News About Properties

Kern farmland has become one of the county’s hottest investments, due in part to broadly higher commodity prices and growing demand for land with vested water rights.People in the industry say large farming companies are taking advantage of low interest rates and bidding against institutional investors with few other attractive options for earning income.While some wonder whether the market has the attributes of a real estate bubble, others say rising ag land prices are rooted in long-term supply and demand projections. They note that farmers are driving the market more than people outside the industry are.

via Farmers, outside investors bid up local ag land.

Highly ranked school districts may have been spared the worst of the foreclosure crisis, according to a new analysis, showing that the housing crash was akin to a tornado that tore through wide swaths, but hit with particular force in certain areas.

The analysis, conducted for Developments by Location Inc., a Worcester, Mass.-based company that mines local data for businesses and consumers, looked at six months of 2011 sales data collected by RealtyTrac Inc. It showed that the percentage of foreclosure (or “real-estate-owned”) sales went down as the school ranking went up in five metro areas – Jacksonville, Fla; Atlanta; Toledo, Ohio; Stockton, Calif.; and Seattle. Higher-rated school districts also maintained higher home-sale prices, and higher home prices per square foot.

via One Antidote to Foreclosures: Good Schools.

New Yorkers, Washingtonians and Atlantans are logging more and more internet searches for South Florida real estate, a sign that the region’s troubled housing market could receive even more outside investment in the future.

In the wake of a severe housing bust, Florida has become one of the most popular locales for Americans seeking low-priced real estate, according to a report released Wednesday by real estate website Trulia.com.

“Despite the big price declines, and probably because of the big price declines, we’re seeing so much inbound search activity from people within Florida and especially from outside Florida,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist for Trulia.

via South Florida attracts domestic home buyers, too.

When a 62-year-old financial advisor bought a two-bedroom Manhattan co-op recently, he showed up at the closing with a check for the full $970,000 purchase price. No mortgage? “The money I had in cash was sitting getting 0% interest,’’ explains the man, who asked not to be named. “It made absolutely no sense to borrow.”There were other benefits as well to buying for cash, he says. He figures he got a “liquidity discount” for being able to close quickly—the asking price had been $1.05 million. And he avoided the hassles and paperwork that come with getting a mortgage these days. At the closing, he gloats, “they spent more time making photocopies than anything, so we sat discussing Broadway plays.”

via The Benefits Of Buying A Home With Cash.

By choice or by force, more and more people in South Florida’s foreclosure-ridden housing market are renting, rather than owning, their homes.

In an ironic twist on economics, that dynamic is actually helping the resale market. According to sales reports released Thursday, South Florida is on track to set a new sales record this year.

The reason: investors.

via South Florida rents rise as international buyers continue to invest in local housing.

Board-certified real estate attorney Gary M. Singer answers housing questions in this space each Friday.

Q: I am elderly and got involved with a rental property with the help of a family member. Now the family member is nowhere in sight, the tenant left and the mortgage is underwater. I don’t have the energy or desire to deal with it. I am on Social Security and living check to check. I can’t afford the payments, and the collections calls are raising my blood pressure. What can I do? – Anonymous

via Ask a real estate pro: Short sale or bankruptcy?.