Buying a home in West Palm Beach is sort of a modern day adventure. At first there’s the intrigue of figuring out the advantages and disadvantages between the neighborhoods and listings competing for your attention; then there are all the challenging, sometimes exhausting—then, ultimately, exhilarating steps that lead to home ownership. But even after the previous owner has handed over the keys, there’s more to come: a few extra steps new homeowners can decide they wish to take. Here are five of those—things you can choose to do after buying a Palm Beach County home: #1 Change the Locks Who knows how many people have a copy of those keys? It’s a good idea to change the locks on all exterior doors, because it’s not just the previous owners who have had access to the property; there may ... 04/23/2014

It’s another aftereffect of the rise in housing prices: piggyback loans in West Palm Beach are making a comeback. According to a recent American Bankers Associations Report, the number of piggyback loans originated across the nation more than doubled within the past year. A piggyback loans involves taking out two mortgages simultaneously, with a home equity loan (aka “second mortgage”) ‘piggybacking’ on a first mortgage. In Palm Beach County home purchases, piggyback loans typically come into play when the buyer is unable to provide a full 20% deposit. Normally this would necessitate the buyer having to take out private mortgage insurance (PMI), which can be pricey. By going with the piggyback loan alternative, the Loan to Value (LTV) ratio can be reduced to less than 80%, the threshol... 04/22/2014

Follow Me On: REALinsight Newsletter - 2nd Quarter 2014 // Rate Update   15 and 30 Year Home Loan Rates Rates in the 1st quarter of 2014 ended as they started—on an upswing. However, they remain low compared to the record lows hit one year ago.   // Market Watch   Bumpy Road Ahead for First-time Buyers Winter weather pummeled housing across much of the nation last quarter.   // Tech Corner   The Future of Domain Names With over 100 million websites already ending in ".com" it can be tough to find the prefect name for your website.       // Also in this issue...   ► The Tip Sheet   "Staging" Your Purchase Offers           ► The List   The Top Curb Appeal Blunders     Keep Reading       Questions, Comments or For more information you can email Christian Penner at TheMortgageTeam@Christia... 04/21/2014

Send to a Friend Follow Me On:   In This Issue         Last Week in Review: There was good news in the housing and labor markets, plus the minutes from the Fed's March meeting were released. Forecast for the Week: Look for key news on housing, consumer inflation, consumer spending, and manufacturing. View: There's a new scam this tax season. Be sure to read the details below and share them with clients and colleagues.           Last Week in Review         "The one function that TV news performs very well is that when there is no news, we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were." David Brinkley. While last week's economic calendar may have started off on the quiet side, the news picked up steam in the second half of the week. Read on for the highlights.There was good news... 04/21/2014

MEZZANO CONDO SOLD!9901 Baywinds Drive #3204, West Palm Beach, Florida 33411   JUST SOLD! This fabulous condo featured 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and was located on the 2nd floor. Listed on March 13th, 2014 for $120,000 and under contract within the week, this Mezzano condo sold on April 18th, 2014 for $120,000 to a CASH buyer. Mezzano is a gated condo community in West Palm Beach on the north side of Okeechobee Boulevard just east of 441 (SR-7). Community amenities in Mezzano include a clubhouse, swimming pool, playground, volleyball court, BBQ area and more. Shopping, dining and entertainment are in every direction and the Florida Turnpike is just minutes away. 9901 Baywinds Drive #3204 in West Palm Beach was listed and closed by Michelle Gibson, REALTOR with the Hansen Real Estate Group... 04/21/2014

In advertising, they call the photo that glamorizes a product its ‘hero shot.’ In the case of a real estate listing in West Palm Beach, the pictures that accompany the written description can all be hero shots, if enough care is taken. In one Auburn University study (The Relationship between Property Price, Time-on-Market, and Photo Depictions in a Multiple Listing Service), it was found that adding a single photograph to a listing could lift the final sale price by as much as 3.9%. That’s not surprising, but what is noteworthy is that each additional listing photograph added several hundred dollars to the final selling price. In other words, it’s not just the curbside photo at the top of an West Palm Beach listing that should be given great care—it’s all of ‘em! Aside from the usual a... 04/19/2014

