The single most common question I am asked is, “What is happening with my homes value”?  This is not always an easy question to answer because there are so many variables from home to home.  There is good news for you if you live in the Broward County, area.  

Courtney Silverman Real Estate Group has developed a new internet system that will give you complete information on what is taking place with the market around your home.  This program gives complete details on homes listed, sold and value trends.  The program offers the numbers in easy to view graph form and it is very detailed and specific to your home and neighborhood.  You will even see a Google Earth view of your home and surrounding neighborhood.  The best part is that this analysis is sent to you by e-mail and the updated for your monthly.  You can take advatage of this great new system by visiting our web site at http://www.courtneysilverman.com/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=1628494.

“There are diamonds in this current real estate market – you just have to dig for them” says Mike Pappas, President/CEO of The Keyes Company a large South Florida based full service real estate firm. 

Sales Units are up:
“Palm Beach strengthened its unit sales earlier in this cycle and Dade and Broward are gaining momentum” observed Mike Pappas. 

We have 1985 homes for sale in Fort Lauderdale FL as of today. Sellers are asking from $28,500,000 to $24,900.

91 buyers got their contracts accepted. The prices the sellers were asking ranged between $1,995,000 and $19,900 when they received their offers. 53% of those contracts were written to purchase bank owned properties and 18% are going to negotiate the purchase with the seller and the seller’s lender(s) as a short sale.

55 properties were sold in Fort Lauderdale. They were priced between $2,700,000 and $28,000. This tells us there is over a 36 month supply of homes for sale in Fort Lauderdale as of February 2009, assuming no more homes are put on the market over that period of time.

Contact Courtney Silverman Real Estate Group to leverage your dollar in this market as a seller and as a buyer!

There have been some upgrades to the Broward County Property Appraiser’s website. Effective October 1st, the site will show:

• Building permits are online
• Click on millage to see your city rates
• Explanations on Homestead
• The ability to search on sub-division sales

Concerning sub-division sales, only arms length transactions are included here. That means foreclosures are disqualified for comparables. “D” means dis-qualified and “Q” means qualified. Another update is that a short sale is now considered a qualified (at arm’s length) transaction.

Also added were more functionality on aerial views. Click on View Map. To the right by Details, you’ll see Pictometry. Click on it and you’ll see 45 degree aerial views of the property from north, south, east and west.

  RECAP:    
The “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008,” (HR 3221) includes the following provisions and more: Homebuyer Tax Credit - a $7500 tax credit that would be would be available for any qualified purchase between April 9, 2008 and June 30, 2009. The credit is repayable over 15 years (making it, in effect, an interest free loan).

FHA Reform - including permanent FHA loan limits at the greater of $271,050 or 115% of local area median home price, capped at $625,500; streamlined processing for FHA condos; reforms to the HECM program, and reforms to the FHA manufactured housing program. The down payment requirement on FHA loans will go up to 3.5% (from 3%). The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).

Remember “shared appreciation” Homeowners forfeit profits if they sell within a year (probably not a concern) and the forfeiture decrease 10% per year until the 5^th year where it reaches 50% of the gain.  Here’s the kicker.  It stays at 50%.  So the government is partner.  People are not going to like that and might prefer the Short sale. The homeowner can not take out a home equity line for five years from closing. There are fees involved on this loan per year for an annual insurance premium.

Here are a few advantages of the FHA Program:
 
  1.  FHA goes up to a 97.75% Loan To Value (LTV) with no Credit Score requirement.
  2.  FHA carries no pre-payment penalty.
  3.  FHA allows a true non occupant co-Borrower.
  4.  Mortgage Insurance rates are better with FHA than conventional, Fannie or Freddie rates.
  5.  FHA has lower Mortgage Insurance Premiums (MIP) than a conventional loan.  MIP is like PMI - Private Mortgage in a conventional loan. 
  6.  All Borrowers funds may be from a gift.
  7.  FHA allows up to a 6% Seller Concession at the highest Loan To Value (LTV).
  8.  There is no reserve requirements (a normal reserve is at least 2 months of PITI (Principal, Interest, Tax, and Insurance).
  9.  Borrower does not have to have a credit history.
10.  Debt Ratios up to 45% are allowed. Compensating factors may be considered for a higher debt ratio.
11.  FHA will allow you to do a 95% Loan To Value (LTV) cash out refinance.

If you’d like more information on financing options, please call Courtney Silverman 954-292-0743 or click here to get started on speaking with our Mortgage Consultant, Ana Wilbanks.

Weston Warrior 2008 Football and Cheerleading Registration 

When:   Sat April 5th 9am-2pm
Place:   Tequesta Trace Park

Ages:  6 - 15 year olds

More information call Todd Green, President  (954) 349-6717
 

I have been involved with this AYFL program for the last 3 years.  My husband coaches and my daughter is a cheerleader. This program is all about the kids.  I highly recommend it for your kids.  - Courtney

The Feds made another drop in short terms rates yesterday.  The Fed is desperately working to turn the nations economy around.  The threat of recession continues to be driven by the poor national housing market. 

Here in the Broward County markets of Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Davie and Plantation areas, we continue to have one of the best housing markets in the country.  It is not the market that we enjoyed 2 years ago, but homes are still selling that are priced properly in the market.  The average time on the market here is about 115 days.  Courtney Silverman’s inventory are on the market less than 68 days before receiving a contract.  There is around 18 months of total home inventory in the Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Davie and Plantation areas.  Home price are sliding slowly.

Now is a great time to buy residential real estate.

If you would like to get an idea on what your homes value currently is, visit the web site www.CourtneySilverman.com.  This site will allow you to enter in information on your home and then receive a market value analysis by e-mail.  It’s always a good idea to get an estimate of your homes value, whether you are planning to sell or not.

Have An Awesome Week!
Courtney Silverman

The Rotary Club of Weston teams up with the City to put on this annual rock event.  Last year I went with my family and we had a blast listening to the music with our friends after we enjoyed our picnic dinner.

This year the line-up includes current and former lead singers from 70s and 80s bands such as:
Felix Cavaliere- Rascals
Larry Hoppen –Orleans
Jimi Jamison – Survivor
Alex Ligertwood- Santana
Ronnie Hammond- Atlanta Rhythm Section
Rick Derringer
Plus Charlie Morgan on drums, Lane & Lance Hoppen, Jerry Riggs, & Barry Dunaway. 

This year’s concert begins on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the Weston Regional Park - 20200 Saddle Cub Road, Weston.

If you like what you see, while you are visiting Weston, Florida, call Courtney Silverman 954-292-0743 or email her to request information about the great neighborhoods, homes and the Weston lifestyle the residents seek and found here.

Finance costs will rise as the economy recovers, so trying to time real estate might not pay off.

TODAY
Buy a home for $218,900, put 20% down and get a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.5% which reflects current rates after recent declines. You’ll have a $994.31 monthly payment.

COST IN 12 MONTHS?
Same home would be priced at $197,010, assuning prices drop an additional 10%.  Your interest rate would be 6% because the recession ends, and the Fed starts to raise rates.  Your monthly payment is $994.94.

CONCLUSION: If you waited a year to buy, you would have saved nothing and spent a year living someplace you’d rather not be!                  Source: Lending Tree

Contact Courtney Silverman to buy your next home and investment property.