The Selby Group

ORLANDO, Fla. – June 21, 2011

selbygroup — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:09:03 +0000

Florida’s existing home, condo sales rise in May 2011

Florida’s existing home and existing condo sales rose in May, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Existing home sales increased 3 percent last month with a total of 17,228 homes sold statewide compared to 16,790 homes sold in May 2010, according to Florida Realtors. Statewide sales of existing condos last month rose 17 percent compared to the year-ago sales figure.

Twelve of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported higher existing home sales in May; 14 MSAs also had higher condo sales. It’s the sixth consecutive month that Florida Realtors has reported higher year-over-year existing home and existing condo sales statewide.

“With low mortgage rates and a broad inventory of homes at affordable prices, qualified buyers are realizing that there may never be a better time to find the home they’ve been dreaming of in Florida,” said 2011 Florida Realtors President Patricia Fitzgerald, manager/broker-associate with Illustrated Properties in Hobe Sound and Mariner Sands Country Club in Stuart. “Consult a local Realtor® about qualification criteria and to find out more about opportunities in your local housing market.”

selbygroup — Thu, 19 May 2011 20:24:33 +0000

Foreign Buyers Recognize Value of Home Ownership in U.S.

The U.S. continues to remain a top destination for foreign buyers as international purchases surged by $16 billion this year, one of the highest increases in recent years.

By Leanne Jernigan

Palm Coast, FL – May 19, 2011 – The U.S. continues to remain a top destination for foreign buyers as international purchases surged by $16 billion this year, one of the highest increases in recent years.

This is according to the National Association of Realtors®’ 2011 Profile of International Home Buying Activity. According to the survey, total residential international sales in the U.S. for the past year ending March 2011 equaled $82 billion, up from $66 billion in 2010. Total international sales were split evenly between non-resident foreigners and recent immigrants, while combined total domestic and international existing-home sales in the U.S. were $1.07 trillion.

“The U.S. has always been a desirable place to own property and a profitable investment,” said NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I. “In recent years we have seen more and more foreign buyers coming here to take advantage of low prices and plentiful inventory. In addition to the advantageous market conditions, Realtors® in this country have a global perspective and experience in working with clients from different cultures and real estate practices, helping them bring value to their international clients.”

Historically, foreign buyers have been attracted to property ownership in the U.S. for a number of reasons. U.S. homes are generally less expensive than comparable foreign properties, homes in this country are viewed as a secure investment, and the U.S. market offers rental opportunities and long-term appreciation potential.

More recently, Realtors® have noticed new factors motivating foreign buyers. Many U.S. colleges and universities have a significant number of international students, and some foreign families are purchasing U.S. properties in college areas so their child has a place to live. Another source of international demand is foreign executives temporarily working in the U.S., some of whom prefer to purchase a residence instead of renting.

“Besides the strength of the dollar and the general economic trends in the U.S., international buyers are also recognizing the benefits of home ownership in this country, especially in the case of recent immigrants,” said Phipps. “Many foreigners perceive owning a home here as an important accomplishment in their efforts to become established in this country.”

Recent international buyers came from 70 different countries, up from 53 countries in 2010. For the fourth consecutive year, Canada was the top country of origin, with 23 percent of sales to foreigners. China was the second most popular country of origin, with nine percent of international sales this year. Tied for third were Mexico, the U.K., and India. Argentina and Brazil combined reported an increase in foreign sales with five percent, up from two percent in 2010. The top five countries of origin accounted for 53 percent of international transactions in 2011.

The average price paid by an international buyer was $315,000 compared to the overall U.S. average of $218,000. However, 45 percent of international purchases were under $200,000. This price segment has grown significantly over the years, most likely due to overall price declines in the U.S. as well as the strengthening of some foreign currencies.

Almost every state had at least one international transaction in the past year. The four states with the heaviest concentration of international buyer activity have remained the same over the past five years. Florida had 31 percent of total international transactions this year, the most of any state. California had 12 percent, Texas had nine percent, and Arizona rounded out the top four with six percent of international transactions.

