Palm Beach Real Estate and Loans

From now through 7/31/2009 you can buy 113 San Marita Way in BallenIsles and get a full golf membership and a golf cart at no extra cost!

It really is simple - to expedite the sale of 113 San Marita Way, the Owners are giving away their full golf membership at BallenIsles Golf/Country Club AND the Buyer will also get a golf cart.

Not a bad deal.......

BallenIsles has been ranked as one of the top 5 Most Highly Thought of Residential Club Communities in America by the Platinum Club and now you have the opportunity to purchase one of the best homes in the subdivision and get a bonus.

Call me at 561-282-7406 to set up a time to see the property.

You're interested in finding out the value of a particular home in the Palm Beach Gardens area.

• Maybe you're looking to purchase and you want to find out what the home is REALLY worth   OR
• You already own a home and want to refinance   OR
• You're a serious seller and you want to price the home to sell, not to sit  OR
• You just want to find out how much your place is currently worth to see if you made a good investment.

Today's post comes from (the slightly aggravated) Jason Price of Knightlines Mortgage Services:

(BTW - I can't stand the term 'pre-qualified'. Shoot for 'pre-approved', but hey, it's not my story!)

When a buyer wants to buy a home, the Realtor they are dealing with usually asks right off the bat: "Have you been pre-qualified or pre-approved for a mortgage?" Why is this such an important questions? There are several things a Realtor will know based on the provided answer and information to follow it.

Here is what the Realtor finds out:

• They have a legitimate buyer.
• They know what price range to shop for.

Okay, now keep that second point in mind as we delve into the pre-qualification process. And to explain this, I am going to use a recent buyers story:

The buyer came to us to be pre-qualified for the purchase of a new home. Based on early findings, we were able to qualify this buyer for a mortgage of $x.xx and a monthly payment not to exceed $y.yy. Now, the monthly payment took into consideration the basic PITI (Principle, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance) for a home of that value for which she qualified for.

When we told the Realtor what the borrower qualified for, we also explained which programs the buyer was eligible for. In this case, if the buyer wanted 100% financing through USDA, then the loan amount could not exceed $a.aa and a monthly payment of $b.bb. If the buyer put 3% down, then HomePath financing was available at a mortgage amount of $x.xx and a payment of $y.yy. Conventional and FHA financing were not options.

Pretty straight forward, right? Wrong. The buyer is insisting on a home in a neighborhood where the HOA fees are over $200/month. Yes, the home prices are in the range that the buyer is qualified for, but the monthly payment is well over $200 for what they are eligible to borrower. Now with HomePath, we were able to get a FNMA DO/DU approval even with this $200 a month increase, but the home the buyer wants is not HomePath approved.

There are homes in that area, in that same neighborhood, in that same model, that are on HomePath, but someone did not show them to the buyer. I am not going to speculate why they were not shown. But I am going to ask, why did the Realtor allow the buyer to enter into a contract, put earnest money down, when they have something in writing that states what the buyer qualifies for and that property does not meet that criteria?

Oh, wait... it does. It meets the value of the house. The Realtor only listened to the buyer when they asked the question, "Have you already been pre-qualified for a mortgage?" The answer was probably something like this, "Yes, I was pre-qualified for a purchase price of $x.xx." So, when the Realtor got our letter, they just checked to make sure the purchase price was what they were told. Monthly payments went right out the window.

Now, I am not pointing fingers as to who is to blame because it can go many directions. But as a potential home owner, the buyer should have said right away when they learned of the $200+ per month HOA fees, that the house was now out of range. However, when we got the approval from HomePath to continue with that price range with the HOA fees, the Realtor should then have switched to HomePath homes for those homes with higher monthly payments.

In the end, a pre-qualification or even a pre-approval is only as good as the terms that are given in it. Going outside those terms, means a big fat DENIED!!! If one does not listen to the terms, then a lot of time is lost and possibly a lot of money. Communication is key. Each player of the buyers team needs to be clear as to what each other team member is doing to help direct that buyer to a victory of a new home. If you find a team member slacking, wake them up and tell them to get on the ball. If they continue, bench them and bring in the second string.

A recent Sun Sentinal article written by Harriet Johnson Brackey started off with some great news:

"After two long years of recession, economists are beginning to see signs that the economy's recovery is finally in sight. South Florida home sales are picking up, Wall Street has staged some solid rallies and even consumer confidence is rising."

Did you catch that part about South Florida home sales picking up?  Things have been improving for several months now, but unfortunately some people still refuse to believe it!

The # of people that insist on being negative is going down however - consumer confidence is on the rise and when that happens increased spending can't be far behind.

Homes certainly selling in Palm Beach Gardens and there are some great deals out there so if your interested, it's time to start looking.

One warning however for those of you looking to sell your real estate right now: just because things are getting better DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF RAISING YOUR LIST PRICE!

The prices on the condo units in Midtown at PGA have come down quite a bit and Buyers are taking advantage of the great bargains-

If you're interested, it's time to make a decision - with about 20 closings JUST THIS MONTH, they won't be around forever.

There is still a good selection of 1 and 3 bedroom units, but almost all of the 2 bed units have been purchased.

The 1 bedroom condos are priced between $109,000 and $125,900.

The few 2 bedroom units that are left are around $174,000 and the 3 bed condominiums max out at a 2000+ sq ft corner unit with multiple balconies for $279,000.

In addition to the quality and low pricing on the condos you also have a clubhouse with tennis, fitness center, swimming pool & jacuzzi.

The central Palm Beach Gardens location leaves you with a minimal walk to shopping and many restaurants and a short drive from The Gardens Mall and the beaches.

To set up a time to tour the available properties just call me at 561-282-7406.