Five Things Consumers Should Expect From The Housing Market In 2013

According to Forbes Real Estate: In 2012, the national housing market finally turned a corner. We’ve now experienced 13 straight months of home value appreciation. Sales were up significantly over 2011 as buyers returned to the market, boosting demand.
So what will 2013 have in store? Here are five things consumers can expect to see in the housing market next year:
 
Up, Up and Away

• The national housing market hit bottom in October 2011, and home values have since risen 5.3 percent from that trough. The most recent Zillow Home Value Forecast calls for 2.5 percent appreciation nationwide from November 2012 to November 2013.
• According to a recent Zillow survey of more than 100 economists and analysts, respondents predicted home values (based on the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index) to rise 3.1 percent in 2013, on average.
• Most markets covered by Zillow’s Real Estate Market Reports have already bottomed out, with only 10 of 255 covered metro areas not projected to hit a bottom within the next year.

Bottom Line: Homeowners looking to sell in 2013 can largely rest assured they won’t be selling at the bottom, and many will find themselves in a sellers’ market. Potential buyers in 2013 may be more motivated to get a deal done while affordability is still extremely high and mortgage rates continue to be historically low.

Real Estate Is Local Again

• According to the Zillow Breakeven Horizon, buying beats renting when staying in the home for three years or more in roughly 60 percent of U.S. metros. The areas where it might make more sense to buy (if you’re planning on staying for three-plus years) are clustered in the Southwest and Southeast. If you won’t be staying put for at least a few years, consider renting in the Northeast, where buying often doesn’t make more financial sense until five years or more.
• The goal of Zillow’s Buyer/Seller Index is to determine where buyers have the most leverage in a sale, and where sellers might have the upper hand. In general, we determined that metro areas in the West and Southwest – including the Bay Area, Las Vegas and Phoenix – are strong for sellers. Metros in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic – places such as Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia – are best for buyers.

Bottom Line: The housing market recovery has remained true to the old real estate axiom of “location, location, location.” How your local market is faring today – and if it makes more sense to buy or rent, to sell now or to hold off if possible – is largely determined by unique, local factors and fundamentals. Arming yourself with timely and comprehensive local market information is good advice at any time, but will be even more important in 2013 as buyers continue to seek bargains and sellers look to maximize returns.

Coming Up for Air

• In the third quarter of 2012, the percentage of homeowners with a mortgage in negative equity – or “underwater,” owing more on their mortgage than their home was worth – fell below 30 percent for the first time since Zillow began tracking that data using an improved methodology in early 2011.
• Still, 28.2 percent of homeowners with a mortgage remain underwater. Because underwater owners have a far more difficult time selling their home, a large number of homes that otherwise might end up on the market aren’t getting listed. As a result, inventory in many areas is incredibly tight, leaving buyers to fight it out amongst themselves, which in turn can help drive up prices. This, among other factors, has led to tight inventory in many of the hardest-hit cities around the country.

Bottom Line: As home values continue their upward march in 2013, more homeowners currently trapped underwater will begin to surface. This will be good for buyers exhausted by limited inventory and intense competition in markets such as Phoenix and Miami, but it will also have the effect of cooling price increases. As a result, in 2013, we predict home value appreciation in many areas will look more like a series of steps, characterized by cycles of price spikes and plateaus. Price spikes will free some homeowners from negative equity, allowing them to sell, thereby easing supply constraints and dampening prices until the cycle is repeated.

Historically Affordable

• Mortgage interest rates have been hovering at or near historic lows for the past year, and the Federal Reserve has taken concrete steps to ensure they stay low for at least the foreseeable future.
• At the same time, home values – while recovering nicely – still have a long way to go to reach their pre-bubble levels. Overall, national home values in November were still down 19.4 percent from their peak in May 2007, according to Zillow.

Bottom Line: Between 1985 and 2000, Americans spent, on average, about 20 percent of their household income on mortgage payments. That percentage increased to more than 24 percent by 2006, before falling to just 13 percent by the second quarter of 2012. If you can qualify for a home loan, the combination of low rates and low prices means your home-buying dollar will continue to take you farther in 2013 than in recent years, even for buyers on modest budgets.

