The Ellis Team SW Florida Current Market Index stabilized this past month, which is a good sign heading into season.  Listing inventory increases in both single family homes and condos in southwest florida, and so did pending sales.  In fact, pending sales climbed at an equal to or greater rate than what we’ve been seeing in past months.

Buyer activity has increased, and demand for our Southwest Florida short sale seminar is growing as well.  If you’d like to attend our next free SW Florida short sale seminar, please call our office to register.  We teach first time home buyers. move-up buyers, and investors how to consistently buy properties at or below today’s fair market value, and educate consumers about the local SW Florida real estate market.

The higher the CMI Index, the more supply we have relative to demand.

The Ellis Team at RE/MAX is holding a Short Sale Seminar in Fort Myers Monday November 12, 2007.  Call 239-489-4042 to signup as seating is limited.  In this seminar we will teach buyers what the banks are looking for in the short sale process, and how to close on these properties quickly and circumvent the long approval process.

Selecting the correct properties, and working with agents experienced in the short sale process is critical in having success buying short sales.  We’ll show you the inside secrets directly from the Top executives at many of the Loss Mitigation Departments.

Only the experience of RE/MAX and the Ellis Team can bring you these inside secrets as we have nationwide connections with Top industry professionals who share them with us so we can help them sell their properties.

Many investors erroneously believe they can get great deals by making offers designed to trigger a counter-offer from the lender.  We will teach you how to discern myth from fictions, and teach you the right way to obtain the home of your dreams at an affordable price in SW Florida, or buy that investment home at today’s lower prices.

We are offering this seminar to end user first or second home buyers, or small investors.  There are investment groups who offer tips and strategies to investors who wish to purchase homes in bulk,  We are not offering this seminar to bulk investors at this time.

We will be sharing tips and insight you won’t get anywhere else.  If you miss this seminar, please call our office to find out when the next when will occur and we’ll get you on the list.

This past week rates on 30 year mortgages dropped to their lowest levels in 5 months! This is a great time to get into the housing market with a fixed 30 year mortgage to give predicatable low payments. Right now more than ever buyers have choices to purchase exactly what they want and get financing at historically low interest rates. There are also several 100% financing programs available for the first time buyer.

Short sales are the new buzz words in real estate for the past year or two, and there are certain things you need to know to be able to accomplish this task.  Short sales are an excellent way to purchase a property at or below today’s fair market value, and you need to work with an agent that thoroughly understands this process.

On this past weeks radio show we invited two experts from Countrywide Home Loans to explain the Best way to purchase these properties.  Countrywide is the nation’s largest lender, and is being proactive so that they don’t have to foreclose on these properties.

Last year Countrywide foreclosed on 7,000 properties nationwide, and already this year 25,000 are in foreclosure.  They don’t want anymore.

If you wish to buy or sell using this process, there are some important things your agent needs to know, so make sure you’re working with an agent who knows the systems and the regulations, otherwise buyer will miss out on a good deal and seller could lose home to foreclosure.

Listen to this week’s show online to hear more about the process.  Click on November 3, 2007 Show.

For those interested in consistently buying real estate in SW Florida below market value, call our office to signup for our next short sale seminar next week.

It could just be the time of year as pending sales typically drop anyway, or it could be a sign that the market hasn’t bottomed out yet.  Either way we’re not happy that the CMI Index has risen once again, a telling sign about the upcoming months ahead for this market.

Active listings are holding relatively steady. however, they are still rising.  Pending sales are also holding relatively steady, however, they are still dropping.  Either one wouldn’t be so bad except for the fact that inventory levels are near their highest levels.  This isn’t the best time for either of these events to occur, let alone both simultaneously.

Many agents I talk to, however, are optimistic that this upcoming season will be much better than the past two seasons.  We also look forward to the results of proeprty tax reform in Florida, which could influence affordability for home buyers.

The higher the CMI Index, the more supply we have relative to demand.

Tenants are being evicted because their landlords are collecting rents but not paying the mortgage on the home.  Some sellers legitimately can’t afford the negative cash flow, however they are keeping and pocketing the rent and not paying the bank anything.  This practice may violate the terms of the mortgage, and forces the bank to foreclose on the home, leaving the tenant homeless.

To make matters worse, we just have to wonder whether the landlord has followed the law and placed the last months rent and security deposit into a separate Florida bank account for safe keeping. 

Tenants have been calling our office looking for a place to rent or buy.  Some tenants in SW Florida are taking the opportunity to buy at better prices now that the real estate market has corrected.  Not all tenants are in a position to take advantage of the buying opportunities due to credit issues, so they are forced to move quickly to another rental home.  Moving can be costly, so it pays to make sure your future landlord is financially stable and will pay the mortgage.  Ironically, it has been landlords who have done credit checks on potential tenants before deciding to rent to them.  We may see a day when tenants also do a mortgage check to make sure the landlord is financially making the payments.  Talk about a turn of events.