Hi there. In this post I'm going to explore the history of a couple of recent foreclosures (REOs) that have just been placed under contract (pending). I figure this little exercise will give you some incite on the cyclical nature of real estate and property values. 

Both of these properties were sold by me, prior to opening up Tutas Towne Realty, 10 years ago. 

The first one is a 3 bedroom 2 bath pool home with 1670 sq ft of living area built in 1991 and sits on a ½ acre lot. 

I met the original owner of this house back in 1995. He lived in England and this house was used as a vacation home. He built the house in 1991 and paid $95,000. It has since had 5 owners including Countrywide Mortgage who now owns the property. Let's check out the sales history. 

 Wow! Isn't that interesting? In 17 years this property has increased in value by 62%. That's pretty darn good. 

Now let's check out another one. This house was built in 1991 and is a 3 bedroom 3 bath with 1644 sq ft and a pool on a standard size lot. 

The original owner of this property was also from England and I met her in 1996. She paid $87,900 for this property when she had it built. 

It's had 4 owners including Bear Stearns who owns it now and is also currently under contract. Here's the sales history. 

This one didn't fare as well as the first one. It only increased by 31% over 17 years. But look at what happened between 1997 and 2006. Holy crap!!! A 180% increase!!! That's incredible. 

These charts show you that during the 90s values barely increased if at all. This was a down cycle. Then, from about 2000 to 2006, values sky rocketed. Now we are back in a down market. 

The big question is...will it last 10 years like the last one? Maybe. If that's the case then we are looking at 2016 before we hit the next big upswing in values. OR was 2001-2006 just an anomaly? 

What do you think? 

NOTE: Real Estate markets are very local. This report is based on data specific to Poinciana FL. Also, the 2008 sales data is based on a pending price not a sales price, so the percentages will vary slightly.

Hi folks. Here's an update on the foreclosure situation in Florida. I read an article earlier today on our Florida Association of Realtors website stating that Florida has 77,000 homeowners in foreclosure!!! This is second only to California.  

I also spoke to a loss mitigation negotiator at Countrywide yesterday who mentioned Countrywide, or I guess Bank of America now, has 76% of the Nation's foreclosures and that they are expecting this number to increase in August when ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) are set to adjust again. EDIT:< Is this figure accurate? I don't know but it does line up with what I am seeing in my particular market, Poinciana FL.>

Then there was a report recently on channel 9 in Lakeland that mentioned one in every seven homes (15%) in Poinciana FL. was in some stage of foreclosure.  

My last Poinciana market report, for the first half of 2008, showed that 70% of the homes that have sold this year were either REOs (banked owned) or Short Sales (pre-foreclosures). It also showed that values in Poinciana are down 48% since late 2006. 

So folks, it is evident that we are in this mess for quite a while. BUT.....there is some help available if you are struggling with keeping your home. 10,000 Attorneys, throughout the State of Florida, have now partnered with Florida Legal Services to provide free legal services as part of an effort to keep Florida homeowners in their homes. Here's what I read today: 

• "Florida Legal Services and the Florida Bar Association have partnered in establishing a toll-free hotline - (866) 607-2187 - that consumers can call. They'll be asked a few initial questions about their situation to ensure accurate placement, and then be sent to a free attorney. The attorney will then negotiate with the lender on behalf of the client to keep the home from being foreclosed." 

I have not called them yet but will early next week to see what additional information I can get. I will be posting it here on my blog so.......ya'll come back now, ya here!!!! How cool is that?

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Look no further than this. Large 3 bedroom with over 2100 sq ft living area. Ceramic tile flooring in kitchen and dining room. Solar tinted windows. Very spacious floor plan. Needs carpeting. Folks this is an opportunity to own a large well priced home without waiting on a short sale approval. Sits at the end of a cul-de-sac on an over sized lot with no rear neighbors. Formal living and dining rooms. Family room off the eat in kitchen. Master bath has garden tub and separate shower. Solar tinted windows. It's waiting on you.....so act today! THIS IS NOT A SHORT SALE!!!

