When is a Deal a Genuinely Good Deal?

The existing Palm Beach real estate market has just about as many opportunities as it does risks for the first time Palm Beach real estate investor.  The problem is many of these first time Palm Beach real estate investors get lost in these Palm Beach real estate opportunities and forget the fundamentals.  After all, what really makes a good and genuine Palm Beach real estate deal?

Among your first goals is to hunt down Palm Beach real estate that requires a small down payment.  Since Palm Beach real estate goes up and down, you want to ensure that you make as large of a profit on your Palm Beach real estate purchase.  At the same time you also want to minimize your losses if the Palm Beach real estate purchase falls in value which is also likely.

Look for Palm Beach real estate with equity.  This can mean buying Palm Beach real estate from a seller who doesn’t mind selling at lower price to buying Palm Beach real estate that needs repairs and renovations which won’t cost you too much.  Palm Beach real estate foreclosures are a great way to obtain or build equity but they do have their much discussed risks.

Speaking of risks, always remember that your Palm Beach real estate purchase can start off as a great deal and then turn into a loss.  It’s important to have a backup plan if for example your Palm Beach real estate purchase plunges in value or your Palm Beach real estate mortgage rate increases.  Maintain a positive outlook on the future of your Palm Beach real estate purchase but also be realistic about today’s Palm Beach real estate market.

Open House for Palm Beach Condos

Holding open houses is essential to the Palm Beach condo selling process. From presentation to convenience, having good open houses can be the difference between selling a condo within a month on the market or having it linger unwanted on the market for years. The current Palm Beach condo market is oversupplied with condos, so your condo needs to stick out as a valuable property either for an investor or an average condo homebuyer. Here are some tips to let your Palm Beach condo stick out in open houses among the many currently on the market.

Cleanliness is a must. This requires constant effort, whether you are living in the condo while trying to sell it or it is vacant, the condo needs to be cleaned after every visit from a prospective buyer. Cleaning the floors, dusting, getting rid of clutter and polishing all the fixtures does wonders to ensure the sale of a Palm Beach condo. The cleanliness of the condo reflects the care a condo owner has taken of the property over the years and leaves a good taste in the buyer’s mouth.

Use pleasant aromas to your advantage.  Be sure to captivate all the senses when it comes to persuading a prospective condo buyer to purchase your Palm Beach condo. Beyond aesthetic appeal of the property, be sure to have pleasant odors emanating from different areas of the house. Having air-fresheners isn’t a bad idea but a more creative route is baking something the day of a big open house. Not only will you be providing your guests with pie, brownies or whatever you choose to bake, but the aroma will be something that sticks with them as they look at the Palm Beach condo.

Take your pet somewhere else on the day of the open house. While pets can be friendly and entertain guests, they tend to create negative impressions on prospective buyers. Whether it’s their foul odors or the messes they create around the house, it’s best to keep the pets away until the Palm Beach condo is sold.

Palm Beach and the Baby Boomer

Florida’s allure needs little introduction.  It’s got a collection of beaches in the South Florida area, plenty of attractions to explore and a climate that has earned it the nickname of “The Sunshine State”.  These qualities have long contributed towards the appeal and demand for Palm Beach real estate and Florida’s abundance of beachfront properties.

This appeal and demand has dropped considerably ever since Palm Beach and pretty much all of South Florida saw its home values drop from the buying boom of yesteryear that made the cost of living in Florida so expensive.  As most people are well aware however, some intrepid investors and first time buyers have indeed been purchasing homes and condos due to the low prices which has caused sporadic rises in home sales throughout the year.

Florida realtors have also been keeping an eye on the baby boomer generation being that a lot of them are now at or near the age of retirement.  Coupled with the summer season and low prices for beachfront condos, many of them are setting their own sights on Florida which has some predicting Florida could once again become the retirement apex it was once was before the high cost of living drove retirees out.  It’s not every day someone is able to find a beach condo unit normally valued at more than $50,000 for less then $25,000 as is occasionally the case in the current market.

As beneficial as it would be to have additional funds going towards buying up the existing glut of South Florida property inventory, a surge in baby boomers could conflict with the continual influx of young immigrants as public services are spread out too much.  By the time such a problem presents itself, there will likely already be a solution in place to ensure it doesn’t become a major headache.

Palm Beach Homeownership for the Masses

Multiple housing markets across South Florida saw considerable drops in value and demand, particularly Miami and its neighboring Miami Beach.  Palm Beach real estate on the other hand experienced drops to a lesser degree, keep its housing demand comparably healthy.  Combined with the lower prices of real estate overall, it opens up new doors for families to find a single family home in Palm Beach.  The stuff going on behind the scenes however is making things even better for people looking to own a Palm Beach home.

Consider the State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) program being given to Palm Beach County by the state of Florida.  Nearly nine million dollars is being given with the intention of helping low income homeowners reduce the costs of owning their first home while continuing existing efforts to assist yet another struggling homeowner from becoming the next foreclosure statistic.

