Staging Tampa Homes for Sale: Not Just Pretty Furniture - 09/30/10 08:59 AM
Many real estate agents say, "Stage your Tampa homes for sale!" If you have no idea what that means, you might Google it, read a few articles and get the idea that you throw a little rented furniture into your home and call it done. If you read a little bit more, you might add a mirror or potted plant here and there. However, if you really dig into it, you'll find that staging Tampa homes for sale take a whole lot more than that.
Test Your KnowledgeDid you know...
Smaller furniture in small areas makes the space appear bigger. Carefully … (2 comments)

How to Set the Right Price for Tampa Homes for Sale - 09/29/10 09:48 AM
Setting the asking price for their Tampa homes for sale is one of the most important decisions homeowners have to make in the selling process.  Why is it so important?
You only get one chance to make a good first impression.  With so many competing Tampa homes for sale, yours has to pop out immediately as a good value or buyers will move on, unlikely to return. You get one stab at your home's debut, and it's easy to blow it.  Set the price too high and you could hurt your chances of selling your home.  The amount of traffic a … (0 comments)

What is a Distressed Property? What Causes a Property to Become Distressed? - 09/22/10 10:27 AM
As a CDPE – Certified Distressed Property Expert, we define a distressed property as:
A property that has fallen into disrepair and is in poor physical condition. It is important for agents and homeowners to understand that a home in poor physical condition can easily push an owner who has equity in their home, into actually looking at a short sale or foreclosure situation. Often when a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) is presented to a homeowner, the agent has not yet seen the home. In good condition the home will fetch enough money to cover all expenses, but when it becomes … (1 comments)

Slow Markets and Tampa Homes: Bringing Them Together for the Sale - 09/22/10 07:53 AM
Today’s slow real estate market is a hard place to sell Tampa homes. However, the fact remains that homes are still being bought and sold.  Buyers are out there; you just have to attract them to your home.
Here are a few tips for getting Tampa homes sold in a slow real estate market:
Prepare for the Sale Your home needs to stand out from the rest. Give it a lot of sparkle and shine:
Make minor repairs:  Patch holes, fix faucets and replace cracked tiles. Clean inside and out:  No cobwebs, dirty carpets, worn rugs or smelly odors. Check your … (0 comments)

4 Tips for Buying a Tampa Home for Sale (Doing It Right the First Time) - 09/16/10 08:09 AM
If you’re looking for a Tampa home for sale and you’ve never bought a home before, you might think, “This won’t take much time.” Typically, just the opposite is true.   Buying a home frequently takes quite a bit of time.
Of course, the whole home buying process will go much faster (and smoother) if you do things the right way. If you’re a first time buyer looking for a Tampa home for sale, take some lessons from the pros. The following tips will help make the buying process fly:
1.    Weigh the Benefits – Before you actually go house hunting, weigh … (0 comments)

3 Things You Shouldn’t Say No To With a Home for Sale in Tampa - 09/15/10 03:18 PM
The point of having your home for sale in Tampa is to… well, sell it, isn’t it? I mean, it makes logical sense, right? Yet, too often, home sellers seem to think that selling is as easy as “hire agent, put sign in front, sold.”
This attitude, especially in a slow real estate market, has left many a seller empty-handed. They say “no” when they should have said “yes.” They have all these reasons why they won’t “A, B or C,” rather than just doing “A, B or C” for their home for sale in Tampa.
What am I talking about? … (0 comments)

Myths about Selling Your Tampa Real Estate in a Slow Market - 09/14/10 09:43 PM
Trying to sell your Tampa real estate in a slow market can be frustrating. You may find that it takes longer to sell and you can’t get as much money as you could during a booming market. However, you can’t believe all the hype about a sluggish real estate market. Do your research and separate the facts from the fiction.
Here are 3 myths and the facts behind the fiction:
You won’t get a decent price. Your Tampa real estate will sell for whatever a buyer is willing to pay. A comparative market analysis (CMA) shows you what other buyers spent … (0 comments)

The Homes of MiraBay - A Waterfront Community in Apollo Beach, FL - 09/14/10 08:01 AM
MiraBay is a gorgeous 750-Acre guard gated waterfront community, located in Apollo Beach, FL. It is well known for its picture perfect grounds, its 10,000 square foot MiraBay Club, beautiful resort style pool with slide, 5 lighted tennis courts, a fitness center and spa, nature preserve most of which can be viewed in these virtual tours.
A new shopping center, MiraBay Village has been built that include supermarkets, restaurants and shops while a new mall for Apollo Beach is supposed to be built in the future.
MiraBay has single family homes, villas and townhomes, many with docks and access to Tampa … (1 comments)

