JAMES IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY FOUND A HOME, THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE LIVING ON THE LAKE. WE HAVE A GATED LAKE COMMUNITY LOCATED IN LAUDERDALE MS. YOU HAVE ALL THE AMMINITES OF A BIG CITY WITHOUT THE FUSS. VISIT OUR WEB SIT http://www.dalewoodpoa.com YOU WILL LOVE IT!!
ALSO LAKEHOUSE.COM WILL LOCATE HOUSES FOR SALE ON LAKES IN MS.

What better time to look for a buyer than when the market is bad for the seller?? Inventory is high, prices are low, and interest rates are low.......does it get any better than that?? I don't hink so.

Hi,
I hope you have started looking. The internet is a great way to start. I am a mortgage provider in the area. There are lots of houses availalbe depending on your price range. While taxes are low in this area compared to many areas of the country, insurance is very high. So you need to figure the costs of insurance in your monthly payment upfront so you will be realistic in the price range you look.
Figure anywhere from 200-300 per month for insurance. If you are north of interstate 10 the costs will be much better & you need to shop for insurance right away. Although there was lots of devasttion because of the hurricane, this is a booming area. One area that is experiencing huge growth is the D'Iberville an area that is getting lots of subdivisions & major big box stores.
Good luck.

James, by now you have begun your home search and may have already purchased the house of your dreams. You didn't say which base you were assigned to, but I have lived in both Columbus and Biloxi, so if you are headed to either of these areas, I can give you tips and pointers.

Keesler AFB has a ton of super employees and I worked with many Keesler personnel when I lived there. Both Ocean Springs and Biloxi have good schools and good resale, so keep an open mind about either city. Now that the bridge has opened for traffic, it makes commute much easier (since Katrina). There should still be a great selection of homes, but you must be careful about insurance premiums and previous flooding. Rates went crazy after Katrina hit and you want a skilled Realtor to guide you in your search.

The real estate market is soft in general, but that makes for better opportunities for buyers. Plan to live in your home at least two years, though, or I wouldn't consider buying right now.

Best of luck. I hope you love your new assignment.

If you are moving to columbus, look in Oakdale park. My husband is an IP on base and Oakdale is about 3 minutes from base. The whole neighborhood is CAFB affiliated. I would suggest looking now, because houses turn over SUPER fast in Oakdale. We are actually selling our home in Oakdale and moving to the river. If you are interested email him at wvflyboy@hotmail.com and we will send you pics etc! Good luck!

Having lived on the coast for 15 years, I would suggest that you look very hard at Ocean Springs. Reason, the schools are best in the area. Commute to Keesler is not a problem. When I first got transferred to Mississippi, I thought that I had been assigned to "hell". Two days here, I started to fall in love with the lifestyle and the people. Lots of variety in people, Italians, Greeks, Slavs, Asians, etc. T shirts, cut offs, and sandals. Jimmy Buffett would love it here.

Summer is basically here. The best thing you can do for yourselves is get in touch with a lender, such as Sunny Mortgage, Countrywide or any lender of your choice, get a letter of pre-approval and finding a suitable home at a reasonable price will be no problem. Diaz Insurance (Katherine) in D'Ibeville can set you up with an affordable home insurance. The media has our situation here on the Coast exagerated. We've ready to move in home priced in the $120,000 range (3 bdrm 2 bath)Norma Harbour Realtor email harbournone@bellsouth.net

The only bad thing about the Mississippi gulf coast at this time is the cost of home owners insurance. Katrina destroyed a large portion of the area and insurance co.'s rates are 3 times higer than before the storm. Good luck.

first
thanx
anyways
if you wait
you will save $$$
maybe 2009-2010

good luck

Hello, James. I am an Independent Real Estate Broker with my focus of service in Harrison County. You have already received some very good answers. I also encourage that during this time you work on optimally positioning yourself.

Visit the HUD.Gov website below. Develop your budget. Often times you will pre-qualify for more than you could feasibly pay comfortably. That is because you are the one who truly knows your spending habits. You will be able to ballpark how much home you can afford.

If you have not checked your credit recently, I suggest getting your free credit reports at: http://annualcreditreport.com . This will give you opportunity to check for accuracy and to work on cleaning things up if needed. Once you know your credit score you can ballpark what you will be paying in interest at http://myfica.com .

http://ginniemae.gov and http://www.homeloans.va.gov/ are also excellent resources.

I suggest contacting VA lenders in Harrison County . Pay attention to your debt to income ratio.

How soon should you look for a house? I agree that it would be prudent for you not to buy until you have personally investigated the area. Try to get a month to month or short rental.

