Robert & Vanessa Reardon

SUMMER 2009 SOUTHWEST FLORIDA REPORT

Sales are up across the area as both investors and end users are scooping up the great deals on some of the foreclosed properties. Savvy buyers are starting to understand the way to a good deal. There was a period a few months ago when you could buy a foreclosed home in Cape Coral for under the bank's asking price. Generally speaking those days are over.

Does a full price offer guarantee success in buying one of these homes?

No, not necessarily. Depending on the price range most properties under $100000 end up with multiple offers. It could be a bid of a few hundred dollars over the list price will get that home. The key is aligning with a Realtor who is able to advise you correctly. Time is critical as your dream home could be gone before you know about it. If you have a Realtor working for you, at no charge, they will be on top of new listings as they hit the market and identify homes that fit your specifications. Be ready to decide right away.

Of course you will already have a mortgage pre-approval in hand as required by all bank owned sales unless you are paying by cash. If that's the case then you will need to provide proof of funds with your contract's submission instead.

Does the bank prefer a cash offer over someone needing a mortgage? NO. They prefer the highest offer. Period. They are trying to obtain the highest price for one of their assets. If you are not preapproved your offer generally won't be submitted to the bank for consideration.

If the listing says you must obtain pre-approval from a specific bank that is considered a RESPA violation. They are seen frequently in the confidential terms for Realtors in the MLS. That listing's realtor can be in big trouble for publishing those terms. Yes you may require a pre-approval from a legitimate bank. No, they can not require you to go to a specific lender. A cynical person could conclude it's just a way for unscrupulous mortgage officers to generate business. Again that's where you're experienced Realtor comes in to say no to that nonsense. Recently I confronted a fellow Realtor about this. His answer was he did not know it was illegal, but was just copying other listings. Sad. All he needed to do was call our free legal hotline if he had a question about legality.

But mortgage pre-approvals are easy to apply for and we recommend getting yours from whatever bank or credit union you have a relationship. It should also be free. You will still be able to shop around for the best rate but once you have the pre-approval in hand you are able to buy.

The period between 4/10/2009 and 7/08/2009 two thousand one hundred fifty four properties (single family, condos, townhomes etc.) were SOLD with the assistance of a Realtor. Of those 2154 properties only 421 were successful short sales. But 1200 were properties that were foreclosure sales. The remaining 533 were average people successfully selling in this buyers market. They should be congratulated for pricing their properties according to market conditions. The days of "I'm not going to give it away" or "I need to add to the listing price to figure in negotiations" are over for now. It's so important to price it correctly from the very beginning.

If you have not bought a home within the last 3 years you could qualify for up to $8000 government credit as a first time home buyer. And now that credit can be used for down payment assistance and help with closing costs. So don't wait much longer as this credit is due to end in November. And interest rates are still very low.

Finally, visit our homes for sale section as we always have a nice selection of properties in all price points. If you don't see your dream home there then visit our free MLS search for consumers. If you do register we will also sign you up for the more advanced automated LISTINGBOOK program you might have heard of. Everyone that has used it loves it. All we need is a name and email address to sign you up.

April Update

If you haven't bought a home within the last 3 years please view the video on our home page at http://wesellswfla.com. It talks about the up to $8000 tax credit from uncle sam that does not have to be repaid. There is an expiration on this so give us a call and don't wait.

The news recently has been mixed. Home sales in our area are up a whopping 97% from this time last year. Great news and that reflects all of those low priced foreclosure homes hitting our market. It's amazing but some are just spending days on the market as investors have found a safe place for there dollars.

The other side of the coin is home prices have dropped 50% from this time last year. So sales are way up and prices are down .

The other news this month involves the Chinese drywall issue.

If your not familiar, during the building boom and after the hurricanes American drywall became hard to come by. Builder had to look elsewhere for drywall and China had product at affordable prices.

Recently problems have arisen regarding Chinese drywall in home built between 2004 thru 2006. Health issues include frequent bloddy noses, breathing problems and some home are too toxic to live in.

What are the signs to look for? Remove a few face plates from some electrical switches. The wiring should look brand new. Do you see and black soot or any discoloring? That could be a sign. Another check is more involved and requires removing the cover to you're A/C. Again if you see black soot or discoloring on the coils it's probably time to call a professional home inspector to confirm. The other way to check is to get online and copy the numbers and letters written on the back of Chinese Drywall and climb up to the attic and see if you find these numbers.

If you confirm you have it call your insurance agency ASAP.

The improvement in sales from this time last year has made the headlines and maybe your selling your home and wondering what's going on. You really haven't seen an increase in visitors to your home and you might be wondering if something is not right with your listing.

It's great sales have increased over the past year but I'm afraid the majority of home sales recently are bank or corporate owned property. Since banks aren't in the business of owning homes they price these homes to sell within 30 days.

So it's difficult for the average seller to compete pricewise with these bank owned homes. Fortunately, they are selling quickly and are making inroads into our huge inventory. Some of these homes are barely lasting a week and the more that get back on the tax rolls the better.

