Lee County Florida is the Place To Be.

Lee County Florida is the place to be.

  Southwest Florida market itself

Lee county presently is a mid-size county that is growing fast and attracting more industry to the area. Recently Hertz Corporation has moved their Corporate headquarters here from New Jersey. It is Corporate headquarters of Chico's Fashion. Other companies are beginning to take note of Southwest Florida and the great potential the location and weather offers along with the low corporate taxes, growing education facilities, and educated workforce.

The population is growing at a fast pace. More talent is moving to the area. There still a lot of building to do. Florida is now the  third largest state in the nation, passing New York.  And Lee county is the 6th largest county with Cape Coral being the largest city within the county.

Estero or Bonita Spring are looking to built a new high school in the area as new communities are being built or old one are expanding. 

Demand for IT professionals are great and in need. The medical industry is healthy. Right now, retail, construction and tourism is the biggest source of employment. 

The county cost of living is lower than the national average.  

The weather is idea. Fishing among the best in the world.

There is no State income tax. The sale tax varies by county, presently Lee is at 6%.

Property taxes is based on the assessed value of the property on January first of each year, minus any of many exemptions that is offered.

Properties taxes also can not increase more than 3%. The exemptions and tax caps are part of Florida Constitution, all help in keeping taxes low now and into the future.

You can read more about where interest and what South west Florida is doing to promote the area from Southwest Florida-markets itself in New-York

Hope you found the post of some value. Please leave a comment or drop me an email if you are in need of more information or have a question. Maitto: lee_properties@aol.com

If you interested in properties in the area give Search For Homes plus more.com  serious consideration. Get your free professional web site that I use to make deals on.

Till next time, Happy home searching

Ronald Wolchesky

IS 2015 Year for the First Time Home Buyers?

IS 2015 Year for the First Time Home Buyers?

Being in Real Estate always mean keeping up with the dynamics of the changes that is always happening. Recently, buying a home is being heavily influence what goes on in Washington and bills being passed only to have more bills passed, to correct the bills passed.

If you been in the market, some have found how hard getting a mortgage may be. How much needed for a down payment can be difficult.

If you been planning, or felt rejected the article below can address some of your experiences with more encouragement. If you ever in need of help with a loan, please contact me. I have a team of people that can be of help.

Thanks for spending some of your time with me. Till next time. Happy trails to you and your searching for properties.

Ronald Wolchesky                      A gift for all Seasons

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Changes Pave the Way for More First-Time Buyers in 2015

| Dec 12, 2014

| By: Jonathan Smoke

Even as the housing market gets back on track, the numbers of first-time buyers continue to disappoint. This is strongly associated with the tight credit requirements facing would-be buyers. Recent important government policy changes and the introduction of new low down-payment programs, however, should set the stage for increased first-time buyer activity in 2015.

Clarity on Mortgage Qualifications

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finalized mortgage qualification guidelines that went into effect on December 1. These guidelines clarified murky qualification standards set in place as a result of the Dodd-Frank reforms, which were intended to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis.

Up until now, the absence of specific rules and clear guidance on what types of errors would prompt Fannie or Freddie to reject a loan, leaving the underwriting bank or lender on the hook, led to very conservative lending practices. To avoid the risk of Fannie or Freddie rejecting a mortgage months or years after it closed, banks added “overlays”—or additional requirements—to the proposed guidelines.

As a result, according to mortgage software company Ellie Mae, the average denied credit score on conventional purchase mortgages in October was 723 even though the minimum standard set by both Fannie and Freddie was 620.

The new standards should lead to thousands more consumers being able to get a mortgage and should also speed up the underwriting and approval process.

Measures of mortgage credit availability from the Mortgage Bankers Association already indicate a slight loosening of credit in November prior to these rules going into effect. All three measures of mortgage credit availability were also higher than November of last year, between 3% and 5%. If that trend continues, it will indeed mean that we are seeing standards revert to more normal levels.

More Attractive Low Down-Payment Mortgages

Earlier this week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both announced the details of new low down-payment mortgage programs they will be offering that enable qualified buyers to purchase a home with down payments of as little as 3%.

While these programs only lower the down payment threshold by 0.5% from similar loans available from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), they will likely be far more attractive to consumers than the FHA loans. These new programs avoid the FHA fees that effectively increase the rate charged. Another advantage over FHA is the borrower’s ability to stop paying private mortgage insurance fees once the equity of the home reaches 20%.

Fannie Mae’s offering will be the first available to qualified borrowers who have not owned a home before or within the last three years. But Fannie Mae doesn’t lend directly, so it may take some time before we see specific lender offerings—perhaps in early 2015.

Clarifying when lenders are at risk and offering low down payment programs should increase flexibility in mortgage qualification. This should pave the way for more first-time buyers in 2015. If we start to see specific competitive low down-payment lender offerings and evidence that standards are loosening, the spring selling season may start earlier than normal. After all, first-time buyers do not have to sell an existing home and can jump into the market at any time.

Jonathan Smoke is realtor.com®’s chief economist.

Hopefully the Market will open more doors. Things are still tight, but with the changes in the control of Congress, should be a plus.

A gift for all Seasons