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

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

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

Everything is fine in Brevard County after Tropical Storm Fay!

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!

More on Short Sales!

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

Short Sales - Are they worth the wait?

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

Happy New Years!

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

Veterans Day

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

The Bottom is here!

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

Tropical Realty MS Golf Tournament

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!

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

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