West Palm Beach Homeowners Watch Google’s Latest Acquisition Right at the start of the year, Google announced a surprising move. It said it was purchasing a home appliance maker most of us had never even heard of…for $3.2 billion in cash! It was a gambit that every Palm Beach County homeowner should note, because it signals where some very smart money is headed: right where we live! Remember, Google isn’t just famous for its search engine; it’s also frequently in the news for its forays into any number of futuristic enterprises (those mysterious barges, for instance). The appliance maker that now has Google’s billions in its pocket is called Nest Labs, Inc. Nest makes smart devices that reinvent the traditional ones every West Palm Beach homeowner has to deal with, like thermostats and... 04/17/2014

Palm Beach County Investors Watch Millennials’ Tilt to Apartment Lifestyle West Palm Beach real estate investors come from every kind of background, but all share a common trait: they like to think ahead. For that reason, investors eyeing Palm Beach County apartment building prospects may want to take a close look at what’s going on with the Millennial generation. For those of us who are a bit uncertain about which group is considered “Generation Y” and which are “Millennials,” there’s a reason for that. Both terms refer to the same group—everyone born between 1977 and 2000. And whatever you call them, they are a very important demographic. According to some statistics, they are 80,000,000 strong! That makes them a larger demo than Baby Boomers, and 20% larger than those who come next:... 04/15/2014

With spring already upon us, we stand at the threshold of Palm Beach County’s first major selling season of 2014. If you are preparing to add your own property to the Palm Beach County home listings, the International Association of Home Staging Professionals would like to draw your attention to some statistics that bolster their members’ proposition. None is more compelling than this one: non-staged homes remain 79 days longer on market than their professionally-staged neighbors. Still, since not everyone hires a professional staging company to work their magic, you’d think there would be a few DIY alternatives that would well worth doing. Of course, there are: and some go beyond the most well-known staging rules that are basic to any home sale:1. De-clutter (then de-clutter again). T... 04/15/2014

It just might be that a groundswell is spreading throughout the home-buying public. In West Palm Beach, smaller houses that used to be difficult to sell are rising in popularity, and I can guess why. First, a little history. Back in 1950, what we would consider smaller houses were the rule: the average square footage came in at just 983 (try to imagine the ‘average’ family with 2 kids, 2 adults and Lassie all shoehorned in there!). By 2006, that figure had blown up to 2,248 square feet—and we all know about the bigger McMansions—just in time for the financial meltdown. Within the next few years, for the first time ever, the upsizing trend had begun to reverse. Only three years later, average square footage was 2,135. In terms of size, today’s buyers and sellers are meeting in a much mo... 04/11/2014

A major home-selling decision arrives right at the start: setting your home’s price. It’s a step that can be decisive for good or for ill. But what is the “right” price? We know what it probably isn’t—it’s not the first number that pops into your head, nor is it likely to be The-Price-of-Your-Next-House-Plus-the Cost-of-a-Family-Vacation-in-Tahiti-Plus-the-New-Sportscar-You’ve-Always-Wanted-to-Own. It’s also not a price that will ‘test the market’ (to make sure there hasn’t been an upward spike in demand since the last comparable neighborhood home sold). Setting a home’s price in the right ballpark can be easier than many people assume. You can get there by a number of different routes, most of them tied to recent neighborhood history: BUYER APPEAL Setting a home’s price doesn’t take p... 04/10/2014

Times They are a-Changin’ in Palm Beach County Luxury Listings Charlie Chaplin always managed to mix a good measure of insight in with the silent movie knee-slappers. It was “The Little Clown” who once said, “The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.” One way or another, we Americans have come up with a singularly surefire way to overcome that problem: we just constantly redefine what comprises “luxury”! Real estate website Trulia proves the point. Each year they count how frequently certain phrases appear in luxury listings — here in West Palm Beach as well as across the nation. From year to year, their findings provide an interesting measure of what’s hot and what’s not in luxury listings. Buyers Want A Room With A View (and A Marble Bath!) The words that most commonl... 04/09/2014

Paradise Sharks is different.....by design. We are so pleased to bring you this remarkably remodeled 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath condo that you simply will not believe our excitement. Our passion is to bring value back into the real estate world and I dare you to find a better value than this West Palm Beach property.The official release of this property is being delayed until April 23rd but we wanted to bring you a preview. If we told you we were bringing you this treasure for $149,000 you might think we were crazy. Crazy like a shark!If you want more information just give me a call at Shark headquarters 561 308-0175. If you want the Shark team to show you how we can save you money whether you are buying or selling it will be well worth your time. We are in fact different.....by design.Fins u... 04/09/2014

