Life In Bonita Springs

Just Because You Don't Like it

Doesn't Mean it's Not True

Bad news stinks.  Nobody likes to hear it and nobody likes to read it.  It is with great regret that I have to bring bad news to home owners that have decided to sell their home and haven't come to the realization that they will be selling their real estate for less then they felt it was worth.  Sometimes it is even worth less than they paid not too very long ago.

The fact of the matter is we're in a buyers market.  A buyers market that is different than any other buyers market that this area and even our nation has ever seen before.  In order to sell a home in this buyers market, a home has to be sold three times.  Yes, Three times.

• First to other real estate agents
• Second to a buyer
• Third to an appraiser

Real estate agents bring buyers into your home or condo when it's for sale.  They can and will easily weed out homes that are over priced or do not have the same features and upgrades for the money of other homes in the same class.  If you're looking at neighborhood with production built homes, there sometimes isn't a huge amount of variation or changes in homes.  It makes no sense but I've seen as much as $200,000 price difference in the same style floor plan with no difference in upgrades or features.  For example, Divosta homes builds in Village Walk of Bonita Springs.  The homes and villas can have a few limited upgrades, but for the most part the homes are quite similar.  An Oakmont floor plan home can be priced anywhere from $325,000's to $450,000*.   The price difference of $125,000 is nothing to sneeze at.   Certainly, there are no huge disparities between upgrades and features.  The biggest variable would simply be a swimming pool.

I actually turned down a listing in Village Walk of Bonita Springs because the only difference between the most recent closing and the subject home was a pool heater.  The owner wanted to list the home $75,000 more than that closed sale.  Essentially, they were trying to sell a pool heater of $75,000.

Now imagine that a buyer walks into the home with a $75,000 pool heater, falls madly in love with it and decides to buy it on the spot.  When the bank that is lending the money for that mortgage sends a property appraiser, reality will set in.  The entire sale is put in jeopardy because the lender will only fund the loan if the home appraises.  Should the buyer be getting an 80% financing loan, the bank will only lend money for 80% of the value that the appraiser deems the home to be worth.

So what happens when a home doesn't appraise for the contracted purchase price?  To start with, the deal can fall apart.  If the home doesn't appraise, the buyer doesn't get his mortgage approval.   The financing contingency can be implemented and the buyer can walk away.  If the buyer really wants the home and the seller really wants to sell it, they usually strike some sort of a deal.  In a buyers market the seller usually reduces the purchase price of the home if the seller is motivated enough to sell.   In a seller's market buyers bring the cash difference to the closing table if the buyer is motivated enough to purchase.

Pricing a home properly is essential.  Mortgage underwriting has become more strict with the downfall of the sub prime market.  There isn't a way to "sneak one past" the bank.  Pricing a home above where it can or will appraise is a pipe dream and a waste of both time and money for all parties involved.

*Sunshine MLS 4/20/08

Florida Gulf Coast Home Inspections

Update: The free inspection period is over, however, home owners can still obtain a low cost inspection for insurance purposes.

FREE HURRICANE WIND MITIGATION INSPECTION

Legislation enacted by the State of Florida requires insurance companies to discount premiums based on certain construction characteristic that make your home resistant to damage by wind. We can now provide this inspection to the homeowner FREE AND IMMEDIATELY through our association with Applied Research Associates, an authorized and certified vendor in the

MY SAFE FLORIDA HOME PROGRAM

This free service requires only a brief questionnaire be completed by the homeowner so that the correct information can be entered into the program. One of our certified surveyors will inspect the house and provide the form,

UNIFORM MITIGATION VERIFICATION INSPECTION OIR1802.

With the MY SAFE FLORIDA HOME PROGRAM qualified homes can also obtain GRANTS to make improvements in the wind resistance qualities of the house.

THIS FREE WIND MITIGATION INSPECTION IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE, HOWEVER THE INSPECTION CAN BE DONE FOR A NOMINAL FEE.

