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Short Sold Your Home: When Can You Buy Again?

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:52:35 -0800

Owners who have short sold their home know that it can be a daunting ordeal, and there are some negative ramifications on credit . The question for most at the end of it all is, “When can I buy a house again?” especially with so many great deals available today. Blair Lamphier, owner of Community Mortgage Solutions, gives the following as a guide:

CONVENTIONAL LOANS:

Short sale- 4 years from the date of the sale, and removing the owner from the deed. 10 % down
Short sale- 2 years from the date of the sale, and removing the owner from the deed, 20 % down
Foreclosure- 7 years from the date foreclosure was completed and transferred out of the owner’s name.

FHA LOANS:

Short sale- 3 years from the date of the sale, and removing the owner from the deed.
Foreclosure- 3 years from the date foreclosure was completed and transferred out of the owner’s name.

VA LOANS:

Short sale – 2 years
Foreclosure – 2 years

USDA LOANS:

Short sale – 3 years
Foreclosure- 3 years

If you have sold in a short sale situation in the last few years and are interested in owning, it might be time to see what options are available for you today. Give Blair and his team over a Community Mortgage Solutions a call today.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Flagler County Real Estate Gets Off To Strong Start In 2013

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:14:40 -0800

January was definitely going to be an interesting month for local real estate because of the performance in 2012 when we saw 122 residential house close which was 56% above 2011. January is typically the lowest number of real estate closes each year in the area. January 2013 didn’t come in above 2012, but we saw 107 residential house closings which is 13% below last year but 37% above 2011. Click here for all of the local market report details

Price

The median price of those homes closing this January was $143,000 and was the highest it’s been since 2009 for the month of January alone. Overall median price has been trending upward in the area and all signs point to that trend continuing.

Cash still dominates the market

Cash sale composed 58% of January 2013 residential house closings. Conventional loans came in at a strong second at 29%.

What to expect for 2013

We anticipate 2013 to be another strong year for the area. Inventory still remains at the lowest levels in years with about 890 houses for sale right now. Demand and “foot traffic” is continuing to be strong in the area. February is typically the month we see a strong increase in online searches and in just these first few days of this month this year we have seen a spike in those searches.

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS for Residential Houses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Moving On Up: Flagler County/Palm Coast Market Update

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:28:22 -0800

In Flagler County and Palm Coast we have seen a lot of positives this year in regards to local real estate with residential houses. Just some highlights are:

A 25% increase in the total number of houses sold from January 1st through October 31st of this year compared to 2011. 1,704 homes sold in 2012 during that period compared to 1,362 in 2011.
A significant decrease in the number of houses for sale which is at 846 as of 11/19/2012. In the last few years this number was typically around or over 2,000.
A significant drop in the number of short sales listed. We are currently 88, or about 10% of all active house sale listings for the County. Just last year this number average around 35% of all listings.

One of the biggest questions that comes up is in regards to the recovery of prices. The good news is that the combination of increasing sales and lower inventory levels is resulting in the flattening out and slight increases in prices. This is the direction we want to see . . . slight increases.

Click the links below for specific market statistics in Flagler County and Palm Coast.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Monday market Update 7/8/12 to 7/14/12

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:14:06 -0700

June finished out a good month for sales in the area with 187 houses sold. This was just slightly over June last year when 184 sold. Through June of this year we are still 32% above last year for the same time period. As you can see in the chart below we are on a similar trend from month-to-month.

Activity this past week

This past week we saw 40 new houses listed in Flagler County. The lowest being $65,000, the highest being $1,299,900, for a median list of $168,375. There are currently 718 houses listed for sale in the area, and again is lowest it’s been in several years.

In terms of closings, there were 21 houses that closed this past week. The lowest being $74,000, the highest being $400,000, for a median price of $127,000, and average days on the market was 86. That brings the total number of sales to 1068 for the year through 7/16/2012 with average days on the market of 114.

We have definitely seen the pace pick up in the area. As you can see, the average days on the market for all house sales is slightly over 90 – 180 days which the average target that you should look for when selling.

Question of the week: All the sales are mostly short sales right?

This actually false. Of the 1068 houses that have sold only 265 were short sales which is about 25%. Likewise of the 718 houses active for sale as of today only 100 are short sales which is about 14%. This is very positive as short sales have typically been about 35% of all active listings and sales in the last couple of years.

For a full market report of the area visit our Market Report page at PalmCoastHomeShow.com.

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 7/16/2012 for Residential Houses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Monday Morning Flagler County Market Recap: 6/10/2012 thru 6/16/2012

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:38:08 -0700

Residential Houses

We’re now into the third week of typically the busiest month for real estate in the area. It’s been another pretty active week. 43 houses were newly listed for sale. The lowest at $75,000, the highest at $968,000, for an average price of $263,554, and a median price of $170,000 for this group. The county now has just 739 houses active for sale.

