Another Busy Week In SW Florida Real Estate

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Whew, another week has blown by.  By now I had intended on posting the Ellis Team’s latest Current Market Index numbers, information about the new lockbox system, and much more.  We’ve just been swamped with offers on properties and BPO"s (Broker Price Opinions) on foreclosure property, as well as contracts and inspections that we haven’t had the time to post to the Blog in awhile.

Last Monday I had offers on 4 different properties on my desk, so it pretty much took all of Monday to negotiate those deals.  2 of the 4 went pending on Monday, and a 3rd went pending just yesterday from those initial offers on Monday.  Throw in a few closings this past week, and you can see why we’ve been hopping.  Sande has been working lots of offers too.  I’m not sure how many she put together.

OK, here’s a teaser until we get the latest CMI numbers posted.  Cape Coral is hot right now.  Lee County’s inventory levels fell once again, and pending sales have remained stable.  We think April and May’s closing numbers will be good.  Prices are off significantly from last year, but transactions should be up as the pendings have gone up.

That’s all for now.  Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on what’s happening in the market.

Busy Week in Real Estate

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I can’t tell you how many properties we sold last week because I don’t have those numbers in front of me as I write this Blog, but I can tell you we were busy and several did go pending.  We had multiple offers on several properties, which I’ll tell you more about later on.

We’ll be updating our SW Florida Bank Owned Bargains page tomorrow.

The best priced properties are selling in SW Florida, and many are bank foreclosures, but not all.  Many have predicted that bank foreclosures would top out last month, and we were hopeful as well because we saw 2-3 months of declining rates.  I spoke with good friend Jeff Tumbarello today who tracks Lis Pendens with the county probably better than anyone, and he tells me April will be another record setting month.  When I heard the number I was amazed.  We’ll let him announce it tomorrow, but this just tells me we have another wave coming, so stay tuned for some more upcoming bargains.

A lot of our regular sellers are selling now as well, so it’s not just the foreclosures.  Basically anything that is priced at market is selling, and buyers are jumping off the fence in droves.  We think when April sales numbers are released next month there will be an uptick in closed sales, because we’re seeing it.  In fact, we just hired another staff person to keep up with the workflow, and we’re hiring buyer specialists right now as well.

Back to the multiple offers.  Everyone probably thinks as a listing agent having multiple offers is fun.  All I can say is it is more fun than having a listing for months and no offers, but the fun ends about there.  Last week we had several properties receive multiple offers.  One had four offers, and the agents involved just had to have this property for their buyers.  We let each agent know that we had several offers and gave each of them ample notice to inform their buyer and come with their best offer.  Each one did, and was convinced the bank should sell to their buyer and their buyer alone.

There truly was one offer that was better than the others, and another offer that was perhaps second best, and so on.  The best offer was never in question, and by definition the bank can only accept one offer, so it should be no surprise that there will be one winner and 3 losers.  In this case, the losers didn’t take it well and wanted to know why their offer wasn’t taken, told us how their buyer deserved this home, and so on and so on.  One even tried to complain to the bank directly about how they didn’t like the process.

From a listing agent standpoint, it’s never fun to have to tell 3 people they didn’t get the home they wanted.  I spent all weekend talking with these agents, even though I couldn’t present the offers until Monday morning when the bank opened.  There were a few procedures that must be followed, such as one about pre-approval letters that must accompany the offers, but some saw fit to not do this step until after I told them they wouldn’t get the property without it.  I spent almost all day Monday dealing with this one property.  As a listing agent, I can only sell it once, but I had to deal with four agents all weekend and all day Monday, and three were Mad at the outcome.

Then I had to start all over with another property, and another.  Invariably we get some agents who don’t or won’t understand the process and work to do what is necessary to get their buyer the property.  I received an offer today from an agent who didn’t like the counter-offer I gave them back.  She informed me that the bank should know it’s a buyer’s market, future assessments are coming, and so on and so on.  I tried to tell her the bank gets a BPO from me and they do their own appraisal.  This property today is listed well below my BPO number I thought it was worth, and I was being conservative.

