News About Properties

One of the retirement planning resources that has gained interest in recent years is the reverse mortgage. For many retirees, it seems like a solid idea. You get access to the equity in your home, and the bank makes a mortgage payment to you. It turns your home into a source of income.

It’s a nice thought, but the truth about reverse mortgages is far from ideal. In fact, there are a few reasons to avoid getting a reverse mortgage as part of your retirement plan. Most of these reasons revolve around the fact that this type of income stream is actually a loan against your home’s equity that has to be paid back.

Here are five reasons to think twice about getting a reverse mortgage:

via 5 Reasons to Avoid a Reverse Mortgage – On Retirement.

When the townhome community Hampton Cay has its grand opening today with three floor plan options and a “resort-style” clubhouse, it does so in the best market for new home construction in Palm Beach County since 2007.

The K. Hovnanian Homes development east of Florida’s Turnpike off PGA Boulevard comes online following a third quarter that saw building begin on 508 homes, a nearly 61 percent increase from last year and the most since early 2007 .

It’s still a third of the activity seen during a “normal” market, said Brad Hunter, chief economist with MetroStudy, which released the housing statistics in a report this week.

via Palm Beach County home construction highest since 2007.

With some 10,000 baby boomers reaching retirement age every day over the next 20 years, more potential retiree havens are rolling out the red carpet in an effort to attract them. Favored hotspot Florida may be groaning under the strain of development and comparatively high real estate prices while facing stepped-up competition from other retiree-friendly states, but for many on the verge of retiring, the Sunshine State is still the destination of choice.

Communities through the state know, all too well, that retirees come with a nest egg and often the proceeds from the sale of their homes in search of year-round sun, sand and surf and a social- and leisure-heavy lifestyle.

Hugging the Gulf Coast near Tampa is Clearwater, a city of just over 100,000 and a perennially popular choice. With a beautiful, vibrant downtown district overlooking an aquamarine harbor, clean powdery white-sand beaches and a large stock of affordable properties, Clearwater draws a steady stream of budget-conscious retirees and second-home owners.

via Clearwater, Fla.: Coastal city a great value.

When Capt. Louis Roberts and his wife, Ocean Hansen Roberts, made their home on Siesta Key (then known as “Sarasota Key”), the island was known for its mosquito swarms, snakes, wild cats and ornery wild boars. There was no bridge to the mainland, and everything had to be ferried out by boat.

The Robertses left more than their civilizing influence on the place. In 1906, they turned their large boarding house into a hotel that would become a magnet for the Eastern winter elite. Later, Hollywood royalty, including Cecil B. DeMille, Bette Davis and Charlton Heston, stayed and dined there.

The following year, the captain and two partners formed the Siesta Land Co., platted Siesta Village and gave the island the name it has had ever since.

via Market Snapshot: Roberts Point on Siesta Key | HeraldTribune.com.

For some parents, sending kids off to college means equipping the budding academics with a laptop and carting their stuff to a closet-sized dorm room on the far side of campus.For others, it involves making a different kind of investment: real estate.

According to Realtors in some of the nation’s hottest rental markets, more parents are opting to purchase property for students to live in during their four-year college stint instead of forking over big bucks for on-campus housing or sky-high rents

via Property in College Towns a Boon to Real Estate Investors, Parents.

For-sale homes in California are sparse, even in areas with high foreclosure rates. It has led to buyers like Jennifer Bryant, who is willing to throw money at just about anyone willing to sell her a house.

Since February, Bryant has made 35 offers on homes in Riverside, only to be elbowed out by other bids.

With few houses available and many bidders chasing these properties, she feels she has, at most, an hour to consider each house.

“Some of these houses that I’ve offered on, I haven’t even actually seen,” she says. “If my husband can’t go by it, I’ll just make an offer on it. If I haven’t seen pictures of it, I’ll just make the offer on it.”

via Bidders Get Feisty Over Foreclosed Homes.