Ar_home_b_search
 



manatee county: Foreclosures in Florida show no sign of a decline - 05/17/12 07:26 AM
 Wall Street Journal reported today that the amount of seriously delinquent loans is still a major concern despite news of improvements in the real estate market.
Demand for bank owned homes, short sales, and regular sales have never been higher that what we have seen in the past two months.  Inventory of homes for sale in Manatee and Sarasota county have hit their lowest level in years.
As of the first of April, there were less than 3,500 total units for sale in Manatee county.  With almost 900 of those homes going under contract in March, that puts our supply of … (1 comments)

manatee county: Short Sales on the Decline in Manatee County, FL - 03/28/11 01:52 PM
Short Sale inventory has been decreasing at the same time that sales are picking up.  Short sale homes and condos for sale in Bradenton have taken a noticable drop this past month, with 858 total short sales listings in all of Manatee county.  244 short sale homes and condos went pending last month as well.  That is the highest amount of pending short sales ever for Manatee County.  

Combine the decrease of short sale listings with the spike in pending sales, is a strong indicator that the market might have hit it's low.  Prices for homes in bradenton/sarasota have … (1 comments)

manatee county: APPROVED short sale in bradenton, fl close to the beach mint condition - 11/09/10 09:45 PM
This is a HAFA APPROVED SHORT SALE!  142,600 will buy this home with only a short period to approve a new buyer.
Short Sale- Great location in Village Green. Close to the beaches,and shopping in this updated 2 bedroom 2 bath home. New Roof, updated carpet and wood floors in the living room and dining area. Nice big private backyard. $55 a year voluntary HOA fee.This is a very nice condition home located on a quiet street. Single mortgage short sale with Wells Fargo. Experienced Short sale negotiator in place. only one mortgage. This is a must see home! Listing price … (1 comments)

manatee county: 3 bedroom 5 acres in Parrish- Not a Short sale! - 10/14/10 10:18 PM
Just listed a very nice home in Parrish, FL today.  This one has a nice, clean, 3 bedroom 2 bath, 2 car garage ranch home.  Volume ceilings and a great room floorplan.  Nice big kitchen too.  
The 5 acres is fenced and is all usuable land.  No wetlands on this property.  Perfect for your horses and your toys.
Not a short sale either 
If you are looking for a very nice home that can close quickly, with out the hassles of dealing with banks deciding on the fate of the deal then here you go.  A realistic priced clean move … (0 comments)

manatee county: $115k-- A 3/2 home with an attached 2/1-- IT's a Duplex. Not a short sale. - 01/25/10 10:18 PM

Looks can be deceiving.  Would you like a home, that's not a short sale, and it has a "conforming" apartment that can be rented out? This property is zoned duplex, but it does not look like a "typical" duplex unit.  This could be a great option for someone that would like a home with some income potential. 
 It could be possible to live in one "unit" and rent out the other.  Not a bad idea to really lower your overhead!
Typical rental rates in the area would suggest around 900-1000 for the 3/2 side and 500-600 for the 2/1

Built … (1 comments)

manatee county: Manatee real estate inventory stable?- The numbers don't lie (2009 in Review) - 01/11/10 02:21 PM
This past 4th quarter has been busy as compared to the previous year.  This can be attributed to the 8,000 first time home buyer tax credit, and also to the lower overall sales prices.  
In December there was 442 SALES compared with December of 2008 when only 328 homes closed.
Pending sales have also increased with December's having 481 homes go pending, compared to 348 in December of 2008.
 
Overall inventory has seemed to level out through the last quarter of 2008 with inventory hovering around 4,700 total units.  From my unofficial perspective the typical jump in inventory for … (6 comments)

manatee county: Could this extra cold winter help rebound the Manatee county real estate market? - 01/11/10 08:14 AM
My prediction.  The market is going to bounce back this spring!  Unofficial of course, but in my 8 years of selling real estate in Manatee County the colder the winter is the more people want to buy a Florida home.
 
