AdBraganca

Archive for August, 2009

Tarpon Springs Florida

Tarpon Springs is a great place to live. If it?s Tarpon Springs real estate you are interested in, Tarpon Springs offers many types of homes, from bungalows to gated communities to mansions. You can enjoy the waterfront view from your front porch along the beautiful Anclote River. There are many beautiful waterfront communities in Tarpon Springs along the Gulf of Mexico and bordering Lake Tarpon. For roughly %3 million dollars you can buy a 6000 square foot home that is reminiscent of old European grandeur on S. Florida Avenue that has a wide open view of the Gulf of Mexico. The property sits on 1.6 private acres. On the low end, you can buy a condo-hotel with waterfront access for under %150,000. There are many other great choices in between for Tarpon Springs real estate on and off the water.

For recreational activities in Tarpon Springs, my family and I have spent many days at Howard Park, with picnic facilities, playgrounds and its own beach where we enjoy the beautiful Florida sunsets. Tarpon Springs is known for its historic Sponge Docks and the biggest Epiphany celebration in the country, held annually in the month of February. You can enjoy authentic Greek food and pastries in its many restaurants. We enjoy a little restaurant called Plakas where they say they are the ?Greek McDonalds?. They have wonderful gyros and offer appetizers of Greek specialties such as marinated octopus! The Sponge Dock area also offers shopping, day-trip cruises, casino cruises or fishing trips. You can have a tour aboard a sponge boat and watch divers as they retrieve sponges from the Gulf of Mexico. You can also visit authentic Greek clubs where men spend the afternoon telling stories and playing cards.

Along with its Sponge Docks, Tarpon Springs offers a 120,000 gallon aquarium, a Performing Arts Center, a Cultural Center, and the Leepa-Ratner Museum of Art which has been brought to the city by the St. Petersburg College of Tarpon Springs. For the fourth time in four years, St. Pete College has been rated number 1 in the state of Florida for distance education.

We also enjoy attending the Sunset Beach concerts, The Fine Arts Festival each April and attending wine tasting events at the Tarpon Springs Castle Winery. The historic downtown area offers First Fridays and Second Saturdays where the shops and restaurants are open late and there often is free entertainment to enjoy while you shop and dine.

Tarpon Springs, in northern Pinellas County, is centrally located to Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater and is only 90 minutes away from Disney World and Sea World which are in Orlando, Florida. Tarpon Springs is a great place to call home or buy real estate with all it has to offer.

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Take a Permanent Vacation

Are you looking for more meaning in your life – a sense of happiness? Are you tired of days that blend into each other? Do you find yourself sitting in traffic feeling the heat rising up your neck? Fighting with your family members, coworkers or neighbors? Are you awakened night after night by the noise of the city? Maybe it’s time to get away from it all: imagine a life where you can just get up in the morning, walk to the beach, have a fresh juice and enjoy the sun.

In fact, if you are feeling the grind, it may be affecting your health: chronic stress can cause or aggravate anxiety, depression, substance abuse, heartburn, chronic pain, high blood pressure, ulcers ? the list goes on. Many Americans have discovered a way to put all this behind them. They’ve discovered a life where the pace of living is relaxed, and the worst day at the beach is better than the best day in the office.

They’ve discovered Costa Rica, land of “Pura Vida”, where the locals enjoy life and take their time to celebrate it. Becoming more popular every year, this refreshing country is a lovely mix of local, North American, European and Argentinean cultures. The people are generally friendly and laid-back. The cost of living is 30 to 50 percent lower than most American cities and the stress levels are considerably lower.

With a well-developed health care system, good public education, a stable political situation and clean drinking water, Costa Rica is a very progressive country. In fact, Costa Rica was the first country to constitutionally abolish its army, disbanding it in 1948. It’s also an environmentally blessed country: Costa Rica contains six percent of the world’s biodiversity, and has 12 different climate zones to choose from. It’s home to more than 850 species of birds, more than all of North America combined.

Owning property in Costa Rica is open to everybody ? foreigners have a legal and constitutional right to own property. In fact, if you don’t want to live here full time it’s not a problem – there is no residency requirement. You can rent your property whenever you like, and sell whenever you like. Financing is very easy to obtain and there are no capital gains tax for the average property owner. Although foreigners without a work permit are not allowed to work, you can own a business here, or enjoy your retired life. Those who do earn income here will enjoy the exceptionally low income tax.

So, if you’ve ever dreamed of getting away from it all, Costa Rica could be your answer. Time to make this dream a reality – It’s easier than you think: Costa Rica is truly the land of the dreams, and it’s surprisingly painless for Americans to make this place their home.

