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Kathleen West Flagler County & Palm Coast Realtor

Kathy's Picks as of 1-19-2009

Highlighting GREAT DEALS
on the market now!

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Find Homes

Foreclosure Deals

Whats Your Home Worth

Visit www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com for more information on beautiful Palm Coast & Flagler County as well as the unique services we offer!

Get listings based upon your criteria sent directly to your email. See listings as they come on the market.
Click here to get started today!

Click here to find out how much your property is worth!

Flagler County & Palm Coast Market Report As of 1-14-2009

Find Homes

Foreclosure Deals

Whats Your Home Worth

Residential Houses

Active 1822
Lowest $70,000
Highest $3,500,000
Average List Price $337,130
Median List Price $220,000
Pending Sales 159
Lowest $45,900
Highest $699,000
Average List Price $169,309
Median List Price $142,000
Sold (December 2008) 107
Lowest $80,000
Highest $1,500,000
Average Selling Price $189,375
Median Selling Price $145,000
Average Days on Market 127
Sold to List % 91.86%
Sold Year to date (January 2008 - December 2008) 1268
Lowest $40,100
Highest $2,200,000
Average Selling Price $203,877
Median Selling Price $163,000
Average Days on Market 147
Sold to List % 92.50%

Residential Houses (Foreclosures)

Active 34
Lowest $79,900
Highest $995,000
Average List Price $204,471
Median List Price $150,450
Pending Sales 23
Lowest $54,900
Highest $484,900
Average List Price $137,774
Median List Price $109,900
Sold (December 2008) 23
Lowest $80,000
Highest $520,000
Average Selling Price $156,532
Median Selling Price $125,000
Average Days on Market 50
Sold to List % 95.7%
Sold Year to date (January 2008 - December 2008) 223
Lowest $40,100
Highest $520,000
Average Selling Price $154,374
Median Selling Price $143,000
Average Days on Market 74
Sold to List % 95.8%

Residential Houses (Short Sales)

Active 526
Lowest $70,000
Highest $1,190,000
Average List Price $177,786
Median List Price $150,000
Pending Sales 95
Lowest $45,900
Highest $595,000
Average List Price $158,120
Median List Price $139,900
Sold (December 2008) 44
Lowest $85,000
Highest $355,000
Average Selling Price $158,152
Median Selling Price $145,000
Average Days on Market 193
Sold to List % 92.19%
Sold Year to date (January 2008 - December 2008) 266
Lowest $80,000
Highest $415,000
Average Selling Price $159,291
Median Selling Price $150,000
Average Days on Market 174
Sold to List % 93.88%

Residential Houses

Active 1440
Lowest $70,000
Highest $1,850,000
Average List Price $252,555
Median List Price $199,900
Pending Sales 151
Lowest $54,900
Highest $437,900
Average List Price $160,388
Median List Price $140,000
Sold (December 2008) 99
Lowest $80,000
Highest $910,000
Average Selling Price $164,735
Median Selling Price $145,000
Average Days on Market 126
Sold to List % 92.97%
Sold Year to date (January 2008 - December 2008) 1167
Lowest $40,100
Highest $910,000
Average Selling Price $184,221
Median Selling Price $160,000
Average Days on Market 145
Sold to List % 93.51%

Residential Houses (Foreclosures)

Active 31
Lowest $79,900
Highest $585,000
Average List Price $173,394
Median List Price $144,900
Pending Sales 22
Lowest $54,900
Highest $219,900
Average List Price $121,995
Median List Price $109,900
Sold (December 2008) 21
Lowest $80,000
Highest $350,000
Average Selling Price $135,988
Median Selling Price $122,000
Average Days on Market 50
Sold to List % 96.06%
Sold Year to date (January 2008 - December 2008) 215
Lowest $40,100
Highest $480,000
Average Selling Price $152,941
Median Selling Price $143,000
Average Days on Market 75
Sold to List % 95.89%

Residential Houses (Short Sales)

Active 500
Lowest $70,000
Highest $1,190,000
Average List Price $166,749
Median List Price $149,900
Pending Sales 92
Lowest $74,900
Highest $437,900
Average List Price $155,016
Median List Price $139,900
Sold (December 2008) 43
Lowest $85,000
Highest $311,200
Average Selling Price $153,574
Median Selling Price $145,000
Average Days on Market 195
Sold to List % 91.85%
Sold Year to date (January 2008 - December 2008) 264
Lowest $80,000
Highest $415,000
Average Selling Price $158,187
Median Selling Price $150,000
Average Days on Market 174
Sold to List % 93.83%

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 1/14/2009 for Residential Houses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Find Homes

Foreclosure Deals

Whats Your Home Worth

Visit www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com for more information on beautiful Palm Coast & Flagler County as well as the unique services we offer!

Get listings based upon your criteria sent directly to your email. See listings as they come on the market.
Click here to get started today!

Click here to find out how much your property is worth!

Highlighting Palm Coast & Flagler County In Video

Palm Coast & Flagler County, FL are attractive to many around the country.  Some great videos have been shot around the area, and I compiled some of them to show off some of the wonderful things about the area.  Enjoy.

Visit www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com for more information on beautiful Palm Coast & Flagler County as well as the unique services we offer!