>

Maybe you'd rather have a pool home. This property is Range Priced. The seller will consider offers between $159,000 and $179,000 with $179,000 being a full price offer. Pool home on a large fenced corner lot. 20x18 bonus room under air. Folks, if you want space then this could be the home for you. 1800 sq ft with inground pool all on 1/3 acre(mol) corner lot. Wood burning fireplace on the living room, formal dining room, 18x20 bonus room under heat and air, very large kitchen, side entry garage, ceiling fans, solar heat for the pool, over size pool decking and enclosure and much much more. Act today!

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Hi folks. Here's a little chart I made today that I want to share with you. I made this so I could see where my business is coming from. 

What this chart shows me is that 45% of my business comes from referrals and repeat customers, 35% comes from my expired letter, 15% comes from the Internet and only 5% came from a sign call. 

It also shows me that 35% of my current business is in Short Sales(SS). 85% is with Sellers and 15% is with Buyers. 

I did this little exercise so I could see what my strong points are and what areas I need to concentrate on. The results are pretty much what I expected. I'm very much a "people person" so, it is certainly no surprise, that the most productive part of my business is just talking with folks and helping them solve their problems. This is very evident by 45% of my business coming from referrals and repeat business. These are referrals from consumers not my peers. 

It was also no surprise that my expired letter is very effective. The percentage of business from this is actually very low right now due to the fact that I turn down far more listings than I take. That's also the reason my listing inventory is very low. I usually carry between 25-30 active listings but only have 11 right now. I'm not counting vacant lots of which I have 7. 

It looks like I spend waaaaay too much time blogging too, since only 15% of my business comes from the Internet. But hey....it's fun!!! 

From reviewing this chart, I can tell I need to step up my listing efforts. And I need to hire a Buyer's agent. No sense wasting all those good Buyer leads but the fact is, if they aren't interested in my listings, then most of the time, I just tell them "Good luck with that"!! 

So.........do you know where your business is coming from?

***This is a little side note. I just noticed that today's ActiveRain newsletter features me and a whole bunch of my posts on taking listings. Anyway, this has caused my email to explode with comments coming in. I want to thank AR for the mention and I want to thank all of you guys for visiting those old posts and commenting on them. Unfortunately I will not have the time to go back to all of them and respond. BUT....if you have any specific questions you are more than welcome to pop me an email and I will answer your questions as soon as possible. Thank you!!!! 

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Hi folks. This post is about finding your MoJo. As most of you know, my market, Poinciana FL has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. I heard it could be as high as 1 in 7 homes. That's about 15%. So needless to say it has been a very difficult year for selling real estate, thus far. BUT......I'm starting to get my MoJo back!!! 

About 3 months ago I decided I needed to quit my whining about the market and make changes in my business. Based on what was happening in the market I had 3 areas that I needed to concentrate on:

1. Picking up some REO listings.

2. Working short sale listings.

3. Expanding my Investor base and increasing Buyer activity. 

Unfortunately, my attempt to break into the REO business, proved to be an effort in futility. Being a one man office, as I am, this just wasn't going to work out. In my area there are a handful of Brokers that handle REOs and they pretty much have that part of the market tied up. 

So, I decided to put all of my efforts into working short sales and picking up Buyers. And you know what? My MoJo has come back. My attitude is much better and business is great. In fact, I have so much business that we are looking to expand!!! We are taking our office virtual and are looking for at least 10 REALTORS® to join Tutas Towne Realty by the end of the year. If you work the Central Florida area and are looking for a change give me a call. 

Now let's briefly talk about these short sales. First, they can be very frustrating. The Lenders are getting much better but are still too slow for my liking. BUT....short sales are so much easier to deal with when it comes to working with the Sellers and getting the properties under contract. So that balances out the frustrations in dealing with the Lenders. 

One thing I have been doing, that saves a lot of time, is that we do not negotiate the listing price on my short sale listings. What's working for me is to price the properties very close to market value and then reduce by $10,000 every 7-10 days until we hit the sweet spot and the offers start rolling in. Then we just pick the one most likely to close and go under contract. 

