Inevitably almost everyone who purchases a home will sell a home. When that time comes for a homeowner, it needs to be a business decision not an emotional one. When buyiing a home, (unless it's simply an investment) most of us will be making plans of family dinners, backyard parties and making upgrades that suit our needs, this is the way it is supposed to be when buying your home. However, when it's time to sell it's no longer your home, it's a house, it's an asset that will allow you to make your next step in life. It's a means to an end. In my opinion this is why so many (over 75%) of those who try and sell there homes themselves fail. One of my favorite homes I ever listed, had everything going for it, it was priced right in a growing area etc. But it was one of the hardest homes to sell. Why? The homeowners continued to make upgrades while we were marketing the property, and insisted on being at the home while it was being shown by other Realtors. They would follow around the prospective buyers talking about their childrens rooms and plans for the backyard, talking about how close they were with the neighbors. The buyers immediately were looking at the home as the current owners property not their future home, they were never allowed to make mental plans of their own family dinners and backyard plans. Initially I thought this was a small set back, but more and more showings with no offers. This continued for almost a year eventually costing the sellers tens of thousands of dollars. I used to think of little sayings such as " Let the buyer take mental possession of the home" as nonsense, no longer. If your selling your home, and you have a showing, the best bet is to leave for the time the buyer is there. If it's inconvenient either go to the smallest bedroom, backyard or garage while the home is being shown, DO NOT FOLLOW THE BUYER AROUND!
If the prospective buyer has a question, make the answers short and sweet. If they ask about the backyard, have the survey ready to give them, condition of roof, have your sellers disclosure ready. Making upgrades or repairs to a home. Again this should be looked at as a business decision. Bottom line, everything in the home should work, no exceptions. Fogged window, replace it, dishwasher doesn't work, replace it, leaky faucet, tighten it. Look at it like a car, if you are going to sell your car for top dollar, all of the lights and blinkers should be working, otherwise your going to get a lower initial offer.
The bottom line again...
When you receive an offer, don't look at how much incentives the buyer is looking for or how much in repairs they want made. Look at the bottom line, remember this is a business transaction. So what if the buyer wants you to give them a painting allowance for the master bedroom. If the bottom line of your transaction is what you want, don't let things like this deter you. The bottom line of your sellers cost sheet should be all that matters when it comes to selling a home, and my making the sale of your home a business decision not an emotinal one, the bottom line should be the last word.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
6/4 3600sqft 2006 home in 32259 only 449K
See our home of the week!
Click here
It's the best priced six bedroom home in 32259 within a dynamite school system, durbin creek elem. fruit cove middle, and Nease high.
FOR THOSE WHO NEED A BIG HOME! This home isn't for those who just want a little more space, it's for those who HAVE TO HAVE IT. Open floor plan, with beautiful lake views, upgraded to the hilt in lighting and kitchen functionality. Quiet neighborhood w/ only a few homes NO CDD Fees (savings of 2k annually)! Only 1 of 3 Six bed homes in 32259 priced under 500K!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
February 08 home sales in Jacksonville Drop 40%
Only 687 single family homes were sold were sold in Jacksonville by Realtors in February 2008 off from 1,141 in Feb. of 07.
The median home price range dropped during the month from 198K to 180K down 9%.
Source Realty Builder Connection
From doing our own research, almost one in five of the homes selling are either REO, bank owned properties or short sales, and pre-foreclosures. This has held true every month this year, including March. It actually may be more, due to the banks now asking their agents not to list their properties as foreclosures.
These numbers may up-tick slightly in April, as we are seeing more properties going into pending as relocating buyers are moving into the market.
This is one of the main reasons for such a low median for the month, the majority of those 600 people who bought a home were either investors or first time home buyers.
Relocating families generally do not buy homes in the first two months of the year.
Something I found interesting as well was the numbers for Tallahassee, Florida.
In Feb. we almost had the same median price range. REALLY!
To me that shows Jacksonville long term as an undervalued market.
If anyone is asking why on this one, make the drive 3 hours west, and look for the ocean, a river, a port or a national football team.
Monday, April 14, 2008
My Realtor is out of town so I have a couple questions...
For the second time this month I've had a prospective buyer who was working with another Realtor call me about one of our properties we have for sale.
