By Paul Owers | RISMEDIA, Friday, May 24, 2013— (MCT)
Some buyers are solving housing woes with prose.
They’re not writing poems or romantic novels — just short notes to sellers, telling them how happy they’d be to buy their homes.
The simple gesture is paying off in today’s market, where inventory is tight and bidding wars are typical.
“Money talks, but a letter gives a human element to an offer,” says Michael Citron, a real estate agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties. “Sellers want to sell to a buyer who they’re comfortable with and can relate to.”
Cynthia Kelley fell in love with a four-bedroom home in Coral Springs, Fla., as soon as she saw the “doggy doors” and the big back yard.
But four other buyers also wanted the home. So her agent suggested she write a letter, explaining to the seller how much the home would mean to her.
“I have three golden retrievers myself and know they would be in heaven with all that fabulous space to run and play,” she wrote.
Kelley, 48, included a photo of herself with the pooches and also explained that she is a reserve Army nurse who is ready to buy after enduring some financial hardships when she was called to active duty from 2005 to 2007.
“I was hoping to appeal to their personal side,” Kelley says.
She submitted a strong offer, which was the most important factor, said Clayton Banks, the seller. But her note confirmed for him that she was the right buyer. The deal closed last week.
“It made us feel better about selling to her,” Banks says.
Writing a letter probably is one of the easiest things buyers have to do to land a home these days, said Samantha DeBianchi, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., agent.
In some cases, they’re giving sellers more time to move by allowing them to stay in the homes after the closing. Lawyers typically advise against these post-occupancy agreements, but buyers are willing because so few properties are available, agents say.
One of DeBianchi’s clients had to adopt the seller’s cat as part of the purchase. The client was a dog owner, but she agreed to the deal.
“This is just how it is,” DeBianchi says. “Sellers are completely in control.”
A letter from a buyer probably won’t make a difference if the offer is considerably lower than others that the seller has received, agents say. Nor will a letter sway a lender, which wants the highest price and the easiest closing possible.
But many traditional sellers feel attached to their properties and don’t want to unload to just anybody, said Judy Trudel, an agent in Lighthouse Point, Fla.
“Sellers want to know the buyer will live in and enjoy the home as much as they did,” Trudel says.
Heather Cameron found a quaint, three-bedroom home in Coconut Creek, Fla., but it had multiple offers.
Cameron, a fan of HGTV’s “House Hunters,” saw that an eager buyer on the show wrote a letter to a seller, so she figured it was worth a try.
Cameron began by complimenting the sellers on the home and explained that she and her fiance, a Fort Lauderdale police officer, hope to buy before they get bogged down in wedding plans.
She added that they want to start a family, and the home would be perfect because her sister lives in the same community.
Within hours of receiving the letter, the sellers accepted the offer.
“Everyone told us horror stories about buying a home,” says Cameron, 23, an event planner. “But this was the easiest process.”
©2013 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Distributed by MCT Information Services
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Housing Prices Rise in Spite of Mortgage Rate Rise
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RISMEDIA, Wednesday, May 15, 2013— Regional Spotlight
Florida’s housing market gained strength in first quarter 2013 with increased closed sales, more pending sales, higher median prices and a reduced supply of homes for sale compared to the same quarter in 2012, according to the latest housing data released by Florida REALTORS®.
“The first three months of 2013 demonstrate that Florida’s housing market is gaining momentum and continuing to bolster the state’s economy,” says 2013 Florida REALTORS® President Dean Asher. “More people went back to work as more jobs were created in Florida during the first quarter, and our population is also growing –which provide a solid foundation for growth in the housing market. It’s taking less time to sell a home and, coupled with tight inventory, that shows buyers are eager to lock in historically low mortgage interest rates and take advantage of favorable, but rising prices.” Read more…
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Another sign of a building economy: Spec homes back on Collier, Lee market
Rising Home Prices: Coming Soon to Your Town?
RISMEDIA, Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released the April edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest data show important progress across many key indicators—as home values continue to rise and home sales remained strong in April—although officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.
“The Obama Administration’s efforts to speed the housing recovery are showing continued progress as the April scorecard indicators highlight ongoing improvements throughout the housing market,” says HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Kurt Usowski. “The annual increase in home prices is the highest in nearly seven years and sales of existing and new homes are both up over 10 percent from one year ago. But with so many households still struggling to make ends meet, we have important work ahead.” Read more…
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Amid Falling Foreclosure Rates and Rising Prices, Trade-Up Buyers Are Coming Back
The Housing Market Continues to Progress
By LAURA LAYDEN | Originally published 02:00 p.m., May 7, 2013 Updated 08:02 p.m., May 7, 2013
ESTERO — Hertz’s move to Estero will bring more house hunters to Southwest Florida.
With the relocation of its worldwide headquarters from Park Ridge, N.J., the rental car giant, Hertz Global Holdings Inc., plans to move at least 700 jobs here. That means hundreds of potential buyers for a housing market recovering from a boom-gone-bust.
“Southwest Florida offers water, warmth and a way of life and we are open to business — and it’s an economic shot in the arm for the housing market, and for the psyche of our area.”
The Hertz relocation is expected to give Lee County a $190 million economic boost each year after it’s completed in 2017, a Florida Gulf Coast University study shows.
“The overall impact is much bigger than the 700 jobs,” said study author Gary Jackson, director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at FGCU’s Lutgert School of Business.
The local economy will get a bump from companies doing business with Hertz and from Hertz’s employees spending money at restaurants, retail shops, grocery stores and other service businesses, from hair dressers to dry cleaners.
