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Archive for the 'pinellas county' Category

Real estate and Palm Harbor: Is this the best market for buyers ever?

If I were to ask you to describe your income, would you use words like “reliable,” “dependable,” or “steady?”  Do you think there’s a very good chance that your job (or your business) will be around in a year, or two, or five?

If you took out some sort of loan tomorrow, would you worry about your ability to pay it back because of future income issues? Or would you be confident that your job would remain in place over the long term?

Some people have jobs that pay really well, but which probably won’t be around for long periods.  I’ll give you an example: I have a relative who is working right now as an electrical contractor in Iraq. He’s making REALLY good money, but he doesn’t expect (or want) the job to last forever. After a year or so, he’s going to want to shake the sand out of his jeans, come back to the States, and resume a more normal life.

My relative’s big but short-term income puts him in a great position to pay off debt and accumulate cash. However, it does NOT make him a great candidate for a 30-year mortgage or a five-year car loan.

But YOU, on the other hand, might be sitting on a bigger asset than you realize, if you have a steady and dependable job or other source of income.

Why? Because this may be the best time in the past, oh, 75 years or so, to buy a house.

Which brings me to my second question:

Do you know what the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices is? Okay, I’ll tell you – it is a monthly report that measures the residential housing market. It tracks home values in 20 metro markets in the U.S.

And the Case-Shiller report for October, released just this week, shows a couple of things: 1. Home values in October were flat, and 2. in spite of that, home values during 2009 have generally been in slow but steady recovery mode.

Case-Shiller reports that home values have fallen a full 30% since their peak in 2005. That drop has been stunning – nothing like it has been seen since the Depression, and perhaps even earlier than that. For people who need or want a new home, it is an opportunity of stunning proportions.

And there is even more good news; interest rates have dropped, too, If you wanted a 30-year fixed rate mortgage three years ago, it would have likely cost you around 6.4 percent. Apply for that same mortgage today, and you’ll pay more like 5 percent.

What that means is that median home prices are now about where they were in the mid-1990s, a time when just about every agrees was a really great time to buy. What makes the current conditions even more attractive than then, however, is the difference in mortgage rates – something like 5 percent now, more like 9 percent back then.   

The Wall Street JOURNAL recently did some numbers-crunching, and came up with this conclusion: Buy an average home now, finance it with a 5 percent 30-year mortgage, and the cost comes out to be around 19 times today’s average weekly earnings. Conditions haven’t been that favorable for homebuyers since the 1970s, according to the JOURNAL.

Still not good enough for you? Okay, fine – then throw in the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit, which is scheduled to run through the spring season.

Which brings us back to my original question: How would you characterize your income? Would you describe it as “reliable,” “dependable,” or “steady?”

If it is, and you can feel pretty good about relying on your income over the long term, this is probably the best time to buy a home that has come along during your entire lifetime, and probably your parents’ lifetime, and maybe even your grandparents’ lifetime as well.

The real question is the reliability of your income. These are uncertain economic times, and no one needs additional uncertainty in times like these. Unstable or unreliable income down the road could result in a foreclosure, no matter how attractive the selling price of the home is now.

But if income unreliability is not a major concern, unprecedented real estate opportunities await you.

Tags: pinellas, real estate and clearwater, real estate and palm harbor

Pinellas County is #57 when it comes to water quality

We’re Number 57! We’re Number 57!

Okay, I’m not really sure this is something to rejoice over, but Pinellas County was recently ranked 57th in terms of the quality of its drinking water.

Let me explain.

An organization called the Environmental Working Group recently looked at the quality of tap water in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas. It measured all that water for such pollutants as herbicides, factory solvents, radium, arsenic, and cyanide — more than 300 substances in all.
Miami-Dade’s water utility was the best in Florida, ranked 46th on the nationwife list of 100; Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood and four other Broward County utilities logged only a few violations.

Pinellas County was ranked 57th, Hillsborough County 65th, Tampa Water Department 68th, and Orlando Utilities Commission was 81st.

Pensacola made the list, but was last at Number 100. 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says water users in Pensacola shouldn’t worry — overall, Florida has very high-quality drinking water.

Personally, I’d rank Florida very high when it comes to taste.  The worst water I’ve tasted was in Iowa, and the next-worst was in Southern California. In both places, you really don’t want to drink the water out of the tap.