Sales is this past week came in at 28 closings. The lowest being $50,000, the highest at $$535,000, for an average price of $145,229, and a median price of $108,750. That raises the total for the year to 920 residential house closings compared to 693 for the same period last year which is a 33% increase.

Condominiums and Townhouses

Condos/townhouses have had their challenges in the area over the last few years. Overall, this sector is starting to come back. Currently there are 286 active condos/townhouses listed for sale. The lowest being $39,000, the highest at $2,800,0000, for an average price of $369,125, and a median price of $253,600. Of those 286, 29 are short sales and 14 are lender owned/government owned/REO.

There have been 30 condos/townhouse closings since January 1st of this year. The lowest at $30,000, the highest being $640,000, with an average price of $162,869, and a median price of $113,000. Of those 30 closings, 26 have been cash sales.

Again, another great week continuing a strong and positive year in the area. Make sure to visit www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com for more market statistics and all your local real estate shopping needs.

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 6/17/2012 for Residential Houses & Condominium/Townhouses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Matanzas Woods Market Report Card

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:53:18 -0700

Since we live in the Matanzas Woods subdivision, we get the common question of how is the market doing in our neighborhood. Truth be told, Matanzas Woods has seen it’s challenges over the past few years especially with the golf course’s temporary closure which the neighborhood is built up around. It was positive to hear that a local investment group had purchased the course and hopefully we will see it open again in the future.

Despite any challenges over the past few years, Matanzas Woods has remained a desirable area. The housing market in our neighborhood is doing pretty well, and often much better than most are aware. Let’s take a look:

Active Houses Currently For Sale

Number Listed . . . . 23

Lowest . . . . . . . . . $85,000

Highest . . . . . . . . . $344,900

Average . . . . . . . . . $180,852

Median . . . . . . . . . $178,900

Avg Days on Market 113

Short Sales

One huge positive is that the number of houses listed as “short sales” of those 23 is 4. With the lowest being $85,000 and the highest being $309,999 and having an average days on the market of 30. Short sale listing have typically averaged about 35% of all listings in Palm Coast over the past few years and we are seeing dramatic drops in these numbers recently which is a great sign.

Short selling has been and can be a necessary avenue if one needs to sell or is in a pre-foreclosure situation and owes more than the market will bare in terms of value today. Feel free to contact us if you are in this situation and need help.

House Sales

Great. The number of houses for sale is low, but is anything selling in the area? Yes. And very much so. Since January 1st of this year, 35 houses have sold with an average selling price of $124,819 and a median selling price of $117,700 and an average days on the market of 101 days. The lowest was $77,000 and the highest was $235,000. This is up slightly from the 33 houses that sold during the same period last year.

Again, it’s been a very positive year for real estate in the Palm Coast area and Matanzas Woods is also seeing some real positives. Fee free to contact us any time if you have any questions about real estate in general, Flagler County, Palm Coast, or your street. We’re your neighbors and we’re here to help.

Want to see the houses for sale in Mataznas Woods at any given point in time? Visit our “Listings By Neighborhood” on our website, wwww.PalmCoastHomeShow.com, and click the link for houses for sale (Click here to go there now).

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 6/12/2012 for Residential Houses in the Palm Coast Matanzas Woods Subdivision. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Monday Morning Flagler County Housing Report 6/3/12 to 6/9/12

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:01:28 -0700

This past week was another great week in the area as buyers are taking advantage of the great prices and interest rates. One of the biggest surprises many are finding right now is the reduced selection as the area has about 742 homes presently for sale. That number is far lower than it’s been in the past and sellers are seeing some favor from that.

Flagler County Listings

Active . . . . . . . . . . . . 742

Lowest . . . . . . . . . . . . $35,000

Highest . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,200,000

Average . . . . . . . . . . . . $337,743

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . .$229,900

This past week (6/3/2012 to 6/9/2012) 63 new listings came on the market with the lowest being $75,000 and the highest being $1,350,000.

The other area that has seen real progress is in the area of short sales. Over the last few years short sales have constituted about 35% of all listings and sales. This number has dropped considerably to about 14% of listings currently for sale or 103. This is very positive and can be a great indicator of stabilization.

Flagler County Listings – Short Sales

Active . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Lowest . . . . . . . . . . . . $56,000

Highest . . . . . . . . . . . . $989,000

Average . . . . . . . . . . . . $187,995

Median . . . . . . . . . . . . . $130,000

So how are housing sales? Great. This past week 30 houses closed with the lowest at $35,200 and the highest at $1,280,000. The average selling price was $164,281 and the median price at $109,073. 41 houses have closed so far in June. May finished with 208 closings which is 35% above May 2011 when 154 houses closed. So far 884 houses have closed since January 1st. The numbers for lowest, average, and median are a bit skewed as one house that closed recently was mistakenly entered as selling for $160.

Don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PalmCoastHomeShow or follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/PalmcoastHomes to featured listing updates, market updates, news, or feel free to ask us what’s going on in the market. And remember, www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com is always a great resource and one of the most comprehensive destinations for Real Estate shopping in the area and a great place to for sellers to get exposure to thousands of visitors every month.

