Builder Makes Alexa a New-Home Standard
DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018

Lennar, the nation’s largest homebuilder, announced a deal with Amazon that will make voice-activated digital assistants a standard feature in its new homes, as well as other smart devices. The new homes will include built-in Wi-Fi, smart locks, doorbells, thermostats, and lights that can be controlled by Amazon’s voice-activated digital assistant, Alexa. 

“This will be the hallmark of why we buy a new home,” says David Kaiserman, president of Lennar Ventures. “It’s an important step in the mass adoption of all these technologies.” 

Every new home from Lennar will come with two Alexa-enabled smart speakers, an Echo Show and an Echo Dot. The builder will also give home buyers a complimentary visit from an Amazon technician to teach them how to operate everything. 
Lennar and Amazon announced Wednesday that they will be opening eight model homes across the country to showcase the technology.

“We want to be able to walk into one of these model homes and see how it all works in a real house, so they can see how much it would simplify their lives,” says Nish Lathia, general manager for Amazon Services. “It’s super addictive.” 

Voice assistants have been growing in popularity. About 18 percent of Americans this year use a smart speaker at least once a month, according to eMarketer, a digital marketing firm. Amazon holds the majority of the market share, but Google and Apple hope to change that. 

Source: “Amazon’s Alexa Will Be Built Into All New Homes From Lennar,” USA Today (May 9, 2018)

This is a GREAT time to buy a second home here on the Emerald Coast.  Many here believe we will see the continuation of home values in the next coming year. Because of this belief it has brought in to the area more people wanting to purchase this year.  
The stock market is up and many are enjoying an increase in their portfolios as well as their 401k.  We are seeing more and more buyers now wanting to keep their money in the market and finance the second home purchase. Financing a second home for lenders is what they do and most of the time the interest rates are competitive to a primary home purchase with the required down payment requested by the lender. 

However in the past 10 days and happen again yesterday I have been asked about the availability of 100% financing of a second home three different times. They share with me they have either heard or they tell me they know someone who has done this type of mortgage recently. While I know a little bit about financing and how it relates to a sale of property, I respond to them - you should always seek out your options with a proficient lending expert who can provide assistance with structuring your mortgage for the purchase.  

But I did make some calls yesterday to local mortgage lenders and banks to see if any new loan products have come to the area allowing for a one loan 100% second home purchase. (answer was no) however they all shared with me about the three ways of doing this that we have seen buyers employ in the past. 

1. Use the equity line of credit on another property you already own as the down payment – this is the most common method we see used to purchase second homes when a buyer is looking to have minimum to no money down at the time of purchase.  Equity in a current home is considered an asset you already own, normally all that is needed from you by the lender is to provide terms and conditions of the loan so when qualifying  they can add this to the debt ratio.  

2.  The Pledged Asset Mortgage (mostly offered by your brokerage house) - this feature allows you to increase the size of the loan on your home up to 100% of the value of the real estate, by pledging the additional assets in the form of a securities account in lieu of the normal down payment.  The Home Loan will be secured by both the home and the Pledge Account. A Pledged Asset Mortgage involves pledging securities as collateral for a home loan in lieu of making a cash down payment. By using the Pledged Asset Mortgage feature, you are subjecting the investment in a home to the fluctuations of the securities market.  The Pledge Amount varies based upon your effective Loan-to-Value determined during the application process of a first mortgage loan. Normally the value of the securities held in the Pledge Account must be maintained at the Pledge Amount.  If the value of the securities in the Pledge Account falls below the agreed-upon Floor Amount, the owner of the Pledge Account must deposit into the Pledge Account acceptable securities or other collateral to stay in compliance with the terms of the home loan. Many of these type loans allow you to continue to trade the securities in the Pledge Account.  

 3. Cross-collateralisation Mortgage 
Cross-collateralisation occurs when more than one property is used to secure a loan. For example, a person owns Property A and wants to purchase Property B without using any of their own funds. The bank can use both properties as collateral for the new loan.  Cross-collateralisation may often seem to be an appealing option to a buyer, but I have been told it puts banks in a stronger position as it provides them with greater control over the properties. One lender said it has a benefit initially, in that he or she has not had to use their own cash to acquire the second property; however this strategy does have the potential to negatively impact future opportunities.  
1. LOSS OF FLEXIBILITY
If a property is cross-collateralised it can limit severely the way in which sale proceeds may be used if sold. 
2. INCREASED COMPLEXITY 
It is often the case that every property in a cross-collateralised portfolio needs to be re-valued whenever one property is released. 
3. LIMITED PRODUCT CHOICE
Regardless of one’s asset position, many banks will want to control the type of loan that they will make available to a buyer when his or her aggregate debt with them is high. The lender said if can often be a better strategy for a buyer to use multiple lenders and therefore gain access to the most suitable loan products.
4. CHANGING LENDERS CAN BE DIFFICULT AND COSTLY  
When a loan(s) is secured by multiple properties, the establishment fees are usually higher as they include charges for ‘additional’ security. (both properties) This cost can be compounded when an owner wishes to move those cross-collateralised properties from one lender to another.
5. EQUITY ACCESS
If the equity in the property increased value over time is inaccessible.

Hope this was helpful! If your looking to purchase a second home call me, I would be happy to help you with finding your dream home. 

