Rich Cornelius

Having quite a few listings stretching from 1 BR condos to 5 BR SFHs, I have gathered a few simple ideas to help sellers better PRESENT their homes and POSITION them to seller quicker and for more money!!! These things can be done ideally before your listing appointment with your realtor, but if it's after the fact, that's ok, too. Your realtor will probably want to reschedule photos and video for when the home is presented perfectly.

1. Trim bushes and low-hanging trees! Overgrown shrubbery and trees are a TRIPLE-whammy: 1) Buyers can't see alot of the house enough to fall in love with it 2) It will make your home look smaller than it is 3) Buyers will wonder what other home maintenance has been let go.
2. Keep your lawn manicured! I know this is hard in our water-conscious world, but having a lawn doesn't require as much water as one would think (except in a drought and buyers understand). Water in the early morning, pre-dawn hours and do this just 1 - 2 times per week to supplement regular rainfall. Keep the lawn mowed AND EDGED so it presents as nice as possible.
3. Keep that pool BLUE! Ok, it takes a little money to keep your pool in swimming condition, but for the $25 - $50 per month, you could realize $1000's in extra profit. A green/brown/black pool is SUCH a turnoff...the home could be beautiful, but the pool might turn off buyers completely.
4. Windows need to be cleaned and have screens! Dust/wash the inside and WASH the dirt off the outside. A clean window lets in more light which makes the house show better and who really wants to see the doggy drool on the glass????
5. Change your A/C filters regularly. Changing your A/C filters will accomplish a few things: 1) Will allow cleaner air to circulate the home 2) will remove some odors which is rule 1 of selling homes 3) will allow more cool air to circulate, which will keep your home cooler (rather than struggling to maintain a temperature).
6. Spring for the color! Don't hesitate to spend $100 and buy some beautiful flowering perennials. They will add some "pop" to your home's exterior and the Buyers will fall in love with it!
7. Clean your gutters! My personal favorite is the weeds that grow in seller's gutters. Seeing that, you know they haven't touched them in MONTHS, if not years! You may not think it a big deal, but it falls in line with the trimming - full, overflowing gutters can lead to major water intrusion issues. Let the Buyers know you worked hard to keep your home in tip top shape by keeping those gutters clean.
8. Pressure wash. Discolored, moldy walking surfaces leading to someone's house will set expectations in a Buyer's mind that MAY not be reversible. Hire a local person (or rent a machine from an equipment rental place) and you'll be glad you did.

Wow, what a busy week! I had an epiphany this morning when I was contacted by a client concerning a permit issue on their home. I simply went to PinellasCounty.org, found the building dept, called them, and had a list of permits emailed to me w/i 10 mins. Issue resolved. However, I realized that an non-local buyer or seller may have no idea where to start looking for answers to common questions. Here's a few numbers you shoud keep handy:

Pinellas County (www.PinellasCounty.org):

• Building Dept & Zoning 727-464-3888
• Permitting 727-464-3621
• Court Clerk 727-464-6171 (great for finding recorded Rules & Restrictions)
• Property Appraiser 727-464-3207 or www.pcpao.org
• Tax Collector 727-464-7777 or www.taxcollect.com (registering your vehicle)
• Pinellas Co Water 727-464-4000

Electric Co:

• Progress Energy 727-443-2641
• FP & L 800-226-3545
• Tampa Electric 813-223-0800

Cable Co:

• Brighthouse 727-329-5020
• Verizon FIOS 800-VERIZON
• Knology www.knology.com

Well, the summer rush has come to an end. Much like the peak we saw in 2006, we may have just experienced another peak (I believe future trends will bear this out) in our 2009 home buying trend. Our market has been having meaningful month over month gains, especially in our monthly ABSORPTION RATE, but that has come to an end with July's numbers. Absorption rates for each category - Tampa Bay area, Pinellas County, and the Beaches - all decreased in July compared to June's rates. I believe this to be a seasonal decrease and not indicative of a steeper market decline.

What did continue to go down was our inventory - YEAH! When our inventory gets back to pre-runup levels - less than 20,000 units and closer to 15,000 units - we will see home prices stabilize. Unfortunately, we are still at 28,000+ units. at our current rate of sale, there will be no price stabilization until AT LEAST Summer 2010...more likely END of 2010. It's not the best news, but it is the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Beaches continue to be extremely soft, compared with Tampa Bay and Pinellas County as a whole.

