The urgency is clear and I'm hearing it from all angles - local buyers want to find something FAST before their $8000 tax credit runs out and our neighbors to the north feel that the deals are going to start drying up.
For example, in the past two weeks I have worked with a buyer who is desperate to find a good home and get it closed before he misses the free government money. We've successfully found him something and we're on our way towards closing!

On the other side of the coin I've been getting lots of calls from buyers in NY, NJ, and CT that are consistently stating that they feel that the good deals in South Florida are going to start drying up and they need to act fast. Most of the people that are buying from the North are looking for condos or smaller homes that they can retire to in the near future. Although, recently I've worked with a lovely young family who want to relocate from Connecticut to Tradition or St Lucie West so the mother can work at one of the local schools.

This home-buying frenzy has really impacted my perspective about our economic hardships. When I'm out in the public I somtimes am taken aback by the doom and gloom because all day I'm surrounded by people who are wanting to make a deal happen and find their dream home or retirement home. I think I would consider myself lucky that I am able to make these opportunities available and the constant urgency is what keeps me upbeat about our "down" economy.
I can say that I love to bring smiles to faces when people ask "how's the market" because I always tell them what they didn't expect to hear - that we're doing fantastic and properties are flying off the market.

Current Active Inventory: 2045

Total Number of Single Family Homes Sold for July: 401
Which can be further broken down into
Short Sales: 88
Foreclosures: 139
Total Sales including Condos, Manufactured Homes, Duplex, Townhouses: 430

Median Sales Price: $105,010

Median Days on Market: 73
Median Days on Market for Short Sales: 185

Click here to view my statistics report chart

All real estate is localized, meaning that the numbers for Port St Lucie as a whole don't necessarily translate the same into individual neighborhoods. Up in the Torino area new listings may fly off the market within days whereas other areas may not go so quickly.

If you're looking to buy or sell a property within a particular neighborhood or region I can tell you what's going on in your geo-area and what to anticipate. Start a conversation here.

* Single Family Homes does not include duplex, townhouse, condo, manufactured home, or commercial.
_____________________________________________________
The accuracy and authenticity of this information is not guaranteed.
Source: Regional MLS, Inc.
This report does not include sales sold "By Owner" or those transfered by other means; the report only contains properties within the Regional MLS.
08/15/2009 - Date that "active" inventory was pulled.
Prepared by Sarah Taylor of Re/Max Masterpiece Realty

Escape to your tropical paradise but know that you’re not far from everything that you need in this adorable little community called Indian River Villas.

Just across the street from a public boat access and sailing center, this end unit is only one of 12 in this community.

The owners completely renovated this home and it looks like something out of a Crate and Barrel catalogue!



More photos here:



For more information, contact Sarah Taylor at 772-485-3214.

Report for Port St Lucie, Florida -
Market Statistics > June 2009

The summer is upon us. In certain areas, activity slowed down a bit in June as school let out, the last remaining snow birds traveled home, and families prepared for vacations and 4th of July celebrations.

Port St Lucie boasted 472 residential sales*, 427 of which were single family homes. Compare that to June 2008's 344 residential sales (326 of which were single family homes) and we're up by 37% over last year.

Short Sales Sold in June 2009
So how many of those 472 sales were short sales in June? - 98.
Roughly 21% of our residential sales in June 2009 were Short Sales.
How quickly are these short sales closing? - 172 days is the median for June.

 Click here for a better breakdown of sales and inventory.

All real estate is localized, meaning that the numbers for Port St Lucie as a whole don't necessarily translate the same into individual neighborhoods. Up in the Torino area new listings may fly off the market within days whereas other areas may not go so quickly.

If you're looking to buy or sell a property within a particular neighborhood or region I can tell you what's going on in your geo-area and what to anticipate. Start a conversation here.

 

 

*Residential Sales equates to Single Family Homes, Townhomes, Villas, Condos, Duplexes, and Manufactured Homes.
_____________________________________________________
The accuracy and authenticity of this information is not guaranteed.
Source: Regional MLS, Inc.
This report does not include sales sold "By Owner" or those transfered by other means; the report only contains properties within the Regional MLS.
07/15/2009 - Date that "active" inventory was pulled.
Prepared by Sarah Taylor of Re/Max Masterpiece Realty

Southbend is special to me because it's the neighborhood that I call home.


While it's not gated, nor does it have a Home Owner's Association, Southbend has the appeal of those types of communities. So for highlighting this area, I can speak from personal experience and knowledge.


Top Reasons Southbend is so desireable:

• Community Park (Jessica Clinton Park) with ball fields, basketball courts, playground, pavilion, soccer field
• Miles of winding sidewalks Great for riding your bike, jogging, walking the dog, and any other types of exercise
• Fishing and Canoeing or Kayaking - there is a bridge at the front entrance with side access to cast a line or launch a canoe I remember putting our boat in at this access area as a kid - but the city has since closed it for boaters
• Shops and Publix There is a beautiful shopping plaza at the corner of Becker Road and Southbend Blvd that has a Publix, restaurants, and other necessary shops
• Access to the Turnpike is near As well as new access to I-95 from Becker Road (July 2009)

Slideshow of some Southbend highlights








For Buyers ~ Ready to move into a neighborhood that has most of the comforts of an "HOA" but without the fees? Prices are low and incredibly affordable. Visit my website to get in touch for a private tour or information on current prices.


