Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, August 10, 2009
Where have all the foreclosures gone?
I have watched the number of foreclosures in my local areas including Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Bird Key, Casey Key, Manasota Key, Palm Island, Little Gasparilla, Boca Grande, Venice, Englewood, Rotonda, Port Charlotte, North Port and Punta Gorda continually decrease. 3 months ago at any given time there were approximately 600 plus foreclosures available. I would receive 15-25 new foreclosure updates daily. In the past 3 months the number of available foreclosures above $70k has been reduced to less 150. Instead of getting 15-25 new foreclosure listings a day I will receive 1-2 new ones and 3-4 status change, meaning they went under contract.
Please don't interpret this as there not being good deals out there, because there are. I find a couple of incredible deals every day but one needs to act fast as they are gone within 1-5 days.
The lack of foreclosures is a combination of events. The first is the banks are overwhelmed with the number of defaults, short sales, modifications, foreclosures and the overall loss of capital & its worth.
Second is the banks are being held accountable to prove that they attempted to modify every loan that is in default. They now are being compensated for each modification they do.
The third reason is that many REO properties are being sold in blocks, large wholesale packages to investors and they never hit the market. This means that many potential buyers will never see them.
Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is that property prices are a direct result of supply & demand. As the supply has begun to decrease, the demand has started to increase along with the prices - Economics 101. It is in the banks best interest not to flood the market with foreclosures and cause the prices to decrease but to control or trickle the foreclosures out to sustain the market price.
There will be more foreclosures to come, but they will roll out in a more controlled manner as to not decrease the prices anymore.
What does this mean to you as a buyer? When you find one that you want act fast. There are more buyers in the marketplace than there are good deals. If you are in the market for a home, now is an opportune time to move forward while Florida is still on sale!
Please don't interpret this as there not being good deals out there, because there are. I find a couple of incredible deals every day but one needs to act fast as they are gone within 1-5 days.
The lack of foreclosures is a combination of events. The first is the banks are overwhelmed with the number of defaults, short sales, modifications, foreclosures and the overall loss of capital & its worth.
Second is the banks are being held accountable to prove that they attempted to modify every loan that is in default. They now are being compensated for each modification they do.
The third reason is that many REO properties are being sold in blocks, large wholesale packages to investors and they never hit the market. This means that many potential buyers will never see them.
Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is that property prices are a direct result of supply & demand. As the supply has begun to decrease, the demand has started to increase along with the prices - Economics 101. It is in the banks best interest not to flood the market with foreclosures and cause the prices to decrease but to control or trickle the foreclosures out to sustain the market price.
There will be more foreclosures to come, but they will roll out in a more controlled manner as to not decrease the prices anymore.
What does this mean to you as a buyer? When you find one that you want act fast. There are more buyers in the marketplace than there are good deals. If you are in the market for a home, now is an opportune time to move forward while Florida is still on sale!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
You can't always believe what you hear or the media is wrong?
Ready for the media's best kept secret? Sit down. The real estate market in Florida is not only recovering, it is booming for those people in the market for great deals. FACT: this was the 6th month in a row that sales increased dramatically. FACT: last month was the highest sales month in Florida history, second only to June of 2005. 2005 was the height of the market boom and they only sold 6 more homes in Sarasota County than last month. I know what you are thinking - are you kidding me? By watching the news and all the coverage on the growing number of foreclosures, I thought I had plenty of time and plenty to choose from. Well listen up - there are a great number of foreclosures, but the number of buyers is growing even greater.
Here's the skinny if you are considering a home purchase in FL in today's market. Every home that is in good condition and priced right will have multiple offers on it within 24 hours. Some banks even make the agent disclose in the comments that property must be on the market for 10 days before they will even look at offers. The result is on the 10th day the offers are stacked up and the bank chooses the highest & best offer and the show is over. A low ball offer does not stand a chance in today's market unless the home is trashed and no one else wants it.
Many buyers have experienced putting in 3-4 offers unsuccessfully before coming to terms that they must be realistic with their offer amount. You are not going to "steal" the home by paying half of the listing price. Someone else will pay the market value if you will not, which by the way, is 50%-60% less than it sold for a couple years ago. The banks are not going to discount them another 20% if the current price is within what the current market will bear. Once a buyer has learned this most important lesson, they stand a much better chance at being successful with their next offer.
The best advise that I can offer you is to be sure that you are working with an agent that knows the foreclosure market and can tell you exactly how much per square foot banks have accepted recently for similar homes. If the home that you like is priced $20 per square foot below other comparable homes that are not as nice that should be a good sign that this home will sell for or above listing price. Recent comps are the best guage to determine a home's value and can be used as a guideline for the amount to offer.
Don't follow the masses that are listening to the media's doom & gloom. People are buying. Let me tell you that the time is here. It will be over much faster than most of us can imagine. Before you know it this historical moment will be lost! I follow the numbers and we only have a third of the amount of available foreclosures that we had 3 months ago. With that being said, now that the banks have reduced the inventory and have a handle on the supply, they will better control the remaining foreclosures still to hit the market in order to have more control over the supply and demand and therefore the prices.
