The folks bidding up Florida home prices from 2000 to 2005 included a lot of wealthy snowbirds. Today, average Florida home prices compared to average personal incomes in Connecticut, the richest (per capita) state in the union are still out of balance.

Although prices have dropped somewhat, and will continue to decline throughout 2008, many real estate experts suggest that it is still way too early to go bargain hunting although there is always the occasional deal to be found.

With markets varying enormously from property to property, it’s important to view individual property prices within the context of a generally overvalued, or generally undervalued, market. Properties with the most scarcity value like prime Florida waterfront property usually hold up best in a slump. Contrast that with areas with little or no scarcity value at all.

Visiting the Boca Raton FL community? Contact Realtor® Caesar Parisi for information on buying or selling a home or condo in Boca Raton Waterfront Real Estate. Read the rest of this entry

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Facing a historic chance to fix a widely criticized Florida tax system, a powerful group of the state’s political elite is finding that words are easier than action. Now, with less than three months left in the legislated timeline, the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission may prove to be a disappoint to those hoping for sweeping changes to the state’s property and sales tax laws.

The measure of how willing the legislative group is to embrace revolutionary changes to the tax system may come soon when the subcommittee considers the two major proposals. The first is a plan would offset a cut in property taxes with an increase in the sales tax. The other is a proposal that would cut property taxes and expand the sales tax to include services like accounting and advertising.

Eleven of the committees’s 25 members are appointed by the governor, and the remaining 14 are appointed by the House and Senate. That is a starting point for deadlock. While there is a clear sense of respect and camaraderie among members, the group ranges from Democrats to close friends of the Republican former governor, Jeb Bush.

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Carrying a month-to-month credit card balance, even as little as $1,000 to $1,500 balance may not be the best idea. Why? Come time to apply for a new mortgage, or refinance an existing loan, lenders may see the credit card balance as an indication of poor financial planning on your part. Some folks, with adequate income could very easily pay the card in full at any time. Lenders may see this as a lack of willingness to pay-down debt obligations.

Also, carrying a credit-card balance can hurt your credit history and credit score, depending on who issued the card you’re using. Some credit-card companies report your balance as if you had maxed out your credit limit. It may not happen to you, but you’d be wise to pull a copy of your credit history from each of the three credit-reporting bureaus (you’re entitled to do this once a year for free from www.annualcreditreport.com) and then pay for a copy of your credit score ($5 to $7 at the same Web site depending on which credit score you choose).

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The national housing market could hit bottom this year, but Florida real estate likely will need longer to recover from its steep downturn. That’s the outlook from three prominent economists who spoke to home builders Wednesday at the International Builders’ Show here.

Florida enjoyed outsized home pricing and fevered sales at the height of the housing boom. Now the state is suffering in equal measure from the correction. Cities in Florida ranked at the top of the 20 U.S. metropolitan areas with the most foreclosures in 2007, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a California broker of real estate data.

Miami ranked eighth among those 20 cities; Fort Lauderdale was 10th and Orlando was 20th. Foreclosures add to inventory, which in turn keeps prices down. The hard-hit areas all share a common characteristic: a glut of homes for sale. Before prices can turn up, excess inventory must be exhausted.

Experts in Palm Beach County real estate say that they expect the housing market to continue to weaken until later this year, indicating that the combination of federal tax rebates and drastically reduced activity by builders will allow home sales to hit bottom in late 2008.

Real estate agent Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling a Boca Raton Country Club Community Home. Read the rest of this entry

Agents and brokers most often agree that the time spent servicing overpriced and poorly presented listings is unproductive and potentially unprofitable for everyone, including the sellers. New agents who become successful in the real estate business develop an instinct where they actually know with confidence what makes a marketable listing.

Crucial to accepting a listing with the proper attributes is the competitive market analysis (CMA) that will be prepared for each potential listing. Getting as much help from the old pros in the office will help. Having one of them check the first few you do will go a long way to insure success. If you can, get one of them to visit the property with you.

Almost always, if the property owners are highly motivated to sell then chances are excellent that they will select a price in the low end of the range and will be cooperative and reasonable during the selling process. If they are not motivated, the likelihood is that they will list high and be fairly inflexible in their negotiations.

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According to the Fort Myers MLS Board figures, it will take 44.5 months — nearly four years — to work off the current inventory of homes for sale. That doesn’t count the discouraged sellers who have taken their houses off the market but still want to sell. Foreclosures numbered 1,441 in December and 7,324 for the year — about 4 percent of the single-family homes in Lee County. And most of those foreclosures were after August.

The local Ft. Myers News-Press regularly advertises auctions of homes built to sell for $250,000. The minimum bid: $50,000. Small FL condos are offered with opening bids of $25,000. One real estate agent says those $250,000 houses are now selling for $100,000 — when they sell at all. She also explains that most of the properties that are selling are “short” sales, where the debt and closing costs exceed the sale value of the house.

But, this isn’t bad news for everyone. It means a half-empty glass for sellers, but also a half-full glass for buyers. For about $800,000, for instance, it is possible to buy a large and essentially new Florida house with a pool in a Florida gated community with deeded boat dockage and direct access to the Caloosahatchee River and the Gulf of Mexico.

Real estate agent Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling a Boca Raton Country Club Community Home. Read the rest of this entry

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Just how much the Florida property tax amendment will help jump-start the sluggish Boca Raton FL real estate market overall is the big question. Most analysts say it will boost sales only modestly in the short term. The amendment enables owners of homesteaded property to carry up to $500,000 in tax benefits to a new home if they have sold one property after Jan. 1, 2007, and purchase another within two years.

Homeowners who downsize to a less expensive Delray Beach condo can carry a proportionate amount of savings. If they had shielded 40 percent of the market value of the old home from the tax collector, they can shield 40 percent of the market value of the new one.

The homestead exemption will increase to $50,000 from $25,000, except for the school-tax portion of the bill. That is equivalent to about a $15,750 additional homestead exemption in Miami-Dade County and $16,000 in Broward County, or an average of $240 a year per home in tax savings statewide.

Real estate agent Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice for Selling Your Boca Raton home. Read the rest of this entry

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Last Tuesday, election day, Florida voters approved a property tax reform plan that may cut local taxes by $9.3 billion over the next five years. The proposal was heavily promoted by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist. With a majority of the precincts counted, the state constitutional amendment to increase exemptions on primary residences and expand a popular tax cap had 64 percent approval, according to the Florida Division of Elections, surpassing the 60 percent threshold needed.

Local governments, education officials and unions had called the savings estimates overblown and said the proposal would jeopardize public school funding and essential local services financed through local property taxes. However, lawmakers crafted the proposed amendment after local governments made billions of dollars in tax revenue as property values skyrocketed during an unprecedented real estate boom. Many taxpayers criticized their municipalities for spending the windfall on local projects even as property values fell with the current real estate slump.

The proposal increases the state’s homestead exemption to $50,000 from $25,000. The increased exemption, for homeowners who use their property as their permanent residence, would not apply to school taxes, however.

Looking for Boca Raton Mortgages and Financing? Realtor® Caesar Parisi is ready to help you buy your dream property. Read the rest of this entry

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