Ormond Beach Housing Affordability Nears Record

The National Assn. of Realtors released April figures, and reported that pending home sales rose, as 1st time home buyers took advantage of the great affordability conditions in effect now. The Pending Home Sales Index in the South rose 8.5 percent to 93.2 in March and is 7.7 percent above a year ago.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said it should take a few months for the market to gain momentum. "This increase could be the leading edge of first-time buyers responding to very favorable affordability conditions and an $8,000 tax credit, which increases buying power even more in areas where special programs allow buyers to use it as a downpayment," he said.

NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, said the increase in buying power is quite remarkable. "Compared to a year ago, the typical family can pay much less in mortgage costs for the same home, or buy a better home without necessarily increasing their monthly payment," he said. "For buyers who've been on the sidelines and have good jobs, the market has never looked more favorable. Home ownership has always offered immediate benefits and long-term value, but the advantages in today's market are unique."

I've certainly seen this in our Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach real estate markets. Inventory decreased in April, and the number of homes under contract definitely rose. Visit the market pages of my web sites to get the details:
Ormond Beach numbers
Daytona Beach numbers

Contact me with questions about getting your $8,000 tax refund from the government, and other loan programs to help buyers.

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
sherry@sherryarmstrong.com
386-679-3191
http://www.sherryarmstrong.com/

Breakaway Trails, Ormond Beach

Breakaway Trails, a gated community in Ormond Beach, Florida offers a unique lifestyle. This exclusive community is well-known for its small neighborhoods surrounded by environmentally protected nature preserves. With sparkling lakes, magnolia trees, a quaint wooden bridge, a clubhouse with pool, and tennis, Breakaway Trails offers a blend of lifestyles complete with relaxation and activity.

There are 976 residences ranging in price from approximately $300,000 to over $1,450,000. New construction is available in some neighborhoods.

Breakaway Trails community amenities include:

* Community pool, basketball courts, pavillion, clubhouse, roller hockey rink
* Estate-sized lots for privacy
* New homes or resales
* Basketball courts, pavillion, clubhouse, roller hockey rink
* Safe and secure - this is a gated community
* Enjoy a family environment - all of the neighborhoods are geared for family living
* Nature at your doorstep - beautiful natural areas surround the neighborhoods
* Beaches - the area is known for its famous drive-on beach, one of the few available in the world

Helpful Breakaway Trails links:
* Community Association
* Calendar of Events
* Newsletter
* Golf information
* Ormond Beach news
* Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce

Advantages of living in Breakaway Trails include:

* Tomoka State Park- this park is perfect for camping, canoeing and picnicking
*Ormond Memorial Art Museum & Gardens offers exhibitions of Florida, regional, national and international artists. Additionally, the OMAM seeks to advance the appreciation and awareness of the arts through classes, lectures and demonstrations
*Daytona Beach, where one of the nation's great vacation spots provides entertainment, shopping, dining, a world famous beach and the Daytona International Speedway
* Close to arts and entertainment, such as the London Symphony
* Just minutes from I-95

Public Schools serving Ormond Beach and Breakaway Trails:

Pine Trail Elementary
300 Airport Rd
Ormond Beach Fl 32174
386-676-5300

Pathways Elementary
2100 Airport Road
Ormond Beach, FL 32174
386.676.5360

Hinson Middle School
1860 N. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Ormond Beach, FL 32117
386.258.4682

Mainland High School
125 S Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
386.258.4665

Use the search below to find current homes for sale in Breakaway Trails. When you are ready to preview a property, or just want general real estate sales information, let me know - I'm the Relocation Specialist for Breakaway Trails in Ormond Beach and can discuss our great real estate opportunities in this prestigious community.

