Emerald Coast Association of Realtors—
446 contingent properties, combined residential.
1444 pending properties, combined residential.
877 closed properties, combined residential.
30 contingent properties, residential land.
125 pending properties, residential land.
84 closed properties, residential land.

Bay County Association of Realtors—
267 pending properties, combined residential.
485 closed properties, combined residential.
12 pending properties, residential land.
49 closed properties, residential land.

Pensacola Association of Realtors—
875 pending properties, combined residential.
806 closed properties, combined residential.
22 pending properties, residential land.
52 pending properties, residential land.

If you do the math, there are 5,574 individual properties that are currently pending or have already closed in our coastal market place! And all of this activity has occurred since Jan. 1 of this year!

To anyone who is considering purchasing real estate in Northwest Florida, and is currently sitting on the “proverbial” fence, I strongly encourage you to act now….Do not miss the BEST buying opportunities by waiting for a bottom which may have already occurred.

Please contact me at any time to discuss current Real Estate investments along Florida’s Emerald Coast at 850.428.0243 or dana@eimersgroup.com. Or you can visit my website and search for these great deals at www.danaindestin.com

2. People have to live somewhere. About 800,000 new households are formed each year in this country, ensuring that the housing market will tighten, even if the economy doesn’t soar.

3. Borrowers leverage their investment. If you put $10,000 into the stock market and it earns 10 percent, you’ve earned $1,000. If you put $10,000 down on a home and its values increases 10 percent, you’ve made $10,000.

4. When prices come back up, you’ll have instant equity. In parts of the country where foreclosures have driven down prices, better times will mean the price of the home you buy will rise rapidly.

5. Mortgage costs stay the same. If you get a fixed-rate mortgage, the monthly payment stays the same – while everything else, including rent, goes upward.

6. You own it. There is something comforting in the notion that your home is your own. You can paint it any color you want, let the dog run in the back yard and hang a swing for the kids in the front.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (03/27/2009)

One thing we know is first time home buyers often lack the cash needed to get into a home. Here in our market, the USDA program allows buyers to move into a house with no money down whatsoever – and they don’t have to be a veteran! As a national trainer for the USDA program and a source on this program for such publications as Builder Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, I am very familiar with it and with how to not only get your buyers in with no money down but to also get them their EMD back at closing! We can help you close more deals and have happier clients! Let Northstar Guide Your Buyers Home…………!!!

Feel free to have your clients call me — I can have them prequalified, approved, closed and in a house quicker than most other people take these days to underwrite! We underwrite our own USDA loans in 24 hours or less.

I look forward to working with you and enjoy this article. Please feel free to pass it on…..