Before local governments can actually receive funds from SHIP program, they must meet certain criteria.  For starters, there must already be some kind of homeownership assistance program in place.  Mortgage rates in a neighborhood must also justify and or reflect the general value of homes within the neighborhood in question and cannot be higher than thirty percent of the average value.

While it’s geared towards funding and further developing homeownership and foreclosure prevention programs, the SHIP funds can be used for other real estate related ventures like building new beachfront condos or creating counseling programs to further assist struggling homeowners with managing their debt and their finances.

For many first time home buyers, one of the biggest goals is being able to make a down payment on a place that they can call their own and yet the biggest hurdle is often the costly fees involved before receiving the keys to one’s brand new beachfront property.  SHIP can therefore be deemed a noble step in the right direction.

Selling Quick in a Slow Market

Selling a Palm Beach Florida home is not quite the cakewalk it once was a few years ago.  Today the seller needs to do extensive legwork in order to properly price a property so that it appeals to sellers who are quite picky about where they choose to buy and invest.

One would assume that with all the details involved in home selling, homeowners would be more than willing to adapt to ever-changing circumstances and market conditions but things seem to be showing that they’re remaining stubborn when it comes to selling flexibility.  The general belief among these more stubborn sellers is that because they own a Palm Beach home by the ocean, they can name whatever price they want and a buyer will meet such a price.  Real estate market conditions tend to show otherwise.

One of the purposes of a real estate agent is to get your property sold by pricing competitively yet many sellers tend to disregard this competitive pricing advice and insist on sticking to a fixed value since after all, the property being sold isn’t just another two bedroom single family home in the heart of the city.  This is definitely understandable but if we take a look at buying and selling trends, it may be disadvantageous.

Let’s assume the properties in the area carry a value of about $250,000 and contain most of the same features in the home being sold.  Listing for $300,000 because the home looks nicer or perhaps has a pool is counter effective.  The buyer will more than likely make an offer for one of the lower priced properties.

The more buyers that ignore the property, the more time it spends on the sale market which leads to a perceived drop in quality even though it may be in optimum condition.  If a foreclosure home pops up in or around the neighborhood it will also drive down values.  Therefore, take the time to price realistically.  Finding a buyer in a short time is a lot better than losing more money as time goes by.

A Straightforward Mortgage Resolution

Among the issues affecting the drop in sales of South Florida homes and the decreased value of Palm Beach condos and homes, foreclosure is still one of the biggest culprits.  Initiatives to combat home foreclosure and assist homeowners with their mortgage have been discussed left and right but for the most part, nothing has really proved effective.

As mortgage solutions become more and more intricate, the government appears to be taking a less is more approach this time by employing the FHASecure program, an initiative originally spearheaded by the Federal Housing Association (FHA) which at its core allows borrowers to obtain new mortgage financing terms.

While subprime mortgages are actually not as prevalent as most would expect due to the damage they’ve caused, even the less than ten percentile of homeowners who have one will attest that once their fixed interest rate ended, the new payments caused a huge financial headache and as everyone knows, a huge and unfortunate surplus in delinquencies which lead to the inevitable (i.e.: foreclosure).

The beauty of the FHASecure program is that it tackles the problem directly and effectively by not bailing out the homeowners but instead simply allowing them to pay back their mortgage for a fixed, manageable sum.  Although it initially focused on borrowers with comparably low income, the government will be backing FHASecure and thus will be opening up eligibility to a larger portion of borrowers stuck with high interest adjustable rate mortgages.

Arguably the only major roadblock that’s preventing the FHASecure program from reaching its full potential in spite of the numerous people it has already assisted is the limited amount of financial resources available in order to really expand the program’s reach.  Now that it will have governmental support, FHASecure may prove invaluable in giving millions of homeowners some room to breathe in the uncertain real estate market climate.

Single Family Home Sales Up in Palm Beach

According to the The Evans Report, compiled by Palm Beach real estate attorney Leslie Evans, single family home sales in Town are up. In the report, Evans analyzes closing documents filed in Palm Beach County as well as private sales not recorded by the MLS.

Also included in the report is that average and median prices are up for the most part, and sales totaled more than $1 billion, an increase of $124 million. Single-family home prices are up by $618,369; median sales prices are up by $400,000, and the total sales for single-family homes came to $725.75 million.

According to many players in the Palm Beach real estate market, prices on the Island are not dropping, which goes against the negative market trends in other parts of the country. In 2007, there were 93 single-family home sales in 2007 and 83 in 2006 – a 12 percent increase. The increase in sales price was also 12 percent for that time period.

Another Palm Beach broker points out that there were 7 sales in the month of December and 11 in January, information he gathered from the Palm Beach MLS. Although this data is not a concrete indicator, since not all of the contracts have officially closed, he is confident that a high number of pending sales is still good news for the market.

