Brevard County Homes are Selling Fast!

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!

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

Brevard County Real Estate Investments and more...

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