HR 3221 - Good For Us? - 07/31/08 07:53 AM
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a good day yesterday, did you?
Overall, I think Tallahassee had a good day with this bill being signed by President Bush yesterday. Tallahassee is a town that historically is very active in loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (government loans) so the fact the financial reinforcement has been provided means that Tallahassee home buyers will have their “normal” sources of mortgage funds.
Now, back to Fannie and Freddie, it seems they got much of what they asked for, and a few things they did not:
$300B (B as in Billion) to expand … (0 comments)

Cash Is King - Pre-Approval Looks Like Cash To A Home Seller - 07/31/08 07:47 AM
Too often, we work with people who want to buy a home in Tallahassee who do not understand the importance of being a strong buyer. They believe that due to the nature of the market, they have thousands of homes from which to choose so they can just go out and “shop.”
But that is not the case in the Tallahassee real estate market. As a matter of fact, that has never been the case in just about any real estate market. You see, the inventory of homes for sale in Tallahassee is quite large, but it can be divided into … (4 comments)

Meet Me At My Office - Not At The Property Please - 07/31/08 07:44 AM
Have you ever been driving around a neighborhood and seen a home for sale that really piqued your curiosity? Most likely you called the real estate brokerage office and asked to see the property, only to be asked to come to the office. The office might even be on the opposite side of town!
This scenario happens all to often in our Century 21 in Tallahassee (Century 21 First Realty). You might wonder why most real estate professionals will refuse to meet you at the home, rather they insist on you coming to the office for the first meeting. You might … (8 comments)

Monthly Real Estate Market Graphs - Get 'em While They're Hot - 07/29/08 07:28 AM
Once a month, I receive my data for all the recorded sales in Leon County. This complete data set is roughly 50% larger than the sales data from the Tallahassee Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS), and thus it gives us a better perspective of the entire Tallahassee real estate market than just the MLS reports.
Fortunately, you can visit our Tallahassee Market Bulletin more than just once per month, as we update the information there at least twice per week. The Tallahassee Market Bulletin can be viewed any time and is located at http://www.manausa.com/market.php. Also, you might have noticed … (0 comments)

Understanding Real Estate Market Cycles - 07/29/08 07:26 AM
Today’s blog is going to be an update on the inventory of homes in the Tallahassee real estate market. I want to remind the readers that this information can be found, updated twice per week,  on our Tallahassee Real Estate Web site at http://www.manausa.com/market.php.
The key to figuring out the market is understanding the cycles that we must endure. From the graphic below, we can see that we spent the past two years stuck between Point A and Point B. Prices have risen and we were seeing our inventory grow. This was in part due to over-building, but primarily due to … (0 comments)

What Exactly Is For Sale In This Housing Market? - 07/29/08 07:22 AM
As I get ready to make my annual trip to West Point, I find myself checking the Tallahassee Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to find out what is for sale in the Tallahassee real estate market.
The good news is that inventory has made a modest decline in the past few weeks. When I look at homes for sale in Tallahassee (single family detached homes, condos and townhouses), I find that the total inventory of homes on the market in Tallahassee has dropped to 3,217 homes. Here is how that breaks down:
Homes For Sale In Tallahassee 322 new … (0 comments)

Want Some Links To Your Blog? - 07/28/08 07:47 PM
Hey all you Rainers!!!
I am looking for articles about current local real estate market conditions and I'm willing to provide you some great link juice. All you have to do is write a blog about your real estate market and submit your blog to the Real Estate Market Reports Blog Carnival. This will be published weekly and will feature well written market reports by real estate bloggers. You can submit as many entries as you like and as many blogs as you like.
Over time, this blog carnival will be featured at different locations and will provide great links for … (17 comments)

Tallahassee, FL: Heritage Hills Acreage Homes - 07/23/08 05:33 AM
Do you want to live on your own 3 to 5 acre homesite, in a new home, at an affordable price, but still have easy access to town?
This is what everyone has been asking for. Just off I-10 at Hwy 59, you’ll find new 3 & 4 bedroom homes at Heritage Hills offering quiet, country living and a place to enjoy peaceful solitude.
 
