Karen Monsour,REALTOR® Broward,Palm Beach,Miami/Dade! 954-464-4194 anytime!

Agents, Wake up. Bottoms up my friends...Pay attention to detail! Buyer credit is going away soon. You know that $8,000. tax incentive.

Hey everyone! Bottom's up and the glass is full.. pay attention to detail...

REO's are getting multiple offers... regular transactions are doing well too!

Mortgage rates are still low, but the market is changing...let your customers know.

Let's get going on this wonderful situation...lets have a positive attitude and help those that are ready and willing and able to buy...

Remember, that $8,000. buyer tax credit is going away soon!

HOW DO YOU SEE THE MARKET TRENDS?

http://www.KarenMonsour.com, 954-464-4194 cell

(Copyright© 2009 Karen L. Monsour, All Rights Reserved.)

HEY GET POSITIVE! We're now having multiple bids on REO's and normal sales in Florida! Well the south east market!

I have to tell you all...We are seeing records of people bidding on REO's!

I have made over 30 calls today on properties UNDER $100k AND THE AGENTS ARE TELLING ME...

there are multiple offers over the REO asking price.

In South Florida...we're outta low priced inventory...it's for the most part gone...at least on the east coast.

What does that mean? I means that there are now multiple offers on properties close to $100K...forget looking under that...they are gone.

If you want to buy in so Flo...you need to hurry...we're about out of those underpriced REO's (bank owned properties), if you want to be on the south east side of Florida...it has become a bidding war on these properties.

REO's (bank owned) are now taking many bids - well over asking price as - the bottom happened and those that want to take advantage of the $8,000. tax credit are scrambling to do so.

OOPs...here it is...Oops...don't miss it, Call me quick.

Anyone else seeing this as well?

http://www.KarenMonsour.com, 954-464-4194 cell CALL ME! I NEED LISTINGS AND BUYERS!

(Copyright© 2009 Karen L. Monsour, All Rights Reserved.)

Inspection fraud - or not. Anyone versed on this issue?

In the past two weeks I have (pleasurably) sat through 2 inspections, another one is tomorrow (Monday). The first one (already closed) was a 3,800 square foot home located close to the beach which was built in 2004. The cost for this inspection was $425.00. It took 3.5 hours and included a termite inspection, pool inspection, and alarm system inspection as well as a full home inspection. Normal transaction - not a short sale or REO.

The second home (closed as well) included all of the above as well. It was a 2,400 square foot home located a mile from the ocean and was built in 1964. The cost was $375.00. It took 1.5 hours.

I use this company frequently because I trust the inspector and he is great with the customer's as he explains his findings to the owners and prospective buyers when he is finished. Normal transaction - not a short sale or REO.

So, that being said, I have another customer who I suggested call this same company. This home is 900 square feet. Has NO pool, no alarm system and is located on a canal and is an REO. Built in 1967. Estimated cost for this inspection was $525.00. I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK! My customer called me and was in shock as was I. I said, call around and see if you can get a better price - he did and he found another company/inspector that offered to do it for less than half of the price. I asked my customer what was the reason for the ridiculous price for this inspection. He said, "They said it's an older house and they had to check more things." Geese, house number 2 was built in 1964. OK, it is an REO; however, this house has a brand new kitchen, granite countertops, newer roof, brand new appliances (which of course the inspector/company is not aware of).

A FEW QUESTIONS HERE:

1. On REO purchases, are the banks required to update homes to be "move in ready". If the kitchen is gone, do they have to put a kitchen in order for it to sell? I would think "yes," especially if the buyer needs a loan. No one is going to lend money for a home without a kitchen - or? Am I wrong?
2. To you inspectors/Realtors® - what are the criteria that are used to make an estimate for an inspection and how do they determine the cost?

Curious about how this works, can you pro's please enlighten me?

http://www.KarenMonsour.com 954-464-4194 cell

(Copyright© 2009 Karen L. Monsour, All Rights Reserved.)

I was honored to meet Clark W. Toole, III, President and COO of Coldwell Banker (Florida) at my office today!

There I was working on a closing for Thursday and searching for properties for 2 new customers than who walked around the corner?

First it was Charles Richardson, our new Coldwell Banker Senior Vice-President of Southeast Florida. Charles comes to southeast Florida from southwest Florida. He has a great vision and is a welcomed asset to Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate's market in the Miami/Dade and Broward County areas.

I have met Charles at numerous Coldwell Banker real estate functions and he certainly is a man of vision and progressiveness in real estate.

As I was calling for showing instructions for tomorrow, around the corner walked no other than Clark W. Toole, III, the President and COO of Coldwell Banker (Florida)! Wow! What a pleasure. Mr. Toole came to us in May 2007. he oversees the day-to-day operations of our company's 150 offices and more than 6,000 sales associates here in Florida. WE are lucky to have him. He relocated to Florida from Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.

What was a fantastic conversation involved Active Rain. Mr. Toole was very interested in where I generated leads. He was very impressed with my success on Active Rain. When I told him about all the wonderful referral leads that were generated from this site, he said that he had heard about this site.

When I explained the importance of the Active Rain communityto him and how the friendships and the development of business relationships helped me be a successful agent - he was impressed. We discussed my use of my website as well. We discussed advertising about Coldwell Banker and various other topics as well.

The point here is that the AR community is blooming. It started as a seed a few years ago and now it has blossomed and sowed more seeds. While not everyone has reaped the benefits or realized the significance of this site, I have just elaborated on the value that I have found Active Rain to be to Mr. Toole. He found it impressive as I have worked hard to be the #1 agent in Fort Lauderdale through my continuous blogging and friends that I have generated through the use of Active Rain.

What a great day I had today and the pleasure was all mine to converse with people who wanted to hear how I ran my business and what tools I used to generate leads.

It was a pleasure for me to have included Active Rain in my business plan...and it was also a pleasure to explain how it worked for me.

Have you had the same experience with your President and COO?

We value our customers and provide exceptional service! We are here for you whether you are buying or selling your home. I offer a free Comparative Market Analysis to my customers!

http://www.KarenMonsour.com, 954-464-4194 cell, call me!

(Copyright© 2009 Karen L. Monsour, All Rights Reserved.)

Broward County, Florida available inventory, short sales, and REO's (bank owned properties).

Here is a composite of the available inventory in south east Florida, specifically Broward County as of today, 7/14/2009:

Available HOMES: 9667

Homes in Short Sale status: 3261

REO's (bank owned properties) 544

Available CONDOS: 15678

Condos in Short Sale status: 5037

REO's 707

Total available inventory: 25345

This is fantastic news as last year in the spring there were 25 months of inventory or around 36,000 properties for sale.

NOW is the time to buy. Hurry and take advantage of the $8,000. home buyer credit...This is available for all home buyers at this time.

Give me a call if you need any help buying or selling your home.

http://www.KarenMonsour.com, 954-464-4194 cell

(Copyright© 2009 Karen L. Monsour, All Rights Reserved.)