The first buyer I spoke with for about 20 minutes before he said "Well I have a Realtor but she is on vacation, so I will try and get her to show me your listing when she gets back.
The second was much more up front, saying he had a Realtor in the first sentence, but his Realtor was working with some other clients this week.
I'm glad to see our advertising is working, and it makes my day when we get a call on our properties whether the prospect has an agent or not.
What I don't understand is how buyers continue to work with agents who seem to continually be on vacation.
Everyone needs a vacation including those in the service business such as Realtors, but they should have someone covering their business when they are gone.
The problem is most agents don't want to do this, mainly because they don't want to have to pay a referral for the other agent handling their clients.
If you are going to work with a single Realtor in purchasing a home make sure they have someone backing them up.
That is one of the main reasons we work with the team concept, our team members are there for you if for some reason one of us can't be. Our clients don't get shifted around from agent to agent( a misconception when talking about real estate teams) however, if for some reason your primary agent has a family emergency, or has to go to a closing or another appointment when you the buyer has to see a house, someone is there.
Make it a point when hiring a Realtor to help you in the purchase of a home that he/she has some kind of system to help you out in case they can't.
The first buyer I spoke with for about 20 minutes before he said "Well I have a Realtor but she is on vacation, so I will try and get her to show me your listing when she gets back.
The second was much more up front, saying he had a Realtor in the first sentence, but his Realtor was working with some other clients this week.
I'm glad to see our advertising is working, and it makes my day when we get a call on our properties whether the prospect has an agent or not.
What I don't understand is how buyers continue to work with agents who seem to continually be on vacation.
Everyone needs a vacation including those in the service business such as Realtors, but they should have someone covering their business when they are gone.
The problem is most agents don't want to do this, mainly because they don't want to have to pay a referral for the other agent handling their clients.
If you are going to work with a single Realtor in purchasing a home make sure they have someone backing them up.
That is one of the main reasons we work with the team concept, our team members are there for you if for some reason one of us can't be. Our clients don't get shifted around from agent to agent( a misconception when talking about real estate teams) however, if for some reason your primary agent has a family emergency, or has to go to a closing or another appointment when you the buyer has to see a house, someone is there.
Make it a point when hiring a Realtor to help you in the purchase of a home that he/she has some kind of system to help you out in case they can't.
Top 10 Real Estate Websites in Feb 08
This may be a theme we hit on quite a bit on our blog.
Mainly, because I believe these statistics are very important for those thinking of selling a home.
Remax.com
Is the second most searched site in the United States, however this chart does not take into effect the world wide clicks. Re/max is located in literally 50+ other countries.
It is my belief if you added those in, remax.com would be the most searched real estate website in the world.
How this effects the marketing of your home should be obvious.
If you list a home with a licensed Realtor your home will automatically go on to realtor.com the same as Remax.com.
However, if you are listed with a Remax agent, your home comes up first.
On realtor.com your agent has to have what is called a showcased listing.
As stated in a prior post, the majority of buyers are coming in from out of town and out of country due to the increasingly low dollar.
Having your home come up first on a search on Remax.com can do nothing but heighten your homes exposure.
Also, for buyers using search remax.com trumps Realtor.com in my opinion.
On realtor.com if you are not a "Showcased Agent" your listings will only have one picture, and you have to pay $25 to add your virtual tour.
On remax.com you get all of the pictures for every listing out there, plus all of the available virtual tours, the agents from Prudential and every other company do not have to pay extra for this.
We have personally gone round and round with Realtor.com to make all of the information available to those searching the site,however we do not see any changes in the near future.
The other telling thing about the chart is there are only two other real estate companies listed. C21 and Zip.
I'm personally impressed with the amount of hits Zip has gotten, due to there relatively new business model.
To get back to the gist, using a company with a large internet presence should not only lessen your days on the market, but also bring you at least a little higher offer.( More people know about your product, the more interest, the more offers etc. etc.)
At worst, it can absolutely do no harm.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Changed to short sale, New price $185,000
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Seraching for new building permits in Jacksonville
The Florida Times union has a great tool that allows you to search for approved permits in your area, for instance if you want to know what is being built down the road from your home or the home you are planning on buying you can type in the road, and all new permits since 2004 will pop up.
Or you can search my regions. Only permits over $500,000 will come up.