After a hectic day at the office in town, doesn’t this sound refreshing? This new neighborhood is an exceptional buying opportunity. So many new neighborhoods are being built upon small lots, why not get your … (2 comments)

Tallahassee, FL: Heritage Hills Acreage Homes - 07/23/08 05:32 AM
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Tallahassee, FL: Summerbrooke And Ox Bottom Manor - 07/23/08 05:27 AM
I was recently contacted by Kathy Fredericks, the publisher of many fine Home Owner Association newsletters in the Tallahassee real estate market. Kathy was hoping I could generate some “quick” content relevant to SummerBrooke and Ox Bottom Manor on the Northeast side of Tallahassee. I think this post will be pretty quick, but you will have to be the judge on relevancy…
Two of the larger neighborhoods in Northeast Tallahassee are Ox Bottom Manor and SummerBrooke. I have watched them grow from upstarts to mostly-full developments over the past 17 years. The homes in these two communities are larger than the … (0 comments)

How To Make Market Graphs For Your Blog - 07/20/08 01:24 PM
This is long over due. Ever since I posted a blog on how to use Microsoft Excel to create market graphs, I have been thinking about doing an instructional video for Active Rain members. Finally, I have it posted!
If you have been wondering if you could be posting useful charts and graphs in a real estate blog, you can! Here is all you need to know about creating simple charts using Microsoft Excel. Watch the video and let me know what you think!
If you would like to see examples of real estate market graphs or if you want some … (72 comments)

What Has Happened To The 3000 Square Foot Home Values? - 07/19/08 11:38 AM
We do a lot of work in the relocation industry (corporate moves and affinity relationships) and recently we were sent a request for information that I felt would make a great basis for a real estate blog for Tallahassee housing. We are the principal broker for the Cartus Relocation Network in Tallahassee and they refer a lot of business to our residential office. They informed us that a customer is moving an employee from Pennsylvania to Tallahassee and was curious about price movements in the Tallahassee real estate market. Here is the message that we received:
“In an effort to offset … (22 comments)

Here Comes The Bull - 07/19/08 11:35 AM
I had a request from a long-time reader yesterday that I felt would make a great follow-up article to the one that we did a few days ago on Southwood in Tallahassee. For those of you who saw the headline and were hoping for a “Running of the Bulls - Southern Style!,” then I am sorry to disappoint. This article is about the Bull Run Subdivision in Tallahassee, Florida, not about running with the bulls in Pamplono Spain.
MLM, a reader of my work for over 40 years, asked “Hi Joe, Could you do a blog on Bull Run similar to … (2 comments)

Tallahassee Subdivision Report - June 2008 - 07/19/08 11:25 AM
Here’s a quick Tallahassee Subdivision update. I downloaded all the current listings in the Tallahassee Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and tabulated the results by subdivision. The first column gives the name of the subdivision. The second column, titled “Homes” shows the number of homes on the market. The third and fourth column are the average price and the average price per square foot per home on the market. The fifth column shows how the average price per square foot compares to the Tallahassee average.
Follow this link to see All Tallahassee Subdivisions and Neighborhoods.
 

