Are any banks financing vacant lot loans down there right now?
If so, which ones and what kind of rates, LTV's, terms, are people seeing?
If so, which ones and what kind of rates, LTV's, terms, are people seeing?
I have a closing tomorrow on a Bayfront lot in Walton County. My clients got good faith estimates from Compass Bank, Sunshine Mortgage, Wells Fargo and Florida Financial Services.
They ended up going with Compass on a 80% LTV 5 year balloon amortized over 180 months for 5.5%.
I would stay away from a balloon unless you are sure that you will be able to pay it off in 5 years or that the lot will not be worth less. If it's an expensive lot, it would be rather painful to bring tens of thousands of dollars to your own refinancing.
Is a balloon a good idea if you know you will build on it within the 5-year time frame? How are construction loans faring?
Then the next question after getting loans for the lot and construction is how hard is it going to be to find wind insurance if the lot is south of 30-A? I'd hate to have jumped through the hoops of financing and built a house for which I can't get insurance.