Making A Better Real Estate Website - 04/30/12 07:38 AM
I have received a lot of questions and feedback about this real estate web site over the years, and people have been asking me for an update on what we are doing to continually grow our traffic and business.
Years ago, I wrote "Thesis Makes The Best Real Estate Web Site" in order to explain the tools and systems that we use on our Tallahassee Real Estate web site, but today I am excited to announce the first major modification we have undertaken since December 2009.
Real Estate Web Site Speed Several months ago,  I announced our intention of doing a … (7 comments)

What Your Buyer Agent Should Know About The Short Sale Contract Process - 04/27/12 05:15 AM
Whether it be written in real estate blogs or practiced in our daily operation of a real estate brokerage business, I often see confusion and misunderstanding of the short sale contract process.
This confusion is not limited to homebuyers and homesellers, in fact, it most often is evidenced in the correspondences that I read from real estate agents to our short sale department.
In an effort to provide some clarity to what is certainly "a different way from how things used to be," I provide this as simple guidance for understanding the short sale contract process.
The Normal (Arms Length) Contract … (1 comments)

Just How Important Is Your Home's Asking Price? - 04/26/12 03:01 AM
Ok, if you have been here before, then you know I love reader questions, especially when they relate to selling a home or even determining the best asking price for your home.
Recently, a reader in Michigan dropped me a note to get my thoughts on solving a home selling problem.
Meredith wrote:
We live in a three bedroom two an a half bath house in Michigan. We would like to sell our house to move into a bigger house in a better school district. The realtor feels he could sell it in less than a month. He said the average … (13 comments)

What It Costs To Build A Home (And Just How Long String Really Is) - 04/25/12 02:23 AM
Over the past several months, I have had buyers ask me what it costs to build a home.
I have to think every home builder who has ever built a single home for sale cringes at the thought of a real estate agent answering the question of what it costs to build a home, but I think I have an answer that even builders will tolerate.
As my Dad the architect always answers (when asked a similar generic question on cost), "how long is a piece of string?"
Though I'm the fourth slowest of his five boys, I think he answered … (12 comments)

What Will Home Sellers Do When The Tidal Wave Of Distressed Home Sales Hits? - 04/24/12 08:11 AM
In October of 2009, I warned about a tidal wave of distressed home sales coming our way, and it now appears as if they have arrived.
Thus far in April, 42% of all residential closings were distressed home sales, and the one year average is at 33%. Simply put, one in every three homes sold in Tallahassee over the past year has been a short sale, foreclosure, or bank owned property.
When we look at a graph of the rising trend, the analogy of the tidal wave is hard to overlook.
Distressed Home Sales In Tallahassee In the real estate graph … (1 comments)

Home Owners Need To Decide ... Stay Or Go - 04/23/12 02:46 AM
Eastgate is a very popular NE Tallahassee Neighborhood with homes that sell just below the median home price point in Tallahassee.
Located just south of I-10 on Capital Circle NE, Eastgate offers super convenience and excellent home values.
Currently, there are 5 homes for sale in Eastgate, ranging in price from $139,900 to $153,500, and last year there were 11 homes sold, meaning there is less than 6 months of supply of homes on the market in Eastgate.
Eastgate Home Prices Down 39% Eastgate home prices are down nearly 40%, but this year's numbers appear to be skewed by a higher … (1 comments)

Real Estate Graph Shows Home Values "Back Where They Belong" - 04/20/12 03:24 AM
If you ever wanted to see what a real estate market opportunity looks like, look no further than at a graph of average home values in Tallahassee.
While it is all but certain that average home values in Tallahassee will continue to fall due to the imbalance between supply and demand, our latest graph shows that we have dropped below our "normal" real estate appreciation levels, indicating a solid buying opportunity. With thousands of homes for sale in Tallahassee, the opportunities are there.
Average Home Values In Tallahassee Below "Normal" In the real estate graph below, we can see that … (17 comments)