Do’s and Don’ts of Marketing Your Tampa Home Online - 09/13/10 07:29 PM
 
You have a for sale sign in front of your Tampa home. Even though the real estate market is slow, you still see other houses being bought. What’s the matter with yours? Why is your home still sitting on the market? Is it you? Is it your home? Is it your agent? It may just be your online marketing (or lack of it).
Do Upload Photos The internet is one of most popular places for homebuyers to do their initial shopping.  If your Tampa home isn’t online, it needs to be there. If it is online, it needs pictures. If … (2 comments)

The Homes of Andalucia in Apollo Beach - A Tampa Bay Waterfront Community - 09/12/10 09:22 PM
 
The subdivision of Andalucia is a guard gated community in Apollo Beach, surrounded on three sides by water, Tampa Bay on two sides and Bal Harbour on the third.
Most of the waterfront homes have their own docks, while those that do not may be able to get a boat slip at Andalucia’s own marina.
Andalucia also has a community pool, clubhouse and tennis courts overlooking Tampa Bay. You can enjoy the panoramic views of downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg, watch the sailboat races, dolphin and manatee as they pass by.
Three available homes are shown here.
Homes for sale … (0 comments)

3 Things You Need to Know About the Mortgage Payment for Your Tampa Home - 09/12/10 01:36 PM
 
When you look for a mortgage, you want to find one that allows you to buy the biggest house possible for a monthly payment you can afford. This seems simple enough. All you need to do is a little division to determine your monthly payment.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the entire picture of your monthly mortgage payment, and lenders don’t always explain this to you. Here are three things you need to know about your monthly mortgage payment for your new Tampa home:
Interest and Principal. Only part of your monthly mortgage payment actually pays down your loan. A portion of … (0 comments)

Downsizing Your Demands for a Home for Sale in Tampa - 09/10/10 09:10 AM
Are you tired of looking for a home for sale in Tampa? Have you found any that had everything you wanted, but cost too much? Are you dissatisfied with the selection?
A while back, I had a buyer tell me he didn’t want to spend more than $100,000 on a home for sale in Tampa. He gave me a long list of features he felt the house must have – a pool, a big kitchen for his wife, four bedrooms, etc. With it being his market (a buyer’s market), he said, I should have no problems finding a home with those … (1 comments)

64,879 Florida Buyers Claim First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit - 09/07/10 08:54 PM
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that Florida had the third most First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit claims behind California and Texas.
A total of 64,879 Floridians have claimed the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, costing taxpayers $455,565,365 just for Florida and $23.5 billion nationwide.
Overall 3.2 million people have laid claim to the tax credits.
That is a lot of homes sold to First-Time Home Buyers.
Depending on who you speak to it was either a great success that boosted sales, while others point to surveys that have found that approximately 70% were going to make their purchase anyway, but pushed … (0 comments)

One Homeowners Association Get Tough Attitude On Short Sales - 09/05/10 05:09 PM
The subdivision of Bridgewater in Wesley Chapel, FL just north of Tampa is well known by many for the difficulties they have had with short sales and foreclosures, along with gang and other nefarious activity.
The developer of the community Lennar built all the homes during the high times of the market with approximately 65% of the homes being sold to investors with about 600 of the 760 having faced foreclosure.
The homeowners association has been well known for taking things into their own hands. First, they fired their management company and even had people from the community doing basic maintenance … (3 comments)

FHA To Raise Mortgage Interest Rates On October 4, 2010 - 09/03/10 11:58 AM
Did we catch your interest with that headline?
Well to be honest FHA is not raising the interest rates on their loans, however they might as well be.
On October 4, 2010 any new FHA case numbers will see a decrease in the upfront mortgage insurance premium, along with an increase in the Monthly Mortgage Insurance Premium.
Congress and the administration has said this will save home buyers money.
Let’s look at reality and see if this is true.
We are going to look at three FHA loan scenarios as the new law gives the power to raise the Monthly Mortgage … (1 comments)

New Housing Programs On The Way Along With A Possible Revival Of The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit - 09/01/10 07:18 PM
As many are aware the Obama administration has rolled out many programs to reduce foreclosures or to keep people in their homes, at least for a bit longer.
There have been first-time homebuyer programs, which seem to keep getting extended, programs with acronyms such as Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA), Second Lien Modification Program (2MP), and Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Most are alternatives to short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy or in the case of HAFA an adjunct to short sale, deeds-in-lieu or foreclosure.
These programs have not lived up to the hype and promises … (1 comments)

 

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