Now of course, it was 32 degrees this am..  Brrrrr!!  But, that's here in Florida.  It's colder up north.  A longer winter helps our economy since snow-birds, vacationers, and of course second home buyers have more incentive to buy a Florida home.
With 3 years of below average sales, there is plenty of people crowding on the fence.  Some are … (1 comments)

manatee county: Is selling your home as a short sale worth the work? - 12/22/09 11:55 PM
So you have to sell your home, but you owe more than it is worth. Here are your options if you have to sell.IF you would rather stay in your home, but are having trouble afford the payments a loan modification should be your first step.  
But,
Tried to modify and the payments are still to high.  ( I can help with this too.)  Need to relocate for work or change in family reasons. Can't afford to stay in a home that has too high of a mortgage payment. Your property is "UNDERWATER", and you are prepared to walk away … (9 comments)

manatee county: What happens when half of Florida's Homeowners are "underwater"? - 12/13/09 07:25 PM
What does it mean too the market if half (48.5%) of the homeowners with mortgages, owe more than their home's worth?
With this kind of grim statistic it could be easy to get pretty down on the market, but I think it could be worse.  The Wall Street Journal's report shows the percentages of homes that have mortgage balances over the value of the property.
Some Considerations:
The majority of the short sales and foreclosures are homes that were either bought, or refinanced during the housing boom years of 2004-2006.   Pretty much all homes in the Manatee County market are worth about 20-50% … (8 comments)

manatee county: Vote to allow judges to reduce principle balance on loans TODAY....take action - 12/10/09 10:17 PM
Loan Modifications with PRINCIPLE REDUCTION does not happen hardly at all.  It should, and it makes sense.  This is a good call to action, and I would support this bill.  Please spread the word if you can

Via Mark Archer (REC Real Estate Consulting Services LLC):
CONTACT CONGRESS: Support Judges Modifying Mortgages NOW! Otherwise, It's All Up to the Banks. Posted: 10 Dec 2009 06:20 PM PSTSCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR BUTTON THAT MAKES IT SIMPLE TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS.  YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO KNOW HIS OR HER NAME... JUST YOUR NAME, ADDRESS AND ZIP CODE.
In the next … (0 comments)

manatee county: A Short sale deal that fell through, and I couldn't be happier! - 12/10/09 09:24 PM
I just withdrew a short sale listing off the market.  It was a typical short sale.  The owners were having a struggle making their payments, and then one got laid off from work.  The bill collectors start calling, and they start getting behind in the mortgage.  I meet with the owners and gave them their options.
1.  Try to work on a Loan Modification.(which they had been doing.. unsuccessfully) , OR,
2.  Start the short sale process.
They had tried, as many do, to do the loan modification on their own with no success.  I did not "do" their loan modification.  I only gave them advice … (9 comments)

manatee county: New treasury department guidlines. Will this fix the real estate market? - 12/08/09 08:43 PM
 Finally! Home owners, Realtors, Lenders, and home buyers are all going to benefit from these new guidlines.  The faster and easier the process becomes the closer offers will come to being fair market value.  This will lead to reduced inventories, and market stabilization.  The Treasury department created a 46 page guide for major lenders to follow with regards to short sales, deed in lieu, and loan modifications.  The frustrating process was in need of standardization, and streamlining. 
Short sales can take months to close, andtend to go pending with prices that are below market value since the buyer(s) brace themselves for the long drawn out process … (8 comments)

manatee county: New listing 1/2 acre 275,000 - 3720 38th Ave East Bradenton, FL 34208 - 11/30/09 03:41 PM

