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!