Real Estate in Palmetto Bay & Redland

One Bad Apple & Pulling Credit 10 Times

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:53:33 -0600

A year and a half ago, when I listed my first REO, the selling banks were being less cautious about the pre-qualification letters submitted with the offers. But then too many deals fell through, a lot of time was wasted and, as property values were still declining then, money was lost when the property had to be returned to the market to find another buyer two to three months later.

Most banks then decided that they would not consider an offer unless it had a pre-approval from one of their own branches. In theory it sounds benign enough. It certainly is a way to do away with the “fluffy” pre-approvals that aren’t worth the paper they are written on. But in this market, where each foreclosure that is listed garners at least 10 offers (and in some cases 40 and 50 offers), having to pre-qualify your buyer with a different lender every time you submit an offer is ridiculous.

I have a buyer who has been looking for almost a year now. He’s getting really frustrated that not enough properties matching his criteria are showing up. And when one does, we submit an offer immediately to try and get in before the slew of offers comes in. We put together really decent offers. They have been above asking price, but not ridiculously high just to get the offer accepted. We dot all our I’s. We cross all our T’s. We fill in all our blanks. We submit copies of our earnest money and copies of our pre-approvals.

But what happens when you get really tired of having your credit pulled time and time again just to get pre-qualified by the seller’s choice of bank? Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done. The listing agent won’t submit the offer without that new pre-qual. I am dealing with an offer we submitted yesterday on a foreclosure. I submitted a brand new DU approval with the offer from my buyer’s mortgage person. This was a DU that was pulled for this buyer, for this home, for this purchase price and still the listing agent won’t accept it. He insists that we go to his mortgage broker for a pre-qual.

It sounds to me like this is the listing agent’s requirement, not the sellers’. The reason I think this is because most sellers are having buyers prequalified by their own entity. Wells Fargo wants Wells Fargo pre-qualifications. Chase wants Chase. But with this one, I am being asked to take my buyer to a local mortgage broker, not a direct lender for their approval.

Now, I am not a mortgage broker and will never be. I prefer to let each practice his own specialty and will not try to wear two hats, with neither fitting quite right. But isn’t a DU approval just as good from one mortgage broker as from another? Maybe this is where I am wrong on this. Because I am not a mortgage broker, I may be misunderstanding the power of the DU.

What I do know is that a real estate agent can be as frustrated as her buyers. Oy vey.

Maggie Dokic is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Florida selling residential real estate in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, Gables by the Sea, High Pines and the Redland.

For more information on our local real estate market, or to see or sell a home in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables or the Redland, visit my Miami Real Estate blog or contact me at Maggie (at) TheBlogThatAteMiami (dot) com.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Going Green in Miami, Florida

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:07:26 -0600

Selling homes in sunny Miami, Florida, means I get to process a lot of documents. An awful lot. This would ordinarily mean that I am using a lot of actual paper. But I try to be responsible and go digital whenever possible.

Just tonight I emailed a listing agreement to one of my sellers and sent it using Transaction Desk. It's a tool made available to us by the Florida Association of Realtors (also known as FAR to it's members). Of course, I sent myself a copy as well. As I was reading the copy I received I noticed a little Go Green, Go Paperless image and it caught my eye.

It allowed me to see what an impact we are having by using tools such as this one to go green. I thought it was neat l that it showed actual pages saved as well as CO2, water and trees saved. It made my small gesture viable. It wasn't so small any more!

The program also allows the documents to be signed digitally and be returned to me so we can keep everything totally paperless.

Nice going FAR & Instanet!

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Benefit For Kids With Cancer This Friday

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:59:25 -0600

This Friday Prudential Florida Realty will be hosting it's "Sunshine After Dark" event to benefit the Sunshine Kids organization. Sunshine Kids was formed to help kids with cancer.

Our Sunshine Kids event “Sunshine After Dark” is set for Friday, November 13, 2009 at 7pm. The event will be held in Pinecrest, at our first floor office space-which will be transformed to a chic lounge for the event.

We will have wine, appetizers and a wonderful silent auction with fabulous prizes.

The tickets for "Sunshine After Dark" are $25.00 in advance and $30.00 at the door. One hundred percent of this goes to Sunshine Kids. Prudential is footing the bill for all the expenses and we've had gracious donations for the raffles. Yay Prudential and sponsors!

We are also selling tickets for a 1 in 1,800 chance for a new 2010 Mercedes Benz C Class. Tickets for the car drawing are $50.00 per ticket. Sweet!

Get excited about having a great time and supporting a wonderful cause!