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 6/10/2012 for Residential Houses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Trulia Adds “Trulia Estimates”: Novelty or Not?

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:25:48 -0700

Let me start by saying, Trulia.com and Zillow.com are great companies that I think bring great additional resources for home shopping to consumers. I love their websites and resources they offer. Zillow.com became a hit with it’s “Zestimate”. Just recently Trulia.com launched, what I am guessing is a competitive response to Zillow’s “Zestimates”, called “Trulia Estimates”. These are these companies attempts to provide real-time property valuation using proprietary algorithms. Sounds simple enough right? Think again.

One of the things any Real Estate Professional will tell you they wish was automated is . . . property pricing. This is one of the most daunting tasks that truly requires a hands-on approach. The common question is, “Why?” Seriously, look at all the amazing things computers can do today and they can’t automatically tell me the price a property should be just by typing in an address? Computers can tell you a price, but they can not tell you the price a property should be priced at accurately. The biggest reason being is that no two properties are the same. Even houses of the same model have different features added by owners over times, conditions can be different, location, etc. All of these factors play a role in pricing a property.

Novelty or Not?

Novelty . . . definitely. Be very careful with these valuation systems because we are not talking about possibly sacrificing just a few dollars with wrong information, you’re looking at tens of thousands of dollars if not more. Let’s take a look at Trulia Estimate’s Accuracy for my area Flager County, FL:

Properties on Trulia: 65,001
Properties with Estimates: 40,669
Median Error: 14.3%
Within 5% of Actual Selling Price: 19.2%
Within 10% of Actual Selling Price: 35.6%
Within 20% of Actual Selling Price: 67%

At their best range of “Within 20%”, 67% of the properties fell within that range. What does “20%” equate to in dollars? On a $150,000 that 20% is $30,000. No small amount of money at all to be guessing about. Zillow’s Zestimates are not much different for the area either.

Again, be careful with these systems. Believe me, I would love for an as-close-to-accurate automated pricing system but unfortunately it just doesn’t exist right now.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Seller Advice: Things To Be Aware Of With “Flat Fee” Selling

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 10:43:14 -0800

If you’ve been thinking about selling your house you may have come across the advice to to a “For Sale By Owner”. Whether selling yourself or through an agent, advertising online and in an MLS (notice that I didn’t say “the MLS”, and I’ll explain this more in a moment) is extremely important nowadays. Some real estate companies have begun offering what is called “flat-fee selling” as a “for sale by owner” option. This might sound like a great option, but you really have to be careful here as a seller.

First, what is a “flat fee” option? Simply put; instead of committing to a percentage commission to a real estate Broker, the seller pays a fee to the Broker for a set of services in selling your home. Typically the service is centered on entering the property into an MLS which advertises your home on Realtor.com, provides advice on dealing with agents bringing buyers, etc. Basically, it’s a very watered-down set of services offered to sellers and really focuses on simply “getting the property entered into MLS”.

Sounds great, right? Well here’s the pitfalls of this program and how to avoid them:

There is not just one MLS, and all MLS’s are local. This part is HUGE with this program. MLS’s (Multiple Listing Service) are privately held local databases owned and operated by the local Association of Realtors. Almost all MLS’s syndicate to Realtor.com, but entering a property into a California MLS for your home in Flagler County Florida makes it practically invisible to local Realtors here in Flagler County. Important: Ask the company what MLS they enter your property into prior to paying them anything. If it’s not with the local MLS, you are actually limiting your exposure.
You can actually limit your exposure. First, let’s look at the first part. Entry into an MLS does get you exposure onto Realtor.com, and although that’s the #1 place buyers shop for properties online . . . it’s not the only place. Likewise, it often times not the property people end up buying that they see on there. When I list a property for a customer, it’s entered into and syndicated to hundreds of websites where I know buyers are looking. Likewise, I want every local Realtor knowing it’s for sale. Why? Because they are working with buyers every day. If it’s a non-local MLS, your limiting your exposure a great deal.
You may cost yourself more in equity than listing on a commission basis. The biggest enemy of a listing is . . . time. The greater the days on the market, the more likely price will be impacted. The “gut reaction” to a lack of showings and anxiety is setting in is to reduce the price. The biggest contributor to time on the market is lack of exposure to the widest possible buyer audience. In essence, you can reduce price and not address your advertising issue which then results in the same lack of response and further price reductions. Beyond that, buyers are savvy today and one of the questions they ask is “How long has it been on the market?” (or they may already know if they’ve been patiently watching the property). Why? The reason is they know they longer it is on the market the more desperate I seller is probably getting and the buyer typically gains negotiating leverage. You may find yourself taking far less than you initially advertised the property for. And if you are not pricing based upon valid comparable sales you are wasting your time. Not only will you reduce your chances of getting an offer, you will reduce the likelihood of being able to close a sale on your property that could not possibly appraise for too high a price.
Putting up barrier to others bringing buyers. One of the slogan angles with these “flat fee” services is often times “Reduce their commission.” So put the shoe on the other foot for a moment and you are the agent, which property are you going to be more motivated to sell? The one with the lower payout or the higher payout? Your property may have a lot of great features but it’s not the only property on the market. Likewise, if your property is listed with an MLS outside of the local area you most agents won’t ever see it and the many buyers they have set up on automatic email updates of properties aren’t going to see it either.
The risk factor. One of the things agents take into account with listing a property is security for the seller. They know who is showing your property and the buyer is monitored. Lockbox systems are monitored to insure access is limited to agents who have scheduled a showing. I spoke with a woman the other day who is selling this way and she told me how she has someone coming to see her property because of an ad she placed on a free online classifieds website. So how does she know the person coming to see the property is legitimate? She doesn’t. AND she has two children with her. I’m not trying to go the “fear” angle here, but the reality is that you have to be careful as to who you granting access to your home when selling and the route she is going is far less secure.
Negotiation. What you listed your property for sale is often not what you’ll sell it for. Have you developed a negotiation strategy and planned out various offer scenarios? Do you know th elocal market as to what properties have sold and what ones are available? If not, you have greatly reduced your negotiation leverage.

