MLS Market Snapshot Shows Tampa Real Estate Market Conditions

April 30th, 2008 categories: Tampa Market Conditions, Tips for Sellers, Tampa Home Buyer Tips

Do you see the Market Snapshot form over there in the right hand column? The Market Snapshot is a great tool for Tampa home buyers or sellers to keep tabs on what’s for sale, and on what’s selling in any Tampa neighborhood. And what’s best about this tool is that it automatically sends you an updated report every six weeks, or for whatever time period you select.

The report, sent by e-mail, shows active listings, recent sales, asking prices vs. selling prices, and other data that help Tampa home buyers and sellers understand the local market. You can select a zip code, or better yet, click the zip code lookup and just just select a spot on the map in which to center your reports.

The data we use on the Market Snapshot is imported directly from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, the database of all brokered listings and sales. Good stuff. Give it a try, or, contact us and we’d be happy to set it up for you and answer any questions about the market, your home’s value, specific neighborhoods, etc.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

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 »

Bigfoot Spotted in Seminole Heights

April 21st, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Seminole Heights Homes, Things To Do In Tampa

I use Google Earth quite a bit as a tool for property research. Users of Google Earth are allowed to upload content to the Google Earth Community, and this content can be shown as placemarks graphically within the application. So when I see these markers I like to click on them and see what valuable information has been uploaded by other users. One group that seems to upload quite a bit of content is the “Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization” (my application is pending).

These guys mark every darn place for which someone has ever reported a Bigfoot sighting. So as you would imagine, the map is loaded with BFRO markers. And make no mistake about it, these reports are highly entertaining. I was flying over Seminole Heights today and what do you know? There’s that unmistakable orange dot that I know marks a Bigfoot sighting. Yes, Seminole Heights had a Bigfoot sighting back in the 50’s it seems.

Here’s the Bigfoot report:

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

Another Great Palm For Tampa Home Landscapes

April 19th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, South Tampa, Things To Do In Tampa

Palms are all over Tampa, but what most folks see are the species that are so commonly planted, and the ones that are native to Florida, such as our state tree, the cabbage palm. But there are many others that do well in our sub-tropical climate. And south Tampa, being surrounded by water, has a little more protection from the cold as compared to other, more outlying areas. I collect palms, and previously posted about another great palm for providing a tropical feel here in Tampa, the Picabeen, or Bangalow palm.

Another in my inventory, and one of my favorites, is the Chambeyronia Macrocarpa, aka the Red Feather palm. The great characteristic of this palm, and the reason behind the common name, is the beautiful red coloring of the newly opened leaves. Mine opens a new leaf about twice each year, so when it does, it’s time for an impromptu celebration. That time is now. Here are some pics:

If you’re looking for something different, and something that will add a tropical feel to your Tampa home, keep this one in mind.

Fairchild Tropical Gardens, south of Miami, has a great collection of these palms. Here is a link:

http://palmguide.org/genus.php?family=ARECACEAE&genus=chambeyronia

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 1 Comment »

Pent Up Demand About To Be Being Released?

April 10th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa Florida Real Estate, Tampa Market Conditions, Tips for Sellers

Spring has sprung and along with it so has buyer traffic. From my perspective as well as the perspective of other Realtors, buyer traffic is way up. Listings are getting much more attention in recent weeks, website traffic and inquiries are way up as well. But the ultimate gauge of activity and demand as I see it is the amount of pending sales out there. Yep, that’s up too.

More importantly, the gap between listings and pendings, my measures of supply and demand, is trending tighter. Sure, ’tis the spring season and we expect this to be the case. But with the last 2 years of price corrections and sales declines, many would-be buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines are beginning to hop of the bench and move forward.

So I’ll be keeping a close eye on the number of pending contracts in the City of Tampa to see if all this traffic is converted to more listings being sold. If you can get the financing or have the cash, it’s great to be a home buyer in Tampa. And if you’ve been considering a sale, we are approaching the busy season.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 1 Comment »

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