Mortgage Interest Deducted?

• Changes to the mortgage interest deduction (MID) may be a key element of any “grand bargain” reached by politicians in order to avert the year-end fiscal cliff. If adopted, any measure to limit or repeal the MID will result in some home price impacts over time and by market segment.
• Home values at the high end of the market will likely be more negatively impacted by MID changes than home values overall, according to a recent Zillow survey of economists. For example, in the event that the maximum MID-eligible mortgage amount is reduced from $1 million to $500,000 and the deduction allowance for second homes is eliminated, the majority of respondents said they expect high-end home prices to fall while U.S. home prices overall experience little or no price impact.

Bottom Line: Real estate lobbying groups have long fought against changes to tax rules allowing for the deduction of mortgage interest, arguing that any changes will impact or eliminate some of the historic financial advantages of owning a home. But unless you’re buying a proportionally more expensive home or are buying in a more expensive area, the impacts of MID changes will likely be muted. The decision to buy or sell a home is highly personal and dependent on a number of factors, only one of which is potential tax implications. In 2013, make your decision to buy or sell based on your own informed opinion and your unique situation.

                                                                                                         \

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

'Tis the Season... More Banks Halt Foreclosures for the Holidays

According to Daily Real Estate News several of the nation’s largest banks announced they will halt foreclosures during the holidays, following a similar move made by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week.

The following banks say they will stop foreclosures until after the New Year: Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial Services Group, Bank of America, SunTrust, and Citigroup. U.S. Bank, Citigroup, and PNC’s foreclosure moratorium will be from Dec. 17 through Jan. 2. Wells Fargo and SunTrust will begin their temporary halt to foreclosures on Dec. 19.

"We hope this suspension provides families who are experiencing financial hardship some stability over the holiday season," says Saiyid Naqvi, chief executive officer of PNC Mortgage.

Last week, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a temporary halt to foreclosures during the holidays. Fannie Mae will halt foreclosures from Dec. 19 through Jan. 2 on single-family homes and two- to four-unit properties. Foreclosure proceedings may continue, however. Freddie’s moratorium will be from Dec. 17 to Jan. 2.

Happy Hanukkah!

10 Reasons to List During the Holidays!

If you're thinking about selling your home here are 10 reasons why NOW is a great time to put your property on the market!

 

 

Call me to find out what your home is worth!!!

(561) 371-6224

Macaroni Kid Newsletter

Buying or Selling a Home?

Here is a newsletter I wrote for an internet website:

http://palmbeachgardens.macaronikid.com/article/396190/buying-or-selling-a-home?fb_action_ids=565346103481743&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%22565346103481743%22%3A309409062500999%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22565346103481743%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]

Big Heart Brigade - 100,000 Thanksgiving Day Dinners

The Big Heart Brigade of the Treasure Coast is a 100% volunteer organization and has no paid administrators or board members. Every dollar that is raised goes directly back into the community, thereby maximizing the impact of every dollar.    

This year we are working to prepare 100,000 meals to give away to those who possibly would not have a meal on Thanksgiving.

Ella & I waiting to find out what station we will be working at first.

 

Ella waiting to start working the turkey gravy station

 

Paul opening huge barrels of turkey gravy

Ella and I working hard

 

Daddy & Ella working hard

Preparing the turkey gravy

Ella & I making Thanksgiving Day placemats

 

Ella & I getting ready to start assembling Thanksgiving Day dinners

 

Thank you to everyone who came out today to give their time in order to make someone else's Thanksgiving special!!!

 

Do you feel lucky?

When setting an asking price, some real estate agents and home sellers use numbers believed to bring good luck.

In predominantly Asian neighborhoods, for instance, listing prices often feature the number eight and avoid the bad luck number four. Trulia says 20 percent of listings in these neighborhoods end with an eight, with this particular superstition strongest in communities where Asians represent over half of residents.

Seven is the lucky number in Nevada, where it is 37 percent more common for listings to feature a seven before the zeros in the price; the number of triple-seven listings are three-fold higher in the state than elsewhere across the country.

Listings with 316, representing a New Testament verse, are 27 percent more common in the Bible Belt; while the number 13 is 15 percent less common nationwide than the numbers 12 and 14.

