Looking For A Florida Villa To Spend Your Florida Holidays In...Think Davenport FL

There is one thing that everyone in the world can agree on, and that is...Central Florida is a great destination for a vacation or holiday. There is so much to do and see and experience. Another fact that most people can agree on is that we all want our trip to be easy and uncomplicated.

Well here's the answer, why rent a vacation home in Davenport FL when you can own your own holiday villa. What could be easier? No rude hotel staff, no check-in or check-out times, and all the privacy you want. There's no time like the present to buy a little piece of heaven!

From premier golf communities like Highland Reserve, to beautiful, well manicured vacation villas like Westridge...Davenport FL has a house that you can call home for the holidays.

As long as you haven't been in a bomb shelter for the last 4 years, you know that property values are very low. Homes that would have been unattainable 4 years ago are now within reach for home buyers. The average sold price for a home in Highlands Reserve in May of 2006 was $449,250. The average sold price for a home in May of this year was $167,385. That means average property values in Highland Reserve are now 37% of what they were in 2006.

Talk about a buyer's market!! If you need a little help getting started on your home search, give me call, I'd be glad to help.

 

 

Your friendly Davenport, FL Realtor®

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Posted via email from nathantutas's posterous

The "MOMENT"...Why We Do What We Do

Have you ever had a "MOMENT"? One of those moments when your child looks into your eyes and you just know that you will do anything for them? I had one yesterday. My little mini-me, Caleb (the one driving in the video) came up and asked if he could spend his $1 dollar on a truck. We were on our way out the door and so we could just stop in at a store and pick one up for him.

When we got to the store and rounded the corner of the toys section, his eyes lit up and somehow I knew I was in trouble. He bolted right over to the Power Wheels and started jumping in and out of each one. I'm sure every father walks right into this dilemma at some point. Right? :)  I initially thought he wanted a Hot Wheels truck, which is about $1. But alas...he wanted a Power Wheels truck, which is more like $150. So for the last hour, he's had his heart set on buying a big Power Wheels truck with his nice crisp one dollar bill. LOL.

Well, what's a daddy to do? I can't break his little heart, so I told him to pick out the one he likes and I'd help him spend his dollar. And wouldn't you know it...he picked out a PINK truck. Haha. He's only 5, he'll learn. So we brought that little pink truck home and he went for a drive, and he even gave his little sister a ride. He's so considerate.

While I watched them drive around the yard I thought to myself "THIS IS WHY I DO WHAT I DO". The next time an inspection goes bad, or a deal starts going south I'm just going to stop and think about that "MOMENT", collect my thoughts and keep putting one foot in front of the other. That's all any of us can do. Stay motivated people, that's the key to success! Well, that and hard work.

 

 

Your friendly Davenport, FL Realtor®

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Posted via email from nathantutas's posterous

Don't They Teach Scout's Honor Anymore?

As realtors, we are always under the microscope. Sellers and buyers want to know they are dealing with a straight shooter. Someone who has integrity and a good work ethic, as well as knowledge of the market and the ability to get the job done. I used to tell my Marines (back in the old Corps) that someone's true character was best tested when no one was looking. Do you do what's right because you don't want to get caught red handed, or do you do what's right because it's the right thing to do? Think about that for a second.

I know for a fact that a person looking to sell their Davenport Florida short sale is going to be looking for someone who they can trust. And I'd like to be able to trust them as well. It really is a two way street.

I had a seller contact me a couple of months ago who initially just told me he wanted to sell his home as a short sale and needed some help. So I start doing some research and putting things in line. I found out that he was actually an investor who was doing an A-B-C short sale with the original owner of the property, in our first conversation he had already lied to me. But I let that one go, maybe he just wasn't a good communicator. He already had short sale approval from the lender and was just needing to find a buyer. Great, I can handle that. I've got a database of 600 or so investors who might be interested.

We got the listing agreement done and put the house on the market. About a week later I get a call from him and he needs to take the property off the market for a couple of weeks to sort some stuff out with the lender. "Sure thing, no problem," I say, "just let me know when you're ready to move ahead." So I give him a call a week later and can't reach him. It took another 3 weeks total before he returned my call. He proceeds to lie through his teeth for about the next ten minutes and finally gets to the point, he no longer needs my services.

Basically, he found another realtor willing to list the house for cheaper and find a buyer. Well at this point I explained that he signed a listing agreement with our company, but there really isn't much I can do. If I hold him to it, he is just going to try to run my name through the mud. So I decide to just let it go and let bygones be bygones. I know karma will sort it out in the end.

I've kept track of the property in the MLS over the last 2 months and it's been withdrawn listing after withdrawn listing. Every time he finds another realtor to work with, they figure out that he's dishonest and drop him like a bad habit. The property has been withdrawn 5 times in 2 months and I feel bad for the original owner. They are in a bad position and there isn't much they can do about it. If he had just been honest from the start, we would have had the thing under contract and well on it's way to being closed (maybe, with short sales who knows how long it's going to take). I'm sure we could have worked out the commission. But as it is, that house is never going to be sold because no one wants to work with someone who's dishonest.