Just listed this rare newer home built in 2007.  Has a great big lot, and NO DEED RESTRICTIONS!  Easy drive to SR 70, and Sarasota or Bradenton. 
The home features upgrades uncommon for a home in the area.  Granite Counter tops, wood cabinets, tile floor in the main living areas, and plenty of details that make this a fine home.  3 Full bedrooms, 2 Baths, and a separate den.  The home also has a spacious three car garage.
Call me today if you are interested to see this great house.  Move in ready, and ready for you today!
Joe Murphy, … (0 comments)

manatee county: Where are all the bank owned homes? - 11/23/09 12:25 AM
It was front page news that the number of foreclosures filings here in Manatee County has had 5687 foreclosure filings to date this year, which is an increase from last year.  This is a lot of homes and as an active agent it made me wonder where are all the bank owned inventory?
There are 4696 total active residential listings as of this evening (11/22/09). 474 "normal" are pending There are 149 active bank owned homes 123 pending There are 920 short sales active there are 940 pending The Statistics show two big things.
The action is happening on bank owned, and … (4 comments)

manatee county: Are New Home sales pulling down market values? - 11/20/09 05:03 PM
I have been working with a buyer this week, and after seeing all the resale inventory including short sales, and foreclosures they decided on a new build.  What is amazing to me is that the deal they got with the local builder is BETTER than any of the comparable resales in that area.
A resale home that was essentially the same home as they purchased was an option, BUT it was 45,000 dollars more, and a SHORT SALE too.  The new construction will take 8 months to close, but a short sale can take 90-180 days to close.  Plus the new … (5 comments)

manatee county: Obama signs the First Time home buyer extension.. a collective sigh of relief. - 11/06/09 04:01 PM
It's finally really here.  Of course, this is a little old news, as people have been saying that the tax credit was approved fro the past week.  Nothing is in stone until the President signs the bill into law.
It would have been nice if this could be extended to ALL home buyers.  This would cause the investors back in the market in droves, and snapping up all the investment homes.  Could you imagine buying a rental home for 50,000 and getting back 8,000 of your taxes? 
Kind of like when everyone was driving HUMMERS because they could write off the … (5 comments)

manatee county: Wells Fargo short sale approved in less than 30 days! Sign of things to come? - 11/05/09 09:21 PM
This was a great day! I just had a short sale come back approved in less than 30 days pending!
I love Wells Fargo.  I listed the home preparing the seller for a long painful process that would take 6 months to a year to complete.  I advised her to call her lender to let  them know she wanted to do a short sale. 
The NEXT day, I get a call from the assigned negotiator.  That same day, I get a call from the BPO agent!  THIS WAS BEFORE I EVER HAD AN OFFER!
Within two weeks I get the unit under … (7 comments)

manatee county: Conflicts of interest? Loan servicer pulls one on the investors too. - 11/03/09 05:47 PM
I just attended a Foreclosure rescue seminar this past weekend. One of the things that  I learned is their is another victim besides the homeowner, the INVESTOR.  These "mortgage backed securities" were supposed to be safe investments.  Triple AAA rated, SAFE, reasonable returns.  The kind of investments that were sold as low risk.  They too are being burned in this real estate bubble.
The people in the middle: servicer(s), and the firms that sold these mortgages to the investors got their profits and no consequence.   
 The homeowner loses their home and credit, and the INVESTOR that actually put up real money, takes the loss.  No one … (2 comments)

manatee county: Are foreclosures contagious? - 10/29/09 09:19 PM
High schools try to get pregnant teens out of the main student population.  Pregnancy can be contagious among teen girls.
People that get the flu are told to stay home, and away from other people.  The Flu is contagious.
When there is group of people clamoring around a sales rack, grabbing an item quickly and decisively, other shoppers can be influenced to do the same.  Like when there is a hurricane warning and people start hording items.  Shopping can be contagious.
I think that foreclosures are also contagious.  One family on a street runs into hard times, gets late on their mortgage payments, … (1 comments)

manatee county: A-B-C Foreclosure rescue companies- Are they legit? - 10/29/09 01:34 AM
.
I had one experience a little over a year ago where a representative, for a buyer wanted to looking for good deals for his "client", but only my listings.  I showed that person a few short sales that fit his requirements.  A few weeks later his client came in to town with him wanting to see 2 homes in particular.  My seller was home at one for this showing.  This potential buyer went into a pretty aggressive pitch on me and my customer to hire his firm.  Wait.. I thought he was a buyer, actually he is really attempting to take control … (0 comments)