Ray Peckham Real Estate

Buying and Selling Surfside Real Estate

Fixed Rate Loans in Surfside

Advantages: As indicated earlier, predictability is the biggest incentive for choosing a fixed-rate loan for your Surfside real estate mortgage.

Disadvantages: Fixed rate loans usually come with higher interest than the start up interest rate on a fixed loan. Down payments for your Surfside on conventional, fixed-rate loans are usually higher than the down payment required for an ARM.

Surfside Home Improvement

Homeowners hear a lot about improvements that might add value to houses. But less attention is paid to what to avoid. Steer clear of renovations that will cost you money at resale time.

If an Surfside home becomes conspicuously larger -- and more expensive -- than those around it will risk becoming hard to sell. Additions tend not to return their entire investment. The 2005 "Cost vs. Value Report" found that homeowners were able to recoup only 83% of the cost of a family-room addition and 82% of a midrange master suite.

Surfside FAIR MARKET VALUE

Setting the right price is an important first step in getting a home sold. Sellers often wonder if they should spend $200 to $400 for a professional appraisal of their Surfside real estate before placing it on the market.

WAYS TO DETERMINE VALUE IN Surfside

A professional appraiser's opinion of a property's market value is based on the recent sales of similar Surfside real estate. Different appraisers could come up with different numbers. Even if all of them agreed on a value, there is no guarantee that you would receive that amount for your property. An alternative to a professional appraisal is to ask a professional Realtor for a written market analysis of your property. This analysis will include information about recent home sales in your neighborhood, as well as how those homes compare to yours.

Guidelines for Buying Surfside

The Internet is great but nothing really substitutes for your personal inspection of homes that are for sale in the Surfside. When you have visited plenty of homes online and in person when the right property comes along you will know it.

It is perfectly normal for buyers to have a general idea of what they want in a home without a great deal of specificity. Research, both online and in person will help you define your Surfside needs but you can and should know your financial needs before you even start looking. I recommend that buyers go through the process of prequalifying with a lender or at least with a real estate agent in order to narrow the search among homes that are a possibility. Many agents refuse to show homes to prospective buyers who have not been pre-qualified.

Buying Surfside Real Estate...Will it Pay?

With a typical 30-year loan, most of your monthly payment goes toward interest payments with only small amounts going to the principle in the early years. Only half the principle is repaid in the first 23 years of the loan. You can build equity in your Surfside faster by choosing a 15-year loan instead of a 30-year loan.

As a Surfside real estate owner you have the right to pay more towards the principle loan amount each month. Let’s say your monthly payment is $700.00 a month and $100.00 a month is being applied to the principle. If you choose to pay $900.00 instead of $700.00, the $200.00 overage will be applied entirely to the principle. Thus, instead of gaining $1,200.00 a year in home equity, you gain $3,600.00. Investing in Surfside can be a very good idea.

Surfside DEDUCTIONS

One of the advantages of home ownership is that while most other types of interest are not tax deductible, the interest you pay on your Surfside loan is deductible on your Federal and State income tax. This fact alone gives homeowners a distinct advantage over renters.