The Deal on Fixer-Uppers

Rooted in the American dream of homeownership is the notion of transforming your newly purchased home into a better product-your own customized palace. This may be one reason why "Fixer-Uppers" seem to attract and intoxicate many buyers. A fixer-upper may mean a historic home that requires some minor repairs and updates. Or, it could mean a certified dump with no insulation, mildew in the bathrooms, and water problems in the basement. All home buyers (especially inexperienced first-time-buyers) may want to be cautious of fixer-uppers. Indeed, some fixer-uppers can be excellent bargains and wonderful homes, but a careful and thorough investigation of the property and all of the costs, can help you avoid a money pit.

Foreclosures: Let the Buyer Beware

A foreclosure property is a home that has been repossessed by the lender because the owners failed to pay the mortgage. Like fixer-uppers, you may find these are often bargain-priced, but it is wise to be cautious of the legal and monetary risks when considering a foreclosure. Many experts, in fact, advise inexperienced buyers to hire an expert to take them through the process. It is important to have the property thoroughly inspected and to be sure that any liens, undisclosed mortgages, titles and court judgments are cleared.
Be a savvy buyer, and use these rules-of-thumb when evaluating a fixer-upper:

· Educate yourself between the too-good-to-be-true home listings and reality.

· Choose a top-notch neighborhood.

· Evaluate the surroundings.

· Buy a fixer-upper when the market has bottomed out.

· Estimate up-front exactly how much work will be required to fix your prospective home.

Find a reputable home inspector.
A general inspection of the home, from the crawl space to the roof top, should be part of any home purchase. There is always the possibility that the inspector can locate a significant problem which you may not notice . If possible, be present at the time of the inspection to learn first hand about the condition of the home. Read more about home inspections in our Complete Guide to Home Inspections.
Try to get the seller to pay for all or part of the home improvement costs.
After the home inspection, you may be able to negotiate repairs with the seller by having them reduce the cost instead of making the required repairs.
Involve your lender.
Keep the lines of communication open with your lender about exactly how much work will be required to fix your potential home and whether it can be done before or after closing.
A ggod lender can work with you to find the loan that best accommodates your home financing needs.
Inspect the general contractor who will potentially be doing renovation work
Make sure general contractors are licensed, insured, financially stable, and not facing numerous consumer complaints. Talk to people who have had experience with the contractor, and view some of the work they have done.

With careful research, you can definitely find promising fixer-uppers out there. Take your time, and align yourself with reputable realtors, lenders, home inspectors and contractors. Most importantly, educate yourself in order to help you make the right decision on the best home purchase for you.

Dave Magua, P.A. magua.d@ewm.com 754-581-5077 (Cell) Weston Town Center 954-515-0100 Ext. 7323 More about me My Blog My Listings

I saw this article the other day and wanted to see what other people thought of the plan. Evan though I live in Weston, I think this is a little unfair to the other cities.

TRAFFIC

State hunts cash for I-595 in sky

FDOT may ask private investors to pick up the billion-dollar tab for additional lanes on Interstate 595.

BY ANI MARTINEZ

Florida highway officials want to put plans for elevated Interstate 595 lanes on the fast track.

But people who live near the cross-Broward expressway don't want the new lanes built at all.

''In essence, it is taking people from Weston to downtown, so we just get to look at the lanes and listen to the traffic,'' said Plantation resident Mark Grand, one of the residents in the neighboring area, who organized http://www.595alert.org/, which opposes the project. ``Anybody should come to expect that they are going to improve the road, but not elevate it into the sky.''

The elevated lanes would run east in the morning and west in the afternoon. A commuter living in West Broward would get on at the Interstate 75/Sawgrass Expressway interchange in the morning and could get off at Florida's Turnpike or just west of Interstate 95.

There would be no exits in between.

''The way they've designed it, nobody from Davie or Plantation can even use it,'' Grand said. ``It is going to harm the environment and our community.''

The state and a federal agency have approved the elevated express lanes after a public hearing in 2005.

Since then, the municipalities of Plantation and Davie have come out against the elevated lanes.

FDOT is trying to figure out how to pay for them.

''When 595 opened, in a very short period of time it was already over capacity,'' said Alicia Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation. ``We understand the residents may not see the value of improving this corridor with elevated lanes, but what good is looking out of their back door and seeing a parking lot called Interstate 595?

''We need to come up with an alternative for the next 30 to 50 years,'' Gonzalez said.

Also, Gonzalez said, while Plantation wouldn't have an on-ramp for the express lanes, every car that gets on the special lanes in Weston is a car that Plantation residents wouldn't have to compete with on the main highway.

