Clearwater Beach Florida
Buying Clearwater Beach Houses and Condos - More Jumbo Loans Will Help
March 3rd, 2010 Categories: Clearwater Beach Florida, Tampa Mortgages
Clearwater Beach Florida - Well we got some good news today for people in the market to buy or sell Clearwater Beach houses and condos. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel that should help because the limits on conforming loans and the availability of Jumbo loans is improving. I actually wrote a detailed article almost one year ago explaining why the lack of Jumbo loans would hurt both buyers and sellers as well as the overall Clearwater real estate market. It’s taken us a long time to see this situation improve any.
You can see the complete article here => Update on Clearwater Beach Jumbo Loans
Banks are finally starting to loosen up (translation: feeling more secure about our real estate market which is good for all of us) and it should make it easier for people to buy second homes or move up to homes over the $417,000 conventional loan limit. The Los Angeles times recently reported that the average interest rates on a 30 year fixed rate jumbo fell to 5.79% which is a five year low. You may remember that we were seeing painful rates of 7.5% last summer for our most qualified best buyers which was extremely frustrating and actually caused several of our clients to put their plans to purchase on hold.
Luckily, we work with some of the best local lenders so we have been able to successfully help our clients purchase the homes and condos they wanted. Lenders who really ”know” the Clearwater real estate market along with waterfront homes in neighborhoods like Island Estates or Belle Isle is essential - regardless of who you’re working with - make sure your lender understands and is comfortable in our market. If you are planning to buy a condo today I highly recommend working with local lenders especially those that can do portfolio loans in-house and specialize in financing beachfront and waterfront properties. There’s nothing worse than finding the home of your dreams and having a lender that can’t perform cause you probably won’t know that until you’d spent almost $2,000 of your money.
Related Article => Clearwater | Tampa Mortgages - Buyer Beware of FHA loans and Seller Concessions
The second bit of good news we got today was that the conforming loan limits for 2010 will remain at $417,000 like it has been for the past 5 years. This is actually great news in my opinion because that means you can purchase a property for up to $520,000 and still be a standard conforming loan which may enable you to get even more attractive rates. $520,000 buys a lot more beachfront and waterfront than it did 5 years ago.
We are also getting signs that lenders are loosening up about lending on beachfront condos (luckily we’re not Miami) - we are also seeing most condos are being listed for prices within @92% of what they’ll end up selling for and I was encouraged to see an appraisal come back for one of our buyers where it stated the market was “stable” not “declining” - when I ran the 6 month comparable sales against the 3 month sales I found it had actually increased slightly - we’ll keep monitoring this for you condominium building by building and neighborhood by neighborhood to give you the best insider information to make good decisions - whether you’re considering buying or selling in the next few months.
Related Article: => Clearwater Fl Realtors Get Results For Home Buyers
My intent was not to make this a Tampa Mortgage themed week however it’s never been more important to be informed on what’s happending in this very dynamic market and I’ve got another article in my head about the impact of FHA appraisals on sellers right now. :)
If you’re looking for a Clearwater FL Realtor we’d like you to know that we are passionate about being your real estate advocate. We’re committed to delivering Results daily based on Integrity, Knowledge & Experience - helping you find the perfect Clearwater FL homes.
We’d like to be YOUR Clearwater Real Estate Team!
Call Cyndee @ 727.710.8035 or Jack @ 727710.8036
Warmly,
Cyndee and Jack Haydon
Charles Rutenberg Realty
Clearwater Real Estate Office
1545 S. Belcher Rd
Clearwater FL 33764
727-710-8035 (Cyndee’s cell)
727-710-8036 (Jack’s cell)
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Battle the Winter Blues here in Clearwater Beach Florida
January 20th, 2010 Categories: Clearwater Beach Florida, Real Estate News
Clearwater Beach in January…. Ahhhh it’s back in the mid 70’s - now that’s how winter should be - Our Winter blues - are blue skies and Clear blue water at our beaches!
See all Clearwater Beach Condos for Sale
Tampa Bay Buyers tell all in video…
http://www.SandbarstoSunsets.com/clients Sincerely,
Cyndee Haydon, REALTOR®
Charles Rutenberg Realty
1545 Belcher Road
Clearwater, FL 33764 Cyndee’s Mobile:727-710-8035
Jack’s Mobile: 727-710-8036 Our Blog is packed with local info. You can search over 44,700 homes and condos for sale in Tampa Bay at http://www.SandbarsToSunsets.com/idx Request detail market reports, See live beach webcam, Find out How Much your Home is Worth and more….
See and download the full gallery on posterous
Posted via email from Clearwater Beach Florida - SandbarsToSunsets’s posterous
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Clearwater Beach Condos - Buyers Must Know 6 Reasons Cash May be the ONLY Purchase Option
January 4th, 2010 Categories: Clearwater Beach Florida, Condominiums, Tampa Mortgages
Clearwater Condos for Buyers - Cash is King and sometimes your ONLY Financing option when Buying Florida Beach Condos
Clearwater Beach Florida - I had a buyer from Brazil contact me yesterday excited about coming to Clearwater Beach Florida to buy a condo in February. She shared beach condominium communities that interested her and I asked her the most tactical planning question I’ve found for buyers planning purchase of a Clearwater beach condo (especially a second home / vacation home) in today’s Florida real estate market…Will you be paying cash or financing?
