The Day in The Life of a Real Estate Broker

It's been a while - Brevard County Number 3 in the country in Real Estate

2012-01-12T04:20:00.000-08:00

Yes it's been a while since I've written. The main reason of course is that we are slammed busy. I've been telling people for a year that our market is on the upswing and they missed the bottom. Nobody believed me of course since the media has engrained in everyone that Florida is on sale and is free! Well we are on sale compared to where we were in 2004 and 2005. However, we are now up 17% over last year in price!

Here is an article on the top 5 real estate markets in the country. Brevard County is the 3rd strongest market in the country! That's truly amazing and we are excited! If you think about it, we were the first market to go down in the country, we should be the first to rebound!

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/q3-2011-home-values-5-best-markets-4.aspx

As always, if there is anything we can do to help, we are always here!

Prices are up!

2011-10-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy year which is why I haven't had much time to write. Ok, three months without writing is a little much! Anyway, today I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about prices in Brevard County Florida. Through the end of July 2011, our single family home prices are up 19% over last July (2010). That's incredible news for those of us who own homes here and should be motivating news to those who are thinking about moving to Florida.

I've been telling people since January 2010, in my opinion, that the bottom of the real estate drop was that month, January 2010. Nobody believed me. However, if I know anything, I do pay attention to prices and trends in our market. After all, real estate is a local commodity no matter what you hear on the news these days. Brevard County prices are up and our inventory is low.

Low inventory is going to start increasing our prices even more. We are almost two years into the recovery in our area as I see it. If you are thinking about buying, this might be your last chance for great deals. Our prices are still about 50% off the peak and interest rates still over just above 4%. That is a great opportunity to buy the vacation home, retirement home, investment or a move up home.

The most important aspect of course are the interest rates. Even if prices don't budge another dollar, interest rates have to start going up at some point. I can't see them going much lower if lower at all, than they currently are at. Just remember, for every point that the interest rates go up, that's another $200+ per month you are paying for the same house you can buy today at 4% or so.

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss the market, feel free to call or email me as I'm always glad to help.

Have a great day!

Inventory is shrinking fast!

2011-07-27T08:41:00.001-07:00

About a year and a half ago I told people that the market in Brevard County has bottomed out and that all the great deals were going away quickly. In Sept. 2010 the market was down to 5,800 Single Family listings on the market. Now, July 2011, we are down to around 3,000 listings with only 1,700 or so available for purchase now, the rest are short sales which are only closing at a rate of about 20%.

Yes, those who were waiting for the market to fall apart more have missed the boat as predicted. The question now is, do you continue to wait while the Internet rates start rising. It's just a matter of time that the rates will rise out of the 4.5% range and some predict as high as 7% by the end of next year. If you had been thinking about buying, I wouldn't be waiting. Currently homes are going for close to 95% of their list price and many of these have multiple offers.

I know you have been listening to the media. They talk about the market continuing to go down. I'm a numbers guy. The numbers don't agree with the media. In fact, I just read a report from Orlando that their prices had jumped in June to $155k average up from $112k average a year ago! It's time!

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know, we are always here to help!

Don't miss the boat!

2011-07-12T08:23:00.001-07:00

For the past year I have been telling everyone not to miss the boat on buying a home. Our prices are at 1999 levels and in some areas we are already seeing an increase in pricing. Interest rates remain great at around 4.75% - 5%. In our area, the bottom was really last year, we have held steady the past 12 months.

Ok, now I know some of you are saying that I'm just trying to sell homes. Well of course I'm trying to sell homes, but I'm not going to lie to sell a home. For those of you who know me, you know me better than that. Luckily our business is good and has been good for several years. Even if it weren't, I wouldn't lie to make a sale!

The largest indicator of our market is inventory. In Sept. 2010, we had 5,800 single family homes on the market. Today we have just over 3,000. With inventory low, it's just a matter of time before our housing prices increase.

To check out the fastest growing areads in the country, go to:

http://lowes.inman.com/newsletter/2011/07/12/news/146960

If you have any questions, please let us know. We are always here to help!

Mitch

Where has all the homes gone?

2011-07-02T02:38:00.000-07:00

So I wouldn't have believed this if you told me this in September, we are moving into a sellers market. Yes, the 5 + year skid in housing in Brevard County seems to be as low as it's going to go and we are seeing prices inching up. What happened? Very simply, the inventory has shrunk to a normal market.

In September 2010 we had 5800 single family homes on the market. Today we have only 3340 homes on the market, almost half. Of those 3340 single family homes, around 800 or so are short sales. This means that we have approximately 2500 homes on the market that you can actually buy and move into over the next 30-45 days. That's quite a change from our high of over 8500 single family homes on the market a couple years ago.

What does this mean to you? It means you are about to miss the boat. This will be one of those times that people will reflect back on and say "if we had only bought in 2010 or 2011"! The tough part for us as Realtors is that the consumer believes we are lying to them when we tell them about the market. Unlike most brokerages and realtors, we are doing fine and have been the past several years. We have also stayed true to our beliefs of honesty and integrity. None of my Agents would lie to get a sale. We know the importance of helping our customers realized their goals and dreams, not ours.

If you have been thinking about buying, this is probably the last best chance you will get over the next several months to a year. Once interest rates start going up, and it's just a matter of time, along with prices going up, the boat will have officially been missed. If you have any questions about the market or any other real estate issue, please don't hesitate to contact myself or any of our agents. We are always here to help!

Mitch

First quarter 2011

2011-04-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been a few months since I wrote. That's terrible! I try my best to stay on top of this, but with so much going on all the time, it's difficult. The first quarter of 2011 has been interesting. We have gone from very slow to very busy, back to slow and then back to busy! It's a tough year to call. February was one of our worst months ever and March was our best month ever! Who knows! We have seen interesting movement with pricing lately. Our inventory is under 4,000 units (3875 last I checked) which means we are inching toward a normal market. When we get to 3,000 listings, it's normal! We are certainly seeing prices level out on a regular basis. Palm Bay for instance is actually starting to see an uptick in prices. Gone are the $50k homes that you could have bought last January. I had told everyone back then we were at the bottom, but most people didn't believe me. Now the big question is interest rates. We know you are interested in buying a home, but when. If the interest rates go up just 1%, that adds $200 to your mortgage. Rumor has it that our interest rates nationwide are going to go up to around 6%-6.5%. This will certainly decrease your buying power. If you are interested in talking about your needs, please feel free to call. Have a great day! Mitch

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T20:07:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted!

So here we are. It's been another interesting year in the world of Real Estate. We have seen prices level out, inventory come down and interest rates reaching an incredible 4.125%! The question is, did you buy a house during this great opportunity or did you let it slip through your fingers?

Let's take a look back. The year started out normal and then the fireworks of the tax credits helped increase sales from March through the end of June. We had 4 record months in a row. Then the bottom fell out again. July through October were unusually slow in our industry and the market has started to rebound again this past month. I'm not a huge fan of government involvement in any industry, and I believe all the tax credit did was speed up those who were going to buy anyway.

So the question remains to me as it has throughout the year. Why are so few people actually buying homes in probably the best opportunity to buy a home in over 10 years? The answer of course is obvious. The fear that has been generated by the media, by our politicians and by all the talk show hosts out there has really done a job on our economy. I believe we would have came back a year or more ago if it weren't for the fear generated by these groups.

The obvious next question is what is in store for 2011? I wish I had that crystal ball to tell everyone that things are going to get better. In my mind, they certainly will get better. They can't get any worse than we have had the past several years in Brevard County. Interest rates have started to rise. They were at 5.25% right before Christmas. I believe that as interest rates rise, consumers will realize that they might be missing a great opportunity to own a home or investment property. Keep in mind, 5.25% is an awesome interest rate. We have become spoiled the past couple of years with steady low interest rates. It's just a matter of time before they rise to 6%, 8% or more. As mentioned in other blogs, this has a tremendous affect on your buying power.

One thing I like to tell our customers is that they need to understand that the real estate market is only tough if you are trying to sell a home. It's all about price right now, so if you are having to sell your home before you buy, look at your price. Even though you will take a lower price on your home, you will still get a better deal on the other end. If you price it right, they will come!

Well as I finish up Christmas night, the family is in bed, my two cats are sitting next to me as I watch a dvr'd CSI episode. It's been a great Christmas having my grandchildren here with us and both my wife's kids. Unfortunately my kids couldn't make it down this year, but that's ok. They are grown adults now and have their own obligations and have become two great men! I have a lot to be thankful for as I come to the end of 2010. My family is doing great, my granddaughter's disease hasn't had any major affect on her this year, and business is good.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! If you need anything in 2011, you know we are always here to help.

The end of 2010

2010-12-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a long year for us in the Real Estate business. Luckily, and thankfully to all of you, we have had another good year. That doesn't make it any easier, but we are very lucky and grateful that we are still doing well in this economy.

Many people have asked us why we have done so well throughout the housing collapse. I believe that most if it is our attitudes. We believe that the current bad market is only bad if you are trying to sell your home. With that said, if your home is priced correctly, it will sell. In todays market, it's all about price. So yes, it's tough to sell your home today...but have you seen how great it is to buy a home right now?

This past several months have been an incredible time to buy a home. I feel bad for those who have decided to wait. I know that they have most likely missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime. Rates have climbed from 4.125% a couple weeks ago to 4.75% today, Dec. 13. Prices have been level now for almost a year and I don't see them going down any further than they are currently listed. Do I know that for sure? Of course not, but our average price in the county last year was $117k and I believe this year we are going to end up right around the same price. We have bottomed, but I believe we did that a year ago. Right now it's really about figuring out when the home prices are going to start going up. We know that the more interest rates go up, the less buying power you have.

So if you have been thinking about buying a home, this is probably your last chance before interest rates go up as well as home prices. As always, if you need anything, that's what we are here to do....help.

Thank You Veterans

2010-11-11T20:40:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been travling a lot. It's a lot tougher than it was 15 years ago when I traveled almost every day of the month. I guess it's age. My schedule the past few weeks has been crazy. Three weeks ago I spoke at the Inman's Agent Reboot in Fort Lauderdale, the day before I was at a Fannie Mae Broker seminar also in For Lauderdale. The following week I was in D.C. speaking at another Inman Agent Reboot there. The week after I was in Orlando doing a seminar called Internet Marketing and Lead Conversion - The Truth. Finally, this past weekend, I spent three days in New Orleans at NAR and had a blast!

Why am I telling you all this? Because I am free. I am an American. I'm proud to be an American, but more importantly, I'm so proud of the men and women who currently and in the past have given their time and often their lives so I can live the American Dream. I travel freely around this country because of these men and women. I run my companies and will succeed or fail, but either way because I have the freedom to succeed and fail. Only because of these brave men and women I have had all the opportunities I have had the past almost 50 years of my life.

Have you ever thought what it would have been like if you were born in a different country? Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we weren't blessed to live in the United States? I think about it often, how lucky we are and have been for so many years. Without our soldiers, our warriors, none of this is possible.

Make sure you always thank a soldier and their family's. Every time you do it puts a smile on their face.

To all the current and past men and women who serve our country, Thank You! and God Bless America!

When is the best time to buy?

2010-10-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

I hear this question probably 5 times per month, every month. We all want to know when is the best time to buy. The quick answer is when you need a house. However, since we know that's not what people mean when they ask, let's look at why I believe November and December are the best time to buy a home.

A funny thing happens every year in the Real Estate industry. 3/4's of the entire Realtor workforce takes from the second week or so of November off through the end of the year. Personally I have never understood why so many people take that amount of time off, but I'm not like most Realtors and Brokers. I work, I work all year. I do take time off for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Usually about 3-4 days for each holiday. However, most Real Estate professionals look at this time of year as a very slow time. The reality is, it can be a great time to buy a home.

Here is why: Since we know that most Realtors take the last 6 weeks off for the most part, the amount of showings on listings goes down dramatically. So here we are in the second week of December. Most showings of homes are very few and far between. As a seller, when showings drop off, it's a signal for buyers to come into the market. The reason being is that with fewer showings on homes, sellers are more apt to negotiate a little more liberal because of their desire to sell their home and their fear that an offer at this time might be the only offer they receive.

So why buy now? Between interest rates being as low as they have ever been (4.125% the other day) and home prices being as low as they have been in around 10 years, and add in motivated sales and it's the perfect storm to buy. If your goal is to get the best deal on real estate right now, this next 10 weeks may just be the best time for you to put a contract on a house.

One last thing, don't forget that at some point in the very near future interest rates are going to climb. How high? When? Who knows! I don't have a crystal ball, but if you are close to my age (almost 50, yikes!), you know that the interest rates are crazy low.... I've never seen them this low. However, in short order they will go back to at least 6% or maybe 8%. A $200k house at 6% is going to be about $400 more per month than the current rate around 4%. That's a heck of a lot more buying power now than in the future.

Don't miss the boat and be one of the thousands that are about to say: "I should have bought a house during the crash of 2006-2010.

If you need anything or have any questions, don't hesitate to call or email.

Have a great weekend!

4.25% Interest Rates

2010-09-08T17:32:00.001-07:00

I know, I get a little smiley when I see a rate that I have never seen before! I know I have said this before, but with interest rates between 4% and 5% why would you not buy. With the exception of adjustable rate mortgages a few years ago, we just don't see rates this low. So when will they go back up? It's just a matter of time as we all know. However, whether you take advantage of this opportunity to buy a home, is up to you.

Ok, so I know you think I'm just saying this so you will buy a home from us during the downturn. The reality is, we sell a lot of homes and have sold homes to more buyers than any other real estate office in our county (out of over 350 offices). This has nothing to do with Tropical Realty selling you a home. This has everything to do with you taking advantage of probably one of the best opportunities to buy a home in the past 15 years or more! When you look at it, by buying today you are getting a $200 - $300 a month savings verse when interest rates go up.

Go ahead and take advantage...it's time you got a good deal isn't it!

Have a fun night!

Mitch

A sharp drop and then back to normal

2010-08-08T19:23:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are all doing great this fine Sunday night. Business has been interesting the past month or two. We had 4 record months from March - June. It was pretty incredible but most of us knew it was not a real return back. It was supported by the first time home buyer and resellers tax credit. Once the credit ended, we saw one of the worst two months since opening our doors with regard to new contracts. I was expecting a drop off, but was hopeful, that with our interest rates around 4.5%, we might get lucky.

With all that being said. August will not be as bad as July and it seems like a lot more people are starting to come back out again. Hopefully we will be getting back to our new normal. What is the new normal? The new normal is 50% short sales and foreclosures selling at a decent clip and properly priced properties selling within 90 days too!

In a market like this, it would be understandable for Realtors to give up on the business. I'm sure that many of my Agents think about leaving on a regular basis. It's a ton of work, customers are cranky for the most part and worse, buyers and sellers still are not very realistic on home prices. However, my Agents have held up strong and continue to do a great job helping their customers. Not only do they work full time, a real full time, but they live and breathe this stuff. My job, as the broker, is to work hard to make sure my Agents are trained properly to help you.

You may not know that every other Tuesday we have our training sessions. These sessions can touch on things such as goal setting, our over the top customers service, how to find homes more efficiently for our customers and so much more. My beliefs are the better my Agents skills, the better experience you are going to have with Tropical Realty of Suntree. One of the flaws in this industry is that training, besides the mandatory 14 hours every two years, is not really present in most companies or this industry. I grew up with the work ethic and words from my dad that carry me through. He said, " no matter what you do in life, make sure you are the best and most honest at what you do." I have always lived by being one of the best and always the most honest and ethical Realtor in the business. My Agents are reflections of my beliefs. They are all wonderful people who care tremendously about their customers goals and needs.

So if you are out and about with one of our agents. Ask them what we have been training on lately. I'm sure they will be anxious to tell you. If you haven't met your Agent yet, take the time to look at a few homes with them. Get to know him or her as they can make your home buying or selling experience very positive and fun!

I look forward to helping you!

Mitch

Just another day

2010-06-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are having a great day today. Being a broker can be very interesting. It can also be very boring. However, since I'm not just a Broker, I'm an Entrepreneur! I have been self employed most of my adult life and have had a ball. I've had many ups and many downs, but in the end, everything has happened for a reason and the experiences have been amazing!

So here I am the Broker of my Real Estate Company, Tropical Realty of Suntree. We have around 20 Agents and an awesome admin staff. We are one of the lucky Real Estate companies. We have survived the brunt of this recession. Has it been stressful at one time or another? Of course it has, it's been down right scary a few times! However, we have managed to keep on growing 20% per year, each year. The reason, great systems and most important, great people!

When I started the Brokerage I knew I didn't want to be like a traditional brokerage. On the outside we appear to be just like any other Brokerage. We offer a full service experience. However, the real success of our company comes not only from our great Internet Marketing program, but from our relationship with each other within our office. I've owned several companies and I've run others. I have never been lucky enough to work with this many great people who all get along like family. It's really very cool. I feel very blessed!