Prudential Florida Realty is committed to the kids.

What: Sunshine After Dark

When: Friday 11/13/09 at 7pm

Where: Prudential Florida Realty 11525 S. Dixie Hwy., Pinecrest, FL 33156

Cost: $25 in advance, $30 at door

Please contact me at 305.975.3842 if you wish to attend.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

I Love Rock 'n Ribs, Put Another Slab on The Grill Baby

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:48:51 -0600

Did you catch the similarity to Joan Jett's classic, I Love Rock 'n Roll? No? Well please humor me and say you did. =)

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts will be performing at Miami's Ribfest tomorrow. Also performing will be another classic act, Blue Oyster Cult. I happen to know that some people are spending Saturday in Homestead just to see them perform.

You can get your Rock 'n Roll fix on Saturday and come back on Sunday for a little Country. Tracy Lawrence and Chuck Wicks will be the headliners on Sunday. Now, I've fallen behind on current signing sensations, but even not knowing who he is, Chuck has a smoky look in his eyes that makes me want to head to Homestead on Sunday for some ribs!

So, head on over this weekend. There will be lots to do and plenty to eat. Visit the Miami-Dade parks site for RibFest to get more information.

What: Miami RibFest

When: Sat. & Sun. 11/8 & 9

Time: 11:00am - 10:00pm on Saturday, closes at 6:00 on Sunday

Where: Homestead Air Reserve Park (268 St. & 122 Ave)

Cost: $15, kids under 10 FREE. Ribs extra =)

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Soaring Over Homestead Once Again

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:16:24 -0600

After a 17 year absence, the "Wings Over Homestead Air Show" is back. The event hasn't been held since Hurricane Andrew tore through Homestead in 1992.

Headlining the event are the world-famous Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds are the U.S. Air Force Demonstration Squadron, known world wide as one of the most elite jet fighter performance teams.

In addition to the Thunderbirds, the event will include biplanes, rocket cars, supersonic jets and more. In addition to the performing aircraft, many vintage warplanes will be on display for up close and personal viewing.

The event is totally FREE and parking is free too. You've no excuse for not having something to do this weekend. =) The show is the military's way of thanking the local community for their support of our troops and veterans.

Where: Homestead Air Reserve Base (Go East on 288 St. Approx 1 mile East of Turnpike)

When: Sat. & Sun. 11/8 & 11/9

Time: Doors Open at 9am and close at 3pm. Event lasts longer than 3pm but you must arrive by 3:00

Cost: FREE

Visit the Wings Over Homestead site for additional information.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Inexpensive & Indispensable Tool - A Realtor's Best Friend

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:43:09 -0500

I like to share when I find something extraordinary.

I purchased a pdf editor a few months back that has made my work so much easier.

Do you work selling REO's that want their own forms to be used? Want to avoid having to hand write them? Especially the all-important legal description which is easier to copy & paste using a computer. This software I found creates fields so you can fill in previously non-fillable pdf files.

Do you wish you had an MLS input form that you could fill out on the PC instead of by hand? This software will take care of that too.

Did you ever get a fax in your e-fax that was missing one of the pages in the middle and didn't want to request that the whole 30 pages be refaxed to you? No worries. Ask for just the missing page and then insert it in the middle with this software.

Did you ever get a scan from a client in a tif format but everyone you're working with wants only pdf format? Don't bother your client to figure out how to scan in pdf format. You can convert it lickety split with this. This amazing software converts tiffs, , jpegs, bmps, gifs and other formats into pdf files.

Did you ever get an email from a client who can only scan one page at a time and wondered what to do with 17 pdf files other than printing them all and scanning them yourself into one file? This software will merge all 17 files into 1. Click, click, click, select. You're done!

Did you ever get a pdf e-fax that you want to forward to someone but don't want to send the whole thing? (for instance, the cover page which was meant for your eyes only). This software will split a file into 1 or more pdfs. Are you liking what you hear?

Did you ever want to rotate one of the pages in a pdf because it was sideways and you don't to have to keep hitting ctrl, shift +? This baby will take care of that too.

But wait. There's more! There is so much more that this software can do that I haven't used yet that I really think you should check it out. In case the benefits I've listed above don't cover your particular situation.

And best of all, it's not going to set you back several hundreds of dollars. It only costs $19.99. I paid 50% more for a software that only fills in fillable pdfs. Nothing more. If I came across a pdf file that was not fillable I was stuck. That's what led me to look for something better. I'm so glad I kept looking.

So what is this amazing software called? PDFill PDF Editor.

