SEE ALL MARSH CREEK HOMES FOR SALE HERE

FOR BUYERS ONLY REALTY. St Augustine’s and Ponte Vedra’s ONLY Exclusive Buyers Agents. St Augustine and Ponte Vedra real estate and homes for sale.
http://www.For-Buyers-Only.com.

For Buyers Only Realty Of St Augustine is the ONLY place where Buyers can get a Realtor who truly represents them!

We only work for YOU…..THE BUYER…..and NEVER the Seller!

There is absolutely NO CHARGE for using our Realtors….so why not contact us today!

FOR BUYERS ONLY REALTY OF ST AUGUSTINE.
Serving all of St Johns County, including St Augustine, Nocatee, Ponte Vedra, Ponte Vedra Beach, Vilano Beach, Anastasia Island, Crescent Beach, St Augustine Beach, and St Johns.

Disclaimer: For Buyers Only Realty is not affiliated with nor employed in any way by the Seller and/or builder. Information herein is deemed accurate but not guaranteed and is subject to change or discontinutation without notice. This information and video are provided “for informational purposes only” as a convenience to our potential and current Buyer-Customers and Buyer-Clients. As Exclusive Buyer’s Agents, not only do we work only for Buyers, but our company, also works with Buyers exclusively. As a member of NAEBA, we agree to abide by one of the highest Codes of Ethics in the real estate industry. These commitments allow us to develop a unique relationship of trust and care, which assures Buyers the best possible home buying experience.

Ocean Palms features low maintenance concrete block home. Choose from a traditional single family residence or a maintenance free patio home and enjoy all that Ocean Palms has to offer.

Ocean Palms is designed to be truly pedestrian friendly, featuring a complete sidewalk system throughout the entire community. You will be able to walk to everything–your home, the central community park, the river park and dock, plus the beach is only two blocks from our entrance.

Enjoy a sunset or cast a line from our community dock, relax by the pool, or take a nature walk over the boardwalk and enjoy 40+ acres of dedicated conservation land. Beautifully landscaped lakes and grounds enhance the natural beauty of the area. At Ocean Palms you can enjoy the beauty of nature close to home.

Among the amenities you’ll find at Ocean Palms is a community pool, park and pavilion building, picnic grounds, playground and kid’s wading pool, river park and fishing pier–all within your neighborhood.

SEE ALL OCEAN PALMS HOMES FOR SALE HERE

FOR BUYERS ONLY REALTY. St Augustine’s and Ponte Vedra’s ONLY Exclusive Buyers Agents. St Augustine and Ponte Vedra real estate and homes for sale.

For Buyers Only Realty Of St Augustine is the ONLY place where Buyers can get a Realtor who truly represents them!

We only work for YOU…..THE BUYER…..and NEVER the Seller!

There is absolutely NO CHARGE for using our Realtors….so why not contact us today!

FOR BUYERS ONLY REALTY OF ST AUGUSTINE.
Serving all of St Johns County, including St Augustine, Nocatee, Ponte Vedra, Ponte Vedra Beach, Vilano Beach, Anastasia Island, Crescent Beach, St Augustine Beach, and St Johns.

Disclaimer: For Buyers Only Realty is not affiliated with nor employed in any way by the Seller and/or builder. Information herein is deemed accurate but not guaranteed and is subject to change or discontinutation without notice. This information and video are provided “for informational purposes only” as a convenience to our potential and current Buyer-Customers and Buyer-Clients. As Exclusive Buyer’s Agents, not only do we work only for Buyers, but our company, also works with Buyers exclusively. As a member of NAEBA, we agree to abide by one of the highest Codes of Ethics in the real estate industry. These commitments allow us to develop a unique relationship of trust and care, which assures Buyers the best possible home buying experience.

But buyers shouldn’t be complacent. The latest MBA forecast says rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages could rise the last three months of this year and continue to go up next year. Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist sees the housing market “firming,” citing CoreLogic’s National House Price Index, up three months in a row. Another study showed the number of homes listed for sale in Q2 at its lowest level since 2007. Home values also fell at a slower pace in Q2 and 19 markets showed quarterly gains!

