What slowdown? We're busy as can be!

In spite of all the news about a housing slump in the Bradenton - Sarasota, Florida market our team is busy. We have executed 21 contracts on our listings and with buyers since the beginning of the year. That's quite amazing.

How do we do it?

When working with sellers, we help them....
1. Price their home right
2. Give them tips for preparing the home for sale
3. Create a specific marketing strategy for their home
4. Employ our negotiating skills
5. Utilize our superb systems to achieve a smooth closing

When working with buyers, we help them....
1. By understanding their needs and just what their perfect home would be like
2. Narrow down their search from 100's of homes to the few that fits them perfectly
3. Help them understand their financing options
4. Employ our negotiating skills
5. Utilize our superb systems to achieve a smooth closing

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Bradenton Real Estate

Would you trade property tax for increased sales tax?

Last week under a plan proposed by House Republican leaders "Florida voters would be able to abolish property taxes on primary homes and put caps on government revenues in exchange for adopting the nation’s highest statewide sales tax.

"A second part of the proposal is designed to reduce taxes by an average of nearly 20 percent for all property owners, although most of those savings would go to businesses. It would not require voter approval but could go into effect sooner.

"House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Miami, said a proposed constitutional amendment that would raise the statewide sales tax by 2.5 percentage points – from 6 percent to 8.5 percent – could go on the ballot later this year or at the 2008 general election...."

Our legislature is trying to find solutions to rising property taxes and rising insurance rates. We have seen quite a few Sarasota - Bradenton residents leave town for other less costly states. We are hopeful some workable solution is found soon.


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Bradenton Real Estate

3 Keys to Investing Success - CD

3 Keys to Investing Success - CD

This CD contains the material shared in our 2 hour investor workshop:

Three Keys to Investing Success:
· How to find motivated sellers
· How to determine market value
· How to evaluate deals

This two hour workshop is led by Dan Forbes, president and co-owner of Premier Team Inc., along with his partner Marie Avery. Dan is a Certified Residential Specialist, a Graduate of the Realtor Institute, holds a masters degree, and is founder of the Bradenton Real Estate Club. He is a practicing real estate broker, Realtor, and investor in Bradenton, Florida. Dan has served as President of the Manatee Association of Realtors, Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee, and an Ethics Instructor. He was named Realtor of the Year in 2005. Premier Team was named Small Business of the Year by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce in 2002.

The workshop includes a fast-paced powerpoint presentation loaded with practical advice to help the novice to intermediate real estate investor.

What you will learn:
° How to know a motivated seller from all the others
° 14 types of motivated sellers and how to find them
° Why you need to look for problems instead of looking for properties
° 30 ways to find motivated sellers
° A telephone prospecting script that works
° Simple ways to determine the market value of a house
° How to get experts to give you useful advice for free
° How to determine if a deal is good or not
° 7 principles you absolutely must follow when making deals
° How to avoid the alligator and attract the cash cow
° Using a Buy, Fix-up, and Sell Worksheet
° Using a Buy and Hold Worksheet
° How to make a good deal even better



The CD contains the following documents:

1. The entire 58 Slide Power Point Presentation (PDF)

2. The telephone prospecting script for qualifying the seller and discovering their motivation (Word and PDF)

3. How to prepare you own CMA. A Comparative Market Analysis Worksheet with a step by step demonstration of using the property appraiser’s website (Word and PDF)

4. Preparing a Comparative Market Analysis (Article in Word and PDF)

5. The Buy and Sell Worksheet. Just plug your numbers in and the worksheet generates what your offer should be (Excel and PDF)

6. The Buy and Hold Worksheet. Just plug your numbers in and the worksheet calculates your cash flow based on your offer price (Excel and PDF)

Cost: $20.00

Please order through our website:
http://bradentonrealestateclub.com/Products.htm

If my house doesn't sell, should I rent it?

In a market where selling a home can be a challenge many sellers are thinking about renting their house out. Does that make sense? For some the answer is, yes. For others, there are several factors to consider.

1. Do you need the proceeds from the sale of the home. If you are buying another home can you qualify for the mortgage without selling your existing home. Remember, lenders usually only count about 75 percent of the rental income toward your ratios. Talk to your lender before making the decision to rent out the home.