Still, they are arguing over the price, meanwhile the property had several more showings today.  Most of these bank foreclosures sell at or above full price, and it’s only a matter of time before we get multiple offers.  This could happen tomorrow if we don’t get this property wrapped up soon.  And if it happens, I hope to not have to hear about how this buyer deserved the property, had their offer in first, why it’s stupid for the bank to counter-offer, etc.  It’s a good deal and I hope this buyer sees it.  If not, another one will soon, I am certain of that.

Bottom line is even when you’re getting multiple offers, it’s not always fun.  Many buyers, some of our own included, are learning the hard way that their first and second choices are being sold out from under them and they’re left with their third choice.  Buyers have read for so long how terrible this market is, and they believe it.  The sooner buyers hear and believe what really is happening on the streets, the more likely it will be that they’ll get their first or second choice instead of the left overs.  Listen to your agent, and don’t doubt that there are some positives in this market.  The headline of the story doesn’t always match the article, so read the entire article.

Ask your agent.  A multiple offer situation is not fun for the listing or selling agents.  Buyers are placed under a large amount of stress, and agents do the best they can for their client.  I know the agent today who is telling me what the bank should know is just doing her job the best way she knows how.  I hope secretly that she’s telling her buyer what a good deal this house is and to now mess around and lose it.  One of our buyers took too long this past week and just lost out on a nice golf course home in Fort Myers.  They had a verbal agreement, but took a week to get back with us and by the time they could get a formal contract to us, another buyer had come along and beaten them to the punch.  The seller was not obligated to honor a verbal and took the higher offer that was in writing.

The lesson to this story, if you’re going to steal, don’t do it in slow motion.  And don’t get too greedy fighting over the last few thousand dollars.  Get the deal and get it wrapped up.  Otherwise. you’ll be on your 3rd choice in no time.  Stay tuned and watch for some big foreclosure numbers, but don’t just read the headline.  Read the whole story, and the story in the days that follow.  Our market has a silver lining.  And stay tuned for more deals to come.  We have several on the way, so call our office if you’d like in on one of these deals.

Future of Real Estate Radio Show to Focus on Short Sales and Bank Foreclosures This Week

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This weeks guest on the Future of Real Estate will be local attorney Kevin Jursinski who will explain his Deed in Reduction program and how it benefits borrowers and lenders alike  to minimize costs associated with short sales and foreclosures.  We’ll ask Kevin tough questions on various situations ranging from credit repair scams, to working with lenders to take a lower amount than what is owed in order to sell at today’s lower market values.

If you’re considering buying a short sale or foreclosure, or if you’re considering selling property in SW Florida, you’ll definitely want to tune in to this week’s show on AM 1240 Saturdays at 11:00 AM, and re-broadcast over the Internet at NBC-2.com and www.Topagent.com

Reflection Lakes Gate Policy Bad for Home Sales?

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Recently we were asked to comment on the new Reflection Lakes vendor gate policy as to how it will affect home sales in the community.  First, let’s state what the new policy is.  Basically, Realtors must purchase a keyfob for each listing for entrance into the gates.  Each keyfob costs $35 and is good for the term of the listing.  The keyfob can be saved and re-used for another listing for a $5 charge each time a new listing is taken.  Realtors must also submit a copy of the listing agreement to the association, as well as any extensions to the listing.

First, I don;t think the association needs to see the actual listing agreement.  A letter from the seller to the association stating the dates should be sufficient.  That listing contract is a private contract between homeowner and listing company.  By giving that information over to an association, there is no guarantee to the privacy and confidentiality.  A homeowner may not want released certain things that could be contained in that agreement.

 More importantly than the first point is the next point.  By forcing Realtors to purchase gate keyfobs, you’re essentially requiring all Realtors who wish to show a property to a prospective client to drive to listing agent’s company to pick up a keyfob to gain access into the community.  There is a reason Realtors purchase expensive lockboxes, and that is to minimize showing agents efforts to show the listed property.  It is a proven fact that properties without lockboxes realize far less showings than those that do have lockboxes.  Realtors simply don;t have the time to drive all over town picking up keys to show a property, then drive all over town dropping the keys back off.  Buyers don’t want to waste time either driving with their Realtor to pickup and drop off keys.  There is an abundance of properties on the market right now.  If a Realtor has to either drive to an office to pick up a key, or pick up a keyfob to even gain access to the community, it will be quite easy to skip those showings and move on to other more easily accesible listings in the MLS.  Keep in mind we have approxinately 16,000 single family homes on the market in Lee County, and over 8,000 condos.  There is no shortage.

