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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

Real estate matters: Short sale doesn’t mean quick sale!

Rule 1: Be realistic but aggressive with the asking price

There is nothing short about the short sale process, but sellers MUST remember that time is not on their side.

Because most sellers of short sale properties are not making mortgage payments and many are facing foreclosure. Lenders are taking months to respond to an offer on a property, so the sooner the seller receives as offer, the better.

Therefore, it should be every seller’s goal to have a contract within the first 90 days.
Watch the full video interview of with Denny Grimes here

By WINK News

Story Created: Sep 7, 2009 at 3:05 AM EDT

(Story Updated: Sep 7, 2009 at 3:05 AM EDT )

Lee County’s home prices inch up, but sales may level off

Pending transactions in August are lower

BY DON MANLEY
dmanley@news-press.com

Single-family home prices are climbing in Lee County and sales continued at a torrid pace in July, although there was a slight dip from June’s record-setting pace.

Meanwhile, sales across the nation and state are up, but with a drop in the median sales price.

A total of 1,570 single-family homes were sold with the assistance of a Realtor in Lee County in July, according to statistics released today by the Florida Association of Realtors. That’s down from a record-setting 1,705 sales in June, but the July total was staggering compared with the same month in 2008 - a 104 percent increase.

The median sales price for July in Lee County was $89,000, an increase over June’s median sales price of $87,900. For most of the past 31Ú2 years, the sales price has been dropping sharply.

Statewide, there were 115,882 Realtor-assisted sales in July, up 37 percent from July 2008. The median sales price was $147,600, down 24 percent from the July 2008 median price of $193,800.

In a separate report released Friday, the National Association of Realtors announced that sales of previously occupied homes rose for the fourth consecutive month, posting an increase of 7.2 percent - the largest increase in at least 10 years.

Experts say the flood of foreclosed homes that has hit the market is still glutting inventories and depressing prices. But some local experts say the red-hot market is about to cool, at least temporarily.

Fort Myers-based real estate broker Denny Grimes of Denny Grimes & Co. predicts sales numbers for August will show a decline because the pending sales for July (815) are down by 50 percent from June. Not all pending sales close, but pendings feed the number of closed sales.

Grimes cited three possible reasons for a drop in sales: July, August and September are traditionally slow sales months; an “interruption of supply line,” meaning fewer foreclosures hitting the market; or demand has declined, which Grimes said he doubts.

“We’ve had a fantastic year and we’ve had a great month, year over year, but before we go out and buy a bottle of Dom Perignon, July pending sales are down,” Grimes said. “The prudent person is going to keep the champagne on ice, and over a cup of coffee, try to figure out why are sales slowing.”

He also predicted a drop in the median home sales price for August because the median price for July pending sales was $79,000.

Banks have been releasing fewer foreclosed homes onto the market of late, perhaps hoping for prices to escalate, said Keith Campbell, a managing partner for Silverleaf Capital Group in Fort Myers. The company sometimes represents large investors who buy available homes in bulk.

Campbell theorized banks are being selective to avoid further depressing prices.

“I think the banks have been been besieged with so many properties that now, they’re ramped up to handle them with asset managers,” Campbell said.

He said investors will continue to be a force in Southwest Florida.

“There’s a lot of money trying to come in from outside the area because of all the press we’ve received,” Campbell said.

That helped feed the uptick in prices. Demand is outpacing supply, said Steve Koffman, a real estate broker with Century 21 Sunbelt in Cape Coral.

“We’re clearly seeing inventory levels drop and that’s because of extraordinarily low prices,” Koffman said.

“The mindset of the buyers today is very much what it was in ‘04 and ‘05, with people wanting to buy before prices get too high. The one major difference is we’re selling houses below replacement cost, and back in ‘04 and ‘05, we were not.”

Denny Grimes, President

Denny Grimes & Company, Inc. - Statistics supplied by http://www.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.

Trust vision even if darker days lie ahead

Faith will allow you to see opportunity

Only two and a half shopping days left before Christmas. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time for late shoppers like me to e-mail Santa their Christmas wish list. I’m sure the current recession has most of Santa’s elves looking for work, just like many of us.
I have two Christmas lists this year, one for me and one for the residents of Southwest Florida. I won’t bore you with what’s on my seven-page list, but you may be interested in what I hope you find under your Christmas tree.