Using the Mississippi Gulf Coast MLS search engines is good. That will give you an idea of what to expect in terms of what you will be able to buy in your price range. You can also search from my website: http://mgcre.com or http://search.listings.mgc.mlxchange.com .

Keep in mind that the market is much larger than what is on the MLS because there are many for sale by owner properties available as well.

So, in my opinion--this is a great time for you to prepare yourself and position yourself optimally as a buyer. The market is good any time for a prepared buyer.

Hello again James

I forgot the link to the MISSISSIPPI WINDSTORM UNDERWRITING ASSOCIATION (correct title this time ;)

http://www.msplans.com/MWUA/Index.htm

Walkin

Hello James

I am retired from the Air Force and live on the coast. I would suggest waiting until you arrive before committing to a home purchase. The dynamics of the coast housing market are changing monthly. There are many folks who are still in need of a home due to Katrina, yet there is a large inventory of vacant homes. What does that suggest? Price certainly comes to mind. Many of the new subdivisions homes are coming in on the low end around $130K for about 1100-1200 sqft, 3 bed, 2 bath - most with no garage.

Older homes are still somewhat inflated from immediate post Katrina buying surge. All is not lost though as I have been seeing the beginning of what I believe will be many reductions in price. Contrary to the previous two answers, I don't believe this is a great time to buy, however; it is certainly worth starting looking.

Use your due diligence to research properties that catch your interest. Should you engage the services of a reality agent, remember to have them get as much data on a home before you submit an offer, ie. previous sales information for the home, as much MLS data as possible such as days on market, price changes (both up and down), and any other information. Don't forget to get a home inspection (find your own inspector; I do not believe it is wise to use one recommended by anyone involved in the transaction, including your own reality agent). Be there for the home inspections too. For used homes, this is important as many owners repaired their own homes after the storm. Read the seller disclosures and ask if a licensed contractor performed any repair work that was completed. Oh, and don’t skip the inspection just because a home is new. Like any other profession, there are good and bad workers. Home construction is no different.

There is one thing you must keep in mind here now - home insurance. It is VERY EXPENSIVE!! Looking at what I perceive to be an average home price of $150K, you should anticipate insurance rates in the vicinity of: 800-1500 for home owners’ policy, 1400 -1800 (not counting contents) for wind and hail, and then flood if required. Yes, you read right - anticipate at LEAST$2200 for annual insurance cost. You may be able to reduce this burden if you look for a home that is classified a “Fortified” home by the insurance industry. This could realize a policy savings of up to 60%. At the end of this post, I have placed a couple of websites that will help you familiarize yourself with the coast. One site is for the Mississippi Wind and Hale Underwriters. They have information on fortified homes.

Well, that’s about it for me. I think you will like it here as there are many great things to do. The weather can be somewhat hot and humid in the summer, but wow, Spring and Fall are fantastic! If you’re going to Keesler AFB, you will enjoy it. Best of luck and welcome to the coast.

Here are some helpful links.
http://www.sunherald.com (local paper – great web site)
http://www.wlox.com (local TV station – great web site)

http://www.mgc.interealty.com (coast MLS site – many, many homes here)

http://www.yournewhome.com (has an interactive paper that is all real estate adds. Also has a map of coast area as it relates to home “areas”.

Areas within 20 miles of Keesler AFB are Biloxi, Ocean Springs, North Biloxi, Woolmarket, Gautier, and Gulfport.

Good luck, take your time buying (really – don’t rush the purchase) and have a safe trip.

Regards,
Walkin

James,
I am a MS agent and I can tell you that the market still seems to be strong. Values are mainly steady and interest rates are low. This is a great time to be buying.

I work in the Keller Williams Realty office in Jackson but we have access to the coast also if that is where you are headed. Please let me know if you would like to see what the market has to offer and we can email you what is available with the name of a Keller Williams representative in Gulfport. You can email me at fondalester@kw.com or go to my website at fondalester.homesandland.com. Thanks.

James,
Thank you and your wife for your service. My husband spent 20 years in the Navy and he loved it. You should start looking now. It is really never too early to look. I really would not describe the US market as "bad". This is really a "leveling off" from over buying. Mortgage lenders turned their heads to buyers credit and buyers over purchased. A lot of people made purchases that they should not have and financed it with loans that were not intended for their purpose. It is a difficult time, but for you this is a great time. I would love to help you and can refer you to a few good agents in the area that we trust. You can reach me by email at terry@marianschafferrealty.com http://www.marianschafferrealty.com
Thanks