 Even though this policy may be a Boom to the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group because our office is located essentially within Reflection Lakes, it is bad policy for homeowners.  We can forsee every Realtor in town wanting to pickup a keyfob at our office simply becasue we’re located on-site.  We will make keyfobs available for our listings only.  We know other agents will show our listings just to gain access to a keyfob so they can show whatever other listing they wish to show.  We will have to come up with a deposit system from other Realtors to make sure we get these keyfobs back in timely fashion each time.  I’m sure that’s going to go over big, but again it’s the Association’s policy that is going to limit showings, not ours.

Essentially the association is taking al lockbox off each property whether they realize it or not.  Even though a lockbox might be on the property, the benefit of the lockbox has been destroyed because an agent still needs to drive to the listing company’s office to pick up a keyfob to even get to the lockbox.  In a down market, this is not the time to be limiting showings.  It is unfortunate that there isn’t another method of allowing access to Realtors for showings.

 I’m not sure if any Realtors were consulted on this issue before implementing, but I can assure all that almost all Realtors would tell the board this new policy is a bad idea for homesellers and property values.  The gates were put up to promote property values, and in this case the new gate policy may hamper property values by cutting off showings.  Don’t be surprised when showings go Down when the new policy takes effect.  At last count Reflection lakes had approximately 40 homes not paying association fees and facing foreclosure.  Do we really wish to limit showings in this kind of environment?  Curentlythere are about 45 Reflection Lakes Homes on the market.

The rest of the homeowners usually end up funding the unpaid fees of the foreclosures.  If properties in Reflection Lakes become even more difficult to sell, that number could rise.  Seems to me there could be another alternative.  Seems a shame to fix one problem and create another huge problem.

I salute the board for being proactive and making difficult decisions.  Their job is never easy, and sometimes has unintended consequences.  This is one such time.  I hope the board has the foresight to take this new information into account and consider any other alternatives that may be available to them for showings and listed property.  If the board has further questions, we can be reached at 239-489-4042.

Don;t forget you can receive our Blog posts by e-mail simply by adding your e-mail address on the right side of the screen.

 

Ellis Team at RE/MAX is Hiring Additional Staff and Buyer Agents

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The Ellis Team at RE/MAX is hiring additional staff and buyer agents.  The Ellis Team never really cut back on marketing and that is paying off as our listings are selling.  In fact, we are generating so much interest that we need to hire additonal buyer agents to help handle the calls and Internet leads.  Buyers from all over the country, and locally,  are calling because property values have fallen back to affordable and attractive levels again, and buyers don’t want to miss this buying opportunity.  The Ellis Team is in need of two experienced agents to come in and learn and handle customers.  First class service has always been a trademark of the Ellis Team at RE/MAX, so we’re looking for experienced agents who have excellent reputations, great work ethic, and tremendous people skills.

We’re also looking to hire someone to help with our listings and closings.  We’re listing more foreclosure properties which require more work, and we’re closing more properties again which also requires more work.  We need someone with computer and people skills, excellent work ethic, and someone looking to grow in a team atmosphere.

If either of these positions sound interesting to you, please call us at 239-489-4042 for an interview.

SW Florida Real Estate Market Again Shows Signs of Improvement in Latest Numbers Released

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The Southwest Florida real estate market posted continuing gains in March as single family homes sales rose 12.58% from February sales numbers, and condo sales in SW Florida rose 29.28% over the previous month, as you can see from the SW Florida Real Estate Homes Closed 2005-2008 chart.    Median sales prices for single family homes rose slightly over February numbers as well, but barely.  See Florida real estate sales prices 2005-2008 chart.

Sales numbers and prices are down Vs. 2007 numbers, but pending sales are defintiely on the upswing which could translate to higher closing numbers in the coming months.  Some of the monthly rise could be seasonal, however many agents we talk to are generally excited because buyers are definitely coming off the fence now in droves.  Sales numbers at the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group have spiked, along with the phone calls. Internet trafiic is up as well, and buyers from all over the U.S. have been calling looking to buy now that SW Florida is attractively priced again.

