In today’s brave new world of  South Florida real estate, getting a home loan is arguably the most stressful component of your transaction. On the one hand, the “big box” national lenders have frequently proven to be unreliable in just about every step of the funding process. With their thin staffs, poor communication and underwriting rules that seem to change on a daily basis, a Florida home buyer cannot rely on a successful closing. On the other hand, working with a mortgage broker may compound these problems since you are adding a middleman to the equation.

Going With a Stuart Area Direct Lender

For me, the best option for my clients is to work with a local direct lender. Our preferred direct lender is Group One Mortgage. With offices thtoughout the Treasure Coast, Group One offers skilled, personalized service coupled with the same programs offered by the national lenders.

Why a Florida Based Direct Lender Can Ensure a Successful Closing

1. Full Service – a direct lender processes your loan, underwrites your loan and funds your loan right in their office. This includes FHA loans, VA loans, 100% USDA loans, conventional and Jumbo loans.
2. Easy Access to Decision Makers – having the loan underwriter in their office allows your loan officer to communicate directly with the person responsible for approving and clearing your loan to close.
3. Direct Government Lender – a direct lender can provide in-house FHA, VA and USDA underwriting. As a direct Government lender Group One Mortgage has a DE (delegated endorsement)underwriter in their office. All FHA, VA and USDA loans stay in house and are not being brokered through middle men companies.

Please contact me with all your real estate needs. Or call Wayne Katz at Group One Mortgage (561) 791-0000 to get pre-approved for a mortgage today!

Eric Slifkin, Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty
819 South Federal Highway
Stuart, FL 34994
(888) 288-1765

This post has been authored by Eric Slifkin, REALTOR® serving South Florida’s Treasure Coast. You can reach me at 888-288-1765, or visit my Web site at www.TreasureCoastHomeSales.com. As your resource for information on new or resale homes throughout the Treasure Coast, please be sure to contact me about any home you may find on the Web, yard sign or ad and I will research the property, arrange showings and handle all the details.

The myriad of fees associated with the buying or selling of a home are called closing costs. Some fees are automatically assigned to either the buyer or the seller while other costs are either negotiable or dictated by local custom. Your lender must provide a good faith estimate of all settlement costs prior to closing- the title company or other entity conducting the closing will tell you the required amount to bring to the closing. 

Typical Buyer Closing Costs

• Down payment
• Loan origination fees
• Points, or loan discount fees you pay to receive a lower interest rate
• Appraisal fee
• Credit report
• Private mortgage insurance premium
• Insurance escrow for homeowners insurance, if being paid as part of the mortgage
• Property tax escrow, if being paid as part of the mortgage.  
• About escrows – lenders keep funds for taxes and insurance in escrow accounts as they are paid with the mortgage, then pay the insurance or taxes for you.   Note: when financing more than 80% (LTV), escrowed property taxes and insurance are required, which will increase your monthly mortgage payment.
• Deed recording fees
• Title insurance policy premiums
• Survey
• Inspection fees-building inspection, termites, etc.
• Notary fees
• Prorations for your share of costs such as utility bills and property taxes .  A Note About prorations – At the closing, certain costs are often prorated (or distributed) between buyer and seller. Because such costs are usually paid on either a monthly or yearly basis, you might have to pay a bill for services used by the sellers before they moved. Proration is a way for the sellers to pay you back or for you to pay them for bills they may have paid in advance.  The most common prorations are for property taxes.  This is because property taxes are typically paid at the end of the year for which they were assessed.  Thus, if a house is sold in June, the sellers will have lived in the house for half the year, but the bill for the taxes won’t come due until the following year.  To make this situation more equitable, the taxes are prorated. In this example, the sellers will credit the buyers for half the taxes at closing.  

Avoid Closing Delays 

Your closing can be delayed by a number of issues including:

• Clouded title
• A home not appraising for value
• Encroachments or other survey issues
• A rapid change in interest rates
• An undisclosed credit or income issue
• Inspection or repair problemsor one of countless other unanticipated issues.

