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
Monday, March 17, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
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
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
Monday, February 25, 2008
Tropical Realty's Marketing Stats
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.
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
Sunday, February 10, 2008
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
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
Monday, January 28, 2008
And the year has begun!
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
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
Monday, December 31, 2007
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
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
Monday, December 17, 2007
What's the deal with Foreclosures? What is the alternative?
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
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
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