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Stopping foreclosure phase 2

Type in stop foreclosure on any search box on the web and you no doubt will query a string of articles that highlight ways you can negotiate with you lenders, restructure you loans, and usually get things worked out. In a perfect world this would always work, in fact in a perfect world you wouldn’t have to worry about foreclosure at all.

But as we snap back to reality, those of you who have tried the tips and techniques discussed earlier may have realized that the world is anything but perfect. In my first article I discussed many ways to talk to your lenders, what to ask for and who to talk too. But where do you go after you run into a dead end with you lending institution? Well my friend, it’s time to move to Phase 2. If you read my first article you should already be organized as discussed in “avoiding foreclosure phase 1.” You should have also already have started putting aside twenty dollars a week for your “just in case” fund; but if you haven’t start today!

A report by realtytrac.com stated that in 2005 approx. 846,982 properties when into some form of foreclosure. So I?m pretty sure your house doesn’t need to be added to the list. Consider phase 2 the decision phase. I this phase there are some key decisions that Need to be made.

Where are you going to live? What are you going to do? What is the least amount you can take for your
Home.

The rules of engagement for this phase are pretty simple. Talk to your family or whoever is living with you and explain your situation; get input, get feedback then make your final decision. I said it would be simple not easy so if you have been keeping you situation a secret from someone who should know about it it’s time to pay the piper.

Once you have had “THE TALK” it’s time to shift focus back on stopping your foreclosure. In most cases the foreclosure process takes between 3-7 months but really depends on the laws of your state (which you should research) and the aggressiveness of you lending institution. That being said if you have spent the last month or so trying to come to an agreement with you lenders and the conversation ended with you still in the same situation, then it?s really time to get moving.

Lets me put it this way: if you make it to phase 2 from here on out you are focusing on selling your home by this time its either sell your home, or lay down and let your lender put you out, it’s your choice. Since I never go without a fight I’ll assume you don’t either, so you need to decide what is the least amount you will take for your home. This isn’t some pie in the sky number up with; it should be what you owe. That doesn’t necessarily mean that this is what we are shooting for, but you need to have an exit strategy in place.

Also, you need to think about arrangements for where you are going to move, even if you never considered moving before, you should have an idea of where you can go after you aren’t in your home anymore. Since Phase 2 last anywhere from 2-3 weeks now is the time to get aggressive with the saving you are going to need it, save as much as you can afford to.

Now, with that out of the way we’ll move on to the next step

Organization

For those of you who read my first article on stopping foreclosure it’s time to bring out your notebook. If you haven?t read my first article you can read the first phase of avoiding foreclosure on my website listed in the bio box at the end of this article.

Getting organized deals with collecting comparables because you need to find out what houses in your area are going for. This is easy to do, just jump in your car or take a walk around you neighborhood. You are looking for realtor signs and “For Sale” or
“FSBO” signs with literature about that particular home attached.

When you get back from your trip with the info you went after you are going to call local realtors in your area and ask them what homes in your area are going for. The realtor will usually have a list in the MLS that has the most recent homes sold in you area and what the selling price was.

Make sure you are comparing apples to apples here. If you have a one story three bedrooms with 1 1/2 baths make sure you find the selling prices of similar homes. FYI if the realtor that you call is any good he or she is going to ask a lot of questions. You don’t have to tell them your situation but you do need to humor them a bit. And while you are at it have a little fun,? You deserve it.”

After you have your comparables you are going to call your local penny saver and your local news paper. You are collecting classified advertising rates. Many times you local penny saver won?t charge you for listing instead the charge readers for the classifieds. One example of this is the Iwanna, the Iwanna is a local penny saver in my area and they don’t charge one cent to
List.

Now that you have all your information, you are going to need to collect some supplies again if you read the first article I told you to save %20.00 a week for the first phase; this is why. Go to your local hardware store and buy 2-3 bundles of simple wooden ground stakes. You can find them at home Depot for about %6.00 a bundle.

Next you will go to an arts supply shop or even Wal-Mart and buy 10-20 sheets of the ugliest bright neon orange or yellow poster board you can find. These sheets should be 2′x3′ or as close as you can get to it and should only cost around %2.00. If your wondering why the supplies? Well, they are for the for sale signs. (You didn’t think we were going to let the bank
Take your home without a fight did you?)

The reason that you aren’t buying those pre-made signs is because everyone is doing that, you want to look different and I have found that a simple homemade handwritten sign gets much better results when you?re trying to move a house fast.

