Monika Wilson

today I would just like to tell you about my experience in the last few years. Even so I don't wantt to start this posting with a 100 year old history lesson - however, I think we as Agents are missing a major part when we work Real Estate. When I started my Real Estate Carrier (not quiet 100 years ago) we would see the listing agent in person, we would go to their office and present the offer face to face. Yes it was time consuming but there was always a personal contact with the listing agent and indirectly with the seller. Today we do everything by email and may be by phone. The one is not good since it costs a lot of time, to really drive to the listing agent, the other is not good, because there is a major aspect of Real Estate "lost in action". However if we would just communicate better, a lot of problems could be avoided or solved right from the beginning. How often does it happen to ourselves, we are trying to contact the listing agent but nobody picks up the phone, emails are not being returned. I am sure at that point we can understand the complains from our clients in regards that we are not communicating with them.

I just experienced today how important it is to communicate with all parties involved in a Real Estate transaction. And how that helps to solve problems right when they accure. I have a house pending and the appraisal came in 10,000 short. I communicated with the listing agent as soon as I had the appraisal figure and the listing agent told me that we will make it work. He reduced the purchase price for 5,000. After that i communicated with the lender who then worked out a new good faith estimate. I called the buyer and told him what had happend with the appraisal but was able to present them a solution for the problem They buyers did not have a problem to bring addional 5,000 to closing table and this transaction was saved - it was saved becaus all of us worked togehter and again we communicated.

There are always problems but there is always a solution as well.

Monika

A few month back I had a client who put in an offer on a short sale property. It is a very nice home, fairly new and very exclusive and high quality. It is located on a Fresh Water Canal in SW Cape Coral. This offer was written for $ 310,000 cash. The short selling bank refused to take this offer. And after several times and endless hours on the phone plus dealing with a very frustrated buyer - we finally gave up on this house after 4 Month trying.Today I received a call from another client of mine, who picked up the very same house as a new listing in the MLS. Now it is listed as a bank foreclosure for $ 178,900.American Tax Payers just took a loss of $ 131,600!!!!!! - That does not make any sense to you - well don't feel alone it does not make sense to me either.

Of course I don't have a crystal ball either. Even so that I am a realtor in Cape Coral since 1994 and have seen the market going up and down. Fact is that the market is going in cycles and that there are indication for experienced Realtors and Buyers and seller when the market is entering a new cycle.

Comparing our market today with the beginning of 2004 is pretty much comparing "bananas with bananas". The market is ready to bounce back. Even so we are still dealing with bank foreclosures and short sales, we have more properties sold than we have coming new on the market. We see the prices coming up and we see multiple offers on certain properties. In a lot of cases we have to offer over asking price just to get the property.

It is my honest opinion that the market will bounce back sooner than a lot of people are expecting, I strongly feel that prices probably will go higher than they were in 2005. Right now most properties are selling under their real and true market value, in 2005 most properties were selling way above true market value. Very soon we will see properties selling to a price they are really worth - and out of experience we will see it going up to above market value again.

Florida is still a great place to live, we have the sun, the beaches and a lot of activities. People here are very friendly and people feel home pretty much right away. Real Estate is an investment you can enjoy, feel and touch. Other than in stocks and bonds - Real Estate will not just disappear, it will be there during good and bad economic times. People always need to live somewhere and space is running out. There is just so much and there will be no more.

Just a little story to show how much money can be made in Real Estate if we are watching the market very closely and have the feeling for the right timing..

I had a young man from Germany coming over to purchase a vacant land in Cape Coral. We discussed our options and his budget. (his budget was $ 15,000) I found him a nice piece of land in NE Cape Coral, which he purchased for $ 11,000. His mother was not to happy with my choice since she thought he bought a lot way out and in the middle of nowhere. That was in summer 2004. Towards the end of 2005 this young man sold this same property for $ 85,000. That is a nice return on his money. - And by the way, yes when he bought the property in 2004 it was pretty "lonesome" at the furthest NE location of Cape Coral. When he sold the property the whole neighborhood had very nice new homes around him. Cape Coral was just growing like crazy. And that is where we will be in very near future again.