New Mason-Dixon Survey Lands Tallahassee Top Town For Baby Boomers - 04/19/12 05:01 PM
Tallahassee has been named the top town for Baby Boomers.
Long time readers of the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog know that I am a proponent of growth as the fastest way to help restore balance in our real estate market.
While I think higher education could very well be the easiest and fastest growth industry for us to embrace, I believe a close second is working to gain awareness of Tallahassee as the perfect retirement community and top town for Baby Boomers.
Unlike many retirement communities in South Florida and Arizona, I think the attraction that makes Tallahassee so great rests … (4 comments)

Dirty Little Secret Finally Surfaces In The Real Estate Business - 04/18/12 03:39 AM
A while ago, I announced the fact that Century 21 First Realty was no longer, that we have a new company, a new name, with new owners, and most importantly, we are a real estate company in Tallahassee, committed to customer service.
Now at first blush, this should sound very ho-hum for most people, in most industries. Hmmm, a company committed to customer service ... how rare {note: Sarcasm}.
But let me clue you in on a dirty little secret about the real estate industry.
You aren't the customer!
If you buy a home with most real estate companies, you are … (12 comments)

Where To Get The Lowdown On The Housing Market Slowdown - 04/17/12 05:54 AM
I have been tracking the housing market slowdown from two different sources of real estate information.
The Tallahassee MLS provides the only real source of information where the current rate of demand can be compared with its relative supply of homes for sale, and we need this to identify the scope of the housing market slowdown.
The Leon County Property Appraiser maintains a database of all recorded transactions in Tallahassee, thus it includes everything in the Tallahassee MLS plus sales that were never entered into the Realtor home marketing system.
So the Realtor MLS does not contain information on all of … (4 comments)

Assessing The Impact Of The Foreclosure Wave On Home Values - 04/16/12 02:44 AM

Do you want to know how foreclosures have affected real estate values?
Well, let's take a stroll down memory lane.
I have been in the real estate business since 1991, so here is what I would have said to a question about how foreclosures have affected real estate values:
1991-2006: "In regards to how foreclosures have affected real estate values ... they haven't! Foreclosures represent a minority of our home sales, less than 2 percent, so we just ignore them when we determine the value of a property."
2007-2009: "In regards to how foreclosures have affected real estate values … (14 comments)

Understanding How School Zones Impact Real Estate Values - 04/13/12 07:47 AM
Almost every home buyer we talk to wants to know something about home values by school zone.
Even people who do not have children that are school aged seem to think it is important to understand "where the best schools are," so I have compiled a quick overview of home values by school zone in Tallahassee.
The first thing that I will tell you is that this is no way to measure the quality of any particular school. The Leon County School Board has wonderful information for you to review in order to find the school that you think might be … (1 comments)

Depreciation Has Created Home Buying Opportunities In Woodgate - 04/12/12 07:10 AM
Yesterday, a long-time reader asked why I had never written about Woodgate, a popular NE Tallahassee neighborhood.
I basically said that because I have limited time, I try to focus on the most-active neighborhoods in Tallahassee, but that I would take a quick look at home sales in Woodgate.
Currently, there are 6 homes for sale in Woodgate in the Tallahassee MLS, priced from $129,900 to $235,000. With only 15 homes sold in Woodgate in the 3 previous years, this means that Woodgate has a relative home supply exceeding 12 months.
This means if you want to sell a home in … (3 comments)

Is Your Neighborhood Showing Signs Of A Split Housing Market? - 04/11/12 09:17 AM
There is a hidden gem of a neighborhood in downtown Tallahassee called Camelot Park, and it is demonstrating a split market trend that we should expect to see in many other places in our housing market.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis once exclaimed "there'll never be another Camelot again," but it appears these words were premature.
Camelot Park has been battered and bruised, but it is fighting the falling real estate market better than most. With only five homes for sale in Camelot Park, this neighborhood is very close to having a balance between supply and demand.
Camelot Park Home Prices The average … (2 comments)

