Would you foreclose? Refinace? Reverse Mortgage?

Several of our clients have asked us to provide a link to this past Sunday's 60 Minutes.
As you probably know, "60 Minutes" on Sunday produced a 15-minute segment on the housing downturn and foreclosure crisis. You can view the video segment here ("House of Cards").
In the segment (The Valdez family) -- about halfway through -- looks at the prospects of paying a higher mortgage payment on a house no longer worth the amount of the loan. The homeowners, who face a substantial monthly payment spike, consider whether it's better for them to walk away at this point. Would you foreclose? Is reverse mortage an option? Other options?
What would you do? Why?
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3756665n&channel=/sections/60minutes/videoplayer3415.shtml

Homekeys Rentals is now available in all Florida Counties

As previuosly announced, Homekeys has launched a Beta Rental site across the State of Florida.

Homekeys Rentals is a division of HomeXperts Inc. a leading developer and integrator of online applications for real estate professionals and consumers.

The site offers rental services throughout 67 counties in the state of Florida. Users will also have access to an extensive network of agents capable of providing full real estate services in other States and in other regions of the World.

Homekeys business model offers renters and those renting their properties the best of both worlds: "the feel and touch of people and the heart and soul of technology".

Homekeys believes that a consumer-centered business model that uses technology to empower the consumers allows our agents to spend more time providing value with expertise, guidance and attention to transaction details. Today’s renters and property owners are fiercely independent and technologically sophisticated. They want transparency, professionalism and efficiencies.

Technology will never displace the human factor; it delivers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to any corner of the World. Homekeys clients are able to conduct business on their time, not anyone else's. They know that when assistance is needed, someone from Homekeys will be available in a reasonable amount of time.
Homekeys has built an exclusive search listing tool tailored to the rental home market. In addition to the traditional tools found in other sites, Homekeys gives you access to rental listings that are comparable to your rental specifications and includes relevant informatiion such as average rental cost per square feet and the like.
We recommend you use Homekeys search tool to find your next rental and when you're ready, call them to make an appointment or make your appointment on line.
Homekeys welcomes your feedback. Tell Homekeys what you like, what you did not like and what you would like to see.

Too many homes for sale, large # of buyers, few deals !

It's an irony of the current market that with all the homes offered for sale, many serious buyers can't find a home to buy. There are often certain types of homes, in certain areas, that just aren't on the market. These are usually prime properties in excellent condition that have broad-based appeal. When these listings come on the market, they are usually snapped up quickly, despite the otherwise slow housing market.

Many buyers are sitting on the fence at this point, watching the market and waiting for a better time to buy. It's impossible to time the housing market, so you won't know precisely when the market will next correct until that correction has already occurred. A market correction can be verified only through hindsight.

Although most buyers feel more comfortable buying in a hot market -- even though it may mean paying more -- there are some buyers who see a slow market as a good buying opportunity.

If you are one of these buyers and you're having difficulty finding a home to buy, we offer the following tips:


1.Get to know the inventory of homes available in your target area. Some of these listings will never work for you, either because they aren't large enough or because they have defects you might not be able to live with, like a lot of stairs to the front door. You can drop these listings from your radar.

2.Don't assume there's something wrong with the house if it's back on the market, or if it has been unsold and on the market for a long time. In a changing market, it's often difficult to select a list price that will bring about a speedy sale. Keep an open mind about listings that have had price reductions. These could have been mispriced to begin with. If the sellers are motivated, they will reduce the price until it is in line with the market.

Take a look at Homekeys Neighborhood Analysis Tool and let us know what you think. We want to make this tool as comprehensive as possible. Does it help you? What would you like to see?

Obviously, this is not an appraissal but simply an indication of value based on a number of assumptions.