THE HOMEBOOK - THE DIFFERENCE This article is courtesty of:

American Society of Home Inspectors #205499 Member Glen Brown

Florida Association of Building Inspectors #RPI-0305 1270 Plumosa Drive

My Safe Florida Home Certified Wind Surveyor ARA #20107 Ft. Myers, FL 33901

239-334-2373 Local

239-337-3839 Fax

glen@floridahomeinspect.com

Please contact us today so that we may assist you with this wind mitigation service.

239-334-2373

___________________________________________________________

www.floridahomeinspect.com

Note: The Sweet Dale Jr. Widow Decal

Oh, no....he's not asking for trouble *at all* driving around town like this. Honest Occifer, I haven't had a drink to drop.

And so it was born, the mailbox series.

Bonita Beach in Bonita Springs is one of those places where there's a great bunch of mail boxes. Today, I drove to the beach and parked down by Big Hickory, just across the street from the marina and grill. I dragged my poor little dog the length of Hickory Blvd. and admired mailboxes.

Hickory Blvd. is lined with gulf front homes and the opposite side of the street has gulf view homes and homes on canals. The street is long and straight and it is the only route to and from Fort Myers Beach. Traffic moves swiftly so home owners put outrageous mailboxes so visitors, tenants or even they can see their turn coming up. Today, I stopped when there was a break in traffic to grab a shot of the Kayak mailbox.

Not long after I shot that photo I thought to myself that I should do a series on mailboxes. They're innocuous and they don't talk back, so why not? And so it was born, the mailbox series. Now, it wasn't much longer after I thought up the mail box series that I realized my credit card that was in my phone case was missing. I spent the better part of my evening on the phone with customer service clearing that mess up. So, if you're on Hickory Blvd. and you find my credit card shred it, it's useless now. Call me to let me know where you found it. I searched to no avail. Don't be getting cute and telling me you found it in an adult store or something worse, either. (That's for the JoKeRz in my office) Can you believe I raised children without accidentally hurting them?

Now, if you have a really cool mailbox in the general vicinity of Bonita Springs or know of a really cool mailbox that deserves to live on my website just email a photo with the address or let me know what chunk of real estate it's sitting on and I'll go find it and photograph it myself.

So, What Happens To Tenants When A Home is Foreclosed?

A common occurrence we're running into Southwest Florida while showing buyers real estate is tenant occupied properties. It's not unusual to have a tenant in a property, but to have the majority of properties we show in one day be tenant occupied is unusual. The real estate boom produced its share of rental properties.

As a real estate agent organizing properties for my buyers to view I am now making appointments for about 50% more properties than needed because of the "failure rate". By failure rate I mean, the appointments will be cancelled or not accepted by the tenant. We can't get in unless the tenant approves the appointment. It is understandable that sometimes life interferes with appointment time frames. People have company in town, kids are sick home from school or maybe they just didn't have time to clean up. I can't help but think that most of the time the tenants are just being difficult. They don't realize it, but they could unknowingly be contributing to the expedited eviction that they will soon face.

The home is for sale for a reason and the reason isn't because the owner has grown tired of the paint color. Excuse the broad stroke of this brush, but there are a lot of homes that are tenant occupied in communities of fairly new construction. The tenants are living in homes purchased at the peak $$ of the market, perhaps with "liar loans" with adjustable rates coupled with the fact that we are now facing a down turned market with long term holding costs piling up, high and fast. It may have not occurred to the tenant that maybe their landlord isn't paying their mortgage or that their landlord may just quit paying their mortgage eventually. It's not until some random Tuesday when the tenant is served an eviction to GET OUT that they truly understand the quandary this market will be leaving them [the tenants] in. The tenant can say goodbye to first, last, security and any monies paid as advanced rent. You can bet your sweet bippy that the bank doesn't want a tenant, period, so don't even try to go there.

I know what you're thinking: Won't the tenant will just go rent somewhere down the street. Sure, and how long until they get another knock on the door? The stories are floating around. Tenants are experiencing evictions - on multiple residences, also.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Maybe the tenants need to suck it up and start thinking about their house as a home, too. Their lack of cooperation with buyer showings is just bringing a possible foreclosure to them faster. Yes them, too. The banks don't just foreclose on Owners, the tenants get the boot, too.