Tags: Palm Harbor, real estate, water

Guardian Angel places cats left homeless by foreclosure

Who are the victims of foreclosures? Well, families, of course. Children. Working people.

But what about pets?  Not much has been written about that. If a family loses their home to foreclosure, what happens to the pets they may own? Families can move into apartments, or even move in with friends or other family members.  But that doesn’t mean that the pets can come along.

Pet shelters and humane societies have been reporting that their facilities have been strained to the breaking point as families turn in their pets that they can no longer afford, or pets that cannot go along to smaller quarters.

One group on the west coast of Florida is trying to do something about that.  Guardian Angel Cat Rescue and Adoption is based in Hudson in Hernando County, but they serve all of Tampa Bay. Guardian Angel does not have a shelter, but instead places cats in foster homes until permanent homes can be found.

“Our goal is to help cats that are in danger of being euthanized or abandoned due to owners moving, foreclosure, job loss…” their flyer says.

We ran into representatives of Guardian Angel last weekend at the Palm Harbor Arts & Crafts Festival, where they were operating a small booth.  

The accompanying picture shows one of the cats, Termite, who is being being cared for by the Guradian Angel folks. If you’d like to see more, go to www.adoptapet.com and search shelters for Guardian Angel Cat Rescue.  Or just e-mail them at guardianangelCRA@yahoo.com, or call them at 727-859-2208.

Tags: adopt-a-cat, pet rescue, pets, pinellas

Mortgage rates are lowest they’ve been in 38 years

Do you need another reason (besides the low prices and the big tax credit) to think about buying a new home? Okay, here it is: Mortgage rates came down again this week and are now at the lowest point IN THE PAST 38 YEARS!
Freddie Mac does a survey of mortgage rates every week, and this week’s survey shows that rates are at historic lows for 30-year fix rate mortgages.
The rates on 30-year (and 15-year) mortgages came down for the fifth week in a row, according to Freddie Mac. Rates on five-year adjustable rate mortgages came down to record levels a week earlier, and they stayed in that very low range during this most recent week.
Why the low rates? Well, demand for mortgages (and, of course, demand for housing) remains weak; also, foreclosures continue to be a factor.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate for the week was 4.71%, down from  4.78% during the previous week. A year ago, the average rate was 5.53%.

Tags: interest rates, pinellas

The first Thanksgiving: A FLORIDA event?

I’m from New England, a place rich in history and tradition.  The Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, Thanksgiving – all early American historical icons that New Englanders takes great pride in.

Now, however, I live in Pinellas County, Florida, a place rich in sunshine but a little light in the history department. Florida is a great place to live, but it simply doesn’t offer the rich past of the Northeast.

Heck, the state wasn’t even sold by the Spanish to the U.S. until 1819; Florida didn’t become a state until 1849. Many of the people considered to be the pioneers of Pinellas County didn’t live in these parts until the early part of the 20th Century.

So imagine my shock when I learned that the first Thanksgiving wasn’t the one held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620, but was an altogether different celebration held in St. Augustine, Fla. about 55 years earlier.

The first Thanksgiving a Florida event? Who would have ever dreamed?

Nonetheless, that’s what Michael Gannon and several other Florida historians claim.

According to those accounts, a Spanish explorer, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, landed in what was to become St. Augustine on Sept. 8, 1565, and immediately decided to put together a Mass of Thanksgiving. He even decided to invite some of the local Timucua Indians, much as the Pilgrims allegedly did 56 years later.

There’s no record of what everyone had to eat on that day in St. Augustine, but one good bet is Cocido, a Spanish stew of beans, chicken and cabbage which is popular to this day.

Also, there’s a bit of controversy as to whether this Mass actually qualifies as a Thanksgiving event.

That’s okay – I’m told the people who run the Plimoth Plantation, the historic facility in Plymouth that commemorates the Pilgrims’ home, are going a little light on the “first-thanksgiving-in-the-new-world” claim these days, giving that honor up to the Indian tribes who populated the area long before the Pilgrims ever arrived.

Nonetheless, I like the idea that Florida has a claim to the first Thanksgiving. I’ll be sharing this story with the friends and relatives who join us for dinner on Thanksgiving Day. And I may even try my hand at Cocido if I can find a good recipe.

