55+Community-K. Hovnanian’s Four Seasons at Orlando

by Elsa Soto | Feb 20, 2020 | Blog, Buyers, Homeowners, Homes, Villas and Condos, New Construction, New Listing, Press Releases, Property for Sale, Real Estate Components, Real Estate News, Retirement / 55+

55+Community-K. Hovnanian’s Four Seasons at Orlando

K. Hovnanian’s Four Seasons at Orlando

Four Seasons at Orlando – Community Overview Clip from K. Hovnanian® Homes on Vimeo.

Welcome to K. Hovnanian’s^® Four Seasons at Orlando, a new active adult 55+ community in Kissimmee, FL, offering active adults a well-deserved lifestyle of relaxation & recreation starting from the lower $300s. Enjoy a gated, resort-style community with world-class amenities & golf course views.

Residents can experience exclusive amenities and low-maintenance living year-round. The community’s planned amenities include a 12,000-square-foot clubhouse with a luxurious swimming pool, a state-of-the-art fitness center, arts & crafts rooms, and more. There are also plenty of ways to stay active outdoors, with on-site walking trails, lighted tennis and pickleball courts, and the nearby golf course.

Located in beautiful Kissimmee, Florida, this 55 and over community is in an ideal location with easy access to major roadways, shopping, dining, theme parks, and the entertainment attractions of Orlando. Everyday conveniences such as grocery stores, cafes, and healthcare facilities are just down the street in the prestigious town of Celebration.

Resort-Style Living

Maintenance free living at its best! Experience the harmonious balance of comfort and luxury at Four Seasons at Orlando.

Explore the Neighborhood

With more than a dozen theme parks, Orlando is one of America’s most visited cities. But it’s also an amazing place to live, shop, dine, eat and explore all year-round. Life doesn’t get much happier than this!

Ready to make a Move?

Bardell Real Estate are the experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

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We need homes for Frustrated Buyers

by Elsa Soto | Feb 3, 2020 | Blog, Homeowners, Press Releases, Property for Sale, Real Estate Components, Real Estate News

We need homes for Frustrated Buyers

NAHB forecasts 2% more single-family homes will be built this year – but it’s not enough. Frustrated buyers want about 3.8M homes, mainly at the low-end of the market.

LAS VEGAS – Single-family starts should continue on a gradual, upward trajectory in 2020, fueled by solid job growth and low mortgage rates that will keep demand firm, according to economists speaking at the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.

“Low resale inventory, favorable mortgage rates, historically low unemployment and accelerating wage growth are driving builder sentiment and point to single-family production gains in 2020,” says NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.

However, that’s not enough, according to a new report from realtor.com. It found that single- family home starts (per 1,000 households) grew from 4.6 in 2012 to 7.3 in 2019, making the eight-year average 6.2. And while that growth was needed, levels still remain well below the two-decade average.

Realtor.com economists estimate that even with an above average pace of construction, it would take homebuilders four to five years to get back to equilibrium.

“The current inventory crisis and the need for 3.8 million new homes means a nearly insatiable appetite from potential buyers, especially in the lower end of the market,” says Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com.

“Builders are still underbuilding as they continue to struggle with rising construction costs stemming from excessive regulations, a chronic shortage of workers and a lack of buildable lots,” says Dietz. “These affordability headwinds are impeding more robust construction growth.”

NAHB forecast

Total housing starts are expected to hit 1.3 million units in 2020, up more than 2% from last year. While that would mark the highest output since 2007, it’s still well below normal production levels that averaged 1.5 million units annually from 1960-2007.

Single-family starts are forecast to increase more than 3% from 2019 numbers to about 920,000 units – but that’s significantly less than the 1 million to 1.1 million units that demographics would support.

NAHB expects multifamily starts to hold relatively steady in 2020 at 383,000 units, a level it calls sustainable due to demographics and a balance between supply and demand. Currently, 93% of all multifamily units are built for rent vs. 7% that constructed for sale. The historical split is 80-20.

New-home sales are projected to total 708,000 in 2020, up 2.5% from last year. It would mark the first year sales surpass 700,000 since 2007.