Excess Inventory | Bank Owned | Short Sale | Auction

Last week I attended areal estateauction at Harborside Convention Center in downtown Fort Myers. There were slightlys over 50 homes on the auction block at this particular auction.Auctionsare becoming more and more common with the new real estatemarket Southwest Florida is facing. Road side signs and billboards are popping up left and right for auctions.

What sort of homes were offered at this most recent auction? Homes from all over Southwest Florida - Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples, Golden Gate, Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers and Sanibel Island. I am not sure why but there were no properties from Bonita Spring or Estero in this auction.

Of course there were short sales and foreclosures in the auction but there were other homes sold that weren't distressed. Now I bet you're asking, why would someone put their home in an auction?

• Clearing an estate
• Liquidating a portfolio
• Relocation
• Downsizing
• Refining an existing collection
• Short sale
• Bank owned - REO

If you've heard of auctions and were wondering how they operate or if your home is a candidate you can visit the auction house website at www.HudsonAndMarshall.com. They came all the way from Texas for this auction and have a full schedule of auctions all over Florida in the coming months. Sadly, they also said that they'd be back soon since most of the homes were distressed and that business was booming. On the flip side, I overheard a mortgage broker say that the prior home owners were lucky. They were now out from under their dept load and have a chance to reorganize their lives. I guess most people don't think of it that way.

As a spectator at thereal estateauction, this is what I learned:

• It moves fast. No more than a few minutes were spent on most homes.
• The buyers set the starting price, more or less.
• Home prices sold from as low at $40,000.
• The most expensive home sold was $265,000.
• Not all homes auctioned will close. Some were sold subject to bank approval. The auctioneer states "Subject To" after he hits the gavel.
• Some homes don't make the reserve, the minimum price standard set by the owners or bank.
• Sometimes the scrappiest or dated looking homes fetched the most money - maybe they were on canals? Oil well in the back yard?
• There was a $5,000 buyer premium on top of the purchase price.
• You buy as-is. You can preview the properties prior to the auction but there are no repairs or warranties.
• Some buyers bought several homes.

If you have questions about auctions visit the Hudson and Marshall FAQ Page. There's a list of common question waiting to be read.

I admit it up front. I am no Spielberg so don't poke fun at the amateur video shot with my Treo phone. I just figured that since I was there it would be a great way to share it with anyone else who may be curious.

Bonita Springs Dine & Dash

If you’re working and living in Bonita Springs and not here on a vacation, having a fast place for lunch is a must. If you’ve put off dining out in the busy Bonita Springs tourist season, now is the time to see what you’ve missed. There are a variety of Bonita Springs dining establishments that are ready and waiting to get you in and out in less than an hour. Some are tried but true, some are new and there may be a replay of an oldie but goodie:

El Mesquite Grill on Old 41 Road. It’s no more than a few hundred feet north of West Terry Street. Try the Chile Relleno. Are you kidding me? Everything is great. There is even a mariachi band on selected nights. This is a *locally owned* restaurant with stellar food. Plus, a “real life family in Bonita Springs” owns it.

Dolly’s is located on Bonita Beach Road, just west of Old 41 Road. You have to stop in on *pot roast* day. The “group” raves about it. I stick to the veggie sandwich since I’m a grazer. Local flavor to the max, high fives, low fives and local ribbing are on the menu before the first bite.

Rodes is on Bonita Beach Road just west of US 41/Tamiami Trail. You name it, it’s on the menu. Great grouper, perfectly cooked shrimp and a market to pick up goodies on the way out. If you read that link “A” keeps in touch. The back story to “A”: A Reinvented Bonita Springs Christmas

Terri’s Summer Breeze in The Centre of Bonita Springs – The Northwest corner at Bonita Beach Road and US 41/ Tamiami Trail. Breakfast or lunch. Best biscuits in town, too. Terri’s is one of my personal fav’s. It’s a family favorite, too. Have a snicker with the bumper sticker I snapped in the lot nearby: Not in Bonita Springs

Dixie Moon – which is for us old timers “Whistle Stop”. Shamefully, I have not eaten at Dixie. I want to, I want too soon. I’m all for the locals. Support *local* businesses. Dixie, I’m comin’ in. If you’ll take me and my “group” well be in.