~~Sue

One in Five Americans Plan to Buy a Home Despite Economic Conditions
–First Time Buyers Optimistic, Homeowners Search for Solutions to Stay in Homes
LOS ANGELES, March 23, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — While half (52%) of all Americans are concerned they or someone they know will face foreclosure in the next six to 12 months, 23% of adults plan to purchase a home in the next five years, and more than half of them (53.5%) are first time homebuyers, according to a new survey commissioned by Move, Inc., the leader in online real estate and operator of Realtor.com(R), the #1 homes for sale Web site.
The Move survey also found nearly one out of five homeowners (18.9%) plan to take advantage of the administration’s new program to help prevent foreclosures. While searching for answers in the past 12 months, 21% of all homeowners with a mortgage contacted a lender to restructure their loan. Half (10.6%) of those homeowners that contacted their lender experienced success while 5% still await an answer.
Unemployment is a driving factor causing many Americans to fear foreclosure, according to the survey. More than a quarter (27.1%) of adults feel they or someone they know may default on their mortgage due to recent unemployment (27.1%), future unemployment (29.3%) or because they owe more on their home than it’s worth (25.6%). One out of eight (15.4%) is having a hard time making mortgage payments because they’ve recently increased or because they have too much debt (18.8%).
Determined to remain in their homes, nearly three-quarters (72%) of adults reduced spending in the past year in order to make monthly mortgage or rent payments, mostly by cutting discretionary spending such as vacations, entertainment and eating out (75%), personal items such as clothing, personal care and personal luxuries (72%) and energy costs such as gasoline and utilities (71.6%). Regardless of age, most Americans are cutting spending back from some aspect of their life to pay housing costs.
Despite today’s challenging market conditions, 18.1% of adults plan to buy a home this year in order to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit recently passed by Congress in the administration’s economic stimulus package.
“It’s not all doom and gloom. We found Americans are optimistic about homeownership despite concerns,” said Move, Inc., CEO Steve Berkowitz. “They’re doing everything they can, from reducing discretionary spending to pay their mortgages, to planning to take advantage of the administration’s new program to stop foreclosures. They’re also working with lenders to modify loans. Even more impactful are numbers that show interest in home ownership is strong as nearly a quarter of all adults plan to buy a home in the next five years.”
Pent-Up Demand Increasing
The Move survey found the housing downturn, now entering its third year, has created significant demand for homeownership especially among first-time homebuyers. While 5.8% plan to purchase a home in the next 12 months, 12.8% of Americans say they plan to buy a home in the next two years and 11% plan to purchase a home in two to five years.
Over half of those planning to buy in 2009 are first-time homebuyers (53.5%). By comparison, 41% of homebuyers in 2008 were first-time homebuyers, according to the National Association of Realtors[1].
While 18.1% of homebuyers do plan to buy this year to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, nearly half (47.6%) said they didn’t know about the credit and 29.3% said it wasn’t large enough for them to act right now. Potential homebuyers with higher incomes are more interested in the tax credit than those in lower income brackets, as 43.4% of first-time buyers earning $50,000 or more say they plan to use the tax credit.
Potential buyers are watching real estate prices more closely today than 12 months ago. Half of all Americans (49.6%) are paying more attention to home values today than they were a year ago, especially those aged 25 to 34 (61.9%). The median age of first-time homebuyers is 30 years old[1].
“Having the wealth of information on home values available on Realtor.com makes it easy for potential buyers to research and plan their real estate purchase as they begin their search. In fact, the average buyer researches properties online for 10 months[1] before contacting a Realtor(R). So quick and convenient access to information is critical, especially in today’s highly competitive environment,” said Errol Samuelson, president of Realtor.com.
“If you’re basing a real estate decision on old or out-of-date information, you risk making a poor decision with potentially significant financial consequences,” explains Samuelson. “Providing current and detailed information drawn directly from a local MLS, in conjunction with our 15-minute update program, educates buyers and sellers on market conditions and results in more productive conversations with Realtors.”
Changing Views of Homeownership
The Move survey uncovered changing attitudes towards owning a home. About two-thirds (62.5%) now consider their home primarily a place to live as opposed to an investment. Adults earning up to $20,000 and between $30,000 and $39,900 annually are significantly more likely to feel most strongly that a home is more of a place to live than an investment as compared to those earning $50,000 or more.
In light of the fact that homes are more affordable today, Americans said that if they could purchase more home for their dollar, bigger is definitely better. Survey results found today’s homeowners value more space by a slight margin (10%) over a list of other options, including, energy saving features (6.8%), bigger or nicer yard (6.1%), a better location (4.2%) or updated amenities (3.4%).
Message to Washington: Fix the Economy
The overall economy is by far the most pressing issue on the domestic agenda in the opinion of Americans (51.8%) and it was the first choice of survey participants to be the top priority for both the President and Congress. Health care was a distant second (15.2%) and the federal debt third (11.7%).
Americans believe that cracking down on mortgage fraud (56.9%), lower interest rates (51.6%) and giving first time homebuyers tax breaks as incentives to buy (43.5%) are the top three solutions that would have the most impact in stabilizing the housing market. Opinion is split over whether the government is doing enough to stabilize the housing market, with 46.2% indicating “yes” and 43.8% indicating “no.”
ABOUT MOVE, INC.
Move, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOVE) is the leader in online real estate with 7.4 million[2] monthly visitors to its online network of websites. Move, Inc. operates: Move.com(R), a leading destination for information on new homes and rental listings, moving, home and garden and home finance; REALTOR.com(R), the official Web site of the National Association of REALTORS(R); Welcome Wagon(R); Moving.com; SeniorHousingNet(TM); and Top Producer(R) Systems. Move, Inc. is based in Westlake Village, California.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management’s view of Move’s future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the results of Move, its subsidiaries, divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents Move files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on Move’s future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Move cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, Move expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
[1] National Association of REALTORS(R) Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers 2008.
[2] comScore Media Metrics, February 2009
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080213/MOVEINCLOGO)
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090323/LA87113LOGO)
SOURCE Move, Inc.