Residential remodeling activity is expected to register a 1% gain this year over 2019 as existing home sales improve.

Some Florida cities hot markets for builders

The South and the West regions will lead new-home growth in the year ahead, according to Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. “Markets with good affordability, high employment and outdoor amenities have had the highest growth in new-home sales over the last year,” he says.

New-home sales are rising fastest in the South. Dallas and Houston led the way, averaging at least 30,000 new-home sales between Oct. 2018 and Sept. 2019. The two Texas cities were followed by Atlanta, Phoenix and Austin, which all averaged at least 15,000 sales in the same period.

Meanwhile, several metropolitan areas located predominantly in the South posted at least a 20% gain in new-home growth over the same 12-month period. Metros leading the way included Port St. Lucie, Fla; Warner Robins, Ga.; Ocala, Fla.; The Villages, Fla, and Sebastian, Fla.

Nothaft added that home prices and rents are expected to continue to outpace inflation in most areas, with nationwide home prices anticipated to rise 4.8% in 2020 and single-family rents up 3%.

“The housing market is entering the year with a great deal of momentum from 2019,” says Nothaft. “This is the first time in post-World War II history that unemployment and mortgage rates are both below 4%. That will help fuel demand.”

Low rates, low inventories

David Berson, senior vice president and chief economist at Nationwide Economics, says that mortgage rates are expected to remain low for the foreseeable future.

“Trend growth depends on productivity growth, and labor growth and productivity has not picked up,” says Berson, noting that GDP growth has averaged just 2% since the Great Recession.

At the same time, the nation has experienced a long period of slow labor growth, which slows real economic growth.

Other factors should also help keep interest rates lower: Treasury yields are still near 100-year lows, and inflation remains below the Fed’s long-term goal of 2%.

Meanwhile, existing home inventories remain at all-time low levels but the number of households has been growing strongly. Coupled with solid job gains and low mortgage rates, housing demand remains strong.

“Given the historically low number of homes for sale relative to the number of households, there is only one outlet to meet demand – new home construction,” says Berson. “So 2020 should be a good year for new home construction.”

Ready to make a Move?

Bardell Real Estate are the experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

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December Home Sales Report

by Elsa Soto | Jan 23, 2020 | Blog, Buyers, Homeowners, Homes, Villas and Condos, Real Estate Components, Real Estate News, Renters, Sellers

December Home Sales Report

December Home Sales Repor is bouncing back after a slight fall in November, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Although the Midwest saw sales decline, the other three major U.S. regions reported meaningful growth last month.

Total existing-home sales,¹ https://www.nar.realtor/existing-home-sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 3.6% from November to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million in December. Additionally, overall sales took a significant bounce, up 10.8% from a year ago (5.00 million in December 2018).

On a full-year basis, total existing-home sales ended at 5.34 million, the same level as in 2018, as sales in the South region (+2.2%) offset declines in the West (-1.8%) and Midwest (-1.6%), as the Northeast remained unchanged.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said home sales fluctuated a great deal last year. “I view 2019 as a neutral year for housing in terms of sales,” Yun said. “Home sellers are positioned well, but prospective buyers aren’t as fortunate. Low inventory remains a problem, with first-time buyers affected the most.”

The median existing-home price² for all housing types in December was $274,500, up 7.8% from December 2018 ($254,700), as prices rose in every region. November’s price increase marks 94 straight months of year-over-year gains. “Price appreciation has rapidly accelerated, and areas that are relatively unaffordable or declining in affordability are starting to experience slower job growth,” Yun said. “The hope is for price appreciation to slow in line with wage growth, which is about 3%.”

NAR’s Home Affordability Index Ranking and Payroll Job Growth report found that affordability rankings declined in 81 metro areas, 34 of which saw non-farm job growth fall faster in 2019 Q3 than the national rate over the previous five years.

Ready to make a Move?

Bardell Real Estate are the experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

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What is an Earnest Money Deposit?

by Elsa Soto | Jan 16, 2020 | Blog, Buyers, Mortgages, News, Real Estate Components, Real Estate News, Renters

What is an Earnest Money Deposit?

