The homebuilders in east Texas are sending a message, "Stop listening to the national reports about construction jobs and new building rates, both areas are strong in Texas."

They may have slowed down like the rest of the country, but according to Mike Hineman, owner of Dream Homes in Lufkin, unlike other states, such as California and Florida, Texas didn't see a bubble; our prices stayed steady.

According to MSN Real Estate and Local Market Monitor, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas ranks as #2 in the best cities for rebuilding homeownership.

"This is the best time ever. The interest rates are incredibly low. They're not going to get any lower," Hineman said.  At least, if you're doing it in the Lone Star State.









 

A Foreclosure Auction has been scheduled for the golf development, Rarity Pointe in Lenior City, Tennessee for 10:00 a.m. on July 1, 2011 at the Loudon County Courthouse.  

According to Lewis Howard Jr., attorney from Knoxville, 294 lost have been sold over the years and the upcoming auction is looking to sell another 204 lots, two spec homes, an 18-hole golf course and a "discovery center" that includes a kitchen and meeting rooms.

Rarity, once a leading developer of upscale residential communities in East Tennessee, has been hit hard by the unstable real estate market.  Just recently, the former Maryville headquarters building and an unfinished golf community in Campbell County that were owned by Rarity have been foreclosed on and taken by Greenbank.

 

Great News—the Economy picks up

That’s what I just heard on the radio station I listen to and why pray tell, what is it they say is the reason for this? well, because it seems that one of America’s largest corporate employers is hiring and when they say hiring, they mean hiring—50,000 jobs to fill they say. And who would this be you might ask?  Why McDonald’s, of course, who else—maybe Wal-Mart? At least Wal-Mart sells something besides calorie-ridden, cholesterol-laden, fatty hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Big Mac’s and of course lest we forget the kiddies—Happy Meals. Great, just what this economy has been waiting for—50,000 minimum wage, self-esteem destroying, fast-food jobs that provide absolutely nothing to the majority of its employees but a feeling that their lives are heading for a desolation of 60 and 70-hour work-weeks just so that they can eat and provide for their families.

I speak from personal experience when I state the fact that in 1978-81, we, Realtors, of which I was one in Sacramento, California at the time, sold homes to employees of McDonalds who made little more than $700 a month and were “qualified” by mortgage brokers for payments of $500-600 a month. Um-hmm-sound familiar, and now we are headed for??? Hey, I hear Wells-Fargo’s approving 550 FICO scores and doing no-doc loans again? Where is this heading? Hmmm, I wonder?

Peace,
Keith G.

There was an article in today's St. Pete Times about the success of this program. However, they did not say whether there were still funds, but they did say they were hoping to get more funds.
This is a great program. The idea behind it was to sell foreclosure homes to families that might not otherwise be able to afford a home. It not only put a deserving family in a home, but it employs our contractors who are doing the repairs. Since Hernando County heavily relies on this type of employment, it is a program that needs to continue.
Hernando County is a great place to live. It emcompasses Spring Hill, Brooksville and Weeki Wachee. Pine Island Beach is only minutes away.
I urge you to talk to your lender who would know if funds are available or when they may be available for this program. You do need to register with the County and it may take time, so start now so when you are ready to buy, hopefully this program has accepted you and you will find affordable housing.
There are many other programs also; your first step always is to contact your lender.
 

As none of us here at Tropic Shores has a crystal ball, we can only go by what the news is telling us and what we are seeing.
House closings have increased for Julie and I in the last two months and according to what we hear, it is going to keep doing so, but slowly, which is the better alternative for all of us. We primarily cover Hernando County, Florida (Spring Hill, Weeki Wachee and Brooksville) and have first time home buyers buying. In Hernando County, because of USDA financing, it is still possible to do a "no money down loan". You need to talk to a mortgage lender that is familiar with this program.
We are clearly recovering from the "boom" slowly, but it is happening, and there is no better time than the present because indications are that interest rates are rising. It is just a matter of time before home prices start rising again also.