This thing is amazing! I find myself using it at least once every day. It has made my work so much easier since I bought it. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to save time and aggravation.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Sometimes a Realtor Starts Her Day In a Different Way

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:54:17 -0500

Sometimes midwifery is how a Realtor starts her day.

I woke up around 2:00am to check on our preggo terrier. She was OK and nothing yet, so I went to check my emails. Just a little later I hear her panting and when I got there she had given birth to the first pup and cleaned him up already. I was impressed!

Here's our Lola after a couple of pups. She's up to 3 now and has been at it for a few hours. I wish I knew how many more might be coming. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Pretty soon I will be finding homes of a different kind than I usually do: a loving home for these cuties!

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Thank you, Two-Timing Buyer!

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:43:10 -0500

Dear Two-Timing Tina,

Thanks for being unfaithful to me. I'm not angry. Instead, I'm thrilled. Why would I be thrilled to find out that you were seeing another REALTOR® behind my back? Because it was the epiphany I needed.

You see, I've known for a very long time that I should be working only with buyers who sign an exclusive buyer brokerage agreement. But I had grown complacent and kept putting it off. Getting buyers to sign these requires that I make adjustments to my routine. It requires some effort. I have to show my prospective buyers the benefits they will gain by working with only me. In order to accomplish this, they need to come into my office for a complimentary buyer consultation.

I've been so busy that instead of scheduling the free consultation when a new buyer called me, I would just get the property details and schedule a showing. Deep down I knew this was not the way it should be. But I kept telling myself I was too busy to do it otherwise.

Then you came along. Asking to see an $80,000 foreclosed home. The fact that this is well below what I usually work did not matter. You had a need and I wanted to fill it. So I picked up HUD keys, printed detail reports, drove by neighborhoods to check them out for you and reported back to you diligently.

For one reason or another, we were not able to meet face-to-face for 10 days or so. But I continued my diligent work for you. We spoke on the phone, texted back and forth, and stayed in touch . All seemed well.

Then yesterday I confirmed our appointment, gathered the documents and set out for our first F2F meeting. I arrived at the property to see that another REALTOR® was there showing it to his client. I said hello to them and waited for your arrival. After 10 minutes I decided to call and make sure you were not lost. I put two and two together when the other agent's client reached in her pocked for her ringing phone.

She was you!

You were her!

You looked over at me and asked, "oh, is that you calling me?" Was that when it hit you that you had scheduled appointments with two agents at the same house, at the same time? I've known two-timers before, but this was my first dealing with one with a faulty scheduling system.

I don't think my surprise showed on my face. And my well chosen words were not rude, although after leaving, I thought about it and chastised myself for not giving you a good talking-to. You needed to know what you did was wrong. But that didn't matter to me at the time.

What did matter was that your actions pushed me to making a realization which will serve me well in the future. You were the straw that broke the camel's back. I am no longer working with buyers who don't come to my office for our consultation and sign the buyer brokerage agreement. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Please continue on your merry way and know that our brief encounter fared me well. And the next buyer who calls me will know all the wonderful things he'll be gaining by working with me exclusively. Because I will make sure I tell him.

Yours truly,

No longer your agent.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Wordless Wednesday

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:45:03 -0500

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Music To Focus By - Groovera

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:58:56 -0500

I've always liked to work to music. The right music can help me focus. It brings me to that state of receptiveness and keen alertness that I find crucial to getting my work done more effectively.

At the office, I work in an open space and can hear everything that is going on around me. It can be very distracting. I sometimes find myself jumping into conversations just because I overheard something plus we're all friendly like that.

As fun as it can be, it's not very efficient to work like that. I have headphones that I keep at my desk and today I wanted to listen to music that would help me focus and get my work done. The local radio stations play online but I don't want sing-along songs and talk radio that engages me. Not now anyway.

I searched online and found a great site. It's Groovera.com Right now I am listening to their Jet City Lounge channel. I'm the worst person to put into words what I am hearing. It's some wort of techno, jazzy, bluesy thingiwhatsit. The bottom line is that it is super mellow and lays in the background as I do my work. It acts as a sort of white noise to cancel out the goings on around me and keeps me focused on the task at hand. And I can still hear my phone when it rings. Try it!

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

A Realtor's Day Off

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:11:22 -0500

The sunshine was streaming through the many windows as he made his way to the piano. When he sat down and set his fingers to the keys I stopped what I was doing and looked his way. He smiled at those of us there and asked if anyone had a favorite song.