What is an Earnest Money Deposit? Real estate agents are expected to understand and explain earnest money deposits to their clients, including why they’re necessary and how they affect the home buying process. A deposit like this shows the seller that a buyer is serious—in other words, “earnest” in their intention to purchase the house.

Knowing how earnest money works is essential knowledge for both the buyer’s and the seller’s agents. The point of the earnest deposit is to stop would-be buyers from making offers on multiple houses they’re interested in, which would result in all of those properties temporarily taken off the market until the buyer commits to one of them. For this reason, it’s unusual for a seller to entertain an offer on their house without it being backed up by a deposit that a buyer could lose.

If the sale proceeds successfully, the earnest money can be used for the down payment or the closing costs of the sale. It can be looked at by buyers as putting aside some funds to cover part of these later costs.

Since it is a deposit, it does mean that there are many situations that allow buyers to reclaim these funds when things don’t go according to plan. A well-trained buyer’s agent realizes that earnest money needs to be protected from loss.

How Much Should a Buyer Offer in Earnest Money?

Typically, the deposit required by a buyer will be between 1% and 5% of the purchase price. There are a few factors that can affect this, however, including the state of the real estate market and what the seller requests as a deposit.

A higher deposit can be required if there is a lot of demand in the local market, but on the other hand, a low deposit might be accepted if there isn’t much demand. Also, the customs around earnest money vary from state to state, which makes it essential for real estate agents to educate their clients.

Some real estate agents might recommend that their clients put down a higher deposit if they think it will lead to an offer being accepted. Higher deposits could also lead to the seller being more flexible on other terms in the offer.

Agents should explain to their clients that although it is a deposit, a buyer will not see their money again for perhaps a few months. Smart real estate agents will check with their clients to make sure holding the earnest money will not put undue pressure on the buyer’s finances.

What Happens to the Earnest Money Deposit?

New real estate agents should understand that when an offer has been accepted, a purchase agreement for the house will be executed. This agreement should state who is going to be holding the deposit. This will normally be the title company or seller’s real estate agency, who will keep it in their escrow account. The earnest money will be accounted for at the time of the closing.

If you’ve been a real estate agent for a while, you know that you shouldn’t hand over earnest money to the seller of the house. If things don’t go as planned, it could be very difficult to recover that money.

How Do Earnest Money and a Down Payment Differ?

Quite often, buyers get confused about the difference between earnest money and a down payment. It is important for real estate agents to explain the two. While they both contribute to the purchase price of the house, the earnest money is security for the seller, while a down payment is money a buyer has to put towards the purchase price. The balance of a buyer’s funds for purchasing a house will come from the procurement of a mortgage.

Is It Possible to Get an Earnest Money Deposit Back?

There are many situations that will allow purchasers to get their earnest money deposits back. When things go wrong, and the deal falls through, buyers should be able to get their money back most of the time.

Buyer’s agents and their clients should review the terms given in the purchase agreement contract to find out exactly how refunds are dealt with. It’s imperative for buyer’s agents to educate their clients in these matters. There should be contingencies in the contract to allow for situations where the buyer can walk away with their deposit returned to them. Common contingencies would include finding problems with the house when it is inspected or the buyer failing to secure financing for the purchase price.

If problems are found during the home inspection, the buyer can choose to cancel the offer, renegotiate the price, or have the seller rectify the problem before they proceed. If the buyer is not able to proceed with the sale because they cannot get the financing, they also would be able to get their earnest money returned.

Real estate agents should educate and inform their clients what contingencies are in place in the contract, so that they are fully aware of what protections they have during the sales process.

Can You Lose Your Earnest Money Deposit?

A buyer’s agent should always inform their clients they absolutely can lose their earnest money deposit—otherwise, what would be the point of having one? Real estate agents should be reminding their buyer clients they can forfeit their earnest money when they don’t pay attention to the terms of the contract.

