Robert & Vanessa Reardon

Besides our website where can you expect to see your property marketed?

Your home will be listed in Yahoo Homes For Sale, Google Base, Oodle, Trulia, and AOL Real Estate.

If you choose our MLS for less program your will also find your property in both the local, regional and statewide MLS.

Then your property is sent to Realtor.com the world's most popular search engine for Real Estate. We also pay extra to showcase your listing in Realtor.com that brings your property to the top of the listings, a featured listing. It's an expense a lot of other companies do not incur but we believe it is quite valuable to our customers.

Your property is also available to be seen on :

Lycosclassifieds.com

Backpage.com

Walmart.com/classifieds

Local.com

Military.com

Homescape.com

Hotpads.com

Vast.com

CLRsearch.com

Lakehomesusa.com

Riverhomesusa.com

Oceanhomes.com

Myrealty.com

Propbot.com

Properazzi.com

Zillow.com

Frontdoor.com

We never know where a buyer will find your home so we submit to as many as possible.

Just like you might be comfortable searching for something on Google, I might prefer Yahoo.

Recent calls from Canada, London, and even from a soldier in Iraq confirms for us the importance of all our marketing for our customers, both buyers and sellers. The days of a quarter inch picture of your home in the newspaper are over. Today 78% of home searches begin on the internet. And the more content the better for buyers. The next technology to become common is video and we will begin to offer that very soon.

Market update for fall 2008

I will start with our local market's fundamentals and hopefully you will see some good news from these numbers.

The year 2007 was this area's worst in 1-year home price change. Prices dropped 21.5% during 2007.

The numbers are improving for this year and the forecasted change in home prices for 2008 is -18.1%.

The good news is the forecasted change in home prices for 2009 is predicted at -6.8%. That is a good sign of our market prices starting to stabilize next year.

Prices are quite good now for buyers today though. What we are seeing is well priced foreclosed properties selling very quickly and the days of multiple offers are back for some of these homes.

Recently working with a buyer, we have been finding his choices are being snapped up as the hit the market. One home he especially liked had multiple back-up contracts on it.

So buyers if you see the home you like don't wait too long to decide. You might loose your opportunity.

The short sales continue to dominate our market. The banks still are not staffed correctly to handle the glut locally and delays on submitted contracts to lenders are causing frustrated buyers to walk away from some of these short sales.

Some lenders are now asking the short sale seller to agree to sign significant promissory notes for the banks agreement to the short sale. It is just another part of our negotiations now on behalf of our short sale clients. However, from the lenders perspective it is still cheaper to agree to a short sale than foreclose on a property.

Buyers it is now time to buy lots again in Cape Coral and surrounding areas. Prices are extremely low in some areas and lots in the Cape for an average freshwater building lot can be had for as little as $15,000. There are also a significant number of short sale and foreclosure lots that can be picked up for a fraction of their price of a few years ago.

Chances are if you are buying then you will need to borrow money. Less than 10% of sales are strictly cash. Lender requirements are becoming quite strict and it's routine now for loan to be re-examined in underwriting right before closing. However, deals are being done.

Our own selection of homes for sale currently offers almost everything a buyer could be looking for. Beautiful pool homes, some with gulf access, all aggressively priced for today's market.

We have a fixer upper and short sale homes. Kim, our Broker assistant is in constant contact with the lenders involved in our short sales. Communication is the only way to complete a short sale and Kim is a tremendous asset for us.

We get quite a few calls for people looking for lease/option opportunities and we are happy to assist you in finding the right situation. We generally do not handle rental properties but our agents will be happy to help renters find the right rental. Just give us a call.

As always, if you would like to know the current market value of your property give us a call or email us. There is never any obligation and it's free. We work mainly in LEE County however; we have traveled to GLADES, COLLIER and Charlotte counties to help buyers and sellers. Remember we are available everyday and the only number you need is 239-656-4573.

