The economy is growing and there are job gains, so consumers have the financial wherewithal to purchase homes. Sure, the rise in rates has been inhibiting buying recently. A lot of the boom markets that boomed over the last several years are cooling off and home sales are dropping. But if the economy were in a recession, this would be worse. And mortgage rates aren’t rising too high — they’re only going up to 7% by the end of the year.

The last two years of the boom were exaggerated because of lending. There were more loans, such as negative amortization loans, allowing people to put off their debt payments until later. In some metropolitan areas, this exaggerated home prices and increased them further than they should have gone. To that extent, there’s some risk in those local markets. For example, if you take any local market in California, they’ll have interest-only loans and adjustable-rate mortgages because prices got too high. If mortgage rates increase, then some of those markets are vulnerable. But the forecast isn’t for interest rates to go up significantly. I have mortgage rates going to 7%, not to 10%. (more…)

search for : mortgage rates, negative amortization loans, interest-only loans

Slow sales and dropping prices aren’t normally the stuff of real estate industry presentations. If they are mentioned at all, they are usually quickly skipped over or tempered with a quick nod to other, more positive economic signs. The housing industry, from Realtors to developers to builders, must adapt to weather the rough waters that are probably ahead for the real estate market. Homebuilders must provide products that focus on quality, not quantityt. Gone are the days when cookie-cutter designs that scrimp on design will be snatched up by buyers who are eager to get into the home-buying frenzy.

Concern about what will happen when the payments on all the loans taken out last year increase plagues many builders. If home prices do not rise significantly many borrowers with interest-only loans could be stuck with higher mortgage payments. Absent higher prices, the buyers won’t be able to refinance by cashing in on anticipated equity. It’s the loans that were taken out in 2005 that there’s an upside-down concern about. However, if those borrowers had two- or three-year introductory terms, many borrowers will manage to maintain their payments. It’s possible that borrowers could be actually helped in the next few years if interest rates — and consequently mortgage payments — come down. (more…)

search for : Slow sales, dropping prices, real estate, Realtors, home prices, borrowers, interest rates, mortgage payments

No other word quite equates to “indulgence” than “spa.” While California is generally known as the Queen of Spa Land, the South, mostly recognized for its grits and gravy and sweet potato pie, is quickly becoming the runner-up princess for a spa escape. Not all great spas are in big cities like Atlanta, Nashville, and Miami, though, so some may take quite the effort to get there. Consider these few options dappled over Dixie to say “Ah! Spa!”

Georgia’s Sea Island is tiny — only five miles long and a couple of miles wide — but it is perhaps most famed for its glorious isolation and stunning natural beauty. Edged by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and endless acres of salt marsh on the west, nature and quiet reign here among the massive oaks, willowy pines, Spanish moss, and crayon-colored foliage. The internationally acclaimed resort’s spa treatments are simply yummy, especially the “Georgia Mud Pie Wrap and Soak” that detoxifies and warms, and the “Ambrosia Body Scrubs” in flavors of coconut, lemon chiffon, and bamboo. Contact Sea Island toll-free at 800-732-4752 or visit www.seaisland.com. (more…)

search for : spa, Dixie, Georgia’s Sea Island, Atlantic Ocean, Georgia Mud Pie Wrap and Soak, Ambrosia Body Scrubs, seaisland.com

Over his six-plus decades, John Santosuosso has cultivated a soft spot for outcast nations, animals, and even plants. But none of that has kept him from earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in the stock market. To the contrary, he says, those values have for nearly two decades guided him to promising companies, often in far-flung places he’s researched as a professor of political science at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla. To him, a country known to brokers as an “emerging market” is sometimes “a good place to put money” in a moral as well as a financial sense.

But having high ethical standards can also lull investors into complacency, according to Santosuosso. He says he held for too long his stock in Nortel, a Canadian communications firm that joined the Dow Jones North America Sustainability Index this year. He watched as a profitable track record vanished. His lesson for other ethically minded investors: Don’t get greedy - or self-righteous. (more…)

The land where some believe the early 19th century Fort Daniel once stood — now surrounded by development — is for sale. But county officials say the price may be too high to buy it for a park — especially when the exact location of the fort is a mystery. “It’s one of the most historic areas of our county, but not an awful lot is known about Fort Daniel,” said Ben Satterfield, chairman of the Gwinnett Historic Preservation and Restoration Board. “I don’t know that there is anything there. You can’t even see where the fort was.”

Satterfield said officials wanted $140,000 an acre for the lot at the corner of Ga. Highway 124 and Ga. Highway 324. A real estate agent is marketing the 4-acre tract along with another 6 acres beside it and wants to sell the entire 10 acres, Satterfield said.
“I don’t believe we’re going to be able to do anything,” he said. “I don’t want to spend the taxpayers’ money on something that isn’t worthwhile. The jury is out until we know more.”
Staffers in U.S. Rep. John Linder’s office have agreed to research the former stockade in the National Archives and the Gwinnett Historical Society is pulling together information.
“We’d like to know more about the historical significance,” he said. “Any history we lose we can’t get back.” (more…)

search for : Fort Daniel, Gwinnett Historic Preservation and Restoration Board

One in four Americans born from 1946 to 1964 own more than one property, according to a survey of nearly 2,000 boomers done this spring by Harris Interactive for the National Association of Realtors. They’re also much more likely than the total U.S. population to own their primary residences. Boomers have “an almost insatiable desire for real estate,” David Lereah, the NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement. They see real estate as “a way to build and protect a nest egg.”

Real estate ownership has become a key part of boomers’ retirement plans, says Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. That’s largely because the national savings rate is so low, she says, and the availability of pensions is declining. Unlike previous generations of retirees who tended to pay off their mortgages and live “rent-free” in retirement, many boomers see their homes as money in the bank, Munnell says. Many previous retirees also chose to hang on to a house to pass down to their children. (more…)

search for : National Association of Realtors, real estate, retirement, enter for Retirement Research, boomers

Stretching some 469 miles along the Southern Appalachian Mountains and linking two eastern national parks — Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and North Carolina/Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains — the Blue Ridge Parkway has often been referred to as “America’s Favorite Drive.”

It’s certainly the country’s first rural route — parts of it date back to 1930s (when construction began as a make-work project during the Depression) -– and one of its longest, with breathtaking scenery and dozens of recreational opportunities to distract you when you need to stretch your legs. (more…)

search for : Southern Appalachian Mountains, Virginia, Shenandoah National Park, North Carolina, Tennessee, Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, America’s Favorite Drive