It's a two way street, I'm going to be honest with you, but I expect the same in return!

Photo courtesy of azrainman at Flickr

 

 

Your friendly Davenport, FL Realtor®

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Posted via email from nathantutas's posterous

Unavailable Listings Got You Down? Show Em The Ugly Face!

This is the face I make every time I have to tell a home buyer that the home they just saw listed on Realtor.com is actually unavailable.

"Yes, Mr. Ineedahome, I understand that it is still listed as active in the MLS."; and "Yes Mr. Ineedahome, I realize that it's a waste of your time having listings on there that should be pending." What am I supposed to say?

I realize that I'm probably stepping on someone's shoes here, but...I know it shouldn't be active, you know it shouldn't be active, and guess what...the consumer knows it shouldn't be active.

I see this as an unfair practice by REO listing agents. I know it's not their fault, but they still end up being the focus of buyer agent's frustrations. Here in Davenport Florida, realtors leave their listings as active until the banks get all of their bank addenda back signed by the buyer. This usually takes about 5-7 days after the property is actually under contract and an offer was accepted. Normally it wouldn't be so bad, but out of 871 active listings in Davenport, Florida 107 are foreclosures. That's a pretty significant portion, and it ends up being a thorn in the side of buyers and buyer's agents alike.

And don't even get me started about this problem in Kissimmee and Poinciana, it's even worse. I know I can't be the only realtor who thinks this needs to change, at least I hope not. I can't be alone in my misery. :)  I know the banks want the property to stay on the market just in case the buyer they are accepting walks away. However, what have they actually lost if they make the listing pending while they wait on the bank addenda? They've probably already listed the property 10%-15% below market value and know the house is going to sell.

What do you think? Some of you REO agents come on over here and argue the point with me. I'd like to hear your side of it. You never know...I could be wrong. But I doubt it! (wink)

 

 

Your friendly Davenport, FL Realtor®

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Posted via email from nathantutas's posterous

You Can't Low-Ball A Davenport, Florida Short Sale, It's A Waste Of Time

I had a home buyer in Davenport, Florida call me last week and ask about a property they saw listed. It was a short sale and they thought it looked like a great deal. This automatically got my "Spider-Senses" going. As with most things in life, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

And this is the case with most short sales as well. There is the possibility that it is a pre-approved short sale, and the lender has already given the listing agent the net price they will accept to approve a sale. But the odds aren't good. Normally, it's priced low because the listing agent is trying to get the thing under contract with a buyer quickly. Obviously, selling your home quickly is a good thing.

The problem is, when the lender sees the price on the sales contract they will balk if it's too low. I'll give you a good example. As a matter of fact I'll give you my example. The house my buyers called about was listed as a short sale for $100,900. I already know that a home of this type in that area in Davenport, Florida is worth about $135,000-$147,000 depending on it's condition and location. So there's no way a lender is going to accept $100,000.

So the first thing I do is call the listing agent to find out why he priced it so low. It ended up not being a pre-approved short sale price. And his response may shock you. Here's a brief synopsis of our conversation:

Short Sale Newbie: "You're the 8th realtor to tell me that this house is priced too low and won't get approved, what do you think it should be priced at?"

Me: "It's your listing man, I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is for my buyer."

Short Sale Newbie: "Well, I didn't even do a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) on it when I priced it. I figured it didn't matter."

Me: "Why wouldn't it matter? The seller's lender has to approve the sale and the BPO (Broker Price Opinion) on this property is going to come in a hell of a lot higher than $100,000"

Short Sale Newbie: "What's a BPO?"

At this point, I could see this conversation was going nowhere, so I politely excused myself from it. As the consumer, you need to know that the lender is going to send out for a Broker Price Opinion to try to value the home. If it comes in at $145,000 and the sales contract is for $100,000, either you or the buyer will have to bring the extra funds to closing. And that probably ain't happening.

So you just wasted 4, 6, or maybe 8 months of your life (and the buyer's life) because now the deal is dead in the water. A short sale needs to be priced properly. The seller usually can't walk away with any of the closing funds anyway. So the best way to price it is right at market value. If you don't get any showings you lower the price a little bit every couple of weeks until you do. At least that way, you can show the lender that you tried to sell it for as much as possible.

This will also keep buyers from calling their realtor with unrealistic expectations and then being upset when the truth is laid on them. On a short sale, the market will sort out the price for you if you initially price it correctly.

If you'd like more helpful hints on getting your Davenport, Florida short sale sold please visit www.centralfloridashortsales.com. And if you can't find the answers there, I guess you'll just have to call me. :)

Image courtesy of Dricker94 at Flickr

 

 

Your friendly Davenport, FL Realtor®

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Posted via email from nathantutas's posterous