The right lender

Picking the right lender, the right Realtor and the right title company is as important as picking the right home to purchase.

Real estate agents often recommend to their clients particular lenders and title companies.

Seasoned agents will know which title companies and lenders will work hard to ensure the transaction will go as seamless as possible.

They will know the ones they can work in unison with.

There are any number of issues that can come up with a real estate transaction.

Working with people that know how to resolve issues quickly and efficiently can make the difference between extreme stress or a stress free closing.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

Did someone say tax relief?

Well it looks like the state legislature in Florida may be stepping up to the plate, maybe.

If everything goes as billed we will have doubled the homestead exemption on property taxes up to $50,000 and homestead portability that will help the move up market for the locals.

What I believe is lame is the cap on commercial and non-homestead at 10 percent. What the heck are they thinking? Property taxes going up 10 percent a year for anyone is ridiculous.

The snowbirds feed this economy and the money gobbling municipalities seem to have forgotten that point.

Insurance and property taxes are on the tip of every second home buyers tongue. That 10 percent needs to be rolled way back.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

Shark fest

There is a strong smell of blood in the water on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

And the sharks have begun to follow the trail ready to devour their prey.

In this case the blood is red ink from flippers, investors, mortgage companies and banks all struggling in the deep end of the pool of a very strong buyer's market.

For those true investors, the ones that know that real estate is a long term investment, they are starting to tear into the market.

They are tearing chunks out of the supply of waterfront properties for instance and know that the deals on the market now may not return for a long time.

These investors are the true hunters in the real estate waters. They knew not to invest in the hot market but wait for the fallout.

A word of caution for those waiting on the buyers beach trying to guess the bottom of the market. Those property owners bleeding red ink now were trying to guess the top of the market.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

Bouncing on bottom

The snowbirds are coming, the snowbirds are coming!

So, you figure that will be the solution to the housing glut in Florida? Not likely.

Look at the thousands of homes, condominiums and townhouses for sale in the Bradenton/Sarasota market alone. There is several years of inventory based on recent sales figures.

The best sellers can hope for at this point is that prices will bottom out sometime in the next couple of month and then start bouncing across the bottom.

There are a number of economists out there predicting this and that about the market.

Best guess based on everything I've read is that we may not see prices start to rise again in this area until around the end of 2008 and that is probably being very optimistic.

If you are selling a house right now it is simple economics. We have a large supply and a low demand so prices fall.

It doesn't matter what you paid for your home, what you need to get out of your home or what you think it is worth if you are trying to sell it.

The only thing that matters right now is what the buyers think it is worth.

We've hit the opposite end of the cycle. Sellers were listing their properties high and had a lineup of buyers during the sellers market.

Now there is a lineup of sellers and buyers want the properties to be sold low.

All the wishful thinking in the world about snowbirds is not going to change that economic fact for a long time.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

Is the end near?

If you read the latest sales statistics for the Sarasota/Bradenton area that came out today you might think that the plummet in prices will continue.

The median sales price in Sarasota/Bradenton dropped 15 percent, from $287,600 to $244,300 and sales were were down 25 percent year over year.

Of course as a buyer's agent I think that is great news. It means more people can afford to get back in the market.

A couple of things in the statistics are worth watching.

The Bradenton/Sarasota market has taken quite a dive in sales and prices lately. The faster they go down the faster we hit bottom so if you see a smaller decline next month or a flattening out that might signal a turn soon to come.

For those home buyers sitting on the sidelines these next couple of months may be crucial.

Prices are dropping fast along with sales and inventory is high. Those are all signs if a strong buyer's market. If any of those factors start to change, it may mean we have hit bottom.

The two other things that are interesting in the state statistics, Jacksonville posted a 2 percent price increase and Miami's prices were virtually flat although sales were down by 53 percent.

The media is reporting only 360 home sales in Miami with 500 home sales in the Manatee/Sarasota area. That is something to take note of considering the average home price in Miami is $372,000 and $244,300 in the Bradenton/Sarasota area.

If the prices begin to stabilize in Miami watch the market for a halo effect in other coastal areas.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

Waterfront bargains

A little more than a year ago if someone would have asked about a boatable waterfront property on a deep water canal with no bridges to Tampa Bay I might have told them you are looking at $500k plus minimum.

Not so anymore.

There are three bedroom, two bathroom homes in Manatee County in the $300k range matching the above waterfront description.

There are auctions going on in the county where the reserve bid is in the mid $200k range.

What this means is that waterfront is affordable again.

How long this will last is a guessing game at this point. Waterfront property is and will continue to be some of the most desirable properties on the coast.

The market continues to drop but as it begins to stabilize (remembering real estate is a local market so it will be different everywhere) waterfront property again will start to rise and be out of the reach of the average home buyer.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

All Hope Not Lost

If you are selling a property it might feel like, yes, the light at the end of the tunnel has gone out.

Many sellers have been through several Realtors and may even be trying to sell there home by themselves now.

As a seller you might think nothing is moving on the market and to just go into foreclosure.

First there are homes being sold. More than on 100 every month on average in Manatee County alone.

