Single-family home resales jump in Fort Myers in April
Posted by Buyers continue to snatch up homes at bargain prices in the Fort Myers area.
Single-family home resales rose more than 105 percent in April. There were 1,406 sales, up from 648 in the same month a year ago, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc.
Pending sales — sales that have yet to close — increased more than 60 percent year-over-year. There were 2,368 of them in April, compared to 1,478 a year ago.
“Our market is at warp speed,” said Denny Grimes, president of Denny Grimes & Co., a local real estate firm based in Fort Myers.
For the past seven months, single-family resales have averaged more than 1,300 a month. During the real estate boom in 2004 and 2005, the best month saw 1,200 sales, Grimes said.
At the end of April, sales this year had exceeded last year’s total sales, according to the Realtor Association.
The inventory of homes continues to shrink. There were 8,665 single-family resales listed at the end of April, down nearly 30 percent from 12,324 a year ago, according to the Realtor association.
Though demand from buyers is up, the median price _ the price at which half the homes sell for more and half for less _ continues to drop because there are so many foreclosures on the market. The median was $80,000 in April.
Bank-owned homes represented 65.9 percent of all single-family homes sold in Lee County last month, according to the Realtor Association. But some of these foreclosures are selling for more than their list price because they’re bringing multiple offers.
Over the weekend, Grimes said there were 30 offers on a bank-owned duplex in Lehigh Acres listed $50,000. It sold for $70,000.
He said 90 percent of the sales for less than $100,000 can be described as “distressed.”
“It has been fairly frantic and fairly busy, which you don’t think of when you look at the general marketplace,” said Bob Groves, managing broker for Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Fort Myers. “It’s all about these distressed property sales.”
Besides the foreclosures, there are more short sales _ sales made for less than the bank is owned on a mortgage to avoid foreclosure.
“We are finding an awful lot of people coming in and buying their second homes,” Groves said. “We are seeing the more traditional end users coming in. They are not buying it on speculation or to turn it over. They are buying it to use it.”
Daily his company is getting calls from Northern residents who are ready to make the move to a sunnier place.
For the past 21/2 months, his office has averaged about 1,000 showings a week on its listings.
More buyers are qualifying for FHA and VA loans, which offer closing cost assistance, according to the Realtor association.
“As listings shrink and sales prices move above the listing price, this indicates that our market is starting its recovery,” said Suzanne Sherer, the Realtor association’s president, in a statement. “This should be very welcome news to sellers out there. Priced right homes are selling quickly.”
In the under $100,000 market there’s now less than a four-month supply of homes on the market, Grimes said.
The Realtor Association estimates the supply of single-family homes at all prices has shrunk to 3.7 months, half of what it was a year ago. Grimes thinks that’s too low.
With so much competition out there, Grimes recommends buyers get preapproved for loans, which will make it easier for them to go up against other offers.
“A lot of eyebrows are focused on this market now,” Grimes said.
Existing home sales sky rocketing in south west Florida
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - During one of the most difficult economic times in decades Realtors in Southwest Florida are selling more existing homes than ever. Realtor Denny Grimes says it’s a good thing because it’s clearing the market and could provide work for other industries. Grimes also says if you’re waiting for the market to bottom out before you buy, don’t do it.
See the whole interview.
http://www.winknews.com/news/consumer/economynews/41653222.html
What do the Fort Myers area and President Obama have in common?
Posted by 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.
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 this article 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 this article 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 this article 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 this article 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 this article September home sales set new record