Preston Russ

Our new hospital is open for business with zero waiting time in the emergency room. I have heard that the food is great. We are extremely proud of our new hospital. Hope you don't have to use it, but if you do I know that you are going to get great service and be impressed. Port St. Joe, Cape San Blas and surrounding areas will be much better served with a new state of the art hospital.

Developer Close Out on Beach Lots

You know that old saying: ‘Lead, follow are get out of the way. Well the banks need to get out of the way. Banks are slow, cumbersome and bureaucratic. Banks are wasting time with the properties that are coming under their control. They are using appraisals that are outdated by the time they do decide to use a Realtor. Communications are difficult. They have some good people but they are overwhelmed and they don't really have a handle on the situation. Would you like some specifics?

My prospects show an interest in a neighborhood. So being a good agent that likes to supply my clients with lots of good information, I let them know of the bank owned properties in the neighborhood - Mistake. My prospects then contact the bank directly thinking they will get a better deal. The bank later does list with another agent and immediately has it under contract with the people that found out about it from me. Sure, I take some responsibility for not having things better under control and being more proactive and protective. However, it is just another reason that some Realtors will avoid bank controlled properties.

Another bank has contacted me about listing their properties and they have me give them my input on one of these properties. Well they do decide they want to list it with me, however at a price that is $121,000 higher than I recommended. Their basis is an appraisal done by a very qualified appraiser, however it is 5 months old and the comparables are almost a year old and I totally disagree with the comparables. The market is changing rapidly and 5 months ago is out of date. I have spent the last few hours building a case for my price and I hope that they will listen to reason.

Then the bank also has two houses that I feel certain that I can sell and I have showed the houses to three different clients this week. However, they don't want to give me these listings until some repair work is done to them. PLEASE, stop the delays, you are missing the boat.

I am an entrepreneur and I believe in getting the job done. As an entrepreneur I am concerned about anything that affects my bottom line. Unfortunately for Realtors dealing with banks and asset management people, we apparently are dealing with 40 hour a week people that are not that concerned about the bottom line.

For those people that are afraid of the banks getting into the real estate business, I say that you have nothing to fear. These people can't get out of their own way. They are lost in the maze - No wonder we have to bail them out. They are only going to hurt themselves further. I welcome them to the business, because we will run circles around them.

Prices are way off on coastal properties at Cape San Blas, Florida and surrounding areas and some of our prospects feel that we have reached the bottom or close enough to the bottom that it is time to look at the foreclosures, short sales and REO or bank owned properties. Now if the Sellers and lenders will get realistic and work with us, then we can move some of these properties. We are independent, we are Realtors with a "can do" attitude and we can get the job done. Banks, lenders, asset management - are you listening?

Many of my clients have been telling me that they were waiting to buy when the market hits bottom. So when is that going to happen? I feel that the bottom and the turn around will be different times for different areas. And the truth is that you will not know the bottom until it is past and prices have started to move up.

Don't look for the bottom in the list price on properties, you may find it in a few properties but not most. Look for the bottom in the SOLD properties.

My belief is that the coastal properties along the Forgotten Coast area of Florida will start to recover sooner for several factors. Our market hit a wall in the summer of 2005 and has been hit hard since then. 2009 will be the year of the foreclosure here. Prices have tanked and are in many cases 50% or more off from their price of three years ago.

I have been wrong about the market here for the past three years as I never thought the market would get this bad. My belief is that 2009 will see the bottom, because that is when we will see the most foreclosures. However I can't pinpoint the exact bottom and nobody else can either. I do know that buyers are taking advantage of some great prices and motivated sellers.

We are beginning to get activity on the foreclosures and the properties with motivated Sellers. Since the first of the year we have already closed on over $3 mil in properties on Cape San Blas. Change is coming. Buyers who have the courage to buy in 2009 will be slapping themselves on the back in future years for making such a smart decision.