Rehoboth Beach Real Estate Blog - News & Hot Topics

2013 Nationwide Open House - Southern Delaware REALTORS®

This weekend, April 20 and 21, is the 2013 Nationwide Open House, sponsored by the National Association of REALTORS®. REALTORS® across the nation will be holding “open houses,” an appointment-free, no-strings-attached opportunity to explore a home. Last year, 45% of all home buyers accessed open houses across the nation in their search for the ideal home. That’s too big a number to ignore. While one could very likely find their future home at an open house, there are many reasons why attending an open house is beneficial to home buyers.

By going to an open house on this particular weekend, buyers are provided with the chance to talk to a local REALTOR®. REALTORS® can inform buyers of the benefits of homeownership and give priceless insights on the local…

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1st Quarter Data Shows More Double-Digit Gains In Sussex County Real Estate

The Sussex County Association of REALTORS® (SCAOR) released 1st quarter sales numbers last week that show a continuously strengthening real estate market in Delaware’s southernmost county. Stronger than even 2012, the data is the latest in a series of strong reports.

“For the past several quarters, we know that our local markets here in Sussex County were being driven by enticing buying opportunities, which were caused by burgeoning inventories,” says Bob McVey, 2013 president of SCAOR. “But what we’re seeing now is shrinking inventories, but strengthening home prices and home sales due to an increased optimism nationwide in regards to the American economy. The Federal Reserve keeping interest rates low is obviously helping as well, as buyers can get a…

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Is Homeownership a Good FINANCIAL Decision?

Many have reported on Robert Shiller’s recent comments on the investment aspect of homeownership. Shiller, a Yale professor and co-founder of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, is famous for making provocative comments on house prices and the financial benefits of owning a home. In a recent Bloomberg Television interview, Shiller responded to a question about homeownership as an investment this way:

“So, why was it considered an investment? That was a fad. That was an idea that took hold in the early 2000′s. And I don’t expect it to come back. Not with the same force. So people might just decide, ‘Yeah, I’ll diversify my portfolio. I’ll live in a rental.’ That is a very sensible thing for many people to do.”

Today, we would like to debate…

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Where People Are Moving To & From

2012 Migration Patterns by Atlas Van Lines

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Fix-and-Flip or Buy-and-Hold: Which Are You?

With the Fed having announced its intention to hold interest rates near 0% until at least mid-2015, even very cautious investors are recognizing that this provides a rare opening. If ever there were a time to start a real estate portfolio, it’s hard to imagine a better one.

For many, the first question is whether there is still an opportunity to buy foreclosed homes in the Rehoboth Beach area. That answer is yes – but the window of opportunity is fading as forclosure inventory has diminished.

Before we can develop your strategy, you first need to decide which type of real estate investor you wish to be:

The Fix-and-Flip Investor - This type of investor is handy (or has a lot of contacts who are), and is familiar with remodels and improvement…

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NAR, Google Document 'The Digital House Hunt'

by Broderick Perkins
reprinted with permission - Realty Times © - published January 10, 2013

Just about 15 years ago, real estate consumers couldn't wait to get their hands on what meager multiple listing service data was available - after the technophobic real estate industry went kicking and screaming into the digital age.

Back in 1998, real estate technology visionary, Stefan Swanepoel said it best in his treatise "Real Estate Confronts Reality: Computers, Consumers, Confusion."

"It is time for the real estate industry to understand that technology is not a destination - it's a journey. Technology is not an enemy - it's a tool...technology is the single biggest change catalyst the real estate industry has or will experience in the future." A…

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Scoping Coastal Delaware Short Sale vs. Foreclosure Outcomes

For bargain-hunters looking over 2013’s first listings of foreclosed homes for sale in Coastal Delaware, the opportunities speak for themselves. Throughout the year, the size of that selection varies: the official total of Lewes & Rehoboth foreclosed homes for sale for all of 2012 won’t be finalized until later in the month. But no matter how large that increase or decrease turns out to be, in addition to representing a unique opportunity to potential buyers, each one also posed a substantial decision for the departing homeowner.

The question each faced was whether to attempt to short sell or to allow their property to be foreclosed upon. Choosing the most positive outcome means shedding the negative repercussions as rapidly as possible – clearing the…

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Real Estate Tax Rumor Outlasts Mayan Calendar

With the “End of the World” now comfortably behind us , you might think the coast would be clear for a while. But -- at least when it comes to Coastal Delaware real estate matters -- some would have you believe we are face-to-face with another extreme dire threat: the Internet buzz about a (gasp!) huge new federal sales tax on all real estate transactions.

This one was all over the web even before passage of the federal health care act. It has staying power, and comes in several forms. The one that circulates most often is an email message warning that a 3.8% Medicare surtax that is going to hit “average, middle-class investors” on January 1. Supposedly ALL real estate transactions are subject to the tax “no matter how low their income might be…”

If…

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Rehoboth Beach Real Estate Future Relates to Big Picture

The recent annual National Association of Realtors® get-together opened with a grand gathering to hear what some economics heavyweights would say about coming conditions in the country.

You could hear a pin drop through most of it – despite the huge size of the auditorium. Our Rehoboth Beach real estate market is never in total lockstep with the national picture – but it certainly is affected by it. Economists are forced to play a guessing game, but the best are pretty good at it.

Wells Fargo’s senior economist Mark Vintner had good news and bad news. For those who have Rehoboth Beach real estate already in their ‘owned’ portfolio, despite the downturn of recent years, he thinks they own one of the few top-notch inflation-proof investments. “Real…

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Rehoboth Beach Listings Tell Much – But Not All!

The other day I was with a client -- together we were going over some of our Rehoboth Beach listings. She had emailed me a few possibilities that had caught her eye, and from that I had earmarked some others that shared features with her original picks.

We take it for granted at this point, but digitized listings have to be the greatest of all the advances technology has brought to real estate. For both prospective Delaware Beach homebuyers and sellers, the ease and efficiency that has resulted puts past practices back there with horses and buggies. 

There are some unintended side effects, too (isn’t it always so?)

The way the search features work, future home owners find themselves thinking objectively much sooner than they used to. In order to…

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