Florida market update,Venice,Englewood,Port Charlotte & North Port Florida

The sales seem to be rolling in especially in North Port ,Port Charlotte and Venice Florida. The property selection is good if you take into consideration the number of short sales. I had mentioned in a previous blog that the percentage of short sales would increase, I was right. If agents or buyers do not want to mess with short sales they will most likely have to deal with regular resales. It seems that as soon as a nice foreclosure hits the market it has multiple offers on it. The reason is the foreclosures are the best priced properties within their criteria so they move fast.
I see in many cases that the banks are pricing the homes below even the current market value and creating bidding wars on these aggressively priced homes. If you are looking at foreclosures do a market analysis on recent sales of similar homes and be ready to pay that per square foot. These properties are deals but the bank is not going to sell it to you for any less than what another ready,willing and able buyer will pay in todays marketplace. Most importantly remember if you make a ridiculous offer be prepared to get a ridiculous counter offer!

Should I rule out short sales?

If you do you will have a small selection of homes to choose from. I have been successful with short sales for a year now, which doesn't seem like a long time but they are relatively new to the southwest Florida area. I saw them coming and realized that I need to get acclimated with how they work as they will be a large part of our inventory. I am now well versed in dealing with them and have much success. I am very selective with the ones that I list and show as they can be a nightmare and a blatant waste of time if not done properly or if the bank is not realsitic.

My advise would be to first try to find a home that is a foreclosure or a resale before looking at short sales. If it seems that short sale properties are your only option then you need to get familiar with them or find someone that is before going down that road, as they are not for the faint at heart!