Archive for Financing
First time or Second Home Buyers have the Opportunity of a Lifetime.
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s first-time or second home buyers are presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Mortgage rates in early December stood near lows last seen during the Truman administration while home prices were well off their peaks of previous years. The combination made housing affordability, as measured by the National Association of REALTORS®, the highest since NAR® launched its Affordability Index in 1973. Read More→
Who says the real estate market is Bad?
Posted by: | Comments
Every year I compile real estate statistics for the Downbeach area (Ventnor, Margate, Longport) & Atlantic City, and compare them to the previous year.1 I recently ran the 2010 real estate numbers in anticipation for the end of the year,2 anxious to see if the market was really as bad as most people are complaining it is. I was quite surprised with what I found based on all the negative noise about the market.
I compile my reports in two ways. The first report takes all sales in a specific town/city and lumps them into one number for average sales price3, median sales price4 and number of units sold. This is a big picture, broad look at the market. The second report breaks down the sales into much more defined categories for the different geographic areas such as 1, 2, 3 etc. bedroom condos, 1, 2, 3 etc. bedroom single family homes, commercial, and land. It is a much more in depth, detailed look at how a specific type of property sold in a specified time frame. Read More→
Significant Changes to Capital Gains Exclusions
Posted by: | CommentsNew Rules Next Year
Under the existing capital gains exclusion rule, a seller can claim a maximum exemption of $250,000 ($500,000 if filing jointly) if he had resided in the property as his primary residence for at least 2 years.
Effective January 1, 2009, a new formula will apply and will take into account the ratio between the time a seller has lived in the residence over its qualified life.
For Example, an individual sells a property which he had owned for 8 years and used as his primary residence for the last 2 years. In our example, the seller realizes a gain of $200,000 upon the sale of the property. This year he can exclude the entire gain from income tax. Sell the house next year, different story. Only $50,000 of the $200,000 can be excluded from capital gains tax. Here is the math: the 2 years he occupied the residence equals 25% of the total years he owned the property and 25% of the $200,000 gain is $50,000.
The IRS hasn’t published its final rules and each situation is different, please consult a tax professional before making any decisions.
To read the whole article, please click here.
Five Years From Now You Won’t Even Recognize Atlantic City
Posted by: | CommentsBy WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Writer
Published Nov 19, 1:59 PM ET
To see the original on-line publication of this article, click here.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – A burst of new, luxurious mega-casino projects to be built by 2012 will transform the face of Atlantic City into a more futuristic — and crowded — gambling resort.
At least four companies are betting a combined $9 billion that the makeover will help Atlantic City catch up with Las Vegas as a place to come — and stay — for more than just gambling.
In early November, Revel Entertainment Group unveiled drawings of its new $2 billion casino-resort, to be called simply “Revel.” Due to open in the second half of 2010, at 710 feet, it will be the tallest building in Atlantic City — at least for a while.
It will feature two thin towers standing perpendicular to the ocean, with as many as 3,900 rooms, and even Atlantic City’s first casino wedding chapel. The interior complex, between the towers, is curved and rounded so that it looks as if it has been shaped by gentle ocean waves.
Revel is partnering with investment firm Morgan Stanley on the project. Read More→
A Self-Directed IRA is a Powerful Investment Tool for Purchasing Real Estate
Posted by: | Commentsby Steven Rothberg
Did you know that an IRA can purchase and sell real estate or invest in almost any asset, not only traditional stocks, bonds, mutual funds or CDs?
A Self-Directed IRA is a powerful investment tool for individuals who want to unlock the potential of their retirement funds!
Real estate is a particularly good investment for an IRA
• income and gains increase IRA value on a tax-deferred or even tax-free basis
• investors can purchase properties without using disposable income, or by supplementing disposable income
• the IRA owner enjoys asset protection and estate planning benefits
• there are no required holding periods such as in tax- free exchanges
• the real estate can be leveraged through use of a non-recourse mortgage Read More→
How to Earn Money Off Campus as Rest of Market Cools
Posted by: | CommentsThe real estate slowdown has forced some investors to change tactics. Gone are the days when an investor could buy a single-family home or condo, flip it, and walk away with a sizeable profit just weeks or months later without much effort.
But there’s one niche that continues to show promise for investors undaunted by the slumping housing market: college-town real estate. Read More→
Average 30-Year Mortgage Rate Drops Again
Posted by: | CommentsDaily Real Estate News | September 29, 2006
The current rate or 6.31 percent is down from last week, when it averaged 6.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.91 percent. This is the lowest the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been since the week of March 2, 2006, when it averaged 6.24 percent.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week averaged 5.98 percent with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.06 percent. A year ago, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.48 percent. This is the lowest the 15-year mortgage has been since the week ending March 23, 2006, when it averaged 5.97 percent. Read More→
Appraisals Get Tricky in a Cooling Market
Posted by: | CommentsDaily Real Estate News | September 15, 2006
The housing slowdown is making it increasingly difficult for appraisers to use comparable sales data in calculating a home’s worth.
Gary Crabtree of Bakersfield, Calif.-based Affiliated Appraisers says he now takes into account pending sales, current list prices, supply and demand, time on the market, price fluctuations, defaults and trustee’s sales, incentives, and the market perceptions of real estate agents.
Crabtree says valuations become complicated when real estate practitioners engage in “the re-list game,” in which a home that has sat unsold for a long period of time is removed from the multiple listing service and re-listed with a new price and MLS code to make it look like a new listing.
“Just looking at historical data can be perilous,” says Appraisal Institute spokesman John Bredemeyer, who explains, “You’ve got to answer the question: ‘Where are we in this cycle?’ And you’ve got to factor that into your valuation.”
Source: Baltimore Sun, Ken Harney (09/15/06)
Mortgage Rates Drop Slightly Last Week
Posted by: | CommentsDaily Real Estate News | September 15, 2006
The national average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.43 percent last week, down slightly from 6.47 percent the week before but up from 5.74 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
The average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.11 percent, down from the previous week’s 6.16 percent but again higher than the 5.32 percent average for the same period last year.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.1 percent, down from 6.14 percent. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 5.26 percent.
The average rate on one-year ARMs was 5.6 percent last week, compared with 5.63 percent the previous week and 4.46 percent a year ago.
“Although 30-year mortgage rates are about three-fourths of a percentage point higher than they were last year, it’s good to keep in mind that rates have dropped from the high of 6.8 percent reached just eight weeks ago,” says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “And with short-term interest rate increases seemingly on hold, for a while at least, interest rates overall should not experience any big shifts in either direction.”
“The risk to our forecast of relatively stable mortgage rates is that inflation will unexpectedly heat up, causing bond markets to raise their expectations that the Fed will intervene by raising short-term rates,” Nothaft adds. “In that case, mortgage rates will again start to rise.”
— REALTOR® Magazine Online
Mortgage Rates Continue to Drift Lower as Housing Market Eases Back from Record Highs
Posted by: | CommentsMcLEAN, VA — Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market SurveySM (PMMSSM) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.44 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending August 31, 2006, down from last week’s average of 6.48 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.71 percent. This is the lowest the 30-year FRM has been since the week ending April 6, 2006, when it averaged 6.43 percent.
The average for the 15-year FRM this week is 6.14 percent, with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.18 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.32 percent. This is the lowest the 15-year FRM has been since the week ending April 6, when it was 6.10 percent. Read More→