My cousin translated and asked my aunt in Spanish for a favorite tune. She responded in her sometimes nonsensical way since early Alzheimer’s set in. We told the Piano Man she didn’t have a favorite and anything he played would be fine. He smiled again and started off with the classic “It’s Impossible.”

We had been the only ones in the sunroom until his music started. The song, expertly played, let the regulars know it was time. Slowly the room filled. Some were pushed in on their wheelchairs. Others walked in assisted by their walkers. They all came in with a purpose: to sit and enjoy what was a regular part of their routine at the facility.

My cousin pointed folks out to me as the beautiful music continued. There was the woman who hung her head low and never looked up. At first I thought she was sleeping but when she reached up to scratch her chin it became evident to me that she wasn’t. Did she no longer care what went on around her? Her aide sat beside her protectively, like a guardian angel.

Then my cousin pointed out the elderly man making his way to the front seat right next to the piano. He wasn’t the patient. His daughter whom he pushed in a wheelchair was. The irony tugged at my heart. My cousin explained that he would soon start singing along to all the tunes Piano Man was playing. Sure enough, in no time they both were.

When “New York, New York,” started we all sang along. There were at least seven of us there who considered ourselves New Yorkers, even though fate had led us south many years ago.

For over an hour he kept us enthralled with his music. When he started playing some classic Cuban ballads almost all of us joined in, my Dad surprising my cousin with his quite melodious voice. There were a few I had assumed were anglos who joyfully sang “Cielito Lindo,” and proved me wrong.

Even my teenagers, whom had asked how long we were going to stay, didn’t seem to mind that our planned hour had passed long ago. The camaraderie continued along with singing, sometimes off key, laughing, clapping and an occasional tear.

It occurred to me that the man playing the piano wasn’t paid. He did this because he enjoyed it. He actually lived in the facility. It wasn’t just an “old folk’s home.” There were some who were terminally ill in one wing. Others, like my aunt, were just there for rehab therapy after surgery. And others, like Piano Man, could take care of themselves but preferred to do it in a place like this and lived in their own little apartments upstairs.

I looked around and saw the many residents who were accompanied by their loved ones. It was heartwarming to see. A room full of strangers brought together for 90 minutes by someone who used his special gift to bring joy to people. We figured he must have been a professional in his day. He was that good.

As dinner trays started rolling by, guests started leaving. Piano Man wasn’t offended. He did this every day and expected it. We chatted with him for a bit and then went to say our goodbyes to my aunt in her room. As we were leaving the girls let me know that they were disappointed that I had never pushed them to learn the piano.

We have a saying in Spanish. “Nunca es tarde, cuando la dicha es buena.” It boils down to “it’s never too late.” I guess I better start looking for a music teacher.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Google Alert Results Change

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:16:05 -0500

I have a Google alert set up for both “Dokic” and “Maggie Dokic.” It’s a great way of knowing where my name is showing up in the web. That’s just one of the things I learned on Active Rain. =)

For the two years that I’ve had these alerts set up, the one for “Dokic” only gave me results for the tennis player, Jelena Dokic. Not once did Google consider Maggie Dokic worthy of picking up for a search for “Dokic” by itself. I thought it was interesting, since the name is unusual enough that it should have been.

Well, this morning my “Dokic” alert turned up Maggie Dokic. It picked up a post on my Miami Real Estate blog. It’s kinda silly for me to be excited about that. But I think it’s telling me something about Google. I’m not sure what it is just yet, and may never know. But something’s changed and I can’t help think it’s a benefit to me. I’m hoping it’s higher search rankings based on continued blogging. Yay.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Leave the Office Earlier - FREE Webinar

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:12:13 -0500

Whether you're swamped with work or looking for things to do as your market picks up, efficient time management is important.

DayTimers is sponsoring a FREE webinar hosted by Laura Stack, a personal productivity expert. Laura is an author and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time™

If you've got the laptop and the PDA/smartphone and even a paper system thrown in and have yet to figure out how to integrate it all then this webinar may be just the thing you need.

Time: April 7, 2009 8am PST/ 11am EDT

Location: A computer near you. Click here to go to the DayTimer homepage. There's a link on the right hand side for the FREE webinar.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Outlook On Steroids - Compact!

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:10:11 -0500

A tip for those of you who use Outlook in your day-to-day.

My system's been running really sluggishly and I know Outlook had a lot to do with it. It hogs a lot of memory and the .pst data file can get to be really big, which makes things worse. Of course, the fact that I hate archiving doesn't help either. I need to get over my dislike for the Archive function. It's there to help me.

Yesterday I ended up calling a help desk and the tech helped me remove unnecessary items from my start-up (all those little icons at the bottom of the screen are programs which are running automatically each time you boot up).