Now it’s time to automate because you already have enough to think about. This is another crucial step and shouldn’t be avoided. You need to set up a dedicated 24hr hotline to take you incoming call all the details about the line and how to use it will be covered in Phase 3. Just know for now that you are going to need this to take messages for potential buyers when you aren’t at home. You can find hotlines for less than 14 dollars all day long with a simple search on Google.

You are also going to want to have a way to display details about you home to shoppers. Since most Americans can’t just stop working and many realtor won’t touch this time of sale you have to be creative. A blend of a good classified ad with a FSBO website can really work wonders when it comes to collecting leads and scheduling showing times.

This opens up your options and will allow you to have more shoppers and buyers than you could reach otherwise. A service like this should only cost about %59-60 dollars for a 9 month listing. The ideal FSBO website allows shoppers to contact you via email and give you the ability to post pictures of your home on the website. This gives a shopper a better feel for the home than a classified ad would alone. Some FSBO websites actually generate an I.D. number so your buyer can pull up your listing.

Now that you have a list of the tools you need get shopping you should not have to spend more then %200.00 If you think you can’t afford it, buy less ground stakes just don’t skimp on the Hotline or FSBO website.

In the next article we will put it all together structuring a sale that might even make you some money.

James is the webmaster of two great resources that his readers use to help them stop foreclosure and sell their homes faster

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Tampa Bay Real Estate Bubble Burst? Unlikely

With property prices seemingly on the rise and rising quickly in Tampa, there is a lot of talk about a real estate bubble in the US and dire predictions that the so-called bubble could burst, leading to a lack of confidence on the part of investors and people seeking a second home. But while this talk of a bubble may be true in some parts of America, it isn’t justified in Florida, particularly in the Tampa Bay and Clearwater areas.

Florida as a whole is enjoying a rise in property prices which promises to be a long term trend. There are many reasons for this.

Demand for real estate in Florida is increasing. Homes are being bought for various reasons. Both American and European holiday makers view Florida as a premier summer holiday location and flock there each summer and historical evidence suggests that this figure is rising sharply and is having a major economic impact on the region according to VISIT FLORIDA research.

Historic Visitor Numbers (in Millions)
Year Total
1999 58.9
2000 72.8
2001 69.5
2002 73.9
2003 74.6
2004 79.7

Historic Economic Impact
Total Tourism Spending 1999-2004:
1999 – %44.6 billion
2000 – %48.5 billion
2001 – %48.6 billion
2002 – %49.5 billion
2003 – %51.5 billion
2004 – %57.0 billion

Total State Sales Tax Revenues from Tourism 1999-2004:
1999 – %2.7 billion
2000 – %2.9 billion
2001 – %2.9 billion
2002 – %3.0 billion
2003 – %3.0 billion
2004 – %3.4 billion

Number of Persons Directly Employed by Tourism Industry 1999-2004:
1999 – 826,200
2000 – 842,900
2001 – 864,500
2002 – 862,900
2003 – 871,000
2004 – 912,700

This growth in visitors is due to Florida’s many attractions, many of which are near to Tampa Bay. The superb beaches, the night life opportunities, golf and other sporting opportunities whether playing or being a spectator, the theme parks and adventure worlds, Disney, of course – and the many areas of unspoiled beauty. And, if anything, this annual visitation is set to increase again as the Super Bowl comes to Tampa in 2009. This will be the fourth Super Bowl to be held in Tampa. This has a dramatic effect on our area’s prosperity.

The increasing economic prosperity also makes Florida in general and Tampa Bay in particular a good place to find a job or start a business. In 2004, Florida was ranked #2 as one of the best places in America for start-ups. More and more companies are also relocating their headquarters to Tampa, as well. Tampa is now being called the “Gateway to the Florida High Tech Corridor”, because companies are being offered a matching grant program that has generated more than %120 million in applied research. 225 companies have already taken advantage of this.

The area has relatively low real estate prices and a lower cost of living and higher employment statistics compared to the rest of Florida and to other states in America, despite recent increases. The median value for a home in Florida was %189,500 last year, significantly less than similar homes in California where the median home value was %474,370. (Source: www.investmentu.com/IUEL/2004/20040927.html ). In Tampa Bay, it was less again.

Florida, including Tampa, also enjoys the advantage of having slightly more favorable property taxes compared with other parts of the US, no state income tax and better car insurance rates. The education system has undergone considerable improvement over the past number of years. And the Tampa area also has some of the best commute to work times in the country.

Tampa Bay is perhaps the ideal place not just for the baby boomer buying a second house or holiday home, nor just for the property investor seeking to increase their footprint in the holiday rental market, but also for people starting out in life or those seeking a retirement home.

