Your Sandestin, Destin and South Walton-30A Real Estate Resource.

South Walton Lifestyle

8/25/2017

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Follow me to South Walton - Coastal Living

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Alerio Condominiums in Miramar Beach

8/18/2017

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Newest Luxury Condo in Miramar Beach, Alerio

Feast your eyes on morning SUNRISES over the Emerald Coast in this TOP floor luxury condo. Experience the Gulf's white sand and clear water in B403 by simply walking across the street. Perfect for dining in, as there is a full kitchen equipped with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, oversized pantry, and stack washer/dryer in hallway. A large high-top table by the window provides you with breathtaking views. Every room has a 58" Smart TV and is beautifully decorated with a beach theme including hardwood floors. Community amenities include a pool, hot tub, children's splash pad and a grilling area. As a rental it can occupy 10 comfortably, but is also a great place to call home. It is conveniently located near restaurants, shopping, golf and movie theaters.
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See all available units in Alerio

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Cassine Village in Seagrove Fl

8/18/2017

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Fabulous townhome in Cassine Village. If you are wanting to be in the middle of the action in Seagrove and only minutes to walk to the beach, let me show you Cassine Village.

LOVE THIS SIGN

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Blue Mountain Beach Retreat

8/11/2017

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Let me show you this great Blue Mountain Beach Retreat - reduced to $1,295,000.00

This stunning and graceful new home will capture you by its quality construction and impeccable design. The alluring sugar white beach is only half a block away from this peaceful Blue Mountain Beach community. This 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath home has gulf views, a salt-water pool and a great open floor plan. Beautiful re-sawed oak floors grace the floors and the ceilings are V-groove wood. The one-of-a-kind front door is made of spanish cedar. There is a formal dining room and an enormous gourmet kitchen. The kitchen cabinets are wainscoting and the pantry is one of the largest you will ever see. Additional features of the kitchen include top of the line, stainless steel appliances, a large kitchen island made of white ice granite, a wine refrigerator and icemaker.
A mud room leads you to the courtyard and pool. The second floor has the master suite and 2 additional bedrooms. The master bedroom has a private balcony and the master bath has a separate shower with twin showerheads, a double vanity and a lava limestone garden tub. The 3rd floor includes a bedroom, bunk room and 1 full bath. This brand new home is strategically placed in Blue Mountain Beach which is characterized by both lavish gulf front private residences, and simple Old-Florida cottages. It is one of 30A's most sought after communities; a paradise set on the highest elevation in the Gulf of Mexico. Monikered from the lush lupines that grow wild along the shores of one of 30A's coveted coastal dune lakes, Blue Mountain is truly the purveyor of the 30A lifestyle. This home is being sold furnished and rental ready.

VIRTUAL TOUR

Call 850-650-6985 to see this home!

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Financing Condos in a Resort Market

8/3/2017

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Financing Condos in a Resort Market Like Destin Can Be Tricky for Buyers and Sellers!

Financing Condos and Condotels in Destin, Miramar Beach and Santa Rosa Beach, Florida are very different because of the resort like qualities that most of our condominium complexes have along the Emerald Coast.

As we have noted in earlier post, choosing the right agent is very import when listing your condo for sale. As much as we all would like to have cash buyers when we sale our condo, we know that’s not the reality. The market and economy is bringing more buyers into our area and financing is growing to be a larger part of these transactions. This is good for sellers because with more buyers we should see increase of property values. As noted before if you are going to accept an offer and take your condo off the market, you as a seller have a right to know who is doing the financing. We hear the story all too often of sellers accepting offers and to find out a few weeks later the buyer can’t get it financed with their bank or lender and seller then looses those days on the market. A seller chooses a condo specialist and much of this can be avoided.

