Annual Fee and Decreased Upfront Fee Effective October 1, 2011!
Please note two very important changes that are scheduled to take effect with loans obligated on or after October 1, 2011. The changes are as follows: (1) An annual fee of 0.3 percent will be charged on all loans obligated on or after this date; and (2) The up-front guarantee fee for purchase loans transaction will decrease from 3.5 percent to 2 percent of the loan amount. Please note these changes will not be effective until October 1, 2011.
Currently the up front “guarantee” fee is 3.5% of the loan amount. For example, on a $150,000 loan, the fee is $5,250 which is normally added to the final loan amount. The new fee will be lowered to 2%, or $3000 in the above example.
USDA will also begin to charge an annual fee of 3% of the outstanding loan balance. On a $150,000 loan amount, that would be $450 the first year, or an additional $37.50 per month, added to the monthly payment.
The addition of this annual fee is to make the program “revenue neutral” and have it no longer be supported by government funding. Hopefully, this will also make the program less dependent on congressional approval for annual funding.
Marsha Stone
Senior Mortgage Advisor
NMLS# 90796
Platinum Home Mortgage Corp
910 679-4539 Ofc/ 910-232-3221 mobile
910 679-4541 Fax
3 Keel Street Suite 3 ,Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480
When people are looking for a new place to live, they usually want to know some key facts beyond cost and number of rooms: Most notably, they are curious about what is in the neighborhood and what their commute would be like. In fact, over three quarters of home shoppers rate being within a 30-minute commute to work as important, and two thirds of home shopper’s rate being within an easy walk to grocery stores and restaurants as a key factor in deciding where to live. Additionally, two thirds of Millennial say that living in a walk able community is important and one third will pay more for the ability to easily walk to shops, work and entertainment. That is partly due to rising gas prices but also the quality of life benefits associated with walk-able neighborhoods. Data suggest that residents of walk-able neighborhoods are happier, healthier and more likely to volunteer in their communities and entertain friends at home. You can see the demand for neighborhood information grow as more and more real estate websites such as ours at www.coastwalkrealestate.com are populating their listings with neighborhood data. Another great site to visit is Walk Score which delivers four million scores per day which means a lot of people are hungry for neighborhood information visit www.walkscore.com.
In our area a great place to live is Carolina and Kure Beach NC. Not only do you have the ocean at your back door but you can enjoy year round activities like boating, walking, bike riding, paddle boarding ect... Get bored with those things and it’s a hop skip and a jump into Wilmington where you can shop till you drop. It’s a wonderful place to live and visit and not just in the summer. The fall offers a wide variety of special events. Like the 18th Annual Pleasure Island Seafood, Blues & Jazz Festival held the second weekend in October, featuring Jimmie Vaughn and the Tilt-a-Whirl Band with Lou Ann Barton. Music lovers revel in two days of non-stop jazz and blues on two stages and seafood lovers enjoy scrumptious seafood from some of the area's best restaurants. Featuring some of the area's best angling waters, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach are a sport fisherman's paradise. Anglers and onlookers alike will enjoy pier and surf fishing competitions during the Southeast King Mackerel Fall Challenge and the Pleasure Island Surf Fishing Challenge. Rent a pedal-boat big enough for the whole family at Carolina Beach Lake Park or rent a surrey bike and ride over to the Carolina Beach Marina and Fishing Center and see what the charter boats bring in.
So how’s this week’s market looking for the neighborhoods of Carolina and Kure Beach? According to Trulia the average price per square foot for Carolina Beach was $180, a decrease of 31.6% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes from Jun 11 to Aug 11 was $218,000 based on 39 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 8.2%, or $19,500, and the number of home sales decreased 61.8%. There are currently 422 resale and new homes in Carolina Beach including 19 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale was $331,827 for the week ending Aug 31, which represents a decrease of 0.3% compared to the prior week. In Kure Bead the average price per square foot was $235, an increase of 15.2% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes in Kure Beach for Jun 11 to Aug 11 was $322,500 based on 9 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 7.9%, or $27,500, and the number of home sales decreased 66.7%. There are currently 122 resale and new homes in Kure Beach including 5 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale in Kure Beach NC was $566,689 for the week ending Aug 31, which represents a decrease of 0.3% compared to the prior week. As people continue to shop for homes, they expect to see local information along with listings. Looking at statistics help us all stay in the know of market trend and visit sites like Google and Bing Maps to keep up with the neighborhoods you want to live in. So keep looking and take advantage of the low mortgage rates and low housing prices and find your dream home right here on our local beaches.
