Why is NOW the best time to buy a home?

We will outline some facts to help illustrate why the time is NOW to buy your new dream home.

It is important to make decisions based on real data and while we aren’t professional writers (clearly) but we are going to do our best to convey the facts.

Fact 1 – Current mortgage rates are at an all-time low. We will illustrate below what that means in terms of buying power.

Now look at how much you can get for your money now!

Fact 2 – We are now back to our normal cycle of 4-5% annual appreciation. Given that we are just coming off the bottom the timing could not be any better.

Fact 3 – Lender approvals are loosening up and rates are at an ALL TIME low.

What does all of this mean? In short, the time is NOW!

Still not convinced? Let’s run a couple scenarios:

Move up seller – you are at a stage in your life where you can afford a bigger, nicer dream home.

Your current home is valued at $200,000 and you have your eye on your new dream home which is listed at $350,000.

Objection – I don’t want to sell my house until the market goes up a little more so I can get max dollar!

Reality – Let’s say the market values appreciate 5%. This would mean you would get $10,000 more for your house or $210,000. BUT it would also mean that your dream home has now appreciated also and is suddenly valued at $367,500…. By waiting you have cost yourself an additional $7,500. This doesn’t even take into account what the rate would have gone up to by waiting. Each 1% in your mortgage rate affects your buying power by 10% of the purchase price.

Contrasting current rates vs. future rates – in this example we are going to use 3% vs. 4%

Let’s say you decided to wait for your home to appreciate, we have shown above why this isn’t a good idea, but for this example we will say that you waited 1 year. During that 1 year the mortgage rates went from 3% to 4%. Remember we said that your dream home was priced now at $350,000. Well by waiting a year your buying power went from $350,000 to $325,000 because of the rate increase, not to mention your dream home is suddenly priced at $367,500.

To summarize, timing is everything and the time is NOW!!!

Contact Nicole or Chris Dufala, we will get you on the fast track to your new Dream Home!!!

Top 10 reasons to relocate to Florida

1. Weather – Are you tired of bad weather? Snow? We don’t have to shovel sunshine here in Florida
2. No State Income Tax – enough said!
3. The Beaches – Hard to believe this is only number 3, some people would argue that this should be number 1. We have many beaches that have been ranked the best in the world year after year.  No matter where you live in Florida you are no more than 45 minutes away from the beach.
4. Home Prices / Cost of living – Now are the time to buy. Home values are creeping up so get down here while you can. The overall cost of living ranks 29^th of 50 as of 2012 (source cnbc.com)
5. Active lifestyle – Fishing, biking, shopping, golf, theme parks, water sports, you name it.. Florida has just about everything except mountain climbing and snow skiing.
6. Less Stress – It is proven that bad weather and crazy traffic can be stressful. We don’t really have either very often here in Florida. How can you be stressed out when you have a tourist lifestyle?
7. Things to do and see – Not only do we have the best theme parks in the world but there are so many other things to do and see in Florida. See some examples here in Pinellas county.
8. Dining – Florida has some of the most wonderful restaurants anywhere. We have a sample list that we compiled for some of our local restaurants. Check out our list.
9. Healthcare – Florida has excellent health care. As many know, Florida started as mainly a retirement community. This fueled the need for top notch health care for the seniors. Although Florida isn’t really know only as a ‘retirement only’ state any longer the attention to amazing health care remains.
10. Did we mention NO SNOW??

Top 10 reasons to relocate to Florida

1. Weather – Are you tired of bad weather? Snow? We don’t have to shovel sunshine here in Florida
2. No State Income Tax – enough said!
3. The Beaches – Hard to believe this is only number 3, some people would argue that this should be number 1. We have many beaches that have been ranked the best in the world year after year.  No matter where you live in Florida you are no more than 45 minutes away from the beach.
4. Home Prices / Cost of living – Now are the time to buy. Home values are creeping up so get down here while you can. The overall cost of living ranks 29^th of 50 as of 2012 (source cnbc.com)
5. Active lifestyle – Fishing, biking, shopping, golf, theme parks, water sports, you name it.. Florida has just about everything except mountain climbing and snow skiing.
6. Less Stress – It is proven that bad weather and crazy traffic can be stressful. We don’t really have either very often here in Florida. How can you be stressed out when you have a tourist lifestyle?
7. Things to do and see – Not only do we have the best theme parks in the world but there are so many other things to do and see in Florida. See some examples here in Pinellas county.
8. Dining – Florida has some of the most wonderful restaurants anywhere. We have a sample list that we compiled for some of our local restaurants. Check out our list.
9. Healthcare – Florida has excellent health care. As many know, Florida started as mainly a retirement community. This fueled the need for top notch health care for the seniors. Although Florida isn’t really know only as a ‘retirement only’ state any longer the attention to amazing health care remains.
10. Did we mention NO SNOW??