So why am I telling you all this stuff? I'm not sure. I'm in one of those reflecting moods where I'm just thinking about things. Sometimes, no matter how difficult things can be, you just have to look at all the good in your life. Sure the Real Estate business, no matter how well we are doing right now, is a tough ride especially emotionally. However we keep our eye on the ball and know that we do a great job for our customers. We do whatever it takes to help our customers have a smooth non-stressful experience. Our job is to absorb that stress, deal with it, and give you service with a smile!

Let me know what we can do to help. Take care!

Mitch

Tropical Realty of Suntree now accepting listings!

2010-05-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

I know, two post in one night. I want to chat real quick about our new listing program. You can go to www.ListWithEase.com to check out the program.

In 2006 I made the decision to stop taking listings. Most in the industry thought I was crazy for doing so, but as a business person, it just didn't make sense. Sellers were not realistic in their expectations and homes were not selling. We had a ton of listings and our Agents, and myself, were getting daily calls from our customers yelling at us. Was it our fault? Absolutely not. The market fell like a rock! No matter what we told our customers, they told us we were wrong and we didn't know what we were talking about.

Just a quick example. I ran into an old customer, well potential customer, from 4 years ago. He practically ran after me at the golf course. Mitch he says, I just have to tell you something. Four years ago you told me that my house would sell for $550,000. I had other Realtors that insisted I could get what I wanted, $650,000. After 3 years on the market, and not listening to you, the house sold for $350,000. If I had listened to you, I would have made $200,000 profit. Instead, I lost money. This story is true and not the only one I heard. I have heard it several times.

So here we are now, May of 2010. The market has leveled for about a year now and finally consumers are realizing that their homes are going to be worth whatever the neighbors foreclosure or short sale sold for. Those homes are part of the value of your home now no matter what the consumer believes. Consumers are finally listening.

So why list with Tropical Realty. The biggest reason of course is that for the past 4 years we have helped more buyers buy homes than any other real estate office in Brevard County. In the end, the most important ingredient in selling your home is buyers. Our Suntree office alone has almost a 9% market share out of about 400 offices in the county. Between our Suntree and Merritt Island offices, we have about a 15% market share. Pretty impressive numbers but that's just the beginning. Here are some more stats:

Monthly Visitors to our websites - 75,000 +

Monthly Unique Visitors - 20,000 +

New Buyer Leads Daily - 60-120

Average "clicks" on each of our listings - 250 + times per month

Database of Buyers - 59,000 and counting daily!

In the end, why would you list your home with an agency that just lists homes when you can list with an agency that sells homes. It's really simple. Those who have the buyers rule this market. Tropical Realty has more buyers than anyone else! It's that simple!

If you are interested in having Tropical Realty evaluate your home, please feel free to call us directly or go to www.ListWithEase.com and we will be glad to help you. If you owe more than your home is worth, we also can help you with the short sale process. We have sold tons of short sales over the past couple years. We are experienced! I look forward to helping you!

Mitch

Home sales are up and interest rates are down!

2010-05-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

I hope you are all doing well. I feel like I open these always apologizing because I haven't written in a while. The reason, as always, is we are swamped! That's a good thing of course!

In March and April we had two of the biggest months we have had since we opened our doors in 2005. We helped 58 customers in March and 46 in April. Our record prior to this was 44 customers in a month. Not to shabby! Was the tax credit the reason for the increased sales? I'm not sure. I do know however, that our marketing has produced a ton of new buyers coming into the area. Even though May, which is usually a slow month for us, is slower, we are seeing a lot more buyers come out who are looking for higher priced homes. The inventory of the low end homes continues to evaporate and prices have definitely leveled for quite some time.

So, with all that said, there is a lot of excitement in the market right now. Our bookings (people coming in to view homes) for June and July are extremely high. That should mean very busy months for our office and our Agents. Luckily we have some of the best Agents in the area working for Tropical Realty. The always put their customers first before their commission. We always talk about how important it is to help our customers. I'm blessed to have 20 + Agents that have the same moral fiber I do when it comes to this business. We love helping our customers!

As of today, interest rates were down under 5%. According to the news, the problems over in Europe are actually helping to keep our rates lower. Foreigners are buying our bonds which keep our rates low. This really is the perfect situation for buyers. Prices are at their 8 year low and interest rates are at their 50 year low according to the news today. What are you waiting for?!

As always, we are here to help you. If you are seriously thinking about buying, this IS the time. If you have been thinking about it, then this IS the time to make your move. It won't be long before this perfect time becomes the past time.

If you have any questions. Always feel free to call or email me.

Have a fun night!

Mitch

Just 30 days left for the tax credit

2010-03-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I hope all of you are doing great today. It's the last Sunday of the first quarter and we are kicking into high gear. I'm not sure if it's my great marketing or if it's the tax credit, but our office is extremely busy right now. This month, March, we have set new records in written contracts. I'm very proud of my Agents and admin staff for how hard they work to keep our customers happy. Most of you don't know, as I didn't before getting in the business, that this is one of the hardest jobs out there. Agents, at least ours at Tropical Realty, work 24/7 and take each transaction very personal. We truly care that our customers have gone through their transactions with the least amount of stress. We absorb the stress so they don't have to feel it!

If you have been thinking about buying and taking advantage of the tax credit, this is the time. You will have to have a contract by April 30th and close by the end of June. I don't think they will extend the credit...at least I don't know where they will get the money to pay for these credits, once this is over. I'm not sure where they are getting the money for the current program! So if you are thinking about this 6, this is the time. And by the way, it's a great time to buy! House prices are the cheapest I have seen since 2001. It's amazing!

So what else is new? This year we started really taking listings as part of our business model. We had spent the last 4 years not taking them or at least being very selective when we did take them. The reason we are taking them now is I believe people understand that their home's value is what it is. The numbers don't lie and no matter what some other Realtor might say, we can still only get what the home will appraise at. No higher.

I ran into a guy yesterday morning at the golf tournament. He had asked me to list his home 3 years ago. At the time I told him it was worth no higher than the mid $500's. Of course he had two other Realtors tell him that they could sell it in the mid $600's. I told him I wouldn't take it at the price because it would waste a lot of money on my end and not do him any favors. In the end, because of his price, he would not sell it. He opted to list with one of the other Agents for $650k. Three years later, he finally sold the home for $350k. When I saw him yesterday, he told me that if he had just listened to me three years ago, he would have made an additional $200k.

Here is the deal. If you are going to list your home, don't always go with the Agent saying they can get the highest price. Anyone can say anything, the numbers are the numbers. There are plenty of Realtors who will take your home at an inflated price just to get their sign in your yard. To me, it's wasting everyones time. Look at the numbers, look at the comps. That's what is going to determine your price. Just because your home has an upgraded this or that, doesn't really matter much these days when it comes to selling. Sure, it helps sell your home, but the price isn't going to change to much. If your neighborhood is selling at $200,000, don't expect to get $250k. It just isn't going to happen...and if you are lucky enough to get a contract at that price, it won't appraise and you will be starting all over again.

If you are interested in finding out the true value of your home, feel free to contact us as I'm always glad to help.

That's it for now. If you need anything, we are always here to help. Have a great week ahead!

Mitch

What an amazing month!

2010-02-26T22:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! I know, I'm doing a terrible job of keeping up with this blog these days. I'm going to try to do a better job but I'm working so much right now, it's tough. Here I am at 1:52am on a Friday night and I finally had a couple of minutes to fill you in on what's going on.

Business has been booming since the first of the year. This month we are close to hitting an all time record for homes under contract in a month and it's a short month. Our record is 46 and right now we are at 41 with the weekend to go. I'm so proud of my Agents and how hard they are working to help all of you, our customers. I am so blessed to have such a great group of Agents and a wonderful support staff. I don't know how we would be able to do all we do without our assistants, marketing coordinator Lindsay, and our office manager, Pat. They are all awesome as I know most of you have already learned!

So we are starting out the year on track to have another great year. This year we have made a decision to bring on more listings. I know I have talked about this in the past, but since January of 2006, we pretty much stopped taking listings here. It really didn't make much sense from a business standpoint. And, after all, I was a businessman way before I got into Real Estate. In January 2006 we had somewhere around 75+ listings. Not one had sold in about 6 months and it was becoming more and more costly to carry these. They were all way over priced and the owners were calling yelling at me and the Agents. I even spent a small fortune over the 6 month period on print advertising which I knew didn't work, but I wanted to show our sellers that it didn't work. I think I wasted close to $50k. Not only did we not sell any of our listings back then, we barely got any phone calls.

Fast forward to a few months ago, the end of 2009, and now we are ready to take on listings again and we have been. We actually started taking them last year and just being very selective by only taking listings that were priced appropriately. After all, when a seller says let's see if we can get this price (way overpriced), why would I take the listing. It costs me a good amount of money to market the property and if it is over priced in this market it will not sell. Even if we were able to get a contract, it would never appraise. Of course most sellers don't think, or most likely don't care, that they are wasting my money. Then again, I don't know that I would have given a second thought prior to becoming a Realtor. I didn't know as I'm assuming most of my potential customers don't either.

I believe right now we have about 50 listings or so. I know we had 12 or 13 this month alone. Over the past several months our listings have been selling and because of our systems, we have been selling 40% of them in house. Why are we having so much luck selling our own listings? Well for one, we have been, since 2006, the number 1 office in buyer transactions out of over 450 companies in Brevard County. So because we have so many buyers, we are able to sell more homes inhouse. It does make for a much cleaner transaction as we know that the Realtors are going to work great together to be sure that our customers are serviced properly.

I thought it might be a good idea to give you a few stats if you are thinking about listing your home and why you might want to list with us. Keep in mind though, we are going to be honest and you might not want to hear what we have to say. We don't take overpriced listings and I won't allow my Agents to do so. We will tell you at what price your home will sell. Plain and simple. Right now selling your home has two ingredients. It's all about price and exposure.

Our exposure is as follows:

Currently we have over 35,000 buyers in our Suntree database and another 19,000+ in our Merritt Island database. That's over 54,000 buyers!

Last month, January 2010, we had over 91,000 visitors to our 4 sites. with over 2,300 new buyers registering on our sites.

Our average listing was clicked on over 300 times per month and that number will most likely increase as our visits to our sites go up.

So as you can see, exposure is our specialty. My background as most of you know is Internet Marketing. We upload all our listings to 20 or so major sites including Google, Yahoo, Homegain, Zillow, Trulia and more! My belief is if we can't sell your home, nobody can!

I think it's time for me to get some sleep. We have our yearly office kickoff party tomorrow night and I have a busy day before hand. Unfortunately I have to go home early after the party and go to bed for a few hours. I have a 6am flight to San Fran to teach a class on Internet marketing to Real Estate Agents and Brokers from all over the country.

As always, if there is anything we can do to help. we are always here for you. Have a great night and a better weekend!

I can't believe it's been so long

2010-02-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

First I need to apologize for not writing for so long. I have been non stop since the end of the year and here we are, Feb. 1, 2010 already! So what's been going on you might say. Well it's been an interesting past year in 2009, and I expect another interesting year in 2010.

In 2009, we ended up being the number 1 office in the county out of around 450 offices in buyer transactions. What does that mean? It means that we helped more buyers than anyone else in 2009. It's a great feeling to know we helped so many people move into new homes this year. We ended the year with 311 transactions. Not bad for a small company!

Starting now, in 2010, we have decided to add listings to our office. It's something that we had stayed out of the past 4 years or so as most people were not realistic in the prices they wanted for their homes. It's impossible for us to take on and carry tons of listings just for the sake of having listings. However, I do believe that now, after all this time, the market has leveled and it's time to start taking listings.

Why would someone want to list their home with a company that has spent most of it's time and effort in helping buyers? The answer is simple. What's the most important ingredient in selling your home...the answer of course is buyers. Tropical Realty has more buyers than any other brokerage in Brevard County....in fact I wonder if any one office in the country has more buyers than we do. Currently we have over 34,000 buyers in our Suntree office and another 18,000 buyers in our Merritt Island office. Pretty impressive numbers.

You may be asking though, how many of those buyers are looking in my area? We have a simple program to find out. Just go to www.tropicalrealtybuyers.com and you will be able to put your info in the form. From there we will check our database and get back to you with how many people match your home price and city. For instance, as of yesterday, if you were trying to sell your home in Palm Bay between $100k and $200k we had over 764 buyers from our Suntree database. Are they interested in your home? Of course we can't guarantee that, but we can surely tell you that we will get your home more exposure to buyers than anyone else.

My favorite saying lately is: "Why list with an agent or brokerage who lists homes when you can list your home with an agent or brokerage that actually sells home!" It makes sense doesn't it? If you are looking to sell your home, you need buyers. We might not be able to guarantee we will personally sell your home (although we sell 40% of our own listings) but we can guarantee that you will receive incredible service and most importantly incredible exposure to your home. This past month, Jan. 2010, we had over 90,000 visits to our sites. That's an amazing number of visits with over 65,000 of those visits repeat visitors. We must be doing something right if all these people come back to our sites on a regular basis.

With all the buyers in our database and an additional 50-100+ new consumers registering on our sites every day of the week, there is a good chance we have a buyer sitting there waiting for your home to come on the market. To discuss marketing your home, please feel free to call us.

BTW, is your home listed with another agent out of Brevard County? If so, we are always willing to help your Agent market your home by adding them to our site as well as uploading them to the other 22 sites we work with. Obviously the sooner you sell your home, the sooner you will use us to help you buy your new home. If this is you, feel free to contact me and I'll let you know what your Agent must do to take advantage of this program.

As always, if there is anything I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask. We are always here to help.

Have a great night and I promise not to take so long between posts.

Satellite Beach Office is Open!

2009-10-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

You would think after taking two weeks off, I would be ready to go. Well I am! I got back to the office on Monday after spending a weekend in Los Angeles for a Sturge Weber conference. This is the disease my beautiful granddaughter was diagnosed with 6 months after she was born. She is now over 3 1/2 and doing great. It's a long road ahead and with such a rare disease, we just don't know her future. We will keep our fingers crossed. Each year we do our golf tournament and my wonderful Agents put their heart and soul into helping us raise money for Sturge Weber research. Once I got back from my weekend in LA, I spent the last week playing golf with my brother from Boston. We played 12 rounds in 7 days. It was a ton of golf and a ton of fun. Unfortunately he beat me and I now have to look at his name on the trophy for the next year!

So, we are finally starting to expand. I've held off until I felt like we should be listing properties and the fact is, if a property is priced correctly, they will sell. Our new Satellite Beach office is located next to The Dove restaurant at 1790 Hwy A1A. If you have never eaten there, it's a great restaurant!

Some people have asked me why I'm opening another office, especially in this real estate market. There are a few reasons. Firstly, we are doing fine. As mentioned in a previous blog, I had made the decision to concentrate on buyers over the past 5 years. We took very few listings as it didn't make much sense to me. Because of that decision, we have been able to become the number Real Estate office in the county in working with buyers (out of 500 offices). Of course I couldn't have done that without all of you! Secondly, there are a lot of consumers who believe that if your office isn't located beachside, then you don't know beachside. As much as this isn't true, I still felt we should have an office there to quell those concerns.

On December 1, from 5pm - 7:30pm we will be holding a customer appreciation/grand opening/ ribbon cutting party. If you are local, please mark it on your calendar to come help us celebrate our new opening! I hope to see some of you there.

As always, if there is anything we can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask. We are always here for you!

Tropical Realty is opening a new office in Satellite Beach

2009-10-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

So here I sit, another long day coming to an end. Today was another day of dealing with lending issues, appraisal issues, growth issues and more! The fun never stops. One of my favorite things about being an entrepreneur is that fact that life changes with the flip of a switch. Being a Real Estate Broker probably has more switches than any other business I have owned. On top of our normal crazy life these days, I decided it was time to bring Tropical Realty to the Beach. So, starting November 1, we will be opening Tropical Realty Beachside in Satellite Beach. I'm a little nervous, but I'm also very excited. We do a lot of business on the beach, but there is always the fear of opening something new.

Opening a new brokerage is no different than opening most businesses. Finding the right space was pretty easy. We just took over another Brokerages space as they are retracting in this market. This saved us a lot of time and money since it is all set up to run pretty much. Of course there is still quite a bit to do. Pat, my office manager has been incredible as always. She has been amazing in all aspects of my business and this is no exception. Between her and Lindsay, they are doing a great job organizing the new space.

