real estate

LISTINGBOOK is a TOTALLY FREE service for Buyers and Sellers of real estate.  Visit my site at www.getconnected.listingbook.com and sign up.  LISTINGBOOK offers you daily email reports that show New Listings, Price Changes, Comparables, Community Information, Schools and much more.  Buyers can input their likes and dislikes and LISTINGBOOK will automatically send the listings that apply.  Very easy to use and saves alot of driving around looking for your next home.  Sellers are able to watch the activity on their listing as well as other homes in their neighborhoods. 

There may be a new tax credit on the way - see below article.  The $8000 tax credit is now available to use for closing costs, buydown on interest rates and other costs.  Contact me at any time to learn more about purchasing your first home.

RISMEDIA, June 12, 2009-Lawmakers are pushing to revive legislation in the Senate that would almost double an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and expand the program to all borrowers.

Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, plans to introduce a bill this week that increases the tax credit to $15,000 and removes income and other restrictions on who can qualify for the credit, according to his spokesman, Sheridan Watson.

Effective October 1, 2008, a housing bill was passed to help both troubled borrowers and lenders. At-risk borrowers whose loans originated between January 2005 and June 2007 may be eligible to refinance their unaffordable mortgages into low-cost, fixed-rate loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Whether current or in default, at least 31% of the borrower's monthly income must be tied to paying the mortgage debt. Other requirements come in to play that have to do with the total debt owed and any secondary financing. Borrowers may get information from their current lender or an FHA-approved lender (found on the website for the Department of Housing and Urban Development).

What a great response to my inaugural blog post last week.  Thanks to all who read it and called or emailed with their thoughts.  It seemed like there was an underlying theme with the feedback...2008 is going to be a good year for Jacksonville real estate.  So what real estate information can I provide you, the Shorelines reader?  My goal is to use this forum as a means of providing updates on the Beaches real estate market, as well as any issues affecting our housing industry.  Please email me your questions and suggestions.

I must be asked on a daily basis, how did the 2007 real estate market do?  Well, if you bought a home in 2007, congratulations as this year will go down as one of the best years for homebuyers in recent memory.  With low interest rates, affordable prices and motivated sellers and builders, 2007 was the year to buy.  Our market has, and will continue to out perform most of the markets in Florida.  But, we’ve all read the news…housing in down, sales are slow, blah, blah, blah.  The truth is, sales are slower, but compared to what?  The market frenzy where homes were appreciating weekly and selling in hours, not days?  That is not normal.  What we are experiencing now is normal.  2007 returned to a normal market and from what I am seeing, we’re on track to start an even better 2008.  So if you haven’t purchased property yet and are waiting for prices to go even lower, don’t.  During the fourth quarter, which is usually a slower time of year, I’ve seen my own sales increase dramatically over the previous quarter  And January is on target to do even better.  So has the market started to pick up…in my honest opinion, you bet.