Imagine lower, affordable house payments spread out over… 600 months?

Fifty-year mortgages are starting to appeal to a growing number of first time homebuyers, but the financing trend has major drawbacks. As home prices increase and interest rates creep higher, some first time homebuyers are tossing aside traditional 15 and 30-year mortgages and are instead stretching out payments over 40, even 50 years. But Consumer Credit Counseling’s Sally Borie warns there are pitfalls to signing a 50-year home loan.

“Are we gonna be around for that long? Even if we are, is the house that we’re purchasing going to satisfy our needs for that period of time and that length of time? Because that’s a long time,” she said. It’s a long time, Borie points out, before you start to build equity with a 40 or 50-year mortgage, and that can mean trouble later. “If they should have to sell in a market where prices are down and they don’t have much equity, they may end up owing more than what they sell the home for,” Borie said. The 40 and 50-year mortgages started in California where sky high housing prices leave few options for homebuyers.

Real estate Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Boca Raton FL condos.

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Several years ago, my sisters and I purchased our present residential property and obtained a mortgage loan from a bank. At the settlement, we were given a copy of the Deed of Trust. We recently paid off that mortgage and the bank sent us a copy of the release which had been filed with the County recorder of deeds. Are there any other documents which we should have? Also, when we bought the property we paid for a title insurance policy. However, we never received a copy of that policy. How can we procure our property’s real estate title?

You should have received a copy of all these documents when you went to settlement. Since you purchased the property more than 10 years ago, I doubt that the settlement attorney will be able to locate your file at this late date. Indeed, that settlement attorney may not even be around now. You purchased a title insurance policy. The attorney recorded the deed to the property among the land records in the county where the property is located. It usually takes several months before the county will return the recorded deed to the attorney. But once that deed has been received, the attorney should have sent you that original deed, along with your title insurance policy.

Real estate Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Boca Raton FL condos. Or, visiting the Florida Gold Coast? Real estate Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Delray Beach Real Estate.

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Orlando tried for a NFL franchise in 1996 after Malcolm Glazer bought the Bucs. He said the team needed a new stadium or it would have to move. Real estate tycoon Norton Herrick held the rights to build a ballpark in Orlando. He said he’d give them up for part ownership in the Bucs. Glazer had no interest in that, and it became a moot point when Hillsborough County voters approved a sales-tax increase to build what would become Raymond James Stadium.

Baseball? Among the flirtations, Orlando wanted a spot in the expansion picture of 1995. But no ownership group ever solidified while Tampa Bay and Phoenix plowed ahead. As for hockey, the first problem was the arena, which would have needed to be retrofitted to NHL specifications. Universal officials talked about acquiring an NHL team in 1994, but that never went anywhere.

Looking for that perfect Sarasota home or condo? Realtor® Annette Smith is ready to help you buy or sell your dream property.

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Radioactive and very dangerous, Radon gas can be a very big problem. It is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that seeps from the soil into homes through cracks and foundations. Every year between 15,000 and 22,000 lung cancer deaths are attributed to radon exposure according to the National Academy of Sciences. That’s a staggering number.

Radon doesn’t exist everywhere in the United States. It only exists where the sub terrain produces radon gas. Sometimes one house may have elevated radon levels while the house next door will have a very low radon level. It is commonplace in many parts of this country for radon tests to be conducted before a purchaser buys a home. Generally, this means that a canister will be placed in a home, and it will sit there for several days, allowing its media to collect air. If radon is present, a laboratory testing the canister will be able to detect it from this air sample.

To address this or other important real estate topics, RE/MAX Properties REALTORS® Annette Smith is available to help you be an informed home buyer or home seller in today’s changing Sarasota real estate market. Read the rest of this entry

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According to an interesting and simple bit of research by the National Association of Home Builders, the 225,000 member trade organization that speaks for the housing business. By comparing two primary sources of data, NAHB’s David Crowe found a positive relationship between additional houses and the livability of the area where those houses are being built

Last year, Sperling and co-author Peter Sander published “Cities Ranked and Rated,” a tabulation of more than 400 metropolitan areas based on 10 key categories—population, economy and jobs, cost of living, climate, education, health and health care, crime, transportation, leisure, and arts and culture. The categories are extremely broad, but under each heading is any number of key subsets. Under economy and jobs, for example, the authors looked at per capita income, household income, the employment rate and recent and projected job growth, among other things. And under education, they considered academic achievement, expenditures per pupil and student/teacher ratios in the public school system, and the number of colleges and universities.

Real estate Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Boca Raton FL condos.

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I am a widow, 81, whose primary asset is my home. I have two adult children to whom I would like to leave this home, but I am concerned I might outlive my assets. Also, my house will soon need repairs, which I am not sure how to pay for. My two children suggest I deed my house to them now and they will pay for the maintenance, taxes and insurance. Do you think this is a good idea?