Foreign buyers are primarily interested in three factors when deciding where to buy in the U.S.: proximity to their home country; convenience of air transportation; and climate and location. Generally, the East Coast attracts European buyers. The West Coast remains popular for Asian purchasers. Mexican buyers are traditionally attracted to the Southwestern markets. Florida is most popular among South Americans, Europeans and Canadians.

Similar to last year, 28 percent of Realtors® in 2011 reported working with an international client. Fifty-five percent served at least one foreign client, while the bulk of international transactions were handled by a small percentage of Realtors®. Only eight percent of members obtained 50 percent or more of their transactions from international clients.

Sixty-one percent of foreign buyers purchased a single-family home while 36 percent bought a condo/apartment or townhouse. In addition, 62 percent of international purchases were reported as being all cash. This percentage is significantly higher than all-cash purchases for domestic buyers, mostly due to the differences in international credit reporting standards. Financing challenges continue to be a major hurdle for international buyers, with 32 percent reporting these as their reason for not buying a home. Many Realtors® reported that their foreign clients faced mortgage financing issues, as well as problems with legal, tax and immigration laws.

©National Association of Realtors® – reprinted with permission

Local Happenings:

selbygroup — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:59:08 +0000

Article recently published in the East Orlando Sun:

“Avalon has an app for that”

By: Megan Stokes February 3, 2011 12:32 p.m.

Shelly Gref, co-owner of Eastside Bistro at Avalon Park, said the Avalon Park App for the iPhone has helped bring new customers to the year-and-a-half old restaurant

After hearing some grumbling about their weekly 7:15 a.m. meeting time, Rotary of Avalon Park decided to mix in some evening meetings and change up meeting locations week to week in an effort to grow their membership.

The only thing holding them back has been a fear that members might lose track of meeting times and places.

But now, thanks to a new iPhone application that serves as a database for Avalon Park businesses and organizations, they are confident their new plan will work, said Bob Ewald, Rotary member and past president.

“This (app) will help our members keep track of where and when the meetings are,” he said. “I think this (app) could help us make this work.”

The Avalon Park app, one of the first developed for a community, hit Apple stores early this month but only recently started getting buzz. Now, with more than 700 users – the average user taps the app three times a day – and 90 businesses in the app’s directory, people in the 3,500-home community are getting on board.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Avalon resident John Hollaway said. “I didn’t know about the carnival Avalon had a few months ago until I drove by it. I have a little boy so I’d love to know about these things.”

The app offers a calendar of events as well as specials and discounts offered by Avalon businesses. Eastside Bistro co-owner Shelly Gref said the calendar, which lets people know about their Thursday night trivia, live entertainment on the weekends and special dish of the day, has helped rope in more customers.

“There are a lot of people in Avalon who are tech-savvy, and they don’t know we’re here,” she said of the business that opened a year and a half ago.

Avalon Park Group Marketing Director Stephanie Hodson said the app is not only meant to drive up business for their commercial tenants, but also to help connect the Avalon community and beyond.

“It’s meant for the general public, especially since Avalon Park is meant to be the downtown for all of East Orlando,” she said.

“I’d definitely use it,” said Susie Santaniello of Stoneybrook, a neighboring community. “We can see what the specials are when we’re at work, and we want to go out to eat without having to dig through the website.”

Robert Thomas lives in Brevard County, but as an Orkin Pest Control salesman working in Avalon, he said the app will be extremely useful.

“I can just go to the app, hit the business I want and get their information,” he said.

Ewald said he hopes the app will benefit and strengthen the community. As a member of the Timber Creek High Athletic Booster Club, which raises money to supplement the school’s sports teams, he hopes getting information out about their annual fundraiser through the app will help them reach this year’s monetary goal.

“Every year we’ve been stuck at the $6,000 mark, which isn’t bad, but we’d really like to get up to $12,000 to $15,000 because the facilities over there need upgrades so we can continue to compete at the level that we have,” he said.

Matt Chapman, a local software engineer who created the Avalon Park app, said the idea came to him when he was reading Avalon Park’s electronic newsletter.

“I said to my wife, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if there were phone numbers for the businesses on here?’ And my wife said, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if there was an app for that?’” Chapman said. “I thought for sure another city like Winter Park would have already had something like this but I couldn’t find anything.”

Now word about the app is spreading fast.

“I was getting my hair cut the other day and the guy cutting my hair asked me if I used the app,” Chapman said.

He said an Android version of the app will be available in about a month.

“I did this because I live in Avalon Park and I like it here,” he said.

selbygroup — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:39:56 +0000

On a Night More Special Than Anyone Knew, Jacksonville Symphony Celebrates America in Palm Coast | FlaglerLive

The pops followed the picnic on a night more special than anyone yet knew. (© FlaglerLive)

A sold-out crowd of about 600, food by the bushel at every one of the 60 tables knotted around Central Park’s brick plaza (it was a picnic, mind you), drink—real drink—by the barrel, and the sort of evening breeze mixing warmth, chill and chat that every music festival from spring to Maine would envy: that was just the appetizer at Palm Coast’s Town Center this evening. The main course was under the big tent.

Every once in a while, like the distant rumble of an oncoming storm, the sound of a drum or a tuba or a trombone dusting off would mingle with the minglers until, eating, anthems and tuning done, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra saddled into its interpretation of Aaron Copland’s “Buckaroo Holiday,” and the evening at the pops was off.

The sun had just sleeved itself behind a ridge of Town Center trees to the West, and night fell as quickly as the sounds of 52 musicians and the centuries of composers at their fingertips brightened the dark.
This is the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s annual gift to the city: a 90-minute concert of classical and pop favorites from Strauss polkas to Pirates of the Caribbean, with a solid dose of Americana framing the evening: Irving Berlin, John Williams, Aaron Copland, and a tribute to the armed forces that, unlike every other rousing piece on the program—and there were many—finally managed to get people on their feet.

No one yet knew how much they’d be happy to be on their feet this night, with the armed forces in mind: as people got home later in the evening, they learned, late in the evening, of the death of the man–Osama bin laden–who’d dragged the armed forces across the globe, seemingly, but no longer, to no end.

That news hadn’t broken yet. So meanwhile, guest conductor Teddy Abrams, who is 21, looks 12, conducted like a young Leopold Stokowski and joked like a middle aged Woody Allen, carried the evening with his humor and verbal liner notes. It’s kind of a weird title,” he said of Satie’s famous Gymnopedie, “because it refers to ancient, naked Greek gymnastics, but I can assure you, you probably won’t encounter any of that this evening, nor does it really sound like that. But it’s a really nice piece anyway.”

Copland’s rousing ‘Buckaroo Holiday’ opened the program. Click on the image for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)

Liszt’s Rhapsody No. 2, Abrams reminded the crowd, “wasn’t originally meant to be for cartoons. It wa s by Franz Liszt, considerably before there were any cartoons, and a long time ago it was originally the gold standard of piano virtuosity. Of course Franz Liszt was kind of the quintessential virtuoso of his time, wherever he went he was basically mobbed by people, he had a very celebrity-style life, kind of the original pop music star, and he wrote a series of Hungarian rhapsodies which were designed to be vehicles to show off his ridiculous piano skills. This became the kind of piece that basically everybody included on their piano concert to demonstrate that they could in fact play it, that they were a true virtuoso. Being such a popular piece, it was transcribed for orchestra, and hijacked by Warner Brothers, Disney, MGM, and every other group of people making cartoons in the 30s, 40s and 50s. So you’ll probably recognize Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.”

There was no mistaking it: “The three little pigs and the big bad wolf cartoon,” is how one approving concert-goer described the music when it was done.

So it went as Abrams, a conductor at the celebrated New World Symphony, made each piece even more accessible than the pops repertoire makes them. The evening’s encore needed no introduction: the theme from Star Wars, originally composed by John Williams, who won an Academy Award for it in 1977 (and a Grammy and other lesser awards).

Next year’s concert date was also announced; it’ll be on Mother’s Day, May 13.

The foundation’s gift—a slightly costly one, at $30 a plate, but considerably less expensive than a similar treat at the Jacksonville Symphony’s home, and dirt cheap when you consider that the Jacksonville Symphony picked up the cost of gas for this one—is also the Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s most important fund-raiser as it continues to plan for an eventual concert hall of its own in Palm Coast, sometime in the future. Sam Perkovich, the foundation’s president, sees the hall as the Jacksonville Symphony’s second home. That plan has tended to be more a hope than a realistic goal, though to anyone in the audience Sunday evening, realism was a relative term: a single performance a year by the Jacksonville Symphony in Palm Coast by the Jacksonville Symphony doesn’t seem like nearly enough.

Final notes. (© FlaglerLive)

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selbygroup — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:29:21 +0000

Mortgage matters

Finding financing may prove to be the biggest hurdle of all

Orlando Sentinel: Sentinel Staff Writer.

Is it more difficult to borrow money for a mortgage today than it was just three years ago when pretty much anyone with a last name was approved for financing? Yes — and it should be to avoid the kind of foreclosure crisis we’re facing right now. Is it impossible? No — or at least it isn’t for qualified buyers who do their homework first.

Even for those who qualify in today’s market, most lenders are now requiring larger down payments and higher credit scores for foreclosure purchases.

Many of the best foreclosure deals are purchased entirely with cash, since that is often the cleanest, quickest and easiest offer for the seller to accept.

Pre-qualified versus pre-approved:

Know the difference
Providing a pre-approval letter from a lender will make your foreclosure offer stronger, since it is based on actual figures for your income, assets and liabilities in determining how much you can comfortable afford. Pre-approval, on the other hand, is more of an estimate based on a cursory look and typically does not hold as much weight.

In your best interest
- At the time of writing, interest rates were around five percent, with some believing they could be headed for historic lows below four percent.
- Depending on the terms of your mortgage, your interest rate will be fixed for the entire length (usually 15 or 30 years), or variable, meaning it can adjust periodically in either direction.
- It is frequently possible to “buy down” the interest rate by paying points (one point is equal to one percent of the loan amount). – Interest rates can be “locked in,” meaning the lender guarantees a given interest rate for a limited number of days (typically 30, 45 or 60). Borrowers usually opt to lock in a rate when they’re confident they won’t go much lower.
- Conversely, “floating” a rate allows buyers to lock in at some future time during the mortgage process — with the risk that rates may actually be higher when a decision finally has to be made.

Who has the money?
Here are just a few of the places where homebuyers and investor can turn when trying to locate funds to purchase a foreclosure:

- Banks and savings institutions
- Mortgage brokers
- Personal investment funds
- Home equity lines of credit
- Credit cards
- Private investors

Think out of the box
It is possible to finance 90 percent loan-to-value (or 90 percent of the value you wish to purchase) with a traditional mortgage, while borrowing the remaining 10 percent using a line of credit (or credit card), eliminating the need for cash out of pocket.

Types of loans
Conventional loans: any loan that is not backed by the government.
Government-backed loans: FHA-insured loans, VA-guaranteed loans, etc.

Loan application checklist
While applying for a mortgage can seem like a monumental task, being adequately prepared for the process goes a long way in saving time and money. Before you meet with whatever lender you ultimately choose, gather the following items to bring with you.

- Signed sales contract for property being purchased
- Copy of seller’s deed
- Plat and/or survey
- W-2 forms for previous two years
- Copy of your school transcripts or diploma if a full-time student in last two years
- Tax returns for last two years if self-employed, commissioned or using rental income to qualify
- Three most recent pay stubs
- Copy of last three statements on all asset accounts (bank, stocks, etc.)
- Copy of loan payment coupons
- Copy of charge statements, with balances and account number
- Year-to-date, signed profit & loss, if self-employed
- Copy of rental or lease agreements on all rental properties owned
- Copy of divorce or separation agreement in full when declaring income or debt from such agreement
- Names, addresses, account numbers for any mortgage company or landlord for previous two years
- Names and phone numbers of both listing and selling agent
- Copy of listing and/or contract on any present homes for sale
(Source: New Home Finder)

How much home can you afford?
In 100 Questions Every First-Time Homebuyer Should Ask, nationally syndicated real estate columnist and author Ilyce R. Glink provides the following easy-to-use worksheet when determining how much of a monthly loan payment your income will support:

1. Gross Monthly Income (GMI) from all sources: ___________

2. Multiply by:
.25 (25 percent), a conservative number
.28 (28 percent), the conventional amount
.33 (33 percent), allow you some debt payment
.36 (36 percent), if you have no debt
For the loan-to-income ration: __________

3. Subtract your current monthly debts service:
Credit cards: ____________
Car loan(s)/leases: ____________
Charge accounts: ____________
School loans: ____________
Other personal debt:____________
Total Debt Service: __________
4. Subtract monthly or semi-monthly condominium or co-op assessments, or homeowner association fees, if applicable: __________

5. Maximum monthly mortgage payment: __________

6. Subtract real estate property and tax monthly escrow: __________

7. Net monthly mortgage payment: __________

8. Multiply by 12 (months of the year): __________

9. Annual mortgage payment: __________

10. Divide by the current interest rate: __________

11. Total amount of mortgage: __________

12. Plus cash you have available for the down payment (save some for closing costs and two months’ reserve): __________

13, Approximate amount you can spend on a home: __________

What will your monthly payment be?
Based on a loan of $100,000 (which can easily be multiplied to reflect your particular purchase price) with a 30-year fixed rate, the monthly payments based on various interest rates follows:

Interest rate Monthly payment

4 percent $477.42
4.25 percent $491.94
4.5 percent $506.69
4.75 percent $521.65
5 percent $536.82
5.25 percent $552.20
5.5 percent $567.79
5.75 percent $583.57
6 percent $599.55
7 percent $665.30

Note: This payment does not include taxes (approximately 2 percent of the purchase price in our area), insurance (depending on location, you may be required to carry homeowner, wind and flood policies), HOA fees, and mortgage insurance for those who put down less than 20 percent

selbygroup — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:48:45 +0000

Orlando home sales pace

among top in Florida

April 20, 2011|By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel

The Orlando area had among Florida’s top sales pace for existing home sales in March, following only the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater metro area, according to a report released Wednesday by the Florida Realtors.

Real estate agents in the four-county Orlando region reported selling 2,683 single-family homes for the month, which was an 8-percent increase from a year earlier, according to the report by the industry association. The Tampa area had more than 3,200 sales.

Sales volume was up a 24 percent in Volusia County from March 2010 to last month and it was up 31 percent for Polk County during that time. Sales in 19 metropolitan areas within the state were up 12 percent from March 2010.

Prices of existing homes in Orlando during March hit a midpoint of $121,100, which was slightly below the median price of $126,300 for the state’s metro areas. Orlando’s March prices were 8 percent down from a year ago, a slightly greater decline than prices elsewhere in the state.

Analysts with the National Association of Realtors have noted that sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to downwardly distort the median price not only in Florida but throughout the country.

“Housing affordability conditions have been at record levels and the economy has been improving, but home sales are being constrained by unnecessarily tight credit,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the national association.

Orlando’s condominium prices in March remained among the lowest in the state with a median of $54,100, up 9 percent from a year earlier. Only Ocala had lower condo prices, with a midpoint price of $39,000 in March. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $84,300; in March 2010 it was $94,800. And in February, the national median existing condo sales price was $150,400.

The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.84 percent in March, down slightly from the 4.97 percent average during the same month a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac.

March 25, 2011

selbygroup — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:25:01 +0000

First-time buyers prepare for best market in recent history

CAMPBELL, Calif. – March 22, 2011 – Inexperienced first-time buyers may not know if the time is right to make a move into real estate.

“It’s not about timing the market. It’s about time in the market,” says Steve Berkowitz, chief executive officer at Move Inc., the online company that oversees operation of Realtor.com. “Once you know how long you expect to own a home, look at the historical value performance of properties in the neighborhood. Be confident about your own job security, down payment resources and tolerance for upkeep, as well as the lifestyle you want today and in the near term. Today’s housing market, especially for first-time buyers, makes it almost impossible not to think about the possibilities.”

To help first-time buyers decide if they’re ready, Move created a “reality checklist.”

Get your financial house in order

Before you decide to buy a home, make sure your credit is in good shape and repair any damage previously done. Know your credit score: Thirty-five percent of successful buyers recently reported they didn’t know their credit score when they went house shopping, according to a national survey fielded for MortgageMatch.com. Having enough money set aside for a down payment is a key component. Also, don’t put all your money in the down payment as other fees or unexpected expenses often arise after closing.

Don’t fall in love with a house you can’t buy

Find out how much you can afford, including how much money will be required for a down payment and closing costs. Look for special loans available from FHA and government-sponsored loans for first-time homebuyers that reduce the amount of money required to get into a home.

Learn the lingo

Since first-time buyers are new to the market and will finance a significant portion of their purchase, it’s important to get familiar with the processes and terminology associated with home buying. Here are a few key terms from MortgageMatch.com:

• Bait Rate: Misleading mortgages with low rate promises and no contingencies generally for those with extraordinary credit. Rates are based on: credit, debt-to-income and loan-to-value ratios, the size and type of loan, property location and the day you lock your rate, etc. The loan isn’t locked until the application is accepted. By then, it may be too late to find a better rate from another lender.

• Basis Point: A term used in the mortgage industry, which simply means 1/100th of 1 percent.

• Closing Costs: The fees required to process and close your loan. They’re a cash obligation running from three to five percent of the purchase price. Motivated sellers might pay a portion of these costs.

• FHA: Federal Housing Administration, the federal government agency that oversees the U.S. housing market. FHA loans are loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

• FRM and ARM: A fixed-rate mortgage loan (FRM) is a loan where your interest rate stays the same for the life of the loan. ARMs are adjustable rate mortgages with variable interest rates that fluctuate based on an agreed-upon index.

• GFE: The Good Faith Estimate (GFE) is a document explaining all costs involved in getting a loan.

• TIL: The Federal Truth-in-Lending Form is a document that spells out the costs and fees of the loan.

• Lis Pendens: An official notice that there is a pending lawsuit over real estate.

• Per Diem Interest: Interest you pay per day, from the day you close to the last day of the month.

• Underwriting and Underwriting Fees: Underwriting is a process the lender performs to qualify a borrower for a loan, and the fee is what you pay the lender at closing to cover evaluating the risk involved with loaning you money.

• Warranty Deed: A legal document guaranteeing the seller has a right to sell a property, which is very important if you are considering a distressed or discounted property.

If now isn’t the right time, prepare for your future purchase

If now isn’t the right time to buy a home, make a plan with a target date for when you expect to be ready. Improving your credit, paying down debt, stabilizing your work history and calculating exactly how much you can afford, are the best ways to prepare for your future home purchase. It’s also important to refrain from making any new large purchases or applying for new credit.

selbygroup — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:34:41 +0000

5 factors that affect home values

Today’s buyers are less willing to overlook ‘incurable’ defects

By Dian Hymer, Tuesday, March 8, 2011.

Inman News™

Location has long been touted as the most important variable affecting the value of residential real estate. Recently, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices suggested that location is still a front-runner in terms of determining valuation.

In October 2010, four cities in the 10-city composite index registered price gains from the previous year: Los Angeles (3.3 percent), San Diego (3 percent), San Francisco (2.2 percent) and Washington, D.C. (3.7 percent). In many cities around the country, like Las Vegas and Detroit, home prices continue to decline.

The front-runners listed above are coastal port-of-entry cities. Three are in California. However, the inland cities of California — Fresno, Merced, Bakersfield and Riverside, to name a few — are not experiencing the same relatively good price performance. They are still plagued with a surplus of foreclosure inventory and high unemployment.

A large number of foreclosures and short sales in an area can bring the overall price of homes down. It’s difficult for appraisers to find nondistressed comparable sales to support higher prices because of the lack of conventional, nondistressed sales. However, if there are only a few distressed sales in an area, the distressed sales will probably not have much if any effect on the valuation of conventional sales.

Location within an area can also influence home values. Some market niches in an area are doing better than others. A niche need not be a physical location. It could be a price range. For example, well-priced listings in the $1 million to $1.4 million price range in Piedmont, Calif., have been selling relatively quickly, sometimes with more than one offer. The $3 million and above price range has not been doing as well.

HOUSE-HUNTING TIP: Today’s buyers are usually willing to pay more for homes that have a good “walk to” score. That is, they are within walking distance of shops, parks, cafes and transportation. Buyers with children often prefer a location close to schools. However, the value of a home might be diminished if it is located too close to a school — such as across the street.

Proximity to a major metropolitan area usually has a positive impact on prices, particularly when combined with a good public transportation. Employment opportunities in the area also boost home prices.

Supply and demand are up there with location in terms of impact on price. A surplus of unsold inventory gives buyers choice and a lack of a sense of urgency. Too little inventory relative to demand has the reverse effect. This usually puts an upward pressure on prices. Sellers in sought-after neighborhoods who put their homes on the market when there’s little for sale often sell for more than they anticipated.

Buyers take the condition of the property into account before they make an offer to purchase. A home with a lot of deferred maintenance might put off buyers altogether, particularly in the current market. If buyers make offers on homes that have been neglected, they will factor work that needs to be done into their price.

Deferred maintenance can be corrected. Incurable defects can put a bigger damper on price, particularly in a down market. An incurable defect, like being located next to a freeway or on a busy street, is something that can’t be corrected. You’ll have to live with it.

In a hot market, buyers often overlook these defects because prices are rising and buyers are more willing to make compromises. In a slow market, with no urgency to buy immediately, buyers are pickier. They take their time and buy when they find the right house.

THE CLOSING: Price accommodations need to be made to overcome buyers’ objections to incurable defects.

Dian Hymer, a real estate broker with more than 30 years’ experience, is a nationally syndicated real estate columnist and author of “House Hunting: The Take-Along Workbook for Home Buyers” and “Starting Out, The Complete Home Buyer’s Guide.”

selbygroup — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:54:40 +0000

New 416-Unit Student Housing Project

Posted by UCF Staff on Saturday, February 26, 2011

Winter Park Construction (WPC), one of Orlando’s leading locally owned construction companies, has broken ground on University House Central Florida, an off-campus student housing project located one half-mile from Orlando’s University Of Central Florida campus.

The 416-unit project is expected to be completed in August 2012 and will create 400 jobs.

University House Central Florida is located on 10 acres at 3100 N. Alafaya Trail, offering easy access to university and city shuttle systems at the University of Central Florida. The one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments range in size from 500 –1,600 square feet. All units will be fully furnished.

University House Central Florida will offer state of the art student-oriented amenities including a large pool and patio deck, fitness center, sand volleyball, basketball court, putting green, clubhouse with multi-media lounge and parking garage.

With more than 20,000 units constructed throughout the country, WPC has a solid reputation in student housing construction. Prior projects include: Hawks Landing, Tampa; Northgate Lakes, Oviedo; and Countryside at The University and University Terrace, both in Gainesville.

The development/management company for University House Central Florida is Dallas-based Inland American Communities, one of the nation’s leading development, acquisition and management organizations dedicated to the creation of apartment communities in urban-infill and university markets. The project architect is Humphreys & Partnership, an urban planning, master planning and land planning firm.

Source: Winter Park Construction, PRNewswire, Orlando, Fla., Feb. 25, 2011, Winter Park

selbygroup — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:47:54 +0000

Sellers better off using a Realtor

EMERYVILLE, Calif. – March 1, 2011 – Real estate website HomeGain conducted a survey of 1,000 sellers to gauge their opinion on For Sale By Owner (FSBO) compared to using a Realtor.

Of the sellers surveyed, 83 percent used a Realtor while 17 percent attempted to sell their house on their own. Of those who used a Realtor, 59 percent sold their home; of FSBOs, only 39 percent successfully found a buyer and closed.

Of the successful sellers who used a Realtor, 88 percent said they would do so again; of all Realtor-represented sellers, 81 percent said they would use a Realtor again.

Of FSBOs who successfully sold their homes on their own, 71 percent would attempt to do so again.

However, the survey also found that nearly a quarter of FSBOs ultimately turned to a Realtor to help them sell their properties.

Source: RISMedia (02/25/11)