Archive for the 'Tampa MLS' Category

Short Sales and Phantom Numbers

April 29th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa MLS, Tampa Market Conditions, Short Sale Information, Tampa Home Buyer Tips

By now many Tampa home buyers are aware that purchasing a pre-foreclosure property is not all that easy. Short sales, or short listings, as they should really be referred to, are abundant across the Tampa Bay area. A short sale listing is a home for sale for which the listed price will not be adequate to cover the seller’s loan payoff(s) and other related costs of selling.

Once it is obvious that the seller can no longer make payments and is facing foreclosure, most sellers will begin dropping the listed price of the home to find the sweet-spot (a moving target these days), the price in which a buyer sees value and finally makes an offer. I call it the phantom number, because that’s really what it is. For many short listings, it has nothing to do with the market value of the home. It’s simply a number dropped low enough to entice a would be buyer to make an offer (market value?). The seller signs off on the offer and presents it to the note holder, and pleads a hardship case. The bank, or holder of the note, solicits an independent opinion of value, and makes a decision to either approve the sale, or counter the buyer’s offer with a higher number.

Quite often the bank comes back with a number that was much higher than the listed price or, phantom number. The bank has to consider many factors, including estimated market value, payoff on the loan, the costs involved in the sale, etc. The bank, in trying to mitigate its losses, will attempt to get the highest price possible.

So many would-be buyers are getting frustrated by waiting months for third party approval, only to find out the bank wants an even higher price than what was listed. The phantom number effect. A disclosed bait and switch? Is it fair to list a home for sale at a short number without first getting the bank’s approval? Banks most likely don’t want to approve any number until an offer is presented and a clearer picture of the market is available. Sure, the fact that the listed price will be short has to be disclosed. Our MLS requires certain language be included on the listing:

Listing price may not be sufficient to cover all encumbrances, closing costs, or other seller charges and sale of Property at full listing price may be conditioned upon approval of third parties. Call for details.

And there’s also a disclosure for buyers to sign that includes the language:

1. You may not simply “walk away” from a contract which is subject to lender or third party approval - you will become obligated to perform under the contract from the date of its execution until the lender or third party disapproves the contract or a term in the contract permits either the seller or buyer to terminate.
The lender or third party is under no obligation to consider, respond to, approve, or disapprove your contract within any specified period of time.
It is possible the lender may elect not to approve the contract, in which event you will not be able to buy the property at the listing or contract price.
At the time the seller enters into the contract with you, the seller may not have been informed by the lender:
(a) what an acceptable purchase price may be, or
(b) that the lender would participate in or consider a potential Short Sale offer.

So buyers beware. That number may look great, but chances are you’ll not even get a response, much less approval. Every situation is different. Some lenders respond quickly, some short listing prices have already been approved. But the fact is, lenders would rather not have to foreclose on the property and attempt to auction it if they think they can do better by letting the borrower sell it short. Short sales are being approved. Let’s face it, market values have declined. So anyone who purchased near the top of the market in 2005-2006, and did not put 20% or more down, is most likely upside down. Likewise, anyone who refinanced in that time period, and tapped out their equity, most likely owes more than it’s worth.

So understanding the circumstances, the processes, and the fact that the list price is just a phantom number, can go a long way in reducing the frustration factor for would-be short sale buyers.

Did you know?

There are 707 MLS listings tagged as “Pre-Foreclosure” in the City of Tampa (as I type).

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 1 Comment »

Tampa MLS Search Site Traffic On The Rise

March 10th, 2008 categories: Tampa MLS, Tampa Market Conditions, Tips for Sellers

In terms of overall users, February of 2008 was a record setting month for our Tampa MLS search site, SearchTheTampaMLS.com. We had 1169 users in February up from 1112 in January, the previous busiest month.

The site allows users to search virtually all central Florida MLS listings. It’s really a one stop site for Tampa residential real estate searches. The map search has proven to be the most popular feature of the site. Users can select just the portion of the map in which they are interested in searching for Tampa homes for sale.

