Melbourne Real Estate News, Brevard County Florida by Sandy Shores Melbourne FL Realtor

I take pictures as I enjoy sharing them with others.  If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask. I am usually happy to accomodate the request,  however I would like mention that I took the photo.

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.

This launch marcks one of the last seven missions that will fly, before the program retires in the next 2 years. There are hopes that the program could be extended until 2015.

The seven member crew headed to the International Space Station will be leaving an engineer up in space, with other members already at the Space Station.  And they will be dropping off needed supplies.

It is a 2 week mission, where the 13 astronauts will work together unloading the Discovery's precious cargo.

We took these pictures in our driveway, where we typically view the launches. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't turn out better than they did.  The night launches are hard to catch on film at the distance we are from the launch site.

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.

This morning my husband and daughter, Sam came back from their workout at the gym.  They go 3 mornings a week and are usually home by at 6:45AM.  They both love it.  The gym is located in a large warehouse, a strip of storage units. 

Sam told me that as they were turning the corner, pulling up to the gym, the headlights in the dark caught the shadow of a person.  As they got closer, they could see a middle aged woman in only her bra and her underwear. She had soap in one hand and a garden house in the other.  She was taking a shower in the parking lot of the storage facility. They quickly turned away, to allow her some privacy.

As they entered the gym they couldn't stop thinking about the scraggly woman washing in the dark, cold garden hose.  Sam mentioned it to someone working out with her.  One of the members indicated that the woman lives in one of the units.  She washes in the hose a couple of days a week and stays there full time.

As they left, Sam turned to look. The woman's unit door was half open.  She had a bed, a chair and some miscellaneous items neatly placed inside of the tiny shed, not much bigger than the size of a bathroom. There is no air conditioning and no windows.

Sam came home in disbelief. "Mom, it's so sad to see someone like that."  She was really upset.

I think that often in our lives, we don't stop to realize how truly blessed that we are. So today, when you have a moment, stop and notice the beauty of a flower. And, be thankful for the wonderful life that you have.

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.

I take pictures as I enjoy sharing them with others.  If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask. I am usually happy to accomodate the request,  however I would like mention that I took the photo.

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.

Today, it seems that we have passwords for everything. On some days it feels like I have about a hundred of them, and I can't always remember what they all are. 

So what do you do?

According to talk show host, Clark Howard, there are some passwords to avoid. 

The top 10 are:

 1.  password

 2.  password 1

 3.  123456

 4.  abc123

 5.  letmein

 6.  monkey

 7.  qwerty

 8.  blink182

 9.  myspace 1

10. your name

These are the first passwords that a hacker tries, when they are attempting to access your account.

Clark also recommends that you don't use your birthdate, or a family members birthdate. Don't use the names of your children or your spouse.

Try to come up with something that is completely unrelated to you. And, be sure to have separate passwords for different accounts.  Then, the trick is to remember them all.

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.

Well, the good news just keeps coming in on the performance of the real estate market.  The National Association of Realtors has indicated that June marked the fifth month in a row that pending home transactions improved over the prior month.

If sales remain at the current pace, this year home sales may surpass last year's mark of a total of 4.9 million, at an annualized rate.  June home sales brought us to 4.89 million sales annualized.

We are seeing a dent in home inventories, including the number of foreclosed properties on the market. In June the inventory of homes for sale dropped to 3.8 million homes across the US, compared to 4.5 million properties in June 2008.  The projection is that the US could be down to an 8 month supply of homes on the market by December end. But, it is important to remember that real estate is local in nature. So, there will be variations in different areas on this information.

But, we still don't know what lies around the corner. Some feel that banks have an inventory of foreclosures on their books that they haven't placed on the market yet.  Are these properties purposefully being held back so as not to flood the market, and drag property values down? Or, are the banks backlogged, and unable to get through the masses of paperwork on those properties to get them on the market?

We know that many homeowners are struggling to make their mortgage payments. How long can they continue, before they decide to try to short sale it; to sell it for less than the mortgage balance? And today, the statistics on short sales are bleak at best. Recently, we are finding that some of the banks are becoming more aggressive in placing more demands on short sale owners, thus only about 1/2 of short sales are making it to closing.  So, those properties will eventually fall into foreclosure. So, in effect it will be like dominoes...one property at a time.