A father and his son went fishing on a small boat, hungry.
The father helped his son reel in his first fish, and it was a beauty. “Great catch, son,” the father said.
“Yes, but I’m worried I’m missing out on better fish,” the son said. “What if I could catch a bigger, tastier fish?”
“Maybe you should try,” the father said.
And the son did, catching an even bigger fish an hour later. “A real beaut,” the father said.
“But what if there are better fish out there?” the son asked.
“Maybe you should try,” the father said.
And the son did, catching a bigger fish, then wondering if there were better fish, catching another, and so on.
At the end of the day, the son was exhausted. The father asked, “How did the fish taste?”
The son hesitated. “I’m not sure. I was so busy looking for better fish that I didn’t taste any of them.”
The father smiled contentedly, patted his belly. “Don’t worry. They were delicious.”
—
We are all of us like the son. We all worry, at some time or other, that we’re missing out on things.
It’s why we’re so busy — we take on so much because we don’t want to miss out. We take on dozens of goals and aspirations, because we don’t want to miss out.
But here’s the bare truth: we will miss out, no matter what. It’s inevitable. We cannot do or try everything in the world, even with lives twice as long. We cannot see every town and city, read every interesting book, watch every important film. We will always, always miss out.
Here’s the second, more important truth: if you always worry about what you’re missing out on, you will miss out on what you already have.
Don’t make a reading list a mile long — focus on the book in your hand. Don’t pack your vacation itinerary with every highlight of the city you’re visiting — walk around and enjoy what you find. Don’t worry about traveling the entire world — be delighted with the world around you. Don’t worry about what you’re missing online, or in the news — what you’re doing is good enough.
And let go of your long to-do lists and goal lists. They are a futile attempt to keep from missing out. You will miss out, but in striving to do everything, you’ll miss out on the wonder of the thing you are doing right now.
What you’re doing right now is all that matters. Let the rest go, and enjoy the fish you’ve already caught.
A segment of the population believes things are in such bad shape today that the only way to preserve economic value is to stockpile gold, tent pegs and sandwich makings. In this view, nothing else has value and it's entirely possible that values will fall further including both stock and real estate values. Given events in Iceland, Ireland, Greece and Portugal and looking at U.S. job erosion and the budget debate it's hard to dismiss those who believe our economy is contracting and with it much of our wealth, influence and social stability. Yet as dim and dark as things are for many Americans, there's also a case to be made that selected real estate remains an attractive investment option. For one, our population is growing. We now have more than 311 million people inside our border that’s about 10 million new people since 2007 and they all need housing. Want more? Mortgage rates are below 5 percent. Mortgage interest is deductible. Investment real estate is depreciable. Home prices are down. Home prices in major foreclosure centers including our area with its wonderful climate are way down. Foreclosure prices are down most of all distressed properties are selling with a 20 percent discount nationwide according to the National Association of Realtors.
Take a minute to look at our own market and see what’s trending in Real Estate in our surrounding counties. Starting with Leland in Brunswick County, the average price per square foot was $111, an increase of 1.8% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes in Leland for Apr 11 to Jun 11 was $176,750 based on 14 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price increased 12.6%. The average listing price for homes for sale in Leland was $239,114 for the week ending Aug 17, which represents an increase of 1%, or $2,279, compared to the prior week. Next step into Hampstead in Pender County the average price per square foot was $120, an increase of 10.1% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes for May 11 to Jul 11 was $217,600 based on 72 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price increased 8.8%. Lastly, let’s look at Jacksonville in Onslow County where the average price per square foot for was $93, a decrease of 6.1% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes for May 11 to Jul 11 was $154,000 based on 235 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price increased 3.2%. What we note in the trend is increase something not reported in the gloom of the news but what real investors know, thus the activity.
