Belize Real Estate - Your Investment Choice

When the global economy started plummeting, so did the global real estate market. The Austrian Alps and other real estate markets around the world are not getting any sales, and real estate prices are yo-yoing at certain times when finally stopping at low real estate rates. This means that if you are planning to invest on real estate properties, where and when should be the question you should be asking yourself.

The thing is, Belize real estate has the answers to those questions. Located in Central America, Belize has a very tropical atmosphere that is coveted by everyone around the world. The country is receiving a steadily increasing number of tourists annually, making it the top visited country in the Caribbean. Belize is quintessentially Caribbean. It is a country of paradise that is protected, with unmolested beach shores unlike other countries in Central America.

More than half of the country�s total land area is made up of sanctuaries and nature reserves for endangered animals and exotic plants. The very first jaguar reserve can be found here, in the Cockscomb�s Basin Reserve, located in the southern region of the Belize.

Going for Belize real estate is a great choice to begin with when it comes to investing on properties since the opportunities are currently the best among the other nations in Central America, not to mention the advantage that you may be able to have. For starters, Belize is free from any inheritance taxes or capital gains tax. And if you�re worried about property taxes then for underdeveloped properties, the tax is approximately 1%. These are simply the benefits an investor can have when investing in Belize. Retirees also have additional perks when retiring and investing on a retirement home here. Retirees can take advantage the benefits of being exempted from taxes such as income tax from outside the country, import taxes and more.

The appreciation rate of Belize real estate properties is the highest in Central America, ensuring a higher capital value with your investments in the future. And since the world economy has had its effects on real estate prices, don�t be surprised if the prices in Belize are very affordable. In fact, it is widely known in Central America that Belize properties are considerably low. People have found it very affordable to purchase waterfront properties without worrying about the prices since they are inexpensive.

The affordability of properties here has attracted a lot of expatriates and the country has welcomed these expatriates with open arms. Their population keeps on growing as time passes by making the Belizean locals a wildly diverse melting pot of races and cultures.

Besides all these, the thing that Belize can truly give you is security on your investments and properties. The country has a very low crime rate despite the diversity of races living in one place and the amount of spontaneous heinousness is also very low.

People who invest on vacation homes and retirement homes only look at Sanctuary Belize, a community that exudes paradise in affordable luxury. They have financial options to help you further on purchasing properties here.

About the Author

Belize - simply a paradise. Own a piece of that Jewel now! SanctuaryBelize.com is the best belize real estate for you. They offer buyers from all walks of life, the opportunity to maximize the benefits of property ownership in Belize. No other community offers such abundant natural beauty, modern amenities, and return potential - for so little investment.

Benefits of Using Online Real Estate Marketing

Online real estate marketing is the ability to search on the internet to discover some of the houses, apartments and other rental units for sale or lease. Many people are busy attempting to juggle different careers and hardly obtain the time to look around visiting one place and the other to find the ideal house. The real estate sector is continuing to grow big and the clients are looking for more options and can find the easiest way that will save them effort and time. Imagine sitting in the convenience of your workplace and you get the chance t see the various houses all around the globe! This is the ease that many shoppers want and they'll trust it a lot more than the virtual means of going in one place and travelling another distance to determine yet another bit of property. Many companies have found it super easy to find the clients attention and they'll just need to have the complete details of the house and give it to the client. This is in type of clear-cut images that demonstrate all of the corners from the property, the exact location, the nearest social amenities along with the price of the home. Once each one of these details are displayed, the customer will contact the agent and they'll meet.

Creating the real estate blogs is quite easy but obtaining the clients, attention is quite hard. The online channel is extremely competitive and you've got to stand out of the other sources. You should execute our own research and find out exactly what the clients want. Once you know what they desire, the next thing is to obtain the properties and put them in the site. Getting the site in position is not enough and you'll have to market the blogs through link building and advertising within the online media.

