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for Homes in Jupiter, Homes in Palm Beach Gardens and Homes in North Palm Beach

Below are the tools you need to start your search for real estate. First time buyers would first get preapproved for a loan if financing is required. There are two mortgage companies listed below but most any would do. Knowing what you can afford is the main decision as it determines what areas you could look in. Use the search button above to search for homes in your price range and learn the market prices. As you get familiar you will be able to tell me the type and area you want. I will discuss homes available and suggest ones you might like. Decide on ones you would like to visit and I will make arrangements with the owner or other agents (we pool real estate in palm beach county). Most only look at 5 or so properties.

For a Comparative Market Analysis of properties now on the market with recently sold similar homes, to assist with negotiating a "best price" offer. Please fill in the North Palm Beach Florida Real Estate and Palm Beach Gardens information request Form to provide me with your specific home requirements.

Please see the Process of Buying to get a better idea of what happens during a purchase.
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Most insurance companies will not issue a policy when a hurricane is near. What this means is that often the closing will be postponed until it passes. Once you have gotten a satisfactory inspection you should have your insurance company already arranged. You can not have a mortgage without insurance! Prices vary greatly but I use .75% of the purchase price (+- 100%) as an estimate of yearly payment. If your house is over 50 years old you may need a 4 point insurance inspection.

When comparing lenders the issue of points often comes up. A point is 1% of the loan value collected up front. It is equivalent to about 1/8% added to the base rate of a loan. Therefore a 6% interest rate and 1 point would be approx. equal to 6-1/8% rate.

When would you be interested in paying points? If you divide the money paid for points by the monthly savings on the mortgage then paying points would start to make sense if you stayed in the house longer than that number of months as at that point you would begin to see savings on the loan.

Get a good faith estimate from two or more lenders before committing to a mortgage.

HOA is a homeowners association. Normally in a single family community they often take care of the common areas (clubhouse, streets, guard or gate) and sometimes the front yards, backyards, cable, security or other items-see the listing sheet. Its paid for by a mandatory fee in most cases. Rules can be very relaxed or fairly strict. Some restrict pets and trucks.

POA Is typical in places like PGA National which has separate HOA's for each community. The POA takes care of the elements common to all the HOA's (streets, guards, etc). Often this is a separate fee.

Condo Associations-When you do not own the land under your home you are most likely in a condominium. Normally in these you are responsible for the inside walls of your unit and the fixtures, but the association maintains the outside and common elements. When calculating your ownership costs realize that a condo fee may seem high but they are paying most of the insurance on your unit.

Short Sales, Foreclosures

Short sales which are properties that a bank is about to take over and are selling often for less than the mortgage owed (still owned by the mortgagor and being sold with permission by the bank). Closing is often 45 days after the contract is signed (although this is changing in April for some loans). These can become bidding wars as other offers may be put in while waiting for the bank response. The price listed has not in most cases been approved by the bank but is often the least amount the bank would approve.

Foreclosures are sold at the court house after a judgment has been made against the borrower and they have been found in default. Often the bank will have a reserve and you will be bidding against professionals who do this for a living. Pre-foreclosures are often homes that have a lien placed on them but have not been foreclosed yet. Many of these are in poor condition as the owners no longer wanted to take care of them. Call me for a list of short sales if interested.
www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2008/0816.pdf

Once you have an address of where you would like to live, visit the school web page and you can enter it to see what schools you are in. But also read the notes about boundary changes and plans for new schools as you may discover you are not going to be in that school in the future.

Will at some point need to get a tax payer i.d. Normally most try to do this before the closing and it can be done very quickly. When they sell will need to file taxes because law requires the closing company to withhold taxes on foreign buyers.