Looking for a great start home? Recently married, just starting off? There a 78 homes for sale in Virginia Beach between 60K to $100K. Imagine owning a home for less than renting one, and having the ability in a couple of years to turn it into a rental property, that is income producing! It is time to take advantage of the low rates and the great deals that are out here.

First time home buyers, using an FHA loan need to have only a 3% down payment, a credit score of 620!

Take a look at some of the homes for sale in Virginia Beach:

If you are moving to Virginia Beach, or looking for a reason to call Virginia beach home cosider these facts:

The median household income is $65,000 higher than the US Median household income of $55,000. Homeowners enjoy a low real estate tax rate of .89 per $100 of assessed value, our real estate taxes do not weigh as heavily in acquiring a mortgage as they do in cities in New York.

It is estimated that over 1 million people call Virginia Beach home, and almost 450,000 are permanent residents. These residents enjoy the Virginia Beach boardwalk, exceptional jobs consider these distinctions:

- America's 29th Fastest Recovering City from the Recession - Forbes.com

- Virginia Beach ranks among top 20 MSA's for economic performace during the recession - Brookings Institute

- Virginia Beach named by Fores as the 6th best place to "Ride out the Recession" - 2008

- Virginia Beach Boardwalk is listed in the top 10 great public spaces in America, By American Planning Associat.

- Virginia Beach named as one of the 10 BEST Places to grow up, U.S. News and world report

- The Best City to Buy a Home - reported by Good morning America with research from Zillow

- 6th Best place for the Outdoors Forbes Magazine

- Virginia Beach MSA Ranked #1 in U.S. for jobs and growth in high impact firms.

After the proverbial real estate bubble popped, the fed and the banks restricted loans to such a degree only those with high credit scores could hope to purchase a home. Things have changed, but it seems that most people are unaware of the changes.

Currently one of the easiest loans to qualify for are FHA loans require a minimum of a 620 score, less than 5% down ( currently at 3.5% ), steady employment for the last 2 years with equal or increasing pay and the new payment shouldn't exceed 30% of your gross income.

The FHA has increased two key features of an FHA loan the Private Mortgage Insurance went from 1.75% to 2.25% and the down payment may increase from 3% to 5%. They have also decreased maximum closing cost assistance to the buyer from 7% to 3%

So, how do these changes compare?

Lets take a home selling at $200,000 - Remember I am not a loan officer, this is only intended to serve as an example, and to help dispel some of the misconceptions about buying homes.

OLD FHA Loan New FHA Loan
Guidelines Guidelines

Max Closing Cost $14,000 (7%) $6,000 (3%)
PMI $3,500 (1.75%) $4,500 (2.25%)
Down Payment $6,000 (3%) $10,000 (5%)
Interest rate 6% 4.25%

Estimated payment: $1,431+pmi 1,277 +pmi

As is evident even with the change in interest rates are helping to keep the home buyers monthly payments lower than in the past. However, these interest rates will not last! To take advantage of them call me today. Not let mis-information sway you, let me put you in contact with a loan officer who can give you the facts and figures based on your current situation. Even if you think your credit score is low!

After you are done reading this call me

In the last few weeks I have been bombarded by loan officers, telling me about the "LOWEST INTEREST RATES IN HISTORY". But I remain amazed that not more people are taking advantage of these low rates, they won't stay there for long, and before you know it they'll be approaching double digits.

But how do interest rates actually affect your buying power? It should come to no surprise that your monthly payment is directly related to the loan amount and the interest rate. Change either of these and your monthly payment changes, and thus so does your buying.