The bottom line to it all is that selling a house (and any real estate) is complex. There is the intricacies of advertising and then there is the actual transaction if you do get to offers. I know that equities have been reduced and have even considered offering a “flat fee” type of service myself. Here’s why I chose not to. I can’t honestly reduce the amount of service to a seller, take their money, and be ok with the property probably not selling. At the same time from a business perspective, I can’t afford to invest the same level of service for a fraction of the income. So why is this service offered a lot of times? It’s simple . . . leads. Many times this service is offered knowing that you will not sell and then later convert the seller to the original commission model. Again, a route I don’t feel is the best level of service I can offer to sellers and is misleading them.

Again, be careful with these offers. And if you want the “secret formula” to successful selling, this is the one I use and it works:

Priced right + Great Exposure to the Widest Possible Buyer Audience = Showings => Offers => Negotiation => Contract => Sold!

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

2011 Palm Coast/Flagler County Market Recap

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:37:28 -0800

So how did the local market do for 2011? Very well, and here's just a few highlishgts on the Residential Housing sales in the area:

A total of 1,665 houses closed from January 1st to December 31, 2011
The total number of sales was up 14% compared to 2010 when 1,460 houses closed
82% of all houses sold were in the price range up to $199,999
The luxury market ($500k+) also saw a slight uptick as well making up 3% of the area houses sold compared to 2% for 2010
3 bedroom homes were the most popular making up 62% of all houses sold, and 30% were 4 or more bedrooms

Financing Type

This is where the statistics get really interesting and often very surprising for people, because 54% of all residential house sales in 2011 in the area were cash. Here's some highlights for financing:

Again, 54% of all residential houses sold in 2011 were cash sales compared to the number of cash sales in 2010 which contrbuted 47%
Conventional loans contributed 31%
FHA and VA loans made up 10%

2012 Outlook

I am confident the area will see another solid year. For the past couple of years we have seen slight rises in the number of residential house sales. We are currently at much lower inventory levels than the past several years (1038 houses litsed for sale in Flagler County as of 1/11/12) and there is continued activity in the area.

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 1/11/2012 for Residential Houses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Looking Up: Palm Coast/Flagler County Real Estate Recap

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:32:22 -0800

We're through October and the local real estate market has been another year of some real positives. It's also been a year of interesting devlopments too.

Highlights through October (Click here for a full market report):

Inventory levels remain lower.

As of 11/14/2011 there are 1024 houses for sale in Flagler County and 762 in Palm Coast. Palm Coast alone has typically remained above 900 for the last few years.

The number of house sales has increased 10% compared to this period last year.

There have been 1,345 houses that have closed through October 31st. Palm Coast has contributed 1,170 of those. This is an average of 134 closings per month for the area which has typically been about 100/month over the last few years.

The percentage of Short Sale houses for sale has dropped to about 26% for Flagler County and 30% for Palm Coast as of 11/14.

This has averaged about 36% pretty consistently

What about price?

Median and Average sale prices are slightly below last year.
Taking into account lower inventory levels and increased demand, next year will be one to watch. We could see positive gains next year.

Foreclosures ("Lender Owned", "REO", "Government Owned") all remain at low levels for sale in the area and move at very quick paces.

There are currently 55 houses for sale that are "Foreclosures".
Average days on the market for this category this year has been 80 days compared to 188 days for all house sales.

There's also been some nice and interesting surprises as well.

Cash sales for houses has contributed about 53% of the 1,345 houses closed through October. The highest of which was $1.8M. The average cash sale has been $157,483 for the area.
The Luxury housing market ($500k and above) has seen an uptick this year as well. 50 houses listed $500K and above have closed through October compared to 31 during the same period last year. Likewise, last year the highest sale was $1M during this period and this year it is $1.8M.

