Certainly, incentive is present for all those wonderful first-time homebuyers to dive into the marketplace and engage in the homebuying process. Is this not why our President enacted this but to stimulate the economy by channeling funds through the system?
After almost 20 years in real estate, I can attest that not once in these 20 odd years have I had first-time buyer clients in the double digits...which for me is wonderful as first-time buyer clients are truly some of my favorite clients...and you ask why...?
Well, enthusiasm. Recently, I had the opportunity to hear a motivational speaker who dwelled on attitude... You know, I had not really ever considered my attitude but after hearing him speak it challenged me to always - and I mean always - have a positive attitude. The first-timers (as they are often called) are full of enthusiasm! They are excited! Many are in love with a wedding on the horizon and to participate and be involved and occasionally invited to their weddings is an absolute blessing. It must be one of the reasons I stay in this oftentimes crazy business.
Secondly, education. I love what I do and I am, I hope, somewhat proficient at it. I truly enjoy working with them and educating them on the process as I think it should be. On negotiating with the seller and working to an fair resolution affording the buyer and the seller an opportunity to participate in the process in a positive way....
Thirdly, clients for life. If you do it right, you will get them back. Rarely do people stay in the same home for their entire lifetime. As such, if you do it right, you may just get that call later on that they are ready to start looking for something larger or in a different area or in the country, etc.... Plus, the referrals people send your way are almost always positive as you have already had a cheerleading section paving the way for you to engage the clients in their next transaction.
Is President Obama's stimulus stimulating? I would say yes, most definitely. Oh, and one other little bit of news.... For those of you who have not owned a home in the past three years??? Well, congratulations, as you qualify for the stimulus package, too.
If you have been thinking about buying or selling, please call me and let's discuss it. As I have found....it may be enlightening....
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Amazing Realtors....
Recently my son and I went on spring break to Tucson, Arizona which is one place where land values have significantly declined. It would seem that the nature of the economy would force Realtors to become even more dedicated contrary to one Realtor I spoke with who said that "the market was bad, why bother to go into the office..."
I was reading on the internet and since I know several of my Realtor friends read this blog, I found this great article on a Florida Realtor who actually takes his buyers out on his pontoon boat to show them properties from the water. Is this creative or what? This guy is amazing. He completely thinks "out of the box" and offers a service that other Realtors had yet to consider.
Anyway, I am going to post the article below but want to remind all of us that this economy will make us stronger. It may not seem like it now but the market will rebound. It is all cyclical.... Look for yourself at the graphs and charts that are available out there...
Okay, here it is.... I say 'well done" to this guy!
Fla. Realtor uses boat to display foreclosed homes
Fri. March 27 - 2009
Associated Press
Here at the epicenter of the nation's housing crisis, an ebullient Marc Joseph bounces off a pontoon boat onto a dock behind a lovely waterfront home _ it was recently vacated when its former inhabitants couldn't pay the mortgage.
"The tiki hut comes with the house, guys!" the slim 41-year-old real estate agent says as a dozen or so potential buyers disembark from two boats and start poking around the 2,600-square-foot house. It's being offered by a bank for $574,000.
Considering this particular home _ situated on a wide canal leading to the Gulf of Mexico _ sold for $776,000 in 2005, it's going to be steal for someone.
Joseph hopes he might have the buyer aboard his latest boat tour of upscale foreclosed homes, all accessed via the network of salt-water canals that snake through the back yards of much of this southwest Florida community.
Having made national news last year with his bus tours of vacant homes here in the county that leads the nation in foreclosures, Joseph is now attacking by sea, filling boats weekly with curious snowbirds, international tourists, potential investors and local lookie-loos.
A three-hour tour on this warm afternoon included four abodes ranging from a 2,000 square-foot ranch-style place with an algae-covered hot tub out back for $279,000, to a McMansion that was purchased for $1.1 million a few years ago and is now being offered for $669,000.
