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Lee County sets home sales record in 2009

I was recently interviewed by the News-Press regarding our 2009 real estate market performance for Lee County, Florida. Here is the article as it appeared. More will be shared at our annual MarketWatch Real Estate event.

Sales of existing homes in Lee County ended the decade with a bang — a record 16,260 were sold with the assistance of a Realtor in 2009, according to statistics released Monday by the Florida Association of Realtors.

That shattered the old record of 12,123 set in 2005 at the top of the residential real estate boom that collapsed the following year.

…continue reading the story called Lee County sets home sales record in 2009

Real Estate Contributor Denny Grimes Gives Market A’s & B’s

By WINK News

What buyers/sellers should know about chinese drywall

Point 1: Realize that there is more to be learned about CDW then what’s already known

18 months ago people wouldn’t have been able to describe the difference between Chinese drywall and Chinese checkers

So, there are still many unanswered questions about the best way to identify and correct it, potential health risks, and how it will effect the value of the property or even the surrounding neighborhood.

Point 2: Pay attention to the year the property was built

Most experts suggest that if a property was built or remodeled from 2004 to 2006 that there MAY be a potential for CDW

In Lee County 25% of the available inventory was built in that time frame, so there is a 25% chance CDW could exist

Point 3: If the property was built in that time range, have the property inspected for sooner verses later. That means buyers of short sales, have a Chinese drywall inspection as soon as the seller signs your offer.

Don’t wait for the lender’s approval because that may take months

Sellers, have your home inspected before you put it on the market

In fact, all owners of property built in that time frame should have an inspection because not only is there property tax relief but I believe there will be government intervention into the correction of it.

Watch whole story: http://www.winknews.com/features/62314162.html By WINK News

A good home is as important as a good deal

Rules about the home inspection process can make transaction less stressful

 

As the ink dries on the sales contract, buyers develop a sudden case of heartburn as scenes from the vintage movie The Money Pit mysteriously begin playing in their minds. They are plagued with visions of termites swarming or the property developing a myriad of mechanical and structural problems, ones that won’t become evident until the day after they move in They have shopped hard to find a good deal.  How can they know they bought a good home?

 

There’s no need for them to stock up on Alka-Seltzer because the majority of the buyer’s concern can be eliminated by following a few simple steps. Step one is to make sure they have access to the property’s most current information. Home inspections and Seller’s Disclosures are a snapshot of the property’s condition at a point in time, thus they do not necessarily reflect the condition of the property the day they decide to buy it. Sellers may have a “recent” home inspection report from a previous deal that failed to close and they may offer it to the new buyer as a way of streamlining the transaction. There is nothing wrong with using it as long as the buyer weighs the risks, because Murphy’s Law says that if something in the home has gone kaput, it did so after the first home inspection was completed. A new home inspection may be the safest route.

 

Another document that the buyer should request in the sales contract is a copy of a current Seller’s Disclosure. The key word is “current.”  It is standard practice for a seller to fill out this document when the property is listed and then it usually gets stuffed in the listing file until a contract is submitted. The problem is that some properties are on the market for months, if not years, during which time the condition of the property can change. Sellers may have made the proper corrections, but they generally forget to update their Seller’s Disclosure. Everyone wins when there is full disclosure, so it is a good practice for all concerned to have a clause similar to the following added to the sales contract:  “Seller to provide a Seller’s Disclosure that reflects the condition of the property as of the effective date and this contract is contingent upon buyer’s acceptance within X days.”

 

Prudence is wise as long as it doesn’t lead to paralysis. Some agents or their buyers will request a copy of the Seller’s Disclosure prior to making an offer. Learning as much about a property before you decide to buy it isn’t a bad idea, but one should do so realizing the risks of slow decision making. Buyers have missed great deals because they performed their due diligence before they had the property under contract. If a buyer wants to make sure each 2 x 4 is plumb or they want an exact count of cracked roof tiles, great, but do this research during the inspection period, after the property is under contract.

 

Step two is to understand what a home inspection is and what it is not. A home inspection is like an annual physical. During a physical your doctor gives you a general exam of your major systems. You may pass the physical, but that does not necessarily mean you’re 100% healthy, because something may be going on in your body that could only be determined by performing more specific and invasive tests. If the doctor felt something didn’t look right, he would ask you to see a specialist for a closer look.

 

Likewise, a home inspection is a general examination of the property’s health. The inspector will visually check the major systems of the property and if they pass his inspection, chances are the home is in good shape. Keep in mind that a home inspection is not equivalent to a MRI or a CAT scan, because latent issues could still lurk beyond the eyesight of he inspector. The buyer has the option to hire a specialist to analyze every system in the property, but spending more on inspections than he did on the property sounds ridiculous. Normally, if the home inspector finds something suspicious he will recommend a specialist be called for a more in depth examination. 