Even With Supply Down 35%, Houses Still Outnumber Home Buyers - 04/10/12 05:58 AM
Both the real and relative supply of houses for sale in Tallahassee are experiencing the normal rise that occurs at the beginning of the spring each year.
The 2,065 houses listed for sale in the Tallahassee MLS represent 11.3 months of supply, which represents a rise from the 1,988 (and 10.9 months of supply) that were recorded last month.
This month's Tallahassee Housing Report shows typical spring growth in the real and relative supply of houses available.
Four years ago, there were 3,192 houses on the market in Leon County, which means the real supply has dropped 35%, but still needs … (3 comments)

3 Ways Builders Provide Insight To The Value Of The Realtor Multiple Listing Service - 04/09/12 08:04 AM
Smart home sellers can learn an important lesson from home builders about the Realtor Multiple Listing Service.
Where most home sellers are "amatuers," home builders are professional sellers. They are in the business of creating and then selling a home for a profit, and the Realtor Multiple Listing Service is part of their marketing plan.
I can tell you that anybody who has been building for several years, or anybody who has been a real estate broker for several years, will tell you that builders and Realtors compete for the same dollar.
There is a "soft cost" for building and selling … (2 comments)

7 Tips To Help You Avoid Stupid Mistakes When Selling A House - 04/06/12 08:03 AM
So many people get off on the wrong foot when they first launch their house selling plan.
The National Association of REALTORS claims that 64% of homeowners hire the first real estate agent that they speak to, and the hiring decision is based upon two simple factors:
Do they like the real estate agent? and Do they like the price the agent gave them for the value of the home. At face value, that seems relatively harmless, but if you dig deeper to understand the way a modern home selling plan works, then you will quickly discover what more than 50% … (5 comments)

An Unusual Trend In Piney Z Home Sales Has Emerged - 04/05/12 02:15 AM
Home sales in Piney Z are showing a trend that I do not think has been identified anywhere else in the Tallahassee real estate market.
Though I continue to study and review each of the major neighborhoods in Tallahassee, it is rare that I find one performing completely different than the others.
But Piney Z has actually seen fewer home sales every single year (when compared to the previous year) and this trend started in 2004.
Most Tallahassee neighborhoods are seeing the number of sales fluctuate some, and down about 45 to 50 percent since the peak, but not Piney Z.
… (0 comments)

Even Popular Neighborhoods Like Killearn Acres Are Seeing Falling Prices - 04/04/12 06:41 AM
A hugely popular Northeast Tallahassee neighborhood in the 32309 zip code is Killearn Acres.
It can often be said, as goes Killearn Acres, so too goes the Tallahassee real estate market. This is especially true today.
Currently, there are 23 homes for sale in Killearn Acres, and buyers will be pleasantly greeted by 2002 home valuations. You can find homes priced from $109,900 all the way up to $225,000, but the current average sales price is just over $132,000.
Imagine, it's like going back 10 years to buy a home, accept this time you get incredibly low interest rates.
Killearn Acres … (0 comments)

Some Neighborhoods Can't Be Captured With "Averages" - 04/03/12 06:10 AM
Home sales have slowed considerably in Eagles Ridge neighborhood, located inside of Golden Eagle Plantation.
In case you have never seen this usually popular NE Tallahassee neighborhood, it is situated just inside the Southern gate of Golden Eagle, and features homes near or on the Tom Fazio golf course.
In the past, it has been very popular with both retirees, as well as young professionals. I myself built a home in Eagles Ridge in 1995, but moved not long after as Michelle and I started to grow our family.
Eagles Ridge Home Sales Graph
Eagles Ridge is an interesting study, … (4 comments)

Surprise: That Property You Found Online Is Already Under Contract! - 04/02/12 07:02 AM
One of the most often asked questions by people looking at homes on our Tallahassee Property Search Tool is about the status of properties under contract.
Some people want to know why we even both to continue marketing properties under contract, they feel that these just get in the way when they are looking at what is still available.
But there has actually been a lot of consideration put into this, so I figured it might make for an enlightening blog post.
Properties Under Contract Might Not Close Real estate companies who are hired to sell a home in Tallahassee sign … (43 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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