So, yes, it's been an exciting year with some nice surprises. We are in our "traditional" slower period right now. Decembers are typically an up month and there are a decent number of pending house sales which should contribute to a good end of the year.

If you are planning on buying, now is a good time to get serious as inventory levels are lower and demand is trending up (as it has been over the last few years). If you are looking to sell, it's also the perfect time to start planning. On either side it's very important to be open to reasonable negotiation to get to your goals especially with these market conditions. Low offers initial offers as a buyer can lead to the house not being available as another offer comes in while the seller is contemplating what they should do. Sellers not pricing realistically can cost you dearly in the long run as the house sees little or no activity (# of showings can be an indicator that you are priced too high).

Don't forget to visit www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com for your local real estate needs whether it being shopping all area houses for sale through a custom feed of our local MLS or getting started to offer your house for sale.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Flagler County/Palm Coast Market Highlights

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:42:43 -0700

Can you believe it's Fall already and the end of the year is fast approaching? I know I can't. "How's the market? " is the common question I hear, and there really are some some things about our local market. Here's just a few from the residential housing portion:

Inventory levels at their lowest in recent years

The number of houses for sale over the last few years in Flagler County has rarely dipped below 1,100 (and 900 for Palm Coast) at any given point in time. As of today, there are 986 homes for sale in Flagler County and 739 in Palm Coast. Of those for sale in the County, only 39 fall under "foreclosure" status and 245 are "Short Sale" designated. All positive numbers in my opinion.

Sales

Sales are one of the most important things obviously, and over the last few years we are seeing great year-over-year trends. Take a look at the comparison of the same period from 2008 to present:

We've seen increases each year to the tune of 7% to 10% during this period. This year 1219 houses have sold for Flagler County through September. The highest at $1.8M and the lowest at $13,400 for a median price of $120,000 and an average price of $158,275.

The most active price brackets really haven't changed much either. Here's a chart showing housing sales by price bracket in Flagler County through September of this year:

We typically see an uptick in activity in November and December in the area as well. So it will be interesting to see the outcome over the next couple of months of the year. If you are looking to sell, now is a good time to list. If you are looking to buy, now is a good time to start looking. Either contact me today or visit PalmCoastHomeShow.com to get started.

* Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 10/17/2011 for Residential Houses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Google+: Hands-On Review

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:56:55 -0700

By now you've probably heard about Google's latest entry into the social networking arena with Google+. This is Google's latest entrance into the social networking arena. And they have done a stellar job. The service is far 'cleaner' with a more common sense type of approach than Facebook. The design allows users to overcome some of the challenges Facebook has for Realtors and users such as:

Circles - This feature allows you to easily group people. Unlike the lists in Facebook, the circles feature allows you to choose what you share and to whom. Plus it allows you to view posts by a circle of people.
Huddles - This feature allows you to group message with video for up to 10 people. This offers teams and brokerages a great way to meet, collaborate, and discuss business. It could also be used as a more personal way to communicate with a customer if you and them wanted to.
Sparks - This is a nice feature in which you can target multiple topics taking adavtange of seeing news from Google's news agrregator and easily share it out on the Google+ service.

By far, my favorite feature is the 'circles'. This is a feature that truly overcomes Facebook (I really like that service too). I can easily choose who I want to see what from who. Plus I can target messages to particular groups of people.

The Android Mobile app is nice too and ties in nicely for photo sharing and check-ins.

If you haven't checked it out yet . . . do so. Google apps accounts do not work with the service at this time, but normal gmail account seem to.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Have you checked out Google+ yet?

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:38:20 -0700

Really liking the new Googel+ service. My two favorite features are circles and sparks. What do you like and/or dislike about it?

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Flagler County/Palm Coast Market Update 5/9/2011

Mon, 09 May 2011 11:45:31 -0700

As the age old question goes in Real Estate, "How's the market doing?" In Flagler County and Palm Coast, FL . . . very postive. You can get a full break down of Residential Home Market Statistics for the area at PalmCoastHomeShow.com. But here's an overview of the market as of today:

There are 1196 homes for sale in Flagler County and 887 in Palm Coast. Both are some of the lowest levels of inventory in the last few years.
Of the homes for sale 27% are 'short sales' in Flagler County and 32% in Palm Coast.
Foreclosures represent 2% of all homes for sale in both areas.

In terms of sales, we are seeing great activity in the area.

440 homes have closed through 4/30/2011 in Flagler county which -7% compared the same period last year. This is not a concern because last year we had the Home Buyer Tax Credit as saw unusal high activity early on in the year compared to historical trends.
32% of all sales this year have been short sale.
Sales have been averaging around 95% of list price for home sales this year.