There have been several new developments in Tampa Bay Florida real estate and Clearwater Beach real estate holdings; the plans for developing downtown Tampa, especially the Rivergate area, are potentially very exciting indeed, according to recent articles in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

In short, Florida as an area for either relocation, investment or a second home is currently one of the most attractive in America and likely to remain so for some time. Due to the recent economic pressure on the US as a whole there might be a slight slow down in terms of escalating appreciation but Florida remains a great place to come and a great place to invest, especially Tampa Bay real estate and Clearwater Bay real estate, which are right in the heart of the potential growth areas.
No bubbles bursting here, just opportunities galore!

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The “REAL” Real Estate Roller Coaster

Buying a home is a process fraught with emotional ups and downs. For most people, it’ll will be the most expensive and involved purchase they ever make. On top of the indisputable importance of this purchase, is the indisputable lack of time one has to make a decision before purchasing a home. The average amount of time a potential homebuyer spends looking at a prospective home is 96 minutes! For a home that you may spend the next ten to twenty years living in, well, an hour and a half seems like an un-justly short amount of time to make such a drastic decision. This “hot” decision making environment, where the pressure is on, is one of the key aspects of buyer’s emotional stress. But, the fact is, good homes sell fast, and buyers have to be ready to commit to a purchase in a short time. This being said, the “sure fire” way to make a good decision in a such a short period of time, is to learn to become a smart, analytical shopper. Not that emotions need to go entirely by the way side- but you must know when emotions are playing into your decision making process, what is at the core of those emotions and whether or not they are helpful to your process. Be your psychologist, and the sooner you’ll get off the doctor’s couch and into a new home!

One approach to help mitigate the emotional roller coaster of the buying process is to truly set out your specific priorities in terms of what you want and need in your new home. Ask yourself, ” In order of importance, what are the most important elements for my/.our new home?” Proximity to schools, the location of the neighborhood, commuting distance, property taxes, energy efficiency, shopping accessibility, and recreational facilities are just a few of the considerations a buyer should prioritize beforehand. If purchasing with a spouse or partner, you may discover your priorities are slightly or even greatly different. It is very important that you spend the time to make concessions and get on the same page as best you can.

Other aspects of your priority list may include the type of home you are looking for. These parameters could involve the size of the home or a particular style of home. If you’re set on a particular style of home, this may effect the neighborhood parameter of your search, as not all houses of certain types are in every neighborhood. So, as you see, one way to help curb emotional reactions, is to make sure you know what you’re looking for, and in doing so narrow your search. This way, what you’ll be looking at will be within the list of parameters you set out in your priorities. You can then rank homes based on how well they fit into your priority system. Of course, there will be concession to be made here, as it may not be that a home fits your every single priority in exact order- but at least you’ve done some good analytical homework in advance and have a system for ranking your prospects.

Another tip for dealing with emotions, is to catch yourself when you are honing in on one particular feature of a home, as the “dream feature” of the home. A “dream home”, should be so, because it satisfies those myriad components (priorities) that create “your dream of your home”. You may want to check in and ask yourself if your being clouded by one enticing feature and have lost touch with your list of priorities.

Another dangerous aspect of buying a home based on your “gut” feeling, is that your guttural instinct may be good for you, but not so great for re-sale. It is, in almost all cases, very important that you consider the potential re-sale value of your home as one of your top priorities. You don’t want to be stuck with a “dream home” that turns out to be everybody else’s nightmare. The investment aspect of purchasing a home, lies in it’s re-sale value. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to buy in a well-established, totally investment-proof neighborhood. You may have done your homework and feel confident in buying in a neighborhood that has great potential for five to ten years down the line. Likewise, the home you are investing in may need improvements that you have the funds and/or the expertise to accomplish. But, you must at least consider the re-sale value of your potential home. Otherwise, you could be investing in a money pit, that you’ll never be able to get off your hands.

Keep in mind, smart sellers are bound to know the realm of buyers emotions, and will appeal to your weaknesses. Keep critical eye sharp, especially when a home seems to smell of professional home staging. It’s not that home staging is trickery, or dishonest, but you might need to work extra hard to look beyond the beautiful and well-appointed furniture and the incredible artwork and the enticing smell of apple pie- as none of the above are included in your purchase. Just make sure you look at the house itself and not it’s decor, set-up- and, DON’T EAT THE PIE!

If all these steps have been taken, you’ve approached the searching process having analyzed and prioritized your wants and needs, and you’ve considered the re-sale potential of the properties, then you can allow your emotions to guide you somewhat. Perhaps you’ve been lucky enough and smart enough to mine out two potential properties that both fit your priorities and parameters, at this point, a bit of the old gut instinct can refine your process and actually help, and not hinder the decision making process.

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