When he saw the size of my Outlook .pst file he said it was super important that I start deleting things. My file was 2,216,145 KB, or over 2 GBs!

I spent a good portion of my day yesterday moving, copying, archiving but mostly deleting. I got rid of a ton of stuff. When I went back to the .pst file I had barely made a dent in it! Something wasn't right. For the amount of data I had deleted, the size of my file should have been considerably smaller, yet it wasn't. It was maybe 5% smaller. Not enough to make a difference in performance.

So I did a little research and discovered that all the deleting in the world isn't going to help Outlook run faster. In addition, you need to compact the file when you're done with the deleting.

This was easy to do. I went to Tools/Account Settings clicked on the Data Files tab, highlighted the file, clicked settings and then compact now. That was it!

It took about 15 minutes to finish compacting but it was worth the wait. When I checked the size of the file after compacting, it was down to 242,065 KB, about 90% smaller.

It's not slow as molasses any more.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Trying New CRM Software - Selection & Installation

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:51:41 -0500

I love trying new things. When they're familiar, that is. =)

I wasn't able to take part in the popular Growth Leader trial runs. =( But why should that stop me from running a trial of my own on something else altogether? This has nothing to do with a website generating leads, by the way. I just like the way people are reporting on their experiences so I am going to do the same with this product I decided to try for my contact management, or CRM.

I plan on providing weekly updates on how it's going. Or maybe a little more often, since I am on a 30-day free trial. I am going to give it 100% and give it an honest-to-goodness try. No sense in taking my 30 free days if I'm going to goof off for 25 days.

The product is EurekaWare and it is an overlay for Outlook. For you Outlook lovers out there without a separate CRM venue that is real estate specific, this may be good news. I happen to adore my Outlook and am sure that I only use about 2% of what it is capable of doing. It is truly a powerful program. So if I already have that, use it daily and know how to use it, why not try something that will just be added to that and avoid a little of the learning curve?

I've actually been looking into Top Producer and even asked buddy Janie Coffey (who loves it) to send me an invitation if they give her a month or any sort of benefit for inviting me. But then I did a little more research and decided to try EurekaWare before taking the TP plunge. I promise to use your invite if I sign up eventually Janie!

Please keep in mind that I am not comparing EurekaWare to Top Producer. I have never used Top Producer but I know a few agents who swear by it. I will, however, point out that there is a marked difference in cost. Top Producer costs about $40/month plus extra for other bundled features and EurekaWare costs a flat $99 for the software. Again, not comparing apples to apples as they don't have the same functionalities, but for someone like me who wants a real estate-specific contact manager with the capability to also run action plans, keep buyer and seller needs, as well as listing information for starters, I figured I should take the path of least resistance (to my bank account) first.

EurekaWare gives a 30 day free trial. No credit card needed. Just download the software and start using it. I downloaded it in just a couple of minutes and started Outlook after installation. They warned me that Outlook would be a little slow the first time after installation. They were right. It took about 2 minutes to finish doing whatever it is computer programs do behind the scenes after we ask them to start changing things around.

I immediately went to a contact screen so I could see the difference between the new fields and the old Outlook fields. Ooooh, there are a ton of them! You can add a spouse, children, etc. And the ribbons in Outlook 2007 are different too. The new icons include action plans and more. See the picture below.

I am going to work on some of those action plans and report separately on that but for now it's important to note that:

It was easy to install.
It was quick.
It didn't crash.
It was FREE - to try anyway. I will gladly pay for something that works the way I want it to.

For a complete list of features, check out the EurekaWare site. I am impressed that it even has web lead import. Yes, folks, you can use a bit of code on your website and any leads you get from there will automatically be converted to a contact in your Outlook. How cool is that?! Of course, I will test this out and report on it later. =)

If this interests you at all, feel free to download and take the journey with me. If you prefer to wait the 30 days and see whether my laptop explodes (or maybe I do!) then read along and learn from my mistakes =)

I'm so excited that I am taking a big step to become more productive. I can talk and talk, but when push comes to shove, you have to just do it. I have been swamped with work and definitely need a better way of keeping up with it all.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Greed. Greed. And More Greed.

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:15:05 -0500

I'm so tired of the greed. Everyone needs to make a living. But charging fees to a client that isn't your own because your client is not paying it, is WRONG.