 

The third and most important step is to understand that inspection issues will fall into one of three categories. The first category includes issues that the contract specifically requires the seller to correct. The second category would be issues that the contract specifically states that the seller is not required to fix and the final category deals with issues that are not specifically mentioned in the contract. Most inspection anxieties revolve around misunderstanding what issues are legitimate seller’s responsibilities, so it’s a good idea to read the inspection paragraph carefully. A clear understanding of this step will keep countless deals together and maybe prevent a black eye or two.

 

Two out of three categories are no-brainers because the buyers and sellers simply have to abide by the contract. End of discussion. However, the third category is a potential mine field because the contract does not specifically list the thousands of doodads that could potentially need a minor adjustment. Sellers usually feel they gave the home away and have little tolerance for being nitpicked to death. The buyers feel they did the seller a favor, thus the home should be delivered in like new condition.

 

Too many deals die right here because ego wins over rational behavior. That’s sad, because a handyman can usually correct these minor issues in less time than it takes for everyone to get worked up over it. So, apply a little common sense along with an application of the Golden Rule and chances are that the good deal you’re looking at will become a good home for many years to come.

 

 

Keep the Faith

 

Denny Grimes is President of Denny Grimes & Company, a local real estate firm. He can be reached at denny@dennygrimes.com.

Buyers need two rules as they structure initial offer

Forget how you bought last home

Buying is fun, although the majority of people dislike the shopping process, because shopping is work. Shopping for a home is work too, especially when there is so much to look at. It’s like wading through a “Clearance Sale” bin as large as an Olympic swimming pool, filled with thousands of blue jeans minus the price tags. You know that if you persevere and find something that fits, you will get a great buy, but without the price tag, you don’t really know how good of a deal you should expect.

Too many home shoppers spend countless hours doing the laborious work of shopping for a home but fail to invest a few minutes thinking about a strategy for buying a home. A haphazard approach to structuring an offer to purchase can negate dozens of hours of research and legwork, because a failed buying attempt may mean that you have to begin the shopping process all over again.

When writing a contract for purchase, many negotiating points are worth considering, but let’s discuss price, since that seems to be at the top of the list for both buyers and sellers. When home shoppers find a home on which they want to make an offer, they can save time and plenty of frustration if they follow two simple rules on how to structure their initial offer.

…continue reading the story called Buyers need two rules as they structure initial offer

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

Buyer’s Contingent offers dishes out indigestion for sellers

If you get hungry enough, you will eat anything - or so the saying goes.

I can remember my grandmother making me sit at the table until I finished a larger than normal helping of baked eggplant that had found its way to my plate, in spite of my youthful protests. Starvation was a better alternative than eating that awful stuff. Fortunately, the intro music of “Hawaii Five-0,” my grandmother’s favorite TV show, distracted her just long enough for me to flip that mess into the garbage.

Sellers in our market are pretty hungry, but that doesn’t mean they have to eat whatever the buyer puts on their plate. Sellers should beware that buyers have a file box full of recipes, some palatable, but many concocted with ingredients that will leave them with a bitter aftertaste.

One recipe that will certainly lead to indigestion is to accept an offer “contingent upon the buyers selling one of their properties.” On the surface it may sound good, particularly to a seller who hasn’t had an offer since gasoline was $1 a gallon. After all, isn’t any offer with an acceptable price better than no offer at all? In a word, no.

…continue reading the story called Buyer’s Contingent offers dishes out indigestion for sellers

Buyers’ disappointment can be self-inflicted

Homebuyers missing great deals because of unrealistic expectations

 

Everyone at some point has been disappointed as a result of an unrealistic expectation. Some experiences can be looked back on and laughed at, while others will never become a laughing matter. Let me give you a personal example of the former.

 

Thirty years ago, when my wife and I had just started dating, I was faced with the challenge of buying her a Christmas gift. It was our first Christmas together, so I wanted to find that extra special present. She had just turned 16 and had bought, with the help of her parents, a Formula Trans Am, just like the one in Smokey and the Bandit, only yellow. The car was hot, but the floor mats looked like bargain-basement knockoffs. So, I thought a new set of Certified General Motors, standard issue, logoed floor mats would surprise her. They did, and I never heard the end of it. I soon learned that she expected something that came in a much smaller box, was shiny and was hard enough to cut glass. She eventually got her bobble, but the floor mats in her car have never looked as good.

 

It’s a fact of life that unfettered expectations have a way of consistently outrunning what reality can deliver. As expectations take the victory lap, disappointment may become your closest companion. Today’s home sellers know all too well what it feels like to have disappointment as a pal. However, an increasing number of buyers are making the same friend.

 

Homebuyers over the past three years have been conditioned to believe that, there is no limit on what they should expect. These buyers are making a fundamental mistake by assuming that the term “buyers’ market” applies to all segments of our local market. It does not.

  …continue reading the story called Buyers’ disappointment can be self-inflicted

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.

Copyright 2008 Denny Grimes and Company, All Rights Reserved
Office: (239) 689-7600 or Email Us

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