Another thing that helps is to make contact with the Lender at time of listing. Be nice. Remember they want the same thing you do.....a successful sale at a reasonable price. Be very straight forward with them and ask them right up front how they want you to handle the deal. If you ask....they will tell you. What I'm finding is that the Lenders are leaning more towards simple right now. I'm currently dealing with 6 different Lenders and 3 of them do not even care to see the Seller's financials. They took the information they needed over the phone. I guess they have finally decided that those 100 page short sale packages were just bogging them down. 

Anyway, this post is getting too long, so I'm going to stop. My point is to make changes in your business if you must. Get out of your comfort zone and go after the business that is out there. Your market will direct you to where you need to be focusing your efforts. We can't change the market but we can "work" the market we are in. Sometimes you just have to lose your MoJo to be able to find it again. Never give up. 

OK that's it for me. I just reread this post and I seem to be rambling today. I must have eaten too many of those darn brownies!!!! What do ya think? 

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HOW ABOUT A DEAL TODAY ON A POINCIANA POOL HOME?

$119,000

>

This is a SHORT SALE and will require 3rd party approval.   Beautiful pool home with ceramic tile flooring throughout, travertine in the master shower, updated fixtures, solar heated inground pool, family room, heavily landscaped lot, new roof in late 2004, new AC in 2001 and much much more. Let this be you own tropical paradise. A place to call home and to build memories. Act today!

COME ON DOWN TO TUTAS TOWNE!!!

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Hi folks. I was on the phone early today speaking with a Legal Process Server, you know, the people that serve foreclosure papers. This server, Tammy, was talking to me about her job and how busy she has been, swamped, was the word she used. According to her she has been spending most of her days delivering papers in Poinciana and Davenport FL. 

Poinciana, of course, is my market area and Davenport is an area near Disney World that is predominately short term rental vacation homes. This market has also been hit real hard. With the declining economy, folks are just not spending money on vacation and the owners of these properties, mostly from the UK, are not generating enough income to pay the mortgages. 

I would not want Tammy's job. She said she gets cussed at, screamed at and threatened by homeowners just for doing her job. She also bumps into tenants that are very surprised to hear that even though they have been paying their rent every month, their home is now being foreclosed due to the landlord pocketing the rent instead of making their mortgage payments. This is a HUGE problem in my area. 

A friend of mine is the property manager for a large real estate company in Kissimmee and was telling me how she is spending quite a bit of her time relocating tenants due to foreclosures. 

I can't even imagine how pissed I would be to find out I had to move from my home even though I had been honoring my lease. But what can they do? They have no recourse, as lenders do not have to honor leases, once the property is foreclosed. No eviction process is involved. It is my understanding, that once the property is foreclosed on, the tenant has to move. Not only will they have to move but they can kiss their deposit and any advance rents good bye. Ouch!!!!

Here's an interesting article that will shed some light on what a tenant may be able to do to postpone the inevitable. 

So, what can we as REALTORS® do, to protect tenants, if we are working with them? I think the first thing I would do is research the property. If I see the property was bought in 2005 for $250,000, was on the market for 2 years "for sale" and now is being rented for $900.00 a month, I'd be very, very concerned. This property is probably owned by a "flipper" that "flopped", who is now making a last ditch effort to recoup some money. I believe I would suggest my customer/tenant take a pass on this one. 

Maybe we could have the lease worded so the rent is being paid to an escrow company who is making the mortgage payments on the owner's behalf. It would also make sense to have the security deposit and advance rents paid into escrow as well. Do you have any ideas? 

If you're a tenant, who has just been served, I would contact an Attorney ASAP. This problem is not going to just go away. Be proactive. 

OK that's all I have for you now. Any thoughts? 

OK....this one should be fun!! This post is to explore current market conditions in Poinciana FL. Also, this is my opinion of what's happening in the Poinciana FL market and where I think it's heading. 