I have a buyer who's been looking at foreclosures. Today we found one he'd like to make an offer on. When I saw who the listing agent is, I cringed. I've dealt with them before. They're the kind that stipulate in the Broker's Remarks : DO NOT CALL OUR OFFICE TO FIND OUT IF YOUR OFFER WAS RECEIVED. Gee, I thought that's what offices, phones and staff were for; to provide customer service.

Anyway, that's not my beef with them today. When I looked further in the remarks it states that the buyer "must pay a $325 compliance fee for maintaining records and files." The only reason they are charging my buyer this is because their seller won't pay it to them!

My buyer is already agreeing to pay my brokerage firm our administrative charge. Why should he get hit with a double whammy and have to pay the seller's side of the listing office fee because the seller refuses to pay it?

By the way, we've been on the other side of this as well and we do NOT charge buyers of our REO listings our administrative fee even though the seller (bank) is not paying us. We waive it because it's the right thing to do. The seller is sending many listings our way, and we are going to show them our appreciation for those listings by charging our administrative fee to the buyer?! No. That would be wrong.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of EWM Realtors.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Palmetto Bay Foreclosures - Great Deals Available

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:18:15 -0500

Have you been looking at foreclosures in Palmetto Bay? Here's the latest home listings in the foreclosure sector.

Palmetto Bay foreclosures are a great way to get a good deal on a home in the area. Of course, inspections are in order, as in any home purchase. Just because you're buying AS IS, as most foreclosures are sold, doesn't mean you can't perform an inspection.

As of today there are 228 single family homes for sale in Palmetto Bay. Of those, 21 are foreclosures. Of those 21, I am providing a link to the 16 that I feel represent the best value. Click on the picture below for more details.

This is a live link, which means that as soon as information is updated on the multiple listing service, you will see the updates here also. That includes the addition of pictures if there are none now.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of EWM Realtors.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Coral Gables' Carnaval on the Mile This Weekend!

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:58:24 -0600

The city of Coral Gables is hosting it's 9th annual "jazztronomical arts festival" this weekend. If you've never experienced it, you're missing out!

The Carnaval on the Mile is well regarded as a fun time for all and a premiere showcase of Latin Jazz. The event takes place on the famed Miracle Mile in Coral Gables the first weekend in March. Miracle Mile is the mile from LeJeune Road to Douglas Road on what would otherwise be Coral Way. It's a mile long walk of exclusive shops, restaurants, cafes, the Miracle Mile Theater and more.

There's plenty for the family to do starting Friday, March 6th and the activities continue on Saturday and Sunday. Art displays, sculptures, crafts, lots of food and drinks and lots of live performances all weekend long.

The event is free as are all the performances.

Wear comfy shoes and get ready to shake el eskeleto!

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of EWM Realtors.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Taking Two Steps Forward & One Step Back

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:12:31 -0600

That's what I feel like I am doing with technology all the time.

Take my Treo755p, for instance. I love the darn phone. Blackberry appears to have kicked dust in the face of Treo, but I still love my Treo. I think it probably has to do with the fact that the Treo can do pretty much the same things, but I didn't have to learn how to use it.

You see, back in the days, pre-smartphone, I used a Palm Pilot. I loved my Palm Pilot. I even learned the little code-language that allowed us to add data to it. What was that thing called? You had to use your stylus and some special squiggles. I felt like Inspector Gadget.

Anyway, right about the time my cell phone gave out on me, my Palm Pilot did too. By then the Treo had been introduced and it made sense to get one item that replaced both of my broken ones. It made even more sense to me because I didn't have to learn a whole new database or method of maneuvering around. The Treo was Palm based and essentially, to me anyway, exactly like my Pilot except I could make calls and go on the internet with it.

But I've had a little beef with my Treo for a while. It doesn't communicate with my laptop. Defeats the whole purpose, dontcha think? You see, my laptop runs on Windows XP Tablet Edition and Treo doesn't support the Tablet Edition. Well, heck, I bought my laptop without checking out that bit of vital information. Who would have thought I needed to?

So I have made do without synching my laptop data to my phone data for a very long time. Not smart.

To make matters worse, some time back, the touchscreen on my Treo was becoming less touchable. I clicked on the 6 and it dialed a 9. Multiplied by 2 and got the product of 5 instead. Uh oh. I went over to Sprint and they told me to try a hard reset before having their guys look at it.

A hard reset? PANIC set in. That means all my data gets erased. In a normal world, where all the gadgets are speaking to each other, this isn't a big deal. But in my world this is a very big deal. OK, so I put off the hard reset and learned to touch the Treo the way it needed to, to get the results I was looking for. Relationships are about compromises, no?