Our foreclosures continue to sell at a brisk pace, and many times they are attracting multiple offers.

 

What the Presidential Politicians Should be Talking About

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I’ve heard the politicians talk about everything for sniper fire, to denouncing what their pastor said, to drinking shots with the locals, and everything in between.  Does the public really care if you drink a beer or shots to make yourself appear like common folk, or how you disagree with your pastor?  Well, probably a few do or they wouldn’t stoop to such things, but I think there is one topic that should be at the top of this year’s election and I don’t hear anyone talking about it much.

The Southwest Florida real estate market, the SW Florida economy, and the US economy is basically on edge and is being held hostage.  We are being held hostage by gas prices which put pressure on inflation.  It’s to the point where our economy is being hurt and perhaps our national security too.  Senator McCain has proposed a gas tax holiday until the end of the year to help drivers, but I don’t think that will do any good.

The reason is we could wipe out all federal sales tax, and the producers of oil could just cutback on production a corresponding amount and prices would stay the same, and our government would be the only losers due to falling revenue and increasing profits to our suppliers.

The sad truth is our suppliers, like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and others are not our true friends.  They have their own vested interests, and America isn’t among it’s highest priorities. We really need to rely less heavily on outside suppliers to the extent we can.

I recently saw a Walmart ad that said just one energy saving light bulb can save an awesome amount of oil due to conservation.  I’m all for conservation.  However, I don’t believe we can conserve our way out of this completely.  Oil consumption is increasing in China and other developing countries, and even if we cut back oil is more sought after and we are in competition for it.  And even if we cut back 20%, OPEC can cut back production 20% and make just as much money, so why wouldn’t they?

I believe we need to do a number of things:

1.  Drill for oil in Alaska.  I’ve been told ANWAR is in a remote area and will not affect animals.  Even if it did somewhat, people are just as high on the food chain as animals and we need relief too.  No reason not to get this done

2.  We may need to consider drilling in Gulf of Mexico.  I know states like mine (Florida) and other gulf states oppose this, but we have our own oil and won’t drill for it.

3.  Nuclear.  We haven’t built a plant in decades.  Other countries want to build them, why not us?  If nuclear can save millions of barrels of oil each year, why not?  We use many now, why not add a few more?

4.  Refineries.  We haven’t built one of these in decades either.  We need to invest in our own infrastructure, and let’s do it soon.

5.  Grades of Gas.  Each area has its own standards, and makes gasoline expensive as the refineries have to shutdown to retool each season.  Let’s end this practice.

6. Ethanol.  What a joke.  It’s made corn and food more expensive, and it costs as much to haul the corn around as it does with the savings you achieve.  Now we have corn shortages and it’s done nothing for gas prices.  Nice idea, but may turn out to be more of a subsidy to farmers than savings to consumers.

7. Oil Reserves.  I’ve heard we’ve found major reserves in Montana, and Cuba has found big reserves in International waters off Cuba.  Wonder why Chavez has become such friends with Cuba.  Maybe it’s time to see what capitalism would do for Cuba instead of an Embargo.  How long has that embargo lasted.  Yes, we don’t get Cuban cigars, but it didn’t get rid of Castro.  Maybe a little capitalism and hope for the Cuban people would oust a bad leader quicker than oppression would.  I really don’t know, I just pose the question and let those smarter than me figure that one out.

Bottom line is nobody is policing the supplies, and we’re not doing anything to control our own security.  I understand why we go to Afghanistan or Iraq, to keep the terrorism over there before it could easily come over here.  But why do we let something much bigger control our own destiny?  Terrorists could shutoff oil supplies to US and shut us down much faster than any  single Trade Center bombing ever could.  Why aren’t our politicians talking about what they would do for gas prices, supply, and demand?  That makes more sense than who’s drinking a shot with the locals in PA, or who took more sniper fire.

Fantastic Southwest Florida Foreclosure Opportunity

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This is the brand new 3 bedroom Belvedere Model from 1st Homes.

This beautiful Lehigh Acres, Florida home boasts many wonderful features including a spacious great room floor plan, a tech center or computer area centrally located near kitchen which is great for the kids or your home office area. The master suite offers his and hers closets and  two additional linen closets. There is a pantry in the kitchen and so much more.

