You’ve dreamed and planned for owning a second home. Imagine enjoying vacations whenever you want, entertaining family and friends and creating a home away from home. There are many, many, good reasons for owning a second home. Before you take that step, there are some considerations for your careful planning. First, many second home/vacation home owners take the steps to improve family time and take a break from their hectic daily schedules. Booking reservations and the overall cost for … [Read more...]
The Impact Your Interest Rate Has on Your Buying Power
The Difference Your Interest Rate Makes Home purchasing power is greatly affected by interest rates, unless you're paying cash. With historic lows on mortgage rates edging upward, here's some quick info on how that impacts your home buying budget. Some Highlights: Your monthly housing cost is directly tied to the price of the home you purchase and the interest rate you secure for your mortgage. Over the last 30 years, interest rates have fluctuated greatly with rates in the double … [Read more...]
Rising Home Prices Lift US Wealth Even As Stocks Fall
Federal Reserve reports 1 percent increase in household net worth in first quarter of 2016 Rising Home Prices - Americans’ household wealth rose in the first three months of this year as home values increased, offsetting a drop in stock prices. The Federal Reserve said Thursday that U.S. household net worth increased 1 percent to $88.1 trillion in the first quarter. Americans’ stock and mutual fund portfolios shrank $160 billion, while home values jumped $498 billion. Savings in certificates … [Read more...]
Budget-Minded Upgrades That Give You the Most Bang for Your Buck
Smart Home Upgrades Even if you aren’t ready to list your home, a few smart changes can make a big difference in adding to your home’s value and maybe lift your spirits as well. If you want to increase the appeal and profit potential, strategic and budget-friendly home improvement ideas in these six categories will offer the biggest return on your investment. A budget-friendly kitchen remodel Real estate agents will tell you time and again: Kitchens and baths sell houses. Dated … [Read more...]
Who Pays the Highest Property Taxes?
Property Taxes - the Cost of Owning The average median property tax rate across the nation is 1.31 percent. That means a home owner with a home valued at $200,000, on average, pays an annual amount of $2,620 in property taxes, according to an analysis by CoreLogic’s data team. Illinois has the highest median property tax rate at 2.67 percent. Hawaii, on the other hand, has the lowest at 0.31 percent. “While higher median tax rates are seen primarily among states in the northeast, a … [Read more...]
SW Florida Housing Market has Slowed – and That’s Good
NAPLES, Fla. – Feb. 24, 2016 – The SW Florida housing market is showing signs of slowing and local experts say that's OK. Home resales are slowing – and so are land sales for new homes and developments. "We're in the middle of a downshift in the marketplace. And it's a good thing," said Denny Grimes, president of Denny Grimes & Co. in Fort Myers. Grimes was one of three expert speakers at Market Watch 2016, sponsored by the News-Press and held at the Harborside Event Center in downtown … [Read more...]
Main Street Holds up as Wall Street Struggles
Wall Street is hurting, and Main Street doesn't care. It's got burgers and cars to buy. Big losses in stock markets around the world this year have the wingtip-set fretting, but regular consumers across the United States are confident enough to open their wallets and spend more. It's an about-face from the early years of the economic recovery, which began in 2009, when stocks and big banks were soaring but many on Main Street felt like they were getting left behind. "It's almost like a … [Read more...]
Florida Breaks Tourism Record for Fifth Consecutive Year
105 million people travel to Sunshine State in 2015, governor says Florida welcomed 105 million visitors last year, making 2015 the fifth consecutive year where the tourism record was broken. The new record exceeded the previous high of 98.5 million in 2014 by 6.6 percent, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism promotion arm. The total number of visitors to the Sunshine State last year exceeded the populations of most of the world's countries. It was about 3 million more people, for … [Read more...]
Florida’s Real Estate Market – Housing Overview
"Florida's real estate market remained quite healthy in December," said Brad O'Connor, chief economist at Florida Realtors. "Closed sales remain strong, and prices continue to rise. "Inventory levels of single-family homes dropped to an annual low for 2015 at the end of December, to just under 100,000 active listings," he added. Statewide, single-family sales totaled 23,056 in December, up 2.9 percent over the year. Condo sales fell 1.2 percent to 9,357, according to the Florida Realtors … [Read more...]
2015 Florida Real Estate Review
In 2015, Florida's real estate market faced changes big and small, good and not so good. Here are the most influential Florida real estate stories of 2015: The Florida Real Estate Market? It's back As a state famous for investment homes and international sales, Florida tends to be hit hard by recessions and blessed by economic booms. In 2015, it was the latter. According to Freddie Mac's latest Multi-Indicator Market Index – a measurement of state and local markets' strength – Florida's … [Read more...]