Why sell now?

Are we off the bottom? Should I sell now? Are home values up?

These are just a few of the many questions that we hear daily these days. It is important to make decisions based on real data and while we aren’t professional writers (clearly), we are going to do our best to address many of “today’s” questions with facts.

Fact 1 – the data says that we are off the bottom. For the first time in many years we have shown consecutive growth for the last 4 months straight as of March 31, 2013.

Fact 2 – Home inventory has shrunk considerably which has created more buyers than sellers thus creating a sellers’ market.

Fact 3 – As a result of a seller’s market we are seeing a steady increase in home values. We are seeing full price offers, bidding wars on homes listed for sale and up to 100% of list price in many market segments.

Fact 4 – Lenders are loosening up and rates are at an ALL TIME low.

What does all of this mean? In short, the time is NOW!

Still not convinced? Let’s run a couple scenarios:

Move up seller – you are at a stage in your life where you can afford a bigger, nicer dream home.

Your current home is valued at $200,000 and you have your eye on your new dream home which is listed at $350,000.

Objection – I don’t want to sell my house until the market goes up a little more so I can get max dollar!

Reality – Let’s say the market values appreciate 5%. This would mean you would get $10,000 more for your house or $210,000. BUT it would also mean that your dream home has now appreciated also and is suddenly valued at $367,500…. By waiting you have cost yourself an additional $7,500. This doesn’t even take into account what the rate would have gone up to by waiting. Each 1% in your mortgage rate affects your buying power by 10% of the purchase price.

Contrasting current rates vs. future rates – in this example we are going to use 3% vs. 4%

Let’s say you decided to wait for your home to appreciate, we have shown above why this isn’t a good idea, but for this example we will say that you waited 1 year. During that 1 year the mortgage rates went from 3% to 4%. Remember we said that your dream home was priced now at $350,000. Well by waiting a year your buying power went from $350,000 to $325,000 because of the rate increase, not to mention your dream home is suddenly priced at $367,500.

To summarize, timing is everything and the time is NOW!!!

We welcome our newest team member, Chris Dufala. 

 Chris has been in Sales Management as well as day-to-day leadership roles for many years.

This week we’re at Z – A Specialty Spa in Palm Harbor!

We got a chance to catch up with our favorite aesthetician in Pinellas County! Check out these amazing specials!

Six easy, inexpensive ways to decorate your home for Thanksgiving!

Dream Home Pinellas is on Pinterest! And one of our favorite things to do is find beautiful, inexpensive ways for you to spruce up your home for the holidays.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so here are some of our favorite finds. You can click on the photo and it will take you directly to Pinterest and you can repin it!

The first one is like a favorite recipe: just three ingredients. Cranberries, a candle and a vase. Voila! A beautiful, simple and elegant centerpiece.

Just a few gourds and miniature pumpkins can give your table an elegant, yet earthy feel.

Have some extra wine bottle corks laying around? Get some paint and make some beautiful placemats with the kids! Personalize them for each member of your family or just for the kids table.

When the paint dries, head to Kinkos and laminate it for a dollar or two, it’s so simple!

Give thanks for your loved ones with this simple and easy centerpiece idea, using dollar store candle holders and mod podge (click on the picture for the simple instructions!)

One of the most simple ways to decorate your home, table, or mantel is to use a pumpkin as a vase! You can use any color pumpkin and any other flowers to get a different look every time.

There’s a lot to do on Thanksgiving, from setting the table and all that cooking, so setting up a children’s table that gives the kids something to do works for everyone! Here is a simple way to personalize their table while also making for an easy cleanup.

We’re pinning up a storm over on our Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas board so come on over to Pinterest and check it out the rest of our finds!

We love our Spotlight on Pinellas feature because there are so many treasures here in Pinellas County that few people know about and this month we found one of them, situated nicely near south St. Pete in the quaint town of Gulfport.

It was actually our 15th wedding anniversary this month and to celebrate, we decided to take part in the ancient art of glass blowing and create our own works of art! Just a short drive away from anywhere in Pinellas County (or Tampa Bay, for that matter), is the Industrial Arts Center, located at 2902A Beach Blvd. South, which is
in the Art Village Courtyard, where you can do just that.

You can choose between eight different pieces ranging in price from $40-$65 and a skilled instructor will take you through the step-by-step process.

Look at how our creations came out!

How cool is that?

I made the flower vase and my husband made the fluted bowl and we had a blast doing it. The arts center is a non profit organization so make sure you head over there to try out it out! We plan on taking the kids there to make Christmas ornaments around the holidays, too. If you’re looking for something to do for date night or a night out with the girls, they even have a ladies night and hot date night!

All the information is at the Industrial Arts Center website, so be sure to check it out. Have fun!