If you really need to find out what's being built in a specific location and this search tool isn't giving you the info you want.
Feel free to call our team 904-260-3787 and we will help you with your research.
For the direct link to the page at the FTU click here
Or you can search my regions. Only permits over $500,000 will come up.
If you really need to find out what's being built in a specific location and this search tool isn't giving you the info you want.
Feel free to call our team 904-260-3787 and we will help you with your research.
For the direct link to the page at the FTU click here
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Watson Custom Home Builder closes offices
Watson Custom Homes Inc. has temporarily shut down sales offices at all of its communities as it goes through an internal restructuring and reorganization.
A representative of the Jacksonville-based company said the construction and accounting departments have been reduced and about 20 independently contracted sales agents at Watson's community sales offices are out of jobs, but declined to provide any other details of the process.
In an e-mail company President Jim Watson said, "We are currently negotiating a financial workout with our creditors. We are still building homes currently under contract, however we felt the need to put our presale efforts on hold. We are still selling inventory homes."
Fifty-nine mechanic liens, totaling $494,288, have been filed against the home builder in the last two-and-a-half months, according to American City Business Journals research. It was not clear at press time if any of those liens have been satisfied.
Watson is building in about 30 different communities in Northeast Florida, including Amelia Park in Nassau County, Durbin Crossing in St. Johns County and Osprey Cove in Camden County, Ga.
Watson ranked No. 12 on The Business Journal's 2008 home builders list with $51.9 million in reported revenue and 180 homes reported sold in 2006.
The homebuilder's products include custom homes, condos, single-family homes and townhomes. The average price of a Watson home was $272,000 in 2007.
Source
It would seem that Watson home builders still has inventory homes they need to sell, hopefully will be able to get more information soon as it becomes available.
If you are looking for new construction builders a list and links can be found on our main site under the "new construction" tab
A representative of the Jacksonville-based company said the construction and accounting departments have been reduced and about 20 independently contracted sales agents at Watson's community sales offices are out of jobs, but declined to provide any other details of the process.
In an e-mail company President Jim Watson said, "We are currently negotiating a financial workout with our creditors. We are still building homes currently under contract, however we felt the need to put our presale efforts on hold. We are still selling inventory homes."
Fifty-nine mechanic liens, totaling $494,288, have been filed against the home builder in the last two-and-a-half months, according to American City Business Journals research. It was not clear at press time if any of those liens have been satisfied.
Watson is building in about 30 different communities in Northeast Florida, including Amelia Park in Nassau County, Durbin Crossing in St. Johns County and Osprey Cove in Camden County, Ga.
Watson ranked No. 12 on The Business Journal's 2008 home builders list with $51.9 million in reported revenue and 180 homes reported sold in 2006.
The homebuilder's products include custom homes, condos, single-family homes and townhomes. The average price of a Watson home was $272,000 in 2007.
Source
It would seem that Watson home builders still has inventory homes they need to sell, hopefully will be able to get more information soon as it becomes available.
If you are looking for new construction builders a list and links can be found on our main site under the "new construction" tab
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Real Estate Firm buys land for 15M
A Jacksonville real estate firm and its private equity partner have purchased 1,800 acres near U.S. 301 in Clay County for $15 million.
Hassan & Lear Acquisitions Ltd. Monday announced the acquisition of the site, bordered to the south by Camp Blanding and the east by Jennings State Forest.
It sits near 2,800 acres that will be developed into The Highlands, a master planned community located just south of the intersection of U.S. 301 and Country Road 218.
The purchase was the Jacksonville company's first with private equity firm The Carlyle Group under the joint venture name CRP/HLV Program I LLC. Carlyle put up $50 million of equity capital and Hassan & Lear committed $9 million to the joint venture, according to the announcement.
SOURCE Jacksonville.com
Hassan & Lear Acquisitions Ltd. Monday announced the acquisition of the site, bordered to the south by Camp Blanding and the east by Jennings State Forest.
It sits near 2,800 acres that will be developed into The Highlands, a master planned community located just south of the intersection of U.S. 301 and Country Road 218.
The purchase was the Jacksonville company's first with private equity firm The Carlyle Group under the joint venture name CRP/HLV Program I LLC. Carlyle put up $50 million of equity capital and Hassan & Lear committed $9 million to the joint venture, according to the announcement.