All of which are positive numbers for the area.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

2010 Palm Coast & Flagler County Housing Recap

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:27:17 -0800

At the beginning of 2010 I had said it was going to be a very interesting year. The tax credit was showing some promise to help boost home sales, but it remained to be seen as to what the effect would be once that credit ended. Initially contracts had to closed by June 30th. This spurred sales to perform very well in the first half of the year with the area running about 15% above the year before in terms of the number of sales and then fell off in July and the proceeding months. The year ended basically even with 2009 in terms of the number of residential home sales for Flagler County as follows with 1,408 versus 1,411 in 2009. Median selling price dipped 5% coming in at $130,000 compared to 2009 at $137,000 which was to be expected as the market continues to correct itself.

As you look at the graph of the number of home sale by month below you see that we had another good year in the area with sales "pushed" up in the year due to the tax credit deadline. What do I anticipate for 2011? If the phone calls and the messages I have been receiving during the holiday are any indicator, it should be another great year for the area. I expect us to see a return to a consistent trend in terms of the number of closes each month throughout the year with another year that either meets or exceeds 2010.

Disclaimer: Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS as of 1/3/2011 for Residential Houses. Information may be deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

The 'For Sale' Sign Just Got Better

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 10:01:07 -0800

The 'For Sale' sign on the lawn of a property is still alive and well and continues to serve a purpose . . . letting others know the property is for sale. In fact, buyers still continue to find properties of interest by these signs and continue to take drives to look for them in an area of interest. But the sign has always had a huge barrier . . . the lack of information. You basically get 3 bits of information from the sign:

That the property is for sale
The company and agent the property is listed with
A phone number to call

So if the buyer does want to know more about the property they can either call the number on the sign or jot down the property address and look it up when they get home. The buyer has really never been able to get any more information immediately other than maybe 'clunky' text message or 800-number requests . . . until now.

At PalmCoastHomeShow.com we just launched scannable signs. The lawn sign has a scannable QR Code (quick response code) which can be scanned with a smartphone and a scanning app such as Shop Savvy. Once the code is scanned, the person is directed automatically to a site that contains the property information plus photos, local information such as schools, satellite maps, and more. If the buyer wishes to schedule a showing or has more questions, simple click the 'Request More Information' button or touch the phone number on the screen to dial. It's that easy.

An example of the rider is below and scan the QR code to see the result at 13 Pinelark Ln in Palm Coast, FL:

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Two Great Tech Marketing Options You Might Have Missed

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:02:23 -0800

We're always exploring new options and services that are out there and particularly like the word 'FREE' in any advertising. Over the last few weeks we've found two newer options that you might have missed.

The first is www.Paper.Li This service takes Twitter feeds (i.e. a member, hastag, or a list) and creates a custom automated online newspaper-looking site. The paper provides vistors with a very rich reading experience that can be updated daily, weekley, or twice per day. It also adds in automated announcements on Twitter that your new edition is available. Check out two I created this week:

The other is a great tie-in with Postlets (an already very powerful service) called vyoo.it. This powerful service takes your Postlets property advertisement and turns it into a mobile site complete with a QR code that is automatically generated. We've been exploring using QR codes recently and focused alot on adding them to property signs to direct 'window shoppers' to more information on the property from the comfort of their car. We're thinking vyoo.it is defintely the solution. Once the barcode is scanned with a smartphone, the shopper is directed to a great looking version of the Postlets ad complete with photos. Plus they can simply tap the phone number at the bottom to make the call to schedule an appointment. Scan the QR code below to see what I am talking about:

Have fun and let me know what you think.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Why Interest Rate Can Be The Better Benefit Than a Tax Credit

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:03:22 -0700

The national average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is an astonshing 4.29%. Many buyers were obviously motivated by the tax credits last year and unfortunately the record-low interest rates get overshadowed. Are these rates a better benefit to make the decision to buy now if you are considering purchasing a home? Well let's do the math and you'll see that the truth is that these rates are the better benefit.

Let's take a $100,000 loan at 30 years fixed today at 4.50%.

Payment would be $506.69 (principal and interest)
Total interest over the life of the loan would be $82,406.71 or $2,746.89 per year

That same loan of $100,000 at 30 years fixed just 1% higher at 5.50% would be:

Payment of $567.79 (principal and interest) or $733.20 more per year
Total interest over the life of the loan would be $104,404.04 or $3,480.13 per year

The difference in the cost of the two loans year over year would be $4,213.33 combining the additional payment amount and interest. Over the life of the loan the savings in interest is an whopping $21,997.33! So are these interest rates a better benefit to buyers today? Absolutely.

Start your Palm Coast or Flagler County, FL home search today at PalmCoastHomeShow.com or contact me so we can get your custom plan today.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Flagler County Sees Soft July But Still Up For The Year

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:46:17 -0700

Like the rest of the country, Flagler County and Palm Coast saw a dip in the number of home sale closing in July to the tune of about 28%. 103 homes closed in July of this year compared to 142 in July of 2009. Year to date, the area still remains 7% above last year through August 25th in terms of the number of home sales. August through 8/25/10 has seen 82 closings and is slightly below the same period in August last year when 94 homes closed.

