Real Estate Information Archive

We're constantly bombarded by lenders to refinance our mortgage under a variety of programs. The volume of offers can almost make you numb to the rational consideration.

There are common rules of thumbs that homeowners and agents use such as not refinancing more often than every two years or there must be at least 2% savings from your previous mortgage rate may not always be accurate.

The reality is that if you can refinance for a lower rate and you'll be in the home long enough to recapture the cost of refinancing, it should be considered. The costs of previous refinancing that haven't been recaptured by monthly savings may need to be added to the costs of the new refinance.

Take a look at the chart that shows the average rates according to Freddie Mac for 2012. They are lower today than they were in January of 2012 and for the ten years before that.

Refinancing may save you a substantial amount of money, especially if you're going to be in your home for a long time. It is definitely worth investigating. To get a quick idea of what your savings could be, use this refinancing calculator.

If you have any additional questions about financing and rates here in the Bethany Beach or Fenwick Island area please feel free to contact us, we will be happy to assist you in your search for the perfect beach home.

Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS

REMAX By The Sea

Frank@TheSerios.com

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After most families essential expenses are met there is usually very little discretionary cash remaining for those special items people want to save for.

A relatively small investment in a rental home can control a good home that will easily rent, generate positive cash flows and pay for itself. The borrowed funds create leverage that earn a return on the total value of the home and not just the amount of cash you have invested.

The strategy is simple. Find a slightly below average priced home that will rent well. It will appeal to a larger group of people while it's rented and when it's ready to be sold.

Rent the home and maintain its condition over the years. As the loan amortizes and the value increases, the equity will grow. When your student is ready to start college, you'll actually have several options.

You can sell the property; pay the tax on the gain at the reduced capital gains rate and fund the education. Another option would be to refinance and take the proceeds to pay for the tuition. This would allow you to continue to own the asset but would free your equity and under current tax laws is a non-taxable event.

Regardless of whether you're trying to plan for your children's education or your own retirement, rental property offers many solid investment opportunities. Contact me if you want more information on homes in the Bethany Beach or Fenwick Island resort area or sign up to receive free, no obligation updates as new listings hit the market at www.ListingUpdate365.com.

Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS

REMAX By the Sea

Bethany Beach DE

www.TheSerios.com

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The Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes fell for the fifth straight month in January with the 10- and 20-city composites each dropping 0.8 percent from December, Standard & Poor’s, which compiles the indices, reported Tuesday morning. The 10-city index slid to its lowest level since May 2003 and the 20-city index dropped to its lowest level since December 2002.

Fenwick Island and Bethany real estate was down 4% in total units sold but on the good side the average sales price was up from $728,444 to $984,597 which could be attributed to several higher end homes that had settled.  The average list price of new listings was down 11% from 2010.

Across the country home prices fell in 16 of the 19 cities studied with Phoenix, Washington DC and Miami the only that showed improvement.  Since January of 2011 the 10 city S & P index fell 3.9% and the 20 city S & P index fell 3.8%.  Denver, Phoenix and Detroit saw and increase.

Real estate prices have also increased in Washington D.C. for seven of the last 10 months.  Hopefully, some of that momentum will help us here in Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island.

However, home prices have fallen month after month in Las Vegas for seven straight months and for 15 of the last 16 months. Real estate prices have also dropped for six straight months in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, San Diego, and Atlanta.  San Francisco has seen the sharpest decline of 2.5% then followed by Atlanta at a 2.1% drop in real estate prices.

Atlanta had the overall greatest yearly drop in home prices where home prices were off 14.8% followed by Las Vegas which had a drop of 9% in real estate prices.

Since peaking in June 2006, the 10-city S & P index is down 49.1 percent and the 20-city index which peaked one month later is off 48.6 percent.  Bethany real estate did show improvement west of the canal which was up 3% but the average price fell 10% to $300,766.

Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS

REMAX By The Sea

Frank@TheSerios.com

"Like" us at www.Facebook.com/TheSerios

For free, no obligation updated information on new listings in the Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island area go to www.ListingUpdate365.com. 

Travel & Leisure magazine has named “The Quiet Resorts” of Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island Delaware as one of the Top 15 beaches on Earth.  Yes, that is right, Bethany Beach has been named one of the Top 15 beaches on Earth but it is the only one on the east coast and one of four in the continental US.

David Keeps called Bethany Beach one of the magazines “Favorite Family Beaches.”  David remarked about the nice boardwalk, bandstand, and family atmosphere. 

Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island offer seven miles of beautiful beach for swimming, fishing and relaxing by the Atlantic Ocean.  Nestled between Rehoboth Beach Delaware and Ocean City Maryland Bethany/Fenwick are a perfect getaway.

If you are looking to experience what Travel & Leisure have proclaimed as one the “Best Secret Beaches” on Earth call Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS for all of your Bethany real estate needs.  Audrey & Frank can help you find just the right beach home for your needs.  Visit www.ListingUpdate365.com for a no obligation update of all the active homes for sale in the Bethany Beach Fenwick Island area.

Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS

REMAX By The Sea

Frank@TheSerios.com

www.TheSerios.com

“Like” us at www.Facebook.com/TheSerios

One of the most stressful times for a home seller is when the home is under contract and the time comes for the home inspection.  Buyers today will ask for a home inspection to determine if the home is worth the price they are paying.  Home inspectors will diligently go through the home and prepare a report of the quality of the home and any defects for the buyer.  The buyer then, in most contracts, has the right to accept the report and move forward with the purchase or they can ask the seller to repair those items that need to be fixed.  This can then become a re-negotiation point with the seller.