Some have asked me, "why would you open another office in this market"? I guess this is my sign to you that I believe the worst is behind us in Brevard County. Do I think we are going to have some more ups and downs? Probably. However, have we hit the bottom? In my opinion, I believe we have done so. With that said, it made sense to be to start expanding a little so we can be ready when the market comes back to normal. I believe this will happen the second half of next year. I think we will stay pretty consistent over the next 9 months or so. Prices should stay level for the next year or so. One of my beliefs is will most likely rebound fairly quickly when the market starts to come back. The two reasons I believe this is:

1. There are over 77 million baby boomers who will be retiring over the next 10 years.

2. Prices in Brevard County are one of the lowest priced, if not the lowest priced, waterfront communities in the state.

These are the two reasons I believe the Housing Authority in Brevard County will have a good chance of coming back. Does that mean we are going to see our market have price gains like we have seen in the recent past. I hope not. Hopefully we will see a normal increase in prices over the next several years. Price increases like we had are part of the reason we are in the place we are now.

We will be letting you know about our grand opening party at the new office on the Beach. It will probably be around the first of December and I'm sure it will be fun! We always have fun! In fact, my motto, "if it ain't fun, I ain't doing it" is what I live by.

Have a very fun night!

Mitch

Brevard County Homes are Selling Fast!

2009-05-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well first I must apologize for not keeping up with this as much as I should be. There's a good reason, we have been swamped! Last month, we wrote more contracts (41) than we have ever written in any month prior. Our record before this was 35 contracts. Since the slow down we have been averaging around 20-25 contracts per month. The uptick in home sales is a welcome relief to all of us. We all know that our economy will only come back when the housing market becomes more stable...it appears this is happening.

So what have I been up to? Obviously with more business it means I'm busy helping my Agents deal with the increase in business. But also, we have been in a tremendous education mode. I personally have hired a business coach to help me keep things organized and to come up with better training programs for my Agents. This has been a great success. I have also been spending a lot of time designing webinars and presentations to help educate our customers. You can check out our webinars for consumers at:

http://www.melbournehomesearch.com/index.cfm/Webinars

These webinars are to help you better understand the Real Estate market in Brevard County. We have had so many people lose out on great deals because of what they are hearing in the media, I figured it was time to educate our customers on the reality of our market.

The two areas where most of our customers seem misinformed are Short Sales and Foreclosures. If you listen to the media, they would have you believe that you can offer 50 cents on the dollar. However, in reality, homes are selling at 91.8% of their listings prices. Of course we have many homes that are still over priced, but those are not short sales and foreclosures. F

Foreclosures are priced based on Market Value. They are selling at between 5% under list price to as high as 10% or more than list price. This depends on the list price.

Short Sales are priced based on our market value in the area. However, regardless of what price the property is priced, the bank will only agree to sell the home through this process if the home is priced within 10% or less of the appraised value.

To learn more about both these type of sales, ask your Realtor or feel free to contact me. I'm always available to help anyone. Maybe I should really get a life!

What else is going on these days in our Tropical Realty life. We just held our Tropical Realty Charity Golf Tournament. It was a tremendous success and we raised about $15,000 for Sturge Weber. For those of you who don't know about Sturge Weber, it's a rare disease that attacks the brain. My beautiful granddaugher, Lola, was diagnosed with this disease when she was less than 6 months old. She has had two major seizures and we just don't know what the future is for her. Sturge Weber is one of those "orphan" diseases that counts soley on people like us raising money. We are hoping that with the money we raised this year, we will be able to receive grant money.

Other than that I am spending most of my time working. My golf game is terrible but I'm still playing at 6:44 every Saturday morning. I did, after 25 years, start a new band. It's fun to be a rocker again, but with a lot less hair! I think I'm going through a midlife crisis!

That's it for now. I'll try to be better at keeping on top of this. If you are thinking about buying a home...this is the time. I would hate to see more of our customers lose out on some of the best deals in the state!

Take care and call us if you need anything.

Mitch

Brevard County Real Estate is hopping!

2009-01-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

I know I have said this before, but if you are really interested in buying a home in Florida, this might be the best chance you will ever get! Interest rates are at 5% and below with good credit. Home prices are back to 2002/2003 and sometimes a heck of a lot lower. I don't know anywhere else in Florida where you can buy a home for under $200k that is 2o minutes or less to the beach.

Currently our inventory is down from a high over over 7,000 single family homes to 6,000 single family homes. This means that homes are moving again and once the inventory is down to 3,000 homes or so, you can expect the prices to start back on the rise.

Here are the facts:

Brevard County is the least expensive waterfront community in Florida.
Beachside homes can be bought for under $200k and you can walk to the ocean!
In Palm Bay you can find homes built around 2005 with 1800 sq. ft. and sometimes more for around $120k and less!
There are 77 million baby boomers retiring over the next 10 years....we know some are coming here and the prices are going to rise.
Some experts have said that they expect our homes to be back to 2004 levels by 2012.
Are you looking for an investment? We have many areas of Brevard County that offer a great opportunities to buy, rent and hold for a few years while the market comes back. And they cash flow!

I really can't think of a better time for you to buy your new home, vacation home, retirement home or to get into investing. You can listen to the media and miss out on a great opportunity, or you can look at the facts and realize this isn't going to last very long and prices are bound to go up!

As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. We are always here to help. If you have been thinking about getting a great deal with a foreclosure, follow this link and we will send you a list of foreclosures and send you all new foreclosures that come on the market. Go to:

http://melbournehomesearch.com/index.cfm/Foreclosure_List

Have a great night and we will see you on the beach!

Mitch

In Brevard County Florida it's Ready, Set, Go!

2008-12-28T19:12:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone!

I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to catch everyone up whats going on in our housing market. Foreclosures at every price range has become the norm. About 30% of our current listings are foreclosures. Almost every transaction we do right now has multiple offers. The people buying homes right now are getting amazing deals which are sometimes more than 50% of our markets peak prices a few years ago.

The biggest question I get is about consumers having a home to sell. What I tell them is that it is all relative. This means that sure you won't get what you would have received in 2004 for a home, but the buying opportunity right now is so good it makes sense to make your move now. Of course, you won't get what you want for your home right now, but this is probably your best chance to move up in your home and it might be the best chance of our lifetime! Houses that were selling over $1 million are now selling around $700k or so. Some are even selling at a higher discount.

I'm in CA right now for the holidays spending time playing with my Granddaughter until Jan. 2. We are coming into 2009 and between the Interest rates and low housing prices, this is the year. By the way, if you are a first time homebuyer...don't less this time pass you by. It might be more difficult to get a loan these days, but if you have good credit and have been thinking about it, take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.

My Granddaughter is pulling at my leg right now...gotta go!

Happy New Year!

Mitch

Something has happened since the election in Brevard County Florida!

2008-11-22T00:01:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Wow! It's like almost as soon as the election was over, the buyers started coming out in force! That's a good thing for us in the Real Estate industry. The best part for our buyers...the prices are very low! So far this month we have 23 new contracts with 11 of them being under $100k. Personally I never thought that the prices would come down this low again. We are pretty much at 2002-2003 pricing on almost every home. Crazy!

The foreclosure market, as we have all heard, is dominating our sales. We have become quite the experts on foreclosures and short sales. I'm still not a big fan of short sales for our buyers unless you have a lot of time to kill and don't need to make any plans. They are still taking 3+ months most of the time for the banks to respond. However, foreclosures are abundant in every price range. We are even doing a Luxury Foreclosure Open House shortly (contact debbie@mitchrealty.com for dates) and featuring homes in Brevard over $500k that are in foreclosure. One interesting note on foreclosures that is different from 2001 when I sold many of these to investors. Most of these are in pretty good shape. Of course when you get down in the $50k range the choices are in usually rough shape. This past month though, we closed on a home for one of our buyers that was 2100 square feet built in 2006 for $124,000 and it was in great shape. This home in 2005 would have easily sold for $250,000.

There is a down side to foreclosures. When buying these, you are at the mercy of the bank. They dictate the rules of how the transaction is going to go. It's one of the reasons you should be using a Realtor who is experienced in how to work these deals. They can be tricky. With that said, if you are using one of my Agents at Tropical Realty, you can be sure that they are experienced with these. You can also be sure that our Agents are working full time. Unlike most Real Estate Companies, we have continued to grow even in this down time and our Agents are busy. When many Agencies are packing it in and about 25% of Realtors have left the business or taken full time jobs, our Agents continue to work hard and full time taking care of our buyers.

The one other point I want to make on the foreclosure market is that fact of multiple offers. Almost every good deal has multiple offers...just like 2004 when things were crazy. Let's face it, those who have been watching our market the past couple of years know this is about as low as we can go on some of these homes. We had a couple in today from Canada who is also a Realtor there. She was shocked when she put an offer on a home and found out it was a multiple offer situation. I talked with a foreclosure company the other day and they said that on some properties they are receiving up to 30 offers.

With that said, if you are making an offer on a foreclosed property and you really want it, don't try to bargain for it. You most likely will not win. We recommend offering full price (which is very low anyway) and if the house is excellent, you might want to go $5k above full price. To the banks, it's all about the highest offer. Even on the homes that are not so great, the banks are only coming down 5% and sometimes 10% from their listings prices. These homes are already extremely low priced and the banks have lost so much money. They are going to try to get as much as possible.

So, it's time to get to bed because I need to get up at 5am to get ready for my every Saturday morning golf. It's going to be a little chilly this morning...I think it's in the 40's. Yikes! However, it will be in the high 60's this afternoon and absolutely beautiful! As always, if you need anything, we are here to help. Don't hesitate to call or email us.

Have a fun weekend!

Mitch

Just got back from a Tony Robbins Seminar!

2008-11-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

So yes, when I decided to take the plunge and go to a Tony Robbins Seminar, I couldn't believe I was wasting $500 to go to a rah rah session. However, when I left the Seminar on Monday, I couldn't believe it was ONLY $500!

Not only did I learn a lot about myself and learn certain things that were holding me back, but I walked on Fire on Friday night. It was quite amazing. Here I am, along with 3,500 of my new friends, steering down a 10 foot path of 2,000 degree embers. And then, without hesitation, you just walk through it as if you were walking through the shoreline of the beach. The only damage to my feet was the black soot that I had to wash when I got home on Friday night.

So now my thoughts are, if I can walk on fire, what can't I do! I did not go alone, 5 of my Agents also went with me and had the same awesome experience. In just the last few days since we have all returned to our daily lives of work and family, the energy these Agents, and myself have, is amazing. Basically you learn to put yourself into a "Peak State" which allows you to do anything. I did have someone tell me that 2,000 degree embers are not really hot...that's why they use them they said. However, I can tell you that when you see someone in front of you throw down fresh toasty flaming embers, it's hot has heck!

It will be interesting over the next few months to see how my agents and myself utilize and gain momentum with these new tools...or will they just disipate? I'm very confident in myself but can't speak for my Agents. If you have Sammi, Julie Cambe, Melissa, Charlies or Nick as your Agent, you might just see them float on air when you are with them. They are all excited as I am too!

One thing that Tony Robbins did say though is very important for our business and just as important for you, the consumer, is that this is the time to make money in Real Estate. Any good investor will tell you that you make your money on a home when you buy it. If you have been on the fence of whether or not you should buy, then it's time to drop those fears and jump in. Let us help you find some of the best deals that we haven't seen in years!

If you would like a current list of foreclosures, please just click on here and we will gladly send you a list of all the foreclosures...there are a lot and set you up in our automated listings update system so you get first shot at the great deals! Just go to:

http://www.melbournehomesearch.com/index.cfm/Foreclosure_Property_List

As always, we look forward to helping you!

Mitch

Brevard County Real Estate Investments and more...

2008-10-12T04:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well it was a tough week on Wall Street. For those of you who have most of your investments in stocks, you lost a large percentage of your portfolio. I'm not an expert in stocks by any means, but I would imagine, if the companies you are invested in are solid, then you should just hold on to your stocks and wait for them to come back. Unlike 2000 when the stock market crashed with the Internet Bubble Burst (I was a victim both in my stock portfolio and in my Internet company) the stock market is still built on a lot of solid companies. In fact, it would make sense that after a week like last week, this might be a good time to buy up stocks. You know when a stock like GM is down to the lowest it has been since 1949, then it probably is a safe buy. However, like I said, I'm not an expert in stocks by any means so don't take my advice unless you talk to a professional.

What I am though, is a professional in the Real Estate field. If you are or have taken your money out of the stock market, this is a great time to invest in Real Estate. As you probably know, the Real Estate Market has crashed for almost 3 years now. Home prices are back to 2002 and 2003 pricing which was right at the beginning of the boom. You can now buy a home and actually have a positive cash flow for your rental in most cases. Finally, the people who are either not taking advantage of this market or have lost their homes to short sales or foreclosures still need a place to live...therefore, the rental market is pretty good. Of course it is still price driven and many people, including myself, are upside down in our investments and must try to get a higher rent.

So what does this mean to you? It depends on your goals. If you have thought about investing in Real Estate, this is probably a great time to do so. Currently you can buy new construction homes for as low as $120k (1200 sq. ft.) on a lot. We haven't seen that for quite some time. You can also buy homes that are just a couple of years old and up to 2000 sq. f. for the same price. It certainly is a great time to buy. The only problem that may arise for you is the financing. Currently the loan market is totally credit driven. This means the better your credit, the better your interest rate.

If you are buying a primary home, then this might be the chance of your lifetime to grab a piece of paradise at an awesome price. The way things were going there up until 2005, I didn't think my children would ever be able to buy a home in their lifetime. However, like always, the market corrected itself and home prices are now affordable again! I don't know that I would wait to long to buy a home as prices and interest rates are bound to rise again at some point. After all, Brevard County is the least expensive Waterfront Community in Florida. Over the next 10 year period, pending they can sell their homes, the 77 Million Baby Boomers will be heading for retirement. Florida will always remain one of the top destinations for retirees. With Brevard County being so affordable, you can be sure that this market will increase in value once things normalize! Of course I have no crystal ball to tell you when that will be, but it seems to me that prices can't go much lower making Brevard County's losses, your opportunities!

If you would like to search for a home or investments in Brevard County, just go to:

http://www.melbournehomesearch.com/index.cfm/Search_MLS

Here you will have access to every listing in Brevard County Florida. Whether you are looking for a tropical home, a waterfront home or a condo, you can find it all right here.

As aways, I look forward to helping you. Have a fun Sunday!

Mitch

It's an interesting time in Real Estate right now.

2008-10-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

So here we are, the Monday after the "big" bailout. The stock market crashed again but did make a comeback to lose only -369.88 . Some would say this is a pretty scary time! However, others are looking at this as a great opportunity. The question is how do you look at it?

The unfortunate part here, and I won't get political, is that the real problems are the Media driving this frenzy, and our government running around with their heads cut off trying to fix it. The reality is, as it always does, the market will fix itself. The market is made to have companies do bad business, go down, and have another company seizing the opportunity. Our country has done just great the past 50 years or so following our founding fathers guidance. My belief is if we took the media out of the equation then we wouldn't be even close to having this meltdown. They have been non stop being the barers of doom and gloom. I guess that's one negative to free speech. Anyone can say anything without being held accountable. It's amazing what the media will do for ratings and to get their candidate, Mr. Obama, into office. But we won't go there either!

So here I am sitting at my desk probably wondering where my future lies as most small business people are doing right about now. I know I have to go home and have dinner, but I feel the urge to sit at my desk and try to figure out the worlds problems. The good news is we are still doing fine as a company and our customers are still buying homes. They are certainly taking advantage of the buyers market right now. In the end, no matter what I do, or how much I complain about the additional $150 Billion in pork added to the useless bailout, it will be what it will be. I personally think that every congressman that asked for their portion of the pork bill should be impeached from office. As much as I don't agree with the bailout, they put their personal pet projects ahead of taking care of America. They are traitors in my book whether they are democrat or republican.

Here we are with the same question we have had for quite some time now. Is it a good time to buy? I believe it is. I believe this is just a blip on the screen and after the election the markets will mysteriously become stable again and things will be on track. If you are smart right now you will take advantage of the situation. I wish I had more cash available so I could buy property. In the end our property values will come back. Our property values will increase and things will be normal.

That's my point of view on all of this. I just want to assure you that we are here to stay and we are helping buyers and sellers every single day!

As always, if you need anything please let me know. I'm always here to help.

Mitch

So what does it all mean?

2008-09-20T07:19:00.001-07:00

With the government bailing out the financial companies of our country, what does this all mean to us? Actually, I wish I had the answer. To me this is probably a mistake as we have become a reactionary counry versus a country of sound principles. I'm a big believer in less government. I believe that captialism will provide most of the answers as it usually does. I know that if my company is having financial trouble nobody is going to come and save me. I'm going to drown with all my other small business comrades!

These companies are failing because they got greedy and corrupt. Should they be saved? The problem is that they control so much of our citizens retirement accounts and that's where the issue lies. That is why the government is bailing out these companies. However, if this has to be, then the people who run these companies should be held accountable for all the bad investments they made with our money. It was these people, out of greed, that made the decisions to make these dumb investments. Are they going to be able to continue to run these companies with no consequence?

