Weather us all

Yes it is the H season.

Some of my colleagues like to do the storm away dance or positive thinking to try and keep them from coming here.

Hurricane season officially started at the beginning of June, this is the active period as we can all see looking at the weather maps.

I get a lot of inquiries from buyer's who think the whole coast blows away every time a storm comes in within a hundred miles.

Everywhere I have lived (from Canada to Guam to Florida) has their unique extreme weather.

The beauty here I tell people is if the power goes out at least you won't freeze to death.

Knock on wood I have yet to go through a hurricane in the Manatee/Sarasota area. I have been through blizzards, typhoons and tropical storms.

If you are prepared, have the right insurance and don't obsess about it, storm season is just another part of the natural cycle.

To me and a lot of my clients, the sunshine, beaches and warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico far outweigh worrying about a storm.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com

Time is not on your side

There is a bit of a misconception in the market locally and possibly nationally

A lot of my clients in Palmetto and Manatee County think if they wait longer the value of properties will go down in monetary value and they will pick them up for less money.

Yes this may be true. Housing prices have dropped somewhere around 17 percent over the past year.

That's the upside.

Buying house isn't just about price it is also about condition and in many cases interest rates.

If you are waiting for the foreclosures and pre-foreclosures or short sales to go down in price they may.

In the meantime though the condition of the home may also deteriorate.

The balance comes when you have to think about how much time, money and effort you will have to put in rehabilitating the home by waiting.

The homes that that are the best priced and in good condition still sell very quickly. They are the homes in the 20 percent range of the market.

The other 80 percent or either over priced or in poor condition or a combination of both.

Also you need to remember the fed rate does not always reflect mortgage rates. Mortgage rates may in fact go up while the fed rate stays stable or even goes down.

What this means for the home buyer is if they want to keep within a certain payment as the mortgage rates go up their purchasing power can decline a lot quicker then prices.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com

They're in investor heaven

I may not personally be in heaven but a lot of investor clients believe they might be.

Let me think why. Hm mm.

How about this, in Manatee County you can get condos and houses lets say for less than half of the price people paid for them a couple of years ago.

We're not talking premier properties on the beach but heck we are talking some pretty darn good locations.

They are snapping up bargains galore. Can you get a home built in 2000 or newer house 3 bedrooms, two full baths, two car garage, stucco over block for less than $120,000? You betcha ya.

Can you rent it out and hang on to it for a couple of years while the market sorts itself out? Well that's up to you.

Here's the scoop. Amateur hour for real estate investing is over. The professionals have come in to pick up the pieces left over from the novice flippers.

They also of course are picking up homes left from people who got in over the heads on their mortgages.

In simple terms everyone needs a place to live. The people displaced from their homes or who can't get a mortgage will need to rent.

The investors are out there buying the bargains and making them into money making rental properties.

The simple lesson is the astute real estate investors will make money in any market buyer's or seller's.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com

They're in investor heaven

I may not personally be in heaven but a lot of investor clients believe they might be.

Let me think why. Hm mm.

How about this, in Manatee County you can get condos and houses lets say for less than half of the price people paid for them a couple of years ago.

We're not talking premier properties on the beach but heck we are talking some pretty darn good locations.

They are snapping up bargains galore. Can you get a home built in 2000 or newer house 3 bedrooms, two full baths, two car garage, stucco over block for less than $120,000? You betcha ya.

Can you rent it out and hang on to it for a couple of years while the market sorts itself out? Well that's up to you.

Here's the scoop. Amateur hour for real estate investing is over. The professionals have come in to pick up the pieces left over from the novice flippers.

They also of course are picking up homes left from people who got in over the heads on their mortgages.

In simple terms everyone needs a place to live. The people displaced from their homes or who can't get a mortgage will need to rent.

The investors are out there buying the bargains and making them into money making rental properties.

The simple lesson is the astute real estate investors will make money in any market buyer's or seller's.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com

Too little, too late

Everybody is looking for a bargain in our area these days.

Some people find them, some people may wait too long.

As a Buyer's Specialist I spend a lot of time looking for the best homes for the best price for my clients. That's my job and that is what they expect.

A couple of times recently I have found waterfront bargains in Palmetto and Manatee County area that were well worth the money that they could be bought for.

A couple of clients wanted to play the waiting game and see if the prices would go down even more.

A good deal is a good deal and more than one person will recognize it.

Somebody else now has a good deal.

Waterfront is always desirable, when it hits the right mark there a number of people waiting out there to jump out and buy it.

Buyer's buy in any market when they know the price is right.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com

Somethings are priceless, well almost

Everywhere the media is talking about falling housing prices, deals, deals, deals.

For the most part this is true.

But somethings are almost priceless, or in our case, almost.

Manatee and Sarasota counties are blessed with a number of properties that face west either across bays or down rivers.

You can watch a beautiful sunset from your own backyard from Palmetto to Casey Key night after night.

Imagine, being able to sit with a glass of wine in a lounge chair as the sun goes down over the Gulf of Mexico, Sarasota or Tampa Bay or the Manatee River.

I have seen it many times from the backyards of other peoples homes. I have had a few fortunate clients who can do that every night.

The reality is that kind of view may have been relatively inexpensive decades ago but even in this strong buyer's market those views come with a pretty hefty price tag for most people.

Buyers from around the world shop to get that kind of view and they are willing to pay top dollar for it.

There are few vacant beach front lots available in our area stretching down to the tip of the state along the Gulf of Mexico.

If you can find them and if you can buy them for under $10,000 a square foot of beach front, well you are getting a pretty darn good deal.

If you are looking for a house on the lot. Well, anything under $1 million would be considered a bargain.

There are some condominiums in under the $1 million mark where the beach is your backyard. A couple of them are still for sale on Anna Maria Island.

The bottom line is that if you are looking that special view there are homes and condominiums for sale you can have.

If you are looking to get them for bargain basement prices you may be waiting a very, very long time even in this market.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com

Recovery roulette

The know it all economists have spoken.

Real estate in Florida was going to recover in the second half of this year, no maybe next year, hey possibly not until 2010.

It's like playing roulette they keep throwing the ball down and guessing where it will fall.

Whatever.

In Palmetto, in Bradenton, Sarasota, I'm seeing opportunities everywhere.

A couple of years ago a lot of the local workers were priced out of the market as the market went crazy.

Affordable housing meant having a household income close to or over the six digits.

Now, a couple blocks down from our office on the Manatee River you can get a decent three bedroom, two bathroom home for under $140,000.

Yep, they may be a foreclosures, or pre-foreclosure, but suddenly these homes have opened up a whole new market.

The builders are starting to see this opportunity also and are building homes now that a lot of people can afford.

And there are condominiums out there in the same price range or less.

Now this is a recovery in the making. Homes that are affordable to the local workers.


All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com

Property taxes are falling!

Property taxes in Manatee County going down, probably not everywhere mind you, but yes, on a number of homes taxes went down.

Of course, in a way, this is a double edged sword. Property values are also dropping in many communities and the tax bills are reflecting that.

That being said one of the big complaints I hear from buyers coming in to this market is about property taxes. With those dropping it can only be a positive for this housing market.

One other reminder to potential buyers, there is no state income tax.

When buyers start thinking of moving to states that have state income tax they might want to whip out a calculator and see how much that plays in to their decision.

All the best
Greg Owens PA
Keller Williams Realty of Greater Manatee
941.932.6343