The dip in the number of closings in July this year was actually to be expected. The motivation of the homebuyer tax credit naturally shifted the selling season a bit. Most will tell you in the area, that July was quieter than normal inlcuding me. August on the other hand is looking strong and traffic in the area has definitely picked up.

What about price? Median price in the area for home sales is slightly under last year at $137,500 last year through 8/25 compared to $131,000 this year for the same period. This is about a 5% decline.

All in all, sales remain strong in the area. The expiration of the home buyer tax credit at this point seems to have caused more of a shift in the natural trends of the selling seasons in the area rather than to have impacted overall demand in a negative way. This is a very postive because it shows that people are very interested in the area and are continuing to buy here, but many were obviously motivated to buy earlier than usual due to the benefit of the tax credit. Then when you look outside of the tax credit, there are other great benefits such as amazing interest rates right now. Buyers are often able to get into a mortgage under 5% right now. Definitely a rate to take advantage of.

Looking to buy a home in the area, start your search at PalmCoastHomeShow.com. The most powerful and easy property search in the area!

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

How To Decide What a Good Offer Is

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:27:13 -0700

So you searched through homes. You've visited each one. And you've narrowed it down to which homes(s) your are interested in. Now it's time to make the offer. The question becomes . . . how much? This is the part that is a little more complex than most people think and a lot of factors should be taken into account.

Remember, an offer is the first step in negotiation. It is about opening up the door to a conversation. Offers that are reasonable and have attractiveness to them can lead to a very good discussion that is very beneficial to both parties.
What is the 'market value' of the property if it were listed for sale today? This is derived from reviewing the comparable sales in the area recently. The list price on the property today may have been derived from information that is several months old and conditions may have changed. By doing this you:
1. Have real data that backs up your offer.
2. Gives you better guidance of the property real value
3. Reduces speculation and better opens up the lines for real negotiation
Consider the type of sale (i.e. Short Sale, Foreclosure, neither).
1. Short sales and foreclosures are not the same nor can offers be tens of thousands of dollars less than the list price in most cases. Short sales, for one, are on the market because the lender is owed more than the property can sell for so they are attempting to reduce their loss. They look at the 'market value' of the property very closely prior to giving their approval of what they accept. Again, a CMA of the property will give you better information as to the best offer. Foreclosures are often listed below market value and tend to sell very quickly in our market. Therefore, offering a great deal less is often times a flat-out rejection or a case of losing the property to another buyer.
2. In the 'neither' scenario, the motivation of the seller may not be as much of a priorty as one thinks. Some owners may 'want to move' but do not 'need to'. This is about determing how motivated they really are.
How long has the property been on the market? There are a couple of things to look at here:
1. Under 60 days. This is actually not a long period of time for most properties. Therefore, motivation for sellers in 'normal' listing situations may not be highly motivated at this point.
2. 60-90 days. This is the range where sellers begin to get more motivated. This is also especially true if there has been low activity or no previous offers. Does this mean they will 'accept anything'? No. This is point where sellers are often more open to negotiation conversations.
3. Over 90 days. At this point sellers are usually motivated and willing to enegage in real negotiation conversations. Again, this does not mean this is 'desparation' time for a seller and they will accept 'any offer'. This is a time where they are often more open to conversations.

Again, making an offer is intended to open up the door to a negotiation conversation. The offer should be arrived at by looking the information available to insure the conversation will be productive and beneficial to both parties.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Palm Coast Real Estate Gets Great new Systems

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:01:45 -0700

Recently the Flagler County Association of Realtors began transitioning over to Sentrilock lockboxes. These lockboxes add far greater security and peace of mind for sellers. These lockboxes add in the following security features for sellers:

Double coded entry system.
Wireless updating and reporting. Local Realtors are now able to see and be notified as to who is accessing a property and when.
Realtors can assign 'day codes' for out-of-town Realtors showing a property which reduces appointment conflicts and insures properties can be shown when requested.
Sturdy rubber-coated construction protects doors and handles while insuring the security of keys.

This past year, the Association also transitioned over to a new MLS system known as Navica by Systems Engineering. This online MLS system added great new features to provide better services to buyers and sellers. Some of these great new features are:

Seller Gateway. This option allows us to provide sellers with a login to see their property as it appears on the MLS, view showing schedule and activity, and view feedback from showings.
Online showing scheduler for properties that is customizable. Realtors are able to add-in black-out times and recieve notifications as requests come in.
Online consistent feedback form. All properties use the same feedback form which allows us to recieve a consistent set of information back from visitors that is crucial to the selling process.
Quick feeding to Realtor.com. Getting out in front of potential buyers is important. In the past, processing took about 24 to 48 hours for a property to appear on Realtor.com. Now those properties are appearing on the same day as they are entered.

Customers are loving the benefits of these great new systems. The added services are great bebfits to present and future customers. Both companies are outstanding service providers in our area and we appreciate all they do and the support they provide.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

So What Is 'Walk Score' In Regards To a Property?

