Jacksonville Beaches Real Estate

Home sales up 12.9% in NE Florida From WOKV News Talk Radio Jax Jacksonville, FL — In February home sales were up 12.9% from a year ago in northeast Florida. The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors is reporting sales are up but prices are down 12.9%. NFAR communications director Melanie Green says most of the homes sold last month were not traditional sales. "The sales that occurred in February were weighted heavily by lender mediated sales, those are your foreclosed and short sales." She says that's a bit of bad news but it does indicate that investors are coming back into the market. We also heard from consumer warrior Clark Howard. He says right now is the perfect time to buy, the reason being that the timing is right. "If you're buying a home now, man everything is smiling on you, the prices are phenomenal on the homes, the cost of money to borrow and finance those homes is still great, and this is not a gotcha this is an opportunity....

The number of short sales in the Jacksonville market continue to increase while the number of REO homes seems to be decreasing. There are a lot of foreclosed homes (REO) that are being sold for MORE THAN ASKING PRICE with multiple offers! There are often more than a dozen offers on a foreclosed home that is in good condition. The short sale market is absolutely dead at the moment. In order for a First Time Buyer to purchase a short sale, they should have placed their offer MONTHS ago! Short sales are taking 5-6 months to get to closing so they're not a good option for a First Timer trying to meet the November 30th deadline for closing. As the homes that have been on the market continue to sit there, more and more of them are becoming short sales as the price has to be reduced. The price drops and the status of the home becomes a short sale. It's brutal out there right now for SELLERS and it's GREAT out there for buyers! Interest rates are approaching historic lows and the...

News from Florida Assoc of Realtors is a mixed bag, to say the least! Sales are way up--with prices WAY down. At least some of the inventory is "going away". There have been lots of sales because of all of the foreclosed properties and short sales. That's okay if you're a buyer....not so good if you're trying to sell your home right now. It's all about PRICE in this market. If you're a seller, you're competing with dirt cheap houses all around you. Now, more than ever, if your home isn't priced right, it's not going to sell. Pure and simple. Here's a little bit of what the experts have to say about this crazy market... ...“Many people are looking at today’s market and seeing opportunities to find the home or business they’ve always wanted,” said 2009 FAR President Cynthia Shelton. “With a range of available housing options, historically low mortgage interest rates and affordable prices, buyers who may have been hesitant before shoul...

Great news concerning renters of foreclosed properties! I have been complaining and worrying about these tenants for months! I am so relieved that SOMETHING is finally being done. I hope they follow through with all of this and really protect these families caught in the foreclosure mess. This is not fair to the tenants that have been paying their rent and playing by the rules. Please see the article below from the Florida Association of Realtors site today: Fannie Mae bans evictions of renters WASHINGTON – Jan. 14, 2009 – Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae said Tuesday it has adopted a policy allowing renters to remain in their homes even if their landlord enters foreclosure. The new policy will allow residents of about 4,000 properties to sign new leases with Fannie while the property is up for sale. Michael Williams, Fannie Mae’s chief operating officer, said in a statement that the change should “help bring a measure of stability to communities impacted by high foreclosure rat...

Great Article on Selling Your Home by Anonymous (I read it online and loved it! Started following other links and never got back to the article!) Enjoy the read. IT IS SO TRUE! Selling a home in a declining market starts with a proper attitude and finding the right Realtor® who is optimistic and knows the right sales techniques in this tough market. Even though most people and economists are down on the housing market (feel it is depressed, that the economic recovery isn't going to happen in the next few months, and consumer confidence is down), it doesn't mean that you can't sell your home. The truth of the matter is many people will sell their homes between now and this summer. While many sellers and real estate agents take a reactive approach to market conditions, those sellers who take a more proactive and realistic approach to the market will be the ones who sell their homes. These are the sellers who take advantage of this market and move up to their dream home! Firs...

For those of you that might now know what REO stands for, it's Real Estate Owned. It is a line item on a banks books that is a BAD thing for the bank. They aren't in the business of OWNING homes, they are in the business of LENDING MONEY. An REO property is a bad thing for the bank but a good thing for a home buyer! I like dealing with REO properties a LOT more than short sales! The preliminary work has all been done. The foreclosure is over, the negotiations are over, there are no "people" involved (as in home owners) and it's just a "business deal". The emotions are gone, the sadness is gone and it just comes down to the calculator! I like that! I get caught up in all of my short sales. I tend to take on the worries of my sellers. I want so desperately to help them, and more often than not, I can't. The lenders just take too long to decide on whether or not they'll take offers. The process takes so long, the home usually ends up in foreclosure....

There are currently 3000 preforeclosure homes on the market in Jacksonville. If they aren't in full blown foreclosure proceedings, they're definitely in deep trouble. Most are in some stage of the foreclosure process, lots are short sales. In troubled times like these, it's time for the buyers to come out of hiding! Interest rates fell again Friday to below 6%! Now is the time to get into the market! Whether you're a first time buyer or an investor--the time is right. Inventory remains extremely high (which means lots of homes to pick from) and now interest rates are low so it's the "perfect storm" for buyers. I can even tell you about a way to get up to $35,000 in buyers assistance for first time buyers! Yep. You read that right. I can get you up to $35,000 to help get the price down, pay closing costs, do repairs, or whatever it takes to get you into that first home! Call me today and I will put you in touch with the lender that will guide you thr...

Homes sales have been quite brisk the past 30 days! Unfortunately more than half of those sales have been preforeclosures and short sales. The market is clearly price driven. The investors have come back out and first time buyers are finding deals galore! It's a great time to be a buyer in Jacksonville! Unfortunately, those that aren't in a short sale situation, those trying to get a fair price for thier homes, these are not such good times. If the seller is trying to compete with these foreclosed homes, good luck! The price of the short sale homes are usually 20% or more below the other homes in the neighborhood, naturally pulling the value of the homes in the entire area down with it. This is a tough time to try and sell a house at full value! If you're a buyer that's been sitting on the fence, it's time to JUMP! Interest rates are still low--inventories are HIGH--foreclosures are at an all time high! What in the world are you waiting for?? Let's g...