When it comes to buyers, Cornell University marketing professor Manoj Thomas says lower numbers on the left make them feel they are getting a good deal. Because people tend to round down, 54 percent of homes under $1 million have prices that end in nine, according to Trulia.

Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist, says five is the most popular digit in the high-end market, as it is viewed as “the midpoint on the 1 to 10 scale.”

                                              Source: Wall Street Journal (11/09/12) P. M1; Tanaka, Sanette
                                             © Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

More cash sales, shrinking time on market

All-cash buyers have surged since the housing downturn while the typical amount of time it takes to sell a home is shrinking, revealing the changing dynamics of today’s home buyers and sellers.

Academic experts took a closer look at cash buyers and how time-on-market impacts home sales during the “Changing Dynamics of Recent Home Buyers and Sellers” session at the 2012 Realtors® Conference and Expo. Funding for the research was provided by the Realtor University Center for Real Estate Studies.

“We’ve seen a tremendous increase in cash buyers since the housing downturn that we haven’t seen before in history,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Yun said a decade ago, cash home purchases were less than 10 percent of the market, but they’ve increased steadily since 2008 – up to 30 percent of sales.

Yun said the increase in cash buyers results from tight lending conditions and an increase in investor sales, which make up the bulk of cash purchases. Increases in the number of international buyers, who often have financing difficulties when purchasing a home in the U.S., are also adding to the cash sale rise; 62 percent of international purchases were all cash, a percentage that has increased since 2007.

Recent NAR research may offer insight into how cash buyers receive funds for home purchases. According the 2012 NAR Home Buyers and Sellers Profile, 40 percent of repeat buyers use proceeds from the sale of their primary residence as a source of down payment, but downsizing boomers may have enough equity left from their home sale to pay all cash for their next purchase. Yun also noted that one in 10 buyers rely on proceeds from the sale of stocks or 401K disbursements for down payments. Those with stable jobs and who had investment gains in recent years may use those cash funds to buy a home outright rather than financing the purchase.

Dr. Grant Ian Thrall, president of the American Real Estate Society, agreed that cash sales have increased dramatically in recent years. Thrall spoke at the session and conducted an in-depth market analysis to gain greater insights into cash buyers.

“Research shows a bias toward cash sales for newer and lower priced homes,” Thrall said. “Many of those sales are occurring within the first 60 days that the home is on the market, and more than half sold within the first 120 days.”

Thomas Springer, professor of Finance and Real Estate at Clemson University, discussed how time-on-market responds to employment changes, and shifting market and economic conditions. Springer analyzed market data from more than two dozen metro areas. His findings indicate that time-on-market is a function of property characteristics, price and market factors for a specific home; however, at market level, time-on-market for an area is a function of local, national and global economic and market factors.

Yun said that tightened inventory conditions also impact time-on-market, which has steadily decreased nationally since the start of the year.

“Tightened inventories in some places mean homes are selling more quickly and reducing time-on-market,” Yun said. “Our research shows that last year, homebuyers saw 10 homes before buying, down from 12 the year before. And more than half of buyers reported that finding the right home was the hardest part of the home search process.”

                                                                                                                         © 2012 Florida Realtors®

Moving to Florida? Click on the link...

Before is a link filled with information about living in Florida:

http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=40

Find out about:

Drivers Licenses & Motor Vehicle Registration

Florida First Time Driver Course

Employment - Finding a Job in Florida

Real Estate Listings

Tax Inforamtion: Sales Tax, Intangible Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Property Tax, Homestead  Exemption, Tax Forms

Schools - Selecting Schools - School Performance

Starting & Operating a Business in Florida

Facts about Florida: Archaeology, Economy, History, Population, History, Symbols, Wildlife, more...

Florida Communities: 55+ and Retirement Community Information (Cocoa, Daytona, Florida Keys, Fort Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Pensacola, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa, Vero Beach, and more...)

Weather & Seasons

Cost of Living: Compare the cost of living between Florida and other states, between specific cities; salary calculator.

Welcome to Sunny Florida!!!

 

PGA National Networking Event

 

Had a great time and met a ton of great people at iBar!!!

