Kerry Veach

One of the most rewarding experiences for me as a Real Estate Broker is helping someone buy their first home. Homeownership is one of your biggest experiences in life and can be you’re most rewarding. Here are a few tips that can help you get started looking in the right direction.
Step 1: Getting financially qualified. Finding a good mortgage broker/ lender that will explain the loan process, your closing cost, down payment, and different types of loan options. Your mortgage broker will pre-qualify you for your loan. This will help you decide how much you can afford to buy and will help in the looking process of searching for your dream home.
Step 2: Finding a Realtor® that is a full time agent and will take the time to help you through this new experience. Experience and knowledge is the key to finding the right real estate agent. You should ask questions, look on line at their web sites, ask them for a home buyer’s package and finally ask them for references of other buyer’s they have worked for.
Step 3: Location, Location, Location. When I sell my client a home I always plan on that at some point that they will call me to resell their home when they move up or get transferred. I want to be able to resell their home quickly and help them make a good return on their investment. I look for homes in neighborhoods with landscaping have been kept up. Sidewalks are a plus. Low street traffic and location to schools, medical care and shopping are a plus on buying and selling when the time comes.
Step 4: Timing. There has never been a better time to buy a home. Prices are down almost 50% from 2005-2006. Interest rate is at an all time low currently around 4.5%. When I bought my first home I remember locking in at 12.9%. This means that now you can afford a lot more home for you dollars being spent. Building equity is like saving money in the bank. Buying a home now will be one of the best investment’s you ever will make.

St. Joseph State Park. The beaches out on Cape San Blas have been rated in Coastal Living Magazine in the top 33 beaches in the world. The beaches are White Quartz and Seashell’s galore to pick up. Located in the town of Port St. Joe. A cozy little town located 45 miles east of Panama City, Fl. Just follow Hwy 98 and follow Hwy 30 out to the state park. There is over 9 miles of unspoiled beaches. You can make a day trip or camp for several days. Great restaurants and shopping. The fishing is awesome. You have the best of both worlds with the Gulf of Mexico on the south side and a pristine bay on the north side of the peninsula. Scallop season opens July 1 and runs until September. There is a public boat ramp, boat ramp at the State Park and my favorite place to launch is Presnell’s Fish Camp. The owner Fred will be glad to give you advice and tell you where the hot spots are. He will also guide you around the bay. If your looking for that great beach vacation get-away then you will love Port St. Joe. Southern Resorts has rentals at the Barefoot Cottages. www.southernresorts.com

Has the bubble burst hurt the equity in your home? National Association of Realtor’s report that homes have decreased in value from 2006 down 25%-50% depending in the area you live in. How do you build back some of your lost equity. There is a new term in the real estate world called being underwater. This means that you owe the bank more on your mortgage then it will appraise for.. When I get asked buy my clients how do I increase my equity to sell there home this is what I tell them. 1st start with your landscaping. Perception is 90% of realty. You have to have curb appeal. Plant flower’s, replace dead bushes and grass. Trim your hedges and trees so they can see the home from the road when they drive up. 2nd is your kitchen. Modernize and start with cabinets. Hard woods and darker cabinets are back in stile. Get rid of that pickled look and the white ones. My wife and I had ours painted a dark brow and what a difference it made. Appliances have changed from white to stainless and now black is in stile. Counter surface that are hard surface including granite, Corian and now poured concrete is the newest fashion. New sinks and colors are out and of course the new faucets make a huge difference in updating your kitchen. 3rd place is your bathrooms. Replace your toilets with one piece and low water/green toilets. Tile flooring, tile showers, tile walls are a look that makes your bathroom look waterproof. If you do it yourself or hire a contractor make sure you shop prices. I have found a lot of fixtures on a site called overstock.com. If you use a contractor check them out on Angies list and make sure they are licensed and bonded. I would always get two bids and see which one you want to work with. These improvements will pay for themselves and add back some of that lost equity.

Do you like Honey? This is a great time of year to visit the quaint little town called WeWahitchka, the locals just call it WeWa. This town is known for it’s World Class fresh water fishing. There are several lakes and rivers that are loaded with Bass, Bream, Channel Cat and my favorite the giant Flat Head Catfish. The Tupelo tree blooms in the spring along the banks of the many rivers. The honey bee’s make the best tasting honey in the world. It is so pure that it never turns to sugar. The festival is May 15 at Lake Alice Park in downtown WeWa. The festival has music, arts and crafts, food, activities, and plenty of Honey to sample and buy. WeWa is located about 30 miles east of Panama City, Fl and 20 miles north of Mexico Beach. If you want to getaway for a great weekend beach vacation go to www.southernresorts.com
They manage Barefoot Cottages in Mexico Beach. Go enjoy some Honey, Honey.

