Real Estate Service Directory

What Would I Do If I Were Buying a Home Today

How do I get started in purchasing a home? If I were personally look for a home today…I would do the following things before contacting a real estate professional:

Before I would pick up magazines and start looking at houses regardless of my income, my employment record regardless of how much cash I am working with..

I would not assume anything..because I know guidelines have changed..

First things first, I would contact a mortgage professional that I trust and would find out what I qualify for in order to buy a home. 

Because if I don’t qualify..I’m not buying!

I would gather docs because I know you will need them…

I would start with the following items: 2 years tax returns, 3 months bank statements, 1 year’s worth of rent checks.

I would let my employer know I are buying a house and to expect a letter or phone call of employment verification. It may hold true for a landlord as well so prepare to discuss this with your landlord.

If you are in a lease read through your lease agreement and your lease there may be a chance you can break your lease if you purchase a home. If it is not clearly stated in your documents go to your landlord or property manager and ask what are the consequences in breaking the lease now may be the time to buy a home but it may also prove it’s not!

One thing I believe..you have a better chance in buying a home if you are prepared..if you do some homework in advance..and if you keep control in what is going on around you! Don’t be the buyer who said they did it to me!

That means trust the professional you are working with, plan on cooperation and make sure and make good sound decisions…understand the documents…read the fine print but most of all pay attention to the numbers…after all its You and only you paying for that mortgage!

These are things I would certainly do!

It would be my pleasure to help you!

Midori Miller is a licensed real estate associate with CENTURY 21 Sundance Realty, Real Estate Trainer and Broker Associate. If you are interested in a career in real estate please contact me!  All calls and inquiries are confidential.  CENTURY 21 Sundance Realty is located in Volusia County with 2 office locations to better serve the public.  Daytona Beach and Ormond by the Sea.   midorimiller@yahoo.com (386) 453-3236

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Century Village Condo’s for sale-Deerfield Beach FL

NEAL BLOOM | KELLER WILLIAMS PROPERTIES | 954 608 5556 1024 BERKSHIRE B, Deerfield Beach, FL   1BR/1.5BA Condo offered at $59,000     Year Built 1976 Sq Footage Unspecified Bedrooms 1 Bathrooms 1 full, 1 partial Floors Unspecified Parking 1 Uncovered spaces Lot Size Unspecified HOA/Maint $210 per month DESCRIPTION FULLY RENOVATED 1 BR 1.5 BTH READY TO MOVE IN ….JUST BRING YOUR TOOTHBRUSH…UNIT HAS BEEN TOTALLY REDONE.NEW CERAMIC TILE THROUGHOUT.NEW APPLIANCES,NEW KITCHEN CABS,COUNTERTOP AND LIGHTING. FIRST FLOOR HIGH RISE BUILDING WITH POOL VIEW .WITH-IN WALKING DISTANCE TO WORSHIP. see additional photos below     PROPERTY FEATURES Central A/C Central heat Walk-in closet Tile floor Living room Dining room Dishwasher Refrigerator Stove/Oven Microwave     COMMUNITY FEATURES Guest parking Clubhouse Laundry on-site Fitness center Swimming pool(s) Tennis court(s) Golf course Lake Gated property Secured entry Elevator Wheelchair access ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Photo 1 Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 5   Contact info:   NEAL BLOOM KELLER WILLIAMS PROPERTIES 954 608 5556 For sale by agent/broker Equal Opportunity Housing

Tags: Century Village, neal bloom

Posted in Real Estate - For Buyers, real estate | 1 Comment »

Cities Where Your Dollar Goes Furthest

Money goes further some places in the United States than it does in others.

Housing, in particular, has remained most affordable in the South and the Midwest. That’s because of less stringent building, an abundance of land and growing populations in the South, says Daniel McCue, a research analyst at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

To determine the cities that offer the best quality of life for the least amount of money, Forbes magazine calculated the ratios between a city’s median home price and its median household income. It also factored in projected job growth. And it compared median income to Moody’s Economy.com’s cost of living index.

Here are the 10 cities that it found to offer the best value, and the cities that it believes offers the worst value.

Cities Where Residents Get the Most for Their Money

1. Austin, Texas
2. San Antonio, Texas
3. Indianapolis, Ind.
4. Houston, Texas
5. Charlotte, N.C.
6. Columbus, Ohio
7. Dallas
8. Minneapolis/St. Paul
9. Denver
10. Portland, Ore.

Cities Where Residents Get the Least for Their Money

1. Los Angeles
2. Providence, R.I.
3. New Orleans
4. Philadelphia
5. Cleveland
6. New York
7. Milwaukee, Wisc.
8. St. Louis, Mo.
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Sacramento, Calif.