Sandy's Effect on the Economy

Hurricane Sandy shut down Wall Street and disrupted business activity throughout the populous Northeast but it’s not expected to have a significant impact on the nation’s economic growth.

Economic losses from the storm will likely exceed the $12 billion to $16 billion in damage from Hurricane Irene, which battered the Northeast in August 2011, says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics,

Peter Morici, an economics professor at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, estimates Sandy will result in $35 billion to $45 billion in total losses. Eqecat, which does catastrophic risk models, projects $10 billion to $20 billion in total economic damages, about half insured.

But property damage will be repaired, and lost economic output will largely be offset by other increased activity as residents rushed into stores to prepare for the hurricane.

“Assuming the storm creates havoc for no more than a few days, there should be little impact on fourth-quarter” gross domestic product, Zandi says. He hasn’t revised his forecast for annualized growth of 1.9 percent this quarter.

The storm forced the New York Stock Exchange to extend Monday’s closing to Tuesday – the first unplanned shutdown since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Port of New York and New Jersey, whose terminals make up the third-busiest container port in the country, also was temporarily shuttered and evacuated. And a Phillips 66 refinery in Linden, N.J. and a Hess refinery in Port Reading, N.J., closed.

The potential damage to homes from Hurricane Sandy-driven storm surges is likely to be greater than it was last year for Hurricane Irene, says Tom Jeffrey, senior hazard scientist for real estate market watcher CoreLogic. All told, nearly 284,000 residential properties valued at almost $88 billion are at risk for potential storm surge damage among the coastal Mid-Atlantic states, CoreLogic estimates.

Many people are not insured against such losses. But many homes in flood-prone areas are required to have flood insurance to get a loan.

The hurricane also means lost wages, production and sales for businesses throughout the region, which makes up about 15 percent of the nation’s economy. Business lost by department stores could be made up in coming weeks but lost restaurant sales will not be recovered, says Diane Swonk, chief economist of Mesirow Financial. At the same time, grocery stores and home-improvement outlets are realizing net gains as customers stock up on water, generators, flashlights and batteries.

Retailers did see an uptick in online sales during Hurricane Irene in August 2011, says Vicki Cantrell, executive director of Shop.org, the National Retail Federation’s online division. Any increase, however, was likely more than offset by the decline in in-store sales during that storm, she says.

Swonk says homeowners forced to repair damage will likely make further renovations that they’ve put off, boosting economic growth.

The storm is “unleashing pent-up demand,” she says. “It’s the most perverse stimulus to the economy.”

© Copyright 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Paul Davidson, Jayne O’Donnell and Julie

How To Avoid Getting Spam Email

• Don’t respond to an email from someone you don’t know, not even to “unsubscribe” from an email list that sends you unwanted information. It only confirms that your email address is a good target

• Don’t download any email images that weren’t initially displayed by your email program. That also confirms that your email address is available to spam.

• Don’t sign up for any online service that says it will remove your name from spam lists. Chances are, the site is run or monitored by spammers.

• Don’t respond to attention-grabbing emails, such as a “delivery failure message” for an email you didn’t send, or a message that says you requested something that you didn’t. They’re just bait.

• Don’t let an automatic email response go to everybody. When on vacation, set your email to respond with an “I’m-not-here” message only to emails from people already in your contacts list. Otherwise the automatic response may confirm your email address to spammers.

• Don’t be fooled by phishing emails that urge you to use an email link to a website where you can correct or confirm something about your email, bank account, credit cards or other personal material. These people are trying to steal your personal information.

• Don’t participate in online contests that offer cash prizes or free trips in exchange for your email address. This is a bit like giving out your street address and telephone number whenever you buy a lottery ticket, something most people would never do.

• Don’t use your main email address in online forums. Spammers scan these forums with programs called “Web crawlers” that copy email addresses (typically they copy anything that contains the “@” symbol.) Protect yourself by adding phony details to your email address, such as inserting the phrase “delete(UNDERSCORE)this” in the middle of the address. You won’t fool any people, but you might trick an automated Web crawler.