First let's get into some cold hard data.
All of this data was pulled from the Mid-Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service (MFRMLS) on 5-20-2008. It is deemed reliable but is certainly not exact. The data is for Poinciana neighborhoods and does not include Solivita, Crescent Lakes, Cypress Woods or Lake Marion Golf resort. 

• Today, there are 1,170 properties for sale(active). The average property being a 3 bedroom 2 bath home built in 2004 with 1,777 sq ft living area priced at $165.051 or $95.72 per sq ft. 

• There are 144 properties under contract(pending). The average property is a 4 bedroom 2 bath home built in 2004 or later with 1,914 sq ft of living area priced at $134,721 or $71.94 per sq ft. 

• There have been 131 sales this year. The average property sold was a 3 bedroom 2 bath house built in 2004 or later with 1,791 sq ft living area and sold for $136,000 or $78.43 per sq ft. 

OK, the first thing I notice is price per sq ft. The active listings are at $95.72. The sold listing were at $78.43 and the pendings are at $71.94. What does this show you? It shows that properties on the market today are over priced on an average by $17 a sq ft or 1,791 sq ft X $17= $30,447. 

Also, it shows that values are continuing to go down. This is very easy to see by looking at the sold price per sq ft of $78.43 and the pending price per sq ft of $71.94. That's just about another 6% decrease in value once these pending close. 

Now let's see how all of this compares with historical data.

• For the first quarter of 2007(Jan-Mar), there were 125 properties that sold. On an average they had 3 beds 2 baths 1,749 sq ft and sold for $206,511 or $121.60 per sq ft. 

• For the first quarter of 2008 there have been 78 properties sold(38% decrease in volume). They averaged 3 beds 2 bath with 1,821 sq ft sold at $142,483 or $80.25 per sq ft. That's a 31% decrease in property value. Remember this is just comparing Q1 '07 and Q1 '08. The real decrease in value for this time period is 40%. The 40% is based on the average selling price in January 2007 was $221,968 right now it's $126,464!!!! Incredible. 

My short term prediction is that the average house will be selling at $68 to $72 per sq ft by the end of June. Folks, in 2003 the average price per sq ft was $71.51. That means we are back to 2003 prices. The last 5 years of property appreciation has been wiped out!!! 

OK, let's move on to some Investor deals for today. There are 64 properties on the market today for less than $100,000. These are not short sales!!! 

This is the lowest priced house on the market. It has 3 beds 2 baths 1228 sq ft living and was built in 1989. It needs to be gutted but is priced at $50,000!!! It came on the market yesterday and will be sold quickly. If you want it you must call me now! 

Here's one priced at $54 per sq ft. Never lived in, built in 2006, 1809 sq ft 3/2 REO property priced at $96,900!!! THis onse will also be sold very quickly. Call me now and we will get your offer in. 

This one closed 4 days ago. Brand new built in 2008 with 5 beds, 4.5 baths, 3 car garage and 3897 sq ft of living. Sold for $57.74 per sq ft or $225,000!!! How's this look for you? You're too late. It's SOLD!

So there you have it, the brutal reality of Real Estate in Poinciana. If you are trying to sell......we have an uphill battle to fight. BUT.....if you are an Investor.....give me a call and let's do some business. Better yet, just click on the "Investor" link below and send me over you details. That way you can get details on some great deals as soon as they hit the market. 

OK....I'm outa here. Any thoughts??

NOW TAKING APPLICATIONS!
BROKER BRYANT'S INVESTORS

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Calling all Investors!! Housing prices in Poinciana Fl. Are low. Real low. In fact, there are about 35 homes, available right now, that are less than $100,000. These are bank owned properties (REOs) and are NOT short sales. This means they can and will be purchased quickly. 

A great example is a 3 bedroom 2 bath home with 1809 sq ft living area built in 2006. This house has never been lived in and is priced at $96,900 or $53.57 per sq ft!!! Folks, that's incredible. You can't build a house for that price. This property would easily rent for $900 per month. I'm also sure that by the time you read this it will be sold. It hit the market yesterday and won't last long. 