For Sellers ~ Have property to sell or rent in this community? I can help you determine what a competitve price will be and then mass-market your property with my unique movies. In addition to using the community photos as you see above, I also make a customized movie of your property that goes in the MLS as well as many other websites. Visit the Sellers section of my website learn more about my marketing expertise.

More Photos:

May 2009

Eric and Sarah had one goal - to escape the cold winters of Maine and spend time in sunny south Florida. As avid sailors, they had been to Stuart twice and knew that this town was the place for them - the closer to the water the better.

We hit it off well from the beginning and had a great time over two seperate weekends touring condos, duplexes, and townhomes that were within their price range.

The moment we drove down the street to one duplex that was on our tour list to see, they knew it was "the one." There was no picture of the property on the MLS so we were a little concerned that it wasn't in good condition but we quickly found that it was everything that they needed.

The bonus? It came with a boat slip on the St Lucie River!! This duplex was about 4 houses in from the river and came with a slip right on the end - big enough to house their sailboat. The duplexes on this street don't go up for sale often and we were lucky enough that this one was an estate sale so we were working with a regular seller and not the short sale or foreclosure process.

Eric and Sarah aren't planning on moving down right away but the big success - to me - is that we became great friends and we've already broken the home in with margaritas when they were down a month after closing.

Cheers to Eric and Sarah!

 

Are you looking to purchase a property?
Click here for articles to help you with the process.

Brought to you by Sarah Taylor

As with any business, in order to market your product or service - you have to network! Our Realtors Association of St Lucie has a fabulous networking opportunity every Thursday morning ... but it's for Realtors only.


What goes on at this Agent-only pow-wow?


Madness.


Pure Marketing Madness.


Realtors who belong to the St Lucie board meet at 8:30am weekly to mingle, have coffee and pastries, and chat amongst their peers. Then as the clock strikes 9am the madness begins. Each week there is a tour of a particular geographical area. Realtors that have listings in these areas make sure that their homes are "Open" for all of the other agents to tour. After the tour is confirmed and the agents know where they're going, they are allowed to "pitch" one of their listings. For 30 seconds they tell all of the other Realtors why they should bring their buyers to their property to get it sold.


Want to see what the madness looks like - even if you aren't a Realtor? Follow me as I take you through the tour and you get to see what these crazy Realtors do every week.




So what does this mean to a home buyer or seller?


Within the first few months of me becoming an agent I had heard another agent pitch a house in a neighborhood that I had buyers looking in. It's amazing how listening to someone tell you about a listing is a much more enlightening experience than reading about it on the MLS. So I took my buyers there, they made an offer, and they bought it!


For home sellers - you get the benefit of the opposite of the above little story. If your agent attends Marketing Madness they get to tell all the other agents about your home - which can give greater detail than what is shown on the MLS. Also, when the tour comes to your neighborhood once per quarter you get the benefit of having many agents seeing your home all in a short period of time. This is a good time for your agent to ask for price opinions to make sure that his or her peers think that your property is within the market price and is competitive. Other agents generally give feedback on what you could do to make the home "show" better, as well.


If you're thinking about listing your home for sale and you're interviewing different agents, make sure to ask if they attend the Realtor's Marketing Madness.


If you're ready to start searching for homes, or if you have decided that it's time to sell your current property, contact me to talk about your options and find what will work best for you.

Buying or Selling? Visit my website.

     The bubble, the shift, the downward spiral - we're all feeling the pinch of falling housing prices. If your house is worth less than you owe when you purchased it, there is one fact:

Every Situation is Different, but You are not Alone.

In this situation, the most important thing you can do is know your options and speak to someone who can give financial or legal advice. In February of 2009, a colleague, myself, and an attorney hosted a Short Sale seminar locally in Port St Lucie, FL. We spent a few hours going over what the options are for a homeowner whose house value is now below what they paid for it.

There are five choices:

1. Modification of the Loan
2. Short Sale of the Property
3. Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
4. Bankruptcy
5. Foreclosure

The degree to which these options hurt your credit increases from one to five.
Making a decision about what to do is emotional and stressful. Unfortunately you can't throw in the towel or turn in the keys and walk away. The more you are willing to work with and communicate to your lender, understand your options, and seek professional advice - the smoother this process will go.

For options 1 - 3, the bank is typically going to want your story and all of your current financials. What I call this is a "reverse mortgage application" - it's like proving how you can't afford the house. The general paperwork the bank is going to need will be a Hardship Letter (explaining on one page why you are where you are), Income Information, Tax Returns, A Breakdown of your Bills (like a montly budget), and Bank Statements.
Important Note: When the bank or negotiator requests this information - submit ALL of it at the SAME time. If you send it piece by piece you'll get shoved to the bottom of their pile.