As a … (0 comments)

Inventory Graphs Show Market Turning - 07/16/08 01:40 PM
Sometimes if we look hard enough, we can find something new to report in the Tallahassee real estate market. Today, I have produced real estate inventory graphs that show what appears to be a change in the direction of growth in residential inventory.
If you refer back to a previous article on real estate inventory in Tallahassee, we thought we might be seeing something to indicate a directional change in residential inventory (the amount of homes on the market has been growing, now it appears that the amount of homes on market might actually be shrinking). Below, we can see inventory … (14 comments)

What Can Happen In Three Months - Southwood Story - 07/15/08 06:21 PM
Several months ago, I wrote a blog about the Southwood Subdivision in Tallahassee. Back then, I reported that home prices were dropping and heading towards the “pre boom” levels that we saw in 2005. I thought it might be interesting to see a quick update on what is happening in Southwood three months later.
The first thing that I saw when I pulled information from the Tallahassee Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS) was that Beazer homes was the seller in 33% of the Southwood home sales in the past 12 months. When I took into account all the new … (0 comments)

One Year In The Rain - Who Is Visiting? - 07/14/08 11:36 AM
Thanks to ActiveRain, I have now been blogging for exactly 1 year! I started on July 14th, 2007. Since that time I have started two other blogs and have posted 282 blogs on Active Rain and 101 Blogs on the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog. One interesting thing to note, my Tallahassee Real Estate profile on ActiveRain has been viewed 10,442 times in one-year, which is over 28 times per day!
I have embraced some new technologies over this past year, with one important technology being Google Analytics. This free software shows you quite a bit about what is going on with your … (14 comments)

Are You In A Declining Market? - 07/13/08 10:38 AM
If you are in the market for a new mortgage loan, whether for buying a home or refinancing a home, then you might have run across a term that is causing great confusion in the real estate market today. The term that I am referring to is “Declining Markets.”
What Is A Declining Market And How Does It Affect Me? Whenever I want to know something that relates to the mortgage industry, I ask a great mortgage loan officer that I know, Joe Kupiszewski, of Century 21 Mortgage. So I went to Joe this morning and asked if he could … (4 comments)

Housing Inventory - Trend Analysis Tells The Tale - 07/09/08 02:50 PM
You might want to check out our Tallahassee Real Estate Inventory Update again. Every thirty days, I add another long-term trend chart with the goal of eventually having a 365-day trend chart. As you can tell, we just added the 120-day trend graph.  Our goal is to monitor as many trends in real estate as possible.

Understanding Trends In Real Estate With the feedback that I have received on our market update, I think it might be wise to discuss why we publish real estate trend analysis, rather than just charting the daily ups and downs of the market as … (0 comments)

How To Avoid Foreclosure - Video Advice From A Pro - 07/08/08 01:55 PM
re you in a situation that you never thought could happen to you? Are you worried about losing your property through bank foreclosure? If so, Century 21 First Realty in Tallahassee has created resource videos that explain your options and some processes that might be right for you.
If you are facing a possible foreclosure due to late payments on your mortgage, there are some things that you can do to get back in the good graces of the bank(s). You could:
Get current on your payments Work-out a loan modification with the bank(s) Ask the bank for forbearance (put the … (0 comments)

Help: I Need To Get Nancy To Prescott, Arizona - 07/07/08 02:21 PM
I received an email request from a reader “Nancy” in Orlando, Florida last night. For medical reasons, she needs to move to a real estate market that has little humidity and she wants to be in Prescott, Arizona. Nancy writes
“Hi Joe, saw your site after doing a search “where do I trade my house“.
My husband and I have a Lakefront Home (upscaled) on 1 Acre with Rental Income near Orlando, FL. It is a 4 BR, 4 BA, 4012 sq. ft., multi-level very unique and sunset views from every “angle”. It is priced at $1,599,000. My husband … (4 comments)

Tallahassee Area Real Estate - Home and Lot Price Trends - 07/07/08 02:16 PM
Readers asked for it, and Century 21 First Realty is delivering the goods. I have received numerous requests to give reports on the surrounding counties that are included in the Tallahassee real estate market.

Lot prices in the four-county area of the Tallahassee real estate market have risen quite a bit. The blue line (Jefferson County) is off the chart due to a very expensive land deal in January of 2008. The trend line for Jefferson County will normalize once January 2009 is posted.

