Natural and man-made attractions, including annual events, abound in the Tampa area, attracting millions every year from other Florida cities and from outside the state and outside the U.S. Last year, about 13.9 million people visited the Tampa area and spent $3.2 billion for attractions, accommodations, restaurants, goods and other services, according to a study conducted by Tampa Bay &…
Read More »More cold winters are coming, according to weather forecaster AccuWeather.com. It says that the next winter could be much colder than this year’s winter and that three or four of the next five winters could be as cold as this winter, which is most likely to become the coldest for the U.S. since the 1980s. The cold could stay for…
Read More »The first moments of 2011. The fireworks are lighting up the sky. The firecrackers are blasting the air, and people are cheering, shouting. Cars are blowing their horns. Neighbors are shouting greetings. The year 2011 will again be challenging for the real estate market, according to analysts. Yes, indeed. But we’re marching with great hopes amidst the challenges. We already…
Read More »Over the past two months, at least five headlines are doing the Florida real estate market a great favor. These headlines are telling people what a great state Florida is and giving them the idea that buying real estate in Florida is great for one’s use or for investment. The five headlines helping Florida affirm people’s investment decisions are the…
Read More »Different families have different parent-child relationship dynamics. Some parents don’t feel the need to inform their adult children about decisions that could impact their children in the future while others see to it that their children know all about their major decisions. What’s more, several others not only keep their adult children updated about their financial decisions; they also ask…
Read More »Fannie Mae continues to find ways to make home buying easier and less costly for you. Since 2009, this agency has been backing two out of every five single-family loans securitized in the country. Recently, it enhanced two of its initiatives: a direct financial assistance for homebuyers, and a strategy by which homebuyers like you can take a look at…
Read More »You can’t be discriminated against when you apply for a mortgage. Your lender can’t ask your religion or can’t ask if you’re pregnant. Your mortgage application should be approved or rejected based only on your financial and employment records. There are at least three federal laws that were designed to protect you against mortgage discrimination. In addition, there are federal…
Read More »Home loans are now cheaper, as mortgage rates continue to fall. According to Freddie Mac, the 4.44-percent average rate for fixed-rate 30-year mortgages on August 12 was the lowest rate recorded by Freddie Mac since it started monitoring mortgage rates in 1970. The rate also marked a sharp plunge from 5.07 percent in January. But you can find even cheaper…
Read More »If your credit score on the FICO scale is 599 or below, your application for a home loan won’t be accepted by most lenders, as even those with scores between 599 and 700 are having a hard time getting their applications considered by major lenders. But take heart because you’re not alone. Over the past two years, the credit scores…
Read More »Are you planning to apply for a home loan? Check if your bank is one of the more than one thousand banks that received notices of suspension, reprimand, probation, fines and other administrative sanctions from the Department of Housing Urban and Development’s Federal Housing Administration from July 2008 to March 2010. While there were 147 mortgage lenders that were able…
Read More »Recently in Florida, all these things happened: A horse dealer bought a foreclosed house in Marion County for $82,000 and then resold it several months later for $200,000. A real estate lawyer got on track to achieve his goal of finding 100 units of bargain-priced distressed and foreclosed homes for his rental and resale business. A seller of prefabricated homes…
Read More »In the midst of discouraging news about housing starts and home builder confidence, there are at least two good news stories about the U.S. housing sector this week. First, the default rate for residential mortgages fell, and second, the number of permanent loan modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program increased. Based on the consumer credit default index of Standard…
Read More »Home buyers still have the upper hand as listing prices for homes for sale held steady and did not shoot up in the second quarter, based on a study by Altos Research on house prices in ten major U.S. cities, namely Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Washington, D.C. and New York. In June,…
Read More »Commercial real estate in some Florida cities like Miami, Sarasota and Pensacola beat the odds in the first months this year and bucked the nationwide trend of decline in the commercial property sector. Commercial rents and occupancy rates increased in these cities while most commercial properties nationwide struggled from vacant spaces and decreased rents. Default rates on commercial mortgage loans…
Read More »Home buyers continue to be enticed by real estate firms and home builders with various attractive incentives. One real estate brokerage with branches nationwide launched a cash-back program to replace the federal tax credit program that ended on April 30. In states where it has subsidiary brokerages, it offers up to $8,000 in cash credit at closing. In California, it…
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