Don’t give out your real email address without considering two alternatives. You can set up a secondary free email address to give to websites; if that account becomes clogged with spam you can close it. Or set up “disposable email addresses,” temporary addresses that forward email to your real address. See http://www.tinyurl.com/youhjr/.

About the writer: Steve Alexander covers technology for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Copyright © 2012 Star Tribune (Minneapolis). Distributed by MCT Information Services.

Architects join the Fight Against Obesity Through Design

The push to reverse the obesity epidemic and promote physical fitness is spilling into design and architecture and beginning to target one of the nation’s most sedentary environments: the office.

“Active design” – the architectural principle of creating spaces that encourage healthy lifestyles – is gaining popularity as more cities and companies join the fight and embrace healthy initiatives and “green” measures.

“How do you get people moving?” asks Rick Bell, executive director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects. “If exercise and everyday activity is the mantra, how do you, through design, get people to exercise? There is a direct relation between the built environment and people’s lifestyles.”

History has proved it. Architecture played a major role in defeating infectious diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis in the 19th and 20th centuries by designing better buildings, streets, clean-water systems and parks.

Today, obesity is the threat. More than a third of American adults, teens and children are obese, or roughly 30 pounds over a healthy weight.

“It’s very new to people,” says Joan Blumenfeld, an architect at Perkins+Will who has worked on active interior design in offices and public buildings. “Now interior designers are getting interested in it and in health in workplaces. … It makes (workers) feel valued, and a lot of this stuff doesn’t really cost anything because it’s where you locate things.”

Aside from obvious incentives such as on-site health clubs, some of the features of “active design”:

• Stairs, stairs, stairs. In most buildings, they’re hidden in stairwells behind fire doors because they are designed primarily as emergency exits. Exposed staircases that connect to different parts of a building encourage people to use them, Blumenfeld says.

Studies show that if the average American adult climbed stairs for just two minutes a day (six to eight flights), enough calories would be burned to prevent average annual weight gain, says Dr. Karen Lee, director of built environment and healthy housing for New York City’s health department.
Brightly colored signs showing a figure climbing stairs have gone up near elevators in buildings across the city, she says. The message: “Burn Calories, Not Electricity.”

Some clients are paying to upgrade stairs. New buildings are being designed to make the stairs more prominent than elevators when people enter the lobby – a feature that is more adaptable in low-rise buildings.

The new Queens Elmhurst Library will feature a grand staircase and emphasize stair use throughout the building.

• Get up and walk. In offices, the push is on to remove printers from individual desks. That forces workers to get up and walk a few paces. Coffee machines are also being moved to central pantries that may require walking to another section.

“This is not just to annoy people but to also add value,” Bell says. “They can socialize with co-workers.”

• Shared space. When workers are in a communal space rather than a cubicle or office, it “makes people get up and encourages people to be more collaborative,” Blumenfeld says.

• Outdoor space. Trails or stairs to outside work areas encourage workers to be as mobile as the electronic devices they do their work on.

“Providing an outdoor space of some sort, whether it’s a plaza or a deck, encourages you to walk around on a nice day,” says Barry Hersh, associate professor at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate.

Office furniture company Haworth rebuilt its global headquarters in Holland, Mich., under the principles of active design. Besides environmentally sound features such as energy efficiency, natural light and clean air, Haworth wanted to open spaces to encourage movement and interaction, says Kurt Vander Schuur, corporate brand director.

Before the redesign, “We had 90 percent individual space,” he says. “In the new building, we have 55 percent individual and 45 percent shared.”

Before, less than a third of workers had access to natural light and now 90 percent do. “Having daylight encourages more movement in the office,” Vander Schuur says.

The central feature of the 300,000-square-foot building is a three-story atrium, an open stairway and a big public space that is designed like a pit or sunken living room. The Starbucks is there and so is the “tech bar” to help workers with their computer problems.

“We’re trying to attract young workers,” Vander Schuur says. “Everybody cares about the health and wellness of their workers.”

Caring for workers also can help to reduce health care costs for employers.

Bell recounts vivid illustrations of the connection between design and physical activity he saw at a presentation years ago. One slide showed an escalator – not stairs – leading up to a second-story health club in a Southern California strip mall. Another slide showed a man driving alongside his dog, holding the leash out the car window, in a neighborhood without sidewalks.

