Palm Beach, FL

The market I serve is the luxury waterfront (homes and condos) along the coastline of south Florida from Palm Beach to South Beach.

Palm Beach offers one of the ultimate address for the very wealthy looking for their spot in the sun. Finding a well priced property is a real challenge in this market. Inventory is tight and prices are still high.

What we have seen happen overall in the past few years is a gradual shift from a buyer's market on paper to a seller's market in real life. Allow me to explain:

On paper and MLS search may yield dozens and even 100+ properties that match basic criteria like number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and price range. So far so good right ?

Not so fast. The trained eye of the pro going through the list quickly realizes that most of these properties are "dogs". No view, older units/homes needing extensive remodeling, no pets allowed (condos), rental restrictions (1 or 2 years waiting period for some condos), no rentals permitted (some condos)...

The end result is that multiple buyers are now looking and competing for a much smaller pool of attractive and properly priced properties. Don't be surprised if you find nothing or see multiple offer situations... This is the virtual seller's market we are dealing with.

The key is to be patient but jump at an opportunity when you see it.

Visit www.EliteWaterfront.com for current Waterfront homes and condos Sales and Listings.

Selling the Best Waterfront Homes and Condos from Palm Beach to South Beach

Ben Giordano, MBA, MILHM, CDPE, REOS, Realtor®

Waterfront Specialist with Realty Associates

Ocean, Intracoastal, and Canal Homes and Condos in the Following Coastal Cities:

Palm Beach, Manalapan, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Lighthouse Point, Hillsboro Beach, Pompano Beach, Lauderdale by the Sea, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Golden Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Surfside, Miami Beach, and South Beach.

Palm Beach is a small beachside town located in Palm Beach County. Historically the playground of the wealthiest Americans with such recognizable landmarks as the Breakers Resort and Golf, glitzy Worth Avenue, and Trump's Mar-A-lago Estate.

For the wealthy buyer, this offers the opportunity to buy a unique Oceanfront or Intracoastal Estate or build your own. Typical prices for Oceanfront Estates start at $10,000,000. Direct frontage on the Intracoastal allows docking larger Yachts (up to 150' for some Estates). Intracoastal Estates typically start at $6,000,000.

Other communities offering Oceanfront and Intracoastal Estates include Manalapan, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Hillsboro Beach (Hillsboro Mile), Fort Lauderdale, and Golden Beach.

Visit www.EliteWaterfront.com for current Sales and Listings.
Selling the Best Waterfront Homes and Condos from Palm Beach to South Beach
Ben Giordano, MBA, MILHM, CDPE, REOS, Realtor®
Waterfront Specialist with Realty Associates

Renovation Loans can often save the day when a deal is on the ropes. I had a Conventional Renovation Deal this summer that closed without a hitch once we solved the problem of a Bank Owned Foreclosure that had a seawall that was in need of replacement. The loan was being marketed as cash only since regular financing wasn't an option without a large escrow, if at all. The way it works on work escrows is that you need 2.5x the cost of the work put into escrow for the work to be done after closing.

The amount of work needed to replace the seawall was about 25k so about 63k would be needed if we were going to go the escrow route. In general underwriters do not like to have loans close with an escrow, especially one so large. The purchase price was in the 400 range. The rule of thumb is if the amount of work is greater than 2% of the purchase price the escrow requests have trouble getting an approval. The other component to getting an escrow approved is that the needed repairs can not be safety related. Since seawall damage often leads to structural damage if left in a state of disrepair too long, the odds of getting an approval on the work escrow were not high.

The beauty of this Conventional renovation loan was that it was on a second home. This wouldn't be possible on a FHA 203k renovation loan or a FHA 203k Streamline renovation loan even thought the amount of the work was less than the $35,000 allowed under the Streamline K renovation program. The FHA loans are only available for a primary residence.

This house was on the water in Broward County in the Pompano area. In addition to the seawall it also had a boat dock attached to the seawall. As with many renovation loans I do, since the only other offers were cash deals and lower than the price my buyer was offering, the price the borrower got was very attractive relative to the appraised value. Based on the after improved value with the seawall repair included the ending value was in the mid 500's. The value was over $100,000 greater than the amount of the purchase price plus the cost of the repairs! Not a bad buy in a otherwise tough market in South Florida!

For more information visit Reno-Mike.com

Or call me at 561-262-5366 on my cell or 561-616-2661 direct at work.

This Blog is my opinion and does not represent the views of my employer Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in any way.

Here is a video below with an example of a damaged seawall (not the one in this blog).

It’s not unusual to see homeowners looking to modify the terms of their Palm Beach real estate mortgage loan. Loan modification has had huge demand, leading to a backlog that has slowed down the process for some. This might be interpreted as though applying for a modification is difficult but it’s not quite as complicated as it may seem.

If you’ve become unemployed, you can still apply for a loan modification contrary to what you might think. The catch is that you must be able to provide evidence of being able to make the monthly payments at the reduced amount, usually a reduction of twenty or thirty percent. If you’re looking for a very low monthly payment, your lender may have to extend the mortgage a few years so be aware of that.

Another misconception is the timeframe available to apply for a Palm Beach real estate loan modification. Even if your home has gone into foreclosure and will be auctioned off a week from now, you can still contact your lender and request a modification. Just make sure that when this happens, your lender has canceled the sale of the home.

Open houses are nearly as old as the Palm Beach real estate market itself and have been around long before the internet started to become the average person’s first stop when buying a new home. Since so many studies point out that the majority of buyers start their home search on the internet, some buyers are taking their realtor’s questionable advice and forgoing the open house altogether.

It’s true that with the advent of interactive slideshows and video, it’s easy to get a glimpse of any Palm Beach real estate even if you’re in another state. Yet despite these figures of increased internet home buying, studies also show that a good portion of buyers are still purchasing their homes after doing their own personal walkthrough at an open house.

At the end of the day, tried and true methods like an open house can still be the deciding factor in getting your home sold. Considering the current Palm Beach real estate market circumstances, you’d only be shooting yourself in the foot by not utilizing all the marketing venues available to you.