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:16:55 -0700

If you are shopping for properties these days, you may have noticed 'walk score' in the information are for the property online. Walk Score is a service that measures the distance of a property to important locations such as grocery stores, schools, etc. and then calculates an overall rank. This allows buyer the ability to better guage transportation costs in regards to making a home purchase.

Does it make a difference to buyers and property values? For example, does a property with a higher 'walk score' have a higher property value than a comparable property with a lower walk score? That's not so easy of a question to answer. According to a study of 15 major markets, 13 out of 15 of the markets showed higher property values for properties with higher walk scores.

The issue with looking at 'walk scores' in regards to property values is that you really can't compare market to market or a variety of different homes either. What a property will sell for is always based upon comparable sales within a reasonable distance. 'Walk score' then becomes a feature of the home that may be more 'attractive' to certain buyers dependent upon their lifestyle. Although I haven't had buyers directly refer to a 'walk score', buyers are often interested in the distance of things such as shopping and schools to a property. This deosn't always mean that all of these items being close to a property are more attractive to all buyers. For example, schools for a buyer with no children obviously would not be of any 'value' to them.

So what are your thoughts. Is a 'Walk Score' important information to you when shopping for a property?

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Palm Coast State of the Market 7/10/2010

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 10:39:39 -0700

The common question today is how is 'the market' now that the tax credit for new contracts has expired? Remember to qualify for the tax credit the buyer must have signed the contract by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 10, 2010 with the closing date date extended now to accomodate short sales. Since most sales will close within 30 days, May was a real focus as an indicator of the impact of the tax credit and June to a point. So how is the market? Still holding strong in the area. Let's take a look at the Palm Coast Residential Home statistics:

Sales

June 2010 June 2009 %Difference

# of Closings 135 131 +3%

Avg. Sold Price $155,685 $164,479 -6%

Median Sold Price $135,000 $138,000 -2%

So we are still seeing positive gains in the number of sales which is a continued trend over the last two years and that's always a great sign. The average and median prices, again, are seeing slight dips but the single digit drops are a very postive sign compared to the double digit drops from the last few years and indicate stabilization.

Pending sales have been getting a great deal of news as well. Palm Coast currently has 130 pending home sales and this is about average for this time of year. The average list price for these pending sales is $$185,803 and the median list price is $140,000. Again, positive numbers for the area.

In terms of active homes for sale in Palm Coast, there are 1034 homes for sale with an average list price of $223,803 and a meidan list price of $169,000. Short Sale comprise 36% of the homes for sale and foreclosures comprise 3%. This has been the average for some time now and not much change in the area of actives.

So all in all we are seeing the market in the area stabilizing and positive response to all that Palm Coast has to offer. It's been a great year in the area and we're only half way through!

Remember, you can easily search for properties in the Palm Coast area at www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com and even start your search in simple ways such as:

Create a PalmCoastHomeShow.com account and manage your property search with powerful features such as:

Saving properties to review later
Save multiple custom searches unqiue to you
Get email alerts for properties meeting your specific criteria
Easily set up showings or request more information on a property

Or call me today to get started on the road to your new dream home in Palm Coast, FL.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"

Palm Coast State of The Market 6/24/10

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:27:15 -0700

Everyone is continuing to keep an eye on the housing market nationally and locally to see the effect of the Tax Credit program which ended in April. The terms of the program were that contracts needed to be signed by 4/30/10 and closing occur no later than 6/30/10. Realistically, many of those closings would have occurred in May for contracts signed in April. So June and July are key months to look at in reagrds to impacts. We are still seeing strong numbers in the area compared to 2009 in Palm Coast which comprises the majority of the activity in the Flagler County area. Here's a breakdown through 6/24/10 for Palm Coast Residential Home Sales:

Year-to-Date

2010 2009 Difference

# of Sales: 621 553 +12%

Median Sold $ $129,000 $136,000 -6%

Avg DOM 206 205 ---

June 2010

2010 2009 Difference

# of Sales 110 92 +19%

Median Sold $ $135,755 $136,000 -----

Avg DOM 192 241 -20%

As you can see, we are seeing very positive gains in terms of the number of home sales in the area both this year and for June so far. One notable point that many look at is the median home sold price to base prices. This number is derived from the 'in between' of the number of the highest and lowest sold. What is driving this number is the change in the price area customers are buying at which has changed from last year. Take a look at the graph below:

As you can see there has been a significant shift in the number of sales by price bracket. In 2009, the peak was at the up to $140,000 range and has shifted downward to the up to $120,000 range for 2010 so far.

This will continue to be an interesting summer for Real Estate in the area. We are continuing to see very positive signs in the area which I believe will continue. Again, we are seeing minimal foreclosures offered for sale through our MLS and the double-digit increases in the number of home sales is always a great sign.

Disclaimer: Statistics based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS through 6/24/2010. Information is deemed reliable but not guarnteed.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1 Palm Coast, FL 32137 | Office: (386) 446-5930
Email: Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com

"Bringing Real Estate to Life"