Are you paying cash or will you need a mortgage…because it will affect your Beach Condo choices..
Me: I told her that “I’d set up a search for her once I knew her plans since many condos are not eligible for financing”
Her: “Hi Cyndee, thanks for the quick response. Not eligible for financing? Why would this be? Thanks”
I realized when she asked that question that many of our readers and buyers planning to buy a beach condo this winter may have the same questions and not be aware of what’s been happening with Fannie Mae and that there are new hurdles in getting a Tampa mortgage and even when you do qualify you need to plan to have 30% or more for a downpayment (up from 20% this summer)
6 Reasons you may not be able to get a Tampa Mortgage foater Beach Condo today
Unfortunately, Florida still has the “honor” of having the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation and at the top of the list, are condos, especially those that are not primary residences. Additionally, mortgage investors in general, consider Florida to be a declining market (whether still true or not) and as such are very conservative about 2nd home condo purchases in Florida particular.
This past year Fannie Mae added several restrictions making it more difficult for developers and current owners to sell their units. The government-backed mortgage-finance company stopped guaranteeing mortgages in condo buildings where fewer than 70% of the units have been sold, up from 51%.
See article detailing: Fannie Mae Mortgages tighten for condos
addition, if a condominium finds itself in one of the following situations then lenders aren’t approving loans for any condos in buildings. This is true for condos where:
- 15% of current condominium owners are delinquent on association fees; The calculation was also changed this past year from being 15% of the total fee payments to 15% of total units.
- More than 10% of units are owned by a single-entity. Apparently, this was to keep the so-called “vulture buyers” from taking over project; In addition, they also want to see only a limited number of non-owner occupied units as well.
- The condos must be “warrantable” - each approved individually and this can change month to month
- The homeowners association must have at least 10% of its budgeted income designated for replacement reserves and adequate funds budgeted for the insurance deductible; Many older condo associations keep woefully inadequate reserves and operating budgets, so they are non-compliant
- No more than 20% of a condo project can consist of non-residential space. There goes most mixed commercial-residential use projects
Buyers face more hurdles in financing Clearwater Beach Condos
and #6) This one is specific to foreign nationals. There is currently no one we’ve been able to find lending to foreign nationals due to the issues that revolve around lenders options when a borrower defaults and is not a US citizen. (If you know of anyone please let us know :) The one exception is we still have one lending source for Canadians (a bank that is located in both countries even though it is HQ in Canada)- Our experience has been that all other foreign nationals are finding they have to purchase with cash regardless of the condo situation.
If a Clearwater beach condo and the borrower both do qualify under current lending guidelines then there is an additional amount to budget for it’s HO6 which is now required. Borrowers must now obtain a condo unit owners insurance policy unless the master policy provides interior unit coverage; coverage may not be less than 20% of the assessed value.
A condo-owners policy, known as an HO-6 policy, covers personal property, personal liability, and the physical unit from the studs and in. Many policies also include special assessment coverage or the option to include a special assessment coverage rider since these assessments have caused several borrowers to be foreclosed on since they couldn’t pay them and the HOA can then foreclose on the owner - which is definitely not good news for the lenders or the owner. This came about because when we experienced hurricanes in 2004 many people didn’t have enough insurance for the “inside of their condo” and many communities had issues with condos not repaired, mold, etc. so in an effort to protect all owner’s in the communities investment it is now regulated that every borrower must carry this coverage. (This just went into effect this past month)
I hope information was helpful to you as well…
Do you have a question you’d like me to answer about what’s happening today in Clearwater real estate?
Just email, call or leave a comment and I be separate myths from our current realities…
Buyers continue to tell us that selecting the best Clearwater Realtors, online or from a distance, can be a challenge. So some of our past clients agreed to share their experiences and tell you why they think you should work with us. Meet some of our clients and now friends…we’d love to be YOUR choice too!
Give us a call so we can to discuss your needs! (727)710-8035 or (727) 710-8036
Clearwater Beach Condos: If you want to Buy Waterfront Condos or Homes - We Can Help!
If you’ve been thinking about buying a waterfront or oceanfront beach condo or house in the Clearwater St Peterburg Tampa Bay area…
Call Us Today at (727) 710-8036 to hear more about how we can help you!
Contact us for a FREE quote on Tampa Mortgages and you can search all Tampa St Petersburg and Clearwater condos for sale right now..
Copyright © 2007-2009 Jack and Cyndee Haydon, Clearwater REALTORS and specializing in Clearwater Florida, Clearwater Beach Florida, and Pinellas County Waterfront homes and condos. Information is deemed reliable however it is not guaranteed and subject to change at any time.
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