What we are seeing is that the lenders are now adjusting to where they have to be in order to give mortgages. At the time of the boom, they were far too lenient and then when everything came crashing down, they became far too stringent. We hope they have learned from their mistakes and we can all move forward and improve the economy and the housing market which is crucial to the economy improving.

We will always keep you informed.

I hate electronics and hate even more the fact that I have to depend upon them. In the last two days, my computer had an error and I couldn't get onto the Internet. If I can't get onto the MLS, I can't work. So I head to the office, guess what? It was down there too but our wonderful General Manger reset it and I was okay for a while, but late for an appointment so I had to leave. Now I have to wait for the husband to look at my computer (we all know how long that takes, but hey, I need to be grateful). He looks at it last night and fixes "that problem". I wake up this morning, get onto the internet, now I need to print. Guess what - that has an "error" but of course, he can't do it now, so I am off to the office AGAIN. My husband sometimes says my problems are ID 10 T problems (see what that spells). He's in the computer industry and it is a code word for customers!
This morning now that I had to leave to go to the office to print, I decide I will plug in my addresses on my GPS. Guess what - it is "frozen". This is Florida, come on. After five minutes I guess it thawed out and came on; what a relief.

What did realtors do before computers and GPS'? This business has so many different elements to deal with these days and then when our equipment is not working, not a good thing.
I just needed to vent today. I am off to show houses in Brooksville and Spring Hill and hope the GPS keeps working.

In the past, I would definetely say "yes". However, given the market and sellers realizing the market, this may not be the case.

As realtors when we go on a listing, we give the seller a lot of information to digest, mostly of which is the "sold" properties. As expected, the majority were foreclosures and we have explained that in order to be competitive with the current market and if they really wish to sell their property, they have to be competitive. They can't be behind the "eight ball" which was happening in the past with arms length transactions. Overall sellers are aware of the market and price it to sell.

My opinion is if you can get an arms length transaction (an actual person on the other end), and your realtor has shown you similar properties and you know the property is priced correctly, this is a good way to go. The reason is if the person lived there (which I will also explain is not always the case), they have to give you a sellers' disclosure on the property. However, if it is an estate sale (usually these sellers are eager to dispose of the property) and they have not lived in the premises, they cannot give a sellers disclosure, but they may be aware of what the owner did in the property (it is usually the children selling in this case).
You can also get tidbits about the property that you cannot get in a foreclosure.

My advice is NOT to ask just to see foreclosures; there are other deals out there. We cover Hernando County (Spring Hill, Weeki Wachee and Brooksville) and it is wise to expand to both foreclosures and arms length transactions.

Im wondering if anyone else is having trouble with appraisals....The values are coming in much lower than the purchase price....and lower than the comps are showing...? The R.E.Os are taking a toll!

According to Fannie Mae's newest economic and housing forecast, home sales are likely to increase by 11 percent in 2010 as the economy shows more signs of improvement, . However, it is likely that home sales will fall another 1% next year.

It does look like there is stabilization in the housing market and it should get back on track next year.

We have had quite a lot of buyers taking advantage of the low prices of homes - why note - you probably won't see homes this low again; get in while the getting is good!

Also, if you are a seller, why not call your Realtor and get an opinion on what your home is worth while the buyers are out there.

We will always keep you posted.

Have a great day and enjoy!

Over-improving a home is a classic mistake that many new homebuyers make. They buy a home in a neighborhood where property values are relatively low, and make a ton of improvements on the home to make it stand out. Unfortunately, you can only raise a home’s value so much through home improvement. The value must still fit in with the neighborhood or people simply won’t pay enough to justify the extra work you put in.

If you buy a $130,000 home and put $30,000 in improvements, you’re going to have trouble selling a $160,000 home in a neighborhood where most of the homes are valued at $115,000. Find out about the neighborhood and comparable properties before you start remodeling.