Source: Forbes, Abha Bhattarai (10/10/2008)

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Is it illegal for title companies to force a buyer to close with them on a short sale transaction?

In my time I’ve written a few articles about short sales.

I’ve also read lots of others that people in the industry have written. Most of them talk about the process and the time frame it might take to complete the transaction…..the sorrows…the relief and finally the unknown. THE ANSWER.

This is on another subject. As you know the majority in my area would say that most of the properties on the market are short sales. When I go into our local MLS I’ve noticed a few of these remarks such as ….”the buyer is required to use XXX title as the closing agent in this transaction”….or “The buyer must use XXX Title as the closing agent in this transaction.”

Now I know that if you have less cooks in the pot your chances are the recipe will come out good but I wonder if they still should have the choice and or not.

I’m also aware that anyone who practices Real Estate in another state might have different rules or laws so they might vary.

Now I’ve completed a few them where that was the case. Let’s forget about how it was interpreted  but is it illegal to do that or can the buyer legally use their own title company while an attorney for the sellers just negotiate the short sale?

I never really thought about it but now that it seems more common. I guess our MLS doesn’t mind it because it hasn’t been changed.

I’m not sure what the answer is because I can’t find anything that says it’s legal or illegal.

I’d like to hear any feedback on this.

For more information please contact Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /Remax Premier Assoc.

2500 Weston Road ,Suite 103

Weston FL 33331

(954)608-5556 Direct
(954)212-0257 Fax

nealb63@myacc.net

www.Neal-Bloom.com  

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RE/MAX Agent in Weston FL

Neal Bloom-CRS     RE/MAX Agent in Weston FL

Ethics
Every CRS designee is required to maintain membership in the National Association of Realtors® and to abide by its strict subheader of Ethics.

Technology Expertise
The training available to CRS designees includes a strong focus on technology and its applications in the real estate business.

The Top 4 Percent
Less than 4 percent of all licensed Realtors® are Certified Residential Specialists.

Whether you’re an experienced seller or homebuyer, or shopping for your first home,or selling your first home,
I will help make your experience the best it can be. My customer-focused approach has worked to help my clients throughout the area!

As your trusted, professional real estate partner,Together we will sell your current home as quickly and easily as possible.
I will help you find the best home in your area within your price range.
I hope that you’ll take a few minutes to look over my site, review my listings, and learn a little bit about the top-drawer treatment you’ll get from me!

A Licensed Realtor® with over 12 years of selling Real Estate..my clients put their trust in me to point them in the right direction. Whether you’re an experienced seller or homebuyer, or shopping for your first home,or selling your first home, I will help make your experience the best it can be. My customer-focused approach has worked to help my clients throughout the area! As your trusted, professional real estate partner.

Together we will sell your current home as quickly and easily as possible. I will help you find the best home in your area within your price range. I hope that you’ll take a few minutes to look over my site, review my listings, and learn a little bit about the top-drawer treatment you’ll get from me! What do I know….I’m just a Realtor®
Check out my blog Weston Florida Real Estate-The Real Deal tells it like it is in Real Estate

Member of the National Association of Realtors

Member of the South Broward Board of Realtors  

 Areas of Expertise

I SERVE ALL AREAS OF WESTON ,PEMBROKE PINES,DAVIE, COOPER CITY, PLANTATION,SUNRISE,FT.LAUDERDALE,DEERFIELD BEACH ,BROWARD COUNTY  DADE AND PALM BEACH COUNTIES.

I CAN HELP YOU FIND THE CITY YOU WANT TO LIVE IN……….ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PICK UP THE PHNE OR EMAIL ME AND I’LL BE HAPPY TO HELP YOU.

WE ALSO WORK WITH INVESTORS AS WE BUY AND SELL PROPERTIES OURSELVES, WE ALSO SPECIALIZE IN LAND LEASES,EASEMENTS,LAND,COMMERCIAL.

For more information please contact Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /Remax Premier Assoc.

2500 Weston Road ,Suite 103

Weston FL 33331

(954)608-5556 Direct
(954)212-0257 Fax

www.Neal-Bloom.com

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What’s the Real Value of your home today?

I’m looking at all the properties on the market right now in my area of FL and I keep wondering when changes will come…not anytime soon.

I don’t need to keep reading how the media interprets whats going on in the Real Estate market. I already know what’s going on. I’m a Realtor®….I better know whats going on or I might as well just get out of the business.

I’m primarily a listing agent so my job can be very difficult these days. I remember when taking a listing was easy. You take it and it virtually was sold overnight. It didn’t matter what the size was or what the condition was or even where it was located.