As for appearances, double-deck expressways are widely thought of as eyesores. But FDOT is hoping to build a newer style of elevated lanes, built on a single row of pillars running down the center of the median.

A similar design in Tampa drew little opposition once people saw the pictures, officials there said.

The state has secured some money for the elevated lanes and other I-595 improvements. It could take until 2024 to finish if the state waits for the rest of the money to become available.

But there is another option.

The state Legislature recently passed a law that allows private companies to build roads and charge tolls to recoup their investment.

If the state finds investors and contractors who are willing to pay for the $1.4 billion project, construction of the highway would begin in 2009 and be finished in 2014.

FDOT is seeking private investors and contractors interested in the project. So far, nearly 100 companies from Doral to London have expressed interest.

The problem is that the private company can raise and keep tolls indefinitely.

The project is now in the planning phase.

''We are about to roll out a full campaign in the next month, basically asking for anybody who wants to give us input to talk to us,'' Gonzalez said.

FDOT will be setting up a public hearing to seek input on putting tolls on the elevated lanes. A decision to use public or private dollars for funding will be made by the end of the year, according to FDOT.

About 185,500 cars now use I-595 every day. That's expected to grow to at least 300,000 by 2035, FDOT said.

Although the overflow of cars is obvious and drivers constantly complain that traffic is at a standstill, Broward voters rejected a penny sales tax increase in 2006 that would have raised about $260 million a year to improve transportation.

FDOT also has other projects in mind to revamp I-595:

• Adding lanes on I-595 and State Road 84.

• Completing a missing piece of State Road 84 between Davie Road and U.S. 441.

• Making off-ramps two lanes from I-595 to the interchange crossroads.

• Modifying the I-595/turnpike interchange

Dave Magua

EWM Realtors

When shopping for home insurance, there's much more to consider than how much your coverage will cost. Your agent or insurance company will determine how much it would cost to replace your home and many of the items inside. Most standard policies will provide coverage for damage to your home (and many belongings) caused by theft, fire and lightning, smoke, frozen pipes, ice and snow.

The price you pay for insurance can vary by hundreds of dollars, depending on the insurance company you buy your policy from. Here are some things to consider when buying homeowners insurance.

Shop Around Ask your friends, check the phone book or contact your state insurance department. Also check consumer guides, insurance agents, companies and online insurance quote services. This will give you an idea of price ranges and tell you which companies have the lowest prices. But don't consider price alone. The insurer you select should offer a fair price and deliver the quality service you would expect if you needed assistance in filing a claim. When you've narrowed the field to three insurers, get price quotes.

Raise Your Deductible Deductibles are the amount of money you have to pay toward a loss before your insurance company starts to pay a claim, according to the terms of your policy. The higher your deductible, the more money you can save on your premiums.

Don't confuse what you paid for your house with rebuilding costs The land under your house isn't at risk from theft, windstorm, fire and the other perils covered in your homeowners policy. So don't include its value in deciding how much homeowners insurance to buy. If you do, you will pay a higher premium than you should.

Buy your home and auto policies from the same insurer Some companies that sell homeowners, auto and liability coverage will take 5 to 15 percent off your premium if you buy two or more policies from them. But make certain this combined price is lower than buying the different coverages from different companies.

Make your home more disaster resistant Find out from your insurance agent or company representative what steps you can take to make your home more resistant to windstorms and other natural disasters. In addition, consider modernizing your heating, plumbing and electrical systems to reduce the risk of fire and water damage.

Ten Common Mistakes Sellers Make

1. Overpricing their home.

2. Not allowing their home to be shown.

3. Not keeping their home clean and in showing condition.

4. Not leaving their home during a showing.

5. Talking to the buyer or buyer's agent and giving wrong information or wrong impressions.

6. Panic selling, I've got to sell my house now.

7. Not seeing their home through buyer's eyes. "My home is the best in the area" syndrome.

8. Believing an Open House will sell their home.

9. Demanding their Realtor change how they market their home instead of relying on the Realtor's experience and expertise.

10. Choosing the wrong Realtor.

June 14, 2007

Only one more big day of haggling ahead?

TALLAHASSEE --- After working past 10 p.m. Wednesday haggling over details of a massive property tax cut plan, the Florida House is getting a late start on what may be their final day in special session.

The later start --- they began deliberations just after noon --- doesn't mean it will be a short work day in the Florida House of Representatives.

Lawmakers and legislative aides are already preparing to work late into the evening again.

Today, House members will chew through at least 34 amendments on a bill that forces local governments to roll back their tax rates. And there's at least 17 proposed modifications to a bill that asks voters to cut taxes and make homes more affordable with a new super-sized tax exemption.

