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Having trouble making your house payments or know someone who is?

Chances are you or someone you know in Fort Myers is facing the possibility of foreclosure. But you need to understand that you are not alone.

Today, 1 out of every 10 homeowners in America is behind on mortgage payments. These are tough and frustrating times. Now more than ever, it’s important to identify your options. Foreclosure can be avoided, your credit can be saved, and your financial future can be salvaged.

Through my experience handling distressed properties at Denny Grimes & Company, Inc., I’ve found that homeowners today have more questions than answers about their circumstances. I have created this site www.freeforeclosureanswers.com to help you understand the possible solutions to foreclosure, as well as provide a detailed explanation of short sales, which may be the best course of action for some homeowners.

You may also have noticed that I’m offering you a FREE Report to explain your options and help you decide on a course of action. The idea of losing a home can be overwhelming, and I feel it is vital for you to have all the facts necessary to make an informed decision.

As an agent with the CDPE® Designation, I have a strong and unique appreciation of the factors affecting the market, and know that there are options available to you.

If you would like to know more about your options, please call me at 239.689.7699.

I am here to help you find a dignified solution to a financial crisis.

Michael Polly

http://www.michaelpolly.com

http://www.fortmyersrealestateagent.com

http://www.capecoralrealestateagent.com

http://www.facebook.com/floridahomesales

Summer means heat in Lee County real estate market.

It was 94 today and my pool was 92. Hard to cool off even getting wet. The real estate market in Lee County is experiencing the same heat. Sales are registering a blistering pace with 1742 pending resale homes in Lee County.

Inventory fell to 10,300 single family resale homes. That’s one percent less than last month. Pending sales were almost 2% meaning there is new inventory still out pacing sales.

Of the sales, over 61% were under $100,000. With out these, sales would be 1072 less. This is the market that is on fire and where buyers are seeing values they can’t pass up. Homes above this price are still facing an uphill battle with some upper price ranges facing 100 months of inventory.

Still seeing this level of demand speaks well for the interest of people to be near our waters and living in the hot sunshine of SW Florida. The heat that’s here even when the artic wind blows in the north. Remember to put the sunscreen on when your on the beach New Year’s eve.

Michael Polly
http://www.homey.com
http://www.michaelpollycom

HOMEY.com

To try it out for yourself visit http://www.homey.com

What do the Fort Myers area and President Obama have in common?

Tomorrow President Obama will visit Fort Myers for a townhall meeting. Here he will discuss the economy and our economic outlook. Both President Obama and this area have a long road to recovery ahead.
He is scheduled to visit Lehigh Acres and look at the foreclosure problem faced in this area. The media will no doubt talk about how bleak things look and no doubt they appear that way. However there is another view point.

Many people in this country and others would love the opportunity that is presenting itself if they only knew about it. When in the last 30 years can you remember a time when you could buy a newer home, close to the beach, where the sun shines on average 340 days a year. Where the temperature averages in the 70s and 80s and boats are almost as common as cars.

I think the media will focus more on the negative rather than the positive. So if you or anyone you know has ever thought about walking in the sand on a warm winter evening or playing some of the top golf courses in the country then tell them now is the time.

Michael Polly
Vice President

Denny Grimes and Company, Inc.

Check out our new search engine: HOMEY.com

Yo Have You Heard About HOMEY

Specialized Simple Real Estate Search Engine

For the last year and a half I’ve been working on the idea of changing the way real estate is handled. Most of the systems and tools used to search for real estate and manage real estate transactions are the same systems used for 30 years. They have evolved first to the personal computer and then online to the web. However, they are still the based on the same ideas and systems just more connected and accessible.

Enter HOMEY.com.

We started with a blank piece of paper and have created a simple real estate search engine. The searching abilities are based on what we call REALS (Real Estate Adaptive Language Searches) HOMEY has a vocabulary to help bridge the gap between searching for homes in cryptic words and the way we think and talk about real estate. It is even more refined for each particular area.

Currently HOMEY.com has been loaded with data for Lee County, Florida. With President Obama visiting this coming week our area will be in the spotlight as he holds a town hall meeting. He chose our area because of the large number of foreclosures. Part of the problem has been it is hard for the consumer to easily find these homes.

For the consumer finding information about foreclosure homes was limited to a few sites that didn’t have the live full details on the property. HOMEY is a tool that can help the consumer because you can search for things like a “lehigh acres bank owned home” or “3 bedroom 2 bath home under 100,000″ or a “cape coral gulf access home”.

Drilling deep into the data is now available to the consumer. If it is in the MLS system HOMEY has a way to interpret the information. HOMEY knows if there is room for horses, a pool, southern exposure, great room, vaulted ceilings and much, much more.

HOMEY has the ability to allow you to get more information, schedule a showing or make an offer on any property. Future releases are already in the works and more data areas are being added. HOMEY will incorporate more and more information about each property to help buyers make informed decisions and sellers to gain maximum exposure.

So, now you’ve heard about HOMEY! Give it a try www.homey.com

p.s. try out the mapping feature with Google’s™ new Street View built right in.

Current Market Facts

Pending sales for single family resale homes topped the 1,000 mark. A milstone never reached before in September which is usually the slowest month for the real estate market. Almost 50% of the sales were REO or bank owned properties while just under 11% were short sales. Out of the current inventory of available homes there are 6,489 bank owned properties and 15,167 in some stage of pre-foreclosure. Demand remains strong as the market continues to work at moving the mountain of inventory.