At the latter, an opulent 3,000-square-foot residence, Joseph gestures to the mangroves waving in the breeze 40 yards across the canal. "This is all owned by the state _ your view is never going to change," he says.
Pedro and Karin Weber are Germans who recently moved to Florida from Venezuela and hope to set up some sort of retail business so they can stay. They did their homework and deliberately chose to relocate to Cape Coral. They hopped on the boat hoping to find a place in the $350,000 range.
"It's tough at the moment in the whole world, so why not go to the States?" says Karin Weber, a 53-year-old blonde wearing a pink Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt and big Dior sunglasses.
"We're not rich. We have money (put) back for buying a house," she says, standing on a screened pool deck at one of the stops. "So maybe we can buy a house for $300,000 what's worth $500,000 or $600,000. Maybe we can make a good deal. That's why we chose Cape Coral."
Joseph imparts his message emphatically on both the land and sea tours: In southwest Florida, now is the time to buy.
Speculators took advantage of no-money-down loans in 2005 and 2006 to fill cow pastures and scrub lands with new subdivisions full of houses that were left vacant and in foreclosure after the market crashed and the economy tanked. Many of those homes were intended to sell in the $260,000 range. Now they're being offered by the banks for around $90,000.
Joseph sees the boat tour as a way to snag opportunistic buyers who can afford a little larger piece of the Florida dream.
"There's a little fear in the economy, but you've got to understand where you're at, guys," he lectures at one stop. "The sun is still shining. Our roads are full, our beaches are packed. People are down here looking. The product will not last long."
Joseph figures the market will hit bottom in the next six to eight months and then track upward as the glut of empty homes is thinned out. But foreclosed homes continue to flood the market.
The Fort Myers-Cape Coral metro area had the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation in February, with one out of every 65 housing units getting a foreclosure notice during the month, according to foreclosure tracking service RealtyTrac. (Las Vegas was No. 1.)
The bright side: Sales of existing, single-family homes in Lee County were up more than 100 percent in February over the same period in 2008, driven by bargains created by the crisis, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc. Two-thirds of the homes sold in the county so far this year were foreclosed properties, with a median selling price of $73,000.
Meanwhile, home sales nationwide rose 5 percent in February from a year ago, while the median price fell 16 percent to $165,400, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Jay Martin came to Cape Coral do a little speculating of his own. He got on the boat looking for good buys for the international clients of his San Diego-based investment house.
"This is going to be kind of our Ground Zero," Martin says. "The inventory levels are starting to level out, so it's pretty much go-time."
Just then a woman over on the bank hooks a stingray the size of a dinner plate and hauls it out of the water as her fellow fishermen cheer and a fluffy white dogs yaps from the pool deck.
Martin smiles. "It's beautiful down here," he says.
I was reading on the internet and since I know several of my Realtor friends read this blog, I found this great article on a Florida Realtor who actually takes his buyers out on his pontoon boat to show them properties from the water. Is this creative or what? This guy is amazing. He completely thinks "out of the box" and offers a service that other Realtors had yet to consider.
Anyway, I am going to post the article below but want to remind all of us that this economy will make us stronger. It may not seem like it now but the market will rebound. It is all cyclical.... Look for yourself at the graphs and charts that are available out there...
Okay, here it is.... I say 'well done" to this guy!
Fla. Realtor uses boat to display foreclosed homes
Fri. March 27 - 2009
Associated Press
Here at the epicenter of the nation's housing crisis, an ebullient Marc Joseph bounces off a pontoon boat onto a dock behind a lovely waterfront home _ it was recently vacated when its former inhabitants couldn't pay the mortgage.
"The tiki hut comes with the house, guys!" the slim 41-year-old real estate agent says as a dozen or so potential buyers disembark from two boats and start poking around the 2,600-square-foot house. It's being offered by a bank for $574,000.
Considering this particular home _ situated on a wide canal leading to the Gulf of Mexico _ sold for $776,000 in 2005, it's going to be steal for someone.