Jefferson County seems to have the least amount of activity going on in the Tallahassee … (0 comments)

Using Video To Explain Real Estate Market Reports - 07/07/08 02:01 PM
Every month when I receive the data for home sales in Tallahassee, I generate real estate trend reports and convert them into color graphs and post them on the Tallahassee Real Estate Web Site.
If you single-click on the center of the real estate video below, you will see an brief intrepretation of each of the twelve color graphs that I post each month. The graphs are for Leon County Florida home sales (single-family, condos and town houses).

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real … (2 comments)

Housing Market Update With Color Graphs and Video Instruction - 07/07/08 01:52 PM
Every month when I receive the data for home sales in Tallahassee, I generate real estate trend reports and convert them into color graphs and post them on the Tallahassee Real Estate Web Site.
If you single-click on the center of the real estate video below, you will see an brief intrepretation of each of the twelve color graphs that I post each month. The graphs are for Leon County Florida home sales (single-family, condos and town houses).

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real … (0 comments)

Fox Business News - Current Inventory In Real Estate - 07/07/08 01:40 PM
I was asked by a local Realtor, Penny Herman, to help her prepare some market views for an upcoming interview on Fox Business News, a national broadcast which will occur on July 8th at 4:00 p.m. I’ve known Penny for years, and I can tell you she really hustles and she is a great role model for all of her peers in the industry. Penny asked that I provide some insight into the current inventory situation in the Tallahassee real estate market. She had seen a prior blog of mine and wanted to be able to share some of the positive … (2 comments)

Rates Up and Prices Down - What Does A Buyer Do? - 07/03/08 09:40 AM
Just over three months ago, I wrote a blog article in the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog that examined the relationship between Home Prices and Interest Rates in determining the time to buy a home. It has been the source of numerous comments and debates in several real estate forums on the Internet.
If you refer back to that article, I suggested that future rising interest rates would make a cheaper house less affordable. While I figured that it was highly likely home prices would be falling, I knew that rising interest rates would leave most buyers with higher monthly payments. Sure … (2 comments)

Fannie Mae Update - How Will This Help? - 07/03/08 09:36 AM
For those of you who have been following the trend of Tallahassee foreclosures and the bevy of short sales in Tallahassee, you will want to know that Fannie Mae has introduced several new and updated policies regarding bankruptcy, foreclosures, short sales, and principal residency conversion in a document titled Fannie Mae Announcement 08-16.
If you click on the link to the Fannie Mae Announcement 08-16, you will find the details on these changes. I have written this blog as a brief summary in an effort to point out a significant occurrence at Fannie Mae and what might be a huge market … (0 comments)

Real Estate Update: Is Supply Falling? - 07/03/08 09:26 AM
I was asked by a local Realtor, Penny Herman, to help her prepare some market views for an upcoming interview on Fox Business News, a national broadcast which will occur on July 8th at 4:00 p.m. I’ve known Penny for years, and I can tell you she really hustles and she is a great role model for all of her peers in the industry. Penny asked that I provide some insight into the current inventory situation in the Tallahassee real estate market. She had seen a prior blog of mine and wanted to be able to share some of the positive … (0 comments)

Using Video For The First Time - 07/01/08 03:59 PM
Well the year is half-way over and we’ll be gathering a whole lot of data over the next three weeks to help us create the mid-year report for the Tallahassee real estate market. We’ve been playing around with some new technologies and need your help. So, just to make sure this point does not go un-noticed….
HELP Many of our readers have had questions regarding some of our charts, graphs and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market. In order to make our regular, re-occurring real estate market reports better understood, we are experimenting with video files to explain the real … (6 comments)

 
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Joe Manausa - Tallahassee Real Estate

Tallahassee, FL

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Century 21 Manausa and Associates

Address: 1140 Capital Circle SE #12A, Tallahassee, FL, 32301

Office Phone: (850) 386-2001

Cell Phone: (850) 508-1544

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