41% increase in sales. Anybody noticed this "micro-boom"? (Fort Myers: real estate market, condos)

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by BacktoFLigo

Sorry, I wasn't trying to offend you at all. It's the news people trying to make it look like it's getting so great here when it isn't... The reason they are selling is because of the HUGE flood of vacant homes selling for HALF what they were 4-5 years ago. Am I right? My mothers house was bought in 2001 for $115K, in 2005 it was worth $295K, now $155K... That is just wonderful.

If your mother bought in 2001 for 115k, and it's increased in value 40k in 7 years, that's not bad at all. Some places in the US get 2% appreciation/year if they're lucky.

Your mom's house was never "worth" 295k.... THAT was an artifical bubble price.... like selling water after a hurricane.

It's a GOOD THING if sales are rising because homes are back into "normal" price ranges.




I just recently bough a home last month, in a historic neighborhood. Most of the homes are owned by people who live in them, so there isn't a lot of inventory, and there are comparatively few homes for sale. Plus, it's not like they're building anymore historic homes, so it's a different market than if it was a subdivision in the same city.

Again, every area is different. The week I closed on my house (a short sale), the house down the block got a "sale pending" sign on it (not a short sale or foreclosure). A friend of mine looking in the same neighborhood was just out bid on a home a few blocks away that was a foreclosure. Meanwhile, condo buildings downtown sit empty.

[mytimenow]

[quote=TriMT7;4077235]If your mother bought in 2001 for 115k, and it's increased in value 40k in 7 years, that's not bad at all. Some places in the US get 2% appreciation/year if they're lucky.

Your mom's house was never "worth" 295k.... THAT was an artifical bubble price.... like selling water after a hurricane.

It's a GOOD THING if sales are rising because homes are back into "normal" price ranges.





And there's the crux of the matter. I also bought my home in Naples in 2001 for a little over $100K -- and the villa next door to me sold for over $250K in 2006 to "investors". Was it worth that amount -- of course not and of course it was foreclosed on! Residences in my neighborhood similar to mine now go for around $160K to $190K. I consider that a reasonable increase in value.

[SoFLGal]

Another thing I thought it might be interesting to look at as what type of sale it was i.e. foreclosure, owner occupied/regular, short sale, etc.

So, out of the May sales there were two short sales, four foreclosures and three owner sales, two builder sales.

Out of the June sales there are no short sales, eight foreclosures, two regular/owned by the owner and one builder sale-owned by the builder.

It looks like we are selling mostly foreclosures.

[MrTudo]

Originally Posted by BacktoFLigo

They are all full of CRAP.... Tons of houses just sitting for months here in Cape Coral, some for over a year.... It's just realtors trying to make it look good here....

The vast majority of realtors aren't smart enough to hype the market like that and the ones that do have intelligence are making money.

But good salespeople know how to make money and be productive in good markets and bad markets. That's why they're called ( and are ) producers.

Yes, tons of houses are sitting there and rightfully so. But I can tell you that my Wife and I have been out sniped on 3 houses we would have been happy to buy. Snooze you loose. The houses we missed, one of which we TRIED to buy, were lost because of an amateur realtor, in the profession for 19 years who didn't have a clue how to make a deal. Another because "I" waited too long and it was bought by some people from NY and another, well it was just overpriced and the listing realtor had no idea how to bring reality to the deal or else we would have bought it. SOFLGAL knows the house I'm talking about in fact knows all 3 although she wasn't there to lend a hand with the first 2 otherwise we'd be living in a different house now in all likelyhood.

MOST realtors like every other sales position are not top producers. MOST.

We have the same in my industry. The markets bullish and they come out of the woodwork to work in the trade. They, "get by" and even get lucky enough to make the occasional score. The marker slows or turns and they tuck tail and run back to wherever it was they came from in the first place. We call them wannabe's in the trade.

I can tell you that as far as real estate in Fla, or even SW Fla is concerned, it's bad and probably going to continue it's retracement. But look at the country in general. Ohio used to be a state that when people in my business got a lead from someone in that state it was considered a good lead. Hard working people in some kind of manufacturing. Well, that's gone for the most part isn't it? Look at Michigan. Same thing although Michigan is stifled by the contraction in the auto business. The northeast? I love it when people talk about the baby boomers from NJ as a case in point going to sell their million dollar homes, move to Fla, pay cash and live happily ever after. People in NJ aren't doing that. First, where are the buyers behind those baby boomers and secondly when they are leaving that state, they're FLEEING hoping to find a less taxing area in which to move.