Get listings based upon your criteria sent directly to your email.  See listings as they come on the market.
Click here to get started today!

SMART Property Searches: MLS vs Online Listing Sites

Finding the perfect homeSo you've made the decision to buy and now it's time to start your search. Like most buyers, you're probably going on the internet to look. As you'll see, there's probably a lot available. So here's tips to get you started a targeted approach with an explanation of the difference of some of these sites versus an MLS System.

A targeted approach is narrowing down your search to your specific needs:

  1. What you can afford. I recommend putting this price a bit higher (i.e. $5,000) than your budgeted range. The reason for this is taking into account negotiation with sellers when making an offer. By doing this you will open up your selection a bit more. Remember, it's best to get pre-qualified by a mortgage professional before beginning your search. A pre-qualification is NOT a mortgage commitment, but gives you an idea of what a bank would approve you for in terms of a mortgage.
  2. Your lifestyle needs.
    1. Family size now and in the future. This will allow you to determine the number of bedrooms and living square footage. In addition, you may want to account for a 'Guest Bedroom' if you are in an area where you know family from out-of-town will come to visit like here in Florida.
    2. Location
      1. Distance to work and schools.
      2. Recreation. The things that you like to do such as going to the beach, fishing, shopping, so forth and so on. This is an area of your search which is a lower priority and more flexible.

So you have your list and you are ready to search for that perfect property, but there are all these different websites with properties for sale. Which one is the best? There are basically three different types:

  1. Online classifieds. These are your sites such as Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, Realbird, etc. Realtor.com is one of the most reliable due to the fact that the information is fed from local MLS systems which are the most comprehensive list of properties for sale and overseen by local Realtor Associations. The other sites allow individual Realtors and Owners to advertise properties for sale and the selection is dependent upon who uses that system. Each one obviously offers other unique services such as local information or highlighting property values in the area.
  2. Individual Real Estate Brokerage and Realtor Websites. Most individual Realtors and Brokerages have their own websites and highlight properties for sale. These are often properties that Realtor and Brokerage have contracted to sell. Over the last few years these website services have provided the ability for users to "share" listings amongst their websites. Again, these are limited to who uses that website service.
  3. Local MLS (Multiple Listing Service). These are databases compiled of properties for sale from Real Estate Brokerages that are members of local Realtor Associations. These are private databases, but in the past few years internet technologies have Realtors the ability to provide the public the ability to search these databases (see my website for an example of the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS search). These are the same databases that Realtor.com draws it's information from. These databases are often the most comprehensive list of properties since the majority of sellers list their property for sale with a local Realtor. These systems are also strictly overseen by local Realtor Associations to aid in insuring the most accurate infromation.

So what are your options:

  1. Utilizing the criteria you determined above, visit the website of your choice and put in that criteria to see the properties available for sale. And start listing the properties that you would like to see.
  2. Get listings emailed to you straight from a local MLS system such as the service I provide. Many buyers have found this to be a great service because the search is set up to unqiue to your specifications and properties that meet your criteria are emailed directly to you as soon as they come on the market. Basically, you're getting to see properties for sale even before others have seen them. When you see one you like, simply add it to your list or contact the agent who set you up to schedule a showing.

In short, searching for the "perfect home" is best when it is organized and targeted to your specific needs. When you approach a home search this way you will find that it is more efficient, you'll be more satisfied, and often get a better financial benefit.

Visit www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com for more information on beautiful Palm Coast & Flagler County as well as the unique services we offer!

Get listings based upon your criteria sent directly to your email. See listings as they come on the market.
Click here to get started today!

School Tools: Office 2007 & Microsoft Student

Office 2007 Home and StudentWith a daughter in High School, we are always looking out for the tools that will help her in school now and in the future. As technology is being used in schools and knowing familiarity is an important part of the foundation for her future, we recently purchased Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student along with Microsoft's Student with Encarta. These products are great tools for every student.

Office 2007 Home and Student includes the software tools that are truly beneficial for students:

  • Word 2007 - The popular word processing program with upgraded menus and funtionality.
  • Excel 2007 - The popular spreadsheet software for creating tables and graphs.
  • Powerpoint 2007 - The popular presentaion software for creating great classroom presentations for projects.
  • OneNote 2007 - An electronic notebook for staying organized and on-track

Along with Microsoft's Student with Encarta she has valuable tools at her disposal:

  • Microsoft Math which not only assists with questions, but provides:
    • Step-by-step instructions to solving problems
    • Homework help for every level of math
    • A Scientific Calculator
  • Project templates for papers and presentations
  • Valuable reference tools such as the periodic table, anatomy diagrams, articles on a wide variety of subjects, and more.
  • Tools for college and career planning.

In addition, Microsoft also now provides free Office Live Workspace. This is a great tool for families to share documents, schedules, contacts, and more all in one spot without taking up valuable refrigerator space for more important artwork and awards! And you can access the files and information from anywhere you have internet access.

I personally am holding off on upgrading on my own PC since this particular version of Office is designed for non-commercial use and does not include Outlook. Therefore, it will not work well with my previous version of Outlook and email. Plus I find it important to be on consistent platforms of software in the company I work with. But I am liking the new features of Office 2007 and will be looking at uprading to the commercial suite eventually.