As I said, I'm not a big believer in bailing out these companies but we are in a tough place. If we don't do it, millions of people are going to be financially ruined. If we do it we are saying it's ok to take risks that are going to hurt these same millions of people.

It's the same with all these investors who decided to walk away from their obligations because of their greed...but that's another story for another day!

Brevard County Real Estate - Finally some great news!

2008-08-27T19:34:00.001-07:00

Well it's about time the News Media has said something positive about the Real Estate market. Home sales for July were up 2.5%! That may not be the gigantic gain, but it's on the plus side versus the negative side!

Currently we have under 6800 single family homes on the market. We are down from over 7000 homes on the market just two months ago. It's a sure sign that the market is starting to turn around.

The only thing getting in the way of a great rebound right now might be the Internet Rates. There are signs that the rates may go up after the first of the year. So, if you are on the fence about buying, this is probably one of the best times to purchase that home you have been waiting to buy.

There is one line that I love for those who are waiting for the market to reach the bottom. "You will never know when we hit bottom until the market starts to go back up."

As always, if there is anything we can do for you, that's what we are here for!

Have a fun night!

Mitch

Everything is fine in Brevard County after Tropical Storm Fay!

2008-08-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

I must have received 50 calls from our customers who are looking to mover to Brevard County. They are all fearing the worst that might have happened to us sitting here in the eye of the storm. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are fine and in most areas the water has gone down tremendously. I was away when I got my first call from my wife. She was frantic because we were getting water coming into our bathroom. I thought the worst, but it really wasn't to bad. What really happened is we had some plumbing issues fixed a couple of years ago and the people that did it, didn't do a great job sealing the block. So the water just kept coming in. Of course listening to my wife panic while I was in Denver was pretty scary.

It was a relief to know that it was really ok when I got home. I just had to take the baseboards off, dry it out, and once dry I will put the boards back on. I probably have about an inch of sheetrock to cut off. Not bad.Yes, we were lucky. There were a few homes around the county that didn't fair so well. This was the most rain, up to 30 inches, that this area has ever seen.

So I started wondering how people would react to this storm. Luckily, it really hasn't made any difference. We are still busy showing homes this weekend and life goes on. Let's face it, no matter where you live you have something to deal with from Mother Nature. We deal with hurricanes and tropical storms. The north deals with blizzards. California deals with earthquakes. The midwest deals with tornados. In the end, if the good Mother wants to get you, she will!Anyway, I just wanted to give you a quick update of our situation here.

For some it has been really tough but for most of us it's what we deal with to live in paradise! I wouldn't change a thing!

Brevard County July Stats

2008-08-05T17:44:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

It certainly appears that home sales are holding steady. Our inventory is at a new low with 6860 single family homes on the market. Currently there are only 2454 townhomes and condos on the market and 3445 lots for sale.

July Sales were:

Single Family Homes - 439 sales

Condos and Townhomes - 97 sales

Land - 36 sales

June Sales were:

Single Family Homes - 456 sales

Condos and Townhomes - 117 sales

Land - 41 sales

As you can see, sales remain steady and based on the number of people contacting us daily, it appears the market should remain steady in the near future. Prices seem to be stable and homes that are priced correctly are selling in quick fashion. We have had many listings selling within 30-45 days as long as they are willing to listen to us on our pricing to sell. We tell all sellers you can either be in the market or on the market. We are not interested in listings homes for the sake of listings homes. We will only list homes that are "in" the market! Last month only 439 homes were in the market.

The foreclosure market has definitely affected the resales of non foreclosures. With so many foreclosures (494) and short sales (1513) on the market, sellers are going to either not sell their homes or sell them competitively with these bank related properties.

Short sales remain a pain in the neck to deal with and time frames have not increased to get answers from the banks. Many times we are waiting 3 or more months for an answer and still less than 35% of these homes are actually going forward to closing. Our advice is still to stay clear of short sales. You are better off going after foreclosures or other resales. Of course if you have plenty of time to kill and are not in any hurry, short sales can be a good deal. Remember though, the listing price of a short sale is not necessarily the price the bank will take on the property. We still receive many banks countering our offers much higher than the asking price.

Interest rates are remaining stable also. It's just a matter of time until the rates start to go up, but for now, it still remains a great time to buy a home. As I have said many times, the only thing we know for sure right now are the prices and the interest rates. Even if prices stay the same or go down a little, interest rates have no where to go but up. Buy now and don't wait for the unknown. Keep in mind, we won't know that we are really at the bottom until the prices start going up again.

Hopefully you can see a snapshot of Brevard County Florida. If you have any questions or would like to see any properties, don't hesitate to contact us. Have a great night and good luck in your home search!

Mitch

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's the 4th of July already! I remember my parents telling me that when you get older the time flies by! I really didn't buy it as I knew how long a school year seemed to last. Now my oldest son is telling me he can't believe he has been out of high school for 11 years and just turned 29 years old. Crazy!

When I think of the 4th of July and the memories this holiday conjures up, I mostly think of the American Flag, Fireworks, Family, Friends and of course our young men and women in harms way far away from their country. Their 4th of July is about staying alive and protecting their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles and friends back home. If it wasn't for our soldiers over the past 200 years or so, we wouldn't have the opportunity to enjoy this coming weekend like we do.

The 4th of July should be our most patriotic day of the year. Without getting totally political here, I think over the past few years, and especially this year, many Americans are losing their patriotism. I talk with so many people that seem to not like the country we live in right now. Let's keep something perfectly clear though, our country is made up of you and I. Our country does not belong to politicians, it belongs to us. If we are to preserve what our current and past soldiers have died for, we are going to have to become more involved in what the politicians are doing to our country. I just read an email that stated that Pepsi has a new can of soda with the flag and the Pledge of Allegience. In the Pledge they left out Under God. Is this really happening to us. Are we so afraid of hurting someones feelings that we are going against the fiber and blood that our country was built upon. If this doesn't scare you, it should. It should scare you that our world is changing quickly before our eyes and our country is being negatively affected because of our lack of unity as a nation.

Let's all remember that when push comes to shove, we are all neighbors and we all need to learn to compromise. If for a moment, we the people, can bring back our patriotism, then we will have the ability to work together to solve some of our pressing issues. However, if we choose to continue to fight each other verbally to the point of hatred amongst Liberals and Conservatives, we will soon lose our country. We will go the way of all the Empires prior to The United States of America. I don't want that for my grand children, do you.

Unfortunately, if you are my age (47) or so, it is left upon us to straighten out this mess. We do not have the luxury and we have the moral obligation, to make our country whole again. Let's face it, our parents generation did a heck of a bad job over the past 30 years. Most of todays problems could have been resolved years ago if they actually acted on the problems of the day. I think back to 1974 and pumping gas at my friends dads gas station with huge lines. I remember the talk of not being held hostage by the Middle East and the need for alternative energy. Unfortunately it was just talk and nobody did anything. After all, the future problems would be the future...it's so far away. Well here we are 30 years later and the future is now.

Ok, I'm done ranting. I love our country. I love the people. I even love New Yorkers which is tough for me being a Boston Red Sox fan! I love what we stand for. I love the fact that when anyone in our country or around the world is suffereing from devestation, that we are the first ones to give. Not just from the government, but from you and I. We are America. Please help us protect our country and get involved. Remember, all the politicians are our employees. It's time to fire our staff and get a new one! Unfortunately we don't have that option this election, but we have 4 more years to really make a difference in the next election in 2012. Let's not let our grand children down, they are depending on us.

With all that said, I hope that you all have a Happy 4th of July weekend. I hope you reflect on what I have said here and what you can do for your country. I think one of our Presidents said "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. It's time!

Happy 4th of July!

Don't let the Media fool you?

2008-06-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I'm going to do my best not to get political during this blog. I will tell you that I"m not a big fan of the Media and I believe they are the largest contributing factor for our country going down the tubes. I believe the last two and a half years of the home price tumble was and is all media related. They have an agenda as they always do and the American people just line up and read their stuff whether it's true or not.

So how is the media fooling you? They are still telling you this is a bad time to buy. We have a customer last week who had wanted to do a short sale offer. It took months before we finally heard and during that time the Interest rates went from 5.875% to 6.5%. The prices hadn't changed in the past few months as they waited for an answer on their short sale offer, but look what happened to the cost of buying the home!

Price is important, but it's not the most important factor when buying a home. Our interest rates are going to go up and they need to go up for the economy's sake. We have all gotten used to the great rates of the past 5 years or so, but I fear that this is about to end. If so, many of you will have missed out on the best buying opportunity we have had here since 2003.

Once these rates go up, like gasoline, I will be very surprised to see the Interest rates come down below 6% or even 7% soon. My guess is once the election is over, it may get worse and we could see our interest rates back up over 8% like they were in 2001 and 2002. It wasn't that long ago ya know!

Why did the Media work so hard to kill the Real Estate market? To me it's very simple. Aside from the Iraq wore, the country as a whole was running fairly good. Most consumers were feeling pretty secure in our economy. After all, there can be a ton of things going on in the world, but as long as the individual is getting by ok and securing a good life for their family, then things are relatively good! If you remember, it was May of 2005 when the Media started on their rush to destroy the economy. The bubble was going to burst and don't get caught with your pants down! As they continued this throughout the rest of 2005 they started making a dent. Low and behold, just in time for the election in 2006, the Media convinced the masses that the housing bubble was done and foreclosures, inflation, home prices and more have destroyed our country's economy and of course it was the Republicans that did all this. It was very political.

Would we have had a bubble burst? I believe we were actually getting pretty close back in May 2005 for our prices to start adjusting. I think we probably would have had a 15% maybe 20% correction which is fairly normal. However with the Media harping on everyone, the drop was closer to 35% or more in some areas of Florida.

The moral of the story is don't wait to much longer to buy your home. If you are serious about buying, it will be come more and more difficult. Home prices are low but with Interest rates fast approaching 7% or more, you will not be able to buy the home you want as the payment will be too high.

As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask or call. Thanks for using www.melbournehomesearch.com and www.mitchrealty.com .

Have a great night!

Mitch

Housing Inventory is starting to go down!

2008-06-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Finally, after two years of rising inventories, our inventory for single family homes in brevard is down under 7,000 homes for sale to 6940 and condos and townhomes are down from 3500 to 2504.

This is extremely good news for our market. To me, it means we are pretty much at the bottom of the market and that as each month that goes by our lower priced homes will hold firm. Homes that are still over priced will still sit on the market a long time and will probably not sell until they become realistic.

So what does this all mean to you, our home buying customer? It means that if you have been waiting to pull the the trigger on buying a home, this might be the time. As inventory eases over the next several months, the prices will flatten and then start to rise again. My belief is by the end of this year we should be starting to see an uptick in pricing as the inventory will be low. According to our Supply and Demand Curve, lower inventories mean higher prices.

That's all for now, I just noticed this today and thought it was important enough to share with you. Remember, nobody really knows when the bottom of the market is, until it starts going up...by then you have missed it!

If you are thinking about when is the right time to buy, this is it!

Call or email if you have any questions.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to take a moment and give thanks to our men and women in the armed services. My son in law just got back today from Iraq. It seems lately we are hearing less and less about what is going on in Iraq. It's a shame the media doesn't cover the good things happening that every soldier I have spoken to about Iraq has mentioned.

My goal isn't to make a political statement. For those of you who know me, you know that I could write a book on the subject!

Please take a moment and reflect on the men and women over the past century or so that have fought for your freedom. You have the right to buy a home, sell a home, start a business, travel, and the list goes on and on. The reason is because of these brave young soldiers. Many have died for the cause of freedom and many have come back home with severe permanent injuries. I personally want to thank each and everyone of them for making the sacrifice they have made for my personal freedom. I also want to take a moment and thank the wives, husbands, mothers, fathers and children of these fine young adults.

If you see a soldier, even if you don't know him or her, walk up him or her and thank them for their service. In a day when politics gets in the way of our kids fighting the war they need to win we need to spend more time thanking them.

Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget the soldiers. Don't ever forget.

Mitch

It's been a while since we talked stats!

2008-05-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

It's been a while since I posted stats. Below are the stats from the first of year (Jan 1 2008) to today May 18, 2008. If you have any questions about these stats, please don't hesitate to contact me at mitch@mitchrealty.com.

Brevard County Resale Stats Single Family - Average Active Listings Per Month - 7127

January - 253 Sold

February - 340 Sold

March - 417 Sold

April - 451 Sold

May (Through May 17) - 157 Sold

Brevard County Resale Stats - Condo/Townhomes - Average Active Listings Per Month - 2585

January - 68 Sold

February - 104 Sold

March - 97 Sold

April - 111 Sold

May (Through May 17) - 50 Sold

Brevard County Resale Stats - Land - Average Active Listings Per Month - 3529

January - 36 Sold

February - 48 Sold

March - 71 Sold

April - 51 Sold

May (Through May 17) - 16 Sold

These are pretty amazing numbers don't ya think? I think so! What does it tells us? Not much actually except that sales are still very slow and if you are thinking about selling your home, you better be "in" the market versus "on" the market.

However if you are a buyer... let the fun begin! With so few homes selling, terms and prices are negotiable. It's a great time to buy for the first time home buyer, for relocations, and for investors. In fact, I played golf the other day with an investor friend of mine and he bought 8 homes in the past 2 weeks. He told me that he isn't going to wait for the media to tell him it's the right time to buy, just look at the numbers he says!

Yes, the numbers say that selling your home is a bad idea. It is truly a buyers market. This is great for all of our buyers who have been waiting to buy. It's very true that we never know when the market reaches the true bottom, because at that point, we are already on the way back up. Right now, according to most of the professionals that I speak with, we believe we are at the bottom. Does that mean that some homes are still over priced? Of course it does. Do you remember three years ago you couldn't buy a brand new home in Palm Bay for under $200k? I do, currently there are 92 Brand New Homes in Palm Bay under $200k. You heard me right, you can buy a brand new home in Palm Bay for under $200k. In fact, 22 of those brand new homes you can buy for under $150k. Yes, it's a great time to be a buyer.

So what's the key here? The key firstly is not to miss the boat. If you are going to wait until the media tells you it's a great time to buy, then chances are you will miss the boat. Let's look at the worst case scenario in my opinion. Worst case is the market comes down another 5%...let's even say 10% which I very much doubt. That means a $200k home will be valued at $180 when the market hits bottom. (Even the media is predicting some time next year). If you are buying a home to live in for the next 4 years or more, then this will not affect you. You will still retain your value and have a small increase in value over the next 4 years.

The one main factor we don't know about waiting to buy is the lenders. Right now they have tightened their belts. The guidelines to buy are a little tougher and with the exception of FHA, all loans start around 5% down or more. The interest rates are still right around 6%. Given all this info, we know what your home is going to cost you today. Fast forward a year or so and what do we know? Firstly, we don't know if the market is going to come down anymore...that's just speculation (which is why we are in this position in the first place) it may stay exactly where we are at. We also don't know what the interest rates and terms will be next year. Today we know these factors and these factors are telling us it's a great time to buy!

Hopefully I have answered some of your questions in this blog about our market. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me as I am always here to help.

Have a great Sunday!

Mitch

Are we at the bottom?

2008-05-12T22:59:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Are you thinking about buying?

So here we are, mid May 2008 and we are hearing rumblings saying that we are at the bottom! I think I'm starting to believe it too. To me one of the big signs that the market is starting to turn is the amount of offers on contracts. More and more these days we are seeing multiple offers on many properties. Ok, now those properties are listed below everyone else in the market, but they are selling and lots of buyers want them!

So what does it mean to you? I don't know! If you have been waiting for the bottom, this may be it. This may be the best possible time to ever buy a home again. I do know that Interest rates are still hovering around 6%. How do you know if you are buying at the bottom? You don't! Well you do actually, it's when the market is going back up. Yes, the only time you can be for sure that we are at the bottom, it will be to late because we will be on the way up. They say that you never really buy at the bottom. You either buy on the way down or on the way up.

Here is the reality. If you are looking to buy a home that you plan on living in for an extended time period (more than 5 years), then we are close enough to the bottom that it shouldn't matter. If you are looking for investment, there are tons of homes that are great prices and won't last long! Either way, this is a great time to buy a home and actually if you need to sell, price it right and it will sell!

Do you need to sell?

Right now there are only two aspects of selling a home. First and foremost is price. Second is exposure. If you are listings your home, price it right and make sure that your Agent (Hopefully a Tropical Realty Agent), is using the best tools available to market. If your Agent isn't using the Internet in a big way, you are not getting maximum exposure. A well marketed website is going to get your home exposed more than anything. We tell all our customers to price their home at least 5% lower than the competition. Of course many don't want to hear that, but then they can't really want to sell their homes.

