Delaire Country Club

    3 Bedroom, 3.5 bath pool home with a great layout overlooking the golf course.  Vaulted ceilings, nice family room, excellent location!  Master Bedroom has a built on office.

    Delaire Country Club is upscale living at its best featuring great amenities and an excellent location.  Enjoy 27 holes of championship golf, eight manicured Har-Tru tennis courts and a world class fitness center spread out over 46 acres of beautiful grounds.  Delaire has everything you could ask for in a country club community.  Call for a private showing today.  Offered at $497,000

0 comments • Joseph Santini • April 29 2008 02:58PM

Tear Downs - Should You or Shouldn't You?

We come across many tear-downs here in South Florida and many buyers and investors are often confused as to whether or not its worth it to buy the property and build on it. Here is a quick way to tell.  The price of the land must be one third the cost of the final sales price of the house you will build.  The average price to build is around $200 per square ft.  Always keep this in mind when figuring out your budget. There are many opportunities out there with tear-downs during this slow market.

0 comments • Joseph Santini • April 28 2008 08:54AM

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act

This past December President Bush signed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act which means that any debt forgiven by a lender for a primary residence will not be taxed.  This applies to all short sales, foreclosures, workouts, etc.  This relief applies to all debts forgiven between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009.  The key word here is forgiven. 

If a property owner walks away from a property because he is upside down on the mortgage he would not qualify unless he is forgiven by the lender for the outstanding balance so its best to keep good communication going with your lender even though this may be very difficult to do at times, and try to work something out with them.

3 comments • Joseph Santini • April 22 2008 11:10AM

Palm Beach County, Florida Market Report

Things are improving as we move along and I know here in my office in Boca Raton things are really picking up.  Many buyers are starting to feel good about buying and they should.  Many are still watching the parade go by. 

Hopefully this upward trend will continue as we go through the year and I expect many buyers will get serious in the summer months. Remember that these great buyer advantages will not last forever. The same thing that will make home prices stop falling is the same thing that will push mortgage rates higher. Below are the numbers for Palm Beach County for the month of March.

Total Closed Sales   1181

Total Pending Sales  1325

Months of Inventory 28.8

Average Days to Sell  150

0 comments • Joseph Santini • April 18 2008 10:12AM

Lease to Own - Another Tool for Sellers in a Challenging Market

  Offering a lease to own agreement along with the sale of your property might be just the tool you need to put your property in the hands of a buyer in a slow market. There are many ways to structure these agreements but here are the basics.

The property owner agrees to rent the property to a buyer for a term which is usually anywhere from 1-2  years. At the end of the lease the buyer has the option to buy the property at a price agreed upon up front.

Part of the monthly rent is counted toward the buyers down payment and to offset this the property owner usually charges about $300 above what comparable rentals are going for in the area. The property owners also charge a fee for taking the property off the market. Most owners charge anywhere from 1-2% of the agreed upon sales price and the buyer gets to use this toward the purchase.  At the end of the lease term hopefully the renters will purchase the property since this agreement helps them put themselves into a position to do that.  If they decide to move on and decide buying is not for them the property owner keeps the additional rent that was paid as well as the option fee. This is a great opportunity for both sides and I am starting to see it more and more being offered on listings.

      

0 comments • Joseph Santini • April 17 2008 09:26AM

Taking advantage of Florida's new Portability Benefits

For anyone who moved within the state of Florida in 2007 and hasn't taken advantage of the new portability benefits you can access the "Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference" form online by clicking here. www.pbcgov.com/papa/forms/hxassessmentdiff.pdf

You can also call the property appraisers office at 561.355.3230 for more information.

I am finding that many people have no idea this benefit exists so I'm calling my past customers and letting them know and I find I have to bring it to the attention of new buyers as well.

0 comments • Joseph Santini • April 14 2008 10:21AM

The History of Boca Raton, Florida

Many of my customers, especially the ones from up North often ask me about the beginnings of Boca. The earliest known inhabitants of the Boca Raton area were the Tequesta Indians, who lived in communities near the ocean as long ago as one thousand years up until the eighteenth century.  The construction of the Florida East Coast Canal (which is todays inter-coastal waterway) and the Florida East Coast Railway in the 1890's made the area accessible to the first pioneers.  By the early 1900's Boca was a tiny farming community which specialized in growing pineapples.  These farmers were made up of a group of Japanese immigrants under the leadership of Mr. Joseph Sakai, who formed a community along what is today Yamato Road in 1904.  In 1925 the town of Boca Raton became incorporated at the peak of the Florida land boom.  The Town Council then appointed Addison Mizner to plan a world class resort community.  His top of the line hotel, which was called the Cloister Inn, was completed in 1926 and continues as a city landmark today as the Boca Raton Resort and Club.
0 comments • Joseph Santini • April 10 2008 02:58PM

Get The Address You Always Wanted - Boca Raton, Florida

I am working with alot of buyers right now and many of them are really getting great deals. Many of these people would not even be looking in the Boca Raton or Highland Beach area unless the market was like it is right now. They would not have been able to afford it.  Now is the time to live where you want to live.  Why not take advantage of a total buyers market.  Do it while you can because like all great things it won't last forever.

 

 

0 comments • Joseph Santini • April 04 2008 12:56PM

Palm Beach County, Florida Market Report

Below are the latest numbers for Palm Beach County.  Things have improved and hopefully the trend will continue.  My office has been very active and buyers seem to be more serious about taking advantage of the current market conditions. The buyers who are seeing the big picture and buying now are getting some very nice deals.

 

 

Contracts Closed in February   766

Months of Inventory             44.5

Properties Pending            1202

Average Days on the Market     159

 

     

3 comments • Joseph Santini • March 21 2008 09:40AM

Palm Beach County, Florida Market Report

Below are the latest statistics for Palm Beach County for January.  There are alot of customers out looking and more and more are realizing that now is the time to take advantage of these conditons and buy.  Many still sit on the sidelines watching.

 

Current Properties Available     33,731

Months of Inventory                  59

Sold                                       564

Pending                                  989

Average Days to Sell                153

0 comments • Joseph Santini • February 20 2008 08:01AM