Can You Spark a Bidding War on Your Listing?

Well after running around and showing sort sale after short sale and putting in offer after offer this is a very frustrating experience for you and for me.

A lot of the homes I see listed have been listed BELOW market VALUE.

WHY

Well its simple, the agent wants an offer on the property as quickly as possible

SO

Am I getting a deal ? Well you may or you may not I always say expect to pay MARKET price NOT the price listed

So this is what happens

I recently got a call on a home in Palm Bay built in 2006 4 Bedroom over 2200 SF listed for $75,000 WOW on the the market 7 days and guess what ? 3 offers already….

Well any good realtor who knows what he/she is doing would do a quick snapshot of WHAT SOLD and WHATS LISTED and be able to tell you what to do and why.

Lets say 3 homes sold in the last 6 months for $87000, $77,000 and$75,000 that would put the value of the home at $79 to $82,000 wow that sounds like this home is a BARGAIN at $75,000 .. this is where I put up the STOP sign

YOU FORGOT THE NEW LISTINGS

So heres the deal, banks take 45 days to make a decision .. It because they inefficient you say, not really they want to see WHATS SOLD AGAIN.. and that comes from the LISTINGS..

So NOW lets look at this picture again and ADD the listings

Three COMPETING listings of 87,000, 89,000 and 90,000 get added to the formula

And the NEW value for this property is … DRUMROLL $84,000 to a whopping $89,000

So guess what you offered $75,000 on this STEAL OF A DEAL now what do you think the bank is going to ask you to pay?

REMEMBER THE REALTOR WHO LISTED THE PROPERTY DOE NOT CONTROL THE END VALUE OR PURCHASE PRICE. HIS GOAL IS ……….. TO GET IT UNDER CONTRACT … THAT’S ALL

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

Walked away ? No offered $79,000 and hope they accept yet also expect the bank to ask you to pay $85,000 its that simple. You secured the house under contract and now you bite your nails hoping they DONT ask for more!!

REMEMBER THE BANK CONTROLS THE SALE !

Paying off the mortgage early is in. Refinancing to take money out of our homes is out. In this foreclosure crisis, more people are seeking the security and psychological benefits that come with owning a home free and clear.

If you want to pay off your mortgage early, you’ll find plenty of experts recommending ways to do it. All strategies work, but you’ll find some methods of paying off your mortgage are safer, faster and less painful than others.

Compare these ways to pay off your mortgage early, from the simplest to the most complex:

Just pay more

If you want to see magic, start playing with a mortgage calculator and see how paying a little more on your principal here and there can shorten the length of your loan. If you pay a little more principal, you get a bonus. The lower your principal gets, the more every payment from then on is applied to the principal, as less goes to cover interest expense.

If nothing else, round your payments up, recommends Tracy Piercy, a certified financial planner and the CEO of MoneyMinding.com. She says when people have a payment for $644, they think of it as $650. Why not just pay $650, then? An extra $6 a month on a $200,000, 30-year loan can save you four payments at the end of the mortgage.

Housing rescue scams

When you pay extra, make sure the extra is applied to the principal balance, not just set aside for the next payment. And before you make extra payments, read your contract and make sure you won’t have to pay prepayment penalties.

Refinance with a shorter-term mortgage

You can refinance into a mortgage for 10, 15 or 20 years, but 15-year mortgages are the most common. Your payments will be higher on a 15-year loan, but perhaps not as high as you think.

One advantage of a 15-year loan is that you’re committed to the higher payment. There’s no dithering about whether you can afford to pay extra month.

• Calculator: Should you refinance?

With a 30-year, $100,000 loan at 5%, your principal and interest payments are $537. At the same rate, but on a 15-year payoff schedule, your principal and interest payments are $791. That’s $254 more a month.

To get the effect of a shorter-term mortgage without the risk, take out a 30-year loan but make payments as if you had a 10- or 15-year loan. “You just make increased payments. You’re in control, not the bank,” Piercy says.

• 7 bad reasons to refinance your mortgage

Switch to biweekly payments

Biweekly payments take advantage of the fact that most months are longer than four weeks. If you pay half your regular mortgage payment every other week instead of making one full payment a month, you’ll have made 26 half-payments, or the equivalent of 13 monthly payments, at year’s end.

Check if your bank will set up a biweekly payment plan. Some banks do it free; others charge. Ask the bank to credit extra payments toward the principal so you save more on interest expense. Some banks set aside extra payments until the end of the year.

You shouldn’t have to pay an outside company to set it up for you. “I hate the idea of having to pay a third party for something the consumer(s) can do on their own,” says Cathy Pareto, a certified financial planner in Coral Gables, Fla. “Why pay the extra fees if you can avoid them and still accomplish the same goal?”