This particular house sold for $206,500, brand new, in April of 2006. The person that buys this house will get a great property at a great price. 

Now, in order to purchase a house like this, you have to be ready to make an offer immediately. When I say immediately, I mean immediately. There will be no time to go look at it. That's why we have inspection periods. Usually you will have 7 to 10 days to do your due diligence AFTER you have placed it under contract. 

I know what your thinking, "Broker Bryant how can we buy one of those houses?" Well I'm glad you asked because that's the reason for this post. I'm looking for Investors that want to receive details on properties, like this, as soon as they hit the market. Here's what I'm looking for: 

• Investors with cash, a credit line or mortgage APPROVAL and who are ready to move quickly. 

• Investors that can show cash to close or mortgage approval, in writing, so we can submit it with the offer. Banks will not look at offers without it. 

• Investors that are comfortable making offers without seeing the property first. 

• Investors that have experience and the financial capabilities to carry a property a few months if necessary while a tenant is being found. 

• Investors that are willing to sign a Buyer's Broker Agreement and work with me as their Broker on these specific purchases. I guarantee to work hard and you guarantee that I will get paid. 

Folks, this program is NOT for first time homebuyers. I do have other programs available but this one is not for you. 

If you don't have cash available you will more than likely need 20% to 30% as a down payment plus closing costs. We do have "hard money" Lenders available to assist you if needed. The time to get qualified is now, so, when you see a property you want you are ready to act. Time is of the essence. 

If this is something that interest you then it's easy to participate. Just click the link at the bottom of this post and provide me with your info. I will then contact you so we can discuss your needs. Once we have talked and you are accepted into the program I will start sending over property details as soon as they hit the market. If you see something that fits into your Investment plan just let me know and I will forward over a purchase offer for you signatures. Then the fun begins!!! 

So there you have it, Broker Bryant's Investor Program. Let's buy Poinciana one house at a time. What say you? 

NOW TAKING APPLICATIONS!
BROKER BRYANT'S INVESTOR PROGRAM

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Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://www.brokerbryant.com/
***The content of this blog is solely my opinion*** 

Welcome to.....The Price is Right! Come on down Poinciana Buyers....we have homes to sell in Poinciana Fl. Not only do we have homes but we have cheap homes. That's right folks CHEAP.

Folks, these are some really nice homes that we are selling in the low $120s. Most are only a couple of years old and average about 1550 sq ft living area with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. 

You can't find a house like that any where else in Central Florida, for these prices. Not only are our prices low but if you want to buy one of these homes you may qualify for a USDA Rural Housing Loan. That's right folks.....USDA, the same folks that stamp the meat at the Winn Dixie also have mortgages. 

What the USDA does is offer 100% financing in areas that qualify for Rural Development! And guess what?....Poinciana qualifies! That means if YOU qualify you don't even have to have a down payment!! 

But Broker Bryant what do we have to do to qualify for one of those suckas? That's a darn good question. I don't know!!! Hey Don't look at me like that!! I'm a Real Estate Broker NOT a Mortgage Broker. Finding you a loan is "not my area" BUT....I know people. And some of these people ARE Mortgage Brokers and can get you some of that "all beef patty" money. 

So, this is what I'd do if I were you.....I'd contact me....Broker Bryant and let me introduce you to the right people. Let's just see if they can get you some of that meat money. Now if they can, I'm positive that we can find you a darn good place to call home. 

CHECK OUT THESE AVAILABLE HOMES 

And, before you know it, you can call your Landlord up and say "See ya! I'm loadin' up the truck and movin' to Beverly Hills Poinciana!" 

Now that wasn't so hard was it? Are you dialing yet? Come on...I'm waiting...la la la la......hello.......where are you.......lines are now open.....hello....Where the heck is Ryan Seacrest when you need him? Ok....I'm outa here. Operators are standing by.

***VISIT THE DIRECT SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE BELOW*** 

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Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://www.brokerbryant.com/
***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***