Jacksonville Beaches Real Estate

APRIL-2010 Newsletter Housing Trends eNewsletter Welcome to the most current Housing Trends eNewsletter. This eNewsletter is specially designed for you, with national and local housing information that you may find useful whether you’re in the market for a home, thinking about selling your home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general. The Housing Trends eNewsletter contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau and Realtor.org reports, videos, key market indicators and real estate sales statistics, a video message by a nationally recognized economist, maps, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, plus local neighborhood information and more. Please click here to view the APRIL-2010 Newsletter Housing Trends eNewsletter. If you are interested in determining the value of your home, click the Home Evaluator link for a free evaluation report.

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Okay all of you procrastinators! It's time to get very serious about finding your first home! Time is of the essence! Please don't hesitate any longer. You must have a "fully executed" contract by April 30th with a closing date before June 30th. That's really cutting it close! Today is April 14th and you've got 16 days to find a house! Please don't wait any longer. There are currently 3338 homes in the price range of $120,000 to $190,000 listed in our MLS. Let's go look at a few of them this weekend! :-) Call me today if I can help. We'll find something in time if you're willing to start looking with me TODAY!

The numbers are in and it's amazing! The real estate market in Jacksonville is blazing hot!! Sales for Jacksonville number of "solds" is up 23% over last year! The number of homes currently under contract is up over 39%. Wow! I'm not sure if it's the First Time Buyer credit that's driving the market or if it's because of the new, lower prices on the existing inventory. I don't know what it is... but I love it! We'll know soon. The Tax Credit expires on April 30th. If you've been considering buying a home...NOW IS THE TIME! Call me today!

Okay First Time Buyers out there. You have 41 days left before the Tax Credit ends! That may seem like a long time but trust me--by the time we look at lots of houses, we'll need every single one of those weekends to go look.That will be FIVE weekends to be exact! Not very many. There continues to be more activity in the 125-175 dollar price range. There are even rumors of multiple offers. It seems like all of the buyers are looking in the exact same price range and in the same areas! Please don't wait too long. Time is running out. Don't miss this opportunity to get a $8000 Tax Credit. Call me today and let's get busy!

Things are changing in the world of foreclosures and distressed home owners. The Feds have finally mandated some guidelines for Florida lenders to use to help home owners in trouble. If you're considering a short sale or foreclosure, please read the following article from EZine Magazine. This is the new program that will start on April 1st. I hope this will help you. If you find out that you might need to do a short sale, give me a call and we can discuss exactly how it works. Let me know what you think about the new plan to help homeowners decide what to do about their situation. Please keep in mind that all of the options listed below are for PRIMARY residences only. No investment property is included in the program. Call if you have questions. Although the foreclosure mediation process has been around for many years, until recently it's been mostly voluntary and not widely publicized to homeowners throughout Florida. Borrowers who are behind on their mortgage payments or ...

Be careful what you wish for! I predict that we're going to have an amazing number of first time buyers entering this market in the next 2 weeks! Are you prepared? First time buyers are the funnest, and the most challenging clients I've ever worked with!! Never a dull moment. They are smart, they're internet savvy, they have already looked at a LOT of houses on Realtor.com and other sites and they are READY TO GO! We are under a very tight deadline. We must have a contract signed, sealed and delivered no later than April 30th. That seems so far away right now--it's not! After getting the deal done, we can close as late as June 30th. In this market, the first timers are all looking in the same price range. I am starting to see multiple offers on homes already! Are you ready to get educated on how the process works? Some of my first timers are confused and have lots of questions. Multiple offers and homes sold above the asking price will be here this Spring...

Here is a good video about the new Good Faith Estimate lenders are using.

Fasten your seat belts! We're in for a bumpy ride in 2010. Join me and let's begin the adventure!

Is it just me, or is this Christmas here to soon? I'm just not ready for it yet. It could have something to do with the fact that it's going to be 83 degrees tomorrow. Somehow, 83 degrees and Christmas just don't seem like a good match! How can we get past this heat?!?!? The real estate market remains hot too. I got another short sale listing today. Another investor owned property that would be a really good buy for someone. There still seems to be a lot of activity out in the market. Lots of buyers trying to take advantage of the First Time Buyer tax credit. Lots of buyers trying to take advantage of the foreclosures on the market as well as the short sales. Interest rates dropped so low last week that they are the LOWEST THEY'VE EVER BEEN!! Wow! At one point they were just above 4%. That's amazing! What are you waiting for? If you've been thinking about buying a house...NOW is the time to act! In the meantime, I hope the weather cools off, but not the marke...