It is worth it to fix your home for sale

Sellers who anticipate losing money if they sell their home may wonder why they should spend a dime fixing the place up for sale. Isn't this throwing good money after bad? Even sellers with plenty of equity in their homes often figure the way to get the most out of the sale is to cut sale costs to a minimum.
This attitude is directly contrary to the notion that the way to make the most money on the sale of a home is by pricing the property appropriately for the market, and by making cost-effective improvements that will result in a higher sale price in a shorter time.
Job applicants don't show up for an important interview in tattered old clothes if they want to make a good impression, particularly if there were plenty of other qualified applicants. Likewise, if you wanted to get top dollar from the sale of a car you would have the car detailed so that it looked its best. The same principal applies to selling single-family homes.
Today, the housing market have plenty of homes for sale and far too few buyers. For years, buyers competed with one another in order to buy a house. Now, in general, sellers are being forced to compete with other sellers in order to get their home sold.
Consider the competitive nature of the market when deciding if you're going to improve your home before selling it, and how much you'll invest. Keep in mind that the point of fixing up a home to sell is to maximize your return from the sale. Don't waste money on improvements that have little or no value to buyers.
Ask your real estate agent to walk through your home with you for the purpose of determining what fix-up projects you should ideally complete before marketing the property. For example, you might be inclined to replace worn-out carpet. Your agent, however, might advise otherwise, a buyer looking for an older home, prefer hardwood floors, your agent may recommend refinishing the hardwood floor that is hidden underneath the carpet instead of changing the carpet.
The best houses in the best condition and offered for the best price usually sell quickly. A fast sale is important to some sellers in this market. The sooner your home is sold, the sooner you stop paying mortgage payments, property taxes and various maintenance costs.

Real Estate Bubble will redefine role of agent and there will be fewer agents

A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships...and nothing could be farther from the truth in real estate!

When real estate fever hit its peak sometime ago, it was almost impossible to go wrong, and all realtors looked like geniuses. This irrational market resulted in thousands of individuals joining the ranks of the real estate profession. After all, it was easy to get a license and- with limited effort- the economic reward was significant. We simply have too many agents!

While it is going to take sime time for the market to recover, we are beginning to witness some signs of consolidation. Many "part-time" agents that should had never been here to begin with are now disappearing. This offers a great opportunity to the many "full time professional agents" that have been fully committed to the industry to regain control of the process.

These agents do not complain about market difficulties. They continue to work hard serving their existing and prospective clients. And consumers will be able to tell who these agents are: they really know what is going on and share all information with their clients in an unbiased and transparent manner.

Being good isn’t easy. It’s hard work. The really good professional will look at each property individually and develop a strategy for a successful sale. It takes time, requires patience and calls for a creative approach. But it pays off when sellers and buyers begin to call you because they know you’re getting results.

And at the end of these cycle there will be fewer but better agents...agents that are tech savvy and whose role will be different...less driving around, more mousing around, more counseling !

When is the media going to get home sales right.

Today consumer survey shows buyers are in it for the long-haul, planning to stay in their home for a median of 10 years. This is a wise approach to housing because the longer you own, the better your investment.

New-home sales are projected at 773,000 for 2007, and declining to 669,000 this year before rising to 730,000 in 2009, but well below the 1.05 million 2006. With an appropriate slowdown in production, housing starts, including multifamily units, are forecast at 1.36 million for 2007 and 1.09 million this year before edging up to 1.10 million in 2009; starts totaled 1.80 million in 2006. The median new-home price should drop 2.1 percent to $241,400 for 2007, and then rise 0.4 percent to $242,200 this year and gain another 5.9 percent in 2009.

According to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors, America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

When is the media going to get it right.

Perfect Storm for Foreign Buyers of Real Estate

It appears that the timing is the best it has been for quite some time for foreign buyers looking for second homes in the USA....sort like the PERFECT STORM !

1. Prices in most USA markets are coming down
2. Foreclosures are increasing
3. Inventories are rising
4. Locals are not buying because of tightness in lending
5. Property values in Europe are skyrocketing
6. The Euro and the British Pound continue to strengthen
7. The Canadian dollar is also strong
8. The likelihoodof a stronger dollar is LOW

Plenty of opportunities to buy at reasonable prices ....currency of acquirer and future property appreciation minimizes risk.

Let us know how we can help you by contacting us at http://www.homekeys.net/

Cut your home for sale listing asking price until a buyer appears

Cut or hold?

With this week’s news that home prices fell 4.5 percent in the third quarter, a lot of people with real estate to sell have to make some tough decisions. Do they cut their asking price enough to get a contract, or do they hold out for the inevitable recovery?

