Archive for July, 2007

The Bellamy On Bayshore Condos

July 13th, 2007 categories: Tampa Condos, South Tampa, Tampa Waterfront Homes, New Projects (Condos), South Tampa Neighborhoods

Bayshore Boulevard runs along an arm of Tampa Bay known as Hillsborough Bay. And along Bayshore boulevard runs a wide sidewalk with a balustrade that is generally considered the longest continuous sidewalk in the world at 4.5 miles. Popular with joggers, cyclists, walkers and skaters, Bayshore boulevard is also home to some of Tampa’s finest single family homes along with most of Tampa’s highrise condominium buildings. Downtown and Channelside are just now seeing their first high rise projects completed.

In the last 3 years Bayshore boulevard has seen 3 new condominium projects completed. Parkside of One Bayshore at 275 Bayshore Blvd. was completed in 2005, while The Alagon and The Bellamy further south have just been recently completed. Of the 3, The Bellamy stands out to me as being the most impressive. Built by JMC Communities, The Bellamy was a finalist for the NAHB’s 2007 Pillars Of The Industry awards in the Best Highrise Condominium Community category (Parkside was the ultimate winner, however). The Bellamy has a beautiful lobby area with rich, dark wood finishes. The pool area, on the west side of the building is large and wonderfully landscaped with many large palms. Other amenities include a movie theater and wine cellar area with private storage lockers. Floor plans are very open with some very large outdoor terraces with fantastic views. Many units have terraces on both the east and west side of the unit.

There are 4 main floor plans, all of which are 3 bedroom/3 baths, and the units run the depth of the building from east to west, so they all have Bayshore/downtown views as well as views westward and of the pool area below. The views from The Bellamy are some of the best I’ve seen with regard to Bayshore boulevard high rise condominiums.

There are currently 16 units available (64 units total) at The Bellamy ranging from $945k for a 6^th floor “C” unit to almost $6m dollars for the 21^st floor penthouse. And is anything selling? A 9^th floor “B” unit, listed by Toni Everett Co., sold for just over $1m just this week. The seller was the original purchaser and bought the unit for $885k. A 10th floor “D” unit, on the north side of the building and listed by Smith & Associates, sold in June for $1.4m and was sold by the original buyer who paid just over $1m for the property.

Browse condos for sale at The Bellamy on Bayshore Condominiums, Tampa Bay, Florida

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 1 Comment »

Talk About Hot!

July 12th, 2007 categories: Tampa Real Estate

Ah yes, July in Tampa. Bright sunshine, puffy white clouds, thunder, sweat, mosquitoes. The thermometer in the shade outside my office says 96.6 right now, and with a humidity of 60%, that’s a “feels like” of 102f.

I’ve got a client picking me up soon to head over to watch the Devil Rays try to put the season back together against the Yankees. He mentioned tailgating and having a few beverages before we go in. Yeah, right. On the nice blacktop parking lot. I think we’ll head over to Ferg’s instead and enjoy the technology that put Florida on the map-AIR CONDITIONING!

And while it does get somewhat sticky here from July through September, October through June is pretty darn near perfect. So we’ll take our three months of discomfort for the 10 months that we have to look forward to. Those February days in the low 70’s with low humidity make us quickly forget days like today. Stay cool.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

Not The Feedback We Were Looking For!

July 10th, 2007 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa Condos, South Tampa, Tampa Market Conditions, Tips for Sellers, Hillsborough Property Tax

My buyer is a “first time” home buyer, and the reality of taxes, etc. is coming into play. She is approved, it’s when we go over the numbers that she feels alot of pressure. Might need to lease for a year.. Thank you for letting me show. Best of luck, Buyer’s Agent”

Feedback from buyers and their agents about their take on a property can provide some very valuable insight for the listing agent and the homeowner. If you can get it. And when you think about it, a good buyer’s agent will usually not provide any feedback. No feedback is feedback in itself really. A good buyer’s agent will certainly not gush over their clients feelings about a home or condominium. Many do however. “It’s the perfect place. It’s just what they’ve been looking for!” I’ve heard it, believe it or not.

The feedback at the top of this post is what we received today from an agent that showed one of our listings yesterday. She was kind enough to reply to our e-mail inquiry. Is she bluffing? Maybe. She did say her buyer “loves that complex”. But this feedback really sums up the average buyer out there right now. Buyers are very cautious to make a move. They find something they like and then get the remorse before the offer is even made.