2. Will the rent cover your expenses? Add up the cost of your mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and property management fees to determine if the rent will cover these expenses. If not, you’ll have a negative cash flow each flow. Don’t forget the cost of advertising, and vacancies as well.

3. How will it affect your taxes? If the home has been your primary residence for two out of the last five years you qualify for a capital gains exclusion of up to $500,000 (if married). If you rent the home out for a year or more, be aware of how it affects your tax situation.

4. Are you prepared to be a landlord? If you manage the property yourself, be sure that you’re prepared to be a landlord and to deal with tenants. Also, be aware that tenants rarely take as good of care of the home as you did. At the end of the rental period you may need to replace carpets, paint, and do other fix-ups.

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Bradenton Real Estate

4 Improvements that net big results

Sellers who refuse to make minor repairs are likely to pay dearly for their stubbornness, says Sid Davis, author of the new book Home Makeovers That Sell (AMACOM, 2007).

Here are some of Davis’ suggestions for sellers who want to get the most out of the deal.

Start with the kitchen; it’s the most important room in the house for most buyers. Refacing the cabinets or sanding them and painting them white is often a worthwhile undertaking. If the flooring is in poor condition, replace that too.

Update the bath. While paint and flooring help here too, sellers may find spending $200 to replace the mirror and vanity set will net them the greatest payoff.

Clean the laundry room. Hire a carpenter to install built-in shelving and repaint and replace worn flooring. Upgrade the light fixtures.

Scrub, scrub, scrub. Squeaky clean wows buyers, Davis says. “If people think [a home] is super neat, they'll give [the seller] the benefit of the doubt. If it's dirty, they'll assume it's ridden with hidden defects,'' he says.

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Bradenton Real Estate

Homeowners confident in prices

Eighty-one percent of homeowners believe the value of their homes will rise over the next 5 years. Only 13 percent believe their home will fall in value. At least that's how 2000 households reponded to a survey conducted by RT Strategies.

Just think back 10 years ago. If you bought a house then, would it be worth more or less today? Yeah, yeah, I know that 2006 was a poor year for real estate prices across the United States. However, just ask yourself a few questions....

Do you think the cost of lumber, concrete, and building materials will go down or up in the future?
Do you think the cost of labor will go down or up in the future?
Is more and more land becoming available, or less and less?

See how silly it is to think that housing costs will continue to drop? Just use your common sense. Beware of talking heads that predict doom and gloom for the future of the housing market.

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Bradenton Real Estate

Which way are home prices going?

According to the latest Experian-Gallup Personal Credit IndexSM survey, nearly half of all consumers (47 percent) say they think a housing bubble and collapse of housing prices is very likely (16 percent) or somewhat likely (31 percent) in their local residential real-estate market within the next three years. This is up from the 37 percent of Americans who felt this way in May 2005 and the 42 percent voicing this opinion in April 2006.

Fears of a potential housing price collapse are greatest in the West (52 percent) and the East (49 percent) but lower in the Midwest (41 percent) and the South (44 percent). Consumers with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more are somewhat less fearful of a collapse in housing prices (42 percent) than are those with incomes of $40,000 a year but less than $75,000 a year (50 percent) or those making less than $40,000 a year (48 percent). Renters think that such a drop in housing prices is more likely (57 percent) than do homeowners (43 percent).

The BIG question I hear all the time is, "What do you think is going to happen with home prices in the Bradenton - Sarasota market?" I think we are struggling to reach the beginning of the end of the market decline. Some signs point to stabilization (pending sales are up, median price is up). Other signs say we have more decline ahead (increasing inventory, decreasing sales).

This is a market struggling to stabilize. Next, we may have 12-18 months of a flat market, followed by more sustainable appreciation.

Here it is:
2007 - More price declines
2008 - Flat
2009 - Growth returns

What do you think?
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Bradenton Real Estate

5 Markets of Home Price Increases and Declines

Home prices are declining year over year for the first time in the last 10 years, according to data from online real estate information site Zillow.com

Zillow.com estimates that in the fourth quarter of 2006, prices declined nationwide by 0.48 percent compared with the fourth quarter of last year. Zillow.com measured home value changes in 75 metro areas. Here are some of the site’s findings.

