Finding your next home in your community can be challenging. When you add hundreds or even thousands of miles to the equation, it becomes significantly more complicated. Though long-distance house hunting has its unique challenges, it’s not impossible. In fact, we help people with it every day. With modern technology, it’s never been easier to buy a house remotely. Here are a few critical factors to keep in mind when you find yourself in a home search from afar.
The latest mortgage delinquency statistics show that Hurricane Irma is continuing to disrupt local mortgage repayments this month even though it is almost a year behind us. Both short-term delinquency rates (30 days late) and more serious delinquencies (90 days plus late) are up year on year. Also, after a long run of reduced foreclosure rates, they also have continued trending up over the last few months. We can’t really blame Irma on the short-term delinquencies anymore, but the more serious delinquencies are still up due to the lasting effects of the storm.
When we get to retirement, we find ourselves having the freedom to move somewhere new. The first place that comes to mind for many is likely our great state of Florida. However, before you take the leap, you should examine the pros and cons. Although you shouldn’t think of the below an exhaustive list, it should give you some good things to consider.
We saw mortgage rates stay essentially flat last month after a rapid rise to start this year. Average U.S. rates for 30-year fixed rate mortgages are currently at 4.55%. At the end of last month, they were sitting at 4.56%. While it is great to see upward momentum reverse for the time being, the general forecast continues to be for a slow continued rise over the rest of the year.
The Sarasota and Manatee county markets for condos & townhomes remain disconnected for properties between $600k and $1M. In Manatee, it is better to be a buyer; however, the market is balanced in Sarasota. While the $1M+ condo market in Sarasota has favored sellers all year, this is just the second month that we have also seen it happening in Manatee.