N.A.B.O.R. (Naples Area Board of Realtors) recently released encouraging figures for the month of November regarding pending sales overall. The increase from November of 2007 to this November was dramatic, over 54% and represents the eighth month in a row the figure has risen.

Statistically a majority of the sales took place at the under $300,000 price point which would stand to reason because of the rise in ‘short sales', foreclosures, as well as bank-owned properties (REO) in that category. Today's buyer is bargain hunting no matter what the price point, but the majority of assumed deals remains under $300,000 and that is where a lot of the sales are taking place. That has been the primary driver of the market. Meanwhile, as reported by the Naples Daily News, Naples home prices fell 25% in the month of November and the days on market has dropped as well.

The news should help to fuel an active selling season after the first of the new year!

Get Statistical Data Here

You are hearing it more and more and the problem is becoming more and more common...homeowners in condominium complexes not paying their monthly or annual association fees. These homeowners are facing foreclosure and have not been paying their mortgages, so naturally they are not paying their association fees and it creates a real set of multiple problems.

I read an interesting article about taxes in the State of Florida and people's complaints that their taxes aren't decreasing despite declining property values. Continue

With the advent of the market drop over the past few years or so, fixing up homes to make a profit on is looking more and more interesting for some people. Continue

Sometimes I find myself wishing that I had an ‘easy button' to push while working on some of those hard real estate deals...You know the ones where you work like a dog, excited to find what you consider to be a gem of a property and have the customers drag their feet because they think that there will be a better deal around the next corner. Continue

Canadians interested in selling their homes are suddenly finding their market looking more and more like our market here in the U.S., a strong buyer's market, and it is a change that they aren't liking. They are being told by their real estate agents that if they list their home, it might not sell because of the change in the market. It was just a few short months ago that the sellers were totally in control of the market and were getting the high prices they listed at.

The change in the Canadian Market begs the question as to how deep the effect will be regarding Canadians interested in purchasing South Florida real estate. There is no question that this trend will have an effect and that is certainly a huge cause for concern since it was the Canadians who supported much of the real estate buying this past summer.

With the fear in Europe causing a wait and see attitude, we don't need that coming from our northern friends!

Some people will undoubtedly misconstrue today's financial aid rate cut of 0.50% by Ben Bernanke and the FED thinking that it will lower it will lower the mortgage interest rates, when in fact the opposite could happen. Certainly the move was unprecedented and quickly followed by major central banks around the world in a move to stave off financial destruction. The cut followed the $700 billion rescue plan that no one is calling it a bailout anymore. Continue

I've always considered myself a ‘networker' probably well before the term even became a term. In real estate, we all look toward our happy customers for referrals, and actually it doesn't matter whether it is real estate or not, any business can benefit from the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Continue

The Fall season here in Florida get us closer to my very favorite time of year when we can throw open the windows, turn the a/c off and finally “air” out the house. The good news is that it can last up to five months if the prevailing wind currents that bring us that cooler weather from the north remain in a certain pattern. Last year was a perfect example of that happening and it was great! Continue

Today is my 64^th birthday and I consider myself rather fortunate that I have managed to outlive my father by some 10 years, although I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it's the luck of the draw or more so because we have come a long way medically and our generation is just living longer.