Tags: history, holidays, pinellas county, Thanksgiving

Finding, buying and fixing up the perfect Pinellas County home

(A couple of weeks ago I posted a story by my friend, Stephanie Henningsen, who described her plans for buying (and renovating) her first home, using financing provided through the neighborhood Assistance Program of America. In this installment, Steph talks about the process of finding the right house, buying it and beginning the remodeling process.)

By STEPHANIE HENNINGSEN

I completed all the steps that NACA requested – I had a set amount in my bank account, my credit report had been checked (all was well), and I supplied them with several months of pay stubs and bank statements.

Now came the fun part – looking for my house.

Over the course of a few weeks, I drove around various neighborhoods to look for just the right place, within the right budget. NACA had agreed to loan me only about 80 percent of what I could afford for a home to make sure I didn’t suffer from payment shock, which could cause me to fall behind on the mortgage.

The trick was to find a house low enough in price so I would have enough money left in my mortgage package to fix it up.

One day I stopped at an old purple house that looked deserted. I happened to see one of the neighbors outside and began asking questions about it. He told me that the lady who lived in it had died and that her daughter now owned the place. However, he was unable to tell me the woman’s name or exactly where she lived.

So I went to the Web site of the Pinellas County Property Appraisers’ Office and typed in the address. After getting the owner’s name from the site, I called the office, got his phone number, and learned that the house was for sale (it turns out he was a home investor who had only purchased the house five months earlier). Within days I had a meeting with his agent to view the house.

Once inside the house, I fell in love. It had high ceilings, wood floors, a fireplace – everything I wanted in a home. The best part was that the price of the home was low enough so that I could afford the remodeling of it as well.

During this process, NACA provided me with a Realtor, who helped me with the home buying process, as well as helped me find the contractor who fixed up the house.

I closed on the house in June. In August, the remodeling process began, with my contractor adding an upstairs bathroom, rewiring the electrical system (it still had the knob and tube wiring from the 20s), adding central heat and air, completely remodeling the kitchen, and painting the home inside and out.

By December I moved into my newly remodeled home.

Tags: home renovation, Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, pinellas county, St. Petersburg

Home refinance program expanded

     We’ve written here in the past about tax credits and about government programs aimed at saving homes from foreclosure and making home payments more affordable. Now, it looks as though the Obama Administration wants to expand those programs to make them apply to more borrowers than before.
 

    Until now, those government programs have been available to people whose mortgage amounts are up to 105 percent of a home’s value. This week, the administration announced that it wants to raise that limit to 125 percent of value.
Here are some of the conditions that apply:

• The mortgages in question must be owned or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
• The applicants for new financing must be current on their mortgage payments.

     It is estimated that 30 percent of all mortgages are for amounts that exceed their homes’ values.
     The expansion of this federal home refinance program is an acknowledgement that the original program fell far short of expectations. When it was announced in March, the Obama Administration said it hoped that it would help 4-5 million homeowners who were upside-down on their mortgages. But in the middle of June, the administration admitted that only about 20,000 homeowners had applied to refinance their mortgages under the plan.
One problem has been rising interest rates. Current rates are around 5.5 percent, up from 4.84 percent in April. That rate increase has put a damper on refinances. The government hopes that the new expansion will encourage more homeowners to refinance their homes, and those refinances will make the homeowners less likely to default on their mortgages.
     Got a home in Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Clearwater, or anywhere else in Pinellas County with a mortgage bigger than the home’s value? This expanded program may be for you.

Tags: making home affordable, mortgages, pinellas county, refinance

Fourth of July fireworks planned for Pinellas County

Fireworks displays are planned this weekend all over Pinellas County. Here is a partial list:

CLEARWATER

• Clearwater Celebrates America, July 4, Coachman Park, 301 Drew St. A free celebration that includes the following: Mostly Pops Orchestra with John and Mary K. Wilson; craft show, and concessions. Gates open at 4 p.m., fireworks begin at 9:30 p.m.

• Clearwater Marine Aquarium, July 4, 11 a.m. — 5 p.m. Food, music, dolphin shows. Admission: adults $11, seniors $9, kids $7.50. www.SeeWinter.com.

DUNEDIN

• Dunedin Hometown USA, July 3 at Dunedin Stadium, 373 Douglas Ave. Gates open at 6 p.m., fireworks at 9:30 p.m. Free admission.