Same thought also applies to buyers as well. Choose an agent who knows condos! Someone who understands that if you want to finance then focus on what is available to you. This includes upfront having the discussion about what your goals are in purchasing a condo, what kind, max price, income generated, and how much you can put down. (Very important as the financing changes with down payment.) Just the other day I got a call from a frustrated buyer who had been working with another agent. The agent was very nice and seems like a good fit in the beginning but as they got into looking and making offers they became very frustrated with the process. See, the agent showed them many units in their price range and got them very excited but never asked them if they were financing and if so how much are you putting down (down payment). The agent showed them condos in 300k price range as asked by the buyers. But failed to know they were only able to put down 10%. Many of the condos that the agent showed (and got the buyer excited about) required 30% down or 60k more in down payment! Unfortunately this was unrealized until offer time. What a waste of the buyer’s time with them being here for only a week.

How even a strong borrower gets denied.
Financing condominiums along Florida’s Gulf Coast can be a very tricky process. The difference in financing a condominium compared to single family homes is that lenders are required to get the property approved in addition to merely approving the borrower. This is the main reason that I would NEVER recommend that a buyer use an out-of-town lender when financing a condo in Destin and the surrounding area. Lenders that are not located in this market are not familiar with our properties. Many of them have very unique characteristics which can make them difficult to get approved. Most out of state lenders are not familiar with these nuances. It is important to note that a loan can be denied because the condo is not approved no matter how strong a borrower is with credit/income. Even if the borrower has a top-tier credit score, high down payment, and low debt ratio, a lender will still deny the loan if they determine that the condo building has certain characteristics.

Condo or Condotel?

There are many reasons why a lender could deny a condo for financing. Here are a few:

The (HOA) may not allocate enough of their annual revenues to a reserve fund. (This is a big one)
The HOA may not carry adequate insurance coverage. (This can be fixed if HOA is willing)
There is too large of a percentage of investors as opposed to homeowners. ( If owner Occupied or 2nd Home this no longer is a issue)
Too many unit owners may be delinquent on their monthly HOA dues.
Condotel classification – The most common reason that I see a condo denied is that the out-of-market lender has classified the project as a “condotel” (Fannie has it on its un-available)

A condotel is condo that has many of the characteristics that are found in a traditional hotel, such as: availability of nightly rentals, daily maid service, registration services, central phone system, and resort-like amenities.

Loan Denials Late in the Process!!!
Many out-of-state lenders will not determine until several weeks into the process that the project does not meet their requirements. When this happens they deny the loan. Sometimes these denials come in the 11th hour of the loan process. This denial often happens after the lender has had the HOA complete a condo questionnaire; and this often happens after the borrower has paid for an appraisal and/or inspection quite often, these lenders will deny a building when a local lender could have actually approved the condo for conventional financing. Federal lending guidelines thru Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac do not necessarily classify a condo as a condotel simply because the project offers nightly rentals—but many out of town lenders will tell a borrower they cannot proceed with their loan as soon as this fact is uncovered! Generally, a local condo lender can or already has reviewed the condo project, to determine that the out-of-market lender is incorrectly classifying the condo project as a condotel. When this happens, the buyer is able to obtain a regular, conventional loan. This means better interest rates and terms too.
Lastly, most out-of-town lenders are not going to have a condotel loan program available in the event that the condo is accurately classified as a condotel. With many of the local condo lenders, they do offer condotel financing if the building is indeed a true condotel.

Call me and I will happily discuss your goals and needs and see if our team of condo specialists can help you find that perfect condo!!!

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Rosemary Beach Florida

8/2/2017

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Rosemary Beach is still growing!

It is getting to the point on the 30a that the communities like Rosemary, Alys and Seaside need no introduction or welcome signs, you know this is where you are! Rosemary is continuing to change, you are seeing homes being purchased for the lot and new homes being built in their place. As well as the new condominiums being built. Rosemary has an allure of sophistication where every you look. Have you seen the new art work in the green spaces? Or the new pool? Have eaten dinner at the Pearl? All are fun! Today Rosemary Beach is one of the go to places on 30a even for those not staying there. If your wanting more info about this wonderful exciting place on the beach call me and I will happily show you why it is in such high demand. http://bit.ly/RosemaryBeachhomesforsale