Real Estate Information

FANTASTIC HOME, MADE SOME FANTASTIC IMPROVEMENTS THAT OPEN THE FLOOR PLAN.  UPGRADED FLOORS & LIGHTS, TASTEFUL KITCHEN UPDATES. SPACIOUS ROOMS & GORGEOUS GAS FIREPLACE. THIS HOME HAS LOTS OF CLOSET SPACE WITH  A WALK IN CLOSETS &  FLOORED ATTIC.  INVITING BACKYARD PATIO & DETACHED GARAGE. GREAT LOCATION, EASY ACCESS TO SCHOOLS, BASES & ENTERTAINMENT.

http://www.teamaxx.com/property/1513-MYRTLE-AVE-Chesapeake-Virginia

April has come in with a true feeling of Spring/Summer, as I write this article; today’s temperature is expected to be close to 90 degrees! Easter weekend was wonderful. On Saturday the sandbridge Beach Civic League hosted an Easter egg hunt at Little Island Park. It was a huge success with close to 100 children attending from ages 2-13 years of age. There was even a live appearance of the Easter bunny! Great time had by all with help from many members of the community.

   
Photos courtesy of Cindy Graf

On the real estate side of things, we have had several properties sold within the last few weeks. See link for details. The property located at 2221 Bluebill sold for $551,000, it's the latest bank owned sale in the community. It was an attractive price that received multiple offers. There are several more of these properties in the process of going on the market, if you are interested in finding out more information, just send me an email or call.

It’s looking like a busy summer season ahead, I hear that vacation rental demand has been strong and is significantly better than last year at this time, a true sign that our economy is beginning to recover.

That’s it for now.

By Pat Barton

We have had several more properties go under contract in the last few weeks and four closings within the last 30 days. It seems that the low interest rates and a good supply of homes for sale have motivated some folks to become sandbridge Beach property owners. See this PDF for pending sales and this one for recently sold properties. Historically our most active time of the year begins in March and goes through May which should hold up for 2010.

I have recently listed a few properties with good locations for investment property, second home or a primary. See following properties at www.sandbridgehouses.com: Blue Lagoon, Giants Treasure and Port O’ Call. As a sandbridge Beach resident it has been encouraging to see more interest in purchases for primary homes. I think this is due to a few things: one is more affordability on homes and the other is the good school district and proximity to shopping. Red Mill Commons just added a good Thai restaurant called Tida Thai. I went there with several friends this past Saturday and had a great meal.

March came in with a roar with a thankfully short lived Nor Easter. Let’s hope it goes out like a lamb. I know everyone is looking forward to saying “good bye” to the winter of 2010. It’s been rough for many parts of the country and we are all looking forward to warmer days ahead.

by: Pat Barton

http://www.teamaxx.com/Properties/Sandbridge

sandbridge, a strip of land approximately fifteen miles in length between Back Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, has been home to farmers, surfmen, fishermen, hunters, vacationers, and permanent residents for over one hundred years. Deeds dating to 1850 reveal that the original name of this beach was Sand Ridge.

The community that had continued to grow throughout the 1950s was devastated by a storm on March 7, 1962, the Ash Wednesday Storm, that brought tides up to 8.9 feet. The storm whipped the sea, splintered houses, and washed away dunes. The owners cleaned up the residue and rebuilt sandbridge. Subsequently, houses had to be constructed upon pilings.

The decade following the Ash Wednesday storm was one of rapid growth. sandbridge was extended to within a mile of Back Bay Wildlife Refuge. Plans for further expansion were curtailed with the passage of the Federal Wet Lands Act. However, houses continued to sprout along Sandpiper and Sandfiddler Roads.

The other day FHA announced several other upcoming changes that they hope will be put into effect by spring to early summer.  It is important to note that these changes ARE NOT IN EFFECT RIGHT NOW so if you plan to buy a home you could be affected.   

Announced FHA Policy Changes:   

Mortgage insurance premium (MIP) will be increased to build up capital reserves and bring back private lending. 

The first step will be to raise the up-front MIP by 50 bps to 2.25% and request legislative authority to increase the maximum annual MIP that the FHA can charge.

If this authority is granted, then the second step will be to shift some of the premium increase from the up-front MIP to the annual MIP.

This shift will allow for the capital reserves to increase with less impact to the consumer, because the annual MIP is paid over the life of the loan instead of at the time of closing

The initial up-front increase is included in a Mortgagee Letter to be released tomorrow, January 21st, and will go into effect in the spring. Update the combination of FICO scores and down payments for new borrowers.   

New borrowers will now be required to have a minimum FICO score of 580 to qualify for FHA's 3.5% down payment program. New borrowers with less than a 580 FICO score will be required to put down at least 10%.

This allows the FHA to better balance its risk and continue to provide access for those borrowers who have historically performed well.

This change will be posted in the Federal Register in February and, after a notice and comment period, would go into effect in the early summer. Reduce allowable seller concessions from 6% to 3%.   

The current level exposes the FHA to excess risk by creating incentives to inflate appraised value. This change will bring FHA into conformity with industry standards on seller concessions.

This change will be posted in the Federal Register in February, and after a notice and comment period, would go into effect in the early summer.

By:Samuel Meekins III

Direct:    757.286.6225

email: SMeekins@MonarchMTG.com

Virginia Beach Real Estate

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Virginia Beach Home Search System 

The market reported that existing home sales for September rose 9.4%.  Very good news for the market and hopefully will bolster the need for an expanded tax credit program.  There is currently a bill on the floor to extend the credit until the end of June, 2010.

A couple weeks ago FHA announced changes to the condo approval process.  These changes were to make condo approvals much more difficult and essentially undermine the recovery effort.  These changes, however, were postponed until December 7^th in order for a further in-depth analysis to be completed.  This is VERY VERY good news for all of us.  We do not want these condo changes to take place!

Rates remain strong.  Remember, Monarch has hired additional staff to help with the rush we are seeing as closings try to take place before the tax credit expires.  Our current underwriting turn around time is three days – much quicker than larger national institutions.  If you have a new buyer trying to make the deadline don’t hesitate to contact me.  I can think of nothing worse than a first time homebuyer closing December 1^st.

By Samuel Meekins III

Senior Loan Officer

Monarch Mortgage