No. If you quitclaim your house to your adult children now, that could prove detrimental to both you and them. For example, suppose you later decide it’s time for you to move to an assisted-living center. If you already gave away your home, where will you find the money to pay for your care? Also, if you gift your home to your two adult children now, they will take over your presumably low market value adjusted-cost basis. They would be better off inheriting the house after you pass on, thus receiving a new ‘’stepped-up basis’’ of market value on the date of your death.

Real estate Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Boca Raton FL condos. Or, visiting the Florida Gold Coast? Real estate Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Delray Beach Real Estate.

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Does government regulation raise the cost of new home construction?


The National Association of Home Builders reports that “rising interest rates and high land and production costs will continue to push the cost of housing beyond the means of many American families, and a disproportionate share of the blame for today’s sky-high prices goes to misguided local government policies.”

The most obvious reason for steeper home prices and less affordability is that we simply have bigger houses. According to the Census Bureau, the average house now contains 2,434 square feet, up from 1,660 square feet in 1973. If you super-size a home by 47 percent then even if construction expenses remained constant it’s not hard to see why today’s housing dreadnoughts cost more than homes in previous years. This is not to say that minimum lot and home sizes add anything to the cause of affordable housing, or to suggest that rising costs for building permits, impact fees and transfer taxes are helpful. But c’mon, homes on steroids can’t be overlooked—homes which surely yield bigger builder profits per unit than smaller homes.

Looking for that perfect Sarasota home or condo? Realtor® Annette Smith is ready to help you buy or sell your dream property.

Or, ready to buy or sell a Palm Beach home or condo? Consult with licensed agent Caesar Parisi. Caesar has assisted hundreds of buyers and sellers, giving sound advice on how to most effectively buy and sell property.

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Vacations may be the ideal time for people to buy real estate. When people fall in love with the area they’re visiting, their inclination can be to buy land or a home that can be used for future vacations.

According to a survey by the National Association of Realtors®, people who purchased second homes in 2005 are primarily interested in being near water (two-thirds), close to recreational activities (39 percent) or close to mountains (31 percent). Recognizing that a vacation can quickly turn into a home—or land-buying event, one of the first items you must determine is what you can afford. If there is a chance you could investigate a home or land purchase during your vacation, know what you can afford before you leave. Consider a mortgage pre-approval so you won’t be as inclined to make an impulse purchase.

Real estate Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Boca Raton FL condos.

For more information on this and other real estate matters, your first source for Palm Beach real estate should be licensed agent and long-time resident Caesar Parisi.

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The two major living-trust purposes are to (a) avoid probate costs and delays for your heirs after you die, and (b) management of your living-trust assets by your successor trustee if you become incapacitated, such as by a severe stroke or Alzheimer’s disease. A living trust is “funded” by transferring title for your real estate and other major assets, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc., into your living trust to hold title within the trust. At the creation of the living trust, you are the living-trust trustor (principal and creator), trustee (manager) and beneficiary of the living-trust assets. That means you still have 100 percent control over your living-trust assets.

Costs vary widely depending on the state where the attorney practices. I’ve seen ads for Florida living trusts as low as $395 and $495. But a more realistic price is $1,000 to $2,500 for a relatively simple living trust. However, if you have a substantial estate, spending even $5,000 to $10,000 for a husband and wife to establish separate or joint living trusts, with A-B by-pass trusts if total assets exceed $3 million, is money very well spent. The modest attorney fees to establish a living trust are very small compared to probate legal fees. The attorney’s services for creating your revocable living trust the way you want it should also include (a) writing a “pour-over will” for you (and your spouse) and (b) transferring title to your real estate into your living trust. A “pour-over will” is usually very simple because its primary purpose is to state who you want to receive any assets you forgot to transfer into your revocable living trust.

In the market for a Delray Beach real estate property? Consult with licensed agent Caesar Parisi. Caesar has assisted hundreds of buyers and sellers, giving sound advice on how to most effectively buy and sell property.

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When pricing your house when you re ready to sell it, keep in mind you must sell in the market you re in today. It doesn t matter what your former neighbor recently got, or what properties are listed for now. All that matters is this—whatever the last sale price in your neighborhood of your model—that s probably your sale price now.

The market is like playing Russian roulette. Sometimes you don t know what you have until you pull the trigger. Somebody needs to blink. Sellers seem to be saying to buyers, “I ll drop my price, just make an offer.” While buyers are blankly replying, “I ll make an offer, just lower your price.” It s this stalemate that has played a part in creating an abundant supply of houses on the market in the DC area. We re talking upwards to 200 percent more homes on the market in any given year-to-year comparison. And, folks, after a dearth of homes in this area, it s a good thing. Is it affecting prices? Sure thing. Will prices come down? Absolutely. Are sellers going to lose money? Well—in some cases.

Need more information on prices in your area? Real estate Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Boca Raton FL condos.

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