Be sure to check out this beautiful Mayfair home located at the Countryside Community in  Clearwater Florida.

Lot’s of amenities: See the Full listing Details Here

883 Cypress Trail Dr, Tarpon Springs

NOW: $598,000 -

1433 Orange St. Clearwater Fl NOW: $148,000

2930 Mayfair Ct. Clearwater NOW: $299,000

2009 Orangeside Rd, Palm Harbor

NOW: $169,000

10 Tips: Thinking of buying a home? Be prepared

This is an excellent article that was written for the Sunday – November 8,2008 edition of the St. Petersburg Times News Paper.

Ok, so no one can can guarantee a hassle free experience when it comes to mortgages especially in today’s climate. However, as a home buyer in the Tampa Real Estate Market, or just about anywhere for that matter one can definitely make life much easier on themselves and help to ensure a smooth home buying process by checking on a few details up front.  Then when you and your buyers agent locate the home of your dreams the process will go much faster. If your new home research is here in Tampa, then the Future Home Team at Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate can also assist in ironing out any last minute details or issues you might have questions with.

So here’s a quick synopsis of the 10 Tips to help ensure Buyers are prepared.

1. Check your credit score. Your score will impact the interest rate on your mortgage in a big way.
2. Seek help if you’re new at this. First-time home buyers’ programs can help people who have credit problems or limited savings to find loans with better interest rates than they might otherwise find.
3. Get pre-approved for your mortgage. A pre-approval letter from a mortgage lender is a requirement in a loan market like this.
4. Don’t borrow more than you can afford.
5. Search for the best possible rate and loan terms.
6. Beware of toxic loans. Be careful with adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, that will cause your mortgage payment to jump to a potentially un-affordable level in a few years.
7. Remember those closing costs.
8. Factor in other big expenses.
9. Work with a buyer’s agent. *
10. Don’t break the bank. Make sure you have money left in your savings account after you buy.

*The experienced Future Home Team at Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate can assist you with the 10 Step Process. As your Buyers Agent they will represent you from the start of your search, and ensure that you are 100% satisfied and happy in your new home.

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We would like to say Congratulations and Thank You to the Proud New Owners of 2924 Eagle Estates Circle. Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate wants to Wish you many Happy and Memorable Years to come in your New Home.

ENJOY

This has been a long haul. We finally sold a home that we have worked so very hard to market for the former owner.

In any market there is always that one house that no matter what you do, short of dropping the price to a ridiculous level it does not sell. In this case the home is in a beautiful location and the home is no ugly duckling either. What is interesting is that when the former owner purchased the home in the early 90?s it had been on the market for over a year.

We gave up on counting exactly how many open house events, broker events and listing tours we provided on this home. We had received several offers over the course of the listing, but they were not serious and considered low ball offers when compared to the other homes selling in and around the neighborhood.

The new owners are ecstatic, and the seller is very happy to have sold the house. So persistence can make the sale when both parties come to together and realize they can make a deal that works for both.

I can tell you that it is interesting, that we have had listings where the owner did not head our advice and subsequently re-listed the home with another agent only to find that their home is still unsold many months later. So jumping ship is not always the best thing to do, you really have to look at what your agent is doing for you. If they are doing everything humanly possible and the home is still not selling, then the price may have to be lowered to compete in the current market. I can tell you that the owner still made a good profit over what they had originally purchased the home for.

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Many home owners may have heard about the My Safe Florida Home imitative for Free Wind Inspections on their homes, but as I have recently discovered, just as many do not know that this service is available to them for Free.

Here?s the story, I was in Home Depot recently here in New Port Richey, and noticed a table set up in the front with information about the Free Wind Inspection. Since we live in a new development and our home was one of the first to be built with the new 2007 standards I thought this was of little value to me and was about ready to just walk on by. However the gentlemen running the booth was very nice and we struck up conversation and the result was my education in exactly what this process is and how it can potentially save you money on your home owners insurance.

I am hoping that this gets wide spread dissemination here amongst Florida Real Estate bloggers and anyone that reads this site, as it is very apparent that there are many in the industry besides myself that have no idea about the process or who can use this ? Testament to that was a recent call that we received from an Insurance Broker. We were researching options for Home Owners Insurance for a client who is looking to purchase a home that was built in 1998. The Agent suggested that we hire a local inspector to perform the inspection and obtain a Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (OIR-B1-1802) to present to the insurance company. The cost of this inspection is typically around $150.00 This was a few days after I had talked to the Inspector at Home Depot. I asked the agent if he was aware of the Free Wind Inspection that could be obtained via the My Florida Safe Home program. While he was aware of the program he did not know the specifics and was quite surprised when I informed him of the facts and that we could save the client a $150.00.

So even thought this program has been out a while , it is still relatively unknown by many in Florida. So if you know about this that?s great, however, I would encourage you to check out the site and the details to gain an updated perspective on who this applies to?

On the site there is also a list of State Approved Inspection firms based upon your locale in Florida. For example there are 4 Regions and associated contract firms with those regions. I have included a copy of the hand out I received from the Inspection firm called SkyTech (see below).

Should you have questions you can call them or call one of the numbers listed on the My Safe Florida Home Web site.

I hope this as helpful for you and your clients as it has been to us.

After reviewing the search word index over the last 45 days or so, I see a pattern that is emerging. That of many blog readers inquiring if it is safe to buy in Florida ? It would also appear that lot?s of buyers or should I say prospective buyers, have been sitting on the fence and many have been typing in the search engines all types of long tail questions that all center on the condition of the Florida Housing Market.

A lot of activity in the media and in and around the State itself is reason enough for a lot of the speculation and confusion among would be buyers.

On the one side you have the media that continues to projecting doom and gloom on the economy. You can expect this will continue throughout the year. But hey it?s an election year, why do you think this gets tons of press every day ?

The latest scare out on Friday was from a report published this month in the Journal of the American Planning Association. This report talks about Baby Boomers and the Housing bubble, with yet another spin. The original report was published early in the week and then was carried by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday and by Friday it was over on Inman’s Blog. This latest scare says that the housing bubble now pails in comparison to what will happen when the Baby Boomers stop buying houses.

Right now there is so much speculation out there on the national markets. However, the one thing that is verifiable right here and now, in the Greater Tampa Florida Bay Area it?s time to buy a house now.

If you continue to sit on the fence you will lose a valuable opportunity to get a great deal at a mortgage rate that you will most likely not see again for some time to come.

Yes you will continue to hear negative things in the press. The economy has issues, and if the fed lowers the borrowing rate too-much it will spook the investing community and then Mortgage Rates will go up, not down.

Will the price of housing continue to move down ? Possibly, but there is opportunity a plenty right now and it is a true buyers market in Florida. If you wait, you then have to weigh the risk of a larger mortgage vs the small incremental price reduction you might see by waiting it out.

Call your local Realtor and ask them. Heck just click on the MLS link on our site (at the top of the page – looks like the one right below this paragraph) and you can search the entire State of Florida, take a look at the wonderful opportunities that await you in our great state.

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I have noticed quite a few in-bound links lately from those looking for more information about First Time Home Buyers programs and classes in Florida. Our post last year had a very good response and I had been planning on making an update but was waiting for the CCCS to update their list and it looks like they just recently did.

Your local community has tailor made programs to help ensure you have all the pertinent information that you will need as you make one of the biggest decisions of your life, that of becoming a home owner.

They will take you step-by-step, from contract to closing, through the home buying process. You will learn what it takes to qualify for a mortgage, how to save for a down payment and even provide information regarding down payment assistance.

Should you have additional questions or when you are ready to start your search after completing the classes. please be sure to email either Theresa or Marie and they can give you some one on one coaching and personal advice that will take you on the next step of your journey to home ownership.

Here is the link to the work shops offered by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Central Florida

Right now I don?t see a schedule update on their site for Hillsboro County, but they do have dates for Pasco and Pinellas Counties?just click on the associated links

• Pasco County Schedule for 2008
• Pinellas County Schedule for 2008

Be sure to check back for tomorrows post covering ? why now is the best time to buy your first home in Florida !

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In the article Hymer deliberates this question she gets from today’s buyers and advises:

“Buying a home is still a good investment if you can afford it, if you are ready to put down roots in a community, and if you want to invest in your personal happiness. Profit potential shouldn’t be your only reason for buying a home, even though in most cases your home will appreciate in value if you maintain it and if you own it long enough.

“The housing market, like any economic market, is cyclical. There are periods of robust activity followed by periods of sluggishness. Prices can go down as well as up. Now that the market has softened in most areas, it’s time to look at owning your home as a way to gain control over your personal domain — not as a source of quick cash.”

This article received a lot of comments more pros than cons. There are some interesting comments, as one reader an associate political professor at the University of California in San Diego muses -

“By any reasonable measure (expected trends in prices, the ratio of rents to mortgage payments, the ratio of incomes to mortgage payments), now is a phenomenally and historically BAD time to buy. Smart buyers will wait until smart sellers lower prices to conform to reasonable income multiples.

He continues: “This is just wrong. All of the reasons to buy are made better by waiting a year or two (or more) for prices to fall. By definition, an “investment” is something that will appreciate in price or pay a dividend. Neither is expected to be true in the next few years for housing.”

You can argue this both ways all day long but the end result is, when you are ready to buy a home, buy it.

It’ s kind of like the proverbial question – “When is the best time to buy a new computer?” The answer is, “when you need it”. Due to advances in technology, what you buy today is outdated tomorrow.

This same rationale should be applied to a major decision like buying a home as well. Yes, you need to be capable of handing the financial obligations without overreaching your self to pay your mortgage and perform regular maintenance and upkeep.

Well what about my investment some inquire ?

While we all want to ensure that an investment like a home purchase is going to net us some equity in the future right ?

True, however you should not go into it with this solely as the purpose to purchase your home.

When we bought our first home I can tell you that the investment thought was secondary to our desire to have our own place to raise our family. We stayed in that first house for just a little over 10 years.

A lot of changes happened in the marketplace and when we sold, we did receive some equity but nowhere near the insane amounts that overvalued property owners were getting here in Florida. But then again a vast majority of the homes that were purchased over the last few years in Florida and elsewhere were bough for investment as the first priority.

We bought our second home this time last year in New Port Richey. A great new development and we paid pretty close to the market rate at the time. The same model is now selling for less than what we paid for.

Are we upset about it ? Yes and No. The difference now is that we have all been engaged by the media hysteria and thinking that we are loosing out because the next person got the better deal. Sellers here in the Tampa Florida Market are still holding on with a death grip on their homes price evaluations because they think they are loosing something and buyers are holding back because they of course want the rock bottom best deal they can get.

Right now the Real Estate Market in Florida is in a Stalemate. Some one has to move to keep the process momentum going forward, despite the mortgage and lending woes.

Heres a humble suggestion:

Buy your home now. Live in it and don’t worry about the Real Estate Market. It is cyclical, it will come around when you are ready to sell. After your kids have gone off to college and your now ready to move into a smaller home or you want to buy that Vacation Home at the Beach.

If your retired now and want that Home on the Beach. You may not live to enjoy it tomorrow if you are still waiting on the market recovery next month or next year.

So back to the question of topic again.

When is the best time to buy a home ?

The answer is: * When you need it. *

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