Well, that worked fine until the Treo let me know it didn't want to be touched anymore. The touchscreen no longer responds to any touch. Wow. I have had to relearn how to send text messages, add new contacts, I can't log in to MLX Wireless anymore ::sigh::, and a whole bunch of other things that I should not have to deal with.

Enough already. The other day I decided to just synch the darn thing to my PC instead, do the hard reset, take it to Sprint so they can have their guys look at it and then call the insurance company to send me a new phone because I know the Sprint guys won't be able to fix it. =) I got the hotsynch cord, plugged it in and it did not connect. How many insults must a hard-working Realtor endure?

I've had it. I'm heading over to Staples to buy one of those 49 cent spiral notebooks and a pencil.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Miami Home Sales On The Rise

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:27:14 -0600

Miami home sales have increased since last year. Property values have gone down, yes, but the number of sales are up. This, in my opinion, is due to the fact that the prices are too good to pass up and home buyers are realizing that. Add to that the fact that mortgage rates are at an all time low and you have a win-win situation.

The above chart shows the upward trend in home sales in Miami-Dade County. The numbers reflect single family homes only. Condos and townhomes were not included.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of EWM Realtors.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Palmetto Bay Market Report & Absorption Rate

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:14:49 -0600

Are you looking for a home in Palmetto Bay? Here's a snapshot of what the market is doing lately.

The Absorption Rate is something we real estate agents use to determine how active the market is. We look at the homes sold in the last 12 months and figure out the average per month. Then we look at how many homes are available right now and divide that by the average # of homes sold per month. The resulting number is known as the Absorption Rate and it tells us how many months it would take to sell all the available homes if sales continued at the present pace.

A normal market has an Absorption Rate of about 6 - 10. A smaller number signals a seller's market and a higher number signals a buyer's market. Palmetto Bay is definitely a buyer's market right now. But it is interesting to note that the number has come down in the last 2 years, which is good. Sales have been picking up in all of Miami-Dade county.

It is interesting to note the different absorption rates for each price range. I like to provide data for the different price ranges as it's important to see what's happening in the different price points.

If you look at the luxury homes in Palmetto Bay, there are 23 homes that are priced at a million or more, but in the last year there have been no sales of homes at over a million. So it's impossible to figure out the absorption rate for these higher end homes. Does it mean you can't sell your million dollar home? No, not at all. It just means it will be harder as there don't appear to be any buyers out there in this price range.

If you need real estate information for Palmetto Bay or the neighboring communities, feel free to contact me.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Miami's Chilly January Weather

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:32:21 -0600

Having grown up in New York, I find it funny that when the weather drops to the 50's in Miami, people start bundling up!

On my way to drop the kids off at school yesterday I looked over to the driver beside me and chuckled when I saw that he had a knit hat and gloves on. It was only 57 degrees for Pete's sake! I can't imagine what he'd wear in Alaska.

I admit, the main reason I don't live in New York anymore is the cold winters. I am a chicken when it comes to the cold weather. My body has betrayed me and acclimated quite nicely to the lovely weather here in Miami. The balmy climate in South Florida suits me to a T but even I was airing my toes yesterday!

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Miami Foreclosure Deal 20837 SW 127 Ct, Miami, FL 33177

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:57:32 -0600

Miami Foreclosure Deal - Move-in Ready!

20837 SW 127 Court, Miami, FL 33177 View Map

Foreclosure! Single Family home in desirable south Miami-Dade neighborhood. No Association! Spacious 3/2 with attached 2-car garage. Large lot with lush landscaping and privacy fence. Close to shopping, schools and Florida Turnpike. Buyer must be pre-qualified with Wells Fargo but may use own financing. Proof of funds must accompany cash offers.
This home sold for $355,000 in December 2005. Make an offer before it's gone!

Details

Asking Price:

$155,000

MLS:

M1274378

Sq. Feet:

1946

Lot Size:

6500

Bedrooms:

Bathrooms:

# of Floors:

Garage Size:

Subdivision:

Michelle Manors

Year Built:

1998

Contact Info

Maggie Dokic
Broker Associate

Main 305-666-8686
Dir 305-960-2455
Email | Website

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Starting A Short Sale Right

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:16:44 -0600

Here's a tip for those of you doing short sales or thinking about it. I've been doing them for over a year now and they do require a lot of work.

Before you spend a ton of time marketing and showing a short sale you need to find out how much the bank will sell for. So how do you do this?

The only way to know how much a bank will sell a property for is to get the first offer to them, If the offer is too low, they will let you know. They will tell you that they won't sell for less than X dollars.

