Archive for July, 2010
Atlantic Luxury Homes
July 21st, 2010 | 
Author: Atlantic Luxury Homes
The moniker “Atlantic Luxury Homes” likely conjures up images of crashing waves and majestic beach homes perched atop sand dunes overlooking miles of pristine beach. This image was likely birthed by pictures of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. This scenic destination resort town is one of the most dramatically beautiful spot on the east coast and is home to a real estate market that showcases a variety of new construction and older historic homes. Of the new construction properties, perhaps the most popular home choices are the fantastic condo developments that line the coast.
Recent years have seen the evolution of Myrtle Beach into one of the most popular destinations on the east coast. This has resulted in the creation of a thriving investment atmosphere with vacation rentals forming a solid backbone for the real estate industry. This takes nothing away from a historically active and stable residential core that also has created a secure and thriving business sector. It could be said that Myrtle Beach possesses “the full package” when considering a location for a new home or investment property.
Is it time to treat yourself to that dream home that you deserve? There is really no better place to look than Myrtle Beach. This area can boast excellent choice for entertainment and recreation. Of course the ocean provides any number of sporting options as well as great fishing and and the most breathtaking scenery available. There are really any number of reasons to consider a move to Myrtle Beach, but then again, you likely already have your own reasons….
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3 Ways Renters Lose Money
3 Ways Renters Lose Money
Are you still renting a home or apartment for yourself or your family?
If so, you’re losing money. Think about these three ways you lose money by renting:
1. You’re paying for someone else’s mortgage payment. You’re missing out on the appreciation that the property gives to the landlord. Appreciation is a term used in accounting relating to the increase in value of an asset, which means in real estate terms, added value to the property. Over the past five years, houses appreciated significantly, making many new real estate investor multimillionaires.
2. Renters don’t get to freeze their monthly housing expenses like home buyers can. Of course, many home buyers get mortgage payments with adjustable interest rates and their payments go up over time. However, these payments will not go up over the long term like rising rents. Just think about how much an apartment costs today compared to ten years ago. A two bedroom apartment in Lake Elsinore, California leases for %1,000 today. The exact same apartment rented for %325 in 1996, when it was brand new. Home buyers who had low monthly payments in 1996, who did not refinance their mortgage, enjoy low payments and don’t have to worry about rising rents.
3. Renters don’t benefit from tax advantages. Home owners get income tax deductions. Tax deductions for interest costs, for instance, save tax payers thousands of dollars.
Emotional Satisfaction of Home Ownership
Besides losing out on making money with real estate, renters don’t get the same satisfaction of home enjoyment that benefits home buyers. Many landlords won’t allow you to paint your walls in colors that you desire. Also, you won’t feel like fixing up the property with custom window coverings and you get little say in flooring materials. Because you can’t make your personal statement, you won’t feel like you’re HOME as much as home owners who feel emotionally connected to their property.
How to Buy Your First Home
The biggest barrier to home ownership is often accumulating funds for a down payment. People think they have to have thousands of dollars for a down payment. However, if you have good credit and a decent job, you can get a mortgage for a home with zero down. And you can finance some of your closing costs as well as ask the seller to help you pay a good portion of your purchase costs. With today’s mortgage finance plans, you may be surprised to find out how much of a home you can afford with payments similar to what you currently pay in rent.
You may have to go out of the major metropolitan areas to buy a home. That’s why so many people commute in Southern California. Affordable housing costs much less in outlying areas. But so do the rents. If you’re renting an apartment for %2,300 in Los Angeles, you could buy a %500,000 home in Wildomar. Our daughter just purchased a home in December 2005 and her mortgage payment, for a 3,000 square foot new home, costs less than %2,300. With her tax savings, she will pay even less than renting a small apartment closer to downtown L A.
If these amounts sound high to you, check your local area. Perhaps your monthly rent is only %1,000 and houses cost less than %200,000. Talk to a mortgage loan officer and see how much of a home you can afford.
If you’re renting, make one of your priorities to buy your own home.
Copyright ? 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
3 of the top 9 reasons that the real estate bubble is bursting
3 of the top 9 reasons that the real estate bubble is bursting
If you own real estate or are thinking of buying real estate then you better pay attention, because this could be the most important message you receive this year regarding real estate and your financial future.
The last five years have seen explosive growth in the real estate market and as a result many people believe that real estate is the safest investment you can make. Well, that is no longer true. Rapidly increasing real estate prices have caused the real estate market to be at price levels never before seen in history when adjusted for inflation! The growing number of people concerned about the real estate bubble means there are less available real estate buyers. Fewer buyers mean that prices are coming down.
On May 4, 2006, Federal Reserve Board Governor Susan Blies stated that “Housing has really sort of peaked”. This follows on the heels of the new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke saying that he was concerned that the “softening” of the real estate market would hurt the economy. And former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan previously described the real estate market as frothy. All of these top financial experts agree that there is already a viable downturn in the market, so clearly there is a need to know the reasons behind this change.
3 of the top 9 reasons that the real estate bubble will burst include:
1. Interest rates are rising – foreclosures are up 72%PRCTG%!
2. First time homebuyers are priced out of the market – the real estate market is a pyramid and the base is crumbling
3. The psychology of the market has changed so that now people are afraid of the bubble bursting – the mania over real estate is over!
The first reason that the real estate bubble is bursting is rising interest rates. Under Alan Greenspan, interest rates were at historic lows from June 2003 to June 2004. These low interest rates allowed people to buy homes that were more expensive then what they could normally afford but at the same monthly cost, essentially creating “free money”. However, the time of low interest rates has ended as interest rates have been rising and will continue to rise further. Interest rates must rise to combat inflation, partly due to high gasoline and food costs. Higher interest rates make owning a home more expensive, thus driving existing home values down.
