What's the deal with the realtors in Tampa? (mortgage broker, loan)

[ts_ohio]

Originally Posted by FLBOUND?

I found a realtor right off this website. Contacted her after reading her posts and was impressed. Moving to Tampa from NYC. She's worked tirelessly for us since day one. Very responsive. When we buy, we'll use her.

By the way, we're renting for at least one year, then buying. I don't think now's the time to buy. I think prices are going down further....

We are also debating renting v/s buying... but maybe our friends in this forum can comment..

a) What about the 'lost' rent during the period.. For e.g., in my case, rental is approx 2000 per month (Single Family Home). For 12 months, I 'lose' 24,000 bux
b) Interest rates are low (e.g. 5.7% now)... if it goes up to 7% (worse case) in one year, its a substantial difference on a max conventional loan of 415,000

If we end up buying, we are in it for at least 5-7 yrs minimum...

Do you think prices in SouthTampa will go down by another 15%? That's a lot of dough (-90,000) on a house currently priced around 600K! The houses that I am seeing were listed at 750,000 and are now 600,000.

Am I right in assuming that houses in the SouthTampa area will not drop *that* much in the next one year (when compared to other areas in Tampa)?

Maybe I can atleast sell it for the price I buy now in another 5 yrs (worst case scenario?

Note: By SouthTampa, I mean the areas like Palma Ceia, Hyde Park, etc in 33629
TIA

[nefariousmuze]

Originally Posted by FLBOUND?

I found a realtor right off this website. Contacted her after reading her posts and was impressed. Moving to Tampa from NYC. She's worked tirelessly for us since day one. Very responsive. When we buy, we'll use her.

By the way, we're renting for at least one year, then buying. I don't think now's the time to buy. I think prices are going down further....

Same here - will rent for at least a year before making a purchase, and will use the realtor that helped me with the rental when I do. She was the only one who called me back after learning that I wanted to rent (and not buy) - and she spent two full days with me looking at prospective rental units.

I found a unit - but the listing agent for the unit has been a total ditz. Had tons of errors on the listing (square footage was wrong, stated that water/trash was included in rent when it wasn't), was totally unprofessional with me, and then "lost" my security deposit. I could go on and on - and the deal almost fell through because of her incompetence. Luckily, my realtor is a gem - and she's been dealing with the ditz listing agent directly.

Nef

[bentlebee]

The house next to me is for sale and the listing is stating that it is a 5/3/2 which should be 4/2,5/2. The square footage is also wrong. I have a friend who is a realtor and she told em that it has to be put the right way on the MLS or the realtor can get a penalty for misleading. Why aren't they given penalties? The home is listed by realtor # 4 and still wrong on MLS. If I look at a house and go to the property appraiser website and find it is wrong, I already see a red flag when these numbers are off.
I'm happy to hear people are finding good realtors but if you read these blogs, they are very hard to find.
I feel sorry for the realtor who was also an investor and is having 1 foreclosure and 1 more coming up. On the other hand if this is the knowledge he is bringing to his clients, than I'm very worried for all the buyers who are not having much knowledge about buying a home and are trusting a realtor who actually doesn't know what he was doing.

[spainbrit]

There is a time frame for getting information on the MLS, unfortunately not all associations (ie Tampa as opposed to Pinellas, or maybe Orlando Realtors) have the same rules for listing on MLS. Some require rooms sizes for main rooms, others don't. Some have to have the picture listed within a couple of days, others don't seem to have that ruling - but what I don't understand is why a person who takes a listing, can't take the photo at the same time as getting information. In my opinion, if they list without a photo, that's the first sign that you have a lazy agent. These people who make the mistakes do get penalized if reported, but there is a process for this too. Sometimes mistakes are genuine, but if they continue to be there, they should be addressed. If you know of them, report them to the association to which the realtor belongs.