What are the options? We have a massive internal market, an established infrastructure and much to do. We need to improve our roads and bridges, become energy independent and better educate our children, among many other needs. When we inevitably undertake such projects there will be a new round of job growth and economic development. What about alternatives? Yes, the stock market is alluring but can you really compete against the computer programs which make most of today's trades in microseconds? How about a low-risk certificate of deposit? A five-year CD will now yield about 2.15 percent. That's great, except that the inflation rate reached 3.6 percent in May. Your CD will lose buying power each month the rate of inflation is higher than the interest rate. Meanwhile, what about rents? While home prices have swooned rental rates are rising. According to REIS, Inc., apartment rents were up 2.4 percent during the past year and vacancies were down. “Large numbers of people have been foreclosed but they still need shelter,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “While ownership may not be affordable and credit has been damaged, many such households can readily afford a good rental and that's important to investors.” In closing Real Estate is still a sound investment and at a time such as this a great time to get in!
Home prices have taken such a beating and demand for rental units has increased so much that it's now cheaper to buy a two-bedroom home than to rent one in most major U.S. cities.
According to real estate web site Trulia, buying was cheaper than renting in 74% of the country's 50 largest cities in July. In just 12% of the cities, including New York, Seattle and San Francisco, renting was cheaper. In the remaining 14% of cities, renting was less expensive but close to the cost of buying.
In addition to a continuing decline in home prices, rock-bottom interest rates have added a lot of weight to the buy side of the scale. The overnight average rate for a 30-year fixed was just 4.19% on Monday, according to Bankrate.com. A 15-year fixed averaged just 3.43%.
Add in the tax perks of home ownership and for those who can afford it (and who can actually qualify for a loan), it certainly is a buyer's market.
"It's a personal decision, of course. But if you have a steady job and you are planning to stay for seven years or more and have enough cash to put 20% down and enough left over for seven or eight months of expenses, you're better off buying in most places," said Daisy Kong, a spokeswoman for Trulia.
Top buyer's markets
Las Vegas offered the most compelling buy-side math, Trulia's survey found.
Prices there have plunged more than 59% from their August 2006 peak, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index.
The median price of a two-bedroom, two-bath condo or townhouse is about $60,000, according to Trulia, a ratio of only six times the median annual rent of a similar rental apartment, which is $9,700.
Monthly mortgage payments on a median-priced Vegas condo would come to only $256 on a 30-year, 5% interest loan. Even factoring in property taxes and common charges of roughly $300 a month, the monthly amount is still much lower than the $810 in monthly rent they would pay on a similar place.
Detroit, according to Trulia, is another metro area where buying is better. The median price for a condo or townhouse is about seven times annual rent. Home prices in Mesa, Ariz. and Fresno, Calif. also clock in at seven times rent.
Arlington, Texas, Sacramento, Calif., Phoenix and Jacksonville, Fla. all had buy-rent ratios of eight, Trulia said.
Top renter's markets
Even though rents average $2,980 a month in New York (the highest of any of the 50 markets), it's still the best city for renters, according to Trulia's survey.
Paying for the same kind of two-bedroom Manhattan apartment would cost 36 times as much, nearly $1.3 million.
One surprising place where renting is cheaper is Ft. Worth, Texas; buying exceeds renting costs by 32 times. Part of the reason is there are relatively few condos in the city and they tend to be upscale and costly. That, combined with low rents of about $9,500 a year, make renting cheaper.
Omaha, Neb., where buying is 27 times annual rents, Seattle and San Francisco, which both clock in with purchase prices that are 24 times rents, and Kansas City, at 22 times rents, are other places where renting makes financial sense.
Should you rent or buy?
The buy-rent calculation is just one part of the decision-making process. Other factors include:
How long you plan to stay. If you're not keeping the home for several years, transactional costs of buying and selling (e.g; commissions, closing costs) can wipe out any buying edge.
Whether you have cash for closing. It's not easy to find banks willing to lend more than 80% of the cost of a home. That means buyers have to come up with 20% down, plus closing costs. On a $200,000 home, that's $40,000.
