Real Estate Agents here? (Cape Coral, Fort Myers: short sales, real estate market, foreclosed)

[twobums]

I am not a RE agent or involved in RE biz in any way... however, I live and work in Ft Myers zip 33908. There is a huge number of housing units sitting empty, not for sale, no RE signs at all. This shadow inventory may very well drop market prices even further. Under water mortgages are a dime a dozen... many more foreclosures may soon flood the market.

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Brace for a Wave of Foreclosures, the Dam is About to Break

[mrcoolmrcool28]

Originally Posted by Swigchow

What are Winters like? Is it best to buy a sfh or condo for a second home? Where are the best areas? Are most of the sales foreclosures?

Winter are great!! we were in Punta gorda in Feb, it was in the low 80's coming from Wisconsin, we wanted to run around naked in the sand We didn't But it's great!!

Good areas in SW Florida are Punta Gorda, Port Charotte, north Port, Sarasota some are more pricey then others, you really need to visit to get the best idea. Most homes are not foreclosures, but GREAT deals abound

[Swigchow]

If I were to come and visit, what would be the top three or four areas?
Are there still alot of foreclosures?

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by Swigchow

If I were to come and visit, what would be the top three or four areas?
Are there still alot of foreclosures?

The are still foreclosures out there but not as many as a few months ago. We are getting quite a few in our prelisting. Which is where they sit to get them ready to be put on the market.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by twobums

I am not a RE agent or involved in RE biz in any way... however, I live and work in Ft Myers zip 33908. There is a huge number of housing units sitting empty, not for sale, no RE signs at all. This shadow inventory may very well drop market prices even further. Under water mortgages are a dime a dozen... many more foreclosures may soon flood the market.

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Brace for a Wave of Foreclosures, the Dam is About to Break

that is a great article and the charts are good I wish there were more.. obviously the biggest link to foreclosures nationwide is the rise in unemployment . people bought house with little to no money down and had high mortgage payments when laid off they can't afford them.. What I liked about the article was it showed the correspondence between 1st notice to actual foreclosures and the lags that they have. Luckily from what I've been watching at least in the lee county area is that 1st notices have been going down which hopefully is something that "should" translate into less actual foreclosures in the next coming months. but for the rest of the nation looks like more bad news.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by nhkev

that is a great article and the charts are good I wish there were more.. obviously the biggest link to foreclosures nationwide is the rise in unemployment . people bought house with little to no money down and had high mortgage payments when laid off they can't afford them.. What I liked about the article was it showed the correspondence between 1st notice to actual foreclosures and the lags that they have. Luckily from what I've been watching at least in the lee county area is that 1st notices have been going down which hopefully is something that "should" translate into less actual foreclosures in the next coming months. but for the rest of the nation looks like more bad news.

Bless your heart. You managed to spin that info into "The rest of the country is in trouble but not Lee County." Keep saying that to yourself everynight before you go to sleep and maybe it will work. Nothing else has.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Bless your heart. You managed to spin that info into "The rest of the country is in trouble but not Lee County." Keep saying that to yourself everynight before you go to sleep and maybe it will work. Nothing else has.

So if the lee county clerk of courts says that the trend in foreclosures is down and that it went from 1 in 14 housing units to 1 in 64 housing units that's spin??? Real estate is local and this thread was asking specifically about where they thought prices were going. If someone posts an article (which is a good article and shows some charts that are valuable tools that people can look at for trends) but suggests that because filings are up in California, that more foreclosures are to follow, may not be the same situation (currently) in Florida. If I was looking at property in Florida I wouldn't care as much about the real estate outlook for Alaska. There are always multiple sides to every opinion and sometimes a headline or article does not tell the entire story.... and it can't because they don't know how it is going to play out. Even when I say foreclosure trends are down it doesn't mean it's going to stay that way it could be something simple like "the owner is in default and has chinese drywall, lender doesn't want property so they don't foreclose... regardless the fact is at this point that sales are outpacing homes coming on to market.

[yachtcare]

Originally Posted by nhkev

So if the lee county clerk of courts says that the trend in foreclosures is down and that it went from 1 in 14 housing units to 1 in 64 housing units that's spin???

Even when I say foreclosure trends are down it doesn't mean it's going to stay that way it could be something simple like "the owner is in default and has chinese drywall, lender doesn't want property so they don't foreclose... regardless the fact is at this point that sales are outpacing homes coming on to market.

Well so many homes were foreclosed, eventually the pace has to slacken a bit. But the employment situation is still deteriorating, and we have established that population is declining. So as investors snap up the bargains, who will they get to occupy them?

Here's one creative solution offered from the Fort Lauderdale area.......
Housing for sex offenders.......(yay!)
Home Page

[nhkev]

I think there are all ready enough sex offenders there.

[twobums]

It is difficult to explain how many empty homes are here in Ft Myers, unless you live here. Rows upon rows of vacant homes, dead lawns, screen doors hanging, AC units missing... and no 'for sale' signs. Once the shadow inventory hits the market, pricing will get very interesting. Who wants to catch a falling knife (or chainsaw)?