Call the Ellis Team today to see this home or any of the many Lee County foreclosures, short sales and bank owned properties we have available.

April 2008 Ellis Team SW Florida Real Estate Current Market Index

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The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group just released their monthly SW Florida Real Estate Current Market Index and once again the Index has strengthened.  We’ve been reporting for months now the local SW Florida real estate market is firming as the Current Market Index accurately predicts real estate activity into the future.  Because of these numbers, we look for some continued strengthening in closed sales numbers for March and April.  Official March 2008 numbers should be released around April 25, 2008.

We are seeing strength because many of the short sales that were clogging the system have converted to foreclosures and are now being sold by one lender able to make decisions.  A short sale often involves multiple lenders plus a seller, and all have to agree to the sale.  Lenders in second position often don’t agree because there is nothing in it for them to agree, and lenders in first position don’t like to agree to a loss unless the second is completely wiped out.  There are exceptions to this, but we are seeing only about 3% of the short sales actually closing, and just about all of the foreclosures closing in due time.

Median prices have actually been rising, but we’re not focusing on that right now as many of the foreclosures are occuring at the bottom of the market, which could skew the numbers down.  By skewing numbers down, some could interpret that the entire market is coming down further, and that may or may not be true.  Median price doesn’t tell the whole story.  We have pockets of weakness and pockets of strength, and all real estate is local all the way down to the street and neighborhood level.

The higher the CMI Index, the more supply we have relative to demand.  The lower the CMI Index, the better the market for sellers.  As you can see, buyers are losing some of their leverage now.

April 15,  2008 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,706 1,656 9.48
Condo 8,445 602 14.03

 

March 15,  2008 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 16,357 1,610 10.16
Condo 8,789 603 14.58

 

February 14,  2008 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 16,694 1,088 15.34
Condo 8,787 456 19.27

 

January 14,  2008 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,812 821 19.26
Condo 8,581 334 25.69

 

December  17, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 16,098 892 18.05
Condo 8,655 386 22.42

 

November 14, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,710 797 19.71
Condo 8,361 388 21.55

 

October 16, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,438 783 19.72
Condo 8,212 354 23.20

 

September 15, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,215 809 18.81
Condo 8,141 369 22.06

 

August 15, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 14,919 955 15.62
Condo 8,190 417 19.64

 

July 12, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,095 975 15.48
Condo 8,380 443 18.91

 

June 14, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,164 1,014 14.95
Condo 8,761 485 18.06

 

May 17, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,607 1,107 14.10
Condo 9,205 560 16.44

 

April 15, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 15,896 1,152 13.80
Condo 9,660 569 16.98

 

January 23, 2007 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 13,769 1,016 13.55
Condo 9,002 529 17.02

 

November 27, 2006 Active Pending CMI
Single Family 13,186 1,031 12.79
Condo 8,344 535

15.60

SW Florida Bank Foreclosure Auction

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SW Florida bank foreclosure auctionLast week we attended a major bank auction in SW Florida.  Over 100 homes were auctioned off.  One investor in attendance said that of the over 100 properties, only 6 were absolute and the rest were subject to investor approval, which if true means most of these will come back on the market

Most of the properties didn’t fetch a very high price, so they may very well not be acceptable to the end investor.  We will attemot to verify this with the bank.  The buyer has to wait up to 15 days to see if the investor on the loan takes the offer from the auction.

The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group lists a lot of the properties for this bank, so we may end up listing a good percentage of these listings that do come back on the market.  We did notice a few properties where the buyer overpaid for the home.  These buyers were probably inexperienced and didn’t bring a broker with them  to the auction to advise them they could have bought similiar properties in the same neighborhood for less money.  However, most properties went so far under value that most of the investors may not accept the offers, so many of these winning bidders will be disappointed.

Since the auction the bank has told many buyers and agents to contact us to be first on the list when we get thee properties in.  We get orders for the properties before they go in MLS.  We are identified as the listing agents, but it takes the bank a few weeks to tell us what the price is and authorize us to place it in MLS.  If you’d like to be on the list, give our office a call.  We plan to setup a group list whereby we can notify everyone at once when we get these listings.  They tend to be some very good buys.  For instance, we just listed a newer home in Lehigh Acres for $75,900.  It is an excellent buy.