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What's New in Punta Gorda? |
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Call Lise Johnson
800-788-1203-O
941-637-6116-O
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Five Star Realty
Your Hometown Realtor
SEPTEMBER 2012 |
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Hello!
October is a great time of year to be in Charlotte County as there are alot of activities going on! Make sure you check out the Octoberfest in downtown Punta Gorda on Oct. 5th, as well as the Octoberfest in Fishermen's Village on Oct 10th. This year there is also the Bayshore Wine and Beer Fest on Bayshore Dr. in Charlotte Harbor! This is just a sample of festivities so make sure you look into the area events link this month!
If I can assist you with your real estate needs or you want to get an idea of what is on the market-please contact me!
Lise |
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July-August Statistics
Punta Gorda-Pt. Charlotte
Below are numbers of homes/condos sold each month for the Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte area-prices are average. Total Units Homes Home Avg $ Condos Condo Avg $
July 292 253 $145,628 39 $123,239
August 288 239 $163,590 49 $111,400
There was an increase in sold condos in August and a slightly lower number of sold homes. Conversely the sold price of homes increased in August, while the average sold price of condos was lower compared to July.There were 9 homes sold over the $500,000 price point in August while 7 homes sold in the $400,000-$500,000 price range.
Below is a chart showing the number of listings vs. the sales prices updated through July 2012. This chart will be specific for Punta Gorda- zip code 33950. You can see that the supply of homes for sale- inventory- is dropping and the prices are bouncing along the bottom trying to head upwards.
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Citizens Insurance
On October 1st, the state will decide whether or not Citizens Insurance, the state-run insurance company, will approve a rate hike increase of up to 12% statewide. They have been increasing rates in order to push some of their existing customers to go with private insurers. Citizens currently has 1.4 million customers and insufficient money to cover a major disaster. There are also complaints of exorbitant re-inspection costs and excess company travel and legal costs. Word to the wise- get another high rated insurance company-not Citizens!
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Strategic Defaulters
Homeowners who have walked away from their mortgages that were underwater, even though they still had the means to pay,are called strategic defaulters. This group is now being targeted by the Inspector General at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
It is estimated that 20% of all foreclosures were done by strategic defaulters. This would amount to approximately $1 billion that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are trying to collect from these people. For those people who failed to disclose that they walked away from a previous loan, on any new loan application,the FHFA will be consider this to be mortgage fraud and they may be liable for criminal prosecution. |
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More News...
Future Scrub Jay Relief?
Charlotte County officials have been working on a plan with the US. Fish and Wildlife Service to resolve the rights of property owners, while safeguarding the Florida scrub jay. The plan is still years away from being enacted however it could help owners of about 18,000 lots to recover some of their land value. With the program, owners could pay as little as $1501 for a permit, as a mitigation cost. The county is looking at undeveloped areas east of Prairie Creek, to establish a scrub jay habitat preserve.
Impac Building
Charlotte County has decided to postpone the purchase of the W. Marion Ave, Impac complex until an assessment of the building is completed. They were moving quickly along, trying to meet a deadline of Sept. 14 to apply for a Federal grant. There was quite a bit of backlash from local taxpayers against the project so the County decided to take a step back. Applications for grants are submitted quarterly so this proposal may come up again in December.
Renting Vs. Buying
The real estate website Trulia, released its Summer 2012 Rent Vs. Buy Report and out of 100 metro areas around the country, buying is
definitely the way to go ! Rental rates are continuing to rise, while mortgage rates are still low. For a look at the entire report click here. |
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Possible Short Sale Costs
A 2007 law designed to help homeowners, which prevents the IRS from taxing "forgiven" money on a principle residence, may be expiring on Dec. 31, 2012. This leaves homeowners in a quandary-deciding whether or not to try and sell their house before the deadline or waiting to see if Congress will extend it. For more information check out this link .
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