If you've been thinking about buying a house, let's do it now and get you moved in before Santa gets here! The First Time Buyer Tax Credit is alive and well! There's even a new $6500 Tax Credit for people that sell their house and buy another one! Wow! It doesn't get any better than this! Call me today and let's get busy and find your dream home.

Congress Passes Homebuyer Tax Credit Posted By Steve Cook On November 5, 2009 @ 3:31 pm In Beyond Today's News, Crisis Programs | No Comments After the Senate gave final approval last night without a dissenting vote, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to pass legislation containing an extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit, completing Congressional action and sending the tax credit to President Obama for his signature, possibly as early as tomorrow. The $8,000 homebuyer tax credit for first-time buyers, due to expire in 25 days, will be extended through April 30 of next year and buyers will have an additional two months, until the end of June, to close. First-time buyers who are in process of making a purchase will no longer need to worry about qualifying for the $8,000 credit if they close after the November 30 deadline. The new legislation increases the income limit for couples with income up to $225,000, a nearly $55,000 increase abov...

Once again it's time for me to repost the scariest real estate story ever! It's become an annual tradition to repost this article. I call it my "List Em and Leave Em" post. Don't let this happen to you! The names have been changed to protect the slackers and the victims... I continually hear people say that their realtor bugged them for weeks to get them to list their house with them. They finally agreed to list it and they never saw the REALTOR again!! I'm not exaggerating! Check out this story.... New example of a "list em and leave em" real estate company Wednesday, May 02, 2007JANESVILLE, Wis. - A couple checking out a house for sale were shocked to discover the 55-year-old homeowner dead in her bed. Authorities said foul play was not suspected. Real estate agent Linda stood in the dining room while Justin and Colleen walked through a house Monday night. Before long, she heard Colleen scream."I thought, 'What's wrong?' Maybe i...

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The number of short sales in the Jacksonville market continue to increase while the number of REO homes seems to be decreasing. There are a lot of foreclosed homes (REO) that are being sold for MORE THAN ASKING PRICE with multiple offers! There are often more than a dozen offers on a foreclosed home that is in good condition. The short sale market is absolutely dead at the moment. In order for a First Time Buyer to purchase a short sale, they should have placed their offer MONTHS ago! Short sales are taking 5-6 months to get to closing so they're not a good option for a First Timer trying to meet the November 30th deadline for closing. As the homes that have been on the market continue to sit there, more and more of them are becoming short sales as the price has to be reduced. The price drops and the status of the home becomes a short sale. It's brutal out there right now for SELLERS and it's GREAT out there for buyers! Interest rates are approaching historic lows and the...

This is a quick overview of the Jacksonville Market. Call me today and let's see if we can get you into a home before the Tax Credit expires.

This is a post written by a REALTOR in South Florida that explains the way a short sale and loan modification works. It's easy to understand and makes it all a little clearer. Worth the read! Is Your Short Sale or Loan Modification Being Turned Down? Has your short sale or loan modification been turned down and you have no idea why? Let's examine some of the reasons. These reasons may not make you feel any better or maybe they are just excuses by your lender, however there are a few things you may not even know about your loan. Let's say that you make your mortgage payment to Wells Fargo. You can no longer handle your payments so you ask Wells Fargo to modify your loan- to do a loan modification for you. You are behind in your payments. You are in fact, in foreclosure but you are still living in your home and the judge in your case has not ordered the sale of your home at auction yet. You are scared. You see your neighbors losing their homes all around you. You are hopeful...

If they don't extend the November 30th deadline for first time buyers to get the tax credit--- you're too late !!! Short sales are consistently taking 3-6 months to close so you've waited too long. I predict they will extend the deadline, but you just can't count on that for one minute. If you're looking for a really good bargain in todays market, stick with foreclosed homes. They can close in 30 days or less. You can USUALLY get a response from the lender on your offer in 24-36 hours. Please note that there are multiple offers now on the nicer houses. I've heard that some homes have as many as 2 dozen offers!! In today's market, it's probably better to start out with your highest and best offer right from the "get-go". That way, if you really love the house, you'll know if you're in the game. With the number of offers being thrown on the table, you need to try to make yours the best! Call or email me today for a list of foreclosures i...