Cavas Wine Tasting Room & Cafe is having their first neighborhood wine expo at their South Miami location tomorrow, from 2-6 p.m. A $20 tasting fee allows you taste over 100 wines. $10 of the tasting fee will be applied toward any wine purchase you make. What a wonderful way to spend the day… tasting wine and strolling along downtown South Miami. After the wine tasting, head over to Blu, Town, or Cafe Pastis, all of which have tables outside, and enjoy our beautiful Fall weather.
Although the number of homes in foreclosure decreased in October from the same time last year, the overall number of foreclosures are still high and some experts think it will rise. According to RealtyTrac, there were 7, 741 foreclosures in Miami Dade as of October. Most of the first round of foreclosures were sub-prime and adjustable-rate mortgages that became unaffordable once interest rates reset. The potential for another round of foreclosures is due to the large amount of negative equity many people currently have in their homes and the high unemployment rate, 11.3%, in Miami-Dade County.
This new round of foreclosures will keep real estate prices low, and may push them lower, unless the current sales trend continues and a balance is reached where inventories are stable at a 6 – 9 month supply. The recently extended and expanded First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit, continued low interest rates and real estate prices that have retrenched, should help keep sales moving and inventories decreasing. The graph below is for single-family homes and condo sales for Miami-Dade County. Some areas within the county are already at a 6-9 month supply level.
You would think I ‘d know better. I am in real estate after all. But I got too caught up in the mortgage/real estate/job market/Wall Street mess, and the whirlwind of media negativity, to see that mortgage rates had dropped SOOOOO LOW that I could have saved a lot of money EACH month, if I had refinanced. Luckily I wasn’t too late to miss the boat in its entirety. I had grown complacent with my 5.75% interest rate since I had refinanced it several years ago when rates were at “historic lows”. I saved on my monthly mortgage from when I originally purchased my home, so thought I was okay. I did the calculations last week and, based on a rate of 4.625% for a 15 year loan, realized I would save $544.77 each month and that in less than a year that savings would pay for the closing costs associated with refinancing.
If I were to take a portion of my monthly savings and use it to pay down the principal balance on my loan and another portion to invest in my retirement fund, I would still have a little extra spending money! Needless to say, I filled out the paperwork today. What are you waiting for?
According to the National Association of Realtors third quarter report, sales are up throughout most of the country. The biggest increase in sales was in Florida at 36.8%. This is no surprise considering that we are also the state with the highest number (9 out of the top 15) of metro area price decreases in the double digits. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach metro area had a price decrease of 24.6 percent. What this means to you depends on whether you are a:
More detailed information regarding specific real estate markets in Miami-Dade County can be found in Miami Real Estate – Single Family Homes Market Summary
On January 1, 2010, new rules adopted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development go into effect. These rules
are going to give borrowers a much more realistic estimate of what their closing costs are going to be so there are fewer surprises at the closing table.
Although the new rules do not guarantee a borrower’s actual closing costs will be exactly what the good-faith estimate states, it will be a lot better and closer to reality than many of these estimates currently are. The fact that these new uniform good-faith estimates are also going to be included in a new HUD-1 will allow borrowers to compare what they were told with the actual charges. The new HUD-1 will also break out the title insurance premiums so that the borrower can see what percentage is going to the insurance and what portion is a fee to the title agent.
What should you do if you are shopping for a mortgage now and plan on purchasing a home before the new rules come out? Use HUD’s shopping for a mortgage brochure to get you started.
What does the bill that President Obama signed into law on Friday mean to you if you are a first time homebuyer? It means that you did not miss out on the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit and may be able to qualify for it now, even if you didn’t before. Why? Because the new First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit:
The Yellow Green Farmers Market, South Florida’s largest farmers market, opens today in Hollywood, Florida. Spend the day visiting some of the more than 300 vendors, snack on goodies, and buy natural products by local vendors..
The Yellow Green Farmers Market, South Florida’s largest farmers market, opens today in Hollywood, Florida. Spend the day visiting some of the more than 300 vendors, snack on goodies, and buy natural products by local vendors..
With so many foreclosures on the market today, many buyers think they can get a good deal in a foreclosure. Sometimes foreclosures are not the best deal. This apartment was stripped bare, including the entire kitchen, all bathroom fixtures, the doors, baseboards, even the air conditioner was ripped out! There was no way to do an inspection.
To minimize his risk, the buyer had several contractors come through to determine the cost of replacing everything and took those costs into account in his offer to the bank. His offer was accepted and he got a very good deal compared to the price of other recent sales in the building.
Below is a quick snap shot of what the real estate market for single family homes looked like in October. These numbers are derived from the Multiple Listing Service and though they do not include For Sale By Owners and anything not listed on the MLS, they are indicative of what is going on in our local markets. The closed sales may be slightly underestimated due to the lag time in posting the sale in the MLS.
Coconut Grove
Coral Gables
Key Biscayne
Miami Beach
Palmetto Bay
Pinecrest
South Miami