You can’t sugar coat last week’s stock market performance, the worst drop in over two years. You also can’t come up with a consistent explanation for why investors were so intent on selling. Congress and the President reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and it did have something for everyone. Government spending will still rise this year and continue for the next 10. Yet government size will also shrink, as federal spending is slated to drop by about 2% of GDP in the next 10 years. Some worried the U.S. would lose its AAA credit rating, which finally happened Friday night, but others think that will actually help Washington get fiscally serious.

Bearish Wall Streeters fretted about recession, with lower than expected ISM Manufacturing and Services readings. But these were still both above 50, indicating expansion, 24 months in a row for manufacturing. Personal Income also grew less than expected in June and Personal Consumption dipped a smidge. But in the past year income is UP 5% and spending UP 4.4%. The recessionistas were silenced by Friday’s July Employment report — 117,000 new jobs, plus May/June revisions adding 56,000, for a net gain of 173,000. The one bummer is still Europe. Italy says it’s not about to default but investors acted like it might.

For the week, the Dow ended down 5.8%, to 11445; the S&P 500 was down 7.2%, to 1199; and the Nasdaq was down 8.1%, to 2532.

Italian debt probs helped bonds all week, though prices retreated on Friday after Italy said it would speed up fiscal reform if the European Central Bank bought its bonds. The FNMA 4.0% bond we watch ended the week up .98, at $102.16. As covered above, national average mortgage rates headed south for the week, hitting new lows in some cases, in Freddie Mac’s weekly survey.

With the tepid economy, no one expects the Fed to touch the Funds Rate. But everyone will be carefully analyzing the policy statement coming out of the August 9 FOMC meeting for any indication if new quantitative easing (QE3) might be in the offing — another massive multi-billion dollar bond buying effort to kick-start the economy.

Observers do expect some positive economic news this week. Increased exports should shrink the June Trade Balance. On the consumer front, July Retail Sales are forecast stronger than a month ago, with and without auto sales.

Weaker than expected economic data tends to send bond prices up and interest rates down, while positive data points to lower bond prices and rising loan rates.

A MacroMarkets LLC study echoed this. More than 50% of the economists, real estate experts and investment strategists polled said they expect a bottom for national home prices this year. Almost two thirds of the respondents felt our residential real estate market is at an historic turning point.

The Wall Street Journal also reported this could be a good time to buy. The reasons? Mortgage rates are near 50-year lows; inventories are supporting a buyer’s market; and homes are more affordable than they’ve been in years. Moody’s calculates the ratio of home prices to income is now 20.9% lower than the 15-year average up through 2010.

Finally, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported demand for purchase loans was UP 4.8% from the week before and UP 11.7% from a year ago.

National average rates on fixed-rate mortgages nudged up a bit, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey. They’re still historically low, but some observers feel they could be heading up.

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Thursday’s New Home Sales showed a 2.1% drop for May, to a 319,000 annual rate, but this did beat expectations. The months’ supply fell to 6.2, as inventories dropped to their lowest level on record. Yet the FHFA home price index, which measures prices for homes bought with conforming mortgages, was up 0.8% for March, its largest monthly gain since 2005! The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported purchase loan demand down a seasonally adjusted 3.9% from the week before, but up 4.4% over a year ago.

BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK…Diversify. Don’t depend on one customer type, one sales channel, or one product or service. It’s great to specialize, but bring your expertise to new areas. And keep your marketing diversified: don’t let the web replace personal contact time.

>> Review of Last Week

ONE UP, TWO DOWN…It was a volatile week in stocks, with only the Nasdaq index up, while both the Dow and the S&P 500 were off. The up-and-down stock prices mimicked Wall Street’s responses to the economic situation. The week started on an up note, as Greek debt problems (which could impact U.S. banks) seemed closer to solution. But on this side of the pond, investors found little solace in Fed Chairman Bernanke’s admission that the economic recovery is slower than expected. He thinks food and energy prices will subside, but doesn’t have a clear take on why the slow pace of recovery persists. He also said that the majority of home sales “have much more stable prices than houses sold on a distressed basis,” as reported here on June 6.