But the average seller does have some advantages over the bank owned homes. Is your home meticulously maintained inside and out? Your competition, bank owned isn't. Are you including all your appliances? Some of the banks homes are missing all the appliances.

Most important you are able to provide your buyer a general deed. The bank is only offering a special warranty deed and consulting a lawyer regarding that is advised.

So hang in there sellers. Get your homes price right and make sure it shows impeccably. You only have one chance to make a first impression.

We are still absorbing the new bailout plan just introduced and it's effect on struggling homeowners. The advice here is wait a few days before calling your lender. They are swamped at this point with calls.

We do know 1^st time homebuyers can take advantage of an $8000.00 tax credit. So if the low prices are not enough motivation this should help you decide to buy. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and if you buy in certain areas of southwest Florida you could be eligible for up to 102% financing using the Dept. of Agriculture home loan program.

Call us for all your Real Estate needs at 239-656-4573. We are able to offer the latest searching technology in Listing Book FOR FREE. Just give us your name and email and we will sign you up for this great program.

Technology marches on no mater how our comfort level is with it. Fortunately, some of the newer programs made available for consumers now are quite user friendly and make searching for real estate almost simple. We are proud to be able to offer a new program called Listing Book FREE to anyone who wants to sign up.

It allows a consumer to search for property and have the same information available as us as a Realtor with the exception of the confidential or private information only we have access to. In addition, anyone familiar with our office knows we are not pests in calling once we have your information. Generally, we wait for you to call us.

But about Listing Book and why you should contact us to sign up for it. First, all we need is your name and email to get you up, and running. Then this user-friendly program takes over. It will send you a welcome email and walk you through setting up an account specific to your needs.

Are you thinking of buying? Then you can set up Listing Book to search specifically for your dream home. Zero in on a specific area or neighborhood. Tighten up your price range. How many bedrooms? You can be as specific as you would like with this program.

Do you just want to search out foreclosure properties? Or how about just lots and land. Then you will like this program. In addition, you do not need to be a computer wiz to figure this program out. It's very user friendly.

Are you thinking of selling or are already selling your home with us. This program is a great way to know automatically about your competition. How much is that home down the street? Or know when that house around the corner comes on the market before I even know.

We are offered new programs to make our job easier all the time. Most of them turn out to be useless or more work than necessary. However, we and our customers that have tried it really like this software. Email us today and we will set you up with it, free.

The other bit of technology we have decided to offer now is video for all our home sellers. The internet is now looking for video content to display (internet 2.0) and those that are not using it will be left behind. The days of virtual tours are winding down and just simple video tours of a home are the wave of the future.

We are getting better at it and eventually we will offer narrated video tours too. Nevertheless, the theory is the longer you can keep consumers on your web site or looking at a particular listing the better. In addition, most of the home searches engines that we link to put listings with pictures and video content first.

So technology does march on.

However, for Assist-2-Sell Sellers & Buyers Advantage Realty it has to make sense, be cost effective, be easy to use, and be consumer friendly.

DECEMBER UPDATE

The experts say the economic outlook for our area is bleak. Unemployment continues to grow and consumer spending obviously has been affected. Real Estate, once thought a never-ending source of growth has entered a record-breaking decline locally.

That said, interest rates for a 30 year fixed conventional loan are hovering around 6% and the USDA 102% home financing has just been refunded for another year. That home you have been keeping a watch on its price just dropped.

A good sign that we are near the bottom of this terrible cycle is the investor dollars are back. No longer feeling safe in the volatile stock market we are seeing more and more investors returning to real estate.

And why not. Lot prices are back down to where they were before the boom and foreclosed homes are just spending days on the market. Lee County has invited some retired judges back to help with the backlog of these foreclosure properties and are considering online auctions for these homes as a way to get them off the books and into tax paying hands. It is a painful process for the homeowners involved but it has to happen for our market to rebound.

The federal bailout will not help too many families in this county. If you have a second mortgage or home equity line, you do not qualify. But if you are facing foreclosure, the good folks at hopenow.com can be a good source of advice.

Our office can help you with a short sale if that is your chosen path but we advice working with your bank on a loan modification first or ask for forbearance, a period of time you do not have to make payments.

What if you just need or want to sell your home? Well you are competing with all of the foreclosed properties and short sale homes. So it is even more important than ever in pricing your home correctly and forget the old ways of anticipating a price negotiation and adding that amount on to your asking price. It will not get bodies into your home because of the intense competition. I could rent a plane with a banner saying look! Home for sale but unless it is priced right, your home is invisible.

Buyers we have been finding bargains for our home buyers for months now and if you call our office, we will help you find them too. Be aware though that if you want to buy a foreclosed home or a short sale property you must submit a preapproval letter from a lender with your offer. We can recommend several lenders for that necessary step. But now's the time to buy and we can make it easy for you.

Team Assist2Sell Sellers & Buyers Advantage Realty wants to wish all our past, present and future customers a happy and healthy holiday season. May all your dreams come true.