But the big question in the House of Representatives is whether there will be sufficient votes to get the proposed new exemption on the Jan. 29 presidential primary, or whether it will have to wait until a November 2008 election, delaying when homeowners would see most of the tax relief that legislators are hoping to deliver.

House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach said after meeting with Democratic colleagues Thursday morning that it's likely that most of the 42-member House Democratic caucus will go along with Republicans in support of putting the issue on the Jan. 29 ballot.

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida lawmakers will open an 11-day special session Tuesday aimed at approving a package that will cut property taxes by nearly $31.6 billion during the next five years.

Q: What are lawmakers going to do for me?

A: That depends who you are. All property owners -- business owners, primary homeowners, snowbirds and other second-home owners -- will benefit from the first step lawmakers intend to take: forcing cities and counties to immediately freeze their property-tax collections at current-year levels and then cut 3 percent to 9 percent more.

Whether a particular city or county has to cut an extra 3 percent, 5 percent, 7 percent or 9 percent will depend on how much it has raised property taxes during the past five years. Those that have increased the most will be forced to cut the most. Thirty poor and rural counties, including Sumter County, which the state identifies as "fiscally constrained," will have to cut only 3 percent.

Other local governments that charge property taxes, such as water-management districts, also will have to freeze tax collections and cut 3 percent. Only school districts will not have to cut.

Every property owner also will get the protection of a new cap that prevents local government property-tax collections from growing faster than the pace of personal income.

Governments could skirt this cap but only with at least a majority-plus-one vote of the county commission or city council. In some cases, governments could exceed the cap only with a unanimous vote.

Primary homeowners will get an even bigger benefit in coming years. Assuming voters approve in a statewide referendum, they will get a new, super-sized homestead exemption -- one that is many times bigger than the current $25,000 homestead exemption.

Q: What would the new homestead exemption be?

A: The new exemption would be based on the taxable value of your home, and it would include a sliding scale designed to ensure that the biggest savings are directed toward less-valuable homes.

Here's how it would work: the first $200,000 of your home's value would be 75 percent exempt from taxes, and the next $300,000 would be 15 percent exempt.

So if you own a $400,000 home, you would get a $150,000 exemption on the first $200,000 of value and a $30,000 exemption on the next $200,000 for a total exemption of $180,000. So you would pay taxes on your $400,000 home as if it were worth just $220,000.

Q: What would happen to the Save Our Homes tax cap?

A: It would be eliminated, replaced by the new super-exemption. But not right away.

That's because lawmakers want to avoid hurting longtime homeowners who have benefited from years of living in a single home with a property-tax assessment barred from growing more than 3 percent per year. The new system could cost them more, if Save Our Homes were eliminated.

Here's how that could happen: Say you bought a home in 1993 -- when Save Our Homes took effect -- for $100,000 that is now worth $400,000. But thanks to the Save Our Homes tax cap, you are only paying taxes on it as if it were worth $150,000.

Under the super-exemption, the same home would be taxed at a value of $220,000 -- $70,000 higher than what it is taxed at now.

To sidestep those situations, lawmakers say, they will grandfather in anyone who saves more under the Save Our Homes system. So you would continue to pay taxes on your home as it were worth $150,000, until you sell it.

State officials estimate that nearly three-quarters of all homeowners would save more under the super-exemption than under the current system.

Q: How much money would I save?

A: State officials predict the average savings for primary homeowners would be $1,300 come the 2008-09 budget year -- or 44 percent of their entire tax bill. Of course, the actual amount will vary depending on where you live, how much your home is worth and how much your city or county is forced to cut.

All told, the combined property-tax package would cut statewide property taxes by $31.6 billion during the next five years.

Q: What does all this mean for police, fire, parks and other services?

A: Most cities and county governments say they don't want to reduce law enforcement and fire protection. But with millions of dollars less in property-tax collections coming in, local governments are certain to face some reductions.

Many governments have already imposed hiring freezes. Most also have prepared competing budget plans looking ahead to next year -- with staff and services, for example, tied to an anticipated loss of property taxes.

Q: When will I see all these savings?

A: If lawmakers go ahead with ordering cities and counties to roll back property-tax collections, the first reductions in tax rates ought to be applied to this autumn's bills. So those savings will come quickly -- but they won't be enormous.

The largest potential cuts for homeowners won't be on the table until Jan. 29, if the constitutional amendment to dramatically increase the homestead exemption goes before voters.

If approved by Florida voters, those savings would be applied to tax bills in fall 2008.