Which brings me back to the "sunshine state". This USED to be an inexpensive place to live. As SOFLGAL can tell you, my Wife and I have been looking for another house to buy. We've got several areas we're interested in and what I will tell you is the taxes are OUT OF CONTROL here. You cannot have a house that's doubled and tripled in value and hope that the taxes don't do the same. Well they HAVE done the same. 300K houses on the east coast with 8 grand a year in property taxes. That's now HIGHER than NJ. So the prices of houses are coming down and should continue to do so. Does this mean that Florida is over, we're all gonna take the gas pipe and die?

Not hardly. We're having the best fiscal year EVER in my business. Did almost a million in business last MONTH. Used to be a good year when we did that. Now its generally every 2-3 months and suddenly the last few months have been unreal. Obviously there's money out there. Look at what I do and you'll know that I'm not talking with average "workers" on a day to day basis. A client of mine is here from Chicago area and looking to spend 7 figures ( cash) on a house. Another friend of mine who is a broker in Naples got his sister a house which was 800K just a few years ago for a little over 300K. We're looking for a deal like that. And eventually we'll get it.

To go out and stupidly buy whatever is out there is to ask to be fleeced. But if you're smart and use common sense, balance the costs of living , find a good realtor who will work with you, you'll find a good deal.

And wear short pants most of your life which is pretty dang cool. Er, cooler than wearing long pants hehehehe.

So don't be so negative. As the old saying goes , eat the chicken and spit out the bones. No matter what, make the best of it and strive to make life better and it will get better.

Sorry, I'm off the podium now

[MrTudo]

Jeez I can't believe I typed all that. Been sick since 4AM and I guess had some pent up typing to do

Heh

[JSnFla]

mr tudo what r u doing in this economy that earned u one million dollars last month? im real curious.

[ChrisA70]

Realty from what I read...

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by JSnFla

mr tudo what r u doing in this economy that earned u one million dollars last month? im real curious.

Look at his profile. That will give you an idea

[aphro23]

Originally Posted by PoincianaFlorida

Newspapers too often are tools for corporate entities. In this case, the entity is the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which seeks to bolster sales by reducing buyer fear.

NAR actively skews it numbers via a method I call super-cycling. For example, the current economic recession began about October 2006, at which point the market value of homes began to decrease. These values fell chronically over that two-year period but NAR market value statistics did not reflect month-to-month drops in any month during this period.

When it had become too obvious to hide, NAR tried super-cycling statistics to show that home values tumbled rapidly over a six-month period when in fact market values fell slowly each month over two years. Since no one noticed (well, except for me), NAR appears to believe that they have carte blanche to do it again and at will.

Now that the summer season is here, NAR is pushing in the opposite direction, once again skewing its statistics to show a trend of increased sales by on-the-fence buyers when in fact buyers have for the most part been hanging out on the fence. As in the post-9/11 years up leading up to 2006, the majority of buyers in today's market are speculators and investors, none of whom should be permitted to purchase residential housing stock, as that activity reduces the likelihood of homeownership by valid American families. (It pits people against business interests.)

Housing values are still falling in key states like California and Florida. Therefore, unless housing values improve this summer, you will see NAR super-cycling statistics again in the fall. And why not? They did it before and no one noticed.

How much lower can housing GO in Fort myers? My condo is already worth almost $80k less. Purchased in 2005 to flip w/in 5 years, and now am ready to go into foreclosure. Renters hard to find and I live up North. Just a big mess! This is a 1200 sq foot condo going for about $130k. I just can't see it going any lower. I think FM has definitely HIT BOTTOM!!!! Maybe other areas in Florida have NOT, but FM i believe def. HAS and thats why you are seeing a dramatic increase in sales. I also log into the Ellis Team website and they are showing the same results....

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by aphro23

How much lower can housing GO in Fort myers? My condo is already worth almost $80k less. Purchased in 2005 to flip w/in 5 years, and now am ready to go into foreclosure. Renters hard to find and I live up North. Just a big mess! This is a 1200 sq foot condo going for about $130k. I just can't see it going any lower. I think FM has definitely HIT BOTTOM!!!! Maybe other areas in Florida have NOT, but FM i believe def. HAS and thats why you are seeing a dramatic increase in sales. I also log into the Ellis Team website and they are showing the same results....

Did you sell it? No. So you are not at the bottom.

I don't mean to be unkind, but it's the truth. I am sorry.