Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The heat is on

Sarasota and Manatee counties were a couple of the first places in Florida to take a hit in the recession.

Prices dropped fast and continue to drop in the over 200k single family home market.

But things change quickly in this market.

For months now good location, good condition single family homes under 200k have been flying off the shelves.

With foreclosures it has not been unusual for multiple offers the day the home hits the market in that range.

Now take that one step further. We are finding the same situation with shorts sales.

The sales that often take months to close we are getting multiple offers on within days of them being listed.

As the foreclosure market dries up in the under 200k range the interest has shifted to whatever buyer's can find.

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

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Waterfront dreams

For some people the real estate fairy has arrived.

From our waterfront view in Palmetto on the Manatee River I look out at the water every day.

It used to be waterfront, sailboat waterfront, was far too expensive for many buyers.

Not any more.

Decent water front where you can have your sailboat on a canal at your backyard can be had for under 500k.

In some cases well under 500k.

We're talking Tampa Bay and Gulf of Mexico in a couple of minutes depending on how fast your boat goes.

With record low mortgage rates and good selection of inventory those water front dreams can come true.

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

Friday, May 08, 2009

Under 200k the buyers market is over

Now is when the feeding frenzy begins.

In the Sarasota/Manatee market you could pick up a nice single family home, good location, in good condition for $150k, heck for under $200k you probably could have got a pool.

We're talking talking decent square footage, newer all the stuff buyers like.

Well, that inventory under 200k has now dropped to seller's market levels which is under 5 months of inventory according to pending sales and just slightly above based on sold homes, according to the latest Trendgraphix statistics.

It doesn't mean you won't find the homes. Heck, there are possibly be going to be thousands of more foreclosures coming on the market in Florida in the next few months.

But the competition to scoop those bargain properties has heated up. Sarasota and Manatee you will find multiple offers on those decent under 200k homes.

They used to stay on the market for months, then weeks, then days and now hours.

Some of the best deals don't even last that long.

All the best
Greg Owens
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com

It is the perfect real estate storm

This is why we are in the perfect real estate storm for buyer's. This storm is a good thing.

Record low mortgage rates

High inventory

Low prices

Most if not all of us alive today will probably never see the same opportunity to buy real estate.

Real estate historically goes up between 3 and 4 percent per year. Take out the rocket ride up of a few years ago and the over the cliff plummet of recent times and we should end up right back at that level.

And throw in the government $8,000 incentive for first time home buyers and some decent short sale and foreclosures driving down prices just to put icing on the cake.

This is one of those moments in history where everyone will say "I should have bought a house back then."

Enough said.

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

Monday, May 04, 2009

Body break

Editor's Note:

Rich Bennett a personal trainer in Manatee County periodically provides a work out blog.

Hi Rich here again with a quick explanation of different types of workouts and what they are used for to help benefit you.

Body shaping or isolation exercises.

These are exercises that use basically only one joint or muscle. You are generally not able to use a lot of weight when doing them so they are more appropriate for shaping.

Examples include:

Dumbell Flyes, kickbacks, leg extensions, and biceps curls.
 
Stamina building or compound exercises.

These are multi-joint exercises that use a lot of muscle mass and are more effective for building muscle and strength than isolation exercises. They use more than one muscle group in combination, hence the name "compound."
Examples include:

Leg Press , bench press, and rowing movements.
 
 
High Intensity training or HIT is a good enough name for the last group.


These exercises use high speeds, can use fairly heavy or lighter weight and momentum. They build explosive power which is very useful in many sports and are great for fat loss! Similar to compound exercises they are done at a faster pace.
Examples include:

Push Ups, Pull ups and Squats
 
 
If you are looking to gain primarily strength, operate in the 1-5 rep range. If you want to gain muscle, stay in the 6-12 rep range. If you are looking for muscular endurance or "body shaping", go to the 13+ rep range.

Bottom line all these are great to use to get in fantastic shape. The best way is to combine these exercises in a series of workout programs tailored to your needs.


If you have any questions feel free to contact me 941-773-3719 or at keyfitnessllc@gmail.com

Yours in Fitness Rich B.

Just a bit of reality

Get it real, get it sold.

It still amazes me in this market I still see homes so over priced, well it in fact does make me chuckle.

The same seller's are going through agent after agent that doesn't sell their home hoping the real estate fairy will touch them with their magic wand for their overpriced property.

OK, this is the market place, not a fairy tale.

For the near future foreclosures and short sales are going to continue to set the pace for prices on the market.

If you are trying to sell your home and you can't compete with those prices, here is my sage advice, get out of the market for now.

It isn't the marketing, it isn't the staging, it is all about the price.

Homes sales are only about three items. Condition, location and price. If you have the first and you have not sold your home, see number three.

If you have to sell, well see the line above about the foreclosures and short sales.

Prices have not stabilized, they continue to drop in the over 200k range for single family homes in Manatee and Sarasota counties. When that changes, maybe the real estate fairy will return.

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