The majority of the real estate blogs are accessed with the search engine. This really is using the search engine optimization and the utilisation of the keywords. The website will get reviews from different people and this will even allow it to be well-known. This type of marketing is affordable and several people will think it is simple to use this method. Additionally you have to focus on a specific market before you decide to proceed on with another areas. This channel will save the company around the operational costs and also the advertisement costs. Additionally, you will connect using the clients with the chats once they go to the site and you'll have the chance to provide them with all the details that they need. Updating the blog all the time and achieving fresh information will definitely get more clients. 

About the Author

When it comes to article marketing for Real Estate marketing or any other blogs for that matter, an effective keyword strategy is very important.Click at here To get know more about real estate blog.

Spring Housing Market Could Be Best In YEARS!

Thanks to CNBC’s Diana Olick for another great housing report (is there another housing reporter other than Diana?)

Housing is showing signs of having FINALLY bottomed!

Here are the facts:

Distressed sales are now 32% of the market.

ALL cash buyer are 31%.

Home sales INCREASED in December. I think this is not a small point. When was the last time that housing sales INCREASED in December? (never)

The overall supply of homes has dropped from 11 months to 6.2 months.

National Association of Realtors is calling this a substained recovery. Meaning, we have seen consistently positive housing reports over the last 90 days. Granted, these positive reports have been mere blips on the radar. We will take all the positive blips- positive momentum we can get!

Diana makes a point that does put some water on the optimistic fires of recovery: 6,000,000.

Thats the number of homes currently being held in the banks shadow inventory. One way or another those will become listings for REALTORS (YOU?) For the housing market to truly turn the corner we must clear that inventory. How long will that take…what do you think?

Metro Atlanta has shown a significant increase in just over the last 6 months.  Buyers are no longer sitting on the sidelines and watching.  They are actively become participants in a rise towards home-ownership.

Why Landlords Charge High Security Deposits

If you’re renting an apartment and you wonder why the landlordcharges a high security deposit, it could be because they’ve been burned by inconsiderate tenants who trashed rental units, moved out in the middle of the night or perhaps left an awful mess in what is considered an important investment by the owner.  Landlords don’t take too kindly to that, and often charge higher security deposits to cover the possibility of it happening again.  However, this is not the only reason landlords charge higher security deposits.

The main reason a landlord may charge more is if a tenant throws up red flags to the landlord or property managementcompany during the application process.  These red flags may or may not be intentional, but can include:

• Not properly filling out or completing all of the application fields.  Incomplete information on an application can come across to the landlord as the tenant might be hiding or avoiding something.
• Details are sketchy.  If you’re not exactly sure of dates or how long you lived in your last rental property, don’t guess at it; be sure and accurate.
• The previous landlord references won’t divulge any information… good or bad.
• The tenant has already started off requesting renovations to the property or making demands for lower rents if they do the renovation work, when they haven’t even turned in their application yet. This is a sign that the tenant may not be able to afford the place.

This is all in addition to the obvious reasons of misrepresentation of facts, embellishments and other white lies, big and small.  To some, this might seem like an automatic denial of a tenant’s rental application.  However, when the market is tight, sometimes a landlord has to take a chance on a flawed application in order to get the property rented and get their vacancy rates down. To mitigate risks, the landlord will charge a high security deposit, in the chance that the red flags end up as real issues.

Whether or not a landlord has been burned or even if there are no red flag warnings coming from the tenant, there might be other reasons that a landlord will ask for a double security deposit.  They may include:

• The landlord just remodeled the rental unit and they’d like to protect their investment.
• The tenant might have pets.
• Possibly the tenant hasn’t been on their job a long time, or they may be in a temporary status that is not secure employment.
• The landlord may have been burned by the previous tenant.  This is a tough situation for the current/new tenant moving into the unit.  It may not seem “fair” but the landlord has a right to do so.

Ultimately, the reasons for a high security deposit could be for nearly anything and the landlord doesn’t necessarily have to tell the tenant why they are charging more in most states.  As a landlord, if you feel you have to explain, it can generally be summed up with reminding the tenant that the security deposit is fully refundable.  As the tenant, you need to remember that as well.  The deposit is refundable and all parties need to make sure that the lease states as such.