Some owners tell us they are waiting to put their house on the market, until the market improves.  Improves how much?  How long will that be?

And, don't forget November 30 the first time homebuyer tax credit expires.  This has spurred the market along. How will this affect the market, will it take a large group of buyers out of the market? These have been our lower priced properties, competing with investors and making multiple offers on houses under $120,000 in order to "win" the bid. This segment of the market has been quite brisk.

So, what does it all mean?  And, where do we go from here?

No one really knows for sure.

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.

Well, I opened my mailbox today, and there they were, the dreaded "Trim", Truth in Millage Notices of Proposed Property Taxes. No one really knew how the declining values in 2008 and 2009 were going to affect our taxes.  We were all hoping for a decrease in taxes to fall in line with the decrease in property values, but for many that may not be the case, as this means less revenue than previous years to the taxing authorities.

On my primary residence, the market value dropped by over $30,000, although the assessed value increased by $100.  So, my taxes are proposed to increase this year by $150 to $200.  This is allowed based on a 1995 ruling stating that even if a property value does not increase or if it decreases, as long as the assessed value on a homesteaded (owner occupied) property is less than the market value, assessed value can be increased by a maximum of 3% per year, under the Florida Save our Homes program.

On non homesteaded properties, there has now been a 10% cap placed on assessed values.  This means that owners of second homes, investment or rental properties will not see more than a 10% increase of their assessed value on their property each year.  In my case, based on the proposed bills I have received on my rentals so far, my taxes have dropped anywhere from $90 to $350 per property.  This is not surprising because my taxes at the peak of the market in 2005 nearly doubled on some of my rentals over a two year period of time (this was before the 10% cap was in place). So, taxes had no where to go but down.

For owner occupied properties, I have a pretty good idea that there are going to be many disgruntled homeowners that anticipated their taxes to drop with the drop in market values.  However, they will instead see increases.

If you have any questions regarding your proposed tax bills contact the Brevard County Tax Collectors Office at:

321-255-4440 in Melbourne

321-952-4574 in Palm Bay

321-690-6880 in Viera

321-264-6700 in Titusville

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.

I take pictures as I enjoy sharing them with others.  If you would like to use any of my photos, please ask. I am usually happy to accomodate the request,  however I would like mention that I took the photo.

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.

When people sign a lease to rent a property of mine, I always remind them to get renter's insurance.  I explain that my insurance policy covers the building itself, the applicances and liability issues that may arise.  However, my policy does not cover their belongings in the event of fire, theft, and natural disasters.

Renters insurance typically covers your belongings in the event of:

fire or lightning strikes or smoke

wind or hail storms

explosion

theft

vandalism or theft

damage from vehicles or aircraft

riot or terrorism

falling objects

faulty plumbing, air conditioners, heating

These items may vary depending on what part of the country you are in.

Floods are usually not covered in a renters policy. This requires a separate flood policy. Also, in hurricane regions you may need an additional rider to cover wind damage.

Many tenants that move into a property tell me that they don't have enough things to lose should something happen.  Well, not so fast, if you have a fire and you lost everything, how would you manage without insurance to help you cover the cost of buying everything from the start? So many people think that it will never happen to them. Well, unfortunately it does and it's too late then.

A renters policy with contents coverage and liability can cost anywhere from $180 a year to $250.  Now that's cheap to replace everything that you have, should you have a catastrophe.

So before you say "no" to that renter's policy, talk to someone that has suffered a loss, and see what their feelings are on the subject. It's $20 a month for the peace of mind it can bring. I know two different families that lost everything they owned in two different fires, (they were not both my tenants) and neither had any insurance. They both have insurance now and always will.

NOTE: In checking on policies, be sure to talk to your insurance agent and find out whether they are quoting the policy with actual cash value or replacement coverage on your items.  Actual cash value allows you the amount the item was worth on the day of the loss. The items value has been depreciated over time.

Replacement coverage pays what it costs to replace the item today. Find out which is best for you.

On every lease my tenants sign there are three different places in which I remind them to get renters insurance, and it is explained in detail.  They are required to sign off in all 3 places.

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate & Investing

I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.