As the economy continues to trudge along, many South Florida homeowners are still struggling with unemployment and mortgage payments. If you are thinking of short selling your home, you should be aware that several banks have incentives for you to short sell versus going through the lengthy, in Florida it can take close to two years, and extremely credit-damaging foreclosure process.
Wells Fargo and Chase offer up to $20,000 in incentives to qualified homeowners and Bank of America just launched a similar pilot program in Florida.
There is still some confusion in the market in terms of what a house is worth. A seller puts a price on it, the buyer makes an offer based on what they have seen in the market, and then comes the appraisal. In the last couple of months I have had a home that should have appraised, but due to the lack of comparables of its size in the same area, the appraiser went over into a whole different area and it came in grossly under the purchase price. The comps were homes of the same size, year, and approximate lot size, but in a whole different city, school district etc.
In another case, I had a home with a purchase price that was questionable as to whether or not it would appraise due to a lack of comps and low comps in the area, come in at $30,000 over the contract price.
It has always been argued that appraisals are an art and not a science, but in both instances above I would argue there is a huge difference between a Monet and Kindergartener’s painting.
The Exhumas, Bahamas is where the rich and famous are buying islands, according to an article in the July 28 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Some of the issues that arise with developing these islands, such as importing electricity, cell phone towers, water purifiers, the building materials and even, in some cases, the palm trees, can make development extremely costly.
San Jose Island, in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama, does not have a lot of these issues. Granted, at 11,000 acres, approximately twice the size of Key West, it is a much larger island than the ones in Exuma. It has its own rivers and streams, providing fresh water, as well as a water treatment facility capable of producing 3,000 gallons of water an hour, and a 10,000 gallon storage tank. It has a 5000 linear foot landing strip, lots of trees, including palm trees, mooring facilities, and a boutique resort, Hacienda del Mar.
A short 20 minute flight to Panama City, Panama, means you are in close proximity to world class entertainment and medical facilities, including John Hopkins at Punta Pacifica Hospital.
Compared to the most expensive island for sale in the Bahamas, Cave Cay, at $440,000 per acre, San Jose Island , at $22,545 per acre, seems like a downright bargain. Oh, I almost forgot…Panama doesn’t have hurricanes!
Christie’s will be auctioning off The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor over 4 days in December, 2011. Starting in September, there will be a three-month tour, with stops in Moscow, London, Los Angeles, Dubai, Geneva, Paris and Hong Kong, highlighting portions of her collection. This is sure to be a historic auction.
Christie’s will be auctioning off The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor over 4 days in December, 2011. Starting in September, there will be a three-month tour, with stops in Moscow, London, Los Angeles, Dubai, Geneva, Paris and Hong Kong, highlighting portions of her collection. This is sure to be a historic auction.
Miami just ranked 8, with a score of 72.5, in a walkability scoring of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. Having moved from San Francisco, ranked 2 with a walkability score of 84.9, I decided to check out my home’s walk score. I live in Pinecrest, a suburb, so I wasn’t too surprised to find out that my walk score was pretty dismal at 22. Not all areas of Pinecrest would score that low. If your home is in the western portion of Pinecrest, which is a lot closer to shops and U.S. 1, your home would score much higher.
Recent studies throughout the country have shown that more people want to give up commuting, and the accompanying high gas bills, and live in more walker friendly neighborhoods. So, what is your home’s walk score?
Before you start celebrating your executed contract, take a deep breath and realize you are only half way to the closing table. You still have to get through inspections and, if the deal is based on financing, the appraisal.
In order to make it through inspections, you may want to fix the little things you have been meaning to since you listed the house, such as the faucet that started dripping or the burned out light bulb. These things sound minor, but they can add up in an inspection report.
If you did not have a list of all of the upgrades you have done to the house, make sure to make one now and give it to the appraiser. In today’s market there are so many distressed properties, many of which are in poor condition, dragging down pricing, it can help to highlight your home’s main attributes, such as new appliances, roof, etc. Even if your house is in great condition, do not be surprised if your home does not appraise. Recent changes to the process have resulted in much more stringent appraisal standards.