Higher interest rates are also affecting people who bought adjustable mortgages (ARMs). Adjustable mortgages have very low interest rates and low monthly payments for the first two to three years but afterwards the low interest rate disappears and the monthly mortgage payment jumps dramatically. As a result of adjustable mortgage rate resets, home foreclosures for the 1st quarter of 2006 are up 72%PRCTG% over the 1st quarter of 2005.
The foreclosure situation will only worsen as interest rates continue to rise and more adjustable mortgage payments are adjusted to a higher interest rate and higher mortgage payment. Moody’s stated that 25%PRCTG% of all outstanding mortgages are coming up for interest rate resets during 2006 and 2007. That is %2 trillion of U.S. mortgage debt! When the payments increase, it will be quite a hit to the pocketbook. A study done by one of the country’s largest title insurers concluded that 1.4 million households will face a payment jump of 50%PRCTG% or more once the introductory payment period is over.
The second reason that the real estate bubble is bursting is that new homebuyers are no longer able to buy homes due to high prices and higher interest rates. The real estate market is basically a pyramid scheme and as long as the number of buyers is growing everything is fine. As homes are bought by first time home buyers at the bottom of the pyramid, the new money for that %100,000.00 home goes all the way up the pyramid to the seller and buyer of a %1,000,000.00 home as people sell one home and buy a more expensive home. This double-edged sword of high real estate prices and higher interest rates has priced many new buyers out of the market, and now we are starting to feel the effects on the overall real estate market. Sales are slowing and inventories of homes available for sale are rising quickly. The latest report on the housing market showed new home sales fell 10.5%PRCTG% for February 2006. This is the largest one-month drop in nine years.
The third reason that the real estate bubble is bursting is that the psychology of the real estate market has changed. For the last five years the real estate market has risen dramatically and if you bought real estate you more than likely made money. This positive return for so many investors fueled the market higher as more people saw this and decided to also invest in real estate before they ‘missed out’.
The psychology of any bubble market, whether we are talking about the stock market or the real estate market is known as ‘herd mentality’, where everyone follows the herd. This herd mentality is at the heart of any bubble and it has happened numerous times in the past including during the US stock market bubble of the late 1990’s, the Japanese real estate bubble of the 1980’s, and even as far back as the US railroad bubble of the 1870’s. The herd mentality had completely taken over the real estate market until recently.
The bubble continues to rise as long as there is a “greater fool” to buy at a higher price. As there are less and less “greater fools” available or willing to buy homes, the mania disappears. When the hysteria passes, the excessive inventory that was built during the boom time causes prices to plummet. This is true for all three of the historical bubbles mentioned above and many other historical examples. Also of importance to note is that when all three of these historical bubbles burst the US was thrown into recession.
With the changing in mindset related to the real estate market, investors and speculators are getting scared that they will be left holding real estate that will lose money. As a result, not only are they buying less real estate, but they are simultaneously selling their investment properties as well. This is producing huge numbers of homes available for sale on the market at the same time that record new home construction floods the market. These two increasing supply forces, the increasing supply of existing homes for sale coupled with the increasing supply of new homes for sale will further exacerbate the problem and drive all real estate values down.
A recent survey showed that 7 out of 10 people think the real estate bubble will burst before April 2007. This change in the market psychology from ‘must own real estate at any cost’ to a healthy concern that real estate is overpriced is causing the end of the real estate market boom.
The aftershock of the bubble bursting will be enormous and it will affect the global economy tremendously. Billionaire investor George Soros has said that in 2007 the US will be in recession and I agree with him. I think we will be in a recession because as the real estate bubble bursts, jobs will be lost, Americans will no longer be able to cash out money from their homes, and the entire economy will slow down dramatically thus leading to recession.
In conclusion, the three reasons the real estate bubble is bursting are higher interest rates; first-time buyers being priced out of the market; and the psychology about the real estate market is changing. The recently published eBook “How To Prosper In The Changing Real Estate Market. Protect Yourself From The Bubble Now!” discusses these items in more detail. For more information visit www.MyRealEstateBubble.com
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Answering Phoned Inquiries About The Home You Are Selling
Answering Phoned Inquiries About The Home You Are Selling
When you are selling your home, expect a lot of people to ?intrude? on your privacy. If your home is being handled by real estate agents, then most of the calls and inquires would be handled by them. If you are selling your home by yourself, then you?ve got a big job in your hands.
As an independent home seller, you may be flooded by a long line of emails and unending phone calls from potential buyers. Answering emails will not pose much of a problem since you have time to compose your thoughts and you can do those at your own convenience. Handling phoned inquiries is another matter altogether.
One thing you should remember about conducting your business through the phone is that, contrary to what you may think, you are not invisible. The person on the other end of the line can sense your mood at that particular time. If you?re angry, bored or irritated, although they can?t see your facial expressions, they can feel your emotions through the tremor of your voice. With this in mind, try to be warm and friendly. No matter how inane their questions are, do not show your irritation.
In addition to this, you have to know every little thing about your home. It would be safe to assume that you already know the basics (how many bedrooms, toilets, how many cars can the garage accommodate), but you should also be prepared to answer other unexpected questions (i.e. when was the last time you had the property treated for termites). Nothing will irk a buyer more than someone who does not know much about what they are selling.
It would be best if you could attend to all phoned-in inquires yourself. However, in the eventuality that you can?t stay at home, make sure that you leave specific instructions with someone who would be capable of taking these calls. If no one can do the job well, then make sure you can be reached through your cell phone.