“Design and obesity are interrelated,” Bell says.

© Copyright 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Haya El Nasser

2012 Fall Home Show

Spent a few hours yesterday helping out the RAPB (Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches) spread awareness to the public on the importance of using a Realtor for buying and selling a house at the 2012 Fall Home Show.
 

I was in GREAT company and met some other incredable Realtors.

 

And I even got some extra help spreading the word from my assistant!!!

 

 

It was a really fun afternoon

Homeownership Benefits Children!

Three California professors conducted a study on how homeownership benefits of children. Working under the Research Institute for Housing America, an independent arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association, they found that the homeowners’ children stay in school longer and face a lower risk of teen pregnancy than renters’ children.

The study did not offer a reason why homeownership helps children, but one author has an opinion:

“Does buying a home make you a better person?” asks Richard K. Green, director of the University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate. “No, but the discipline associated with saving for even a small downpayment and subsequently managing a house is, on average, associated with the discipline needed to promote better outcomes for children.”

To focus on the value of homeownership, the study attempted to back other influences out of the equation, such as the education level of parents or their marital status, income, race and age. Their goal was to look specifically at homeownership’s influence on a child’s development.

Major findings

• Children who live in owner-occupied homes have higher graduation rates. The dropout rate was 2.6 percent lower than renters’ children.

• The teen birth rate for homeowners’ children was 5 percent less than renters.

• The length of homeownership seemed unimportant. Some critics suggested that it wasn’t homeownership per se that influenced children, but instead, the length of time a family lives in a neighborhood. However, the study suggests that even relatively recent homebuyers’ kids had the same benefits as long-time owners.

• The size of the parent’s home downpayment made little difference, even if it was relatively low. All children benefited when their parents owned the home. However, the authors noted one exception: Parents who bought a home with no downpayment saw no advantage.

• For both renters and homeowners, a parent’s education level was a strong predictor of their child’s success.

• Buying a home has the strongest benefit for children 12 to 17 years old. While a home purchase helps younger children, the study found that it had the greatest benefit around the teen years.

                                                                                                                         © 2012 Florida Realtors®

Would You Buy a Haunted House?

Maybe for a Good Deal?!?!?!

Daily Real Estate News | Monday, October 22, 2012

According to a Realtor.com poll, nearly a third of prospective home buyers would not rule out buying a "haunted house" or a property where some sort of paranormal activity is said to have to occurred.

However, 29 percent of those house-hunters said they would expect a discount of at least 20 percent for stigmatized property.

Warm or cold spots in a house, possibly from a supernatural source, are deal-breakers for 62 percent of those polled. Strange noises and/or voices, flickering lights or appliances, eerie sensations, ghost sightings, and levitating objects are other occurrences that are likely to put a buyer off from going through with a deal.

About 35 percent of those surveyed, meanwhile, signaled that they would not even consider buying a haunted house in the first place. At the other end of the spectrum, meanwhile, 2 percent of poll participants said they would pay a premium for a haunted property.

Singer Island = Paradise

SINGER ISLAND, FLORIDA

As a resident of this beautiful island I can't say enough of how beautiful it is to live here.

If you are interested in finding out more about Singer Island located in West Palm Beach, Florida please call or e-mail me, I would be happy to show you around my paradise!!!

 

Michelle Rinaldi (561)371-6224

 

 

Egret Landing, Jupiter 33458

 

Egret Landing, located in Jupiter, Florida 33458 is a wonderful community of single family homes located just Northwest of Abocoa off Indian Creek Parkway with easy access to I-95 & the Florida Turnpike. This community continues to shine as one of Jupiter's best communities filled with great neighbors and families. Egret Landing is popular with families for so many reasons, one of which being it's great school assignments and very kid friendly atmosphere. There are over 600 homes in Egret Landing surrounded by swaying palm trees and shimmering lakes. The homes are midsize to large ranging from 1,750 and 4,000 square feet, and vary in design and style from a single story 3 bedroom to a 2 story 6 bedroom home. Egret Landing also has low HOA while being high in ammenities. Abacoa is Egret Landing's closest neighbor, just minutes away and provides the Abacoa Golf Club & Town Center.

