, which is up from July’s 4.67 million and 18.6% higher than August of 2010.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the uptick can be attributed to favorable affordability conditions, rising rents and “Investors were more active in absorbing foreclosed properties.

Investors accounted for 22% of purchase activity and FIrst-time homebuyers purchased 32% of home in August. All cash sales accounted for 29% which was unchanged from July.

Why is the market taking so long to get back on track?

The biggest factors keeping home sales from a healthy recover are mortgages being denied to creditworthy buyers, and lower appraised valuations. This leads to “contract failures, or cancellations because of declined mortgage applications. 18% of NAR members reported contract cancellations which is up from 16% in July and 9% in August 2010.

Median existing single-family homes price was 168,400 in August, which is 5.4% below a year ago. In the South, existing-home sales increased 5.4%, which is 16.9% higher than a year ago and the median sales price ONLY went down .8% below August 2010.

It is a great sign to see the year to year median price slowly narrowing the gap from the years past sales. In my opinion, depending on shadow inventories and the economy, we should start seeing a smaller gap in existing median homes sales prices over the next year or two. This would be great news for existing home owners too see their largest investment stop losing value month after month and yearly drop in values since 2007.

“Until Next Time”

Source: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/09/21/august-existing-home-sales-leap-despite-headwinds

Delays in Foreclosures Reach New Records!

Posted by Duke Rountree on

Delays in Foreclosures Reach New Records! Home owners are living in their homes, mortgage & rent free, on average for 20 months or 599 days which is a new record according to data collected by Lender Processing Services, LLP.

There are approximately 1.9 million homes loans that are 90 or more days late, but not yet in foreclosure and 42% of those home owners have not made a payment in more than one year, with average delinquency of 397 days.

Why so long? Well there are judicial states and non-judicial states and the time frame to complete the foreclosure process varies greatly. Florida is non-judicial state and could possible clear inventories within 32 months, compared to a judicial state, like Las Vegas, that would require up to 111months. OUCH!! Yes that is correct, 111 MONTHS to work through inventories that are more than 90 days late.

In my opinion we will be working through these issue for many years to come, maybe upwards of 5-10 years and who really knows. I do know if we do not start creating jobs and help small business owners, it will take even longer because there are not enough qualified people to purchase new or existing homes.

“Until Next Time”

USDA Still has NO Downpayment Loans

Posted by Duke Rountree on

USDA still has No Down Payment loans.

U.S. department of agriculture has 11.2 Billion, yes billion, earmarked for mortgage loans thanks to funding from federal programs. Called a Section 502 loan, the loan is one of the few zero down products available in the mortgage market.

In years past money would run out during the summer and buyers would have to wait for more money to be available. Most low to middle income Florida residents can qualify for the USDA Loan if they live in rural, small town cities.

The program will change slightly after Oct. 1, when buyers will be required to pay a 0.3 percent premium for mortgage insurance monthly; however, the cost of upfront mortgage insurance will be reduced to 2 percent from its current 3.5 percent.

For more information, visit the USDA’s website or Call/Text me to find a local lender to answer all of your questions.

“Until Next Time”

John Wayne “DUKE” Rountree

 

 

 

Mortgage Rates @ All Time LOW!

Posted by Duke Rountree on

Question is? Who can qualify for a mortgage? Banks will need to loosen their requirements for borrowers if we are going to get more homeowners and refinances done. The 30 year fixed rate(most popular choice among buyers), averages 4.39% this week and lowest average for 2011, reports Freddie Mac.

What was the factor dropping the rates again? Weakening economy is the major factor! It’s not good news for the economy but great news for buyers who can qualify!

Housing market has still shown modest improvement with another rise in “pending” home sales for the month of June.

Interested in July and August 2011 Market Pulse? Click here:http://realtormag.realtor.org/news-and-commentary/market-pulse/article/2011/07/julyaugust-2011-market-pulse

“Until Next Time” and thank you very much for your time!

Turned Down for Credit Card or Loan?

Posted by Duke Rountree on

I assume we all know that your credit score determines your interest rate on a loan or whether you get a loan or not. In the past this score has always been a secret and little if no explanation given to the applicant on the reason for being denied credit. Starting today this all changes with provision in the Dodd-Frank financial reform.

How do things change for consumer? It means lenders will be required to supply the applicants credit score upon any of the following;

1.  Reject an applicant for a loan; they must provide reason why they are denied

2. Approve a loan but at a higher rate than their best customers, and explain why they are charging a higher rate

3. They must provide which score they used to make decision about loan and explain the factors that adversely affected your score.