Now when I go on listing appointments I’m finding it even harder in some areas to pin point the actual value of the property. I find myself turning down more and more listings because I refuse to waste my time and a sellers time with false promises. CMA’s can be difficult to prepare in a neighborhood that hasn’t had a few sales let alone one in the last 2 years. I’m even finding myself using a few more pending sales just so I have something to show them that justifies today’s value.

I will start off by only going back over the last 90 days. It makes no sense to go back further but sometimes I’m forced to look back 180 days because I simply can’t find anything to support the sellers premise of value. Even 180 days back you still might not have anything to support your findings and that makes my job even harder.

I took a condo listing from a referral my partner had….the seller wanted it listed at $239K. At that time I told the seller that according to my figures it was only worth $185K. They refused to “give it a way” and that’s their prerogative but it’s still listed today and has been repositioned in the market at….you guessed it…$185K. Here is the problem…we have only had two showings in total and now the properties value should be at $150K. So what happened? They just wasted almost two years and they finally gave but now that price point no longer exists.

Right now in my area there is about a 5 yr supply of condo’s/townhomes and about a 2-3 year supply of single family homes available. Those figure just tell me how many sellers are waiting on line to sell.

So how can you justify today’s value? In most places you simply can’t. When your market is flooded with over 40,000 homes just in one county the consumer is looking to see how much they can get for their home but it seems they are generally looking at how much the homes in their area are selling for and not what they sold for. Many times I will walk into a listing appointment and before I can pull out any information to justify the value…the seller throws a number at me that is not even close to what I think the homes is worth today. I will usually inquire how they came to that number and I get the same story most of the time. The consumer usually doesn’t look at closed sales over the last 90 days. They are looking at asking prices but what your asking doesn’t tell us what your really going to get.

I’ve seen homes asking $750K that ended up selling in the end for $400K. So how can you justify the first price point if it ends up selling for $350K less? Another problem is you list to sell ratios….if that example above were to sell the ratio would reduce the neighborhoods values even more when the next home goes on the market.

The house down the block is not as nice as ours so I think it’s worth X. They don’t realize that most homes that are sold will require some sort of financing and if it doesn’t appraise then they just wasted their time.

It doesn’t matter what I think it’s worth…..it’s what the buyers and sellers are negotiating in todays market place. Even if I say that X is what your value is they still don’t realize that this is today but in 30-90 days from now it probably will be worth less in this market so catching up to the market is a bigger problem right now. By the time it hits the market….5 others come on for less or a few might close for less.

Right now I’m only looking to get some warm bodies to want to see these properties. If you aren’t receiving a call to see it then most likely it’s on Pluto. I have properties that I have listed right now at really reasonable market values that aren’t getting much activity.

These are just a few things that could be happening :

• Not many buyers looking in that price range
• buyers in that price range simply aren’t qualified for loans
• buyers are reluctant to purchase a home with less than 20% down in case they lose even more equity in the home
• Sellers still can’t accept the fact that they most certainly won’t get their price no mater whay we do.
• Banks aren’t lending money unless strict guidelines are met on these specific properties
• Too many others that are simular or are bigger for the same price.
• Buyers are still wating for a better deal
• Buyers are spending a lot more time looking before pulling the trigger.

Price per square foot just isn’t working in my area. If you look back during the Real Estate boom…you’ll find that most buyers didn’t care about that formula but they still couldn’t figure out how two of the same exact homes were selling at such a different spread. So how can you justify it today? You can’t. It was a domino effect. When one house would sell without the contingency of the appraisal then the next house can sell for the same or even more. So every time another home sold for more…the neighbor would try to get even more thus we have ourselves an inflated market….now the same thing is happening in reverse.

How about all the builders who were selling new homes and the price per square foot just didn’t make sense. How did all these homes appraise? What about all the speculators who bought a year ago only to find out that they can’t even sell the home after it close with the builder because the builder valued it too high and the buyer is stuck with it?

Today’s value are kind of like the saying…ok so now what have you done for me lately.

How many times have your clients called you and asked you you when is the market going to change or whats going to happen to the values. Are they going to still decrease or are they going to increase or are they going to level off? If I could give everyone the rigbht answer I’d be a millionaire.

Market correction takes time and there is simply no way to pinpoint the exact time it will take. Remember people were saying the bubble would burst for 5 years and so now it did. Well when will the bubble grow again…there is no way to tell how long or even if we will ever see the market we saw 5 years ago.

For more information please contact Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /Remax Premier Assoc.

2500 Weston Road ,Suite 103

Weston FL 33331

(954)608-5556 Direct
(954)212-0257 Fax

www.Neal-Bloom.com

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Short Sales and loss mitigation departments. Are they all on the same page?

Posted in Real Estate - For Buyers, Real Estate - For Sellers, homes for sale | 1 Comment »