If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Egret Landing or any other of the great Jupiter area communities, feel free to comtact me anytime. I will do everything I can to make your real estae purchase or sale is exciting and fun the way it should be!

Call Michelle Rinaldi: (561) 371-6224

Egret Landing Ammenities:

7 Tennis Courts

Children's Play Area

Basketball Courts (with one child height net)

Heated Swimming Pool

Community Clubhouse

Fitness Center

Boat Storage / RV Parking

Monthly Newsletters

Lakes for Fishing

Egret Landing A-Rated School District:

Elementary School: Jerry Thomas Elementary School

Middle School: Jupiter Middle School

High School: Jupiter High School



Egret Landing Drive Time:

5 minute drive: Beach, Abacoa Golf Club, Abacoa Town Center, Roger Dean Stadium, host to the Florida Marlins

10 minute drive: Gardens Mall, Downtown at the Gardens & Legacy Place

"Floppers" are getting BUSTED!!!

Some Sellers Seek Lowball Offers on Homes?

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The latest mortgage fraud scam known as “flopping” has sellers who actually make their home look undesirable so that they can attract low offers from buyers.

Here’s how it works: The seller is underwater on their mortgage and wants to get the lender to agree to a short sale. The seller, working with an accomplice, seeks to get a super low price to sell their home in the short sale by making bogus damage claims. Once they get the bank to agree to a short sale, the home is sold to an accomplice who then quickly cleans up the home and resells it for a profit.

“Floppers,” as they’re known, average a $55,000 profit from the quick flips.
To get the low home price, some sellers will go to great lengths to make their homes look undesirable, even spreading possum urine around the house or turning up the heat and closing all the windows for several days, says Ann Fulmer, a mortgage fraud specialist with Interthinx. Floppers also have bene known to remove appliances and cupboard doors and even paint the ceilings so it looks like there’s been water damage in he home. When no sellers want the home due to the flaws, the sellers will point out to the bank the problems with the home and why the sales price needs to be lowered. Some scammers have even claimed their homes were contaminated as crystal meth labs in order to get a lower price.

Freddie Mac is cracking down on floppers, investigating suspicious cases, and has opened up a toll free number for others to report suspicious activity: 1-800-4fraud8.

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World

Another Reason to Sell Your Home...

Couple Willing to Sell Home to Find Lost Dog

 

Daily Real Estate News | Monday, October 22, 2012

A couple in Warren, Texas, has listed their home for sale in order to be able to offer $50,000 as a reward to find their missing dog.

Charlie Parker says his missing chocolate Lab, named Sir, means everything to the family and they’re willing to give up the roof over their heads in order to find him.

“He plays such a great role in our lives,” says Parker, who has had the dog for five years. “Whatever it takes, just bring me the animal and I’ll pay you.”

The chocolate Lab disappeared Sept. 15 while Parker was mowing the lawn. The family is offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who returns the dog safely. In order to offer the $50,000 award, the family put their home on the market.

Parker told reporters that he’s willing to do anything to find the missing dog, except give up his wife and horse.

Vote YES on Amendment 4

The stagnant job growth of the last several years has erased any doubt that Florida's housing market is the heartbeat of our economy. When home values are at healthy levels and responsible growth is encouraged, stable jobs are created and working families can keep more of their hard-earned money.

But, for the first time in generations, the dream of homeownership is under attack by catastrophic drops in value and neighborhoods overrun by vacant, deteriorating foreclosures.

We deserve better than this. Our children deserve better than this.

Amendment 4 is a multifaceted, market-driven solution designed to get Florida's economy back on the rise. The bipartisan amendment, endorsed by major newspapers across Florida, does three main things:

 

           1.) Creates an additional homestead exemption for first-time homebuyers that will reduce the number of foreclosed properties in your neighborhood and drive your home's value back up.

 

           2.) Reduces the assessment cap on small business properties so they can better plan reinvestments in your community by creating thousands of new jobs.

3.) Provides a way to stop the punishing tax assessment increases you experience even when your home value declines.

