Real Estate Listings

Archive for October, 2009

Florida Condos – Good Deal Now

The fact that there are large numbers of condos in Florida is no doubt of interest to many Canadians. As the mercury drops lower and lower and the snow rises higher and higher our thoughts turn to warmth sunshine and a coatfree environment!

It is a fact that many Canadians strive to afford their second home in the warm sun belt of the United States and many of them just leave Canada for the whole winter to enjoy the sun.

Florida is the perfect location for this ‘snowbirding’. If you have thought about taking the plunge into a condo lifestyle then now may be the time to strike. The Florida Association of Realtors have reported that the price of condos in Florida is very low right now partly due to a large number of new condos coming onto the market at the same time.

The FAR are basing these figures on the latest set of sales stats to come out which show that the median price of a Florida condo is down by about 9 over this time last year. Also the number of units sold compared to this time last year is down by 29.

The state of Florida brings in 300000 new residents per year second only to the state of Texas. Florida is a prime retirement choice for many people and this popularity generally keeps the condo price steady in spite of small nationallyinfluenced fluctuations.

Now that the price has dipped many shrewd buyers are moving in on the condo market. The economy in Florida is still plugging along although according to the Florida’s Institute of Economic Competitiveness it is at a slowed pace for now. Once it picks up no doubt the condo prices will be right alongside it.

Florida is famous for its canal systems giving thousands of residents access to recreational water sports. Many condos offer waterfront opportunities in varying degrees including ocean front river front and canal front. If you have often dreamed of a small boat and a carefree lifestyle now may be the time.

Because of its setting Florida’s recreational calendar offers many sailing regattas and power boat races in which you can become involved. There are also training classes for ‘wannabe’ seafarers and you can learn how to be the captain of almost any vessel at evening courses run by various institutions.

Florida is also very ecologically minded and for those of you interested in marine life and in preserving the environment you will find Florida sympathetic to these causes. One of the early states to encourage residents to go green Florida introduced recycling over ten years ago!

Condo life anywhere offers great advantages such as worry free home maintenance. Most people like the idea of never having to cut the lawn again! Even better than that is swimming in your pool everyday without having to check the Ph balance. Check HOA fees to see how they compare with other units in the market.

Be sure to search for a condo whose ‘common rules’ suit you. For instance many have the noise rule and you must be quiet after ten at night! Many have rules about not be able to rent your condo and some have rules for not being allowed to do your own maintenance.

Check the rules before you buy. If you are Canadian remember the laws are NOT the same use a lawyer that is experienced in the differences in the rules of law.

About the writer:  This article was written on behalf of Tampa real estate agent Calum MacKenzie. Calum is a professional who makes client satisfaction his top priority. Calum has the expertise needed to help find your dream home in the Wesley Chapel FL real estate market.

Five Different Ways To Finance Your French Property

There are different ways to find cash for a property purchase. If you are among those who want to buy a property in France but find it difficult to get the finances the following tips may help you.

Apart from selling your own UK property the first thing you can do is to rent out your UK property so that you can take a French mortgage. The rental income of your own property will help you pay the mortgage off for the new property.

If you do not own a property a solution is to take a French mortgage but the difference lies in the fact that you will repay it from your UK salary.

The third solution you can exploit is taking a UK mortgage. It is probably the most standard and usual way to buy a property in the UK. However the rates in the UK are usually higher than those for French mortgages.

If you are property owner in the UK you can also remortgage or get a mortgage on your UK property. This will enable you to release enough equities for your French purchase because the property prices in France are still cheaper compared to the UK.

The last alternative is an equity release on your Spanish villa. This means unlocking some of the value in your home by taking out an equity release plan enabling you to make the most of your property to generate the cash when you need it. That is to say if you have a property in Spain you can take a loan on it to finance the one you want buy in France. This solution suits people who are “asset rich but cash poor” according to Bill Blevins from Blevins Franks Company.

Now you have all the clues to finance your French property. You must wonder which one suits you best by answering simple questions such as “do I want to sell my property rent it out or none” or “how much do I need”.

About the writer:  Matthieu Cany is Director of Sextant French Property

Finding Missing Owners Of Abandoned Properties

A common source of leads for the quickturn real estate investor that exists practically everywhere is abandoned properties. There are several advantages to pursuing these types of properties that are known to investors. One is that if a property is abandoned there is a good chance that the owner is disinterested in the property and might be willing to sell it.

Another is that since the property is not actively listed for sale there is likely to be little competition from other potential buyers. If you can contact the owner you will probably be the only investor they are speaking with. Yet another is that abandoned properties are readily available in most areas.

There are of course a few potential drawbacks to abandoned properties as well. One of these is the trouble it takes to find the owner which is what this article is about. Another is that it is very common for abandoned properties to have title issues which may be troublesome or impossible to fix. And finally since the owner is often disinterested in the property it may have severe defects that will require a thorough inspection to reveal. However if you design a business model to handle these requirements effectively and efficiently abandoned properties can be an effective source of deals.

Lists of abandoned properties can best be obtained by canvassing a neighborhood street by street with a digital camera. This will provide you with the most accurate picture of the neighborhood you have chosen to work in. You can also work with lists acquired in other ways such as the notice of default list published monthly of properties with defaulted mortgages lists of condemned properties lists of properties with absentee owners or lists of fire damaged properties. These types of owners can all be located using the same methods and all have a potential to result in workable deals.

There are several different basic methods available for contacting missing owners given only a property address and the owner’s name starting with just the property address the owners name can be discovered from the county appraisal district records. The most relevant factors are time and budget constraints. If you are farming a neighborhood you can leave notices on the doors of target properties on a regular interval of once or twice a month perhaps.

You can also send a piece of mail to a property with the words “do not forward return receipt requested” which will cause the post office to return it to you with the previous occupant’s forwarding address. You can use the services of a private eye who does this sort of thing in your area or you can do the same work the private eye would do and use a skip tracing service to find phone numbers and relative’s phone numbers for the person of interest making as many calls as you have to until you get who you’re looking for.

The best way to approach the owner when you make contact is with honesty. Tell them you are an investor interested in buying the property and tell them how you got their number if they ask. Get the relationship off to the right start and the work of closing the deal is halfway done.

About the writer:  Omar Johnson is a successful real estate investor and author of the home study course “Secrets To Making Big Money In Real Estate With Little Cash and No Credit” For more info visit http://www.gettingrichinrealestate.com