Something new on our site and you have to pay attention.... quick.... look to the left; cause it will only last a "couple of days".
Every so often ("couple of days") we'll be posting different stories about our little neck of the woods... AKA "Mee-am-mi".
Since Real Estate is Local and folks from all over the world read news about us, we're going to use this space to really tell folks what we are all about.
The stories will be indicative of what our local Real Estate markets are doing; key word here is "MARKETS".
Yes, Virginia (and other places a broad), Mee-am-mi is a BIG, BIG place and not all news reflects what's really going on.
So stop by every couple of days, we'll give you plenty of useless....I mean pertinent information.
Presented as only we can, should be fun!
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Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Feed them...
and they will come!!!!
I know it wasn't my good looks nor the weather that brought out a whole bunch of fantastic local Realtors......it was the home cooked Sliders.
Yesterday we had a Brokers open (open house for local Realtors) and we like to do some fun stuff to get the word out about our listings.
This particular home located at 120 Morningside Dr in Coral Gables, has a great outdoor entertainment area that features a complete kitchen and we used it to it's full advantage.
We fired up the grill and cooked over a hundred sliders for our fellow brethren pool side.
Janie Coffey (see blog here) was kind enough to take some video and here I am on "you tube".
Lots of fun at a great home with lots of good folks, thanks all for coming.
BTW; any suggestions for next week?
I know it wasn't my good looks nor the weather that brought out a whole bunch of fantastic local Realtors......it was the home cooked Sliders.
Yesterday we had a Brokers open (open house for local Realtors) and we like to do some fun stuff to get the word out about our listings.
This particular home located at 120 Morningside Dr in Coral Gables, has a great outdoor entertainment area that features a complete kitchen and we used it to it's full advantage.
We fired up the grill and cooked over a hundred sliders for our fellow brethren pool side.
Janie Coffey (see blog here) was kind enough to take some video and here I am on "you tube".
Lots of fun at a great home with lots of good folks, thanks all for coming.
BTW; any suggestions for next week?
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Value?
Or the perception there of...
Got a question today from a customer and it hit right on the my Value theme.
"Jav, is it me or is the mil market soft?"
My Reply;
The mil price is a funny animal (just like a platypus).
If the home is nice and priced accordingly it flies and you really don’t see it on the MLS for long.
True story;
Top EWM Agent just listed a property on great st, it's a 3/3, pool, good sq footage, interesting home that has not been on the market for a while at 1.1
And it had a close to full price offer in a week.
What did the seller do?
Freaked of course and took it off the market.
Why?
Probably thought it was under priced.
I can hear the conversation now "but how can you sell it so fast in this market, must be worth more then we listed at"
AH No...."ienstine"
It was not; price was right on but more importantly, the buyers had been looking for a long time. They recognized that the property had value compared to the rest of available homes.
Moral of the story; If it has value they will come (and value is just not price).
Oh and thank god it was a cash deal, god forbid if it had to be appraised; then the Seller would have really freak!
Got a question today from a customer and it hit right on the my Value theme.
"Jav, is it me or is the mil market soft?"
My Reply;
The mil price is a funny animal (just like a platypus).
If the home is nice and priced accordingly it flies and you really don’t see it on the MLS for long.
True story;
Top EWM Agent just listed a property on great st, it's a 3/3, pool, good sq footage, interesting home that has not been on the market for a while at 1.1
And it had a close to full price offer in a week.
What did the seller do?
Freaked of course and took it off the market.
Why?
Probably thought it was under priced.
I can hear the conversation now "but how can you sell it so fast in this market, must be worth more then we listed at"
AH No...."ienstine"
It was not; price was right on but more importantly, the buyers had been looking for a long time. They recognized that the property had value compared to the rest of available homes.
Moral of the story; If it has value they will come (and value is just not price).
Oh and thank god it was a cash deal, god forbid if it had to be appraised; then the Seller would have really freak!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Cash is King..
As if there was ever any other question, according to Zillow.com cash buyers represented more than half of all transactions in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area last year.
Again, this is no surprise, after all South Florida is flooded with investors from the North as well as international ones who desire a tropical escape from their often frigid homes. What they didn't say is how many of those transactions were single family homes vs. condos.
Or what neighborhoods these cash deals are in; hence my problem with statistics.
My other problem is that cash is great and all but what about Joe blow (the rest of us) who needs to get a loan to buy a $400K house or a $180K to buy their first condo?
What I'm seeing now is that even if Joe gets pre-approved and is willing to pay market price, the bank appraisers are coming in and blowing up the deals-appraising the property for less than the contract price. (just happen to me yesterday)
And the vicious circle of home prices slipping and people fearing the real estate market keeps going round and round so that people with cash can continue to buy at low prices and stay rich.
