Daytona Beach, FL

As a follow-up to my recent post titled "Daytona Beach Real Estate Listings and Sales 2000-2009 Market Reports", I decided to write this post, which shows just how many of the 2009 sales were foreclosures and short sales. Once again, I've included a bar graph. And for statistical purposes, on this graph I've also posted the actual numbers of how many of these real estate sales were along the lines of foreclosures, pre-foreclosures and short sales.

As you can see by the sales numbers, a significant number of the 2009 real estate sales for the city of Daytona Beach were not traditional seller-to-buyer sales. Read my previous post in the link above to see all the data on the real estate listings and sales for Daytona Beach for the last decade (information provided by the Daytona Beach Area Association of REALTORS® and Multiple Listings Service -MLS-)

To buy a house or condo in Daytona Beach, or to sell a house or condo in Daytona Beach (or to buy or sell any type of real estate) make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa Hill for all your real estate needs.

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com

A Tiny Cruise Line specialized in sunset cruises with the city lights glimmering on the Halifax River and mid-day cruises to watch the dolphins and other river wildlife. They operated an 1800's style fantail launch from Halifax Harbor in Daytona Beach, Florida at 501 South Beach St. A Tiny Cruise Line ceased operations after 18 years.

The business and the boat are for sale. For additional information contact owner Jim Linder at

(386) 226-2343

William Johnson posted When Using Technology With Obsolete Equipment, Stress is Likely to Occur. It is a story of the our everyday lives.

And, unfortunately, not only with the Sellers and the buyers. A couple of days ago we sent the offer to our local Daytona beach agent, and when we called to see if she had received it, she said she could not open the file. And it was a PDF file.

Had to print it out, and fax. She has received it.

The Buyer is on vacation. He leaves to Miami after signing an offer and leaving the addenda for later, as we have no clue whether his low offer even can be accepted. But he is lucky, it is countered and then accepted, and now we deal with our common problem: selling to people who are very technologically advanced, but who are vacationing and who have no Internet, no printing capabilities, so everything becomes a challenge.

And all this exacerbated by buyers doing full time real estate while full time vacationing. When you call them and the phone is never answering, it is not that they decided to run away. It means that they forgot their charger in Connecticut and they can't let you know as your number is in their phone.

Welcome to our happy closings. How we close with all that?

Good question. I am not sure yet.

if you are looking for great deals on Daytona vacation condos, visit www.bestdaytonadeals.com

Daytona Beach real estate sellers: I believe you'll appreciate this compilation of real estate data, which can help you see the big picture when it comes to selling your Daytona Beach house, condo, townhouse, vacant land, or any type of investment property. It's not just about how much your neighbors are asking for their house. It's not even about the last 6 months of comparable real estate sales. In recent months, many lenders have wanted to see only 3 months of recent sales data. And while sales have been improving, the improvement has been in small increments, and many of the sales have been foreclosures.

In case you're wondering, your buyer's appraiser WILL include the foreclosures when they appraise your home. Unfortunately, the lender (who decides who will handle the appraisal) will dictate how the appraisal must be done. And if they feel there's even the slightest chance that the local real estate market has not finished correcting itself, the lender will personally adjust the appraised value downward. So yes, those foreclosed (IE: Real Estate Owned, or REO) sales DO count!

So when your REALTOR® (or real estate agent) brings you the Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for your Daytona Beach real estate listing; in order to determine your asking and eventual sales price, you will find REO sales included. And unless there is positive proof that local real estate values are improving, then you'll need to do your best to take a step back, and view your listing through the eyes of a buyer...

Depending on what type of real estate you're selling, IE: a house, townhouse, condo, vacant land, or any type of investment property; how does it compare to whatever other properties are on the market, that your potential buyer will be viewing? This is why having a REALTOR® is so important. REALTORS® are not emotionally attached to your home, therefore we can give you an objective analysis. So please don't shoot the messenger! =)

Daytona Beach real estate buyers: You've probably just read the paragraphs above, and are mulling it over in your mind, thinking about how that information can benefit you. Well obviously, like the lenders, you don't want to pay a price that seems fair right now, only to find out the local real estate values are still in decline. But while you can certainly accept a deal, it's unreasonable to expect many sellers (banks included) to give you a "steal". This is why both sellers and buyers of real estate need an honest, knowledgeable, BOLD, REALTOR® who will provide the cold hard facts, no matter what.