http://www.move.com

Sue Botelho
Loan Officer/Branch Manager
Northstar Mortgage Group, LLC
Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, FL
850-362-6901
850-362-6905 (fax)

Henderson Beach Resort rendering for Crystal Beach Florida

I just heard about a new resort that is being planned for the Crystal Beach area, just in between Destin and Miramar Beach Florida, adjacent to Henderson Beach State Park.  Check out the informaiton as provided by the Destin Log:

Dolphin Point in Destin Florida on the Harbor

BRING AN OFFER! SELLER READY TO SELL. Beautiful, convenient 1st floor condo for easy access to pool. Condo has been enjoyed as 2nd home and vacation rental, but has been well maintained. This condo is only one of a few with a washer/dryer in the unit. This is NOT a short sale, so bring an offer today! OWNER FINANCING AVAILABLE WITH AGREEABLE TERMS. Contact Dana McIntosh at 850.428.0243 or dana@eimersgroup.com to view condominium or present an offer.

I am currently working with a number of buyers and sellers negotiating short sales, which can be a waiting game. To give you an indication of how many other short sale properties are on the real estate market…there are currently 321 short sale properties pending sale; so this means that buyers have put offers in on 321 properties and they are waiting to hear an answer back from the lender as to whether or not the lender will approve the short sale to take a loss on the mortgage. Responses from lenders to a short sale offer can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 8 months (in my personal experience representing bjuyers and sellers). The higher the amount of the deficiency (the loss the lender is taking on the sale), the longer the response from the bank, and if the seller has already been in communication with the bank regarding the short sale the response is usually a shortened time period.

There are currently 73 properties under contract that are bank owned/REO properties. This type of a purchase is a normal purchase time frame…usually when an offer is presented to a bank on a bank owned property we can expect a response in 1-3 business days, and then once approved, can close within normally 30-45 days.

The question then goes to…can a buyer wait to close on a property that is a short sale? If you find the perfect property and you don’t have a deadline as to when you need to move into your new property, then it may be worth it to wait on the response from the bank. But, if you do have a deadline as to when you need to move into your new home then you will be better off to put an offer in on a bank owned property, or even on a property from a regular seller. 80% of the sales the first two months of 2009 have been through regular sellers. Now, some people may argue that you don’t get the best deal from a regular seller, but in this market properties are appraising at the same level. It used to be that appraisers would not use a bank owned property as a true comparable, but now REOs, short sales, and regular sales are all valuing the same. As long as all other things are equal…condition of the property, location, etc…then the appraisals of the properties will be comparable. So, a regular seller must be pretty motivated if they are considering selling their property in this market if they want to compete with rock bottom bank owned prices.

The sales price a bank is willing to accept on a short sale is usually derived from the appraisal that is performed after the offer is presented, and then banks are usually found to accept something within 8-12% of this appraisal value. With an REO, the bank has already performed the appraisal prior to listing the property, so the banks are already well aware of the market, and are usually able to accept a purchase price within 10% of the asking price. I have seen some regular sellers coming down anywhere from 10-20% off the asking price.

As you can see, it is very important to do your homework, and you ask…where can I find all of this information? Well, from your local trusted Realtor on the Emerald Coast. If you are considering a purchase along the beach, then find out what the comparable properties are selling for so you know you are offering the right price. If you would like information on properties, call me at 850.428.0243 or email me at dana@eimersgroup.com. You can also check out my website at danaindestin.com for complete information on short sales, foreclosures, and all properties for sale along the Emerald Coast

Here is a photo of the terminal building:

New Bay County International Airport

Have a great day!
Dana