SOURCE Jacksonville.com
Monday, April 7, 2008
Real Estate Companies Website hits
This is for Remax.com something like almost 2M hits per month
This is for Coldwell Banker, they are in a close second
This is Prudential inc. all of their services life insurance etc.
Assist 2 Sell
Watson Realty
First off why I think this is important is 85%+ of prospective home buyers begin their search on the internet. I believe if you were to look for a % of relocating buyers this number would be much higher. To me if I were a seller in todays market I would want to know these numbers. Again, I don't know the complete accuracy of these but it's gotta be pretty close.
This is one of the main reasons we have chosen to stay with Re/max, their presence around the world is huge and their presence on the internet is even larger.
This is for Coldwell Banker, they are in a close second
This is Prudential inc. all of their services life insurance etc.
Assist 2 Sell
Watson Realty
First off why I think this is important is 85%+ of prospective home buyers begin their search on the internet. I believe if you were to look for a % of relocating buyers this number would be much higher. To me if I were a seller in todays market I would want to know these numbers. Again, I don't know the complete accuracy of these but it's gotta be pretty close.
This is one of the main reasons we have chosen to stay with Re/max, their presence around the world is huge and their presence on the internet is even larger.
12 month effective rent growth
I found this information from the Wall Street Journal
Markets with Smallest Percentage Rent Increases in the 12 Months Ending March 31
Rank Metro Market 12-month Effective Rent Growth Avg Rent
70 Las Vegas 2.50% $820
71 Colorado Springs 2.40% $636
72 Memphis 2.20% $624
73 Chattanooga 1.80% $577
74 Miami 1.10% $1,068
75 Fort Lauderdale .70% $1,061
76 Orlando .50% $821
77 Tampa-St. Petersburg .10% $786
78 Palm Beach .10% $1,055
79 Jacksonville -.10% $752
– U.S. average 4.80% $984
Not the best news for investors, insight here would be try and keep those renters you already have.
Also an insight, for those thinking of renting in Jacksonville prior to buying. This average rent will generally not land you in a single family home.
The average includes apartment complexes throughout Jacksonville.
We do not handle property management at the moment, for advertising your properties for rent. rentclicks.com an craigslist have seemed very successful for our personal properties.
Read the whole article here from th WSJ rent growth
SEARCH FOR HOMES
Markets with Smallest Percentage Rent Increases in the 12 Months Ending March 31
Rank Metro Market 12-month Effective Rent Growth Avg Rent
70 Las Vegas 2.50% $820
71 Colorado Springs 2.40% $636
72 Memphis 2.20% $624
73 Chattanooga 1.80% $577
74 Miami 1.10% $1,068
75 Fort Lauderdale .70% $1,061
76 Orlando .50% $821
77 Tampa-St. Petersburg .10% $786
78 Palm Beach .10% $1,055
79 Jacksonville -.10% $752
– U.S. average 4.80% $984
Not the best news for investors, insight here would be try and keep those renters you already have.
Also an insight, for those thinking of renting in Jacksonville prior to buying. This average rent will generally not land you in a single family home.
The average includes apartment complexes throughout Jacksonville.
We do not handle property management at the moment, for advertising your properties for rent. rentclicks.com an craigslist have seemed very successful for our personal properties.
Read the whole article here from th WSJ rent growth
SEARCH FOR HOMES
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Best MLS Search in Jacksonville
This is a high claim, but I've found I almost like using this new tool more than the true MLS that we as Realtors have access to.
It takes a while to get used to but once you get the hang of it it's great.
Click on the link below to begin looking for active homes
SEARCH FOR JACKSONVILLE HOMES
It takes a while to get used to but once you get the hang of it it's great.
Click on the link below to begin looking for active homes
SEARCH FOR JACKSONVILLE HOMES
January single family home sales
In the Jacksonville market, there were 518 sales at an average of $174,400 compared to January 2007 with 782 sales for an average of $183,100.
Click on the image to see it larger.
This information is from realty builder connection and local MLS Boards throughout Florida
Click on the image to see it larger.
This information is from realty builder connection and local MLS Boards throughout Florida
Our current single property sites
In the links below you will find what is called a single property site.
For the majority of the homes we sell we have an individual site for the property.