Don’t buy your home without my assistance! I understand what it takes to help you through your closing and can handle much of the work involved throughout the transaction with the least amount of stress to you.

Qualifying For The Credit

1. 1. To qualify for the credit the home purchase must take place between 1/1/2009 through 12/31/2009.

2. The 2009 tax credit is an $8000 refundable tax credit or 10% of the purchase price.  This means that if the purchase price of a home is $80,000, then you will hit the maximum of $8,000. 

3. Refundable means that if you owe a tax liability of less then $8,000 the IRS will send you a refund of the difference.  If you do not have a tax liability that is larger then $8,000, you will get a cash refund.

Exceptions to The Credit

1.  There is a phase out range for this tax credit.  For Joint tax filers it is $170,000 and single tax payers it is $95,000.  If the home is purchased from a close relative such as spouse, parents, child, grandparents or grandchild, you are not entitled to the credit.

2.  The home is not a primary residence.  A primary residence is one where you spend the majority of you time (over 50%).  Condos, single family and town houses are acceptable.  No second or vacation homes.  For new construction, the purchase date must be prior to 12/31/2009.

3.  The recipient of the tax credit sells their home before the end of a full three years of ownership.  If the home is sold prior to the three years of ownership the tax credit must be repaid.

4. The tax credit can be claimed on your 2008 or 2009 Tax Returns.

5. Nonresident alien’s are not eligible.

6. A first time homeowner means that they did not own another primary residence at any time during the three years prior to the new purchase.  If they are joint tax filers they both must meet the above criteria to qualify.  This credit does not have to be repaid, which is different then the one passed last year.

Income Limits

1. Single filers $95,000

2.  Married filers $170,000

3.  The phase out for the income limit of $95,000 starts at $75,000 and for married at $150,000.  A phase out means that the credit is proportionately reduced between the $75,000 and the $95,000, and the $150,000 and the $170,000.

I hope that this helps to explain about the new credit.  For more information about the tax credit, first time home buyer programs or home loans please contact Wayne Katz, Senior Mortgage Advisor at Group One Mortgage, 561-791-0000 or contact me with any questions you may have about buying a home on the treasure Coast.

• Competitively priced homes.  Many sellers have become more realistic with their pricing strategy and buyers have started to take notice.

• You can buy with as little as 3.5% down.  Conventional financing now require a large down payment (typically 20%).  But many buyers are taking advantage of government backed FHA loans right now which enable them to purchase a property with a very small down payment.

• The$8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers.  A tax credit of up to $8k is available for qualified first time home buyers that purchase a home before December 1, 2009.

• Low interest rates.  While rates recently ticked upward slightly, they are still at historic lows.

Whether you are looking for a “fixer” or a totally remodeled and updated home, I would welcome the opportunity to assist you.  Right now, there are great buying opportunities out there.  Please feel free to contact me for the best homes for sale in Stuart, Palm City and Treasure Coast. 

Why Newspaper Advertising is Obsolete
• Newspaper circulation is dropping .
• Newspaper classified ads provide limited information and low quality photos.
• Potential buyers are forced to call a real estate agent for information.
 

How Online Exposure Sells Homes
• Real estate websites are accessed by thousands of people from all over the world.  If someone is thinking about moving to Stuart, Florida, they will see your home featured on these sites.
• Quality photos of your home are displayed to guarantee that buyers from oversees, out of state or in the next town will see the best features of your home.
• An Internet REALTOR® will spend thousands of dollars and invest many hours in an effort to ensure his website performs well in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Managing Online Buyers
• Follow through by your Internet REALTOR® is essential when working with online buyers.
• Internet leads go stale in as little as an hour.  Internet buyers, especially gen X and gen Y users, will quickly move on to the next agent to get listing information.
• An Internet REALTOR® must have systems in place to capture and follow up on leads.  This may include a listing auto notification service, drip Email campaign or old fashioned phone calling.