I do want to spend a second talking about price. For each month that your home is on the market, it becomes more difficult to sell. Therefore if you price your home to high to begin with, it may not receive any traffic from potential buyers and you will waste valuable time. If your Realtor shows you comps that your home is worth $200k and you need to sell it, don't tell your Agent that it's worth $240k. It's not. In fact, if your Realtor says $200k, you should list for $190k. As I said, we suggest 5% below the market.

We are averaging less than 5% of the single family homes on the market selling per month and even less condos selling. The ones that sell are "IN" the market. The ones that don't are "ON" the market. If you are going to sell your home, it's imperative that you are "IN" the market. Don't fool yourself that your home is so much better than your neighbor who sold his house in 2005 for $295,000. That was then...this is now. I don't like being so blunt, but I have found that their really isn't any other way to be when talking with our customers. Fortunately I"m not a Broker that is willing to inflate the price to you so we can get your listing and then have it sit there without any action. Thirty to forty-five days later that Realtor is going to be asking you to reduce your price if you want to sell. That's the most important selling days you have just thrown away. Price it right to start and sell it quickly!

That's it for now. As always, if you need anything please let us know. Have a great week!

Mitch

Another Successful Tropical Realty Charity Golf Tournament!

2008-04-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I haven't been writing lately as things have been extremely busy at the office and in putting on our 4th annual Charity Golf Tournament. First the tournament:

Every year we seem to get a little better at running these tournaments. This year was very smooth and we had so much fun. We will have pictures on the site shortly from the tournament.

As you may or may not know, this year our tournament is supporting Sturge-Weber Syndrome (SWS). SWS is a very rare disease that can be noticed by the port wine stain on its victims. Unfortunately, my granddaughter, Lola, is one of its victims. In very rare cases, the stain gets into the brain and begins to calcify. At that point, the child will develop seizures (Lola has had two in her two years of life) and possibly learning disabilities, mental retardation, stroke and possibly death. The hardest part for my family is the fact that there is no diagnosis. There is no way to know what and when this will attack Lola.

We have been blessed that so far Lola's two seizures were not damaging at all. She is and will always be on anti seizure medicine twice a day, every day. We pray daily as do many of our friends that when she does have another seizure, it's not her last.

So the tournament this year is very personal to me. Lola is the light of my life and is always smiling and laughing. She is great! Our tournament this year had a record 112 players from all over the area and even my closest friend of 40 years from Boston. Everyone had a great time and everyone was very generous. We haven't figured out the totals yet but we are sure that we are around $11,000 in donations. My wife has also raised an additional $2,000 or so. Lola spent her day running around the golf course smiling and laughing and warming the hearts of everyone there. It's hard to believe when looking at her that there is anything wrong with her. She is the perfect two year old!

Business

Business has been great! Buyers are finally realizing that this IS the best time to buy a home. The prices are amazing. I just sold a home to one of my long time customers that would have been over $500k two years ago for $325k. It's an amazing house at an amazing price. There are so many opportunities for the buyer. Of course that is one of the downfalls for us too. There are so many great deals out there right that everyone is having a hard time making decisions on which great house to buy!

Are we at the bottom? I believe so, but you know that it's impossible to know until we start going up. At that point you have missed the bottom. That is why I tell everyone that if you wait to see where the bottom is, you will have missed the bottom. The only thing I know for sure is, right now you can buy a home with a 6% mortgage. If you wait until homes appear to be at the bottom, usually on the way up, we don't know what the mortgage rate is going to be.

If you have been on the fence, this is the time! If you have wanted to invest in real estate, this is the time! If you are thinking about buying your first home, this is the time! If you are moving to Florida to retire, this is the time! If you are looking for a vacation home, this is the time. Finally, if you are thinking about a condo, it's even better...this is the time!

From time to time I like to tell you a little about my thoughts in business. It is amazing to me that most Real Estate Brokers are not really business people. They were great at selling houses, but selling homes and running a company with employees, mass marketing and Agents is not the same. For that reason I will be starting a new company called eHomes Realty. Originally I was going to use this company to franchise my Real Estate company. After a lot of thinking and talking to advisers, I have decided to create a membership company that will allow independent Brokerages who are not affiliated with a franchise to reap some of the franchise benefits. So far the response from chatting with people has been great.

As with everything I do, by building this company will allow our customers to have a better opportunity to seek out Real Estate in different areas. Currently we have a good amount Brokerages to help our customers that would like to live out of the area. eHomes Realty will expand our network of reputable Agents that we would feel comfortable allowing our customers to use.

I'll keep you posted on the new business as I get closer to launch date. The beauty of it, is that it will be almost all online and can grow online. I will also be appointing one of my experienced Agents to be my team leader and assist me in managing the staff while I am out of town on my business travels. One thing for sure you can know is my Real Estate customers will always be my main priority and their success in finding or selling their home will be my first and foremost goal!

That's it for tonight. I'll try to write more but you know how life gets in the way!

Have a great day and take care!

Mitch

Golf Tournament and a Great Conversation I had with a customer

2008-04-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

We are a few weeks away from our Golf Tournament so if you are going to play please call Debbie at 321-749-7786. We are on pace to have our largest tournament yet and I can't thank all of you enough for signing up this year. My granddaughter will be at the tournament so you will be able to see why you are actually playing golf on April 26th.

So I had a great conversation the other day. One of the most frustrating part of being in Real Estate is the fact that some people think that we work as hard as we do just for fun. Don't get me wrong. We do have a lot of fun and probably more fun than most. If you remember in one of my past blogs, when I hire Agents one of my rules is they must be fun! However, this business is very hard and sometimes grueling. We shoulder most of the stress of the transaction so the consumer can have a smooth and painless transaction. If people actually knew how many times we saved their opportunity to buy a new home they would be amazed. As I was saying, one of the most frustrating things about being in Real Estate is that some consumers have no loyalty and don't think what we do is work. Let me say again, it's some of our customers. The majority of our customers are very respectful and loyal to us.

The other day I was talking with one of our customers. He is working with Charlie and he wanted to let me know that Charlie is doing a great job for him. He also let me know that he went to a builder that morning without Charlie. As soon as we hear that, our hearts usually sink. Many times our Realtors will show a customer multitudes of homes only to have the customer call us (sometimes they call) to let us know they either went to an open house, called a listing sign, stopped by a FSBO or dropped in on a builder and bought a home. This happens all the time and it's very tough on our Agent who has put so much work into helping the customer find and buy a home. All of the sudden, we are out of the transaction and our relationship ends. Of course the customer expects us to be very happy about this. We do put on the "that's great!" face but inside the Agent is struggling with what they may have done wrong do be so disrespected by the customer. If you put yourself in the Agents shoes, I'm sure you can appreciate the pain. Not to mention the cost it takes these days to drive people all around our county at $3.30 per gallon!

Ok, let's get back to the great conversation. Charlies customer went to a builder and before he even talked about buying their home, he let them know that he has a Realtor and he was not prepared to cut Charlie out of the deal. The builder was very happy to include Charlie which they all do. As with all builders, the Realtor commission or marketing fee as they may call it, is already built into the price. There are no special deals if you don't use a Realtor. In reality, most people who bypass their Realtor thinking they will get a better deal never do, they actually pay more for the home than if they were with their Realtor. Remember that the employee at the builder is legally bound to work in the Builders best interest and is legally not allowed to represent you at all in the transaction. There is nobody on your side when you don't use your Realtor. While talking to Charlies customer he told me how hard Charlie has worked for him and that they had been in touch for many months prior to them coming down to buy a home. He would have felt terrible having Charlie do all the work he has done and not get paid for all his efforts. It was very refreshing to hear. After all, when you cut your Realtor out of a the transaction they do not get paid for any of the job they had done for you. It's very disheartening when this happens. However, when I talk to people like Charlie's customer, it makes me feel good that someone respects and understands the amount of work we do for our customers. Can you imagine working 40 hours at your job and your boss decided to give your check to someone else?

In closing, our Realtors are going to give you 150% effort in buying or selling your home. We all work extremely long hours and are accessible to you any time and day of the week. All we ask from our customers is the same respect and loyalty that they expect from us.

As always, I'm here to help you in any way I can. If you live in Brevard County or are going to be in the area on April 26th, please give us a call about playing in the golf tournament. If you don't play, please pass the info along to someone you know that plays.

Take care and have a great night!

Mitch

It's that Time! Tropical Realty Annual Charity Golf Tournament

2008-03-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

So for all of you that know me, you know that I run my business on my sleeve. What do I mean by that? I'm a pretty emotional guy that likes to have fun and help people. If I accomplish both those things, then I feel that life is pretty good. It's basically my definition of success!

Every year we have had the pleasure of running our annual charity golf tournament. The response we get is always exceptional and the support of our sponsors is excellent. The past three years we have raised approximately $30,000 for MS.

This year we are supporting a charity that is very close to my heart. My two year old granddaughter has been diagnosed with a very rare disease called Sturge-Weber. The most notable sign of Sturge-Weber is a Port Wine stain on the child's head and face. In very rare cases, 1 out of 20,000, this stain results in Sturge-Weber.

Sturge-Weber can be devastating. In most cases it causes learning disabilities and a lifetime of seizures. In some cases it can cause mental retardation, paralysis and even death. The hardest part for the family is that there is no way to know what is going to happen in the future. We had thought after we got through Lola's first birthday that we had a good chance of dodging the bullet. Unfortunately a few days after her first birthday she had her first seizure. It was extremely tough to see. This past Christmas she had her second seizure while out with her mom and dad looking at Christmas lights. She is currently on anti-seizure medication, twice a day, and will be for life. Luckily neither seizure brought on any permanent damage. We are hoping, because her birthday is today, St. Patricks Day, she has a little luck of the Irish!

This year our tournament is on April 26th at Savannahs Golf Club in North Merritt Island. Our goal is to sell out at 144 players. Our average has been around 120 players so this year I'm looking to raise a little more cash. For more information, go to: http://melbournehomesearch.com/index.cfm/Charity_Golf_Tournament

All the proceeds will go for research on Sturge-Weber. The top researcher in the country, Dr. Comi, has been a great resource and we want to do all we can to help her efforts. She is the specialist we use for Lola and she is always there when we need her. As you can see, we love her!

Thank you as always for reading my blog. I really appreciate all the support our customers and friends have given both professionally and personally. You guys are great!

Have a great week!

Mitch

More on Short Sales!

2008-03-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well the short sale market is in session and there are a lot of buyers getting very frustrated. It seems no matter what I say, people are still listening to the media telling them to buy foreclosures or shortsales.

My goal is not to tell you to avoid shortsales like the plague, but to make sure you understand the negatives to the short sale.

First, based on last month sales, short sales are only about 3%-5% lower than regular sales. They are not really much of a bargain. Basically they are selling at market rate. Based on the amount of time involved and the frustration, that savings can quickly be lost.

So why am I so down on Short Sales. The biggest issue is that they are an unknown. I will point out the issues below:

1. In most cases the soonest you will hear if your offer was accepted is 45 days or more.

2. The listing price has nothing to do with the actual price that the bank will accept. The bank does not give Realtors a price that they will accept when the Realtor accepts the listing. The Bank will not give out a price until they have received offers.

3. Many people are offering the bank much lower than the listed price. The reality is, the bank will be selling that home at very close to market rate. They will do an appraisal on the property prior to accepting any offer.

4. While you are waiting for an answer on your offer, the listing remains active and the bank is usually receiving multiple offers.

5. When the bank finally does come back with an answer, there usually is no chance for a counter offer, they usually accept the best offer. (that is if any are acceptable at all)

6. The bank will usually turn down most offers that are asking them to pay anything toward closing costs.

7. The bank will usually not do any repairs on the property...they are mostly "as is" contracts.

8. The bank still may require the seller to sign a promissory note to pay the difference. So after all this time and even potentially at the closing table (read last months blog), the seller walked away from the deal and it fell apart after almost 6 months.

I don't know about you, but this is no way to buy a home!

Before I run off to a Real Estate Board of Directors meeting, I wanted to share a short sale experience from the selling side. An Agent in the office recently took a short sale listing. We talked with the bank and submitted all the sellers paperwork to the lender and then we waited. After a week and a half we finally got hold of someone at the bank and they told us it would be at least another month before it was assigned to a loan negotiator. Once assigned, it would most likely be another month or so before we are contacted by that loan negotiator. They also threw in that if we didn't answer the phone when they called, it could be another month before they got back to us. We are not allowed to contact the loan negotiator. By the way, this is just to see if the bank will accept the sellers request to do a short sale. Meanwhile, the property is listed and when we get offers, the buyers will be waiting several months to see if they will accept the seller doing a short sale, and then the buyers offer.

Point of this story. Short sales aren't just bad for buyers, they are also quite the pain for the seller. Ok, I have to run but please remember this information when you are out with your Realtor. Be prepared for the long haul if you want to buy a home through short sale. I have seen so many buyers get emotionally beat up over these things and I really feel bad, but there isn't anything I can do if you don't listen to me.

As always, if there is anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to call or email me. My email is mitch@mitchrealty.com.

Have a great day!

Mitch

Tropical Realty's Marketing Stats

2008-02-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Now that we have decided to actually start taking listings again, I thought I would share with you some of the stats that help us to sell homes. Firstly though, it is important to know that there are really only two things that will help sell a home in a slow market....price and exposure.

Price

We have been very selective about the homes we choose to list. Unlike most Real Estate companies, we will not take every listing that presents itself to us. Don't get me wrong, I used to do that like everyone else. It was then, while sitting on 50 listings or so, getting yelled at by every owner, that I realized I need to change our philosophy on Listings.

As most of you know, we do things quite differently at Tropical Realty. Over the past few years we have spent all our efforts on helping buyers buy homes. Because of the scenario above, it just wasn't worth it to carry listings. Besides that, it just wasn't fun. I'm a firm believer that if my customer and I are not having fun, I really don't want to be involved!

I heard a saying a few months ago that I truly love. "Do you want to be IN the market or ON the market". With less than 250 homes selling out of 7200 homes on the market in January, you can see that only a few sellers choose to be IN the market. Since our goal is always to help our customer, we will only take listings of customers who want to be IN the market. So how do you become IN the market?

In this market, it's really all about price. We have been testing our marketing and have found that if a home is priced at 5% below everyone else in their market, the home should sell within 90 days or less. We have seen that a few of the homes we listed in January are now under contract using this rule. The others are getting showings and it's just a matter of time before we should get offers. It's actually very exciting and our customers love us!

One problem with our Industry is that many Realtors will tell you what you want to hear. Fortunately we don't fit into that mold. We are going to be upfront and honest every time. Unfortunately most sellers do not want to hear what we have say! We are not going to list a home for $250k when we know that it is going to get $200k at the most. In fact most Agents will tell you that you should be able to get $250k and they are the first ones to call you in 30 days or less letting you know that you have to lower the price. They are not doing any type of service for their customers. Price your home right and it will sell...it really is that simple!

Exposure

Most Agents will put your home in a magazine and list your home in the MLS...and then what....they just sit back and wait for another Agent to sell the home or for someone to call off the sign in the front yard of the home.

Tropical Realty of Suntree owns and operates two websites currently with two more in the works. The stats I am going to give are a combination of both sites.

Tropical Realty of Suntree – Quick Facts

Did you know that over 80% of homebuyers start their search on the Internet?

Tropical Realty of Suntree is the leader in Brevard County for Internet Traffic and Buyers.

Currently Tropical Realty websites receive approximately 55,000 visitors each month.

www.MitchRealty.com is ranked 14th in the nation for Real Estate websites according to Ranking.com.

Tropical Realty of Suntree was the Number 1 office in Brevard County in closed transactions with buyers in 2007.

There are over 500 registered Real Estate companies in Brevard County

Tropical Realty currently has over 25,000 people in our database with approximately 10,000 buyers actively looking to buy within the next year.

Tropical Realty spends more money on Internet Advertising than most companies spend on print Advertising.

All our listings are found on Google, Yahoo, Homegain, Craigslist, Trulia, Lycos, AOL, Zillow and many more sites with a total of over

Our goal is to have 100,000 visits per month by the end of 2008 with an additional 20,000 new customers in our database.

As you can see there is a lot of great stuff here ! I have more stats but don't want to put to much writing on here as I try to keep these blogs to a reasonable length. As always, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Have a great night!

Mitch

Short Sales - Are they worth the wait?

2008-02-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

It's Sunday night and I should be sleeping, but there is so much happening in the Real Estate world right now it's hard to go to sleep. As most of you have seen, Short Sales have now become very popular. Currently about 25% of all our listings are Short Sales.

First, let's spend a minute and explain exactly what is a Short Sale? Let's say you bought your home in 2005 for $300k. Three years later the market has crashed and the home you went out on the limb to buy is now worth $200k. To make matters worse, you may have bought your home with zero money down and an adjustable rate mortgage to boot. Your rate has gone up and that hope of your home going up in value $100k like your friends did only a couple of years ago is gone. You now qualify as so many do these days, to ask the bank to let you sell the home for the current market value of $200k. Once approved by the bank, you can now list your property to sell. So, a short sale is selling a home for less than what you owe on it. The seller has to prove to the bank they are a hardship case.