Generally the URL is the address, which makes it easy to find through search engines if someone was to drive by the home and remember the street name they may go home and simply search for the street to find more information about the home.
When the prospective buyer does this they generally will find our SPS for the property.
This is so big for sellers. We also take the information and add it to craigslist or backpage as an image format, which will link over to the website
Here are some of the sites we have right now
http://www.1031ravine.com
www.5120siestadelrio.com
www.1748Orlando.com
www.4217anson.com
www.4560crescent.com
As we list new properties we will be adding them to the blog so come back often.
Also, if you are thinking of selling make sure your Realtor knows about this great product or better yet call us and we will make sure we use this tool to market your home, we have found it highly effective.
For the majority of the homes we sell we have an individual site for the property.
Generally the URL is the address, which makes it easy to find through search engines if someone was to drive by the home and remember the street name they may go home and simply search for the street to find more information about the home.
When the prospective buyer does this they generally will find our SPS for the property.
This is so big for sellers. We also take the information and add it to craigslist or backpage as an image format, which will link over to the website
Here are some of the sites we have right now
http://www.1031ravine.com
www.5120siestadelrio.com
www.1748Orlando.com
www.4217anson.com
www.4560crescent.com
As we list new properties we will be adding them to the blog so come back often.
Also, if you are thinking of selling make sure your Realtor knows about this great product or better yet call us and we will make sure we use this tool to market your home, we have found it highly effective.
Getting Started with our Real Estate Blog
The purpose of this blog is to give us another outlet for real estate information in Jacksonville.
Some of the posts will be general real estate information and real estate news, while others may be to spotlight new homes on the market or great deals on homes or properties in Northeast Florida. You can find more information about our family real estate team at http://www.homes-jacksonville.com our main website, http://www.casas-jacksonville.com our mirror site in Espanol or our site dedicated to Jacksonville waterfront properties at http://www.waterfrontofjacksonville.com
The Broxson Home Selling Team at Re/max Specialists consists of four licensed agents, Kathy Broxson 21 years of Real Estate Experience working both for Watson Realty (a large local broker) and now with Re/max Specialists
Joe Broxson, a licensed assistant who was an active Realtor for 13 years before putting his license inactive, he is also a retired USN Chief Warrant Officer.
Wesley Broxson, licensed since 2004 after spending five years in the USN as a broadcast journalist.
Diane Hayes, a licensed Realtor since 2003 handles a lot of investors and works with home buyers exclusively.
Our team consistently sells 10+ million dollars worth of real estate annually and are experts are marketing homes for quick and lucrative sales.
For buyers we always have someone dedicated to working for you as a "Buyers Agent" .
And because of our team concept, we are able to help those relocating on a short time frame effectively by having one of our team members dedicated to only you for the days you are house hunting.
If you are thinking of buying.selling.investing in real estate in Northeast Florida please feel free to e-mail our team or contact us directly by phone at 904-260-3787
Some of the posts will be general real estate information and real estate news, while others may be to spotlight new homes on the market or great deals on homes or properties in Northeast Florida. You can find more information about our family real estate team at http://www.homes-jacksonville.com our main website, http://www.casas-jacksonville.com our mirror site in Espanol or our site dedicated to Jacksonville waterfront properties at http://www.waterfrontofjacksonville.com
The Broxson Home Selling Team at Re/max Specialists consists of four licensed agents, Kathy Broxson 21 years of Real Estate Experience working both for Watson Realty (a large local broker) and now with Re/max Specialists
Joe Broxson, a licensed assistant who was an active Realtor for 13 years before putting his license inactive, he is also a retired USN Chief Warrant Officer.
Wesley Broxson, licensed since 2004 after spending five years in the USN as a broadcast journalist.
Diane Hayes, a licensed Realtor since 2003 handles a lot of investors and works with home buyers exclusively.
Our team consistently sells 10+ million dollars worth of real estate annually and are experts are marketing homes for quick and lucrative sales.
For buyers we always have someone dedicated to working for you as a "Buyers Agent" .
And because of our team concept, we are able to help those relocating on a short time frame effectively by having one of our team members dedicated to only you for the days you are house hunting.
If you are thinking of buying.selling.investing in real estate in Northeast Florida please feel free to e-mail our team or contact us directly by phone at 904-260-3787
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