Key changes to Full Review Condos. 
The pre-sale requirement for new projects has been decreased from 70% to 50%.
The number of days for which 15% of unit owners may be past due on common expense assessments has been increased from 30 days to 60 days. 
The additional flexibilities include increasing the allowable commercial space allocation from 20% to 25% for condo projects, allowing a single entity to own up to 2 units in a project consisting of 5 to 20 units, specifying the situations under which up to 15% of non-incidental business income is allowed, and permitting live-work projects that allow unit owners to operate small home-based businesses from their residential dwelling.
Additional requirements include prohibitions against projects that require mandatory fee-based memberships and projects that operate as continuing care facilities.
Guidance was added concerning how to research and confirm whether a project is, in fact, functioning as a condohotel and clarifying the circumstances under which boat slips, cabanas, or similar non-real estate property are acceptable as project amenities.

 I know it easy to say that new is better right?  Me:  I would say…not so fast.  So many of our clients are re-falling in love with the mature communities, the roads are curvy and  lined with some most spectacular eye-catching Florida oaks that provide a splendid cooling shade as you drive.  Today finding the right community is very important to the lifestyle of buyer and some of these remarkable older neighborhoods are just what they are looking for.  How many times have you heard, I really like this community but the house is not what we are looking for, it seems old or tired.  Today when I list a home that looks like it might be in need updating – I try to find out what it would cost and to my surprise many times the owners have already gotten quotes.  In today’s real estate market there are loan programs available where a buyer can purchase and remodel the home all with the same loan at the time of purchase. This has made much of our older inventory more attractive to future buyers who are looking for the best of both worlds “new and stable”   Remember age is never a dis-qualifier - the only dis-qualifier is that we can see it.  

Click here to see some of our Homes 

Do you want  the most current up to date listing on your phone or tablet and with the ability to find homes or condos around you? What video below and click here to get your new App. or just text the word homesearch108 to 32323

A lot of people don’t know the flood map is not set in stone,” “understand they are limited in many aspects, budget, resources and time available, and you can challenge it.”


Article From the Herald/Times 

Why are flood insurance rates rising?
Faced with a $24 billion deficit in the National Flood Insurance Program, Congress passed the Biggert-Waters Act to help make the program more fiscally sound. 

How does a homeowner know if his or her property is currently subsidized?
The insurance premium rate sheet includes a one-page summary that lists the flood zone as well as a box indicating if the rate is grandfathered or not. If “yes” is checked, the property is grandfathered, indicating the property was likely built before the National Flood Insurance Program was federally mandated and benefits from a subsidy.

What will happen to my rates if my rate is “grandfathered?”
Until now, the federal policy was to allow property owners who maintained payments on their flood insurance to receive the subsidized rate and avoid the rate shock of having their insurance match the true market rate. Under the Biggert-Waters Act, property owners who have subsidized policies for non-primary residences and commercial property will see annual increases in their rates of 25 percent until the rate matches the full risk rate.

Property owners with subsidized rates who sell their home, allow their policy to lapse or purchase a policy for the first time, will no longer be eligible for subsidies starting this month and will be charged the full risk rate.

What is a “full risk rate”?
A full risk rate is one in which the premium takes into account the full range of possible flood losses, including rare but catastrophic floods.

How can a property owner find out what the property’s full risk rate will be?
Many factors influence the rate but the most important is the elevation of the structure in relation to the base flood elevation (or BFE.) A community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map (or FIRM) indicates the portion of that community that has a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding each year. That is considered the Special Flood Hazard Area, or high-risk zone. The higher the elevation of a structure above the base flood elevation, the lower the flood risk. This information is reflected on an Elevation Certificate, a form completed by a licensed engineer or surveyor.

What is the importance of the risk designation?
The higher the risk, the higher the premium. Under Biggert-Waters, the goal was to gradually phase out subsidies so that property owners were paying the true cost of the flood risk for their property.

FEMA uses various kinds of zone designations to determine risk:

• V zones are usually located near the ocean and are particularly vulnerable to storm surges. They are the highest risk, and premiums in this zone are the most expensive.
• A zones are usually located near a river, lake or stream, the second highest risk zone. Average premium is around $500 annually.
• B, C, X, and A99 zones are less prone to flooding.

How does a property owner know if the rate is an accurate reflection of the flood risk?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency bases its risk assessment on flood insurance rate maps (or FIRMS) based on technical studies that evaluate the flood risk in communities and regions on a large scale. Because the maps do not investigate individual properties, are not updated annually and may not reflect significant changes that could affect water flow, some homes may be mapped in the wrong zones.

If a property owner knows of a change in structure or water body, a change in mangrove vegetation that could affect water flow, or suspects the map to be inaccurate, he can apply to FEMA to modify the map or the property’s risk designation.

“The areas where we see the most conservative mapping is along the coast, where flooding is associated with storm surge,” Cummins said. “As a layman, you have to ask what’s changed in my area? If you can tie that to something that affects water levels, you can call a professional and ask if the typography is represented in the flood map.”

How does a property owner challenge a flood map or risk designation?
Homeowners can file an application for a change after they raise the elevation of their property. They may also file a Letter of Map Revision (or LOMR) that asks FEMA to move the map lines based on a detailed survey, signed and sealed by an engineer, and provided by the property owners.

The property owner must supply FEMA with supporting material to justify their claim. It may be as simple as an elevation certificate or as complex as numerical modeling of wave impacts. All the supporting material usually requires three signatures: the professional engineer must validate the authenticity and technical validity of the information; the homeowner must agree to it; and, a local official must approve it.

It is expensive for most homeowners to hire an engineer to proceed with a detailed survey and it is not uncommon for a group of homeowners to pool their resources and get a community or area remapped.

How do you get an elevation certificate?
Every property in a flood zone already has had a surveyor certify the property’s elevation. The insurance agent then rates the property based on that elevation certificate. Elevation certificates may be part of a homeowner’s mortgage documents or be in their file with the insurance agent or lender.

Homeowners may also hire a surveyor to complete a new elevation certificate. The cost usually starts at about $200.