The benefit as a seller is they have the opportunity to get themselves out of their bad investment. It will still hurt their credit, but not quite as much as a foreclosure. In many cases the bank will not let you out of the home unless you sign a note saying you will pay the difference back to the bank. Most of the people put in this situation will choose to foreclose because they don't have the money to pay the bank. However, most banks are not asking for a note and they realize, in hind sight of course, that they should have been a little more conservative when deciding who they should or shouldn't give loans.

The benefit to the buyer, or at least the perceived benefit, is they will get a great deal on a property. Granted, there are some great deals to be had through Short Sales. However, most of the banks are not going to take much of a hit below current market values. Many times the bank will receive offers, then do an appraisal on the property to determine if they will accept any offers.

The Problem

It all sounds so simple doesn't it? Well it isn't! Short Sales have proven to cause a lot of heart break and distress. Let me tell you about a couple that we have dealt with recently.

The first couple put an offer of the home of their dreams. They fell in love with this home from the moment they walked through the front door. Their offer was full price based on the advertised listing price. They were very excited. The offer was submitted to the bank the following day. At this point we hadn't done many Short Sales and when we had, they were handled within a few days at most. So we waited for the banks answer....and waitied....and waited. Six months later we finally heard that the bank would not accept the offer. Yes, you read correctly, six months later. After some quick thinking from my Agent, she was able to convince the bank to take the offer. Our customers were full of emotions going from depressed to very excited again. Everything from there until closing went great. Our customers had their home inspection ($300), Termite Inspection ($75), appraisal ($300) and survey ($350). The got to closing and the seller found out she was going to have to sign a note for the difference in the short sale...around $57k. She refused and walked out of the closing room leaving our customers with their mouths hanging down and the tears flowing. They were devastated. To make things even a little worse, the next day the seller said she would sign. Our customers emotions were doing what you would expect by now. The got to closing and the seller again refused to sign. They were destroyed. Don't worry, there was a very happy ending to the story. We found them another house they loved even more and they closed in 10 days through our mortgage company. Everyone was happy in the end.

The second story won't be as long. It's basically the same as the first story in the beginning. They fell in love with the home and put an offer $3k above the asking price. We thought for sure they would get this home. After waiting for about three weeks, the bank came back and said they wanted $265k. This is $8,000 higher than our customers offer and $11,000 that the other Realtor had it listed in the MLS. Our customer was extremely upset and thought it was a bait and switch by the listing Realtor. The reality is the banks will not give us the dollar figure that they will take until we bring them an offer. Realtors can only do their best at guessing what the bank will take and list it around that price. It's really a mess.

The point I"m trying to make here is that Short Sales sound good on the outside but you have to be prepared to wait a very long time and possibly not get the home or pay more than you had offered. The banks are understaffed trying to handle an ever growing number of homes coming to them for Short Sales.

Now let's go back to the beginning of the conversation when we talked about the situation inwhich one can try to sell as a Short Sale. The reality is that the bank is not going to take less than market value in most cases. You are going to pay the same price for this home as you might with a regular resale with no issues.

My Advice

So what happens if you fall for a Short Sale home? Keep looking is what I've told most of our customers. You can put an offer on the Short Sale home, but you should keep looking for your perfect home while waiting for the answer from the bank. Chances are, with the amount of homes on the market, you will find another home with not so much baggage as the Short Sale home. In the end you will pay approximately the same amount of money for either home.

I know that everyone wants to get the best deal they can get. That is human nature and the American way! However, there are better ways to get good deals then doing a Short Sale. For instance, there are so many builders who have homes for sales less expensively than most resale homes. Also, look at homes where the owner has bought their home before 2002. Chances are they didn't pay much for their home and even wtih the market crash, they still have plenty of equity. The more equity they have, the better chance you have of buying the home at a better price. Of course if they don't have to move, they won't be going down to much either. But if the do have to sell, they have the flexibility to lower than price.

Hopefully that will clear up any thoughts and or questions that you may have had on Short Sales. I know it can get quite confusing out there. Believe me, when this first started happening we were all confused and we sell houses for a living. Now that we have done so many of them, we can help you though with ease. However that doesn't make the bank go any faster. We can just prepare you better for the possible heartache you might feel. So take my advice...Make your Short Sale offer if you want, but keep looking for your ferfect home. I know we have one available for you right now.

As always, feel free to call the office at 321-259-9115 or email me to answer any questions you might still have on Short Sales or anything else that I can do for you.

Have a great night!

Mitch

And the year has begun!

2008-01-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it's been a while since I wrote. I have been extremely busy working on new programs to better help my Agents help our customers.

Last year ended up a little slower than normal but still we had a great year. Our business was up a little over 60% over the year before and we ended up the Number 1 Real Estate office in Brevard County in working with buyers. It's pretty amazing since we are really a small company compared to many of the over 500 companies located in our county. We are expecting to increase another 50% of so this year if the market stays the way it is. Hopefully the market will get a little better and we will grow even more.

So what can we attribute our 2007 success to?

I believe that in building a world class company, you must hire great people. Most of our Agents had little or no sales experience when I hired them. That was one of the reasons I hired them! When someone comes from a sales background, especially in Real Estate, they might bring with them the bad qualities they learned from their previous organization. By hiring people with less sales experience, I am able to hire people that truly care about our customer and don't worry about commissions. That doesn't mean they don't want to be paid well for their work, it just means that our customers always come first! I am blessed to have a great staff of Realtors and Admin people. Truly blessed!

Secondly, to be successful you need to have great relationships with your customers. We send out surveys after each closing to our customers. We receive about 90% of these surveys back and thankfully they are all beaming with accolades from our customers about my Agents. There is nothing better than having a customer tell you what a great time they had as well as how smooth the transaction went from start to end. I get a big smile on my face every time I read those responses. I'm just tickled that we get 90% back, I think that is awesome!

Finally, we need to have customers. Without you, our customer, we don't have a growing company. We are all very aware of that and work hard to ensure you are and stay happy. There really isn't anything we wouldn't do for our customers (legally of course) to help them in any way. Our goal is very simple; to help our customers have no headaches and have fun while working with Tropical Realty. Even when we have difficult transactions, and you know we do, my Agents handle it so well that our customer will very seldomly notice!

As we move through this year, if there is anything questions or anything I can do for you. Please don't hesitate to email me. I'm always here, we are all always here!

Take Care and have a fun day!

Mitch

Happy New Years!

2007-12-31T17:11:00.000-08:00

Hi Everone!

Well another year has past us by. It's amazing, everything my parents told me as a kid were correct. None more than when you get older time goes way to fast! Boy that's an understatement. So here I sit on New Years Eve with my three cats and my dog. Jeanette, my wife, had to go to CA for an emergency the day after Christmas and she is still out there. The best part of this is that there are three differenct CSI, Law and Order marathons on tonight! Ok, I must be getting old.

Anyway, this isn't really about real estate as it is about reflecting on the past year in the Real Estate business. It's been a tough year for a lot of my fellow Realtors. I know of many that have had to get jobs and move onto different careers. It's really a shame since many of these people are really good, honest, ethical and trustworthy people. On top of the Realtors, there are the people that bought homes in 2004 and 2005 only to watch their home values fall aproximately 30%. Like I said, it's been a tough year. All those consumers who have homes on the market are well aware how tough it is has been this year. If you listen to the media, the end of the world is coming in the housing market. Yes it's been tough, yet there are still people buying and selling homes. Approximately 5% of the homes that are listed, are selling each month. We have been telling people lately, do you want to be on the market or in the market. Only 5% of the homes will be in the market. Each month less than 500 homes are selling. I would venture to say that these people are all happy and relieved that they sold their properties. Whether people want to hear it or not, pricing is what is going to drive your home to a sale. If you are not below everyone else in the neighborhood, then the home may sit there for a long time. Of course there are some exceptions, however not many.

Ok, I really didn't want to get into the doom of the past year. Let's look at the good stuff. As a company, thanks to all of you, our customers, Tropical Realty of Suntree is the number one office in Brevard County for working with buyers. Our small staff did a tremendous job this past year in keeping everything rolling. This coming year we expect to beat 2007 numbers and sell even more homes. One thing I have always believed and have spent my entire business career doing is taking care of people. The more you take care of people and provide exceptional customer service, the more people would prefer to work with you. My staff, your Realtors, are great people. They all sincerely care about our customers before they think of themselves. Do you know how rare that is in a sales environment? It is quite a remarkable feat to have not lost any Agents over the past few years with the exception of two that changed careers. The reason is, we have a very caring, sincere, funny, honest, ethic, smiling group of people who fill out our Realtors and our Admin staff. We all get along great and I believe this shows when we are helping our customers.

So for 2008 I wish all of you a great year. If you are trying to sell your home, no matter what state you reside, and you need help or suggestions, please don't hesitate to ask. There are a few things we have tried that have worked pretty well. I also have an entire network of Realtors that we work with around the country so if you need to sell your home outside of Florida and would like my help in getting a good Realtor in your area, just drop me a note. My email is mitch@mitchrealty.com and phone number is 321-258-4150.

Happy New Year!!!

Mitch

What's the deal with Foreclosures? What is the alternative?

2007-12-17T10:19:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone!

We are getting tons of calls these days with customers wanting to take advantage of the "lucrative" foreclosure market. I figured it was time for me to throw in my two cents to all of you. In this market, foreclosures are not the best deal. Yes, you heard me right. Foreclosures are not what they used to be and there is a logical reason for this comment.

Firstly, five years ago foreclosures were running at about 50% of the value of property. They were great deals. The reason was simple. When a person went into foreclosure, they usually had put 10% or more down on the property. Also, as the years have gone by, prices in our area increased. With more equity in the property and prices skyrocketing, foreclosures made a lot of sense. Let's look at an example:

A person buys a property for $100,000. He puts 10% down for a mortgage of $90,000. Over the next three years the property value went up to $130,000. Once this person goes towared a foreclosure, he has $40k equity in the property. The bank is also willing to take less of a payoff to avoid going through the legally taxing foreclosure property. Ultimately the buyer can buy this home from approxinmatley $75,000 or so and with a built in equity of $55,000.

Ok, now let's fast forward to the fall of 2007 (no pun intended). A person buys his property two years ago for $300,000. As with most people during that time period, he financed 100% of the propery and now has a mortgage of $300,000. Now in 2007 he needs to sell his home or go into foreclosure. The problem we run into now is that property values have dropped around 30% since 2005 when he bought the home. Therefore, his home is now valued at $210,000. This means, if the bank goes into foreclosure, they are going to sell the property at market value to recoup as much as they can to minimize their losses. The buyer of this property is buying the property at market value and is not going to see much, if any, equity upon the purchase.

With all that said, you can see that foreclosures today are not going to offer you the best bang for your buck. So what is going to get you the best deal. If you are looking to get your best deal, look for homes that have been on the market for more than 6 months and have been owned by the owner for more than 5 years. This will most likely insure two things unless the seller had refinanced in the past two years and taken equity out of the home. First, the owner might have only paid $125,000 for that same house that sold for $300,000 in 2005. If he needs to sell the home, he can lower the price of the way below market value and still make a decent profit from the home. If the market value is $210,000 as we figured in the above example, then selling the home for $199,000 would still offer the seller a tremendous profit while offering the buyer a great deal below market.

Hopefully this all make sense to you. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call or write. We are always here to help you accomplish your Real Estate goals!

Have a great day!

Mitch

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T23:15:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

So it's 2:15am and I'm sitting here doing a little bit of work before I go back to bed. I do need to get a life! As I"m sitting here thinking about Thanksgiving, so much goes on in my mind. I get a little misty around the holidays. I guess the older you get the more you realize how precious life is and that we have only one shot. It's definitely not easy some times, but it's the life we have so we might as well have fun. For those of you who know me, you know fun is what I'm all about. I don't take to much to serious when it comes to day to day life. Believe me, in this business if you are to serious you would go crazy!

It's this time of year that I become very thankful for everything I have now and have received in my life time. I was blessed with two great parents that died much younger than they should have been allowed. Were they perfect, no. Did they do everything in their power to guide me through my youth and young adulthood, yes. I learned from them the most important rules that I follow every day. That is to be honest and to really care about people. They taught me even though there are some evil people out there, that most people are good and want to be good. They were very right!

Ok, so here is the rest of my list of what else I am thankful for: My beautiful and loving wife, Jeanette. She makes me smile and she takes the brunt of when I'm not happy. (yes, even I have my days!) My four awesome ,way to old children in Jon, Matt, Amanda and Michael. My precious granddaughter Lola who lights up the room as soon as she walks in...sometimes she strolls in I guess since she is only 19 months old! My very cool, fun, caring, and great staff who makes coming to work every day so much fun! My friend Wayne's two girls who were shot this year are both out of the hospital and doing great! My brothers who have been my friends for my entire life. My friends that I grew up with and that I"m still close with...I'm lucky to have several friends that I could count on if I needed anything...how cool is that! And finally and not least are my customers who have helped me grow a company that is well respected and successful. As we all know, without great customers like you and with my great staff I don't have a company!

On this day, Thanksgiving, give thanks to everything in your life that is good. Remember that sometimes things don't go exactly as we plan but there is always a lesson to be learned. I have gone through some very hard times and come away with many great lessons of life.

Lastly, please take a moment while you are sitting down to eat that yummy turkey to say a prayer for all of our troops scattered around the world in harms way. We are blessed to have such a fine group of men and women who are wiling to be away from their families during the holidays and put their lives on the line on a daily basis all in the name of freedom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mitch

Brevard County Properties Sold through the end of October 2007

2007-11-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

I have been promising stats for quite a bit but have been so busy I hadn't had a chance to do them. Well I finally got them done. Below are all the homes, condos and townhomes, and land sold for the year. As you can see the numbers are very low. At the bottom of the chart are all the current active properties for each category. The good news of course is that your negotiating power is very strong right now. If a home has been on the market for more than 6 months there is a good chance you can get the home for 10% or more off the listing price.

Month /Residential/ Condo&Townhouse /Land

January /342 /109 /45

Feb /465/ 121/ 43

March/ 519/ 143/ 63

April /510/ 127/ 64

May/ 471/ 131/ 60

June/ 487/ 128/ 53

July/ 447/ 122/ 50

August/ 447 /117 /54

Sept. /297/ 70/ 45

October /356 /83 /47

Currently
Active/ 7563/ 2987/ 4120

As I have said many times, this is a great time to buy. If you are interested in finding out more about the opportunities in Brevard, please don't hesitate to call or email us.

Have a great day!

Mitch

Veterans Day

2007-11-12T10:56:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone!

This is just a quick note to remind all of you to take a minute and think about our young adults that volunteer to protect our country. Whether you are for the war or against the war is not relevant. Either way, it is important to support our troops. Those are our kids out there putting their lives in danger every day. So while you are walking around enjoying the beautiful weather, take a moment and say a prayer for our troops. Pray that they all come home safely to continue their roles as husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. Remember that because of our hero's both the past, the present and the future we will have the freedoms to walk around and enjoy such a beautiful day.

Have a great day today!

Mitch

I need your help!

2007-11-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

If you have been reading what I've been writing lately you have noticed that I am in the middle of making a bunch of changes to our company. For that reason I am looking for help from you, our customer.

1. We are getting ready to launch a new site - http://www.melbournehomesearch.com/ - Please check it out when you get a chance and send me your feedback. The MLS search function is working but we are still working on the saved listings portion to allow you to continue to save homes into your personal folder. Please email feedback at mitch@mitchrealty.com whether it be good, bad or indifferent. My goal is to create a site that is easy to use and has all the information you need. With your help, I can accomplish this goal!

2. Consumer Forum - I would like to get two different groups of customer together. The first group would be our customers who have already bought homes through Tropical Realty. The second group would be from customers who have not bought anything yet.

The purpose of these to forum's is to learn from you what we need to do to be a better company. I work very hard, as do all my Agents, to insure that our customers are getting the service that they desire. I will be taking you to dinner and discussing what we need to do on our end to make everything the best experience for you.

This past year has been a great year for us here at Tropical Realty. While most companies are struggling, we have been hitting our goals almost every month. Of course I only have you to thank for that. I appreciate your busines and your trust that you have in our company. I think I have the best Agents in the county ( I may be a little bias) if not the state. Every person on my staff from the admin (Pat and Krystal) to my Agents, to the Mortgage Dept of Pedro (my partner), Carolyn, Jeff and Greta cares about our customers as much as I do. I have always instilled in my staff that if you work hard and create the best customer service experience for your customer, you will always succeed. I can honestly say I know that they value our customer more than the buck! We all go out of our way to be the best we can be for you.