Real estate buyers, you can use this information to help you determine the value of your next potential home, and how much to offer and/or invest, whether it's a house, manufactured home, townhouse, duplex or condo. The following chart contains data from the Daytona Beach Area Association of REALTORS®, and shows the total sales-to-date for the city of Daytona Beach.

The following bar graph shows the real estate sales data for the city of Daytona Beach or the last decade. As I've shown in previous posts about our local real estate market statistics, there was a steep drop in real estate sales in 2006, while at the same time, there was a drastic increase in the number of listings that went on the market. At that point, the supply exceeded the demand by so much that if no other properties came on the market, it would have taken 2.5 years to sell the amount of inventory in the Daytona Beach Area Multiple Listing Association (MLS). Then, as properties began going into foreclosure, there was a slight drop in the number of properties being listed, but the number of sales also decreased even more. 2008 then showed another slight increase, and 2009 also showed some better statistcs. However, the values ARE still declining! And many recent sales were bank-owned listings. We'll be addressing those numbers in upcoming posts.

Here are some other posts about Volusia County real estate sales in the last couple of years. These links are all about our real estate market since the decline began.

Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales History, 2000-2009 (Year-to-Date)

2009 Year-End Reports Daytona Beach Area -Volusia County- Real Estate Market. Good News!

Daytona Beach Real Estate: 2007 year in review

YES! I Will Hold Open Houses for My Real Estate Sellers!

For information on buying or selling real estate anywhere in the Daytona Beach area, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa Hill with Florida Property Experts.

Below is the e-mail that I have received from a gentleman buying an oceanview unit for $45,000 in Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach. I thought the question could be of interest to anyone buying a condo-hotel (and not only a condo-hotel) in Daytona Beach area.

What is the tax rate. Are the units at the Plaza taxed on what you pay for them ...or a higher amount. What do you think unit xxxx will be taxed at if it sells. What is it currently taxed at?

Though what you paid for a property in Florida significantly affects your tax, it is not simply a percentage of the purchase price. The tax is a percentage of the taxable value set by Taxing authority. In Florida to determine the amount of the tax you need to know two things (besides the address of your property - LOL): it is taxable value and millage rate.

Taxable value is not necessarily the same as just value (the closest parameter to Fair Market Value). Because of the Homestead, and Save Our Homes Cap, which cap the annual increase in property tax, taxable value could be less, but for condo-hotels it is irrelevant as you can only homestead your primary residence and Plaza Resort & Spa cannot be your primary residence.

To find out your taxable value, follow the link to the Volusia County Property appraiser office website and find the property using the name of the owner, or address, or Parcel Identification Number, etc. Then on the upper part of the page with property description (third from top on right) you will see the Millage rate (22.98119), and if you scroll further down to History of Values, go to the very last column on the right (NS TXBL) and that would be your taxable value, which, for this particular unit (and last sale price was $251,346 in March 2006) is $70,748, and it is a big drop from $115,980 as Taxable Value for 2008.

So, Taxable value is the value of the property in the eyes of the taxing authority for the budget purposes. Millage rate is the rate at which it is taxed. 22.98119 millage rate for taxing area where Plaza Resort & Spa is means that the tax for 2009 was calculated at $22.98 (rounded) for $1,000 of value, where value was $70,748. Hence the Tax amount is $1,625.87. That will be if you pay it in March of 2010. If you pay it when you first receive the bill in November, then you will have a 4% discount, which decreases with time until it is a full amount of $1,625.87.

"The average total millage (tax) rate in Florida is 21.88 mills--meaning $21.88 per $1000 of a property's taxable value. Cities, counties and schools districts are subject to a constitutional limit of 10 mills for operating purposes. Local voters may authorize millage rates in excess of the 10 mill cap." (Property Taxation in Florida).

But I still can't answer what your tax will be next year. The rule is that buyer's taxes are usually different from Seller's taxes. Either direction, but different. Will the lower price you are going to pay affect the value? It will, but only in conjunction with the values of other units. If every other unit is sold for $300K, and you bought your unit for $30K, do not expect your tax to be 1/10th of their tax, it will most probably be the same. For the last few years the taxable value was going down. Eventually it will start going up. When it will be so high that you can't pay it, rejoice: it means that the value is through the roof and now you can sell for a lot of money.

If you need help figuring out your taxes in Daytona Beach area in general and in Plaza Resort & Spa in particular, call me at 386-405-4408. And if you want to get a vacation property for what others paid as downpayment, call me right away.