This 30A House went under contract this week!

This oil has a lot of people – buyers and sellers – spooked that is for sure.  I keep hearing people say that nothing is going to sell and nobody would buy real estate on 30A while there is oil in the Gulf of Mexico and washing up on our beaches. 

 Let’s see what the facts tell us.  In the last 7 days there have been 10 houses on 30A go under contract.  Not a ton but still more than 1 per day.   

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 Are they all foreclosures and short sales? Almost, of the 10 properties to go under contract 7 were short sales or foreclosures and 1 was an auction.  So 8 out of 10 were distressed sales. 

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Are they just low end properties?  I wouldn’t say that – the low list price was 249,900, the high was $3,999,975 and the average list price for the 10 was $990,667.

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The Bottom Line?  There are a lot of really good deals out there so if you are a buyer this is your time.  If you are a seller be prepared to get down and dirty so you can compete with the short sales and foreclosures.

Want More Information?  Keller Williams Realty’s At The Beach Team sells more area real estate than most so if you are interested in buying or selling 30A Real Estate simply call or text John at 850-217-7618 or send an email to JohnMoran@AtTheBeachTeam.com

Also check out

Destin Condo Foreclosures

Panama City Beach Real Estate News

Watercolor Real Estate News

Here is more information about investing and 30A Real Estate.  As always I think it’s very important to be as informed as possible on how to maximize your investing power.  So with that in mind I found this article about using IRA’s to buy real estate at Market Watch.com. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Using IRAs to buy real estate

Six reasons to tap retirement funds now to buy rental property

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — One of today’s soundest investments is never touted in financial-services ads. The reason: Wall Street wouldn’t make any money off it.

Since 1974, Americans have had the ability to use IRA assets to buy investment property. Yet the means to do that — called a self-directed IRA — remains one of the least known and unheralded investment vehicles in the vast financial marketplace.

With foreclosed homes selling at dimes on the dollar, residential real estate is a bargain for investors holding cash. And if they can put 30% down, IRA investors will find specialty lenders eager to help them leverage their retirement savings with mortgages on rental properties.

The U.S. housing market may not yet have hit bottom, but the winds appear to be shifting. Existing-home sales are on the mend in hardest-hit markets and foreclosure-avoidance programs are expected to stem the rising inventory of bank repossessions, meaning the window to buy at rock-bottom prices could close before the year is out.

Bear in mind homes purchased with IRA funds can’t be used for personal purposes. Doing so risks the IRS declaring the assets withdrawn and demanding immediate payment of income taxes and penalties on the entire account value.

Still, as an investment readily understood by anyone who’s been through the home buying and selling process, purchasing a steeply discounted property that can produce annual income of 10% and more is a low-risk strategy for uncertain times — especially for retirees whose fixed-income investments are paying paltry yields right now. Read more on setting up a managing a self-directed IRA.

Here are six reasons why buying real estate with an IRA is a potentially lucrative and wise move today:

1. A solid alternative to stocks

When economies teeter, investors often run to hard assets such as gold — humankind’s historic “store of value.” Yet gold’s value is measured not only in ounces but also in the intangible fear that surrounds its price spikes.

When it comes to hard assets, there’s perhaps no greater shared sense of value from Mongolia to Montana than for land and a dwelling. And in U.S. history, there’s never been such a fire sale on our housing stock.

The Great Depression exacted a heavy toll on home values, but there was nowhere near the inventory flooding the… housing market as in the past year. The reason: A collapse in home prices, not stocks, triggered this meltdown.

Of course, some would say foreclosed-home buyers capitalize on others’ misfortune. But the sooner we clear the massive, nationwide inventory of unsold homes — which many economists argue is a key to recovery — the better off we’ll all be.

2. An investment well-suited for long-term investors

Even in the best of times, the stock market looks out six months to a year. Right now, even seasoned pros can’t feel the bottom of the muck we’re in.

Many retirement savers are uncomfortable with their nest egg tied up largely in stocks. That’s just the direction where the system of IRAs and 401(k)s — which also advances Wall Street’s interests — shepherds them.

Real-estate cycles generally run in decade-or-so swings and this one may not yet have neared its bottom. Housing values could drop another 10% to 20%, but the stock market also could drop further and take a decade to well surpass its previous highs.