You can thank the media's interpretation of statistics and scare tactics.
And again, I say, "Statistics are for Losers." ....just ask the Steelers.
Again, this is no surprise, after all South Florida is flooded with investors from the North as well as international ones who desire a tropical escape from their often frigid homes. What they didn't say is how many of those transactions were single family homes vs. condos.
Or what neighborhoods these cash deals are in; hence my problem with statistics.
My other problem is that cash is great and all but what about Joe blow (the rest of us) who needs to get a loan to buy a $400K house or a $180K to buy their first condo?
What I'm seeing now is that even if Joe gets pre-approved and is willing to pay market price, the bank appraisers are coming in and blowing up the deals-appraising the property for less than the contract price. (just happen to me yesterday)
And the vicious circle of home prices slipping and people fearing the real estate market keeps going round and round so that people with cash can continue to buy at low prices and stay rich.
You can thank the media's interpretation of statistics and scare tactics.
And again, I say, "Statistics are for Losers." ....just ask the Steelers.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Omen..
From the Real Estate gods!!!
So we ink a deal, all looks good and that very same day 8 palm fronds and 2 coconuts attack my for sale sign.
Show up the next day and there lies my poor little sign mangled and reaching out to me for some serious sign love.
My take, the gods knew that the deal was solid and it was their way of telling me.
OR
That I should stop putting my for sale signs under a palm tree.
So we ink a deal, all looks good and that very same day 8 palm fronds and 2 coconuts attack my for sale sign.
Show up the next day and there lies my poor little sign mangled and reaching out to me for some serious sign love.
My take, the gods knew that the deal was solid and it was their way of telling me.
OR
That I should stop putting my for sale signs under a palm tree.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Shorts...HA!
When we last left the Short Sale story we were writing on "How they should work."
Today we'll look at how they really work....it ain't pretty.
First, we'll disregard the "Slim Shady" Realtor's that want to one side all their Shorts and always come up with an excuse as to availability of the property; which pretty much eliminates about 50% of all shorts.
Second, we'll disregard the sellers that are clueless as to what a short sale is due too much Google/Bing/Facebook/Slim Shady Realtors/Family members/TV; which eliminates about another 25%.
Third, we'll disregard the family/friend fraud aspect and there goes another 10%.
So we're left with about 15% of all shorts being....Shorts.
Now if they worked like they should, we would not need dear old Jav.
BUT
Since they NEVER work like they should we can make the experience considerably less painful.
Don't get me wrong, it's still going to be painful, just consider us your "Klonopin" during the process.
How can I ease the pain? Well for starters, I know the process on both sides and for better or for worse am asked to drive short sale deals by other Realtors.
Why because I've done it many times before.
Hey, practice makes perfect...
Have a specific short sale question? Feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call at 305.582.5085
Today we'll look at how they really work....it ain't pretty.
First, we'll disregard the "Slim Shady" Realtor's that want to one side all their Shorts and always come up with an excuse as to availability of the property; which pretty much eliminates about 50% of all shorts.
Second, we'll disregard the sellers that are clueless as to what a short sale is due too much Google/Bing/Facebook/Slim Shady Realtors/Family members/TV; which eliminates about another 25%.
Third, we'll disregard the family/friend fraud aspect and there goes another 10%.
So we're left with about 15% of all shorts being....Shorts.
Now if they worked like they should, we would not need dear old Jav.
BUT
Since they NEVER work like they should we can make the experience considerably less painful.
Don't get me wrong, it's still going to be painful, just consider us your "Klonopin" during the process.
How can I ease the pain? Well for starters, I know the process on both sides and for better or for worse am asked to drive short sale deals by other Realtors.
Why because I've done it many times before.
Hey, practice makes perfect...
Have a specific short sale question? Feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call at 305.582.5085
IMPORTANT
That's how the message started on my New/Old "Russian" assisted Blackberry.
It sounded innocent enough when my phone went "Beep" and when I finally found the Text icon, there it was:
11113000 AT&T free message: you will need a new phone and rate plan to.....I could not read any further.
After 26 years with my "Special" Cell plan might be over.
Damn, those Russians*....I think they ratted me out!
*to get it, see the movie "Be Cool"
It sounded innocent enough when my phone went "Beep" and when I finally found the Text icon, there it was:
11113000 AT&T free message: you will need a new phone and rate plan to.....I could not read any further.
After 26 years with my "Special" Cell plan might be over.
Damn, those Russians*....I think they ratted me out!
*to get it, see the movie "Be Cool"
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