If X dollars happens to be way over market value, then you know you're wasting your time with this particular sale and you can stop trying to make it work. It won't. The first offer is crucial.

OK, so I still haven't provided a way around this. Here's what you do. Build your investor contacts. Get out there and find some serious investors who are willing to make offers on deals. And what investor is not looking for a deal?

If you have an investor who is willing to buy a property at, say, 60 cents on the dollar and he is willing to back that up, then his can be the first offer you present. In the best case scenario the bank will accept the offer and you can put the deal in escrow and get it closed. In the worst case scenario the bank says NO but they tell you how much they are willing to accept. Bingo! Now you can advertise the listing as an approved short sale and it will be that much easier to get the next offer in since everyone knows that the bank has approved the price.

Doing this can save you a lot of time and frustration. For whatever reason, I was not able to get an investor offer on a short sale I have listed right now. But I did my market analysis and priced it right there where I felt it should be. At true market value. It's a lovely unit, almost new and we got a good offer on it at 95% of asking price. LP was $170K, offer came in at $160K

The package was prepared and submitted for approval. The bank came back and said they would not accept less than $255,000 (original sales price was in the 300's). Six weeks had passed since the submission of the package so I pulled the new numbers for the building. Lo and behold, no new sales but there were 2 new REO listings of the same unit at $140K and $150K. I sent all this data to the bank and tried to reason with them. They did not budge. $255K was their # and they were not changing it. Now tell me, if you were a buyer and you had 3 identical units to choose from, 1 at $140K, 1 at $150K and my short sale at $255K, which one would you buy? Precisely.

The bank didn't care. Had I been able to get my investor's offer in I would have already known that there was no way to negotiate this particular deal. It was like beating a dead horse. I would have stopped my efforts right then and there. Instead, I wasted valuable time just to find out that this particular bank was inflexible and their numbers were not reasonable.

So get out there and start looking for investors if you don't have enough in your database. You help them. They help you. It's a win-win for all.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.

Professional Agents - Are You One?

Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (Prudential Florida Realty) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:11:55 -0600

On New Year's Eve I showed a property that an out of town agent had listed. It was an REO and I know those can sometimes offer surprises. When I got there I noticed the front door lock did not lock. Once inside I noticed that the sliding door leading to the back terrace was broken. The safety glass lay like little golden pebbles all over the floor. I made a mental note to call the listing agent and let him know that the house was no longer secured.

I finished showing properties to this client and got busy on some paperwork. In the process I completely forgot to call the listing agent and tell him about the break-in. By the time I remembered, I was on my way to our festivities for the evening and it was 7:45. I hated to call so late, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was the right thing to do.

7:45 wasn't that late.
I was calling with an important message.
The call was to benefit him, not me.

I've always appreciated the calls I've received from agents showing my listings to let me know that something is amiss. It sets the professional agents apart from the ones who really don't care. I decided to dial his number and tell him about the problem at his listing. After all, the banks expect us to be their eyes and ears as they are far from these properties. And this agent was about 3 hours away from this particular property. I highly doubted he was doing weekly checks on it.

The phone rang and he answered it. I introduced myself and apologized for calling so late. Before I could continue and say why I was calling he replied. "Oh no! I am NOT talking to any Realtors tonight. I am at home at a party and I am not speaking to you tonight!" Click. Dead space. He had hung up on me!

Fortunately, I was not driving to our soiree. I think if you had seen me you would have been able to see smoke coming out of my ears. The nerve of him! Here I was calling to do him a favor and he had been so rude as to cut me off, insult me and then add insult to injury by hanging up on me. Hmmppph!

I stewed for about 45 seconds or so. I don't give up that easily. I hit redial and got ready to give it to him. Two-fisted, two-barrels, whatever! This time he was even ruder, if that were possible. He picked up the call and replied with this instead of 'hello:' "That house better be on fire for you to be calling me again!" I told him he was the rudest agent I had ever talked to and before he could hang up I told him why I had been calling. Then I suggested that perhaps I should be calling the bank instead and letting them know what a horrible excuse for a listing agent they had in charge of their property.

He replied by letting me know that he basically didn't give a hoot what I did. I hung up and was flabbergasted that a colleague could treat another this way. I wondered how he treated his clients. Of course I followed up later and looked up his broker (he was it). I contacted my REO peeps and this property was not one of theirs. So basically he got away with it. I wonder how long people like this can stay in business?

If we can't treat each other with kindness and professionalism, is it any wonder that a real estate agent's reputation is one that's hard to clean up?

Thanks for letting me vent. =)

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Prudential Florida Realty.