LARGO

• Largo Central Park, 101 Central Park Drive, July 4, 7 – 10 p.m., fireworks at 9 p.m. www.largoevents.com.

GULFPORT

• Day-long celebration July 4 including fishing derby, sandcastle building, car show and community parade. Celebration starts at 8 a.m., fireworks at 9 p.m.

REDINGTON SHORES

• Fireworks display July 4 after dusk in the county park, 182nd Avenue and Gulf Boulevard.

TREASURE ISLAND

• Fourth of July Constitution Boat Parade and Rally July 4 from noon to 6 p.m., at Gator’s Café on Kingfish Drive. Boat Parade will sail through John’s Pass between Madeira Beach and Treasure Island around 3 p.m. www.constitutionparade.com.

• Beach Blast July 3 and 4 behind Bilmar Beach Resort, Treasure Island. Fireworks at 9 p.m. July 4. www.mytreasureisland.org. 

PINELLAS PARK

• Freedom Fest July 3-4. England Brothers Band Shell, 5120 80th Ave. N. Fireworks after dusk Friday. Laser light show Saturday night. www.bayareaentertainmentonline.com.

ST. PETE BEACH

• Fireworks along the Gulf of Mexico at dusk July 4.

ST. PETERSBURG

• Rock ’n Wings concert July 4 at the Albert Whitted Airport, First Street and Fifth Avenue South. Gates open at 3 p.m. Music, classic cars, aircraft. Bring beach chairs or blankets. Admission $10 for adults, $5 for children aged 6 – 12. Children 5 and younger free. Parking $5, free for motorcycles.  www.rockwingsconcert.com.

• Fourth of July Extravaganza at 1 p.m. July 4 at The Pier, 800 Second Ave. N.E. Performance by the Cool Daddies from 1 to 4 p.m. Drum circle 4 - 5 p.m., Tampa Bay Rays “watch party” 8 p.m. Fireworks begin at 9 p.m. Free. www.stpetepier.com.

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This information is believed to be accurate but is NOT guaranteed –check before you go.

Tags: fireworks, pinellas county

New data indicates declines in Tampa Bay home values may be slowing

Are we finally starting to see some stabilization in the value of homes in Pinellas County? According to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the answer might be yes.

According to Index data released yesterday, home prices in Tampa Bay fell 0.7 percent from April to May. That works out to an annual rate of 8.4 percent – the lowest rate in quite a while.  Just two months previously, the 30-day decline was 2.7 percent, which translates to an annual rateof decline of 32.4 percent.

The Index said the annual decline of home values from April 2008 to April 2009 was 21.3 percent, the seventh-worse performance among the 20 cities that the index tracks. The worst was Phoenix, which recorded a home value decline of 35.3 percent.

Here is why real estate agents and others are watching these statistics: What we have been seeing for some time now is a steady increase in the number of home sales in Tampa Bay, accompanied by an equally steady decline in sales prices. The increase in sales has contributed to a decline in the home inventory in the Multiple Listing Service, which is good; but home prices have been continually forced down, due in part to foreclosures and distressed sales.

These trends have made us wonder just where the bottom of the market is in terms of home values. These new figures from Case-Shiller may help us find that answer. Of course, it is only one month; and other variables such as higher mortgage interest rates could slow sales and depress home values all over again.

If you would like to see the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index data for yourself, go here.

Tags: home valies, Palm Harbor, pinellas county, Tampa Bay

Pinellas County homes: Sales up, prices down

When it comes to tracking the latest home sales in Pinellas County, the trend continues — sales up, but average sales price down.

The Pinellas Realtor Organization, which keeps track of such things, reports sales of homes in the county for May totaled 971, up from 941 homes sold in May of 2008. That’s a good, if modest, increase of 3.2 percent. The median sales price, however, was just $140,000, down a full 20 percent from May 2008’s median price of $175,000.

That trend — sales up, but home sale prices down — has been going on for some time now.

Another statistic from the Pinellas Realtor Organization is encouraging. In May, there were 6,910 single family homes listed in the Multiple Listing Service, way down from the peak of 11,003 single family MLS listings in February 2006.

Tags: home sales, pinellas county, Pinellas County real estate