Both landlords and tenants should be familiar with their state’s landlord and tenant laws.  It is typical that there is a cap on how much security deposit a landlord can charge or hold, such as no more than two month’s rent.  There are also other important things to watch for in state or city laws, such as time frames that a landlord has in refunding a tenant’s security deposit or itemize damages withheld.

The bottom line is that with a security deposit, no matter how large or significant it may be, it is most likely refundable.  As a tenant, do your part, take care of the unit, pay your rent, fulfill the terms of the lease and chances are you’ll get your money back.

Jessica Hickok is a REALTOR® Broker and Property Manager/Landlord with Dizmang Properties, Inc. (www.getpaul.com) in Springfield, Missouri. She can also be found on Twitter as @SugarCube.

FHA stays in the jumbo loan game

We've all heard stories about second-team players that were thrust into the starting lineup because the usual starters were not healthy enough to play -- or whose past performance did not merit a starting role.

The same was true for the Federal Housing Administration in 2011. It became the preferred default setting in the United States mortgage banking system -- again -- by default.

Just before Thanksgiving, when U.S. lawmakers moved to increase the maximum size of loans that can be guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, the message sent by Congress was that it would rather rely on an agency it more likely could control than two (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) that have not performed up to expectations.

Why promote two players whose playing time you wanted to reduce -- or which you might want to cut from the team entirely?

A spending bill passed by Congress restored to $729,750 the maximum size of a mortgage that can be backed by the FHA, which insures loans to buyers with down payments as low as 3.5 percent.

While the move pacifies the huge lobbying efforts of the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders who called for more incentives to lure homebuyers, it also puts additional pressure on an agency that was never designed to shoulder such a load.

"FHA was built as a backstop, not a primary field," said Brian Montgomery, former FHA commissioner who is now a partner at the Collingwood Group LLC, a business consulting firm. "When I came in 2005, FHA had about 3.5 percent of the forward market. Now, it has upward of 30 percent of the market, plus the HECM, and basically the same number of employees."

The HECM, or Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, is the nation's most popular reverse mortgage program and insures more than 85 percent of all reverse mortgages.

The bottom line is that Congress did not want to do anything to promote, enhance or support Fannie and Freddie, two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) created to make mortgage funds more available and affordable for U.S. borrowers. With so many members of Congress now questioning the government's role in housing, coupled with the huge losses sustained by Fannie and Freddie, legislators were unwilling to change how the GSEs set their maximum loan ceilings.

In a nutshell, Congress threw the housing industry a bone by reinstating higher FHA limits but attempted to show its displeasure by keeping its two biggest players on the bench.

According to a formula established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), loan-limit changes for Fannie and Freddie are based on average price increases or decreases from one October to the next. There is a benchmark number to protect a downside slide, limiting the actual "floor" amount while providing for a rising ceiling. Since the Federal Housing Finance Agency found that prices declined just about everywhere, the national ceiling was left unchanged.

Ironically, it used to be the other way around. Fannie and Freddie were the darlings of all things mortgage and FHA was viewed as the problem child (investigations of former HUD secretaries, and allegations that some programs were labeled "inept, detrimental and costly" by the Office of Inspector General).

Periodically, some members of Congress wanted to see the Federal Housing Administration taken out of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and put into the private sector. For years, "government housing" options -- specifically FHA loans -- were perceived only as being problematic and heavily wrapped in red tape.

Three years ago, when money was tight and jumbo mortgages became so difficult to find, FHA became a sort of safety valve for many mortgage brokers. Some lenders reported that FHA loans made up nearly 40 percent of their business, nearly double the volume of the past five years combined.

The government's answer was to balance the problem by giving lenders more money so that they could lend it back to consumers and small businesses. The cash never really came back in a way it was designed.

So, late this year, FHA was again named to be the ultimate team player -- providing more first mortgages, reverse mortgages, purchase-rehab loans -- while waiting to see if it will ever get help from its fading stars or possibly new players in the private sector.

Tom Kelly's new e-book, "Bargains Beyond the Border: Get Past the Blood and Drugs: Mexico's Lower Cost of Living Can Avert a Tearful Retirement," is available online at Apple's iBookstore, Amazon.com, Sony's Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Diesel eBook Store, and Google Editions. 

