A short term rental income report just published by rented.com has selected Panama City Beach as the best place to buy rental property in the US this year.  The report factored the costs of homeownership versus the short-term rental potential comparing 120 US markets. This is the first publicly available objective assessment of short-term rentals from an investor’s perspective.

Best Performing as Measured by ROI:

Acquisition costs, local property taxes, home insurance, HOA’s and maintenance were taken into consideration. The short-term rental rate projections came from local management companies, actual Rented.com demand and Everbooked occupancy. Panama City Beach ranks at the top from an investor’s perspective due to the combination of affordable purchase price, high rental demand, and favorable regulations regarding short term rentals. Read the original report and article by rented.com here.

Dawn Dunlap, Broker for PROperty Connections Boutique specializes in helping investors acquire short term rental property in Panama City Beach. Call her for a private consultation at 850.814.5557.

After October 6th, Fannie Mae HomePath financing as we know it will come to an end. Current HomePath Mortgages offer low down payments, no mortgage insurance, expanded seller contributions, and other valuable incentives for owner-occupant buyers and investors on foreclosed homes in the Fannie Mae inventory.

Effective Oct. 7, both the HomePath Mortgage and HomePath Renovation Mortgage products will be discontinued. This comes at a time when foreclosures have fallen to its lowest level in six years. It’s not too late to find a great deal on a Fannie foreclosure and receive Homepath financing but you had better hurry! The general consensus is that the current program is far superior than the proposed changes.

Three new initiatives which they are characterizing as “financing flexibilities” will be replacing the HomePath programs.  These programs allow slightly higher loan-to-value limits for buyers financing 5-10 multiunit investment properties; allow “interested party” contributions of up to 6 percent of the selling price, up from 3 percent currently allowed;  and allow properties with Fannie Mae-imposed resale restrictions to qualify for Fannie Mae-backed mortgages.

HomeSteps Financing is a similar program offered by Freddie Mac for their foreclosed properties and is still available to select states including Florida.  HomeSteps offers some of the same incentives as HomePath such as no mortgage insurance, no appraisal and low down payment. A minimum 5% down-payment and closing within 45 days of escrow is required.

If you are considering purchasing a Fannie Mae foreclosure, in order to qualify you must meet the following requirements:

* The borrower must have an executed purchase contract for the sale of the related property that is
dated on or before October 6, 2014;

* The loan file must be documented with a copy of the property’s “Listing Details” page printed from
www.homepath.com on or before October 6, 2014, showing the HomePath(r) Mortgage logo,
indicating the property’s eligibility for HomePath(r) Mortgage financing.

* HomePath(r) Mortgage meeting the above requirements must be funded no later than December 31,
2014.

Search all available foreclosures here.

Call Dawn at 850.814.5557 to find a Fannie Mae foreclosure before the deadline and to receive a list of Homepath lenders.

With low real estate inventory in many parts of the country, properties in some markets are receiving multiple offers and sparking bidding wars among eager buyers. National real estate brokerage Redfin reports that in March, 63.4 percent of offers submitted by Redfin agents across 19 markets faced competition from other buyers, up from 58.7 percent in February. That’s below last year’s bidding peak of 73.4 percent last March. Still, Redfin real estate agent Mia Simon, who serves Silicon Valley buyers, says in this climate, “it’s very rare to have [an offer] where we’re the only one.”

Here’s a look at strategies for homebuyers competing in a bidding war.

1. Line up financing in advance. Nowadays, you may be competing with all-cash buyers, so if you need to get a mortgage, having financing ready to go can help reassure sellers.

“Preparation is key,” says Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats, a Manhattan real estate firm. “How much of a mortgage are you prequalified for? Do you have your commitment letter set up? Demanding a mortgage contingency will likely knock you right out of the box.” Some lenders now offer a process called pre-underwriting, where the lender puts borrowers through a more rigorous screening process than prequalification before they submit an offer.

Redfin data show that in 19 markets, more than one-third of properties sold for over the asking price in March. If you’re engaged in a bidding war, keep in mind that your lender may not want to finance significantly more than the appraised value of the property. If you offer more than the home’s appraised value, you may need to make up the difference in cash.

“If you’re putting down 50 percent purchase price, it’s very unlikely that an appraisal is going to derail your deal,” Malin says.

2. Make a competitive first offer. If you’re serious about a property, don’t risk insulting the seller with a lowball offer. “For my buyers, I always tell them to put their best foot forward and present their best offer from the beginning, allowing a little wiggle room for negotiation,” says Lisa Harris, a Re/Max real estate agent serving the northeast Atlanta area.

• Check out homes on the market

Malin reminds buyers that in addition to submitting a thoughtful offer, making sure your paperwork is complete and organized can help make a good impression on sellers and their agents. “It’s not only the money,” he says. “It’s every little thing that you do along the way.” Also be flexible on the closing date if you can to fit the seller’s needs.

3. Minimize contingencies. Financing or inspection contingencies can make sellers nervous about potential delays, so avoid these conditions if you can. In some states, you may be entitled to an inspection even without this contingency. In Georgia, for instance, buyers have a seven-day due diligence period once they go under contract. “The buyer has free reign over the property to do any type of inspection that they would like,” Harris says. “[If the inspection brings up issues] they can negotiate, or if the negotiation doesn’t come to their liking, they can get their earnest money back.”

Redfin estimates that waiving financing and inspection contingencies each improve an offer’s likelihood of success by 15 percent.

4. Be available to your agent. Once you make an offer and the seller responds, you may have a limited window for accepting or countering the offer. Harris says the common practice in the Atlanta market is if sellers have multiple offers, “they’ll give everybody the chance to come back and give [their] highest and best offer.” If that happens, time is of the essence, so your agent may need to reach you quickly. If you turn off your phone or ignore emails during a bidding situation, you may miss out on the property.

Some buyers get emotional during a bidding war and make decisions they’ll later regret.

“Let your broker do the negotiating for you,” Mail says. “You want them to do what you engage them to do so it doesn’t become a personal thing.”

5. Write a love letter about the property. One strategy buyers use to tug at sellers’ heart strings is the “love letter,” a cover letter explaining why you personally love the house or the neighborhood. This can be especially effective when you’re planning to use the property as the family home, but you’re competing against investors who plan to rent it out.

“Oftentimes sellers appreciate the personal touch,” Simon says. “I recently had a seller who had raised three children in this house and was in tears hoping the next family would be a family whose kids could play in the cul-de-sac.” Include a photo, ideally of you and your family standing in front of the property, if you can. This won’t always trump a higher offer (or one in cash), but for the right seller, it may tip the scales in your favor.