Article 12 of the Realtors Code of Ethics. (standard 12-8) 'The obligation to present a true picture in representations to the public include information presented provided or displayed on Realtors websites. Realtors shall use reasonable efforts to ensure that information on their websites is current. When it becomes apparent that information on a realtors webstie is no longer current or accurate, Realtors shall promptly take corrective action' (adopted 1/07)
However, not all sales agents are Realtors, who have to conform to a higher code of ethics. Sometimes people complain about Realtors, when they really mean licensed Real Estate Salespeople. Although anyone who has even that designation has duties to the public, and any property listed on an MLS site has to conform to the rules of that particular MLS organization, and there are penalties for not doing so. However, with literally 1000s of listings on any site, only when someone reports it, does it get fixed, it's impossible to police and check every item of information on there.
It's not ideal, and there is room for improvement for certain, as is the way with many large entities.

As for the realtor/investor, I think anyone in any business can make mistakes, that is how business is, some win some lose. If the Chairman of the Fed can't see it coming, or worse can, and he and the government play it down, then why expect a regular working person to? There are some very unfortunate people out there right now, some were greedy, some were ill advised, some just didn't see it coming and thought they had a safe harbor for their retirement money. I hope for all it doesn't last forever.

[bentlebee]

I just looked on realtor.com and found an interesting house for sale. I went to the address to see the picture doesn't match the model and the County it is located in is totaly wrong. So wrong picture, wrong County, what more can be wrong about this.....?

[spainbrit]

I have known of problems with realtor.com - it stems from a few years back when a friend of mine had a sale on a new condo at the beach. The buyer came on the phone furious because she had found an identical condo on realtor.com for less - this was an older listing, not removed by realtor.com and (as was typical with preconstruction 4 years back) the more recent sales were higher. Since then I find that it does not always keep up with the various MLS systems. However, you can report errors. Also when realtor.com interfaces with several different mls programs, sometimes the information becomes distorted. I have found this as I am a realtor with GTAR in Tampa and work in Pinellas also. The input for information is different for our different MLS systems and it doesn't always translate correctly. However, an email to them should at least set it right or have someone start working on putting the problem right. As I said, sometimes large entities have problems getting all the details right, this one does seem extreme tho!

[tresjolie3]

I am planning to visit Tampa in the spring to buy a second home that we will use as a vacation home for about two years and then retire to permanently. Tampa seems to have everything that my husband and I need to live.

Are you saying that in two years it will be worth significantly less? When is the market expected to bottom out?

[spainbrit]

REading in the Miami newspaper this weekend, I see that their 'sources' think that if there is a recession that Florida will suffer more than some other states. If a recession occurs, the prospects for a downturn in housing could be worse and may continue into 2009 (which frankly I think it might anyway). The market was high two years ago. Overheated by a long way. Prices are falling, and will possibly continue, I don't see how they cannot. Those who are recent buyers will have a couple of choice, stay for the long term, or examine options such as losing on the deal. Buying a house at 400,000 and seeing now valued at 300,000 is a 25% loss. When the market bottoms out, it will not start to move up immediately, and then to get to that point again, you have to see a movement of almost 34% to get back to that 400K mark. In any market a movement of 34% is not going to happen in a year. The upward turn of the circle is much much slower than the downward side - in housing, or that has been usually been the case.

If you want to look for homes to buy now, I think its a good time, next year or later this year might be better, no one can predict that. But if you are looking for the long haul, which clearly you are, why not buy now? You may see it stay at the same value for a long time though. I am looking at a subdivision close to the gulf beaches - in Pinellas - that has everything that we are looking for down the road, and I'm thinking of buying now and looking for a long term tenant to cover my running costs. There is another (condo) development we may consider, but I do like my own little house and garden. If you want to use your property and vacation beforehand and maybe fix it up to your personal liking and taste, then this and many other locations will work for you I am sure.

[bentlebee]

Well the realtor who didn't know on which house we had an appointment on last week and I had to help him remind which property it was, just didn't show up for the rescheduled appointment. So i called him from the house which he was supposed to show us. He told me totally forgot about the appointment because he lost his phone and told he would call the owners right away. Within 2 min. he calls me back and tells me there is a verbal offer on the house and the house is no longer listed....Strange, not even waiting if the offer will be in writing and signed? We couldn't see the home over the weekend because the owner had a sick family member... Another realtor that isn't worth to be called a realtor.

[mquintana]

It isn't the best thing to purchase a home. The market is-yes-great for buyers, but please look into the HOA fees, insurance, and property taxes. They can be a killer!