Whether you can cover all the homeownership costs. It's not just the mortgage: There are property taxes, insurance, heat, utilities and regular maintenance.
Whether you can claim the tax advantages of homeownership. Mortgage interest is deductible and can shave a lot off tax bills but this benefit accrues mostly to high income earners with substantial mortgage payments. Many borrowers claim the standard deduction on their taxes and so derive no savings from the deduction.
Even where it's cheaper to rent, it doesn't necessarily mean renters will come out ahead, according to Ken Johnson, a real estate professor at Florida International University and co-author of a new study on whether it's better to buy or rent.
"Paying off a mortgage is a kind of forced savings," he said. Each check homeowners write lowers the balance they owe and increases the value of their property holdings. That, unlike cash in a bank account, is not easy to tap.
Homeowners have to go through a lengthy and costly process to access it by taking out a home equity loan or a cash-out refinance -- actions they tend not to take unless there's a specific need.
Depending on where they live, renters may save on monthly expenses but, unlike the forced savings of mortgage payments, they won't have anything to show for their monthly payments in the way of savings.
Ultimately, however, the decision whether to buy or rent depends on each person's situation and their plans for the future.
While buying a home may be an attractively cheap option these days, many mortgage holders have found out the hard way that the joys of homeownership can turn sour should the unexpected strike.
This article provided by Trulia.com, click here for full story
Most experts would advise that the best way to increase your odds of a successful sale is to price your home at fair market
value. But, as logical as this advice sounds, for many sellers it is still tempting to tack a few percentage points onto the price to
"leave room to negotiate". To avoid this temptation, let's take a look at the seven deadly sins of overpricing:
1. Appraisal Problems
Even if you do find a buyer willing to pay an inflated price, the fact is over 90% of buyers use some kind of financing to pay for their home purchase. If your home won't appraise for the purchase price the sale will likely fail.
2. No Showings
Today's sophisticated home buyers are well educated about the real estate market. If your home is overpriced they won't bother looking at it, let alone make you an offer.
3. Branding Problems
When a new listing hits the market, every agent quickly checks the property out to see if it's a good fit for their clients. If your home is branded as "overpriced", reigniting interest may take drastic measures.
4. Selling the Competition
Overpricing helps your competition. How? You make their lower prices seem like bargains. Nothing is worse than watching your neighbors put up a sold sign.
5. Stagnation
The longer your home sits on the market, the more likely it is to become stigmatized or stale. Have you ever seen a
property that seems to be perpetually for sale? Do you ever wonder - What's wrong with that house?
6. Tougher Negotiations
Buyers who do view your home may negotiate harder because the home has been on the market for a longer period of time and because it is overpriced compared to the competition.
7. Lost Opportunities
You will lose a percentage of buyers who are outside of your price point. These are buyers who are looking in the price range that the home will eventually sell for but don't see the home because the price is above their pre-set budget.
Most buyers look at 10-15 homes before making a buying decision. Because of this, setting a competitive price
relative to the competition is an essential component to a successful marketing strategy.
Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Wilmington as number 7 on its list of 25 Most Fun, Affordable U.S. Cities. Its hot on the heels of the late-July announcement from online travel giant Orbitz that ranked Wilmington as their top destination for late-summer beach bargains in the U.S., Caribbean and the East Coast.
“Any time we’re recognized in a positive light by a major online travel company, it only helps raise our visibility and, hopefully, increases tourism,” said Connie Nelson, communications and public relations director of the Wilmington Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Bloomberg used a report from Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate and real estate data company Onboard Informatics to formulate their list. Recently, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate reported on a number of locations outside major cities that had a variety of restaurants and bars and affordable homes. According to the study, Wilmington has 186 bars and restaurants.
Paired with the information from Onboard Informatics, which studies zip codes where the median home price is within 20 percent of the state’s median price, Bloomberg compiled a list of 25 fun and affordable places to live. The study reported Wilmington’s median home price as $178,900.