If this week’s sales vs listings in just one of EWM’s offices is any indication, the market is changing. Our Coral Gables office had 37 residential sales versus 10 new listings and 27 leases vs 8 new rentals. Our total for this week, which include the sale of a commercial property was almost $35,000,000. This market change doesn’t mean that prices are going up yet, but it does mean we are clearing our inventory. We are seeing an increase in rental rates, however, as more people decide to rent and the inventory decreases.
If you need to sell, now is the time to do it since inventory is decreasing and there is demand. Remember to price it right, however, since pricing is everything in this market. If you don’t need to sell, but want to take advantage of the current market, use it to move up, downsize, while you rent out your current home. Alternatively, stay in your home and buy a rental property.
If you are planning to buy, now is definitely the time to buy due to a combination of low interest rates and low prices. If you don’t buy soon, you may find yourself priced out of the market or with even more limited choices.
Okay, sellers. It is time to get real and face today’s Buyer’s real estate market. If you want to LIST your house, hoping you find an all cash buyer willing to over pay for your home, you don’t need to read any further. However if you want to SELL your home, please read on.
Today I took a cash buyer to see a very nice home in north Coral Gables. It is a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath, 1985 square foot home on a 7,000 square foot lot. It has an above ground pool (can’t believe that got permitted in Coral Gables, but that is the subject for another blog) and has been very nicely updated. The garage was converted into a playroom. As we were walking through the house, the agent kept pointing out all of the items that would not be staying: curtains, washer, dryer, some lighting fixtures. After we were done seeing the house, the agent told us what we already knew, “The house is overpriced”. When we asked her if what the sellers were thinking, she responded “They think their house is so nice and updated that it is worth more than anything in the neighborhood”. I told her it would never appraise. She said she knew, but to make an offer anyway, the sellers were motivated, they were buying another house and already had a contract on one. Here is the problem: the unrealistic sellers have the house priced at $690,000, down from $712,000. The absolute highest comp, based on tax rolls and the MLS put this house at $498,000. Even stretching, the highest price for a 3/2.5 in that area, but with larger square footage sold for $540,000. How does a buyer even begin to make an offer? They don’t. They go on to a more realistic seller.
The moral of the story is: If you don’t need to sell your house at today’s prices, then don’t. Wait for the time to come when the properties will appreciate. If you need or want to sell your house now, price it realistically.
How does the housing market look in Pinecrest half way through 2011? Below are the numbers for single family homes. Note that all of these are going to change a little due to status changes that happen at the end of the month, but are not updated in the MLS until the following month. As of 6/30/2011:
Closed sales: 90. Low of $270,000, high of $4,000,000. 7 were bankowned (REO), 10 are short sales or approximately 19% distressed sales. 57 closed in the second quarter.
Pending sales: 48. Low of $265,000, high of $2,150,000. 3 are REO, 17 are short sales. Almost 42% are distressed sales.
Active sales: 160. Low of $269,900, high of $5,000,000 ($4,999,999 to be exact!). 3 are REOs. 14 are short sales. Only 11% distressed listings. 64 were listed in the second quarter.
What does this mean if you are a seller? If you want to sell your home during the end of the summer buying season, drop your price now. Homes are selling and people are still looking to buy in Pinecrest because of the quality of the public and private schools, parks, and good size lots. If your home needs a lot of work, you are going to have to drop the price even further. Buyers are looking for homes that need minimal updates. If you don’t drop your price now, you are going to have to drop it even further come the beginning of the school year.
If you are a buyer, the numbers mean there aren’t as many “deals” in terms of short sales and foreclosures. Those that are on the market, are priced well, and in reasonably good shape are going to have multiple offers, because there are fewer of them. If you are financing your purchase, you are better off using the numbers to make an offer on a well priced, non-distressed listing.
