So I was talking to a few Davidson Realtors the other day. They were telling me about how investors are starting to come back into the market. Of course, I asked why they thought this was happening. One of them explained that it is a combination of things. Obviosuly the prices of homes right now are ridiculously good. And the interest rates are good too. But I wasn’t aware that the number of rental properties is way down, but the demand is way up. (This must be why Davidson Property Management is currently looking for houses to rent!) If an investor has the ability to buy St. Augustine, FL homes right now, they may get a great home at a great price and potentially rent it out for a profit! I told them I wanted to write a blog on this and they told me to talk to one of Davidson’s other Realtors because he had a great case study for this.
The agent told me a story that I just love! He showed a home, originally purchased for $370,000, which was listed for $240,000. (I’m not kidding about there being incredible values out there right now!) The potential buyer said she couldn’t go higher than $204,000. The Realtor made the offer and the seller accepted. However, the buyer changed her mind. The Realtor explained to the buyer that this was an amazing opportunity and if she didn’t want to take advantage of it – he did! She still declined to sign the offer, so the Realtor made the same offer and it was accepted.
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With the home buying tax credit set to expire April 30th, there’s no time to waste to find out if YOU qualify for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. From now through April 17th, Davidson Realty is holding Tax Credit Open Houses each Saturday where on-site experts will help you determine how much Tax Credit you may qualify for. Stop by on Saturday anytime between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm and we’ll explain the $8,000 tax credit for first time buyers and the $6,500 for current home owners; answer home buying questions; pre-qualify people for loans; and review area communities as well as individual homes.
The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 extended the tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence. It also authorized a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified repeat home buyers. If you purchase a home by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010, you may qualify for one of the two available tax credits. The first-time homebuyer credit is for buyers who have not owned a home during the last 3 years. The other credit is for current homeowners who have used the home they are selling or vacating for 5 consecutive years within the last 8 years. The credit is 10% of the purchase price of the home up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 for current homeowners. (more…)
If you have been reading my market analysis for the last few months, you probably think you can skip this one because I have been saying the same thing over and over. Well this month brings a few surprises.
My first surprise is that closed sales for January 2010 were about 40% less than December 2009. There were 1,316 closings in November, 1,365 in December and 834 in January.
This looks like very negative news, but I believe the reason for the decline in closings was mainly due to short sales. We saw lenders approving and closing short sales in December to get them closed by year end. Maybe the holidays were also a factor, but we did not see any short sales making it through the process in January. (more…)
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My daughter just closed on her first home in January. She got a great deal on a short sale in St. Augustine. I helped her file her tax return last week and it is amazing that she will receive a check for $8,000 from the Internal Revenue Service due to the first-time homebuyer tax credit.
If you purchase a home by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010, you may qualify for one of the two available tax credits. The first-time homebuyer credit is for buyers who have not owned a home during the last 3 years. The other credit is for current homeowners who have used the home they are selling or vacating for 5 consecutive years within the last 8 years. The credit is 10% of the purchase price of the home up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 for current homeowners.
There are only two other considerations:
1. The home you purchase must be $800,000 or less. (more…)
![Don_Wilford_Picture[1]](http://www.davidsonrealtyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Don_Wilford_Picture1-200x300.jpg)
Since Davidson Realty recently listed ICI Homes’ properties in Palencia, I decided to pop my head into Don Wilford’s office and say hi. Don is a third generation builder who started with ICI Homes as a construction manager over 30 years ago. He worked his way up to ICI’s North Florida Division President. Needless to say, he has experienced many changes in the real estate market over the years. He has seen it up and he has seen it down…so I value his opinion on the state of the market!
When I asked Don how he was feeling about the market, he shared he believes new construction prices have bottomed out and are starting to go up slightly. He said new construction will not go lower and he predicts that construction costs will rise at least 10% by the end of 2010. Many consumers must agree because there has been an increase in sales activity. ICI sold 10 homes in January – and six of them were new builds with an average price of $500,000. This means ICI sold more new builds in January 2010 than they did in all of 2009! (more…)
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