Even though tax credits for first-time home buyers may be gone for now, it is still a great time for those buyers in the North Fort Myers and Cape Coral areas, said local banking executives.
TIB Bank will hold two local First Time Home Buyers Awareness Seminars –Thursday, July 22, at the TIB Bank North Fort Myers location and Tuesday, July 27, at the Cape Coral TIB Bank.
TIB’s senior residential mortgage consultant Roger Windey has been in the North Fort Myers area for more than 20 years.
“Twenty years ago I was one of the few bankers in town,” he said. “I’ve financed most of the homes in Herons Glen and Sabal Springs, along with many other local properties. My advice right now is that it is a good time to buy in the area.”
He noted that rates could be as low as 4.5 percent.
“A mortgage could be less than rent,” he said.
There could also be seller contributions, that could take that figure to as low as 3.5 percent.
Part of the seminar will be helping with an application process.
“People get intimidated,” he said. “We have a simple on-line process.”
The first step to buying should be a pre-approval. “We feel we have a simple, friendly way to get pre-approved.”
The seminars will be hosted by Ron Luth, senior vice president of consumer and residential lending and Eveilo (EV) Rodriguez, vice president and residential sales manager.
“We’re going to cover five main topics,” said Rodriguez.
They are:
1. How do I qualify for a mortgage?
2. What kind of house can I afford to buy?
3. What are the steps to the application process?
4. What are the benefits of home ownership?
5. What special programs are there for first time home buyers?
“I think people go out and try to do these things themselves, but don’t get to analyze the specifics,” Windey said. “We’re here to show them how to get from here to there.”
He also talked about the tax break that had so many buying homes.
“The tax break was an incentive, but prices have gone down so dramatically, people that are first-time buyers who never thought they could buy a home three or four years ago now can not only afford a home but get terrific financing terms and low prices,” he said.
Rodriguez said the inventory of lower price homes may be going fast.
“Here’s a statistic I recently got,” he said. “Right now there is less than a four-month supply of houses $250,000 and under in the Cape Coral area. That’s a low supply of homes compared to what it was a year ago. Prices are still low, but it is inevitable that prices will go up.”
TIB North Fort Myers Branch Assistant Vice President Linda Bancroft has been in banking in the area for more than 10 years.
“There’s been a lot of growth here in the last 10 years,” she said. “I really think specifically North Fort Myers is a more and more desirable location for a lot of folks. We’re centralized between downtown and Cape Coral.”
Infrastructure in the area is also being caught up, several officials said.
TIB Bank, an affiliate of TIB Financial Corp., is an independent community banking company with 28 full-service banking offices throughout North Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, the Florida Keys and Homestead. Headquartered in Naples, TIB Financial Corp. is a financial services holding company with approximately $1.7 billion in total assets. TIB Financial Corp. is also the parent company of Naples Capital Advisors. For additional information, visit tibbank.com.
The seminars will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. All attendees will be given the opportunity to enter TIB’s First-Time Home Buyers drawing to win a $50 gift card from Home Depot.
Reservations are requested; call 800-233-6330.