 The choice is clear. Join me and the thousands of working Florida families who are voting "YES" on Amendment 4.

 

 

Traits of People With High Credit Scores

Daily Real Estate News | Friday, October 19, 2012   

To have a high credit score, individuals tend to keep revolving balances low to their available credit, not max out credit cards, and consistently make payments on time, according to the company behind the FICO credit score.

FICO recently released findings from a study about the habits and behaviors of those who have the highest credit scores — 785 or greater. These high-credit scorers tend to qualify for the best mortgage rates, saving thousands of dollars over the life of a loan.

Nationwide, 25 percent — or 50 million people — are considered “high achievers” with their credit scores.

“High achievers” tend to exhibit some of the following behaviors, according to FICO:

• 96 percent have no missed payments on their credit report. For any who have a missed payment, it occurred, on average, about four years ago. (Payment history makes up 35 percent of a person’s credit score.)
• They tend to have a well-established credit history and rarely open up new accounts. On average, the oldest credit account was opened 25 years ago. Overall, according to FICO, these “high achievers” tend to have credit accounts that are at least 11 years old.
• They’re not always debt-free: They average about seven credit cards, including both open and closed accounts, and have an average of four credit cards or loans with balances. One-third of “high achievers” have balances of more than $8,500 on non-mortgage accounts. The remaining two-thirds have total balances of less than $8,500.
• About 1 in 100 have a collection listed on their credit report. What’s more, 1 in 9,000 has experienced tax liens or even a bankruptcy.

"While people with a high FICO Score are not perfect, their consistently responsible financial behavior usually pays off over time," says Anthony Sprauve, credit score advisor for myFICO. "In a challenging economic period, the fact that we all have a chance to be high achievers is very good news. The lesson from these high achievers is that it's never too late to rebuild and score high."

Canadian Real Estate Investors

PROPERTY TAX FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS: There are often rumors, especially in Canada, that non US citizens have to pay higher property taxes than US citizens. Please understand this is NOT the case. Property taxes have nothing to do with your nationality or even your state of residence but whether or not you actually live in the property you own. Florida residents have to pay the higher, non homesteaded rate on any property we own that is not our principal residence. It doesn't matter how many properties you own or where in the world you own property, you can only have one official, legal, permanent residence. Your official residence is usually considered to be where you spend at least 183 days of each year. This is where you declare yourself a permanent resident and where the government recognizes you as a legal resident and where you file tax returns on your worldwide income.  

If you are looking to invest in the Florida real estate market or if you are looking for a second home to escape Toronto winters (which I know can be long and cold) then call me:

(561) 371-6224

Keep Your EYES on KEYES!!!

I love how a simple marketing campaign makes a very common pronunciation mistake go away!!!

Say the word EYES...

Now say KEYES (hint, it rhymes with eyes)

Love it... Super simple!!!

Crazy Day!

Today was a crazy day... crazy traffic on I-95 due to a crazy accident (even with my rubber necking all I could see was the truck for the local news blocking two lanes). 

This set me back about 40 minutes, but I'm crazy about time (I call it "time anxiety") so I  give myself a crazy about of time to get places.  Crazy enough, I ended up being on time with a minute to spare. 

I attended a technology training class in Boynton Beach, which literally drove me crazy trying to keep up. 

Then I had to rush back to Singer Island to show a condo for rent.  The views from this place are crazy beautiful. 

And now after a long day I am crazy tired.  

Welcome!

Welcome and Hello!!!

Thank you for visiting my new blog. 

My name is Michelle Rinaldi and I am a licensed Realtor in the state of Florida.

I wanted to start a blog and let you know about the real estate market and all about life as a Realtor!!!  Two exciting topics... visit daily and you will agree!

Here's the Reader's Digest version of my life so far:

**Born in Queens, NY but grew up in Rockland County

**Lived in beautiful Toronto, Canada for several years

**Moved to South Florida, where I plan to stay!

I graduated from SUNY Oswego with an honors degree in Communications and worked in finance mostly until I decided to start a new career in real estate.

Recently at a Woman's Business 2 Business seminar I learned that generally people will only read 7 lines of information at a time and then tune out so I'm at my max... Enjoy the blog!!!!!