I can give you access to ALL the dreams homes of Marco Island and Naples. Complete with photos and visual tours, they are just a click away.
Call me today.
Joanne Tailele
ERA Flagship Real Estate
239-784-2637
JoanneSellsMarco@gmail.com
I can give you access to ALL the dreams homes of Marco Island and Naples. Complete with photos and visual tours, they are just a click away.
Call me today.
Joanne Tailele
ERA Flagship Real Estate
239-784-2637
JoanneSellsMarco@gmail.com
Most people wade into homeownership for the first time in their 20s and early 30s, when they still have the bulk of their working years ahead of them and a long runway to build equity – a key asset for eventually moving up to a bigger home.
But what if you’ve reached midlife and still envision buying a home one day? Tackling that first home purchase after 40 can be easier in some ways than when you’re just staring out in your career, but it also brings its own set of financial factors.
“It’s important to consider the financial work you have left,” says Eleanor Blayney, consumer advocate for the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards based in Washington D.C. “The financial hurdles you still have over the rest of your life and how homeownership and debt in particular are going to impact that.”
A National Association of Realtors survey of people who bought a home between July 2011 and June 2012 showed that nearly 80 percent of first-time homebuyers were 32 years old or younger.
In the next age bracket, those age 33-47, 36 percent were first-time buyers; between the ages of 48 to 57, only 19 percent were first-time buyers. The rates of first-time homeownership generally declined as buyers got older, according to the survey, which featured 8,500 respondents.
Even so, the last decade’s economic downturn and housing crash has forced many to put off that first home purchase.
Here are some things to consider if you’re over 40 and eyeing homeownership:
Lending rules don’t change for older buyers
Good news: Being closer to retirement age than someone in their 20s and 30s can’t legally be held against you by a lender when they consider you for a home loan, regardless of the loan period.
“So if somebody was to walk in today, and they’re 114 years old, and they ask for a 30-year mortgage and qualify for it, we have to give it to them,” says Tom Jarboe, regional manager at lender Primary Residential Mortgage Inc.
The decision on whether one qualifies for a loan hinges on the borrower’s income, assets, credit history and other factors.
Banks generally look back two years to establish a borrower’s income history and also look to evaluate the likelihood that the borrower will continue to make the same level of income for at least another three years.
If you’re in your late 50s or early 60s and disclose that you’re planning to retire within three years, a lender will evaluate your projected earnings from Social Security, retirement accounts, dividends on investments and other sources.
Consider benefits of paying off loan
Most banks operate under the assumption that even a 30-year fixed mortgage will be swapped out for another loan within eight years, if not sooner. That’s because many homebuyers often end up refinancing, or moving for work or due to family considerations.
But paying off a home and owning it free and clear by the time one retires is a smart play, particularly as the cost of housing is a significant expense for a person relying on a fixed income.
That can be tougher for someone who puts off that first home purchase two decades into their prime working years, assuming they haven’t saved up money to make a hefty downpayment – think at least 30 percent.
But it’s doable.
Blayney recommends that even older borrowers who take on a 30-year mortgage take steps to pay off the loan or lower the monthly payment significantly by the time they retire.
That could mean making extra payments during the early years of the loan, or putting up more than the minimum downpayment so the borrower is financing a smaller amount. A 15-year mortgage, which typically translates into lower interest, but higher monthly payments, is another route to a quicker loan payoff.
Look into first-time buyer assistance
One of the biggest obstacles to homeownership is coming up with a downpayment to qualify for a loan.
Federal and state housing agencies offer assistance for first-time homebuyers, including in many cases former homeowners who haven’t owned a home for at least three years. You can find a list of some programs by state at http://www.hud.gov.
Remember though, while some loan programs allow homebuyers to make a downpayment of as little as 3.5 percent of the purchase price, experts say you’ll need to save enough for at least a 20 percent downpayment in order to get the lowest interest rate and avoid having to pay private mortgage insurance, or PMI.
And they can come with hefty fees and restrictions.
Ask yourself if this is the right time to buy?
You may want to own a home, but are you financially ready to take on the financial commitment that comes with a home loan?
Experts recommend borrowers consider the implications of buying a home in their later years, as well as taking on a large loan.
“This isn’t the situation where if you happen to time your purchase incorrectly when you’re 25 and you buy at the top of the market, you still have most of your life left to recover financially,” says Rick Sharga, executive vice president at home auction site Auction.com.
Consult with a financial planner
Buying a home in midlife or beyond has direct implications on retirement.
Homeownership can bring stability to one’s monthly housing costs, versus rental housing, as well as tax benefits, but it also carries with it a trove of costs, including property taxes, insurance and maintenance.
A good way to evaluate all the ways to buy a home, whether in cash or through financing, will affect one’s retirement finances is to enlist a financial planner to go over one’s retirement goals.
“You have to sharpen your pencil, sit down and do all the math,” Blayney says. “There’s no one answer.”