Joseph hopes he might have the buyer aboard his latest boat tour of upscale foreclosed homes, all accessed via the network of salt-water canals that snake through the back yards of much of this southwest Florida community.
Having made national news last year with his bus tours of vacant homes here in the county that leads the nation in foreclosures, Joseph is now attacking by sea, filling boats weekly with curious snowbirds, international tourists, potential investors and local lookie-loos.
A three-hour tour on this warm afternoon included four abodes ranging from a 2,000 square-foot ranch-style place with an algae-covered hot tub out back for $279,000, to a McMansion that was purchased for $1.1 million a few years ago and is now being offered for $669,000.
At the latter, an opulent 3,000-square-foot residence, Joseph gestures to the mangroves waving in the breeze 40 yards across the canal. "This is all owned by the state _ your view is never going to change," he says.
Pedro and Karin Weber are Germans who recently moved to Florida from Venezuela and hope to set up some sort of retail business so they can stay. They did their homework and deliberately chose to relocate to Cape Coral. They hopped on the boat hoping to find a place in the $350,000 range.
"It's tough at the moment in the whole world, so why not go to the States?" says Karin Weber, a 53-year-old blonde wearing a pink Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt and big Dior sunglasses.
"We're not rich. We have money (put) back for buying a house," she says, standing on a screened pool deck at one of the stops. "So maybe we can buy a house for $300,000 what's worth $500,000 or $600,000. Maybe we can make a good deal. That's why we chose Cape Coral."
Joseph imparts his message emphatically on both the land and sea tours: In southwest Florida, now is the time to buy.
Speculators took advantage of no-money-down loans in 2005 and 2006 to fill cow pastures and scrub lands with new subdivisions full of houses that were left vacant and in foreclosure after the market crashed and the economy tanked. Many of those homes were intended to sell in the $260,000 range. Now they're being offered by the banks for around $90,000.
Joseph sees the boat tour as a way to snag opportunistic buyers who can afford a little larger piece of the Florida dream.
"There's a little fear in the economy, but you've got to understand where you're at, guys," he lectures at one stop. "The sun is still shining. Our roads are full, our beaches are packed. People are down here looking. The product will not last long."
Joseph figures the market will hit bottom in the next six to eight months and then track upward as the glut of empty homes is thinned out. But foreclosed homes continue to flood the market.
The Fort Myers-Cape Coral metro area had the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation in February, with one out of every 65 housing units getting a foreclosure notice during the month, according to foreclosure tracking service RealtyTrac. (Las Vegas was No. 1.)
The bright side: Sales of existing, single-family homes in Lee County were up more than 100 percent in February over the same period in 2008, driven by bargains created by the crisis, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc. Two-thirds of the homes sold in the county so far this year were foreclosed properties, with a median selling price of $73,000.
Meanwhile, home sales nationwide rose 5 percent in February from a year ago, while the median price fell 16 percent to $165,400, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Jay Martin came to Cape Coral do a little speculating of his own. He got on the boat looking for good buys for the international clients of his San Diego-based investment house.
"This is going to be kind of our Ground Zero," Martin says. "The inventory levels are starting to level out, so it's pretty much go-time."
Just then a woman over on the bank hooks a stingray the size of a dinner plate and hauls it out of the water as her fellow fishermen cheer and a fluffy white dogs yaps from the pool deck.
Martin smiles. "It's beautiful down here," he says.
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Weekend to Come.....
Pardon me for editorializing here but having worked a long day today it seems appropriate.
Everywhere you turn whether it be the newspaper, the television, the radio or the Internet, it appears that each is summarily focused on the decline of the economy and the great recession this county is in.....
Well, I would have to say different...
Have you been to the mall lately??? I had cause to go to the mall and you cannot find a parking place. Now, I ask you...the consumer. If we are in a recession would you not think that there would be a lot of available parking places?