The study projects the Hertz relocation will spin-off another 1,000 jobs in Lee County alone, said Christine Ross, executive director of the Bonita Springs Estero Economic Development Council. “It’s dramatic and it will be across the board,” she said.
Jim Wall, communications director for Southwest Florida Works, which connects employers with job-seekers, points out that Hertz’s jobs will be year-round, unlike many of the area’s other service jobs that are seasonal.
“That’s a big, big step toward the economic stability of Southwest Florida,” he said.
Public coffers also will benefit, with the construction of Hertz’s new headquarters generating $2.3 million in state and local sales taxes and increasing property tax revenues by $4.6 million, the FGCU study shows.
Lee County asked for the study, without revealing Hertz’s identity, as it considered whether to provide more than $4 million in incentives to the then-mystery company to move its corporate headquarters and up to 700 jobs by 2016.
Hertz employees, like any other buyers or renters, will look at various factors in deciding where to live, including schools, recreation and amenities, said Mike Timmerman, a senior associate for economic consultants Hank Fishkind & Associates Inc. in Naples. He expects old and new communities within 10 miles of the headquarters to benefit most.
The corporate employees moving here will earn an average of $117,000 a year, including benefits, so they’re people who can afford to buy homes — and more expensive ones, said Phil Wood, president and CEO of John R. Wood Realtors Inc.
“That’s huge,” he said. “And that’s really good news.”
He expects to see the employees buy in Naples, Fort Myers, Bonita and Estero.
“It will have an excellent, positive impact on the overall market,” he said. “This will be a significant number of permanent buyers.”
__ Staff writers Eric Staats and Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster contributed to this story.
RISMEDIA, Monday, April 22, 2013
Freddie Mac recently released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for April showing that despite the ongoing housing recovery and gains on the construction jobs front, large economic headwinds persist. For example, the stubbornly high unemployment rate serves as a reminder of just how far the economy needs to go to get back to a healthy level. A short preview video and the complete April 2013 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook are available here.
Housing starts were up 47 percent from March 2012 to March 2013, passing 1 million starts for the first time in nearly five years. The pace of construction job growth has been accelerating in recent months. Over the past year, net construction job growth represented 8 percent of all job gains, while in the last six months it represented 15 percent. Read more…
Naples, Fla. (Apr. 12, 2013) – The Naples area overall median home price increased 17 percent for the 12 months that ended in March 2013, according to a report released by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island).
The NABOR® March report provides annual comparisons of single-family home and condominium sales (via the SunshineMLS), price ranges, and geographic segmentation and includes an Overall Market summary. The NABOR® March sales statistics are presented in chart format, with these overall (single-family and condominium units) specifics:
– The overall median closed price increased 17 percent from $184,000 at the end of March 2012 to $215,000 for the 12-month period ending March 2013.
– Overall pending sales increased 4 percent from 10,204 units to 10,633 units for the 12-month period ending March 2013. Overall pending sales increased 22 percent in the $300,000 to $500,000 category from 1,414 units to 1,729 units; 13 percent in the $500,000 to $1 million category, from 1,052 units to 1,190 units; increased 18 percent in the $1 million to $2 million category, from 452 units to 532 units; and increased 12 percent in the $2 million plus category, from 277 units to 310 units, respectively for the 12-month period ending March 2013.
– The average DOM (Days on the Market) decreased 8 percent overall from 171 days in March 2012 to 157 days in March 2013.
– Inventory decreased 14 percent from 7,599 units in March 2012 to 6,565 units in March 2013.
– Overall pending sales in the Naples coastal area increased 9 percent from 1,912 units to 2,091 units, and closed sales increased 15 percent, from 1,653 units to 1,897 units, for the 12-month period ending March 2013.
The NABOR® 2013 First Quarter Report provides comparisons of single-family home and condominium sales (via the SunshineMLS), price ranges, and geographic segmentation and includes an overall market summary. The NABOR® first quarter sales statistics are presented in chart format, including these overall (single-family and condominium units) findings:
– Overall closed sales decreased 2 percent, from 2,220 units in first quarter 2012 to 2,167 units in first quarter 2013. Overall closed sales increased 13 percent in the $300,000-$500,000 category, from 309 units to 350 units, and increased 15 percent in the $1 million-$2 million category, from 99 units to 114 units, from first quarter 2012 to first quarter 2013, respectively.
– The median closed price increased 24 percent overall, from $190,000 in first quarter 2012 to $235,000 in first quarter 2013. In the $300,000 and under category the median closed price increased 18 percent from $135,000 in first quarter 2012 to $159,000 in first quarter 2013.
– Overall pending sales decreased 2 percent, from 3,664 pending sales in first quarter 2012 to 3,598 pending sales in first quarter 2013.
– The average DOM (Days on the Market) decreased 4 percent overall from 169 days in first quarter 2012 to 162 days in first quarter 2013.
Dr. Gary L. Jackson, Director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University stated, “Collier County and Southwest Florida are continuing to recover from the housing bubble and financial market crisis that began in 2006. This has been a very slow and somewhat “choppy” recovery but we are seeing improvements in our local economy. Collier County taxable sales were $651.3 million in December 2012, four-percent higher than December 2011 indicating improvement in consumer spending. Passenger traffic at Southwest Florida International airport in January 2013 was up seven percent from January 2012. Collier County’s tourism activity was strong with January 2013 tourism tax revenues increasing to $2,057,493, an eight-percent increase over January 2012. Collier County issued 110 single-family building permits in February 2013, up from 58 in February 2012. Collier County’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 7.8 percent in January 2013 compared to 7.9 percent in December 2012 and 8.9 percent in January 2012, with an increase of 592 persons employed.”