I am experienced in helping homeowners make these tough decisions.
If you would like to make a no-obligation appointment to talk about your options, please contact me.

My first questions when speaking to a client about their mortgage versus the value usually are along these lines:

• What were your original plans for this home? - short term, long term, retirement?
• Ultimately, do you want to stay in this home?
• Can you afford your payments?
• If you can't afford your payments, what caused this?

The Big Question is whether you have to be late on a payment in order for a bank to work with you?
The short answer: if you're current on your payments, it may be hard for the bank or negotiator to take you seriously. Please consult an accountant or an attorney that can give you the best advice.

A breakdown of the five options:

1. Modification of Your Mortgage Loan:
There are many types and scenarios for a modification, and each lender's offering is different. Usually you'll speak to their "Loss Mitigation" department where they will ask many questions to find out what options are available to you.
Your best option for modification is for Principle Reduction - the bank finds the current value of your house and then reduces the balance of your loan to 90 - 100% of that value. Even though this option has the highest likliehood of keeping a homeowner in their home, most banks won't offer principle reduction.
What they do offer can be any array of choices ranging from allowing the owner to skip a few payments or reducing the interest rate for a period of time. I think the current statistic is that 40% of modified loans end up back in default.

2. Short Sale the Property:
The term "Short" doesn't mean the time process, it is referring to the concept of selling the house for less than (short of) the balance that is owed on the mortgage. If you ultimately want to be rid of the property, this option is the best and least credit-damaging (however, the late payments on your credit report will not help). When listing your property for sale with a Realtor, the general rule of thumb is to have the listing price at or below the comparable homes to attract a buyer in the fastest amount of time. Once you have a buyer make an offer and you accept their offer, your Realtor will now submit the offer (along with your hardship package) to the bank/lender. The lender orders a BPO, which is a Broker's Price Opinion - kind of like a mini-appraisal from a third party (usually a broker or realtor) of what the property is currently valued out. The bank reviews your financials, assesses what their loss will be compared to the current value of the property, and then either accepts or rejects the buyer's offer.
Maybe the buyer made an offer below the market value; that's okay, because now we can explain in the listing notes "Bank approved listing price" which signals other Realtors that the house has been approved by the bank and we have open communication.

3. Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure:
The modification didn't help, no one is willing to buy the property as short sale - the next option is a Deed In Lieu of a Foreclosure which is basically giving the house back to the bank without going through the foreclosure process.

4. Bankruptcy:
Talk to an attorney about this - the attorney at our seminar stated repeatedly, "You can file bankruptcy at any time." As I understand it, the BK laws are changing and the debt related to a primary residence may not be so easy to get rid of. That's all I got to say `bout that.

5. Foreclosure:
This is the lender/bank taking legal action and suing the homeowner for not paying their loan and taking the house (collateral) back. Foreclosures will stay on a credit report for seven years and are the ugliest of blemishes. Once the bank has the house back, they now consider it "REO," or Real Estate Owned and will normally put it on the market for sale with a Realtor.

I am experienced in helping homeowners make these tough decisions.
If you would like to make an appointment to talk about your options, please contact me.

Copyright 2009 | Sarah Taylor, Port St Lucie Realtor with Re/Max Masterpiece Realty

     I subscribe to the City of Port St Lucie's online newsletter and found that NPR had done a story in February on Port St Lucie. The national media attention would normally be considered a good thing; however, the story wasn't favorable for the city and I'm proud to say that PSL came back with a rebuttal to clear the air and make clear what the story portrayed and what was incorrect.

From NPR's All Things Considered on February 18th, 2009:
Listen/read full article here.

Today, Port St. Lucie, the largest city in St. Lucie County, is a suburban dream gone bad. It has the nation's eighth-worst foreclosure rate. Overgrown lots, vacant houses and "for sale by bank" signs are found on nearly every block.

[Doug] Coward, County Commissioner, wants the county to declare a state of emergency. Doing so would give administrators access to $17 million in county emergency reserve funds.

The rebuttal for the City of Port St Lucie shortly thereafter:
Read the full article here.

An erroneous statement by National Public Radio (NPR) was broadcast across the country Wednesday, mischaracterizing the city's economic condition and potentially damaging the city's favorable reputation within the financial industry.

Though the content of the story accurately stated that St. Lucie County is considering declaring a state of emergency to address economic problems, the promotional tease for the story that ran earlier in the program misrepresented the city's reputation for being one of the state's financially best-run cities.

The tease stated, "Not long ago, Port St. Lucie, Florida was one of the nation's fastest growing cities ... Now the city may declare itself an economic disaster area, going from boom times to bust." Furthermore, the subtitle to the NPR Web version says, "Port St. Lucie, Fla., was America's fastest growing city. Now it might be a disaster area."

The City of Port St. Lucie is not an economic disaster area and has no plan or proposal to declare such. City management believes the statement was aired irresponsibly, especially considering that no one from NPR contacted city officials for clarification of the concept, which was originated by a St. Lucie County official, not by anyone from city government.

Thoughts?
Comment below: