Disney Building Luxury Vacation Homes

Disney just announced it will be building a new development called the Golden Oak.  It will feature 450 homes priced from $1.5 to $8 million dollars. The community will be featuring 2 golf courses, clubhouse, 4 Seasons Hotel, nature preserve and walk ways over 980 acres.  The first homes are expected to be completed by 2011.  Interested buyers will need $25,000 to hold a lot.  This community will only be a vacation community and not for permanent residency.

Chinese Drywall Owners Gets Break on Taxes

There is a law passed about a month ago that grants owners with Chinese drywall a break in property taxes.  The county property appraiser will assess the building for $0, taxes will be based on the land value.  This applied to single family homes, now the law has been expanded to include both town homes and condo.  Read more about this benefit to home owners with Chinese drywall.

Orlando Real Estate Statistics May

Many people want to know how the Orlando Real Estate Market is doing.  Orlando Regional Realtor Association publishes monthly statistics that describes real estate sales activity.  Median sales price increased for 5th straight month to $115,380.  Inventory of homes slight up, and contracts slightly down from April-which most likely created a lag of sales activity as buyers hurried to get under contract for the tax credit deadline of April 30, 2010.  Inventory represents 6.13 monthly supply which is balanced level.  Mortgage rates are still at historical lows.

• Average Mortgage Rate:  4.89%
• Inventory: 15,963
• New Listings:  4,304
• New Contracts:  3,669
• Under Contract:  10,351
• Back on Market:  1,161
• Expired:  553
• Withdrawn:  1,187
• Sales Closed:  2,605
• Average Days on Market:  85

For historical months, please see full description of the Market Pulse.

What You Need to Know Before You Use Builders Mortgage Company

Brand new construction is a very attractive option for many buyers and pricing has become more affordable. RESPA, part of HUD that regulates part of home buying transactions and consumer watch dog has been going back and forth about whether builders incentives are a violation of RESPA as it steers customers to use their title and mortgage companies.

If you use the builders title company and mortgage companies, they will pay thousand of dollars toward your closing costs, toward upgrades, or future HOA expenses.  If you do not know use, them you can lose out significantly, and most buyers end up using the services. 

Builders offer these incentives, because they own the title company and mortgage company and make money off the buyers with these services, but are you getting the best service and lowest mortgage rates.   Many times buyers do not have a enough time before going to contract on a home to shop around.  To make sure you are getting a the most competitive interest from the builder, shop around before you go to contract.  If there is better outside deal, ask builders mortgage company to match it. 

We believe buyers should have choices with no strings attached, and RESPA is currently evaluating this.

Think your realtor works for you? Think again.

Think your realtor works for you? Think again.

If you called on the sign in the yard, you spoke to an agent whose job it is to get the highest price and most favorable terms for the seller....NOT YOU! The listing agents job is to "sell" you on how wonderful the property is. Florida Law says that all real estate agents are "Transaction Brokers"...with NO fiduciary duties of loyalty, confidentiality or full disclosure...unless you have a written agreement to be represented...and even then, it could be a "maybe" or a "maybe not" for representation.

So what are you supposed to do??

Work with an Orlando Exclusive Buyers Agent that works in a Buyer Agency Office...you will receive straight talk, honest answers and no secrets...you will have a partner you can trust 100% to be on your side 100% of the time...someone who will not tell the seller how much money you make, how high you will bid, or how dearly you love the property. An Exclusive Buyer Agents ONLY job is to protect your best interests while negotiating for the lowest price possible.

You deserve the best...why settle for less? Contact Buyers Broker of Florida today to solve your home buying needs in all of Central Florida.

Tax Credit Extended for Military Buyers

Tax credit extended for active duty military or those on extended service overseas duty.  The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 provides a tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence and a tax credit of up to $6500 for repeat home buyers who have owned a home for five consecutive years out of the prior eight years. The tax credit is available for eligible purchasers who have a binding sales contract in place by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30, 2010. However, realizing that members of the military, the Foreign Service and Intelligence Community have unique circumstances the bill has special provisions for this group:


• Members of the military and certain other federal employees serving outside the U.S. have an extra year to buy a principal residence in the U.S. and qualify for the credit. Thus, an eligible taxpayer must buy, or enter into a binding contract to buy, a principal residence on or before April 30, 2011. If a binding contract is entered into by that date, the taxpayer has until June 30, 2011, to close on the purchase. Members of the uniformed services, members of the Foreign Service and employees of the intelligence community are eligible for this special rule. It applies to any individual (and, if married, the individual’s spouse) who serves on qualified official extended duty service outside of the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning after Dec. 31, 2008, and ending before May 1, 2010.
 
• Eliminates the 36-month recapture requirement for military personnel, including members of the Foreign Service and intelligence community, forced to sell or move from a tax credit home as a result of an official extended duty of service.

Visit www.irs.gov for more information on qualifying and claiming the tax credit.xtended for military buyers in active duty military or those extended in service overseas duty.

Flood Insurance Impacting Closings

The National Flood Insurance program is again on hiatus effective June 1, 2010 until Congress approves funding.   As a result no new flood insurance policies will be written until further notice.  If you are under contract on property and your lender is requiring flood insurance in order to close on the home, your closing will need to be delayed.  If you under contract on short sale or bank foreclosure, it could be tricky if short seller lender or bank does not grant extension.   In foreclosures, there are financial penalities if you do not close on time.  Some Lenders will allow a copy of the application with a tentative effective date for closings. Down time may be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

Home Buyer Credit Quickly Approaching

Home Buyer Credit Quickly Approaching:  Home buyers, both repeat and first time homes buyers are eligible for $6,500 or $8,000 if they were under contract by April 30, 2010.  Now those buyers much close by June 30, 2010 in order to get the credit issued by the IRS.

April Orlando Real Estate Statistics

April Orlando Real Estate Stastics:  Orlando Regional Realtor Association shows that new contracts are increasing each month and highest in last 12 months a signs are market is stabilizing.  We have many buyers think that there are significant discounts of listing prices, which those days are gone.  Many times properties are so well priced it generates multiple offers, and often selling for over asking prices.  Due to the economic woes in Europe, the mortgage rates are at an all time low.  We just had a buyer close on a property with an interest rate of 3.5% ARM.   If you are considering making a purchase 2010 is the time to buy, as median prices of homes are slowly inching up.

• Average Mortgage Rate:  5.12%
• Inventory:  15,766
• New listings:   5,116
• New Contracts:  5,221
• Under Contract:  10,832
• Back on Market:  1,331
• Expired:  579
• Withdrawn: 1,540
• Sales Closed:  2,461
• Average Days on Market:  81