Secondly, have you gone out to dinner? Well, I have and, earnestly, I can report that there are a lot of people eating out...a lot. Again, I ask. If we are in such a huge recession one would have to conclude that the restaurants would be empty....
Certainly, the news is swimming with reports of layoffs, bankruptcies, foreclosures and the like but these are the United States of America and we do have educated people within. I like a quotation that was made by Michael Douglas in the movie "The American President" when he said "this is advanced citizenship..." I agree.
We, the citizens of the USA, are advanced citizens and when I am so busy and working 50 - 60 hours a week, again, I must conclude that our economy is rebounding.
Tomorrow, I embark on a day of 20 scheduled showings and whatever comes in between as things always seem to do so. I look forward to being busy...
Everywhere you turn whether it be the newspaper, the television, the radio or the Internet, it appears that each is summarily focused on the decline of the economy and the great recession this county is in.....
Well, I would have to say different...
Have you been to the mall lately??? I had cause to go to the mall and you cannot find a parking place. Now, I ask you...the consumer. If we are in a recession would you not think that there would be a lot of available parking places?
Secondly, have you gone out to dinner? Well, I have and, earnestly, I can report that there are a lot of people eating out...a lot. Again, I ask. If we are in such a huge recession one would have to conclude that the restaurants would be empty....
Certainly, the news is swimming with reports of layoffs, bankruptcies, foreclosures and the like but these are the United States of America and we do have educated people within. I like a quotation that was made by Michael Douglas in the movie "The American President" when he said "this is advanced citizenship..." I agree.
We, the citizens of the USA, are advanced citizens and when I am so busy and working 50 - 60 hours a week, again, I must conclude that our economy is rebounding.
Tomorrow, I embark on a day of 20 scheduled showings and whatever comes in between as things always seem to do so. I look forward to being busy...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Taxing Times on Real Estate Today
There is a new article on www.realtor.com that provides interesting info for taxes this year...
Taxing Times on Real Estate Today
WASHINGTON, March 05, 2009
As consumers across the country prepare their 2008 tax returns, Real Estate Today is preparing to deliver crucial tax information that may affect the bottom lines of all homeowners, buyers and sellers.
“Congress has passed new tax laws that will help many people who may be struggling in these challenging times,” said National Association of Realtors® President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “As the leading advocate for housing issues, NAR wants to make sure that homeowners, buyers and sellers can make full use of the tax advantages available to them.”
On this weekend’s show, Amy McAnarney, executive director of the Tax Institute at H&R Block, and Kevin McCormally, editorial director at Kiplinger’s, will join Real Estate Today host Gil Gross to address and answer listeners’ questions and concerns about tax issues related to buying, selling and owning a home in today’s economic environment.
Some of the issues they will cover include:
• How declining home values are affecting local property taxes, and what it all means for federal returns,
• What energy efficient home improvements can reduce homeowners’ tax bills,
• Who can take advantage of the temporary $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and how it will affect buyers’ tax returns, and
• How proposed changes to the mortgage interest deduction may affect homeowners, buyers and sellers at all income levels.
Real Estate Today, backed by NAR, can be heard online at www.RETRadio.com. The show airs on satellite radio via America’s Talk, XM Channel 158, Saturdays, 5-7 p.m. ET; Talk Radio, XM Channel 165, Saturdays, 1-3 p.m. ET; and Stars, Sirius-XM Channel 102, Saturdays, 6-8 a.m. and Sundays, 9-11 p.m. In Washington, D.C., Real Estate Today airs on flagship station 630 WMAL on Sundays, 1-3 p.m. ET
I hope this has been helpful to you... There are so many tax incentives and changes on a regular basis that it is truly hard to keep up with them. If this article has provoked questions in your mind, I encourage you to call your tax preparer... You can always file an amended return....
Next up.... Tax Benies for Historic Homeowners.... I am going to a meeting about this today and will post it soon....
Until then, thanks for reading and have a great day!
