Boca Raton FL Real Estate News

When the nation’s home prices were booming, Florida led the way. Now, with the housing market in a slump, the state is taking the lead in tackling one of the boom’s more onerous legacies: sky-high property taxes.
Florida’s legislature is considering various plans that aim not only to cut taxes, but also to change a system […]

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Thanks to abnormally low mortgage interest rates, home sellers had an extremely favorable “seller’s market” for the last few years.
That means there were more qualified home buyers in the market than there were homes available for sale. Homes often sold in just a few days or weeks. Typical home sale prices appreciated 10 percent […]

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New houses are much more durable. Modern copper water pipes, for example, will easily last the life of the structure, which certainly can’t be said for the rust-prone galvanized steel pipe found in most older homes. And the “engineered lumber” used in today’s houses — much of it made from mill waste that used to […]

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The woods are full of agents these days, and many are beginners. Here are the eight questions you can ask to separate the average agents from the experienced heavy hitters.
Whether you’re buying or selling, the difference between having an average real-estate agent or a superstar can mean thousands of dollars in your pocket. It can […]

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Most people have smoke alarms, many have carbon-monoxide detectors, and a good number even have devices that detect flooding or unexpected changes in temperature. But all of these alarms are useful only if someone is there to hear them.
“The untold story of professionally monitored security systems is that people are using them for a variety […]

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Owners who live full-time in Florida can take advantage of a 3 percent limit on annual property tax increases as long as they keep the same home. It is not available to snowbirds or absentee owners.
In an attempt to end inequities in the current tax system, legislators are considering a range of options during their […]

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) quarterly delinquency report is jammed full of information reported from dozens of different perspectives - all loans, prime, subprime, government guaranteed and not, national, regional, and by state, and by several different categories of delinquency. The information is important (witness the stock market reaction on Tuesday) and interesting but can […]

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Many borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages are simply not prepared when the rates on those loans shoot up. Low-income borrowers and those with weak credit have felt the sting of the market slowdown the most, and now tighter lending standards brought about by increased defaults are ruling out refinancing for many who may have qualified for […]

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Recent data concerning mortgage delinquencies and home foreclosures has created a chicken-and-egg question about the current housing scare. Has a soft real estate market weakened the economy, or did economic weakness hurt the real estate market? Both cause-and-effect relationships might exist at the same time, in what economists call a vicious cycle. But the […]

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The number of homes in or nearing foreclosure is growing, and some investors are taking advantage of the bargains created. But even with a steady stream of distressed properties coming on the market, jumping into foreclosure investing is dangerous, especially if you are not familiar with the process or new to real-estate investing.
The transaction has […]

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