To alleviate any potential problems with the sale of a home a home seller may want to have their own home inspection performed to identify any potential problems and then have them fixed before they put the home on the market.  This would accomplish two things, one, the home will be in great shape when the buyers’ inspector surveys the home and two, will give the seller peace of mind that the report should be minimal.  The Buyer feels good about the purchase and the Seller can relax and move forward with the sale of their home.

A good question a home seller can ask themselves is, “Am I confident in the condition and quality of my home?”  If they are not extremely confident, a pre-home inspection would be a good idea to position their home on the market as a good, sound buy.

Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS can assist you with any questions you may have when selling your home in the Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island Delaware resorts.

To receive a free, no obligation update on new listings in Bethany Beach/Fenwick Island Delaware please go to www.ListingUpdate365.com. 

Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS

REMAX By The Sea

Frank@TheSerios.com

www.TheSerios.com

“Like” us on www.Facebook.com/TheSerios

Follow us on www.Twitter.com/FrankSerio

March Madness is always an exciting time of the year.  Any team can, on any given day, beat a higher seeded team.  We have seen this to be true again this year.

The excitement and madness could be felt this weekend in the resort.  Visitors and locals alike were celebrating St Patrick’s Day and enjoying March Madness with friends.  Bethany Beach, Fenwick Island, Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City were packed.  While the weather was nice we did have a bit of a marine layer come in to keep a bit cooler than inland but that is part of living at the beach.

And living at the beach was what many buyers were looking to do.  While sales have been slow we are feeling more buyer confidence in buying a second home here is the “Quiet Resorts.”  Buyers are discovering that prices are about as low as they are going to go and the interest rates are at historic lows.  Time is now to buy.  We have a good selection of beach homes to choose from and there are good buys to be had.

If you have any questions or have been thinking about buying your dream beach home give us a call, Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS.  We can help you find the right beach home for your needs.

Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS

REMAX By The Sea

Direct: 302.537.3171

Office: 302.541.5000

Bethany Beach, Delaware

email: frank@theserios.com

Like us at www.FaceBook.com/TheSerios

www.realestatebethanybeach.com

Buy Now!  You’ll Thank Me Later

The time to buy is now.  All too often we wait to see what other people are doing before we act.  This is true with buying real estate.  People sit on the fence not knowing if they should buy or not and with all of the negative press real estate is getting in this economy you can’t blame people from holding off buying today.

However, there are several reasons why the time to buy is now.  Here are a few;

1.  Great Rates – rates are at a historic low.  Even if there is a slight drop in prices the lower interest rate could level out the price drop and you can enjoy the home now.  A rule of thumb is that a1% in the rise in the interest rate lowers your buying power by 10%.  Therefore if the home you are waiting to buy goes down 10% but the interest rate rises 1% you are still even with buying at today’s low rates.  When the market picks up rates will rise.
2. Great Inventory – in most markets today the inventory is higher than normal.  This gives a potential buyer more options and opportunities.  As the market picks up the inventory will dwindle and a buyer’s options will be limited.
3. Seller’s Anxious – when the real estate market is slow seller’s are more anxious to sell and will negotiate more.  This anxiety will go away and the seller’s will become stronger when the market turns for the better.
4. Less Competition – there are fewer buyer’s in the marketplace creating a stronger negotiating position for those buyer’s that do enter the market.

In 1991 I had sent out a post card just like this and those buyers that bought have been good clients ever since and were indeed happy that the did not listen and follow the crowd and made there dreams come true at the right time.

The Time To Buy Is Now!

Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS

REMAX By The Sea

Frank@TheSerios.com

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The 2012 outlook for the real estate sector is not significantly different from the previous outlooks.  The term “elusive clarity” was used two years ago when we had no visibility on fundamentals. Fundamentals stabilized and slowly continued to improve, but the view on potential interest rates moves was then murky. Mr. Bernanke came to the rescue, signaling to the market that rates would remain low for an extended period. And yet, we still find ourselves talking about elusive clarity, now on global macro challenges: a highly-charged election year with the backdrop of stable (albeit tepid) economic growth and job creation in the U.S., the European debt crisis (tune in tomorrow for the continuing saga), and of course, sputtering global economic growth.

So long as such significant uncertainty continues, we see:

1. Broader market volatility persisting as our “new normal”

2. Investors remaining focused on capital preservation, staying invested in cash (despite barely-there yield) and trading around already-invested positions rather than investing thematically and possibly taking on more risk.

The 5 year analysis of the Sussex County beach real estate market shows the number of units sold is down 13.03% or 1334 units sold from the 1534 units sold in 2007.

In the Bethany Beach, Ocean View and Fenwick Island west of the canal areas there was a 5% increase of the number of listings put on the market and an increase of 3% in the number of listings sold.  That being said, the average List Price was down 1%, and the average Sale Price was down 10% to an average of $300,766

The beach areas of Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island saw a drop in listings put on the market of 8% for a total of 255 and a drop in number of units sold down 4% to 114.  The average List Price of New Listings was down 11% to $973,454 and on the bright side the average Sales Price was up 35% to $984,597.

Current inventory is still high in relation to the number of homes being absorbed by the current buyers.

For more information please contact Audrey & Frank Serio, CRS at REMAX By The Sea in Bethany Beach Delaware serving the Delaware beaches of Bethany and Fenwick Island for over 25 years.