MLS MONTHLY REPORT July ‘09

TAMPA BAY AREA (tri-county) Homes Condos Total Units

Total Units Available: 19,354 9,261 28615

Total Units Pending: 3,243 973 4,216

Total Units Sold: 2,274 662 2936

Absorption rate: 11.75% 7.15% 10.3%

Avg Days on Market 101 days 106 days 102 days

Months of Inventory 8.5 mons 14.0 mons 9.7 mons

Sold vs List Price % 94% 91% 93%

Sold vs Original List Price % 82% 80% 81%

PINELLAS COUNTY Homes Condos Total Units

Total Units Available: 7,039 5,599 12,638

Total Units Pending: 1029 457 1486

Total Units Sold: 733 354 1087

Absorption rate: 10.4% 6.32% 8.6%

Avg Days on Market 85 days 110 days 93 days

Months of Inventory 9.6 mons 15.8 mons 11.6 mons

Sold vs List Price % 93% 89% 92%

Sold vs Original List Price % 85% 79% 83%

N. BEACHES (476-478, 370-375) Homes Condos Total Units

Total Units Available: 599 1535 2,134

Total Units Pending: 52 99 151

Total Units Sold: 32 86 118

Absorption rate: 5.34% 5.6% 5.53%

Avg Days on Market 115 days 151 days 141 days

Months of Inventory 18.7 mons 17.8 mons 18.1 mons

Sold vs List Price % 88% 90% 89%

Sold vs Original List Price % 81% 77% 78%

The Pinellas County Property Appraiser's office has just updated their database with preliminary values for 2009. Not surprisingly, values have gone way down across the board.

Many tax-paying homeowners w/ the Homestead Exemption believe their taxes should go down because their assessed values went down. The little hook in the Homestead law allows the TAX-assessed value to increase a maximum of 3% IF it's less than the Assessed value. So your taxes may actually rise!

The Property appraisers website can be accessed at www.pcpao.org. Click on "Search Our Database" and enter in your property information.

So you're ready to move to the water. Waterfront homes in the Tampa Area range from less than $100k to the millions. The most common denominator of all these homes is that they utilize a seawall to protect their land from water incursion and erosion. Whether you're a seasoned home buyer or a novice waterfront speculator, you should be well-versed in the aspects of waterfront land vs. land-locked parcels.

1. Taking a macro approach, the neighborhood where you buy can make or break your home purchase. Some communities lie high above mean sea level such as Largo's The Bluffs. Some areas of St. Petersburg are much lower and may have intermittent flooding with heavy rain or above-average tides. A good way to find out if flooding is a problem in your prospective neighborhood is to google the neighborhood name or go to the local hometown paper's website and search their archives.
2. Are insurance companies writing insurance where you want to live. On North Carolina's hurricane battered Outer Banks, there are some home that are perched periously close to the Atlantic and are thus uninsurable. I can't think of any areas in Tampa Bay that have experienced this phenomenon, but it's a question you owe yourself. Being so close to the open water, will you need a wind policy? Obviously you will need flood insurance - have you gotten a quote from an insurance broker? The FEMA flood maps were re-drawn recently.
3. Watertightness/Salt erosion is a constant concern for aterfront homeowners. I have heard home inspectors say that the effective life of equipment outdoors near the water is essentially cut in half due to the salt air corroding metal! Windows and doors should be airtight with no gaps for leakage. Potential homeowners should know they will face increased maintenance costs with the following: A/C systems, water heaters in garages, pool heaters, well pumps, patio furniture, grills, etc.
4. On a micro perspective, the elevation of your home on the water is obviously very important. You may say "Duh" but what is the normal tide height for the lot where you're buying. Driving around this beautiful area, I have seen the water LAPPING over the top of a perfectly good drywall when the sun was shining and the wind was low. Imagine how it will be if a squall drives water inland with heavy winds at high tide? Chance favors a prepared mind!
5. Let's talk about the important asset between your home and the water - the seawall. How much is a sea wall. Actually, the answer depends on your locality. Seawalls can be built for less money in Pasco and Hernando than Pinellas. The rule of thumb price to replace a seawall is $300 PER LINEAR FOOT, but this can change based on the type of seawall installed. Seawalls are constructed from differing materials including, Precast concrete T & G sheetpile panels, Interlocking, corrugated Vinyl, or Aluminum sheetpile, and heavy pressure treated timber structures, to name a few. A seawall should be inspected by a certified inspector or contractor and cracks don't necessarily mean you need a new one. I can wax on and on about seawall caps, tiebacks, holes, erosion, etc but I'll save that for another blog.
6. What about the dock??? No dock, no problem, right? Not necessarily. You might have to start the permitting process from scratch, which includes, city, county, and state applications. If you are able to secure the documentation to go ahead, prepare to spend between $15k and $35k for a new dock. Less for a bare bones model and more for a dock with water, electric, davits, extra width, add'l platform to clean from, etc. Don't just think about your needs - a 3000 sf home will look odd with a small dock that fits only a 15' center console.
7. Ok, so how's the water? You don't know? Better find out. Talk to the neighbors about any recent dredging or plans to do so. Currents can deposit silt in certain places and you don't want that to be in back of your home. If you're at the back of a canal, there is a possibility of experiencing more debris collecting in your area. How shallow does the water get during low tide. If it's too low, you'll need to plan your departure and arrival accordingly.

There is so much to consider when buying waterfront so educate yourself. You've worked hard to make it a reality and you deserve the best waterfront home out there! Happy sunsets!