Using an online mortgage calculator I ran 3 scenarios, all assuming the the home buyers had a house hold income of $75,000, I used the default ratios - I am not a loan office, I am a real estate agent :)

So, based on a $75,000 house hold income and a desired monthly payment of: $1,400

Interest rate: 6%
loan amount: $233,508

Interest rate: 5%
loan amount; $260,794

Interest rate: 4.25%
loan amount: $284,588

As you can see that with only a 2.25% drop in interest rates your buying has increased significantly to more than $50,000! Now with this low interest rate, a fixed 30 year loan you can have the home of your dreams right from the start! Why? Imagine this same home buyer facing interest rates of 8%, as some experts predict by 2011, his buying power changes dramatically, but in an entirely different direction:

Interest rate: 8%
Loan amount: $190,797

Now our buyer has to settle for something other than his dream house. If you are considering making the move to purchase a home in South Hampton roads time is of the essence! Interest rates will not stay low and the median home price has gone up since this time last year.

Are you moving, looking for a more stable environment to work and live?  Virginia Beach provides many great reasons to consider.  Virginia Beach is strategically located, offers low tax rate and has a dynamic and diverse economy.  Our economy is powered by the Military, the largest ice free port on the east coast which supports a large number of businesses.   

The median household income is $65,000 higher than the US Median household income of $55,000.  Homeowners enjoy a low real estate tax rate of .89 per $100 of assessed value, our real estate taxes do not weigh as heavily in acquiring a mortgage as they do in cities in New York.  

It is estimated that over 1 million people call Virginia Beach home, and almost 450,000 are permanent residents.   These residents enjoy the Virginia Beach boardwalk, exceptional jobs consider these distinctions:

- America's 29th Fastest Recovering City from the Recession - Forbes.com 

- Virginia Beach ranks among top 20 MSA's for economic performace during the recession - Brookings Institute

- Virginia Beach named by Fores as the 6th best place to "Ride out the Recession" - 2008

- Virginia Beach Boardwalk is listed in the top 10 great public spaces in America, By American Planning Associat.

- Virginia Beach named as one of the 10 BEST Places to grow up, U.S. News and world report

- The Best City to Buy a Home - reported by Good morning America with research from Zillow

- 6th Best place for the Outdoors  Forbes Magazine

- Virginia Beach MSA Ranked #1 in U.S. for jobs and growth in high impact firms.

As an analytic personality, I really like to look at what is happening in the markets that I provide service to, I generally want to no more about what is happening in terms of sales, pending sales now and contrasted to the year before. When I look at these number I am also looking at other indexes such as the DOW and S&P, the Fed and treasury policy. They all directly affect the real estate market, but they also affect the home buyer and seller.

For example interest rates are at the lowest point since we started to keep track in the 70's. A strong home buyer can get a loan in the 4's, but as evident in the number of sales, home buyers in Virginia Beach are not scrambling to take advantage the low interest rates.

In June 2010 there where 208 single family homes sold with a median sales price of $245,000 contrast this to the 415 single family homes that were sold at a median price of $235,000 when interest rates where higher.

A home purchased in June 2009 at at interest rate of 5.75% would result in a monthly payment of $1,372 when compared to a loan payment of $1,205 this is not only a huge saving to the home buyer, these artificially low interest rates will also increase the home buyers purchasing power.

What home buyers are unfortunately missing, due to what I believe is a barrage of negative information about the stock market, the economy etc is that interest rates need to go up very soon, and when they go up it is going to be like a rocket blasting off into space - it will be dramatic! I expect to see interest rates in the 8's and maybe the 9's! This change will be not only affect the home buyers ability to purchase a home, it will also affect the home sellers ability to sell the home. If interest rates increase to 8% home prices may fall by 10%, the net affect will be an increased home payment, and a smaller pool of qualified home buyers.

Virginia beach real estate market, and the rest of the South Hampton roads area, has benefits greatly from the large military presence. We have what many would consider a very healthy economy when compared to other regions of the United States. Our employment rate is about 96%, that is 96% of the work force is employed!

Virginia Beach offers many great reasons to make this your home. Virginia Beach offers its residents and visitors city parks and neighborhood parks, camp grounds, the ocean front. We are a 45 minute drive to Williamsburg, where you can spend several weekends exploring our history, enjoying the Bush gardens and Water Country USA.

Ready to buy a home in South Hampton roads, and to make it your home? Call me today, time is not on your side!