A few weeks ago an old friend, and loan officer, Olga Alfonso, stopped by our offices. Excited with her new situation, she has associated with Expert Mortgage Group. Her specialty and what gives her the most job satisfaction, is first time buyers, finding grants, and programs for our entry level buyers. She provides fast and accurate information to us 7 days a week. This Bi-lingual local loan officer is a great resource for people exploring their options purchasing a home or refinancing. Contact her at 239-282-0749.

Our other local GO TO person for mortgages for our buyers and sellers looking to refinance is David Lang. He is a mortgage loan officer with Fifth Third Bank. David is quite a guy and has helped us and our buyers tremendously. We highly recommend his services and he also answers every day. Call him at 239-334-2055.

The importance of getting "pre-approved" for a mortgage is so important when you are starting to think of buying. It is really the first step. It's a fairly painless process and once you have that in hand the whole real estate world takes you seriously. The first reason to get it done is you are not guessing about how much home you can afford. You will know the price range I should shop in for you. You will have a very good idea of what not only your mortgage payments will be but also what you can expect to pay for insurance and taxes.

When we find your dream home that pre-approval letter is submitted with your offer. It is presented to the seller and reassures that person of your ability to afford their home. Most sellers will not entertain an offer without some proof of ability to pay. Why would they?

And the best part is there should be no cost to get pre-approved.

As with second opinions from doctors, repair services, and realtors as example it pays to shop around for you best deal regarding a mortgage.

A recent buyer was certain their credit union offered the mortgage program suitable for their needs. We convinced them to have Dave run the numbers too. It turned out by going with Dave they were going to save money overall.

Olga has found our buyers obscure grants or programs that others might not find familiar.

Our associations with these professionals reflect on us. If they and others we might recommend disappoint our clients, we are disappointed too.

It's time to jump back in for real estate investors interested in our area. We can provide you with lists of foreclosed and short sale properties. Identifying properties for investment , 1031 Tax exchange is something we can assist with. Whether it's a commercial building, raw land or residential income properties, we can help. Call us at 239-656-4573.

Assist-2-Sell Sellers and Buyers Advantage Realty is encouraged by this week's announcement that six of the nation's largest mortgage lenders will reach out to homeowners most at risk of losing their homes through a new plan known as "Project Lifeline." The Company is also pleased to see such strong support for the plan come from the White House, the U.S. Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Project Lifeline (http://www.hopenow.com/) helps homeowners avoid foreclosure by temporarily suspending the foreclosure process for 30 days. The plan will initially involve Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Countrywide Financial Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Washington Mutual Inc., and Wells Fargo & Co. Homeowners who are 90 days or more behind in payments on any type of mortgage, not just subprime loans, can use the extra time to work with their lenders on more affordable loan terms.

Vanessa & Robert Reardon, co-founders and owners of Assist-2-Sell Sellers and Buyers Advantage Realty, had these comments on Project Lifeline:

"We've all become so accustomed to seeing statistics about foreclosures and short sales and declining home prices. We have to remember that these aren't just numbers. These are people; these are families. So it's a good thing when steps are taken to help people on the brink of foreclosure. Any time you can keep someone in their home, it is good for the family; it is good for the community; it is good for the economy; and it is good for America.

"It's unfortunate that so many homeowners are truly afraid they will lose the home they worked so hard to put over their head. They shouldn't feel alone, though, and they shouldn't avoid the problem. There really are options. We encourage homeowners who are in trouble with their mortgages to use this extra time to get help. They shouldn't wait any longer. Resources, like Project Lifeline, are available to them. This extra time just might be enough to save their home.

"Project Lifeline is only a start, though. We hope these and other lenders will take their efforts further by making changes within their own organizations. Resources are tapped, which means foreclosures and short sales are piling up on people's desks, homes are sitting on the market for months on end, interested homebuyers are walking away after weeks of waiting, and distressed homeowners are going further and further into debt. The longer mortgage lenders take to address their own problems, the longer recovery will take."