With that said, I know we have to improve in certain areas and I would like help finding out exactly what we need to improve. Please take a few minutes and write me a review of our new website at http://www.melbournehomesearch.com/ and let me know your thoughts. They do matter. Also, if you would like to be involved in my customer forum, please email me at mitch@mitchrealty.com and let me know. I will be taking everyone out to dinner to discuss how I can make Tropical Realty a better company and a great experience for our customers.

I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great night!

Mitch

Media and the Real Estate Market

2007-10-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

So I am sitting here getting ready to watch my Boston Red Sox try to make it three wins straight against the Rockies. I'm very excited. Of course nothing will compare to the Sox World Series of 2004. It's amazing how long it took!

We were having a discussion this week about the media and its affect on the public. We all know that the media spins its stories in whatever direction it wants to go. When something is "hot" they are all over it. Of course "hot" in their opinion is bad. You don't hear to many good things on the news...the truth of the matter is that good news doesn't sell. Bad news creates viewers which creates sales. It's all about the buck!

Right now we are in a changing Real Estate market and we have been for one and a half years now. Nobody really knows when the market is going to hit bottom, or if it already has hit bottom. Depending upon who you ask, you might get a different answer. My take is that this is probably the best time we have had to buy Real Estate in the past 4 years. Prices are pre 2004 and I tend to doubt they will go any lower. With that said, there are some great deals out there too. People who bought their homes prior to 2003 are willing to take a modest profit instead of the monster profits we were seeing in 2004 and the first half of 2005.

Anyway, back to our discussion about the media. I believe that the media (being on the left side of the isle) were motivated to insure a Democratic Congress. Unfortunately for them at the time, things were not going to badly in this country. Of course this is all relative, but as far as the economy, things are, were, pretty strong. The media knew if they were going to affect the election they were going to have to put the breaks on our economy. The only way to do that at the time was to destroy the housing market. The housing market affects many other markets then just buying and selling houses. It affects construction workers, appliance sales people, the banking industry, rug manufacturers and so on. I think you understand. By putting the breaks on the Real Estate market they pretty much shut down a major part of our economy. Let's face it, at the time, May of 2005 was the peak, house prices were starting to level off and interest rates were still at 6%. Houses were selling in 30 days or so and the economy was strong.

In May 2005 the media made their run to alter politics. They started with the simple, "the housing bubble is going to burst". Within a few months as they hammered this home to our country, the market did start to slow. From there they took it and ran. Once they created enough data to show the market was slowing, they made it the most talked about headlines in the country. Within a year, by May of 2006 they completely destroyed the Real Estate market. Anyone trying to sell their home over the past year knows what I am talking about here.

Ok, let's fast forward to October 2007. The market is still hurting badly and there is talk of thousands of foreclosures. Many of the sales we do are "short sales". Short Sales are sales in which the seller will sell their home for less than they owe on it. They can only do this with the permission of the bank. It is much easier and less expensive for the bank to do a short sale than to go into foreclosure. Believe me, the bank does not what all those homes.

This month is supposed to be the peak of the "resets" of the adjustable rate mortgages. It will be interesting to see what is going to happen. Although with that said, Countrywide mortgage has decided to help out about 82,000 of its customers by not adjusting the mortgage at this time. This should help. I have been saying for quite a while now that if the banks don't want to go into foreclosure on these homes, they are going to have to do something about the resets. Finally someone is listening. Many more lenders are going to have to follow suit if they don't want to be handed a ton of homes.

So what am I really talking about here. The reality is if you are looking to buy a home, this is a great time to buy. If you are thinking about buying a condo, this is an excellent time to buy. There are a ton of condos on the market and they are not moving. If you are thinking about buying a piece of land, this is an awesome time to buy. I think last month out of the approximately 4100 lots for sale, only 47 sold. Lots in Palm Bay have come down from a peak of $70k to around $30k or a little more and sometimes a little less. The point is, if you need a place to live or are looking for a home you are going to stay in for a long time, then you should be very excited about the quantity of homes on the market. Think of all the choices you have to find that home you have always wanted.

As always, we are here to guide you in the process of buying a home. Since we have switched to a Single Agency (we represent you) the response has been overwhelming. Our clients love the fact that we have a legal responsibility in the transaction. It gives them a more secure feeling knowing that we are going to go the extra mile for them...you.

Have a great Saturday Night and Sunda. Go Red Sox and we can't forget to say Go Pats! It's a good time to be a Boston fan these days!

Mitch

The never ending quest to become the best Real Estate company in the World!

2007-10-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I'll be writing another blog shortly with all the stats from the third quarter. In the meantime, as I sit here in my house with my favorite cat laying next to me (don't tell my other two cats or the dog as they all think they are my favorite) I am thinking of the shape and destiny my company is headed. In two and a half years we have built a wonderful company with a great staff and great customers. I am truly blessed to be around so many awesome people every day! Part of the reason of this blog is to share what goes on in building a company and what goes on in my mind while in the process of building the compay. Hence the name, The Day in The Life of a Real Estate Broker.

I just finished reading the book Good to Great for the third time in the past month. Along with eMyth, it is one of the best business books out there. Many of the things I read in eMyth which I have implemented have been a huge success for me. If you own a business or are planning on starting a business, you need to read these two books now.

With my new found knowledge I went on to analyze my company...the good, the bad and the ugly. I will be the first to admit that no matter how much I have tried to be the best, we haven't been. We have been very good, but there is still room for improvement. So the question that I have to figure out is what can we be the best in the world at as a company. Interesting stuff. Have you ever thought what you could be the best in the world at? It's a very difficult question if you can face the brutal facts about your company. I spent several days pondering this question and trying to figure out the answer. Then while driving to work one day it occured to me that we can be the best in the world at two things.

1. Buyers Agents - Currently most of our business comes from buyers. We do listings of course like all Real Estate companies, but when it comes down to it, we are really a Buyers Agency. I realized we could be the best Buyers Agency in the world. Big statement, but I have big beliefs and work ethic to make this happen. Now that I understand that we can be the best Buyers Agency in the world, it changed the way I do several areas of my business. Most importantly it affected how I look at listing houses. By being the best Buyers Agency in the world, it actually works toward being a great Listing Agency too without having to focus my business in that arena.
2. Customer Service - In my opinion most Real Estate companies have a very limited, if any, customer service programs. The second thing I realized was that I can create the best Real Estate customer service in the world. Again another big statement and again I believe that I have the staff and the company which can do just that! Once I realized this, I went to work developing our Over the Top Customer Service Program. This program is under development and is shaping up nicely. Once developed, it will fit into my core business of working with buyers. Currently we have finished our Tropical Realty Tid Bits booklet which can be found on our site at: http://www.mitchrealty.com/bin/web/real_estate/AR79959/ACTIVATE_FRAMES/RELOCATION/Melbourne/1190730422.html

If you haven't read this yet and you are planning on moving to Brevard County, then take a few moments and go through it. We will be expanding it as time moves on but currently there are several pages of great info for your move. This took several months to put together and Kelly, our office manager did the bulk of the work. Thanks Kelly!

That is the start to our customer service. Some of the things we are implenting as part of our new customer service program are simple things like having cold bottles of water in a cooler whenever you take someone out to see homes. It's amazing how great a cold bottle of water feels after you have looked at 5 houses in the first couple of hours.

As with everything in our company, we will create our Over the Top Customer Service program into a system which will be easy for all of our staff to implement. Everyone at the company is very excited about this program. We all want to be the best at what we do, but sometimes it takes a bunch of people getting together and brainstorming to come up with just how to accomplish these goals. By November 1, 2007 we will be rolling out the program. I have a very busy October planned.

As you can see my fun never stops. I really feel that by my Agents and myself helping as many people as possible we save them the chances of not getting quality advice and help in buying their new home. Unfortunately, as with most industries, we have our share of evil. Just because an Agent or Agency does huge numbers doesn't mean they are an ethical and honest company. I prefer to only hire the best people. I always believe that if you are a good human being you will always do well. So far this has proved true to myself, my company and my Agents. In the reality, it's not hard to be honest and ethical. Personally I find it very easy!

That's it for now. If you have any questions or need any help don't hesitate to call or email me at mitch@mitchrealty.com. Also, if you are in business or are starting a business don't hesitate to call or email for advice. I am always willing to help people in Marketing and other aspects of business.

Have a fun night!

Mitch

The Bottom is here!

2007-09-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

After two years of the Real Estate Market going down in the Country as well as the Brevard County area, the bottom appears to be here. In a recent article published on CNNMoney.com, top analyst are saying that the bottom is either here or will be here by the end of the year. You can read the article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/19/real_estate/steep_home_price_drops_coming/index.htm

We have been noticing more and more buyers starting to come on the market in the past month or so. September is usually a slower month here in Brevard but it seems to be picking up. This is great news for everyone who is looking to buy a home but have to sell their home first. Many of our buyers who want to buy simply can't until their home sells. With the market starting to bottom out, inventory will start moving which means our sellers will sell and become buyers and the market will level off.

One thing that we are watching closely is interest rates. Many people believe that when the Feds cut the interest rates as they did this past week, that mortgage rates will automatically fall too. Unfortunately that isn't the case. Mortgage rates are tied to the bond. For instance, this past Monday rates were around 61/8 where yesterday they were at 6.375. If you are thinking about buying and want to wait, you might want to rethink that thought. If you remember many posts ago we talked about how you will either catch the pricing going down or going up. Very few people catch it at the exact bottom. It's very similar to the stock market. Nobody knows for sure what the bottom is going to be. As I have been saying for the past few months, this is a great time to buy! Prices are down and rates are still great.

If you have any questions about mortgages or real estate don't hesitate to call us at 321-259-9115 or as always you can email me at mitch@mitchrealty.com

Have a great weekend!

Mitch

A note to buyers - Single Agency vs. Transaction Brokers

2007-09-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I know that everyone wants to get the best deal possible for their homes. Keep in mimd that if you have a lot of homes on the market, such as today, you may have a great opportunity for success in finding a home you love and at a price you can afford.

By using one of our Tropical Realty Realtors, you can have the security that every one us is going to put our best foot forward and devote 150% and More. Whatever it takes to get the job done!

In a recent move, we have switched our company from Transacdtion Brokers to Single Agency. Why the change when in fact almost all the companie are automatically considered to be Transacdtion Brokers?

First you have to understand the main difference between the two agencies. Both are similar with one major exception. Transaction Brokers represent the transaction. They don't represent the buyer or the seller. As Single Agents, we work for you. We have a legal responsibiity to look out for your best interests. With that said, there are certain instances inwhich we must transition to a Transaction Broker.

This is a major switch towards our new culture of over the top customer service. We hope that all our customr have started to notice the switch. There is much more to come! If you have any questions on Agency and how it works in Florida, its time to pick up the phone and call our office or email me at Mitch@MitchRealty.com or 321-259-9115.

Have a great night!

Mitch

August 2007 Stats and a personal note

2007-09-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I hope your Labor Day Weekend was fun. We just hung around the pool and went to the movies. It was a very quiet and peaceful weekend....very much needed!

Last week was a very difficult week for myself as well as many of my close friends. One of our close friends exwife was murdered and two of his three daughters were shot at close range and are still in critical condition. I flew up to MA right away upon hearing of this tragedy. We all read about things like this in the paper but when it happens to you or somebody you love, it changes everything. I have vowed to spend more time with my wife, call my kids a little more, and tell the people I love, that I love them. Sometimes we spend all our time chasing our dreams without realizing some of our best dreams are right in front of our noses. If you have a moment, please say a prayer for Brittany (12) and Danielle Cann (15). They could surely use them right now!

The Brevard County Real Estate Market seems to be holding steady. Below are the stats stating the amount of homes on the market as well as the amount of homes that sold in August. The numbers have held steady now for a few months. My belief we are pretty close, if not, at the bottom of the reduction in prices. As I have mentioned over the past few months, this is a great time to buy.

New Single Family Listings - 1,495
New Condo/TownHomes Listings - 429
Active Single Family Listings - 7648
Active Condo/TownHome Listings - 3122
Active Lot and Land Listings - 4184
Active Rental Listings - 2320

August Sold Single Family Homes - 388 (5.1% of listed single family homes )
August Sold Condo/TownHomes - 102 (3.3% of listed condos/townhomes)
August Sold Lots and Land - 51 (1.2% of listed lots and land)
August Rentals Leased - 579 (25% of listed rentals)

Average Days on the Market for all residential properties - 118 Days (Condos and TownHomes are averaging 168 Days on the Market.

This is your update on the current market conditions in Brevard County. At the end of September I will do my quarterly stats for you all to see. With interest rates threatening to increase and tax reform (hopefully) right around the corner. The time to buy is now before prices start to edge upward and interest rates rising. As always we are here to help you succeed in the purchase of your new home. If there is anything we can do for you, don't hesitate to call or email us.

Have a great day!

Mitch

Our Customer Service Culture

2007-08-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what makes a company great? This is something that I have thought about for a long time. In the end, it still comes down to the old age issue of customer service. The reality is that most of us feel that customer service seems to be a thing of the past. I know that is something I have thought and seen for so long. It's not the norm to get great service. How many times have you gone to a great establishment with great customer service? You can probably count them on one hand.

With that said, I have made the decision to become the best customer service focused Real Estate company in the country. Ok, I know that is a big claim, but I am certain that it will take our already superb service and make it even better. So how do we do that? We currently work extremely hard for our customers and are available at all times to help them in any way possible. All of our Agents at Tropical Realty work hard. If you have worked with us already, you know that. If you haven't and are planning to come to the area soon, you will see what I mean. I am truly blessed to have some of the best people working for me. However, because we are so busy helping our customers, sometimes the little things get left behind. My goal over the next few months is to figure out what you would like, as the customer, for us to do when we meet you, when we write a contract for you, and what we can do after the sale for you.

For as good a job as we currently do, I want to make you walk away from your transaction with the same feeling you get when walking away from a great restaurant. It is my belief that if you walk away with that feeling, you will have received the best service humanly possible. That is my goal and that is what we are going to accomplish.

In the very near future I will be posting some of the changes we are going to implement to insure you have the best real estate experience you have ever received. When you sit in your new home you are going to feel that joy that comes with a great transaction. You will feel complete! Ok, I stole that from Jerry Mcquire!

I'm also open to suggestions from you. If there is anything that you feel a Real Estate Company should do for you that we are not currently doing, please email me at mitch@mitchrealty.com. I am here to listen. I am here to give you the best there is in the country.

As always we are all here to help. If there is anything you need at all, don't hesitate to call or email us. We respond to everyone as quickly as possible.

Have a great night!

Mitch

What's the story with Foreclosures

2007-08-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday Everyone!

Well as you all have heard the news...the banks are hurting and foreclosures are on the rise. We get tons of emails and phone calls from so many people wanting us to find them foreclosures. I figured it's a good time to set the record straight for those of you who don't understand how these homes are priced.

Flashback 5 or 6 years ago and foreclosures were a great deal. I sold many of them back then that were 50 cents or less on the dollar. Unfortunately this isn't the case anymore. Foreclosures are no longer the bargain they used to be.

For instance, if a home goes into foreclosure, the bank will hire a Realtor to evaluate the property. Our job as Realtors is to let them know the retail value of the property and the appoximate cost of repairs. At that point the lender sets the price. These days, unlike the past, the banks are taking the retail value and subtracting the approximate repair costs and that is the price. Keep in mind that most foreclosures have a loan amount higher than the value of the home and they were usually bought with zero money down. There just isn't any room for the banks to play.

So what does this all mean to you, the consumer looking to get a good deal on a foreclosure, there aren't many good foreclosures out there. Most companies that do this as a business have pulled back. They understand the current market. However, most average consumers or beginning investors don't.

Your best bet is to talk to your Realtor, hopefully here at Tropical Realty, and search for homes that have been on the market longer than 6 months. Then your Realtor can research what they paid for the home and if they have refinanced the home. I believe that is where you can get your best deal. If someone owes $100k on the home and it's listed at $200k and they need to sell, you have a lot more room to work than if someone owes $180k on the house.

I hope that helps a few of you understand the current foreclosure market. I know all those TV shows selling you kits are telling you that foreclosures are the way to go. However, keep in mind that this is one of the best buying opportunities we have seen in several years. If you are thinking about buying, this is the time!

As always if you have any questions or need any help with anything, don't hesitate to call or email me at mitch@mitchrealty.com.

Have a great day!

Back from Vacation and Ready to Roll!

2007-08-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I'm sorry I haven't been writing much lately. I have been extremely busy growing the company as well as finding a little time to take a vacation. I had the pleasure of playing golf at Pebble Beach and a few of the other great courses in the area. The golf was incredible and you are a golfer I highly recommend spoiling yourself at least once in your life. I don't know that I would drop that much money again, but it was dream golf!

