Real Estate Blog for the Golden Isles of GA including St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Sea Island, and Brunswick, GA.

St. Simons Island, Georgia

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Real Estate Blog for the Golden Isles of GA including St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Sea Island, and Brunswick, GA.

Good News for the Investor!

Feb. 18, 2009

Categorized in: Investing in Real Estate

Tagged with: fannie mae, investment properties, investors

In the recent months, investors were basically shunned by Fannie Mae in that the investor was unable to finance investment mortgages if the borrower already owned 3 other investment properties with a mortgage on them. But starting March 1^st, Fannie Mae will reverse their earlier decision and allow investors to own a total of 5 – 10 financed properties if they are eligible and meet their underwriting standards.

The basic criterion is:

No bankruptcy or foreclosure in the past 7 years and pristine repayment on other mortgages
Documentation of rental income for new mortgage property and revenue history on other investment properties owned
2 years of income tax returns
Applicants owning 4 or less properties will need 6 months of bank reserve to support the new purchase and 2 months reserve for the other investment properties they own. Borrowers owning 5-10 properties will need to show 6 months of reserves available for each property.

Certainly the requirements will fit only the most financially stable, but this loosening of investment monies may open the door for some with attractive long-term financing.

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Real Estate is REAL and TANGIBLE!

Dec. 3, 2008

Categorized in: Investing in Real Estate

Tagged with: investments, investors, value

With the stock market’s volatility of late, should the savvy investor be looking to something real and tangible---namely real estate? There is something to be said for an asset that you can see, touch and feel. Certainly I am aware that a real estate investment requires some maintenance, has property taxes and insurance expenses, etc. However, I personally am looking today at something that is truly tangible, and with real estate you can usually even have the advantage of tax benefits. Regardless of the market, real estate has definite intrinsic value that cannot evaporate into thin air.

With list prices on real estate also getting much more “real,” I would encourage the investor to look very favorably into making real estate a part of their portfolio.

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How will the Housing Assistance Act of 2008 affect Investors?

Oct. 14, 2008

Categorized in: Investing in Real Estate

Tagged with: investment property, investors, tax changes

The bill which was made law the end of July will cause changes for 1031 investors and what they can exclude from taxable income when they sell a property. Currently a property would have to be owned for at least 5 years, and used as a principal residence for at least 2 of those 5 years, to qualify for up to $250,000 to be excluded as taxable income and up to $500,000 for a married couple. Even if the property was used as a rental property, as long as the 2 year criteria was met the income was not taxed.

As I understand it, after 1/1/09, there is a formula for computing the qualified and non-qualified periods of ownership and only the “qualified” use timeframe would be excluding from being taxed. There seem to be some possible breaks for health problems military service or loss of job. But, needless to say, after January, 2009, anyone considering purchasing an investment property should consult their tax professional to evaluate how these changes will affect them.

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What do our Buyers really want? Are we Listening?

Aug. 8, 2007

Categorized in: Local Market Conditions

Tagged with: affordable homes, buyers, developers, inventory, investors, market statistics

Listen Up!

I compared the statistical data in our local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for the months of June & July. I found it interesting that when you compare the sales prices to the new listings’ prices coming on the market you see a noticeable difference in those numbers.

For 7/1/ - 7/31/07

The Single Family category that had the most sold transactions was the 3 Bedroom group - in the $140-$159,999 price range (11 closed). Surprisingly the next largest group was also for 3 bedrooms, but in the $500,000 + price range (7 closed)! Talk about spread across the board!

The average sales totals for the month were $331,194 for single family and $226,760 for condos. However, the majority of Single Family new listings were in the $200,000-$249,999 range, closely followed by $300,000-$399,000. And the largest category of condo new listings came in at over $500K.

For 6/1 – 6/30/07

The Single Family categories that were strongest were the $140-$159,999 (12 closed) and the $300-$399,999 (also 12 closed), both in the 3 BR group. The average sales totals for the month were $266,878 for single family and $231,015 for condos.

The majority of the new listings was in the $300-399,900 range & closely followed by listings over $500,000. The largest category for condo new listings was over $500K.

We seem to have a large demand for affordable homes but the current total inventory in our MLS system shows in the Single Family category a total of 1,531 homes with an average price of $513,406! New subdivisions are going up all over our county, however; not many fall into the price range we so greatly need. Our office’s sales were no exception with the largest number of sold transactions over the last 6 months falling under $200,000. The long & short of this story is the choices are slim in the price range the majority of the buyers are in, so it’s no wonder that there is a lot of inventory on the market. I hope investors will look at this demand, and that developers will begin to build new properties for this segment of buyers that can’t afford the inventory we’re diligently trying to market!

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