The big question is, how long will they have to wait? Perhaps the best way to answer that question is to look at the last period in which home prices began to fall, as measured by the widely followed S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices.

If the current slump follows the same pattern as in the 1990s, it could be a long wait. As you remember, it took nearly seven years for the prices to recover and resume their upward climb from the 1990 levels.

The usual “past is not prologue” caveats apply, of course. But I don’t see a lot of reasons to think the current cycle will be any shorter or less painful than previous one, for several reasons:

· The disappearance of the subprime mortgageBear-Stearns-Troubles Nov-07 market has reduced the amount of money available for purchasing property.

· We’re in the early stages of a wave of foreclosures that will put more homes on the market, dragging down prices further.

· The current of homes is now at a 22-year high, and sales are down 31 percent from two years ago.

As a real estate broker uses the auction method to sell properties, I gain a different perspective on this. The auction is the exact opposite of a “wait it out” approach. Rather than wait for buyers to agree to pay a certain price, the seller agrees to sell “at the market” on a particular day. Another choice for many people is to simply cut their asking price until a buyer appears.
Either way, the sale price will likely be lower than it might have been last year, but it may well turn out to be higher than some of the prices ahead.

Pricing within the real estate market

We've all spent a lot of time lately talking about the oversupply of properties in previously overheated markets, and about the difficulty of getting property sold in the current environment. But it's good to remember that there's one way to be certain of a sale no matter what's going on around you. Pricing within the market, “The price is right”.

To fully appreciate the significance of this, it's important to remember that sales in Southwest Florida have slowed to a crawl, as sellers tried to hold onto previous asking prices that buyers are unwilling to pay. It's hard to blame the sellers, some of whom overpaid for their homes, condos and land during the overheated "bubble" days of 2004 and 2005.

But the buyers are out there, just waiting for a signal that sellers would meet them at today's market prices, “The price is right”

In other words, you can always sell property if you're willing to accept the market price. Ultimately, everything sells "at the market," whether it's an auction or an ordinary listing.

FSBO sales increase by 20% in last 5 years

The increased resources available on the Internet resulted in more consumers having confidence in their ability to successfully sell or buy a home without a real estate agent. The figures are staggering as there will be savings of nearly $9 billion in real estate commission on 2007 alone. These results have lead to great developments of For Sale By Owner sites which are targeting home sellers to pay a small advertising fee and save on the 6% commission of the real estate agent.

Succesful Sellers Think like Buyers

The most succesful sellers are the ones that think and act like buyers.
This is what they do:

1. They search for homes that are for sale in their neighborhood in sites like http://www.homekeys.net/. This site provides listing details and free and unlimited access to comparables and most likely property market values. Maps are also included. These allow you to see the location of each property.
2. They drive around and identify those properties that appear to be comparable and assess the external condition and comparability of those properties. They also look around for FSBO properties. FSBO sellers are actively competing with properties listed in the MLS . Potential sellers can contact FSBO owners directly and inquiry about asking prices as well as other relevant factors.
3. They see their home thru the eyes of the buyers. We all believe what we have is better than what it actually is for others; thus, we need to be realistic. Value like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Just because we like it does not mean the rest of the world will. How will a potential buyer react when visiting your home? Just think about your reaction when you are buying . And others will not be any different.!
4. They establish the asking price by incorporating all the information gathered during the fact finding process. What will I be competing against? What are my goals? Do I need to sale? If so, how quickly? Many of our clients decide to sell by owner and we assit them in the marketing of their property. The fact is that you can be effective selling on your own as long as you are realistic! There is not a need to sacrifice quality for service nor a need to pay a commission of 6%.
5. They are as factual and unbiased as they can be. They are good at removing the "emotional factor" from their decision. This is easier said than done but it must be done.

These are difficult times; be thoughful and honest in your process and you will be succesful.

When does it make sense to rent a home?

You may not have saved enough money to use as a down payment or to pay the other costs associated with buying a home. If that is the case, renting is most likely your best option. Renting makes sense for other reasons as well. One of the biggest reason to rent in Florida is you don’t have to pay property taxes and special assessments. Another major reason why Floridians rent is to enjoy the weekend and not have to spend time fixing the home!