“Affordability rankings resonate with travelers who seek value, especially in tough economic times,” said Kim Hufham, president and CEO of the New Hanover County Tourism Development Authority.
Bloomberg’s list includes tourist destinations, like Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, S.C., as well as college towns like Wilmington and Greenville, S.C.
Wilmington’s number 7 ranking put it ahead of some surprising and popular destinations, including three in Hawai’i: Kailua Kona (17), Lahaina (16) and Makiki (9). Florida destinations: Daytona Beach (22) and St. Augustine (11) fell below Wilmington, as did Myrtle Beach, S.C. (15) and Winston-Salem, N.C. (10).
Bloomberg’s top picks, and the only cities ranked higher than Wilmington, were Sacramento, Calif. (6), Greenville, S.C. (5), Scottsdale, Ariz. (4), Tempe, Ariz. (3), Ala Moana-Kakaako, Honolulu, Hawai’i (2) and Ocean City, Md., at number one.
To view Bloomberg’s full list, visit: http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110809/america-s-most-fun-affordable-cities/
According to data recently compiled by the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors, home sales improved slightly in the second quarter over the first quarter of 2011. The average sales price rose by 5 percent. The average listing price for sold properties increased by 3.8 percent to $238,671. And the average number of days on market dropped from 144 to 133. Buying real estate continues to be cheaper than renting in the vast majority of major U.S. cities, according to a quarterly rent vs. buy index from real estate search and marketing site Trulia. The index compared the median list price and the median annualized rent on a two-bedroom apartment, condominium or townhouse in the country's 50 most populous cities. According to the index, the cost of buying was less than renting in 37 of the 50 cities (74 percent) as of July 1, 2011. About the same share, 78 percent, favored buying over renting in Trulia's last index report, released in April. Affordability rankings resonate with travelers who seek value, especially in tough economic times.
Good news this week the Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Wilmington as number 7 on its list of 25 Most Fun, Affordable U.S. Cities. It’s hot on the heels of the late-July announcement from online travel giant Orbitz that ranked Wilmington as their top destination for late-summer beach bargains in the U.S., Caribbean and the East Coast.
This week’s statistics for Wilmington according to Truilia shows the affordability and reasons to buy now. Starting with average price per square foot for Wilmington was $116, a decrease of 6.5% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes in Wilmington NC for May 11 to Jul 11 was $173,750 based on 330 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 2.5%, or $4,413, and the number of home sales decreased 59.8%. There are currently 3,141 resale and new homes in Wilmington including 1 open house, as well as 191 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale was $361,440 for the week ending Aug 10, which represents an increase of 0.5%, or $1,973, compared to the prior week. Popular neighborhoods in Wilmington include Landfall and Pine Valley Estates, with average listing prices of $1,007,307 and $197,750. We can step right outside the city limits for those looking for county properties and see how Castle Hayne ranked last week. The average price per square foot for Castle Hayne was $90, a decrease of 12.6% compared to the same period last year. The median sales price for homes in Castle Hayne, for May 11 to Jul 11 was $118,194 based on 14 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 9.4%, or $12,306, and the number of home sales decreased 30%. There are currently 89 resale and new homes in Castle Hayne including 14 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale in Castle Hayne NC was $238,900 for the week ending Aug 10, which represents an increase of 19.8%, or $39,501, compared to the prior week.
The report from the Bloomberg only enforces what those of us that live in and around Wilmington already know. The Bloomberg used a report from Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate and real estate data company Onboard Informatics to formulate their list. Recently, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate reported on a number of locations outside major cities that had a variety of restaurants and bars and affordable homes. According to the study, Wilmington has 186 bars and restaurants. So there’s an unlimited amount of places to go and see in our area. To view Bloomberg’s full list, visit: http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110809/america-s-most-fun-affordable-cities/
Fortunately, our area which outside of major metropolises offers both affordable homes and a variety of restaurants and bars, according to a new report from Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate. The company, with real estate data company Onboard Informatics, evaluated 6,106 Zip Codes where the median home price is within 20 percent of the state’s median home price. It then selected the 25 areas with the greatest number of bars and restaurants. Wilmington was on the list of fun, affordable places to live.