The housing market is currently in a cyclical downturn. “NOW” is the time to buy and I will tell you why.
• Interest Rates are at historic lows. Rates as I write this are at 4.75% fixes for 30 year mortgage. This gives you more buying power or home for the price. When rates start to rise and they will this will give you instant equity in your home. Here is an example: you purchase a home for $200,000 and get a 30 year mortgage at 4.75% your P & I is $1043.29. Interest rates start back up to 6% and to keep the same payment you can only buy a home in the $175,000 range. Buying now gives you $25,000 instant equity.
• Home prices have decreased and in our area is currently 40-50% from the high prices of 2006. With all the foreclosures and short sales they have really drove the prices down and there are some great deals to be had.
• Large Inventory: The market being soft for the past 4 years has created what we call a buyer’s market. There are hundreds of homes to choose from and if sellers want to sell then their homes have to be in top notch shape, updated, landscaped and kept up to current style
• Tax Credit: New home buyers who buy before April 30, 2010 can qualify for up to $8,000 and other buyer’s buying a primary residence can qualify up to $6,500 from the IRS. This would be like living rent free in our $200,000 home from 6-8 months. What a deal. On top of that tax credit the IRS will also allow you to deduct any interest you pay on your mortgage.
Becoming a home owner is one of the greatest feelings you will ever experience. It’s your home to remodel, landscape, add a pool, fix it up the way you want to. Just knowing that you have made a great investment.

The National Association of Realtors has a new specialty for real estate agents. RE/MAX International has also jumped on the band wagon and has the new Green Specialist. NAR say that 70% buyers of new home buyer’s want to buy a Green designated home. What is going Green? Builders are building new construction that is extremely energy efficient. I have one builder that just finished a solid concrete home, foam insulated roof, energy efficient appliances and he will guarantee a buyer that power bills will not be over $600 per year. That breaks down to $50 month. Homebuyers: you can rest assured that your Green Specialist knows which green features can help you save money, safeguard your health and lesson your carbon footprint. Being Green is not just the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. When I build my next home I will defiantly go Green.

When I teach my prospecting class I use gardening as a metaphor.  It takes a lot of hard work to grow a productive and rewarding garden.  First you have to plan out your location or pick your target market.  You will need a few good tool’s. Next till your soil.  One of the most important step’s in growing a beautiful garden is tilling your soil.  Pick your target market by doing research up front.  How many home’s do I need to sell to make my income goal?  How many client’s do I have to prospect? How many row’s do I plant? Plant your seed’s.  This is what I would call prospecting.  How many post cards, just sold, just listed, newsletters, how many open house’s will I sit to grow my business to the size I feel the most comfortable with.  Now add some active rain and fertilizer and you have the start of a great farm. Here come the weeds!  This is where the hard work begins.  You have to stay consistent.  Weed out your competition by being the best in your target market or farm area.  Out perform, out grow, and promote yourself as the specialist in your field.  Growing a rewarding garden is an incredible feeling.  It is a lot of hard work but don’t give up. You will reap the rewards of a great harvest.

7th Special Forces Group has broke ground for there base of the future.  Just south of Crestview, Florida on the USAF Eglin Reservation. Special Forces including Green Berets will have there first new state of art base built in 67 years.  This 600,000 sq ft campus will be on 500 acres located on Hwy 85 directly across from Duke Field.  Crestview, Niceville, and Ft Walton Beach are all growing with new subdivisions, commercial and new military support company’s coming in. Last week Eglin AFB broke ground for the new Joint Strike Fighter Division and by 2010 the new F-35 Fighter will call Eglin home.  Base Commander at Eglin tells us to expect from 12,000-20,000 over the next few years to move into our community.  The Emerald Coast is one the finest places in the World to live and raise a family.  If you are looking for a great vacation spot check out www.SouthernResorts.com  Life Is A Beach!!!

I teach a real estate class on “How to Write Your Business Plan”.  Real estate agents don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan.  With only a few days until the New Year it is now time to set your goals and write your 2009 business plan.  If you would like a copy of the one I teach e-mail me or go to my web-site www.joingosouthern.com/newsite  and I will make sure you get a copy. Surviving this market has a lot of agents and Broker’s freaked out.  It has been a tuff year in a lot of markets.  The full time, professional agents that take this job serious will survive and prosper next year.  I love to fish and there is a saying “its time to either cut bait or fish”.  How will you prospect?  How many leads do you need to work?  Where will you prospect? How many Open Houses? Write your plan, set your budget and stick to it.  It works.  I hope this motivates you and next year is your best year ever.  Merry Christmas

Eglin AFB is the largest AFB in the United States.  The Eglin Reservation has over 288,000 acres that they use for a bombing range, Special Opps trainning, and Ranger training.  With the BRAC realignment Eglin is getting a new division in from Fort Bragg.  They have just cleared off a few hundred acres to start building the new base. We are planning to have near 12,000 new troops by 2010.  They are also getting the new F-35 at Eglin Field. Crestview is the closest town to the new base and there is very affordable housing and plenty off it.  My office has a new subdivision going in called Freedom Walk designed just for our Military.  Homes are being built  with GREEN Construction and will priced in the $180,000 range.  www.destinrealestateinfo.net

Semper Paratus- always ready for your referrals.