Taxing Times on Real Estate Today
WASHINGTON, March 05, 2009
As consumers across the country prepare their 2008 tax returns, Real Estate Today is preparing to deliver crucial tax information that may affect the bottom lines of all homeowners, buyers and sellers.
“Congress has passed new tax laws that will help many people who may be struggling in these challenging times,” said National Association of Realtors® President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “As the leading advocate for housing issues, NAR wants to make sure that homeowners, buyers and sellers can make full use of the tax advantages available to them.”
On this weekend’s show, Amy McAnarney, executive director of the Tax Institute at H&R Block, and Kevin McCormally, editorial director at Kiplinger’s, will join Real Estate Today host Gil Gross to address and answer listeners’ questions and concerns about tax issues related to buying, selling and owning a home in today’s economic environment.
Some of the issues they will cover include:
• How declining home values are affecting local property taxes, and what it all means for federal returns,
• What energy efficient home improvements can reduce homeowners’ tax bills,
• Who can take advantage of the temporary $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and how it will affect buyers’ tax returns, and
• How proposed changes to the mortgage interest deduction may affect homeowners, buyers and sellers at all income levels.
Real Estate Today, backed by NAR, can be heard online at www.RETRadio.com. The show airs on satellite radio via America’s Talk, XM Channel 158, Saturdays, 5-7 p.m. ET; Talk Radio, XM Channel 165, Saturdays, 1-3 p.m. ET; and Stars, Sirius-XM Channel 102, Saturdays, 6-8 a.m. and Sundays, 9-11 p.m. In Washington, D.C., Real Estate Today airs on flagship station 630 WMAL on Sundays, 1-3 p.m. ET
I hope this has been helpful to you... There are so many tax incentives and changes on a regular basis that it is truly hard to keep up with them. If this article has provoked questions in your mind, I encourage you to call your tax preparer... You can always file an amended return....
Next up.... Tax Benies for Historic Homeowners.... I am going to a meeting about this today and will post it soon....
Until then, thanks for reading and have a great day!
Friday, March 6, 2009
School Daze????
Welcome to my first post! Well, I have to admit that I do not think I will ever know enough.... Yesterday and today, I participated in RS210 which is a CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) course dedicated to building a solid client referral base. I already have my CRS designation but the education offered through these classes is absolutely overwhelming.... CRS and the wonderful people I have met through CRS has been a phenomenal asset to me and my career.
Well, halfway through today the instructor presented us with a sample letter that was, in fact, an apology letter...and then she asked how many of us could actually bring a client to mind who we could send this letter to.... A lot of hands went into the air on that one....including mine.
Astounding? Yes. Probable? Yes. Did my hand go into the air? Yes..... Yes, I hate to admit that I could actually think of someone who maybe I did not go back and continue to visit or someone who did a kindness for me that maybe I forgot to properly acknowledge...
So, yes, I have letters to send out and to all of you reading this post I want you to know that in the 20 (yes, I said 20) years that I have been privileged to serve as your Realtor, I owe you a giant debt of gratitude for allowing me to be a part of your lives.
Now, for the really good news.... I was told today that rates are falling again... I think next post I will explain how the rates work as there seems to be significant confusion on this.....
Well, halfway through today the instructor presented us with a sample letter that was, in fact, an apology letter...and then she asked how many of us could actually bring a client to mind who we could send this letter to.... A lot of hands went into the air on that one....including mine.
Astounding? Yes. Probable? Yes. Did my hand go into the air? Yes..... Yes, I hate to admit that I could actually think of someone who maybe I did not go back and continue to visit or someone who did a kindness for me that maybe I forgot to properly acknowledge...
So, yes, I have letters to send out and to all of you reading this post I want you to know that in the 20 (yes, I said 20) years that I have been privileged to serve as your Realtor, I owe you a giant debt of gratitude for allowing me to be a part of your lives.
Now, for the really good news.... I was told today that rates are falling again... I think next post I will explain how the rates work as there seems to be significant confusion on this.....
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