The condo/villa/townhome market has not filled in as much as the single family market. Demand is outpacing last year but still far short of what is needed to eat away at this pile of inventory. Multi-family properties are having a tough time competing with the same price or lower priced single family competition. September sales were 217 condo/villa homes beating the last two years for the same month.

Residential Market Watch: Chance to buy newer home at low cost fading

Tropical Storm Fay has come and gone, but the rain it dumped on Lee County lingers. The ground is saturated and some streets are flooded. As much as we needed the rain, we are anxious for the way things used to be, like being able to walk to our mailbox without wearing our slickers.

Likewise, we witnessed our real estate market raining inventory for the past couple of years. It rained so hard and long that you could forget about walking to the mailbox, because the only way to get to it required something with Evinrude on the back of it. Our inventory is still at record levels, but we may have reached the high-water mark. In fact, in some sub-markets, inventory is receding.

A few observations after looking over the resale home contracts for July:

The number of homes for sale in specific submarkets is starting to dry up. Buyers are recognizing the value being offered today. Our real estate market, like the recent rain, had a problem with “run off.” Buyers would make an offer on a property and if the seller didn’t accept the offer, the buyer would just “run off” and make an offer on a different home.

Single-family homes that went under contract in July sold within 2 percent of the original list price and were on the market less than 45 days.

In contrast, homes that sold for more than a 2 percent difference from where they were originally priced and where they were priced when sold, took 148 days to find a buyer on average. More importantly, they averaged only 80 percent of the original list price. What this tells me is that when the numbers are in line, so are the buyers. Being realistic up front can save sellers money and time.

Buyers are recognizing a value priced home. In July 40 percent of the homes that went under contract had been on the market less than 30 days and went pending within 98.8 percent of the original list price. There was no run off as the buyers absorbed the value-priced homes. Having young families and first-time home buyers own and live in these homes is a foundation our market needs to be strong.

Last month in Lee County, under $100,000 there were 138 homes sold that were less than 5 years old. At that pace there is 9 months of inventory, while for homes older than 5 years old there are 12 months of inventory. This is a sale and a beauty contest all at the same time. The prettiest house at the best price goes first. In this case the newer homes that are value priced are the first to go.

Looking at Cape Coral there is 12 months of inventory for homes under $100,000. However, there is only six months of inventory for homes built in 2003 or newer. This puddle is drying up.

The opportunity to own a home less than 5 years old under $100,000 is limited. Homes under $150,000 will be the next to dry up. Most of these homes are below reproduction costs. The rain has stopped falling as the number of building permits being pulled has averaged less than 50 per month. There is now less than 14 months of inventory and only 12 months of inventory of homes built in 2003 or newer. New construction starts at $100,000 or just under with most builders. This typically does not include the home site, sewer, and/or water expenses. Buyers, the time to take advantage of the value is now.

This is not just true for the lower-priced homes. Homes in certain areas and at different price ranges are being recognized for the value they represent.

If you are a seller, the critical time is during the first few weeks. Ask yourselves “How many showings have I had?” If the answer is zero or a low number you need to act quickly and get your property priced to get noticed by the buyers that are out there.

There are still foreclosures that are flowing into our area like tributaries feed rivers. Foreclosures look to continue to add to our inventory levels and slow the drying-out process. The quicker this storm passes the faster our market will recover.

The media may paint a gloomy picture but you can still get sunburned on a cloudy day. So buyers, listen up: If you ever wanted to own a newer home the time is now. You better get those Ray-Bans on and start looking because the ground is beginning to show in a few areas. Remember it is better to buy one day early than one day too late.

As published in the News-Press
By Michael Polly

Financial Fall Out…

Yesterday Denny was interviewed by our local Fox News station. The questions was asked what happens now with our real estate market now with the recent bank failures? Watch the video for the answers. You might be surprised how late in the year it really is?

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What you think might make a real difference

 

Your perspective may be shared at MarketWatch presentation

 

Are you tired of the same political rhetoric? Are you ready for some straight talk from our politicians about the real problems our country faces?

 

What if the president of the United States invited you to meet with him (or her), and he gave you 10 minutes to share your opinion of what this country needs. Lets say he was so moved by your insight and candor that he asked your permission to include your point of view in the State of the Union speech. Would you take advantage of the opportunity?

 

Are you tired of all the contradictory real estate gibberish that you are hearing? Are you hungry for a common-sense analysis of the issues facing our real estate market? Do you have an opinion that you feel the market needs to hear? If you could express your opinion to the movers and shakers of Lee County, would you take advantage of it?

 

If you would, then I have an opportunity for you on Feb. 26. That is the date for The News-Press Market Watch, which is the

Prices will fall before they rise in most segments

Inventory, foreclosures force market down.

Whoever said that honesty is the best policy never had his wife ask him if her new dress made her look fat. Talk about a no-win situation.

First of all, guys, she already knows the answer, but doesn’t like it. If you lie to her, just hope she doesn’t see a photo of herself in that dress because, when she sees it, you’re going to be in trouble for letting her go out looking like that. If you tell her the truth, then you will be going out alone and then spending the next night or two in the guest room.

Another no-win question is, “How’s our market looking?” Most of the people who ask this question already know the answer, although they don’t like that answer either. I would like to know how my fellow Realtors would answer that question. If you lie to yourselves and your clients by saying we look like we should be in the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated, that will only prolong the healing process our market must go through. If you tell the truth by saying we need to lose weight if we want the dress to fit better, you’re going to be blamed for the market’s retreat, and you will find yourself standing in a lonely place.

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Office: (239) 689-7600 or Email Us

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