Please visit my web site at: http://www.spotfloriarealestate.com and click on the tab "search properties". Here you can open up a free account and check on currently listed and sold properties. You will see properties on the market for not even 1 day and they are sold already. That is how fast and hot the market is. Don't get me wrong, there are sitll very nice and good priced properties out there - but time is running out.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Monika

I do not have a crystal ball either. But I am a full time Realtor in South West Florida since almost 15 years. I have worked thru Buyer's markets (commonly named "bad" market) before and actually under way worse circumstances. At those times the interest rate was above 14% and it was very hard to obtain financing all together. I have also worked thru Seller's Markets (commonly named "booming" market) where properties did not even hit the market and were sold. Where buyers starting bitting against each other just to purchase one property. I don't think there is such a thing like a "bad" or "booming" Real Estate Market. I think that is a point of view. Buyers love a Buyer's Market since Buyers are sitting in the driver's seat and since buyers can purchase properties to very good prices which equals a very good investment. Sellers of course love a Seller's Market where properties are being purchased way above Market Value - they are getting a good return on their investment.

An educated Buyer will always buy in a buyer's market and an educated Seller will always sell in a seller's market - of course only if either buyer or seller have a choice. Understandable there are situations where a seller is forced to sell in a buyer's market or where a buyer is forced to buy in a seller's market.

Since the end of 2007 I am taking about the recovering Market in South West Florida. A lot of people stated that they are nocht expecting the market to recover any time soon, most people expected the market to be down for another few years. I disagreed back then and I disagree now even more. I said at the end of 2007 that I believe that we will see a major improvement before the end of 2008.

Here is our current Situation (July 2008) Good priced properties are rarely hitting the market and are gone - picked up and purchased by Buyers or Investors. Even High End properties are hitting the market and are sold. Just today I heard a report on the news that the sales in our Area (Cape Coral/Fort Myers) increased by 47% and the prices are increasing by 10 - 25% already. I also read an article in CNN Money today stateing that the market is going to recover faster than anticipated and the we did hit the buttom a few weeks ago. All of us Realtors are very busy right now. Due to the still low property prices, the low interest rate and the European Market with the strong Euro towards the US Dollar - it is still a buyer's and investors heaven.

I still remember the time before the past boom in 2004 and 2005. We all expected the market to take off but nobody expected it to happen that fast and drastic as it did. Almost over night we saw the prices jumping - and yes jumping is the right word, prices did not increase just 1,000 Dollar, they increased in 5,000 - 10,000 Dollar jumps - nearly over night on a daily basis. How major those changes were? Just one small example. Mid 2004 I sold vacant land to a young man from Germany (he inheritated some money from his grandfather and was looking into investing it in Real Estate). He paid for this lot (a building site in Cape Coral) $ 11,000. By the end of 2005 he sold this same lot for $85,000. What a nice return on his money. What a smart young man. I remember his mother, who was very mad at me that I sold this in her eyes worthless piece of property to her son. But at that time I just knew that the area where the lot was located will just take off. I just knew that the 11,000 will double in a very short time. However I did not expect that this lot would increase almost 7 times as much. Needless to say mother and son were extremly happy.

The current Market in our Area (Cape Coral/Fort Myers) shows the same signs right now we saw in 2004 just before the booming market. Buyers and investors are back and they are taking advantage of the current prices. This is bringing down the housing inventory and even with more bankforeclosures coming on the market we now have buyers and investors to absorb those property in a very fast path. Even builders are starting builidng again, they sold almost all of their inventory in the first half of 2008.

Florida is still an area (specially the West Coast) where people want to be. Cape Coral is one of the fastest growing areas in the whole nation, the average age is by 41 years old, there is work and entertainment. We have the beaches and the nice weather.

If you are a buyer or investor and would like to invest into Real Estate in Florida - now is the time to buy, low interest rates, still low property prices and still a good choice of properties. All this will change in very near future and I think it is just a question of time that the interest rate is going up again - and probably the Dollar is gaining strength again.

For more information about the Real Estate Market in the Cape Coral/Fort Myers Metro area, please visit my Web Site at: Spotfloridarealestate.com

Feel free tp contact me with any questions you might have.

Monika

Century 21 Sunbelt Realty

Cape Coral, Florida

Tags: Monika Wilson Real Estate Market South West Florida West Coast Florida recovering market