Monday, November 12, 2007

God Bless the Veterans!

Happy Veteran's day! I just want to say to all vets---Thank you for your service and may God richly bless you for it! I know that I have been blessed because of your sacrifice. My brother and father are veterans and, of course, I know many more. It amazes me how unpretentious they are when talking about their service for our country and no matter how "unpleasant" the circumstances of their duty, they would do it again in a minute!
Again, thank you for making this the greatest country in the world!!

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I always have to brag on the weather so.......MAN IT IS BEAUTIFUL HERE! My house is up on stilts so I usually catch a good breeze. We haven't had our AC on for a month now and I only turned the heat on for a few minutes in the morning one time just to warm the house up a little.
I love the time of year when I can keep the windows open!!!! Its been in the lower to mid 70's and sunny throughout the day, but getting down to a "freezing" 55 or so at night!!!


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Well, lets get down to the nuts and bolts of this blog---Real Estate!

Looks as if the mortgage industry is working with the foreclosures any way they can. The banks don't want to own property, certainly not overpriced property!!!! We have several deals going on right now that are "short sales". This means that the banks are willing to take a loss on the property, the selling price is less than the mortgage amount. Short sales usually take a longer time to transact simply because the purchase contract has to be approved by the bank and we all know that it is not a simple phone call with a yes or no response. However, the banks are willing to work with us simply because it saves them the legal fees of a foreclosure and they know that buyers are few and far between so once you have a buyer-----let's make it work!!!

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The age old debate of "is this the bottom" continues. I heard that sales price were going to decline another 3% throughout Florida. Hopefully, you are not letting that stop you from making offers!! Most sellers are willing to negotiate much more than that on their current list price. The last few contracts I've worked have been right around 15% off the list price.

I firmly believe that if you are buying property with the intentions of using now, or holding on to for at least 3-5 years, you can't go wrong to buy now. Of course, that means, if you are buying to "flip" within a couple of years and make a huge profit-------I don't encourage you to buy now unless you find that "one in a million" deal.

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Mexico Beach has always been a market for "end-users". End-users are people who buy a place to use as a vacation/weekend place. It astounds me how many Georgia folks drive down here almost every weekend!!! We also sell to people who know they want to retire here. There have always been a few "investors" who buy low and sell high. Those investors came in droves and ravaged our area a couple of years ago and we will pay the price for many years to come. However, those "flipping" days are over.

Once the market completely stabilizes we will back to the normal coastal rate of appreciation. Which has always been a good long term return on your money!!!

Those who got caught up in the frenzy and bought at the height of the market are paying the price right now--------however, even some of them will be okay, if they can hang on long enough!!!!

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There are some exceptional deals on the market right now. And just about every MLS info sheet says "Seller motivated" "Will look at all offers"!!

I don't want anybody to purchase something they can't afford. The best thing to do is figure out your bottom dollar. If you have to finance, get pre-approved. Then tell your Realtor what you are looking for and the amount you can spend. Of course, your Realtor is going to send you properties that are higher than what you want to spend, that's because they know you can always offer less!!!!!

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So, I know my job is to sell you something---but I only want to sell you something you want!

And who doesn't want a place near the beach???? Remember, you don't have to be right on the water to enjoy our area. Just about every house is walkable or golf cart ridable (is that a word?) to the beach in just a few minutes. We have 3bed/2 bath townhouses starting at $130,000!

If you haven't emailed me with your "wish list" yet, please do and I'll do my best to find you what you want for the price you want. If I can't find it right away, I'll keep looking until you tell me to stop!!!!
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As always, feel free to browse my website and give me a call anytime!!!!

Thanks, Have a fantastic week and remember "With God all things are possible!"