The next day, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced it will release 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves, with half coming from the U.S., to make up for Libya’s shortfall. This should eventually bring down gas prices and calm inflation fears, both good for the economy. Q1 GDP was revised up to 1.9%, still well below Q4′s 3.1% growth rate. And on the jobs front, key to the housing market, new weekly unemployment claims edged up to 429,000. But corporate profits were up 12.1% annually and May Durable Goods Orders showed encouraging growth.

For the week, the Dow ended down 0.6%, at 11,935; the S&P 500 was down 0.2%, to 1,268; but the Nasdaq was UP 1.4% to 2,653.

Weaker stock prices and stronger concerns over European sovereign debt sent investors to the safe haven of bonds, whose prices benefited. The FNMA 4.0% bond we watch ended the week up .84, closing at $101.09. In Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, national average rates for conforming mortgages held at levels that are near the lowest for the year.

DID YOU KNOW?…Many of the first homes in the American colonies were built with bricks carried as ballast in ships sailing to the New World. Here, the bricks were sold for home building and replaced in the ships’ holds with goods being exported.

>> This Week’s Forecast

PENDING HOME SALES, INFLATION, CONSUMER CONFIDENCE…It will be interesting to see if Wednesday’s Pending Home Sales give us some positive signs about the state of housing sales a few months out. The expectation is for a small gain. The week begins with the Fed’s favorite inflation reading, Core PCE Prices, forecast to be up a benign 0.2% for May.

We’ll all watch for signs of improvement in Thursday’s Initial Unemployment Claims, but the figure should still be above the 400,000 threshold. Nevertheless, consumers aren’t too discouraged, as Tuesday’s Consumer Confidence and Friday’s University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index are both expected to hold steady for June.

>> The Week’s Economic Indicator Calendar

Weaker than expected economic data tends to send bond prices up and interest rates down, while positive data points to lower bond prices and rising loan rates.

June is National Homeownership Month, but the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA), an organization of real estate professionals who advocate for home buyers, cautions that, for some, this may not be a good time to become a homeowner.

According to 2011 NAEBA President Michael Crowley, “A potential home buyer needs to seriously consider at least five reasons that home buying may not be the best choice right now.”  Crowley mentioned mixed economic indicators and the potential for the market to turn soft again to a point where first time home buyers could potentially lose their down-payment and time invested in buying a home. “As the association that works to protect buyers and not just promote real estate sales, we sometimes need to stand up and point out these concerns,” he added.

Exclusive Buyer Agency is the practice of representing only buyers and never sellers in a transaction. The company never lists a seller’s property and thus never has a seller as a client.

Other NAEBA members voiced additional concerns:

Benjamin Clark, NAEBA Past President, suggested that buyers should feel they have a significant degree of job stability. “If there is any possibility you could be downsized or let go, or if finding similar employment in your area could be difficult, it might not be a good idea to jump into home ownership at this time.”

David Kennedy, a NAEBA broker from San Antonio, TX stated, “In this market home buyers should plan to stay in the home for at least five years.”

“If you anticipate a significant change in your family situation, it is often better to wait for it to be resolved before you buy a home,” commented Michael Byrd, a NAEBA broker from Grover Beach, CA. “Pending marriages or having children leave the nest can both mean major changes to your space needs and your commuting requirements.”

“Prices are down, but many buyers do not have a handle on repair costs. Many foreclosed and short sale homes have big-ticket deferred maintenance. Buyers, beware that bargain properties may not be a bargain,” says Rona Fischman, a NAEBA broker near Boston, MA.

In addition, buyers often get qualified by lenders based on only some of their expenses.  “It is still possible for a buyer to unwittingly over borrow, even in this market. Sometimes the amount that a lender will let you borrow should scare the heck out of you,” says Ed Bartlett, a NAEBA member in Spokane, WA.

NAEBA Executive Director Kimberly Kahl summarizes the concerns by saying, “Potential home buyers should be certain to look before they leap into this market, and that they have someone on their side who will protect their interests during the home buying process.”