Melbourne Florida Homes for Sale

During this time of year, people spend a lot of time thinking about the children and ensuring they have a memorable Christmas. Every place you go there is a toy drive or collection so that smiles could be put on little one’s faces. Each year, the Space Coast Business Guild takes a different approach to the holiday season.

“We have adopted Palace Retirement home for several years because there is so much focus on children from many organizations. We feel that there are lonely seniors in the homes that are forgotten and this way we can try and brighten their holiday season for a change,” says Mary Angelini, President of the Space Coast Business Guild. The Guild collected a mini wish list from each resident and members adopted seniors to provide these gifts and more. “We have donations of bags from American Greetings, quilts from a local sewing group and other extras that just make the event special,” says Angelini.

The Guild joined the residents for their holiday party. They brought in the gifts for each resident and distributed the presents. They also donated a television for the facility to use. And after all the gifts were opened, the members stayed around to sing Christmas Karaoke with the residents.

“This is such a special event for us each year and we ensure that we have a great time providing a little holiday cheer to the residents here,” says Jason McCloy, Vice President of the Guild. “Although we are here to make their day, it gives us a great feeling to see the smiles and enjoyment that the residents get just from our little visit.”

The Space Coast Business Guild is a non-profit organization. The Guild acts as a Chamber of Commerce for the gay and lesbian community in Brevard County, Florida. The business owners are either gay or lesbian or gay-friendly and support opportunities for all people in the community. Although these owners understand the needs of the gay community, their businesses operate to serve all walks of life.

Everyone has heard about the federal tax credits for first time home buyers. But I would suspect that not all residents in Brevard County, Florida has heard about the first time home buyer programs that are available through the Community Housing Initiative or CHI. They offer additional assistance programs to help first time homebuyers qualify and purchase a home that is eligible under the guidelines.

Home eligibility includes:

1. Must be located in Brevard County, Florida.

2. The home can be new or existing but it can not be a mobile home.

3. The property may be owner-occupied or vacant.

4. For any existing home purchases, the CHI will conduct an inspection to identify code related issues such as roofing, plumbing and/or electrical.

So, if there appears to be so many homes that may qualify for the program, how does a buyer qualify from the program? Well, here is the criteria:

1. The homebuyer must be a first time home buyer meaning they have not owned a home in the last three years.

2. The proposed monthly mortgage payment cannot exceed 34/42 ratios. CHI can help a buyer understand how the ratios work on the front end and back end based on their income and expenditures.

3. The buyer must have the ability to secure their own loan whether conventional, FHA or VA at a 30 year fixed rate. These rates must conform with current rates in the market.

4. Liquid assets can not exceed $8,000 and the home buyer has to have no NSF checking in their checking accounts for the last 6 months.

5. The buyer must attend an 8 hour homebuying education workshop.

6. The buyer must also meet the asset and income limits that have been established by the CHI which are posted on their website.

The assistance that is received acts as a second mortgage on the home. It is a deferred payment loan at 0% interest. Based on the assistance amount and the amount of time the buyer spends in the home will determine how much of that assistance must be paid back when if the buyer sells the home that the program helped to purchase.

This program is a great way to cover down payments and get a first time buyer into a new home in Brevard County. Read more about it on the CHI website here.

Wait a minute . . . did you say USDA as in the U.S. Department of Agriculture? Well, yes, I did. The USDA has a rural development program with funds available to help you buy a home in select communities. There are stipulations but the program provides 102% financing of the purchase price. Here is how it works:

1. The 102% financing is correct, however, 100% is obviously the purchase price of the home and the additional 2% covers funding fees that have to be paid to obtain this type of loan program. If a buyer makes a full price offer and can get the seller to cover 3% cost to close that is allowed, then the buyer gets to purchase and close the home with a very small amount of cash.

2. The home has to pass FHA standards. There can be no cost to cure items such as broken windows, torn out cabinets or roof repairs.

3. The home has to have a water test and the home must have potable water. In most areas that have residential development in outskirt rural areas, this is not a problem but it is a condition of the funding.