Other features allow users to save their searches and then get an automated e-mail whenever a new listing meeting their criteria hits the market. E-mails can also be sent when the price of a listing changes. The Favorites feature allows users to save listings of interest so that they can easily be found when returning to the site.

But serious home buyers will find that there is still no substitute for a good agent who can do a much more detailed search on the Mid-Florida Regional MLS. As Realtors, we can search using much more specific criteria such as flooring materials, room sizes, roofing material, presence of a formal dining room, etc. A good agent will also have knowledge of soon to be listed properties that may fit a buyer’s needs. The best properties are often sold through an agent/broker network through word of mouth or other network marketing such as e-mails, fliers or postcard mailings.

So if your just beginning your search, or simply like to browse homes for sale, check out SearchTheTampaMLS.com. Once you decide to get serious and put to use the skills of a professional, give us a call.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 2 Comments »

Searching Homes For Sale In Tampa Florida

February 12th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa MLS, Homes For Sale in Tampa

We’ve made it easy it search for homes for sale in Tampa, Florida with our Tampa MLS search site, SearchTheTampaMLS.com. With virtually all central Florida MLS listings included, this is the only home search site you’ll need for Tampa Bay area home listings.

One of the great features of SearchTheTampaMLS.com is the map search. Simply select an area of the map, enter any additional criteria, and the results are displayed graphically on the map for you.

You can also save your search criteria and get an automated e-mail alerting you of new listings matching your criteria. Give it a test drive at SearchTheTampaMLS.com.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 2 Comments »

Where Are The Bank Owned Properties In Tampa?

January 17th, 2008 categories: Tampa MLS, Short Sale Information

I was recently researching some bank-owned properties in Tampa for a client and figured I pass on some of what I found. When a bank can’t move a property at auction, they take ownership of the property through foreclosure. The bank will then usually have the property listed for sale on our MLS database.

These properties are most often tagged as bank-owned in the Realtor Info field in the database.

So I downloaded all of the bank-owned properties in Tampa to a spreadsheet to easily sort and analyze the data. Here is some of what I found:

• There are 264 properties identified as bank-owned on our MLS (currently).
• 216 of them are single family homes.
• 26 of them are condos in Tampa.
• 17 are bank-owned townhomes in Tampa.
• Median list price is $129,900
• 4 of them are homes priced at $500k minimum.
• Some are waterfront.
• Zip code 33604 has the most bank-owned properties.
• Within 33604, the biggest concentration of bank-owned properties is in Sulphur Springs.
• The largest is a bank-owned home in Waterchase of 4086sqft., with 5 beds, 3.5 baths.

Data used is from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS for city = Tampa. All brokers/agents included.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

Busy Week For Tampa Home Sales

December 21st, 2007 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa MLS, Hillsborough Property Tax

This coming week is usually busy as buyers rush to close before the end of the year to qualify for the homestead exemption for 2008.

In order to qualify for any given year, buyers must own and have lived in the property since January 1^st of that year. From Rob Turner’s website:

The deadline for a homestead exemption application is March 3, to have it apply for that year. You must own and have lived in the house as of January 1, of that year to qualify. You may prequalify for homestead year-round for the following year. Once homestead is granted, it is automatically renewed.

So just how busy? According to our MLS, there are 284 properties in pending status (City = Tampa) with an expected closing by 12/31/2007.

More about the Homestead Exemption:

Data used is from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, all brokers/agents included. Does not include private, non-brokered sales.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

« Previous Entries

Also Noteworthy

How's The Market In Your Neighborhood?

 

Real Estate Blogs

• Real Estate Blogs
• REagent
• Clearwater, FL Real Estate

What I'm Reading

• Dave's Backcountry Ski Blog
• Funny Stuff
• Get Your Grill On
• Retro Renovation
• Atomic Addiction

Tampa Blogs

• FloridaFoodHound
• Devil Rays Blog
• Sticks of Fire