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
www.ormondbeachflhome.com
sherry@sherryarmstrong.com
386-679-3191

Mortgage Fraud Targeted by US Senate

Tuesday, the Senate voted 92-4 to increase the number of FBI agents and prosecutors to target more than 5,000 cases of mortgage fraud reported monthly. The vote was taken while the House held discussions on an anti-predatory lending bill, which deals with the types of subprime mortgages that led to the current real estate economic downturn.

“As foreclosures menace more and more hardworking homeowners, they become more desperate for help,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. “Unfortunately, schemers, swindlers and scam artists are all too happy to pounce.”

The Senate bill, sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is estimated to cost more than $265 million a year for the next two years. Supporters, including President Barack Obama, say the legislation would more than pay for itself because of the fines and penalties that would result from more aggressive government investigations.

(source: FL Assn of Realtors)

If you feel you have been a victim of mortgage fraud in connection with Ormond Beach real estate, contact your local FBI office or congressperson/representative.

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
www.sherryarmstrong.com
386-679-3191

Take Advantage of the Energy Efficiency Tax Credits

The federal government has extended and expanded home energy efficiency tax credits through 2010 as part of the broader economic recovery package. The energy efficiency tax credits were created earlier this year by President Obama’s economic stimulus package, which focused on encouraging consumer spending, as well as promoting more energy efficiency in housing. The tax credits allow homeowners to claim 30% of the cost of qualified energy efficiency products, up to $1,500, including insulation, windows and doors, roofs, HVAC equipment, and water heaters.

Even in our Ormond Beach marketplace, with our (usually) warm weather and abundant sunshine, there are many ways to take advantage of the tax credits. To earn an energy efficiency tax credit, homeowners must save their receipt for a qualified purchase, print a form provided by the product’s manufacturer and then claim the deduction on their federal income tax return.

Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that promotes energy efficiency, said, “The new tax credits can help homeowners defray the cost of several types of energy efficiency upgrades, making them more affordable at this time of economic strain for many. By tightening up their homes with added insulation and caulking and sealing of doors and windows, homeowners will enjoy lower heating and cooling costs, too."

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that homeowners can save up to 30% on their heating and cooling bills by adding insulation to adequate levels and air sealing their homes. In addition, an estimated 65% of U.S. homes, about 45 million, are under insulated, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

To read results of a recent survey conducted by Johns Manville on US views on the tax credits, read the RisMedia article (used as a resource for this blog).

If you are undecided whether or not to pursue energy efficiency measures in your home, consider the resale value of your Ormond Beach real estate. As the country becomes greener, and energy costs continue to rise, your next buyer - in 5 months or 5 years - will want all the energy efficiency in place, that you can build into your home.

Here are a couple of links for you to find out more:

energystar.gov/taxcredits

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits

Use your tax credits now to increase the value of your Ormond Beach property.

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
www.ormondbeachflhome.com
www.sherryarmstrong.com
sherry@sherryarmstrong.com

Florida Housing Recovery also Comes to Ormond Beach

According to a new report by Housing Predictor, Florida is pulling out of the housing downturn first. Previously, California has been the first state to experience a turn around.

But higher sales numbers for both single family and condos in Florida, lasting now for 7 months, indicate real estate in Florida is coming back strong. Banks are now making mortgages again, and NewsGenius reports that almost 20% of all sales are seller financed in some way.

Florida experienced the downturn in real estate before any other state, and has been in the top 3 of depressed markets nationwide. It's great that Ormond Beach real estate, along with the rest of Florida, is now trending up again.

Since this news will probably make you curious about prices, here's a search tool to give you information on our Ormond Beach real estate market (single family - contact me for a widget for the condos available).



Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
http://www.daytonabeachflhome.com/
http://www.sherryarmstrong.com/
sherry@sherryarmstrong.com
386-679-3191

Ormond Beach Theater Auditions Soon

The Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center will be holding open auditions for an ethnically diverse cast of children ages 12 to 18 for a production of the Broadway musical "The Me Nobody Knows."

Auditions will be held at the Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m. Children interested in auditioning will be asked to read a selected piece and be prepared to sing a piece of their choosing.

The Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center is a 23,000 square foot theatre that seats 600 patrons in stadium-styled setting. The venue hosts national, regional and local theatrical troupes, schools, dance programs, concerts and seminars. The theatre is fully accessible to patrons with disabilities and offers hearing assisted devices free of charge. The facility is equipped with a professional sound, stage, lighting and backstage equipment to serve general performance needs.

Here's the Center's Mission Statement: "The Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center provides area residents and visitors with exceptional entertainment in the tradition of true community theatre. The Center provides an education complex offering classes for all ages. The auditorium is designed to offer the maximum enjoyment for viewing and listening pleasure. Our goal is to educate and cultivate the theatrical hearts, minds, and souls of all. "

For more information please contact Stefan Sibley, Performing Arts Center, at 386-676-3379.

It's really great to live in a place that offers so much in entertainment, warm weather, beaches to enjoy, and real estate at prices that are the lowest in years. Ormond Beach real estate is a super buy right now. Contact me to discuss some opportunities.

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor

http://www.ormondbeachflhome.com/

sherry@sherryarmstrong.com
386-679-3191

(source: Orlando Sentinel)

Considerations if you Want to Sell in Today's Ormond Beach Market

Sometimes in the flurry of economic news and job losses and foreclosure statistics, we forget that there are families who just want to move - who have a job offer in another location, or want to move closer to children or parents, or want a different scene. How do they sell their properties in this "short sale buyer's market?"

Here are a few tips for the seller who isn't "underwater" and has been current on his/her mortgage payments, but who has to compete with the "let's make a deal" mentality rampant in our market now.

1. It used to be location location - now it's Price Price and Price. This is probably your hardest decision as a seller because - in many cases - it means losing a lot of your equity. If you want to sell in today's market, you have an abundance of competition = supply & demand = price it to compete with your competition, even if they are lower (or much lower) than you think your house is worth. Pay for an appraisal, but better yet - call in a Realtor (I'm an expert at the Ormond Beach real estate market) who will give you a Comparative Market Analysis for free with up-to-date sales information in your neighborhood.

2. Adjust your thinking. Regardless of when you purchased, you want to sell now. Forget last year's prices, forget how much you wanted to "gain" from your home. You've made the decision to sell, so you will have to also make the decision to accept today's prices. You probably will have to make buyer concessions, or repairs, or help with a buyer's closing costs. If you can't accept the idea of these possibilities, maybe you should wait to sell.

3. Be realistic. Go through your home (you may have to ask an impartial observer to do this, like a Realtor) and be honest about repairs that are needed, outdated improvements such as countertops or carpet that a buyer will want replaced or for which they will reduce the price. Remember - there are plenty of competing sellers who will reduce their prices.

4. Be the very best you can be. Insure your Ormond Beach property will make the best first impression possible as buyers drive up. If you are in a condo, you can't control the building or hallways, but you can control what they see when they open the door. Clean the clutter, and clean some more. As an Ormond Beach real estate specialist, I can help advise you on exactly what you need to spruce up your real estate to realize the highest price possible.

5. Watch the market. If you see another property go on sale near yours, call your Realtor and make sure she/he visits it and reports back - if they have an open house, go yourself. Compare and be brutally honest with yourself. You may need to reduce your price.

6. Be optimistic. The new administration has set in motion many programs to entice buyers and to help them obtain mortgage financing. People are still buying; the Great American Dream is still to own a home. Do everything you can to make it yours that they buy.

If I sound like I'm experienced in selling real estate in the Ormond Beach market, I am. I've helped buyers and sellers from Breakaway Trails to Seabridge, from beachside to the Woodlands. Give me a call or send an email - no obligation, just great service.

Sherry Armstrong, Realtor
386-679-3191
sherry@sherryarmstrong.com
http://www.sherryarmstrong.com/
http://www.ormondbeachflhome.com/