4. In Central Florida along the beaches, there are only two areas that fit within the geographic boundaries of these programs. Those areas are Port St. John (pretty much just zip code 32927) and areas in Sebastian. The USDA has a mapping system (found here) on their website that can give you a rough idea if a property would qualify for this type of funding. However, the information is not guranteed and will need to be confirmed by the lender providing the program.

5. Right now there are lenders that can work with a credit score of 620. There are some that can do a score of 580 on a case by case basis but those opportunities become less and less each day.

USDA programs are not for everybody but they can definitely be an opportunity to explore if other funding programs are requiring too much cash to close. This is an alternative that requires little cash and allows a buyer to get a new home.

Viera is the newest town in Brevard County, Florida. It is located centrally in the county and is a master planned community that features residential, commercial and government facilities.

Viera began with donations of farm land from the Duda family and all development was helmed by the Viera Corporation which was a venture of the Duda family. It started with a variety of residential projects at ranging home values, with entertwining bike paths, water features and parks. The first government facilities and entertainment venues were constructed which consisted of Space Coast Stadium which is now home to the spring training camp of the Washington Nationals. The first government facilities was the new home of the Brevard County School Board.

Slowly, plans and development have continued and it was announced in May 2005 that the remaining plans for the last 12,000 acres were designed and put out to the public for feedback and input. In the meantime, other development continued with expanded roads, water service and schools. More government offices were built, judicial facilities and regional sport parks. Many new retail companies and restaurants moved in with the completion of the Wal-Mart and Target shopping centers as well as a large pedestrian mall known as the Avenues which brought additional movie theaters, shops and the entrance of Kohl’s to Brevard County.

The Department of Veteran’s Affairs built a medical facility and there are many religious organizations that have built places of worship for many different denominations. Pro Health built their brand new fitness center and construction of their hospital facility is underway with other planned medical offices.

Residential homes have continued to grow in the development process including all levels of development such as condos, town homes, duplexes and single family homes. There are 55+ communities, golf communities and planned mixed use properties. Viera has grown to become a highly desirable place to live and a premier community for Brevard County. For more details, maps and overviews of the community, just click here for more information.

Well to those that were busy calling me this past weekend, I do apologize for running off on the quick trip. I think I have gotten back to everyone but if I have not please do not hesitate to call or email me again. I think that the secret to my new success will be to run away for the weekend more often. I have not had that many calls in one weekend. Thanks everyone.

Well I am about to get off this computer and pack my bags for a weekend cruise. I am off to the Bahamas. As I listen to it rain outside, I am hoping that the weather is much better in the Carribbean. I am going to be gone until Monday December 7 and I know you will miss me dearly. I will see you when I am back! Have a great weekend everyone!

November Sales Statistics for Brevard County, Florida
Change from Change from
Nov 2009 Oct 2009 Nov 2008 Nov 2008
New Residential Listings 921 -19.07% 984 -6.40%
Sold Residential Listings 490 -20.33% 358 36.87%
Avg Residential Sales Price $152,68 2.39% $171,221 -10.83%
Avg Residential Days on Mrkt 97 0.00% 106 -8.49%

New Condo Listings 239 13.81% 246 -2.85%
Sold Condo Listings 77 -29.36% 55 40.00%
Avg Condo Sales Price $157,262 10.81% $161,788 -2.80%
Avg Condo Days on Market 137 -7.43% 113 21.24%

New Townhouse Listings 76 33.33% 74 2.70%
Sold Townhouse Listings 28 -12.50% 23 21.74%
Avg Townhouse Sales Price $118,390 -13.74% $120,713 -1.92%
Avg Townhouse Days on Mrkt 138 2.22% 78 76.92%

An overview shows a downward trend in sales from October to November which is typical in Florida. The most important trend we see here is that sales are up over the previous year and listings are down. If that trend were to continue, then Brevard County would start to feel inventory levels drop. Average sales price is still down from 2008 which is to be expected but in the month to month results over October we see that prices are heading up. This is probably just a single month trend but it could be a glimmer that we are getting closer to the bottom of the market.

Single family homes, condos and townhomes sold in November 2009
Up to $99,999 228
$100,000 to $159,999 162
$160,000 to $199,999 76
$200,000 to $249,999 54
$250,000 to $299,999 33
$300,000 to $399,999 23
$400,000 to $499,999 6
$500,000 to $1M 11
$1M+ 2