To a free seminar offered by the St. Lucie County Cooperative Extension Service for new and potential homebuyers. The workshop, designed to help renters find buy and keep their homes, will address mortgage options, property taxes and insurance costs, as well as offer cost-saving energy reduction strategies and more.
"We'll deal with a lot of issues that people may be reading about these days," said Jeffrey P. Gellermann, a growth management agent with the extension service, "including the end of the 'subprime' interest rates, vacant houses and the boom in foreclosures."
A part of the workshop will be leading would-be homeowners through the minefield of lending options.
"We'll talk about the housing market situation today," said Carol Alberts, an extension service manager specializing in finance education. "There are so many houses on the market, but the fact is that you've got to have good credit to get one because some of the lending options that used to be out there just aren't anymore."
In short, she said, the market is going back to the future.
"Traditional lending products are still available to people with good credit and good income," Alberts said. "Basically, things are back to the way they used to be. Adjustable (interest) rates are still out there, but do you really want one? It can be a risk; but if you're only planning to stay in a house three or four years, maybe it's best for you. Unfortunately, you still can get enough rope to hang yourself."
If the rash of foreclosures has taught us anything, Gellermann said, it's that "in the long run, it's better to not get a home before you're really ready than to jump into one when you're not. There's money out there for qualified buyers; and if you're not qualified, don't be dismayed. You can work toward that."
These days more than ever, Alberts said, insurance costs figure in to whether a home is in or out of your price range.
The workshop will cover comparing policies and coverages, options on deductibles, the differences in deductibles for regular damages and windstorm damages and whether a home requires flood insurance.
Karla Lenfesty, an extension service windstorm mitigation specialist, said would-be home buyers usually don't find out what a house's energy costs will be; adding that it's smart to ask for the previous homeowner's energy bills for the last year and to have an energy audit — in which a power company inspects the house for ways to cut down on utility expenses — before you buy.
"You're going to want to know how much it's going to cost to air-condition that cathedral ceiling," she said.
The three-hour workshop, Gellermann said, "is going to go real fast. We've got a lot of information to share and not a lot of time.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/aug/19/30getting-over-home-buying-jitters/