This is a historical moment in real estate as the banks have never been this vulnerable and willing to deal. Don't miss it!
Here's the skinny if you are considering a home purchase in FL in today's market. Every home that is in good condition and priced right will have multiple offers on it within 24 hours. Some banks even make the agent disclose in the comments that property must be on the market for 10 days before they will even look at offers. The result is on the 10th day the offers are stacked up and the bank chooses the highest & best offer and the show is over. A low ball offer does not stand a chance in today's market unless the home is trashed and no one else wants it.
Many buyers have experienced putting in 3-4 offers unsuccessfully before coming to terms that they must be realistic with their offer amount. You are not going to "steal" the home by paying half of the listing price. Someone else will pay the market value if you will not, which by the way, is 50%-60% less than it sold for a couple years ago. The banks are not going to discount them another 20% if the current price is within what the current market will bear. Once a buyer has learned this most important lesson, they stand a much better chance at being successful with their next offer.
The best advise that I can offer you is to be sure that you are working with an agent that knows the foreclosure market and can tell you exactly how much per square foot banks have accepted recently for similar homes. If the home that you like is priced $20 per square foot below other comparable homes that are not as nice that should be a good sign that this home will sell for or above listing price. Recent comps are the best guage to determine a home's value and can be used as a guideline for the amount to offer.
Don't follow the masses that are listening to the media's doom & gloom. People are buying. Let me tell you that the time is here. It will be over much faster than most of us can imagine. Before you know it this historical moment will be lost! I follow the numbers and we only have a third of the amount of available foreclosures that we had 3 months ago. With that being said, now that the banks have reduced the inventory and have a handle on the supply, they will better control the remaining foreclosures still to hit the market in order to have more control over the supply and demand and therefore the prices.
This is a historical moment in real estate as the banks have never been this vulnerable and willing to deal. Don't miss it!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Has Florida once again become a sellers market?
Sounds crazy, but it is true! Prior to, but especially in the last 90 days, many areas of Florida have become a sellers market when it comes to the number of offers on homes with popular criteria and the most competitive pricing. It still is a buyers market in the sense that these homes are at bargain prices. For this reason there are so many buyers in Que waiting to pounce on the right home. North Port is most famous for this. It is an area where you can get the newest, largest and least expensive home in the entire Venice, Port Charlotte, Englewood and Southwest Florida area.
Sellers offering homes that are in demand and priced right are receiving multiple offers and have the convenience to pick the highest and best offer. In order to attract more attention, some properties are hitting the market priced below what the home will actually bring, even in today's bargain market. This is creating a frenzy for buyers to scramble to get in an offer before someone else gets the home. It has gotten to the point that if I show a buyer a home in the morning that they like and want to put in an offer that afternoon I have to call to see if the home is even still available. Then, if it is, the next question that I have to ask is are there any offers on it yet. Just to give you an example, I had a buyer that wanted to put an offer in on a home last week and they were making a respectable offer. I called and was informed that there were several offers submitted that day. When the results were in the home sold for $10,000 over list price. I have actually seen homes sell for $25,000 above list price!
This seems to be a common occurrence in Southwest Florida. Buyers think that there are so many homes to choose from that it is overwhelming. Truth be known, by the time you take out the short sales, if someone does does not want to wait 3-6 months, take out the ones that are overpriced and the ones that need a lot of work or are unfinished there aren't so many choices.
Many people are coming to Florida and finding out that if they want to get a good home at a good price they need to be educated as to what homes are actually selling for not what they are listed for! If you find a home you want, be realistic about what you offer cause other buyers that are familiar with the market are.
In summary if you listen to the media no one has bought a home in Florida in the last 3 years. Let me tell you as a REALTOR that has worked this market for some time, homes are moving fast!
Sellers offering homes that are in demand and priced right are receiving multiple offers and have the convenience to pick the highest and best offer. In order to attract more attention, some properties are hitting the market priced below what the home will actually bring, even in today's bargain market. This is creating a frenzy for buyers to scramble to get in an offer before someone else gets the home. It has gotten to the point that if I show a buyer a home in the morning that they like and want to put in an offer that afternoon I have to call to see if the home is even still available. Then, if it is, the next question that I have to ask is are there any offers on it yet. Just to give you an example, I had a buyer that wanted to put an offer in on a home last week and they were making a respectable offer. I called and was informed that there were several offers submitted that day. When the results were in the home sold for $10,000 over list price. I have actually seen homes sell for $25,000 above list price!
This seems to be a common occurrence in Southwest Florida. Buyers think that there are so many homes to choose from that it is overwhelming. Truth be known, by the time you take out the short sales, if someone does does not want to wait 3-6 months, take out the ones that are overpriced and the ones that need a lot of work or are unfinished there aren't so many choices.
Many people are coming to Florida and finding out that if they want to get a good home at a good price they need to be educated as to what homes are actually selling for not what they are listed for! If you find a home you want, be realistic about what you offer cause other buyers that are familiar with the market are.
In summary if you listen to the media no one has bought a home in Florida in the last 3 years. Let me tell you as a REALTOR that has worked this market for some time, homes are moving fast!
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