The issue here is supply and demand. There are more than 4,000 single family homes for sale, not including new contstruction inventory and more than 1,700 condominiums/townhomes in Manatee County.

What matters most to buyers right now is price. You may think your home is the most special on the block, it has all the bells and whistles and look what you paid for it. All of that means nothing really.

This is the slinky theory. How do you stop a slinky going down the stairs? You get ahead of it.

Many sellers don't want to listen to their Realtors when they say they have to drop their price to get ahead of the market and be noticed. Then by the time they do let reality set in they have to drop their price even more to catch up.

Here is some sage advice.

It is a wholesale market right now with literally dozens of properties available in Manatee County for every buyer. If you have a retail price on your home, yep, you most likely are going to be passed over.

Not only do you have to have your property appear like a showhome in this market you have to be the best darn value on the market. Yes, there are still multiple offer situations in this market if the home is priced well the bargain hunters will flock to it.

For those trying to sell their home for sale by owner it is even tougher slog. Unless you have all the access to the latest market information you probably don't know what the current market will bear. It doesn't matter to the buyer what you paid for it. It matters, what the buyer's are will to pay for it.

Next, take this from a buyer's agent perspective. With thousands of homes on the market trying to narrow down the search using the local multiple listing service is tough enough with such a large inventory. For sale by owners, unless the client comes across them, are probably not going to get noticed by the buyer's agent.

In this market it all comes down to price. If you are williing to have the best priced, best value home in your community on sale your home will most likely sell. If your not willing to do that, yes, the light for you at the end of the tunnel has probably gone out.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

It's raining across the nation

Imagine having a weather forecaster say it is going to be cold and rainy across the nation.

You would probably go, huh? It's supposed to be sunshine and warm in my hometown.

Now think about economic forecasters who are saying it will take six months to a year for the housing market to recover everywhere across the nation.

Doesn't make a lot of sense does it.

Real estate markets like the weather are local in nature. For instance while many parts of the nation were seeing a decline in housing prices the five boroughs of New York were going up in price.

Its all simple economics of supply and demand.

So what does this mean to the consumer looking to purchase a home? Don't be confused by national trends.

Look at the market you want to move or invest in and look at what is happening there.

Florida is a good example of shifting markets. Generally speaking coastal community prices were going up like a rocket for several years. We're in the other end of the cycle now going down.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist though to figure out that when a lot of the population either nationally or internationally want to vacation or retire they want to be near or on the coast.

At one point the cycle will start to reverse and the snowbound will be looking for warmer digs.

So this means that if you looking for coastal community investment start looking at the local market you want to be in, not the national statistics.

If you see a flattening out trend in that local market in prices that probably means that the downturn is over and prices will start rise again soon.

You probably want to buy before the prices stabilize and definitely before the turn in order to get the best value.

You don't want to be trying to guess the bottom or you'll get stuck like the investors who were trying to guess the top and get caught with properties they are now trying to sell at a loss.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

Bargain Hunter

Foreclosures, short sales, desperation?
For homeowners trying to sell it can be a scary market.
But I'm a buyer's agent and it is Christmas everywhere.
From auctions to just writing up offers that are 20 percent below it's a lot of fun out there to be shopping with clients.
The statistics show in Manatee County alone the sales prices are at least 10 percent or more on average to the list price.
I have personally had several listing agents say their client wouldn't even consider the offer we made because it was too low. And sure enough they have come back a couple of weeks later and asked us to resubmit.
That is the kind of real estate market it is right now.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.779.5149

Horn blowing time

Our office Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee opened in February of 2006.

Now at the time the market was falling like a rock. Thousands of homes were hitting the market and buyers were pretty darn scarce.

You know what?

As of this September 2007 we are the #8 office in the past 12 months for units sold. Out of the top 10 offices in Manatee County we had the lowest average days on market, 77, and the highest list price to sales price average, 95 percent.

In September we were the #4 office for units sold in Manatee County.

While other offices were floundering wondering what to do in this market we were teaching our agents to reduce the prices and make sure the listings were the best value in the area.

We told agents don't tell sellers to reject low ball offers, negotiate them.

We taught our agents how to sell short sales and foreclosures. Heck, we even put together a whole course for all the agents in Manatee County.

We figure that's why this team and our office is moving towards the top.

Once in a while we need to pat ourselves on the back.

More importantly we've kept our clients ahead of the game.

Condo!

In Manatee County there are 1939 condominiums for sale. Another 145 are pending sale and 44 have sold in the last 30 days.

So what does that tell you?

If you go by solds there is a 44 month supply of condominiums on the market or 44 condos for every buyer out there.

This means to the consumer time to play lets make a deal.

The majority of condos that sold in the last 30 days (27 out of the 44) were on the market for more than 120 days and the average sale price was 91.2 percent of the list price.

Buying time

The latest market statistics for Manatee County show that in the last 30 days that 40 of the 116 single family homes that sold were on the market for more than 120 days.

The average sales price was 83.9 percent of the listing price.

There are still more than 4,000 homes on the market.

Those statistics pretty much sum up what everyone has been talking about. If you are looking for a bargain now is the time to buy soon and buy often.