Mark Green, CEO of FICO says about half of about 1 billion annual credit applications will fall under one of the 2 categories. Borrowers will be shocked to find out they are not being offered the same rates as the lenders best customers. It will encourage consumers to shop around for better rates and to improve their scores for the future.

In 2003 a federal law required the 3 major credit bureaus to provide consumers with their free annual reports but not with a “credit score.” The Dood-Frank reform does not change the 2003 Federal Law however a consumer can purchase their credit score when ordering their free credit reports. It is important to note that these credit scores are not the same scores used by the lenders, so called “educational score.

These changes will be great for consumers, especially in these difficult financial times. As a Real Estate Broker working with buyers and sellers daily we are experiencing overly tight lending standards compared to years past. I am not saying banks should make “fog the mirror” or sketchy loans but they do need to loosen their standards to help provide more homeownership.

“Until Next Time”

What is REO? What Effect Will REO Have on Housing Recovery?

Posted by Duke Rountree on

Real estate owned or REO…is a class of property owned by a lender typically a bank, government agency, or government loan insurer, after an unsuccessful sale at a foreclosure auction[1]. When a lender/ beneficiary finishes the foreclosure process the property can then be listed as an REO property.That is the technical definition, however most people know them as foreclosures. Most of the larger banks and government institutions have REO/Asset Management companies who handle departments that field bids and offers, oversee upkeep, and handle sales. Most REO properties are listed with local MLS(Multiple Listing Services by REALTORS for marketing properties.) Bank properties are typically in need of repair and/or maintenance and the cost of these items is the responsibility of the mortgage servicer(bank or government agency.)

What Effect Will REO Have on Housing Recovery?…The nation’s largest banks and mortgage holders currently own over 872,000 homes which were repossessed through foreclosure or other means. That is nearly 2x the amount foreclosed on in 2007, when the financial crisis began. Unfortunately, that may not be the worst news because the same lenders are ready to repossess over 1,000,000 more homes according to RealtyTrac reports. The huge number of currently banked owned foreclosures and the large pending amount are causing economist to fear a double dip in the real estate market. According to Treep, a leading real estate research firm, will force the lender-owned homes to sell for deep discounts over the next 2 years and at a cost of almost $40 billion in losses. The opinion of REALTORS is that lenders are overwhelmed with the huge inventory which many times the homes are outdated, often overpriced by 10% or more and lenders take to long to accept or reject the offer. The largest problem is it takes over 400 days to foreclose and on average 176 days to sell.

My personal opinion is we are a long way from a housing recovery being done and it will continue to be a buyers market for some time to come. Marion County has some of the best prices in the state. Many can buy a home for less than the cost to rent in the area. Want to learn more or have questions, please call, text, chat or email me.

“Until Next Time”


[1] William Roark (2006), Concise Encyclopedia of Real Estate Business Terms ISBN 0-7890-2341-5

Source; “As Lenders Hold Homes in Foreclosure, Sales Are Hurt, New York Times May 23,2011

Freddie Mac Summer Special Deal

Posted by Duke Rountree on

GREAT NEWS for Buyers and Sellers!

Freddie Mac is offering a “SUMMER SALES PROMOTION.” Upon qualified closing, HomeSteps will pay up to 3.5% of the purchase price of your home to cover certain closing costs. For instance, if your purchase price is $125,000, and your closing costs are $4,250, HomeSteps will only pay $4,250, an amount equal to 3.4% of your purchase price. Of course, not all homes or borrowers will qualify and the incentive is ONLY good to owner-occupants. You can visit, http://www.homesteps.com/smartbuy for all details.

BUT WAIT? There is more to this sweet deal!

Homesteps SmartBuy Program is also offering a 2 year HomeProtect Home Warranty and HomeProtect Appliance Discount The HomeProtect Home Warranty and HomeProtect Appliance Discount are available only to Participants who purchase and close on a qualifying HomeSteps home during the Program. The HomeProtect Home Warranty begins upon your qualifying home purchase closing date and continues for two years from that date. The HomeProtect Home Warranty has further restrictions and exceptions. Please see the HomeProtect® Home Warranty Terms and Conditions for all of the details. The HomeProtect Appliance Discount provides savings up to 30% savings on new appliances.

HOMES FOR SALE by Freddie Mac?

Where are they? In just about every location across the United States and Puerto Rico

How do you get more information? Contact your REALTOR® or better yet, if you do not have one, please contact ME! Or, you can visit, http://www.homesteps.com/featuresearch.html, and search any state, county or zip code for homes available in the program.

DON’T WAIT!

The offer is only good May 16, 2011 – July 31, 2011 with escrow closed on or before September 30, 2011. Now is a great time buy with low home prices, super low interest rates, and this new program could get you into a new/reseller home with little to no money down.

“Until Next Time.”