BY TOM KELLY, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2011.

Inman News®

How to Find and Choose a Buyer's Agent

Question: How to find and choose a buyer's agent?

What kind of questions should I ask to help me choose a good buyer's agent?

Also, since I've not decided where to buy, can I have different agent for different area?  Maybe one for Forsyth County, one for Douglas County.  I'm not sure if agents can work other counties and/or if I can't find one that I like and is familiar with both areas.


Answer:  
Some questions to ask:
1. What makes you different? You want an agent that thinks outside the box.  Finds the deals, knocks on neighbors doors to get the details.  You want an agent that knows where to find the homes not yet on the market.

2. What is your companys track record and reputation in the market place? (ask for past clients to contact)   Always ask for references, especially as a buyers agent.  You are about to allow this person to drive you around town.. you want to at least know they are a decent driver.

3. What has your company sold in my area?  Work with an agent that is associated with a National Brand.  Tools agents use make the difference in finding deals.  

4. What have you assisted clients in buying in my area?  You want an agent that has sold or purchased in your areas of interest.  However, if they are an experienced agent in a surrounding county, ask them how they will find the right home for you in a county they've never bought or sold in.

5. On average, how close are the original offer prices you submit for your buyers to the actual final agreed purchase price?  This is a tough question.  Agents have to fight on two real estate fronts.  If they represent the seller, they are fighting for the highest price.  If they are working for the buyer, the lowest amount the sellers will take.  You don't want to associate yourself with an agent that works only for the commission, you want an agent that is building a business.  

6. What happens if I am not happy with the job you are doing? Can I cancel our relationship?  If an agent won't let you go, you have to question their motive.  Get this answer in writing.

7. Do you work full time a Realtor?  Don't deal with part-time agents.  They miss all the deals and your have to work around their schedule.  I could write a book on buyers and sellers regretting their selection of a part-time agent.


Metro Atlanta Home Team

Mortgage rates rebound from all-time lows

Mortgage rates surveyed by Freddie Mac bounced back from historic lows this week, but aren't expected to soar in the New Year.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.95 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Dec. 29. That's up from 3.91 percent last week -- an all-time low in records dating to 1971 -- but still well below the 2011 high of 5.05 percent seen in February.

The 30-year fixed-rate loan has averaged at or below 4 percent for the past nine consecutive weeks, Freddie Mac noted in releasing the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.24 percent with an average 0.8 point. That's up from 3.21 percent last week, an all-time low in records dating to 1991, but down from the 2011 high of 4.29 percent registered in February.

For 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans, rates averaged 2.88 percent with an average 0.6 point. That's up from 2.85 percent last week, an all-time low in records dating to 2005, but down more than 1 percentage point from the 2011 high of 3.92 percent seen in February.

Rates on 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM loans averaged 2.78 percent with an average 0.6 point. That's up from 2.77 percent last week, an all-time low in records dating to 1984, but  down from a 2011 high of 3.4 percent in February.

Freddie Mac's rate survey is based on loans offered to borrowers with good credit scores who will be making down payments of at least 20 percent. Borrowers with damaged credit or making smaller down payments can expect to pay higher rates.

Mortgage rates are largely determined by demand for mortgage-backed securities (MBS), bonds that fund the vast majority of home loans.

The Federal Reserve helped push mortgage rates down in 2009 and 2010 by buying $1.25 trillion in MBS. Since then, the European debt crisis has helped keep mortgage rates down, as investors seek the relative safety of government-backed mortgage bonds, whose payments are guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.

In a Dec. 20 forecast, economists at Fannie Mae project that rates for fixed-rate mortgages will average 4.0 percent in 2012 and 4.3 percent in 2013, down from 4.5 percent this year and 5 percent in 2009.

The Mortgage Bankers Association predicts rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans will average 4.2 percent in 2012 before rising to 4.7 percent in 2013. The National Association of Realtors projects rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans will hold steady at 4.5 percent in 2012.