Five metropolitan areas where prices have increased the most in the last year:
1. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.: 25.88 percent
2. Yuma, Ariz.: 25.66 percent
3. Myrtle Beach, S.C.: 21.24 percent
4. Flagstaff, Ariz.: 19.02 percent
5. Ocala, Fla.: 17.56 percent

Five metropolitan areas where prices have fallen the most in the last year:
1. Panama City, Fla.: -11.84 percent
2. San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, Calif.: -11.35 percent
3. Punta Gorda, Fla.: -9.23 percent
4. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.: -8.99
5. Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C.: -8.73

Market Conditions Report - Jan 2007

Premier Team’s
Market Conditions Report Summary – Jan 07
Bradenton - Sarasota , Florida Real Estate Market
(from our study of the Gulf Coast Regional Multiple Listing Service)

Statistics for Single Family Homes:
Total Single Family Home Listings: 4358 - Up 49% over last year. Up 6.3% from last month!

Total Solds: 115 - Down 38% year to year . 97.4% of homes for sale DID NOT SELL in January.

Median Sales Price: $279,000 – Down 11.7% from last year and down 20.2% from 2005 high

Absorption Rate: 10.3 months. This is how long it would take to sell all of today's listings at the rate homes are selling and if no other homes were listed.

Average Days on Market: 100 - Up 96% over last year

Statistics for Condos:
Total Condo Listings: 2148 – Up 88.1% over last year.

Total Solds: 33 – Down 46% year to year

Median Sales Price: $235,000 –

Absorption Rate: 13.7 months – A slight decrease.

Average Days on Market: 101 – Up 98%

Summary: Our Market is STABILIZING (we hope)!
The signs of market stabilization are wishy washy. What has been evident for the rest of the state is struggling to take hold here in the Manatee – Sarasota market. Last month’s decrease in total inventory was strong reversed with a 6.3% increase in the number of homes for sale. One postive sign is that the absorption rate (supply and demand) dropped from an 11 month supply of listings to a 10.3 month supply. That happened because of the strong increase in pending sales (a positive sign).

97.4 % of the homes for sale DID NOT SELL in January. If you are serious about selling you MUST price your home competitively!!

The condo market had a slight improvement in the absorption rate and the number of pending sales was up. However, total inventory continued to rise. There no signs of stabilization yet in the condo market.

Prices may at best remain flat in the coming months, perhaps through 2008. 2009 should bring price gains as population growth continues in the Bradenton – Sarasota area.

As we hit the bottom of the current real estate cycle, this is a great time to buy. Don’t make the mistake of looking back a few years from now and regretting that you failed to take action!

Do-It-Yourself Staging

Sellers shouldn’t look at the cost of staging a home. Instead, they should consider how much more it will allow them to make on their house, says Peggy Selinger-Eaton, who has recently published a book and DVD entitled, "Stage Your Home for Profit."Here are Selinger-Eaton’s suggestions for do-it-yourself stagers:
• Remove clutter except for a few wisely chosen accessories (candles, fresh flowers, crystal).
• Bedrooms should have beds: If you're a bed short, use an inflatable mattress and some boxes to create a faux bed.
• Light and more light: Raise window blinds and remove screens from windows to let in as much natural light as possible.
• Modernize fixtures: Replace boring or tarnished light fixtures. Trade in old lampshades for new ones. Replace sink and tub fixtures with modern, shiny ones.
• Deep-six shabby furniture. Selinger-Eaton recommends buying cheap- chic replacements at Target.
• Create life: Set the table, leave on the big-screen TV, play background music.

Source: Christian Science Monitor, Keith Rockmael
http://greenerati.com

Tips for a faster sale

Here are 10 tips to help your home sell faster.

1. Paint the trim, columns, front door, and the light fixtures.
2. Replace the storm door with a full-view one.
3. Clean all the windows and window screens.
4. Add new mulch to flowerbeds and a colorful potted plant by the front door.
5. Remove mirrors from over the fireplace so buyers focus on the fireplace.
6. Move furniture 1 1/2 to 2 feet away from the walls to create the illusion of more space.
7. Get rid of any movable storage pieces/appliances in the kitchen and take all the clutter off the refrigerator.
8. Clean and regrout the bathroom floor tile.
9. Replace dated bathroom vanities with trendy (and economical) pedestal sinks.
10. Put colorful bedding and matching window treatments in all the bedrooms.

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Bradenton Real Estate