The Real Estate Market in that area (Carmel) was amazing. If you live in CA you know what I am talking about. Most of the homes on Pebble Beach were in the $30 million range. Yes you heard me right! The next time someone says that Brevard County Florida has gotten too expensive I'm going to send them the Real Estate Magazine I brought back.

So what should you do about buying a home in Florida? Right now is a great time as it has been for the past year. Interest rates are starting to go up with the problems that the lenders have had lately. If you are planning to buy, this might be a good time to get serious. I have heard that rates could go above 8% shortly.

As many of you know, I am getting ready to expand the company. We are in the process of getting our legal work done to franchise throughout the state of Florida. Our name will remain Tropical Realty of Suntree, but we will now be part of the eHomes Realty family. It was a tough decision to do this but in the end I think it will be a great benefit for both our company as well as our customers. We have many customers looking to relocate in other areas of Florida and we have not been able to help them as best as I wish we could. By opening the franchises, we will have access to help our customers anywhere in the state.

That's about it for now. I'll write more about the growth shortly once we are ready to get going. As always if there is anything we can do for you don't hesitate to call or email.

Have a great day!

2nd Quarter Stats!

2007-07-02T10:09:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well it's that time of the year again where I let you know the current stats going on in our Real Estate market in Brevard County. The market seems to be holding steady. It's not getting any worse and it's not getting much better. At the moment the interest rates are right around 6.875% which are a little down from over 7% last week.

Stats for the 2nd quarter of 2007 (April 1 - June 30) are as follows:

Single Family Homes

Currently on the Market - 7,727
Units Sold - 1,402

Condos and Townhomes

Currently on the Market - 3,183
Units Sold - 368

Lots and Land

Currently on the Market - 4,333
Lots Sold - 168

Average Single Family time on Market - 101 Days
Average Sales Price to Listing Price - 93%

The best deals to be had our in the condo market. As you can see by the stats they just are not selling. Two years ago it was unheard of to find an Oceanfront unit anywhere in the county for under $300k. Now there are close to 50 units in that price range. Of course some of them are small. My favorite is one of our listings at Ocean Club in Melbourne Beach. This is almost 1,300 sq. ft. with two master suites, both with great Ocean views. This condo is currently listed for $299,900. My guess is this will sell fairly quickly because of the bargain price. We also have another condo that just dropped its price to $199,900. This is a riverfront condo on the 7th floor and over 1,500 sq. ft. This 2 bedroom 2 bath condo is located in the center of Merritt Island across the street from the mall. Great location and great price. This unit 2 years ago would have sold for as high as $300k. Such a deal! If you would like more details about either of these properties don't hesitate to call or email us. Our phone number is (321) 259-9115.

With that said, single family homes are down in price over 20% from 2004 with lots of great deals out there. This is the best buyers market we have had in a long time. With over 10,000 single family dwellings on the market, there are a lot of motivated sellers out there. This is great news if you are a buyer.

I have heard from some buyers who are wanting to wait until the market is at the bottom. As you may or may not know, there is no way to tell that we are at the bottom. I can tell you this, housing prices appear to be holding pretty steady right now. Those who told me they wanted to wait are now faced with houses that were the same price a few months ago and the interest rates are up over 1%. So in the long run, they have already missed the lowest price based on both sales price and interest.

One last thing. If you haven't seen it yet, we are holding our first annual customer appreciation night at Space Coast Stadium in Viera this Saturday Night. We will be enjoying a baseball game with the Manatees and fireworks after the game. If you haven't reserved your ticket and would like to go, please contact us immediately so we can get you on the list. The game starts at 6pm.

As always, if there is anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask. We are always here for you.

Have a great week and a Happy 4th of July!

Mitch

Summer Time is Almost Here! Is this a good time to buy?

2007-06-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well here we are getting ready to take the turn into The Summer of 2007. This will be an interesting summer to say the least. We keep hearing of all this doom and gloom, but we really aren't seeing it that way. Yes, foreclosures are up and will continue to rise. This is very unfortunate as many of these people were sold a bill of goods from mortgage companies by doing the easy to qualify for adjustable rate mortgages...with 100% financing. Those 4% intro rates are now coming in at 7%, 8%, and 9% or more. The problem of course is that the home values have dropped 20% or more and therefore we can't refinance these homes and the owners are stuck. Many of the homes going into foreclosure were from investors who came in and took advantage of some of the financing options. Those homes remain vacant and the owners are having trouble carrying several mortgages.

So what is the good news? The good news is that it is now very affordable to buy a home in Brevard County. With prices at a 3 year low, you can now find many homes in the $150k or less price range. Our average sale has dropped from $250k to $200k. That is quite a drop. People who couldn't afford to buy a home in 2003-2005 can now afford their new home. In fact, there are many homes that are brand new, vacant and listed for less than $200k. These same homes were selling for $275k back in 2004.

With that said, interest rates have started to creep up with most rates right around 6.75% - 7.5%. I believe that they will continue to go up and down as they have the past few years. Last month the rates were as low as 6%. Of course your credit score and the amount you borrow will make the difference on your interest rate.

One last thing. The condo market. Yes, this is by far the best time we have had in almost 4 years to buy a condo. There are currently approximately 3200 condos and townhomes on the market with less than 118 selling the past 30 days. If you have ever wanted to buy an oceanfront condo, this is the time! For instance, we have a 2 bedroom 2 bath Direct Oceanfront condo in Melbourne Beach listed at $319,900. You couldn't have touched this for under $475k two years ago. There are 120 Oceanfront units for under $275k. Unbelievable!!!!

It's time to get to work and help everyone with all their stuff! Don't forget that we are always here to help you accomplish your Real Estate goals. Whether you are an investor, first time home buyer, looking for your 2nd home or relocating here from there, we have plenty of homes for you to see.

Don't hesitate to call or email us anytime.

Have a fun day!

Mitch

Holding Steady and How to Really Sell Your Home!

2007-05-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well here we are at the end of another month in this fun year of 2007! The market is holding steady as prices have stabalized and sales are consistent. Finally sellers are realizing that if they want to sell their homes, they will need to lower their prices. We have spent most of the past year and a half turning down listings. Certain death of an Agent is taking on listings that will not sell because they are over priced. One reason they are so over priced is the competitive market amongst Realtors. Most sellers will have 2 or 3 Agents come to their home to tell them their thoughts. Of course Realtors know that if they tell the homeowner the homes is worth more than it is, they will most likely get the listing. At that point, a month into the listing, they are telling the seller that their price is to high and they need to come down. It sounds to me like a bait and switch tactic which I don't approve of and will not allow my Agents to do in this office. Honesty will always prevail! Hopefully!

So let's talk about listings for a few minutes. I was on the plane this week after going to South Carlolina for a meeting. What a beautiful area of the country that I have only driven through in the past. The hardest part was understanding their language! Anyway, I was on the plane and met a woman from Virginia who is trying to sell her condo. That area, as with most of the country, has been hit hard with the slow down in the market. The first thing she wanted to do was to tell how her Agent just wasn't doing a good job. The property was shown the first few days and hasn't been shown since...I think it's been three months since it was shown last. After explaining to her that the condo not selling most likely has less to do with her Agent and more to do with the Condo market, she started to listen to what I was saying. (FYI - The condo market in Florida is down 32%) So let's touch on what I believe will help sell your listings:

1. Price is still and will always be a motivating factor. If you are priced higher than other similar properties, there is a good chance your home will be on the market for a very long time. With the amount of inventory out there, you are now competing with your neighbor who is trying to sell their home. Whatever homes sold for in the past is not relevent anymore. Price your home lower than everyone elses and you will get more showings and most likely the home will sell quicker.

2. Offer more to the Buyers Agent. I have never quite understood why Listing Agents get paid the same as the Agent who has brought the buyer to the seller. In every other business I have been involved with, the person who brought the buyer got paid. I can see a lot of Realtors not wanting me to say this, but I'm going to. If you have a 6% listing, tell your listing Agent to take 2.5% and have your Agent payout the Buyers Agent 3.5%. Keep in mind that all Agents are commission only. Put yourself in their shoes, especially in this market. If they are not selling many homes and they are working with a buyer. They are more apt to show homes that pay more commission. It's just human nature. A Realtors job is to narrow the search for the customer. If there are 20 homes that are similar and you are offering 3.5% or more to the Buyers Agent, which home do you think will be shown more. The second portion of this is to offer a bonus to the Buyers Agent. Instead of lowering your price $5k, offer the Buyers Agent $5k bonus with an acceptable offer. If you are lowering the price more than $5k then offer the $5k while lowering the price the difference. Remember, reward the Buyers Agent and you are more likely to get showings! I'm probably not making to many Realtor friends at this point!

3. Expectations - One thing for sure is to keep your expectations realistic. Most homes are sitting on the market for several months right now. Don't be in such a rush to shoot your Realtor. Also, don't ignore their advice only to wait until the listing expires, then with a new Agent do exactly what your original Agent was suggesting. That is very frustrating from an Agent's perspective. When talking with your Agent, ask them when they "Really" believe this is going to sell and how long you can expect the home to be on the market. If they tell you it's going to sell real quickly, tell them to get lost!

4. Condition of the Home - Your home must show like a model. Your home must be kept in excellent shape and have great curb appeal. It's worth spending a few bucks to spruce up the house. While I am on that subject, put yourself in the buyers seat. When you are looking at houses what turns you off the most. Usually the home that is not well kept or when you drive up the homes looks like a mess. If your home looks like that home, the buyers will be thinking the same thing!

5. Marketing Your Home - Again, I'm not going to make to many Agents happy right now but the truth is the truth. Most Agents will take your listing and put it in the MLS. They will then tell you that they will also put it in Realtor.com, Yahoo, Google, and possibly a few other Real Estate sites. The reality is that once a Realtor puts the listing in the MLS it automatically goes into all those Real Estate sites. Those sites have feeds sent to them on a regular basis of all the new listings. Internet Marketing has changed the way to market homes. The most important feature is to be in the MLS. You then have, as in our case, thousands of Realtors wanting to sell your home. Again, once it is in the MLS, it will be on the other sites. At Tropical Realty and MitchRealty.com, we have chosen not to do any print advertising. We have chosen to do only online marketing since 80% of the people looking for a home start on the Internet. Currently we are receiving 55,000 visits per month from potential buyers. Our average listing gets seen 250-300 times per month. This much more than your listing will be seen in the Real Estate Magazines. Ask your Realtor how much money they spend on Internet Marketing and how many people a month come to their site. If they are not generating thousands of people, then you are not getting great marketing. The magazines are becoming antiquated! Don't be fooled by any of those buy back schemes or some fancy marketing they are saying they are doing. Basically you want to know how many people a month will look at your home. It's that simple.

Well that's it for now. If you have any questions or need any advice, don't hesitate to call or email me. We are always here to help!

Have a fun day!

Mitch

Tropical Realty MS Golf Tournament

2007-05-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I trust everyone had a great weekend. This past weekend on the 12th of May we held our 3rd Annual Golf Tournament for MS. This year, as always, the tournament was put together with the help of our staff with special thanks and effort going out to Co-Chairs Debbie Sanders and Melissa Goldman, Kelly Richard (especially for the great cookies) and Pat Bertrand. It was a great time with over 80 Players. The weather was typical beautiful Florida weather and the food after was great.

If you have ever put on a tournament then you know how much work it is. We start working on it the beginning of the year by working on getting sponsors and players. It doesn't stop until we have everything very organized, lots of sponsors, great prizes and a bunch of happy golfers. One thing that we do well is our prizes. All of our players go home with a prize and a gift from Tropical Realty. This year we gave away nice divot repair tools and ball markers. They were well received by all!

I think the hardest part of putting this on is that most golfers wait until the last minute to sign up. We did better this year in that department by offering a discount for golfers registering before April 15th. At that point I think we had received 3/4 of the players. We will certainly do that again next year. Usually we are two weeks away with 2 foursomes and we a stressing out. Well actually Debbie does most of the stressing for all of us!

I don't have the amount of money we raised this year as it is still be accounted. I believe we raised around $7,000 or so. Not bad but below our goal of $10,000. This year was a little tougher for many of our sponsors as the Real Estate slowdown has affected businesses that are affiliated with Real Estate. With that said, we had 18 Hole Sponsors, A Food, Putting, Long Drive, and Cart Sponsors. Without our sponsors we couldn't do this so I do thank all of them.

That's about it for today. Hopefully next year you can join us as we hit the links!

Have a fun night!

Mitch

To Grow or Not to Grow!

2007-05-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

What a year this has been so far! We have been working like crazy lately and have just finished hiring our last Agent we will hire in this office. We are now officially full! Now we have 20 Agents to help you accomplish your goals of finding your own little bit of paradise. Does that sound like a commercial or what!?

So why are we so busy and most Real Estate Companies are struggling? I think the biggest reason is that we have a very loyal base of customers. Our past customers have always been our greatest allies and they continue to send us new customers all the time. That says alot for my team of Agents and Support staff here. We also generate a bunch of new buyers each month through the Internet and we continue to educate and train our Agents to be better and better. The beauty of our systems, is that we don't lose Agents. We have not lost an Agent to another Agency since we opened our doors in 2005. The winner in this of course is our customers. All of our Agents main goal is to help our customers. They come first in all of our minds and it's great!. I believe that is our biggest asset and appeal.

Just today I had a first time homebuyer in our office. He had called me last week about one of my listings and told me that he was calling all the listing Agents to find out more about the homes. He didn't realize that we all have access to the same homes. We all share the same MLS. The difference of course is that nobody would really give him their full attention when they found out he is hopping from one Realtor to the next. Anyway, to make a very long story short, I explained to him the benefit of sticking with one Realtor. We hung up the phone and within a few minutes he called back and thanked me for being so honest and that Ned, one of our Agents ,was assigned to him and he would meet him. We found him a home within a day or so and he also is using Tropical Mortgage Group. When he was in our office today he came to my office and thanked me for explaining how it all worked and that everyone from Ned to Pedro to Kelly have been so helpful and friendly. I love hearing this of course. It's music to my ears.

Now I have some decisions to make since we have maxed out our current office space. I can either open more offices around the county and beyond or franchise our systems throughout Florida. Franchising seems to be the way to go since I would have control over who owned each office. It would also make managing 50 offices much easier. If I open new offices, I have to do all the hiring, the traiing and all else involved in opening an office. Of course Franchising has its problems too. First and foremost is the cost. Have you ever checked into it? It's very expensive and would take a very large investment of both time and money. Do I have that in me at 46 years old?! Good question. I'm going to be doing the research over the next month or so and make some decisions soon. I'll keep you updated.

In the meantime, as always, thank you for using Tropical Realty and MitchRealty.com and if there is anything we can do to help...you know where we are!

Have a fun night!

Mitch

First Quarter of Brevard County Real Estate

2007-05-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 15, 2007
First Quarter in Brevard County

Hi Everyone! So the first quarter has past for Brevard County Real Estate. Some people are saying the market is starting to pick up, others say it's still at a stand still. I'm a believer in letting the numbers do the talking so let's look at them!

As of today, April 15th:

Single Family Homes on the Market: 7471
Condos and Townhomes on the Market: 3435
Land on the Market: 4398
Sold Numbers are from Jan. 1, 2007 - April 15, 2007
Single Family: 1414
Condos and Townhomes: 374
Land Sales: 168

I think you might be getting the picture right now. Compared to 2004 when prices were 20%-30% higher we had around 1200 single family listings including condos and they all sold within 30 days. We also only had 1,000 land listings and they all sold within 30 days. It was a great time if you were selling your property but a terrible time if you were trying to buy. We had priced first time homebuyers out of the market and many of our buyers that would have liked to move up couldn't because they couldn't afford the next house. Crazy Times!

So here we are now on April 15th, 2007 and things have certainly changed. Sellers are starting to realize they need to lower their prices dramtically if they want to sell and even then they should plan on 3-6 months listing times. In 2004 you would have been blessed to find a home under $200k. Today you can buy a brand new home for under $200k. So we have completely changed from a sellers market to a buyers market. This is cetainly the time to buy a home. With interest rates staying around 6.5% or less, and home prices 20%+ lower than two years ago, this may be the best time to buy a home!

Of course one piece of great news for us, Tropical Realty and MitchRealty.com is that our sales have been excellent. We are currently ranked number 2 in the county out of 392 Real Estate companies in working with buyers. Keep in mind we are ahead of companies that have hundreds of Agents where between our two offices we have a total of 30. Obviously we are exceptional at helping our customers which is why our business is extremely strong right now. I definately want to thank all of our buyers who have chosen us to help them purchase their homes. Honestly and Integrity surely pays off!

Well that's about it for now. As always, if there is anything we can do to help don't hesitate to email or call us. We will do anything in our power to make sure you make the right decisions on your next purchase!!

Have a fun Sunday and take care!

Mitch