If you made it this far, thank you. That means you’re a true Bonitian and you just might care about your local brothers and sisters that own and run our local restaurants. Support local businesses in Bonita Springs!

Negotiate

The frame around the license reads "Consult a Realtor".   This vanity plate was snapped by Vito the mortgage broker. Vito's friend Buck, bored to tears by this blog, will fall asleep before he even gets to this:

Top 100 Vanity Plates

Happy Friday, Bonita Springs

Bonita Springs Estero Sales & Absorption Rates

The last few days have been a hectic, wake up at dark o'clock kind of schedule. I was up early this morning to attend an economic seminar at the Naples Board of Realtors in Naples, Florida. The economist that was speaking shared what I already knew about the standing inventory and current absorption rates for real estate in Southwest Florida. Out of curiosity, I did my calculations the night before the economist's meeting for the Bonita Springs real estate market. Typically, I wait until mid month to prepare my monthly Bonita Springs market report because it takes a few weeks for all the data to get put in the MLS system. At any rate, here's the good, bad and ugly of it all as it sits on April 8, 2008.  The data is from the Sunshine MLS which is, of course, deemed accurate but not guaranteed.

The following units of sale for each of the categories listed are as follows:

The current absorption rate for the Bonita Springs - Estero standing inventory is:

If you're a listing agent or a seller with real estate on the market in the Bonita Springs area, do me and the rest of the area a favor - price it right or get it off of the market. The City of Bonita Springs full of serious home buyers and sellers, appraisers, lenders, real estate agents and consumers who are sick and tired of wading through the pile of overpriced listings to get to the properties that are priced fairly.

Either get in the market or get out, the negligent practice of over pricing your real estate or leaving overpriced real estate on the market is only making things worse.

Here's what you need to do to properly list and sell your property and cause the least amount of repercussion to the market.

• Get a proper CMA with comparable sales no older than three months.
• You must figure out the actual monthly holding costs for your home. You can use this worksheet to calculate your holding costs.
• It is *imperative* to have your agent figure the absorption rate for your property - Multiply months on market by the monthly holding costs to figure out if you can afford the home that long. This is what an absorption rate is.
• Adjust the price accordingly - which may be even lower than the CMA. You're either going to bleed now or bleed later.
• Take your property off the market if you can not price it effectively or get it in the condition to compete with its competition.

Read also: So, What Is The Absorption Rate For Your Bonita Springs Home?

Register to Vote Bonita Springs

Just a reminder to hit the polls and vote today (Tuesday). Not registered? Hit the Board of Elections Office on Old 41 Road , between Strike Lane and the railroad tracks, and fill out the registration so you'll be ready for the next election. Remember the rules, if you're not registered you're not allowed to gripe about elected officials. I can tell you that I don't want to hear someone complain that didn't at least try to do something about it.

Are you able to vote?

Look at all of these fine Bonita Springs establishments you can register to vote at:

BONITA SPRINGS PERMANENT VOTER REGISTRATION LOCATIONS

Bank of America - 24550 Tamiami Trail (next to Mobile Gas Station)

Bank of America - 9020 Bonita Beach Rd. (at Arroyal Rd.)

Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce - 25071 Ch. of Comm. Dr. (next to Fire Station)

Bonita Springs Elections Branch Office - US 41 Near FIGS Restaurant across the street from Bonita Bay.

Bonita Springs Library-26876 Pine Ave. (north on Pine)

Colonial Bank - 27801 Old U S 41 Rd. - (Bonita Beach Rd. & Old 41)

Colonial Bank - 3987 Bonita Beach Rd. - (at Vanderbilt Dr.)

Lee County Tax Collector - 25300 Burnwood Ln.

Wachovia - 26791 S. Tamiami Trail (Bonita Bay Plaza)

Wachovia - 9150 Bonita Beach Rd. (Sunshine Plaza)

Come on, you're a good American. Register to vote, everybody wins.