Use money merge accounts (the Australian method)

In Australia, mortgages are generally set up like home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs. They double as checking accounts, thus the term “money merge.” When you get paid, you deposit your check into the account, and as you spend money you take it back out again. You hope to put more money in every month than you take out.

With a mortgage using the Australian method, interest is calculated daily instead of monthly, and because the money spends as much time as possible in the account before you take it back out to pay bills, you save on interest expense.

I just don’t think the typical homeowner benefits from this type of mortgage loan.” Typical homeowners don’t see enough reduction of their interest expense to make this method worth it for them.

Some money merge programs require you to buy software that costs thousands of dollars. However, there’s no magic formula for shifting your money around check out www.mint.com

The biggest downside to the money merge plan is that it requires discipline. “You wouldn’t do it unless you understood cash management,” Piercy says

One of the more affordable vacation spots in all of Florida, there is never a lack of exciting things to do and see in and around Cocoa Beach. Besides offering the best of “sun and fun,” while on the Space Coast you can go deep sea fishing or parasailing, try your luck aboard a casino cruise ship, or take a fabulous eco-tour to get up close and personal with Florida’s awesome wildlife.

You can visit attractions like the Kennedy Space Center (maybe even see a space shuttle liftoff!), or the Brevard Zoo, then spend time doing some fabulous shopping or golfing. You can even drive just a short distance to all the Orlando attractions, then return to Cocoa Beach to enjoy dinner at one of the many dining spots on the beach, ranging from elegant to sand-in-your-shoes casual. After dark, kick back and enjoy the easy beach-style nightlife activities that run the gamut from cool jazz clubs to beach side cafes. Then stay overnight in the perfect accommodations and wake up to a spectacular sunrise on the beach.

And, in addition to being the closest beach to Orlando, Cocoa Beach is situated just minutes from Florida’s fastest growing port – Port Canaveral – where you can embark from the world class cruise terminals aboard affordable cruises to exotic destinations. Disney Cruise Line makes its home in Port Canaveral, as well as Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

If an affordable beach vacation, offering the best of sun and fun, is what you’re looking for, Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast of Florida is the place to come.

Principle of Change Cities, neighborhoods, and developments experience change, whether it be growth or decay. Nothing really stands still. Economists note that cities and nations alike experience four distinct stages of change, including development, stability, decline, and renaissance.
The stage of the city or nation or development for which the subject property lies will have an effect on the value of the property.
Principle of Competition When there is strong demand for real estate, profits rise and competition stirs. With this increased competition and profit comes more home building and development. Unfortunately when excessive profits are available, a surplus of competition can create an oversupply of housing, and collapse the market. Something we’ve seen lately in the United States with the so-called “housing bubble”.
Principle of Conformity Many housing markets thrive on conformity. If the properties of a given market are all similar in type, size, style, age, quality, etc, the maximum value is a result. If for example, a non-conforming home, such as 6-bedroom home is situated in a 3-bedroom community, the true value will not be realized.
Principles of Progression and Regression Related to conformity, the principle of regression tells us that high-valued properties tend to suffer when found in close proximity to lower-valued homes. While the principle of progression assumes that lower-valued homes will see increased value if found amongst higher-valued properties. That’s why you always hear people saying, “buy the cheapest property on the block”, as the weight of those around it will make it more valuable.
Principle of Substitution When setting a market price for a piece of property, the cost of acquiring or constructing a similar property must be considered. If the asking price of a home is $500,000, but similar homes in the neighborhood sell for $450,000, chances are the home will not sell for the full asking price. The same is true if the cost of constructing a new home (along with lot lost) is less than the asking price of $500,000.
Principle of Supply and Demand When demand is greater than supply, the price of homes and rent go up, and the inverse is true as well. When demand is strong, homebuilders should react by increasing development to meet the demand, and keep prices at bay. However, if the reaction to demand is too strong, overproduction can occur, leaving a surplus of property and weak demand, followed by lower house values.
When supply and demand are a perfect equilibrium, the cost of production (along with the profit) should be reflected in market prices

Live the Good Life Every Day in your Montecito home!

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Live the Good Life Every Day at Montecito! Take a walk to the beach to enjoy a day of sun and fun, and then cool off in the community pool. In the early evening you can meet friends at the Montecito Beach Club. Top the night off by entertaining guests in your private courtyard.

Floor plans offered range from one and two-story, three to five bedroom plans ranging in size from 1,840 to 3,090 square feet of living space. Many of our homes include media and game rooms, rear porches, verandas, flowing staircases and graceful archways.

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