Actually, the only thing I put on your list was night vision goggles. Admittedly, this choice may not be as exciting as a turbo gas grill, or as fun as gas powered Margarita machine. But, night goggles may get more use because some experts are saying that darker days are ahead. Practical gifts are seldom appreciated; however, there may be an exception this year, particularly from potential property sellers or anyone worrying about staying in business in the coming year.

There’s nothing worse than stumbling around in the dark, because even a tiny obstacle can trip you up. In a familiar environment, like the path from our bedroom to the refrigerator, we can maneuver with the grace of Gene Kelly, even in total darkness. Wake up in strange surroundings without the ability to see and we become nearly immobile as we try to feel our way to where we want to go.

Many are predicting that we may be waking to see strange economic surroundings. The bursting of the real estate bubble wasn’t unexpected nor the consequences unfamiliar to us. We have been in a buyer’s market before, we have seen real estate prices fall, we have seen lenders tighten credit and we have seen new construction slow. We remember what it’s like to live with a little less. If we were dealing with just a temporary oversupply of real estate, we would have no trouble maneuvering our business around the obstacles that are in front of us.

…continue reading the story called Trust vision even if darker days lie ahead

September home sales set new record

Strong third quarter tempered by Wall Street distractions

An age-old philosophical question asks, “If a tree falls in a forest, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?” A more recent philosophical question might be, “If there is good news in the real estate market, and everyone is focused on the Wall Street carnage, is it still good news?”

It would take an entire forest of fallen trees to produce the paper necessary to print all the negative happenings that our residential real estate market has seen over the last couple of years. In spite of the negatives, Lee County’s existing home market has steadily improved each quarter this year, and the third quarter is no exception.

…continue reading the story called September home sales set new record

Sellers have bailout options.

There are billions of reasons sellers should make a jump from market
I was sitting in a meeting earlier this week when I noticed a text on my cell phone from one of my listing clients.

“Quick question,” he said. “Is there any way in this market that we can slightly increase our asking price?”

My wit has been known to outrun my brains, so my initial thought was to respond, “Are you nuts?”

Lucky for me my fat fingers weren’t able to type fast enough, which allowed my brain a chance to catch up.

“Interesting question, why do you ask?” I answered, giving a much-tempered response.

“We had some pretty good showings with some interest,” he replied.

“How do you define interest?” I asked.

…continue reading the story called Sellers have bailout options.

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

Sellers need a flexible game plan as season approaches

Finally, the 2008 NFL season opens today, which means you will be able to drive through almost any neighborhood and detect a scent of charcoal in the air and hear the sounds of cheers or jeers coming from the backyard patio.

Although the games will have different endings, they probably all had a similar beginning. That is, the head coach giving his team a pre-game pep talk. The coach’s comments probably revolved around three important points, such as remembering the other team’s tendencies, reviewing the game plan and accepting responsibility by staying in the present.

Today’s sellers need the same pep-talk. So, bring it in and take a knee.

Read more »

Consider fear of tomorrow when buying No sure formula on right time to deal

When is the best time to buy, now or later?

Buyers and sellers have different opinions

Residential real estate prices are falling, and the selection of homes to choose from has never been better. There seem to be good deals out there, so should you buy now or wait for the market to get even better? In other words, when is the best time to buy real estate?

Does this question sound familiar? Not only is this question verbalized hundreds of times a day, but I believe it is on the mind of every potential buyer in our market.

It’s a good question, one that I would like the answer to if I were buying. So, I decided to find out what other people were thinking. I was operating under the premise that if I asked enough people, a common answer would lead me to the truth.

My unscientific survey consisted of me asking dozens of buyers, sellers and real estate agents when they thought was the best time to buy. I was surprised to learn that there were about as many opinions as there were people willing to give it. However, it wasn’t surprising that buyers and sellers opinions seemed to be 180 degrees apart. Most Realtors opinions mirrored that of the sellers.

The general consensus from the buyers is that the best time to buy is sometime in the future. They gave answers such as

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Office: (239) 689-7600 or Email Us

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