Here are the most common ways buyers can lose their deposit:

They don’t respond in writing for extensions they have in the contract, such as a home inspection or financing.
They get cold feet and just walk away from the sale.
They find another property they like better and don’t proceed.
They decided to put up a nonrefundable deposit to make their offer more attractive to the seller.
Some buyers have no idea their earnest money deposit is at risk if they violate the terms of the contract. A significant role of any buyer’s agent is to explain the earnest money process. An agent should also do their utmost to protect the buyer from losing their finds. This includes reminders on any essential deadlines that must be met.

Real estate agents must always remember the fiduciary interests of their clients. In fact, it’s a significant reason why dual agency is looked at unfavorably, as you don’t have a fiduciary in this arrangement.

Final Thoughts on Earnest Money Deposits

Real estate agents should explain to their clients that there are situations where earnest money could be more significant. For example, a builder will usually require a buyer to put down a larger earnest money deposit. It is not uncommon for a builder to want to have 10% of the purchase price. At times, they also require the ability to use the funds and not have them held in an escrow account.

Giving funds to a builder can be somewhat risky if they are not financially sound. Buyer’s agents should always advise their clients to consult with an attorney before agreeing to release earnest money to a construction company.

New agents and seasoned agents alike should always look at earnest money as the glue in a successful real estate transaction.

Source:

https://magazine.realtor/sales-and-marketing/feature/article/2020/01/earnest-money-a-primer-for-new-agents?hs_social=twitter&hs_profile=realtormag&hs_sid=8d3c7a24-9d73-424f-9f06-cbd0a7fe8ed6

Ready to make a Move?

Bardell Real Estate are the experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

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EPCAR Banquet 2019

by Elsa Soto | Dec 10, 2019 | Blog, Local Events, Real Estate Components, Real Estate News, Testimonials

EPCAR Banquet 2019

Epcar Installation & Awards Banquet 2019

This annual event brings together members to recognize deserving individuals in the real estate community who have shown commitment to this industry by giving of their time and talents. Bardell Real Estate is Proud to be a member of the East Polk County Realtor Association.

Ready to make a Move?

We are experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

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Common Loan and Lending Terminology

by Elsa Soto | Dec 9, 2019 | Blog, Buyers, Mortgages, News, Real Estate Components, Real Estate News

Common Loan and Lending Terminology

Term.

Mortgages are generally available at 15-, 20-, or 30-year terms. In general, the longer the term, the lower the monthly payment. However, shorter terms mean you pay less interest over the life of the loan.

Fixed vs. adjustable interest rates.

A fixed rate allows you to lock in a low interest rate as long as you hold the mortgage and, in general, is a good choice if interest rates are low. An adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) usually offers a lower rate that will rise as market rates increase. ARMs usually have a limit as to how much and how frequently the interest rate can be increased. These types of mortgages are a good choice when fixed interest rates are high or if you expect your income to grow significantly in the coming years.

Non-traditional mortgages.

Also sometimes called “exotic,” these mortgage types were common in the run-up to the housing crisis, and often featured loans with low initial payments that increase over time.

Balloon mortgage.

This is a form of non-traditional financing where your interest rate will be very low for a short period of time—often three to seven years. Payments usually only cover interest so the principal owed is not reduced. This type of loan may be a good choice if you think you will sell your home at a large profit in a few years.

Government-backed loans.

These loans are sponsored by agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs. They offer special terms, including reduced interest rates to qualified buyers. VA Loans are open to veterans, reservists, active-duty personnel, and surviving spouses and are one of the only options available for zero down payment loans. FHA loans are open to anyone, and while they do require a down payment, it can be as low as 3.5 percent. Drawbacks include a slower loan process and—for FHA loans—the need to pay mortgage insurance.

However…

As the housing market shifts, so do lending practices. A mortgage broker—an independent professional who acts as an intermediary between you and lending institutions—may be able to help you find a better rate than you can on your own. Also, be sure to shop around; slight variations in interest rates, loan amounts, and terms can significantly affect your monthly payment.

Ready to make a Move?

Bardell Real Estate are the experts in helping you with your selling, buying or renting needs near Orlando, Florida. Make your Disney area experience a forever memorable one. Call us now to speak to a real estate agent.

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