When choosing an agent to list your home, find out how they market homes online.  Or simply Google one of their listing addresses to see if it is getting proper Web exposure.

How I market homes on the Web

Customer service is paramount to generating trust and sales in real estate. In this third of three posts I discuss a recent experience with an absentee landlord:

The Absentee Landlord…

This post is not just a customer service experience but also illustrates the dark side of serving the client. In this case the culprit was a rental agent who managed to neglect his client’s listing for six months after it became vacant.

I was referred to the client, an investor from California. He had assigned the task of finding a tenant to a well known broker who rented it. But after the tenant left he never bothered to find another tenant or even check on the unit’s condition. I picked up the rental listing and discovered the refrigerator had leaked water onto the kitchen floor. The water was absorbed by an adjacent cabinet that was quickly ruined. There was also a myriad of wear and tear items needing repair along with painting, cleaning and landscaping. With the owners permission I brought in a painter, cleaning service and handyman to get the unit “rent ready”. I also discovered the A/C unit had not been serviced in two years and contacted a local HVAC company. As the work neared completion I began advertising the unit and quickly found a tenant, who moved in just as the contractors were finishing up. Even though it cost the absentee landlord almost $10,000 in lost rent and repairs, he was pleased to have his rental brought back up to speed with a tenant in place just weeks after listing the property with me.

Customer service is paramount to generating trust and sales in real estate. In this second of three posts I discuss a recent experience with an out of town buyer:

The Out of Town Buyer…

They were a professional couple from Boston seeking a club community offering both golf and boating who surfed into my Web site one evening. Their Email asked if such properties existed in our section of the Treasure Coast and could I show them listings the next day – the only time they had left before heading home. “Express” showings are a specialty of mine and I showed them a half dozen properties while introducing them to Palm City. They fell in love with a beautiful club community and a property with a terrific waterfront location. Three weeks later they were back for another look and we submitted an offer that was several hundred thousand below asking price. Needless to say the counter was laughable and they resigned themselves to not getting their dream home. But I encouraged them to stick with it and after months of on and off negotiating, a change of listing agents and a dearth of other buyers an offer was accepted just $50,000 above the original. With the buyers back home and unable to return during the settlement process I handled all the details including inspections, post-closing repairs and finding a tenant (they decided to rent it out the first year). All these activities were transparent to my clients, who tended to their busy schedules. They were truly amazed how easy I made the transaction for them and recently referred another client who is interested in a similar property.

Customer service is paramount to generating trust and sales in real estate. Nearly every agent Web site you encounter references “customer service” and how great we are at delivering it. Other than client testimonials, little anecdotal evidence accompanies the claim of giving great customer service. That said, here are several instances of customer service I have been privileged to deliver over the last several years (first of three posts):

Mature Moves…

This senior client needed to sell her home and buy another quickly, which sounds simple enough. But other than the equity in her home she had limited funds, no family and just a few friends who helped as best they could. The mission was to sell her home and perform a simultaneous closing on another without providing a good faith deposit. Also, she wanted to find a place to retire on the water for under $250,000!

Several weeks later we found a buyer. We now had 30 days to find another home – on the water. We began researching waterfront communities all over Florida and my client found a new condo in the Panhandle, which is a five hour drive from the Treasure Coast. I arranged for her to meet with the builder and was to receive a referral fee for my efforts but her 20 year old car decided to quit. So off we went in my car. The condo was in a tiny hamlet just steps from the gulf and she decided to purchase it. After some negotiating the builder agreed to go to contract with just her signature and the promise of wiring funds for the all cash transaction on the day of closing.

Now all we had to do was get her packed and moved. Flash forward to moving day. The movers were a free lance operation and were nowhere to be found on closing day, so I rented a van and drove my client and her belongings to her new home, arriving after midnight. My colleagues thought I was certifiable but helping my client achieve her goal was its own reward.