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press, Alex Veiga, AP business writer.
from Florida Realtor News
IRVINE, Calif. – July 11, 2013 – U.S. foreclosure activity decreased 14 percent in June to its lowest level since December 2006, despite a 34 percent jump in judicial foreclosure auctions from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac’s Midyear 2013 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.
The report finds 801,359 properties with foreclosure filings – which includes all default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – in the first half of 2013. It’s a 19 percent decrease from the previous six months and down 23 percent from the first half of 2012. One in 164 U.S. housing units had at least one foreclosure filing in the first six months of the year.
June report
• 127,790 U.S. properties had foreclosure filings in June, down 14 percent from the previous month and 35 percent from a year ago. It’s the lowest monthly level since December 2006 – a six and a half year low.
• The number of new foreclosure starts in June dropped 21 percent from the previous month and 45 percent from a year earlier, hitting its lowest monthly level since December 2005 – a seven and a half year low.
• In Florida, new foreclosure starts dropped 26 percent. Other states with a significant drop in starts include Nevada (down 84 percent), Colorado (62 percent), New Jersey (40 percent) and Illinois (39 percent).
• June bank repossessions (REO) decreased 9 percent compared to May and 35 percent from one year earlier. Bank repossessions in June decreased from a year ago in 34 states.
• Judicial foreclosure auctions (NFS) were scheduled for 28,296 U.S. properties in June, up less than 1 percent from May but up 34 percent year-to-year. States with substantial annual increases in scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions included New Jersey (up 103 percent), Florida (up 100 percent), Maryland (94 percent), New York (66 percent), and Illinois (65 percent).
• Florida, Nevada, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia posted the top five state foreclosure rates for the first half of the year, while five Florida cities posted the top five metro foreclosure rates: Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville,Ocala, and Tampa.
Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, says that foreclosures are “no longer a problem nationally,” but they continue to be a problem in states like Florida where the long court process has delayed the progression. However, even states like Florida will soon see an improvement.
“The increases in judicial foreclosure auctions demonstrate that these delayed foreclosure cases are now being moved more quickly through to foreclosure completion,” says Blomquist. “Given the rising home prices in most of these markets, it is an opportune time for lenders to dispose of these distressed properties, either at the foreclosure auction to a third-party buyer, or by repossessing the property at the auction and subsequently selling it as a bank-owned home.
Half-year 2013 Florida report
Florida posted the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate in the first half of 2013: 1.74 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing (one in every 58) during the six-month period – nearly three times the national average.
A total of 155,264 Florida properties had a foreclosure filing in the first six months of the year, the most of any state and up 12 percent from a year ago.
In June, Florida foreclosure starts (LIS) decreased 23 percent from a year ago but scheduled foreclosure auctions increased 100 percent and bank repossessions increased 14 percent during the same time period.
Other states with foreclosure rates among the 10 highest in the first six months of 2013 were Arizona (0.81 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing), South Carolina (0.80 percent), Maryland (0.80 percent), Washington (0.78 percent) and Indiana (0.66 percent).
Half-year 2013 Florida cities report
Florida had all five of the top metro areas for foreclosure in the first half of 2013. Miami ranked No. 1 among metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 200,000 or more – 2.35 percent of housing units had a foreclosure filing (one in every 43) during the six-month period – nearly four times the national average.
Four other Florida cities joined Miami to round out the top five metro foreclosure rates in the first half of 2013: Orlando at No. 2 (1.94 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing), followed by Jacksonville (1.91 percent), Ocala (1.85 percent) and Tampa (1.74 percent).
Florida cities accounted for a total of 12 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates.
In Florida, the foreclosure process – from first notice to REO status – took an average of 907 days in the first half of 2013, or roughly two-and-a-half years.
In the U.S., a foreclosure averaged 526 days, though two states have a longer foreclosure process than Florida. In both New York and New Jersey, the average foreclosure takes 1,033 days.
© 2013 Florida Realtors®
I am sure you are thinking the world does not need another new blog. But if you are reading this, you must have some interest in real estate or Marco Island.
This blog is to inform you about this beautiful island and to give you solid information about the real estate market and what is new happening in the industry.
The biggest news here is not a big surprise. Inventory is depleting, consumer confidence in the economy is climbing and the new construction is back. What does this mean to the buyers and sellers out there? Mainly it means that prices are on the rise. The few distressed properties that are out there are now receiving multiple offers and bidding wars are common place. Sellers can feel more confident in pricing their homes that they will get a fair market value. Buyers can still take advantage of the market if they act fast. Prices are climbing but it is not at a dramatic pace. Therefore, if they want a good deal on an island home, they will have to act soon before they are priced out of the market.
To learn my audience, please let me a reply and tell me if you are a resident of Marco Island or Collier county, whether you have ever visited here or if you have never heard of our little paradise.