Especially for those in or near retirement, buying a property that produces rental income that’s likely to increase with inflation is as sound a long-term investment as any TV commentator or investing guru might offer.

3. Purchasing a significantly undervalued asset

For investors willing to hang on to a property for five years or more, residential real estate today presents a tremendous opportunity to do just what investors ideally do — buy low and sell high.  In some of the hardest-hit regional markets nationwide, homes are selling for as little as 20% of their value in 2006. In the San Francisco Bay Area, for instance, a 3,400-square-foot, five-bedroom, three-bath house built in 2000 recently listed for $257,000 — after last selling for $795,000 just three years ago.

More importantly, at a cost of just $75 per-square-foot, that’s about a third of the new construction cost for a well-outfitted, single-family home in that region. An IRA buyer in that case would get a relatively new house that would require little maintenance — and a 7,000-square-foot lot essentially thrown in for free.

While that may be an extreme example, countless thousands of existing homes nationwide are selling for 50% of today’s construction and land costs. Putting aside previous overinflated values, that statistic illustrates how inexpensive home prices have become — and how much upside they offer in terms of appreciation when the real-estate market finally recovers.

4. A steady income generator

At a time when companies are slashing stock dividends at record rates, retirees can’t be assured of that income source. And with government bonds paying a pittance in terms of yield, that fixed-income stream is running mighty shallow.

Income from a rental property bought with a self-directed IRA flows back into the retirement account. The IRA holds title to the property and the income it produces can be directed into all manner of investments typically held within an IRA, be it stocks, bonds, mutual funds or money market accounts.

On a percentage basis, that income can be two to three times higher than today’s fixed-income offerings even after paying expenses such as property taxes and insurance. Meanwhile, the accountholder can eventually reap the potential appreciation of the underlying asset — the property — that the IRA owns.

For retirement savers needing to fund a child’s college costs, a rental property held in an IRA also can be a valuable source of funds. While money taken out of a traditional IRA is subject to income taxes, it doesn’t face early-withdrawal penalties if used for higher-education costs. And while financial advisers caution against using retirement funds to pay for college costs, the IRA owner still has upside potential on the property to count on and the income in years ahead.

5. A safer means to play the stock market

For those who don’t want to abandon potential stock-market returns, a rental home owned in an IRA still affords them the ability to invest in stocks.

Rental income funneled into stocks or stock mutual funds today will be buying shares at sharply reduced prices. Directing the proceeds of each monthly rent check into stocks or mutual-fund shares accomplishes the same “dollar-cost averaging” strategy that occurs when employees steer a fixed amount of every paycheck into their 401(k).

Over a 10- to 20-year period, the return that the rental income produces if plowed into stocks is rich icing on the cake, coming on top of the return provided by the rental income itself. 

6. The ability to flip real estate with no tax bite

Proceeds from selling an IRA-owned home roll back into the IRA without facing capital-gains taxes. To the contrary, an investor who buys and resells a property within a year with nonretirement funds faces a capital-gains levy.

Many foreclosed homes today are “distressed,” vandalized by angry departing owners who may have deferred maintenance due to tough times. They often ransack anything and everything not nailed down and many things that are, from lighting fixtures and kitchen appliances to furnaces and central-air conditioners, toilets and bathroom vanities.

Such properties — which can be found at most all price points — are among the cheapest on the market on a per-square-foot basis because the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and most private mortgage lenders won’t loan on homes deemed “uninhabitable.” That drastically reduces the potential buyer pool to just cash purchasers — and reduces the property values as a result.

Even homes needing only cosmetic fixes sell at a discount today because there are countless others available in move-in condition. If an IRA home buyer has enough in the account post-purchase to refit a home’s interior — whether it’s laying carpet and laminate flooring or upgrading a kitchen or bathroom — going the minor-rehab route can be a rewarding approach.

Buyers might choose to fix up the cheapest, distressed property in a solid neighborhood so it qualifies for a mortgage and then resell it. They also could improve upon it over several years with the rental income. Either way, it’s a potentially enriching value-add strategy.

The ultimate choice

The bottom line with buying rental properties with an IRA is that the investor retains a level of control over a tangible asset that he or she could never remotely attain in owning shares of a company or a mutual fund.

The question that bears asking: What will yield a better return in the next five to 10 years — shares of Microsoft, General Electric or Citigroup, or a modest rental home in a decent school district — selling for 30 cents on the dollar — whose value may soon be juiced by record-low mortgage rates and unprecedented tax breaks?

