GOOD FOR THE DUCKS
What should be a nice wide walking trail leading down to the idyllic banks of Shingle Creek clearly appears now to be a small lake. It’s a now and again phenomenon which occurs during the summer months, and well within the natural flood plain; something that just has to be seen first hand to be appreciated.
Babb Landing continues to provide a nice quiet ‘time out’ for those in the SR535/US192 area.
Your mortgage rate can make a big difference to the money coming out of your pocket. If you put in a little legwork to get the best mortgage rate now, it could save you thousands of dollars down the road. But what “best” means will depend on a lot of individual factors, including your credit score and the length of time you stay in the house. Here are some suggestions for finding the best mortgage rate for your situation.
What a Difference a Rate Makes
Say you have a $250,000 loan over 30 years. At a 7.5% interest rate, your monthly payment on the mortgage is nearly $1,750. At 6%, it drops to $1,500, and at 5%, you only pay $1,350. Back in 1981, you could have reasonably expected to get a mortgage with a 14.5% interest rate – so your payment on that same loan would have been more than $3,000 a month.
What You Can’t Control
With a mortgage rate, there are factors you can’t control and factors you can. You can’t control how the Federal Reserve is setting interest rates; the Fed’s published rate influences the rates at which banks can lend to each other. If you happen to be taking out a loan at a time when interest rates are high nationally, all the good behavior on your part isn’t going to get you a loan at 4% interest.
You also can’t control how the lending companies evaluate your credit report. But you can take a few steps to make your credit report look better before you start applying for loans, such as getting free copies to check for errors, paying off existing debt (to lower your debt-to-income ratio), and not opening new cards or taking on major new debt, such as a car loan.
Shop Around
What you can control is who you get the loan from. You can go through a broker, who will look for the best loan rate for you, or shop around on loan providers’ sites yourself. You want to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples: get several quotes in one day, rather than over the course of a week or month, as rates may change. (You also want to do your comparisons relatively quickly because it will minimize the number of times inquiries show up on your credit report.) Once you settle on a loan, you want to find out how long that rate can be “locked in”. Make sure to compare the annual percentage rate, which includes other costs you’ll be paying, and not just the quoted interest rate.
Down Payments and Points
There are two other major factors under your control: the size of your down payment and “points.” In general, the larger the down payment, the smaller the interest rate over the life of the loan will be.
Points, meanwhile, are an upfront cost. A lender might offer you a loan at 6.25% and 1.25 points or 5.5% at 3 points; the higher the rate, the fewer the points. Generally you pay one percent of the loan per point; so you essentially choose whether or not to pay more money up front to get the lower interest rate.
With both the down payment and points, the question you have to ask yourself is how long you see yourself owning the house. If you only plan to hold the loan a few years, it might not be worth it to pay a lot of cash up front to reduce the loan over time. But if you plan for this house to be a long-term investment, you’ll save money over the years by paying points to get the lower rate.
Source: New Home Guide.com
“Real estate is in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at this moment in time, because there are no competitive buyers.
Mortgage rates are the lowest in my lifetime. Affordability is the best in my life.
Clearly, real estate is much better than stocks right now.”
- Jim Cramer, May 2009 -
VERANDA PALMS
A south facing pool orientation on conservation continues to be popular. Location counts too, as this new property is tucked into a new community by Park Square that is very well located.
Starting in the lower $200′s…
1. Water Only 2 Days a Week – Water only between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m.
2. Water At The Right Time of Day – Water early in the day, particularly in the summer, when evaporation rates are the lowest.
3. Water Lawns Infrequently, yet Deeply – Average lawns need from 3/4 to 1 inch of water once a week, or once every two weeks once the weather starts to cool. This water can come from rain or irrigation. Deeper infrequent watering encourages deeper root systems which will provide for better drought tolerance.
4. Too Much Water Can Hurt Plants – Over watering creates shallow roots, making plants more susceptible to diseases and pests, plus drought as well.
5. Drip Irrigation – A great way to deliver water to the roots without the evaporation loss to the atmosphere.
Owners and developers desperate to sell new condo units have hit a fresh roadblock, courtesy of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
On March 1, Fannie Mae stopped guaranteeing mortgages in new or newly converted condo developments in which fewer than 70 percent of units have been sold or are under contract. Fannie’s previous rules set the cutoff at 51%.
Freddie Mac recently sent a bulletin to sellers and servicers announcing plans to adopt similar restrictions beginning July 1.
Both REALTORS and other mortgage professionals report a slowdown in condo loan activity in the two months that Fannie’s “presale guidelines” have been in effect.
The Fannie changes are especially unwelcome in cities such as Las Vegas, where condo values have plunged due to a combination of massive oversupply and high foreclosure rates.
- Bankrate.com, 2009 -
Looking for somewhere a little bit different to eat and drink in Kissimmee?. Why not give Smokey Bones a try?.
Located in the plaza at the intersection of US192 and SR535, it is a full service restaurant (not just ribs) with a lively bar area offering friendly, attentive service.
Smokey Bones also has an all day happy hour with drinks specials. All starters are half-priced after 9.00PM. Check out their web-site www.smokeybones.com and join the Bones Club to get coupons for special offers.
Just because you haven’t seen termite swarms around your house, it doesn’t mean they’re not devouring it.
Termites are getting sneakier. It’s been about five years since the southeastern U.S. saw a good termite swarm season like those that were once common, University of Florida (UF) researchers say. Swarms of termites fly from their nests to mate and start new colonies.
In the last few years, termites have swarmed maybe two or three days, but nothing like the frequent, repeated swarms that used to occur, says Phil Koehler, an urban entomology professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Koehler believes he knows why swarms are scarce. Pest control operators have begun to see wingless, crawling termites. Termites don’t need to fly to mate, so rather than swarming, they’re crawling off by the thousands to form new colonies. That means homeowners and even pest control experts can miss these events because telltale wings aren’t left behind. And without evidence of infestation, homeowners may not get the warning they need.
“It’s like having a smoke alarm without a battery in it,” Koehler said. “If you have termites right now, you could have significant damage and not have any sign of it.”
Floridians deal with two main types of termites: subterranean termites, which tunnel from moist underground places and attack homes from the ground up; and drywood termites, which are found in the dry wood of the house. Both species can go undetected until they’ve done extensive damage.
Typically, subterranean termites swarm from January until about April, while their drywood counterparts have a peak swarming time in June and July.
Koehler and research associate scientist Roberto Pereira believe two factors have kept termite swarms to a minimum: better pest control methods and drought conditions in the southeastern U.S. Despite recent heavy rains and even flooding in some areas, much of Florida remains under severe drought conditions, according to IFAS’ Southeast Climate Consortium.
When deprived of water, subterranean termites stay underground searching for it, Koehler said, which is why he believes the drought is at least partly to blame for the dearth of swarms. Koehler and Pereira theorize that drought conditions have forced termites underground for so long that by the time they emerge, they’ve lost their wings.
The state’s building codes were strengthened in 2001 to require that new construction include termite protection. In 2004, the state mandated that builders choose termite-protection products from a list of 64 proven effective in Florida.
Even with those rules, about half of Florida’s homeowners have no termite protection, Koehler said.
FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® – 2009