Scott Gordon Realty Launches New Websites

Scott Gordon Realty and Exclusive Estates, a division of Scott Gordon Realty and Jeffrey Ray, has announced the debut of three new Web sites: ScottGordonRealty.com, ExclusiveEstates.info and PalmBeachCondos.com.

With more than 70 percent of home buyers and sellers looking to the Internet to do their initial research for properties, Gordon and Ray say they have redesigned a user-friendly Web platform to ensure that buyers and sellers have a positive interactive experience in accessing the information they need.

The new sites incorporate rotating graphics and a dynamic menu of interactive features for re-sale properties as well as new construction. The sites feature an extensive nventory of listings for Scott Gordon Realty and Exclusive Estates, with the main focus targeting properties for sale in Palm Beach, Manalapan, Point Manalapan and Hypoluxo Island as well as the nrthern end of Palm Beach County with numerous listings in Mirasol and Ibis Country Club.

Gordon and Ray are also incorporating and IDX (Internet Data Exchange) “intelligent link” to let users easily search properties in surrounding towns and communities. Detailed data for each listing can be printed out, and appointments to see a particular property can be arranged via the Internet.

As Ray explains it, property information will be downloaded daily from the Multiple Listing Service and will include virtual tours, photographs and descriptions of each property. A “Home Update” feature will alllow registered users to save properties, save searches and receive automatic e-mail updates with new properties that match their criteria.

Gordon and Ray say that to make the Web platform a success, it will be closely monitored to prevent it from being dropped off search engines or removed for “spamming” or over-submission. Adjusting keywords and adding new content will help optimize the exposure of the site via search engines, they note.

Gordon and Ray are excited about this new project, which they say is part of their overall marketing plan for each listing. It reflects a proactive approach between the property owner and the real estate consultants to foster a “win-win” relationship for buyers and sellers, in person and on the Web.

Scott Gordon Realty is at 255 S. Ocean Blvd in Manalapan, Florida 33462 call (561)533-5888. Exclusive Estates is at 230 South Couonty Road, suite B in Palm Beach; call (561) 296-0550.

Renters, Buyers and Real Estate

These days, renting seems to be making a lot more sense than buying. As much as some may argue about whether buying Palm Beach real estate is a smart or foolish decision based on the current real estate market climate, most people are deciding not to get involved in anything having to do with buying and the research is indicative of this surge in renting South Florida homes.

Surely enough, the National Association of Realtors reports once again that home renting has gone up this year, giving more credibility to the fact that people are still wary about watching their money potentially go to waste when real estate market conditions are still relatively uncertain.

But hold on a second; let’s approach this by evaluating both sides. Renting for one does take out all that binding legal paperwork and huge costs of buying and basically allows anyone to pretty much live anywhere on a short term basis while having to worry about rent, utilities and whatever other expenses they may have.

Once a renter seeks greener pastures, what happens to those oftentimes pricey rent payments they made every month? They’ve essentially gone into a landlord’s pocket instead of benefiting the renter somehow, something that for better or worse still gives home buying the advantage due to its tremendous investment potential. Plus, if one were to sum up all the expenses of renting besides the rent itself, the total amount can, in some cases, balloon fairly close to the money one would use for a down payment on a small home.

Obviously everyone’s future goals, needs and financial situation are unique. If a down payment on a Palm Beach home or condo is going to take a huge chunk out of your finances and force you to “pinch pennies” every month, it’s wiser to rent. With modestly encouraging signs of home sales finally picking up again, don’t rule out the benefits of owning a home if you can comfortably afford one. Those who take risks may stumble but they’re the ones who profit in the long term.

Half-Priced Beach Homes

Just a few years ago, owning a Palm Beach waterfront property was something that a majority of people dreamed about being able to do someday but often never happened. The astounding success of real estate gave way to prices only the most well to do could actually meet while completely leaving out those who were only asking for something quaint and modest. Things aren’t quite the same these days.

For better or worse, Palm Beach real estate is tremendously more inexpensive than those days when buyers and investors were purchasing South Florida homes and condos left and right. Due to the market difficulties, some normally high priced property has dipped considerably in price, beachfront condos among them. Even a one bedroom Palm Beach condo was still too expensive for some but it’s now feasible to find one that comes with two bedrooms for a little over $420,000 compared to the over half a million price it once demanded. By the time you read this, it may have dropped even more.

With that in mind, as tempting as it may sound to finally be able to live by the beach, there’s no guarantee (yet) that the condo price will rise again, even if experts predict a turnaround this year so there is the possibility you may lose money. Beach property also requires fairly expensive taxes and insurance which is another thing to consider.

Ultimately, it all comes down to what your needs are and your finances. Home buying, even during times when the majority of people are urging you not to, may be a smart move, especially when prices are at record lows and then again, it may not be. However, if you’ve always longed to someday wake up to the sounds of the ocean, this could literally be a once in a lifetime opportunity.