Chris Pummer is a former senior editor for MarketWatch and Bloomberg News and a reporter for such papers as the Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury News.

Click on the links to find 30A Foreclosures, 30A Short Sales, 30A Homes For Sale,  30A Condos For Sale

Also check out The Destin Real Estate News, 30A Real Estate News,  Panama City Beach Real Estate News, Destin Condo News.

The 30A Short Sale above is located in located in Gulf Trace, it has 5 bedrooms and 5-1/2 baths, 4,150 sq.ft. and it’s own private dune walk over. It was purchased in 2005 for $4,040,000 and is now listed for $3,250,000! The other two 30A short sales are located in The Retreat - listed for 3,330,000 and Seacrest - listed at 1,199,000. The 30A Foreclosure is located in Sand Cliffs and is listed at $1,200,000.

More 30A Short Sales and Foreclosures

Click on the links to learn more about how to buy or sell a short sale on 30A or see all 30A foreclosures. Also if you don’t miss out on any new short sales and foreclosures simply sign up for the FREE  30a Short Sales and Foreclosures Alert and we will send you an email everytime a new short sale or foreclosures hits the market.

Click on this picture to learn more about this great Watercolor Condo Foreclosure

There are only 3 Watersound Short Sales to choose from right now.

I get many calls from people looking to cash in on this great buyer’s market we’ve been expirencing over the last few years and right now I’m telling them is to take a good look at short sales.  They may not happen quickly and can sometimes be a little frustrating BUT they can also create great buys for people willing to go the distance to closing.

How do I find Watersound Short Sales?

As you can see there aren’t a ton of Watersound Short Sales so if you are currently interested in a getting a great deal on Watersound Real Estate or think you may be in the future simply sign up for our FREE Watersound Short Sale and Foreclosure Alert and we will email you all the Watersound Short Sales and Foreclosures as soon as they hit the market!  It’s a great way to stay on top of new Watersound Short Sales and foreclosures.

What if I want to sell my Watersound Property as a Short Sale?

Short sales can be a bit daunting but we have systems in place that almost always result in success.  If you are interested in learning more about the short sale process and what your options simply contact Kris or John Moran at 850-654-3325 or send an email at info@AtTheBeachTeam.com

Watercolor home for sale as a short sale - click on picture for details

Looking for a great deal on 30A real estate?  Be sure to check out 30A Short Sales

Here is the deal - 30A Short Sales may take a while to work through but man if you are patient you can get great deals on real estate at the beach.   We are seeing banks take as low as $50 cents on the dollar for condos, homes and land.  Take a look at these examples…

Watercolor Short Sales: Last year a watercolor lot that sold in 2005 for 625,000 sold for just $224,900!  Amazing!  Click on the link to see all …

 the current watercolor short sales including Watercolor Homes, Watercolor Land and Watercolor Condos.  Also follow Watercolor Short Sales at the Watercolor Real Estate News.

Check out this Watersound Condo Short Sale - Click on picture for details

Watersound Short Sales:  There are a number of Watersound Short Sales available right now so if you want to see what kind of deals you can get check out the Watersound Real Estate News.

Rosemary Beach Short Sale - Click on picture for details

Rosemary Beach Short Sales?  Absoultely!  Rosemary Beach Short Sales are also a great way to find tremendous bargains on Rosemary Beach Homes For Sale, Rosemary Beach Land For Sale and Rosemary Beach Condos For Sale.  Don’t miss out on any Rosemary Beach Short Sales and sign up for the FREE Rosemary Beach Short Sales Alert where we will send you an email as soon as a Rosemary Beach Property hits the market!

Are There More 30A Short Sales?

These are just a few of the deals that people are getting through 30A short sales and there are many many more to be had, but the go fast, so don’t miss out on your gread deal on 30A and Sign Up for our FREE Short Sale Alerts and we will email you every short sale as soon as it hits the market. 

Call your 30A Real Estate Resource Keller Williams Realty’s At The Beach Team  for all your real estate needs.  Today!

The government tax credit for property buyers have been extended.

The $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyer was due to end on November, but it has been extended for another seven months. This extension is through June of 2010 and buyers must sing a contract by the end of April.

There’s More

The $6,500 tax credit will benefit…