But come on now. If the buyer is pre-approved, shouldn’t she already know the numbers? What really causes the buyer’s fear is the reality that if she buys it now, she may owe more than it’s worth a year from now. Buyers are looking to get in at 10% under current market value to cushion any further devaluation.

And headlines such as the one in today’s Tampa Tribune business section don’t help. But these articles, for the most part, are reporting the facts. This year will end up similar to 2001 in sales volume. Freddie Mac predicts a better 2008, but that’s generally speaking of course. Real estate is local, not national. We’ve got a lot of inventory here to move through.

So if you’re a current seller or soon-to-be seller, be ready for cautious buyers (few) who aren’t in a hurry. And if you truly want to get it sold, it needs to be priced so that buyers feel that if they don’t get it, someone else will.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 2 Comments »

The Importance Of The Pre-List Title Examination

July 8th, 2007 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Home Inspection Tips, Tips for Sellers

There are many concerns that a homeowner should have before listing their home for sale and actively searching for a buyer. I always recommend a pre-listing home inspection to my seller clients. A thorough home inspection can and will uncover problems that lead to obstacles in getting a home sold. Why let your buyer’s home inspector find that roof leak if you can nip it in the bud with your own inspection?

And as a home inspection can turn up problems with the home, a title search can uncover issues with the marketability of the title to the property that may cause problems once a seller has found a buyer. We had this happen to a recently divorced seller of ours a few weeks ago. After finding a buyer in only a week, title company “A” found that there was an issue with the title, and the long lost ex-husband would have to be found before we could close. The buyer was in a situation that demanded a quick closing, to which our client had agreed. If we could not close on time, the buyer may have to look elsewhere we were told.

Title Company “A” could not give us a concrete answer on what was needed to get the deal closed. Would the ex have to sign a quitclaim deed? Not sure. When Title Company “A” could not provide a swift enough resolution, and the deal was at risk, our nervous seller went out and found a Title Company that looked over the facts and was able to promise a closing on the agreed upon date. Had she waited for company “A”’s answer we may have lost our buyer.

(While the story above is true, it was somewhat embellished to drive home the point)

So this is only one example of why we recommend a pre-listing title examination. It can be done pretty quickly and most Title Companies and some real estate attorneys will do this pro-bono (they want your business). They will simply check the chain of title to make sure things were done correctly each time ownership was conveyed. Any problems that are uncovered can be resolved before marketing the property and finding a buyer. This can go a long way to assuring a relatively pain-free transaction.

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Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

Tampa Bay Builders Say Buy!

July 8th, 2007 categories: Tampa Real Estate

The Tampa Bay Builders Association, a trade group of area home builders, has put together a campaign targeted at those buyers who are on the fence so to speak, with regard to purchasing a new home. Much like the NAR campaign, it focuses on why this is a good time to buy a home. Specifically they have put together a website with a 10 reasons to buy now list. And while this list has some pretty compelling arguments for purchasing a home, I really like their FAQ section that addresses a lot of the common concerns that we are currently hearing from prospective home buyers.

Those concerns are primarily focused on the doubt about where home prices are headed. We are undoubtedly in a strong buyers’ market, at least if you prescribe to the common definition. But does that mean now is a good time to buy? The fact is that all buyers’ situations are different and saying “now is a good time to buy” is way too general for a blanketed statement. How about back in summer of 2005? Were we all saying that that was a good time to buy? Home prices were appreciating at 20% annually. Competition among buyers was tremendous. “If everyone else is buying I should be as well, right?” And now? “No one else is buying, why should I be? There must be a reason.”

Fact is most people tend to move with the masses. There is confidence in doing what others are doing. When others were buying, many felt left out and had to get in on the game. Many were way back on the depth chart however and got in with little time left on the clock. And in today’s market there are few in the game (enough with the analogy). Something has to trigger a renewed interest and confidence in the residential real estate market. There were many factors external to residential real estate that got the whole thing so over-heated beginning in the early years of this decade. I doubt we’ll see anything like that for a long time.

So slow change will be the characteristic of the real estate market for the foreseeable future. So for some, yes, this is a great time to buy a home. Will prices head further south? Maybe. Depends on the property. Many will wait to see that prices are heading back up again and wait to see others buying. By then, many of the advantages buyers have today will be gone. Sometimes it’s good to go against the grain.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

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