Send to a Friend Follow Me On: Hot or Cold Job News? - Housing   In This Issue         Last Week in Review: The Jobs Report for March was released, along with important housing news. Forecast for the Week: Look for the minutes from March's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, plus news on wholesale inflation and consumer sentiment. View: This simple tip can make a big difference in client meetings.           Last Week in Review         Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right. While Goldilocks from the famous children's story may have been referring to porridge, the sentiment also applies to the Jobs Report for March. Read on for the details. The Labor Department reported that 192,000 jobs were created in March, as much of the country thaws out from the extreme harsh winter weather. Thi... 04/08/2014

Housing Market Bolstered by Steady U.S. Consumer Optimism The details seem stubbornly worrisome. Mortgage requirements have grown stricter. The Federal Reserve may or may not turn off the cheap money spigot—and if anything causes the stock market to sputter, it’s uncertainty. Occasional bits of good news in the labor picture can’t overcome the fact that unemployment remains stuck on high in many states. All of this should be bad news for the housing market in West Palm Beach, except for one overriding factor: apparently, American consumers aren’t buying it. Despite uncertain economic news, consumers’ overall expectations for the housing market remained steady. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations, issued last week, found that most expect home v... 04/02/2014

Keeping your West Palm Beach kitchen looking up-to-date doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Contemporary home design in our neck of the woods is all about knowing what the latest trends are and which to choose when regular maintenance calls for a change in appliances or décor. This year, eco-friendly appliances are definitely ‘in’—as are the pops of bright color meant to create a vivid and welcoming kitchen. And as convenience features continue to evolve, those are increasingly prominent factors influencing design choices. Especially if you are planning to sell your Palm Beach County home in the near future, there are a few home design directions that are most likely to impress prospective buyers who’ve been exploring the latest kitchen trends: Going green is a pronounced trend,... 03/31/2014

    West Palm Beach of Palm Beach County, FL Market Stats & Facts for February 2014   Stats and facts about West Palm Beach, Florida, are out for the month of February 2014.  The report is packed with information about the county and the local city mentioned above. In a nut shell the inventory of single family homes available for sale are at a 5.8 month selling point which is down nearly 15.6%from a year ago. That’s a good sign things are loosening up and people are buying. Click on this LINK, for more graphs and stats. Whether you are buying or selling in this hot market of the County of Palm Beach, FL, choosing the right company will save you money, time and many sleepless nights. I not only have 29 years experience as a Realtor, construction was a passion of mine as well. This alone ... 03/30/2014

Mezzano Luxury Condo for Sale in West Palm Beach | Now Under Contract! Our luxury condo listing in Mezzano is now under contract! This second floor condo featured 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and over 1,100 square feet of living. Interior features included an open floorplan, volume ceilings and two master bedrooms. Exterior features included a balcony overlooking the community swimming pool. Mezzano is a gated luxury condo community in West Palm Beach Florida that consists of first, second and third floor luxury condos. Shopping is in every direction along with dining and entertaiment. Mezzano offers fabulous community amenities, which include a clubhouse, community swimming pool, volleyball court, playground, car washing station and more.If you are thinking about selling your Mezzano condo ... 03/28/2014

  Own a beautiful piece at West Palm Beach!   This condo unit is BIG! This home features 2 Bedroom, 1 1/2 Bath, and is located at the 2nd Floor. It’s Living/ Dining Room is SPACIOUS and it receives lots of light in the morning. There is also a Sun Room, a Galley Style Kitchen, and 2 Amazing Size Bedrooms with HUGE Closets! We just listed this property and might not last for long. Call us to schedule a private showing, 561-800-4049. Learn more of our offered homes, www.desanerealty.com. Invest today! Buy.Sell.Invest. 03/27/2014

Follow Me On: Know Your ROA : List and Offer Smarter Rate of Absorption, or ROA, is how long it takes for the current inventory of homes on the market to sell. In most markets, five to seven months is considered a balanced ROA; a "seller's market" is considered to take less time than this, while a "buyer's market" takes longer. Knowing ROA and inventory trends are not just fun facts to tell your clients and dinner party guests. This number will help you price smarter, make better offers (or reject poor offers), advertise more effectively, and give you something impressive and useful to share with your clients. To calculate a current rate of absorption: Divide 12 (months in a year) by the number of sold homes in the past year. This reveals how long it takes a home to sell in that market... 03/26/2014