Hi folks, buckle up, it's time for a new market report. I do have some good news this month. The number of properties that have sold has increased quite drastically over the last 3 months. To be exact, sales have increased 35%!!

Inventory has also remained steady with there currently being 1,172 single family homes on the market. This number has been roughly the same for about a year now. However, prices have continued to decline with values dropping 15% since the end of July.  

You can also see from the table below that Bank owned (REO) and short sale properties make up from 80% to 84% of the properties that have sold. This of course is what's causing the prices to continue to drop. 

***This report is for Poinciana Florida neighborhoods and includes zip codes 34758 and 34759 but excludes Solivita, Lake Marion Golf Resort and Cypress Woods. The data was pulled from the Mid-Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service (MFRMLS) on 11-11-2008*** 

Of the 1,172 homes on the market, 765 of them are distressed properties. That's 65% if you are keeping track. AND there are currently 214 properties under contract (pending) of which 174 (81%) are distressed properties. 

The average home that is selling in Poinciana is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage with 1,769 sq ft of living area and was built in 2000 or later. The asking price was $99,000 and it sold for 96% of asking price ($94,500) at $55 per sq ft. 

Now folks, I am certainly not a soothsayer but I just can't see prices going much lower. Here's a comparison for you. In January of 2001 there were 22 sales in Poinciana Florida. The average house was 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage with 1,495 sq ft living area. The asking price was $84,668 and it sold for 98% of asking price ($83,632) at $54.50 per sq ft. That was 7 ½ years ago!!! 

What does all this mean? First, unless you absolutely have to sell......don't. It is a terrible time to be a Seller. On the other hand, if you are a Buyer, this could be an excellent time to buy a property. Prices are down and you can still get 100% financing in Poinciana Florida. 

So there you have it, Broker Bryant's Poinciana Florida Market Report for November 2008. Any questions? 

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE SHORT SALE INFORMATION

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORTS

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved  

Hi folks. Today, I spoke with Countrywide (CW) about one of my short sale listings. This particular home was placed on the market back in July of this year. I priced it properly and within a few weeks submitted a cash contract to CW for $87,000. Since the 3 most recent sales were for $85,000, $87,000 and $90,000 I figured CW would jump all over this deal and remove their 3^rd party approval so we could move toward closing..... WRONG!!! 

After many attempts I could not even get this transaction in front of a negotiator. I tried and tried and tried but they kept telling me the offer was too low. After about 2 weeks of going back and forth I finally spoke to someone at CW that told me their opinion of value was $105,000 and to resubmit at that price if I wanted it to be accepted. Well the Buyer said "adios" and went and bought another house. This all took place back in August. 

In late September CW contacted me to let me know they had declined the short sale!!! Heeeeeeello.....you had already done that 6 weeks ago!!! 

Anyway......after the contract being declined, in August, I placed the property back on the market, at $105,000, to try and meet CW's expectations of value. Of course that got me exactly where I knew it would.....no where. The property languished on the market with 100s of other over priced listings while the properly priced REOs (bank owned properties) were selling with multiple offers. 

As usual, I started reducing the price every 10 to 14 days to try and find the sweet spot....AGAIN!! This morning, I reduced it to $79,000. Later in the day I contacted CW, as I do every week, to let them know I am still trying to get them another contract and to make sure they haven't set an auction date yet. I was fortunate to get a nice lady, who was very forthcoming with information, so I thought I'd check to see if she would tell me the price that the recent appraisal came back at. 

She placed me on hold and about 10 minutes later came and told me that CW has placed a value of $85,000 on the property!! $85,000!!! I had a cash buyer at $87,000, 3 months ago, and now they tell me $85,000. Holy crap batman!!! 

Folks, you need to buy this house today. Make an offer of $79,000 and my Seller will accept it. Check it out:

521 EAGLE CT KISSIMMEE FLORIDA 34759
$79,000
Listing price may not be sufficient to cover all encumbrances, closing costs, or other seller charges and sale of Property at full listing price may be conditioned upon approval of third parties. Folks.... this is a great opportunity to own a 4 bedroom home in Poinciana for a reasonable price. The house is in very good condition. This is a short sale and will require minimum 60 days to close. Seller will contribute towards your closing cost if the price is right. Ceiling fans in all rooms. Tile flooring through out.

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE SHORT SALE INFORMATION

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORTS

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

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So the big news in real estate this week is.... "The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose by 5.5 percent from August to September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million units - far better than the flat results analysts had expected. On an unadjusted basis, sales were up 7.8 percent from September last year. But even with the gain in sales, prices kept falling. The median sales price has dropped to $191,600, down by 9 percent from a year ago." (From Newsweek) 

Let's see how this applies to real estate in my market Poinciana Florida. 

In August there were 55 sales in Poinciana Florida. In September there were 66. That's an increase of 17%. Compared to 5.5% Nationwide. OK so Poinciana beat the National average. That's a good thing. 

Now let's compare the other stats. Nationwide sales were up 7.8% compared to same time last year. Poinciana had 26 sales September of 2007 and 66 this September for an increase of 61%. Holy crap!!!!! 

The median price nationwide is $191,600, down 9% from a year ago. The median house price in Poinciana Florida is $105,000 down from $188,000 last September. That's a decrease of 44%!!! That's a 44% decline in value in the last 12 months. 

Let's go back a little further. In January of 2007 the median sales price for a house in Poinciana Florida was $225,000. Today it's $105,000. That's a decrease of 53%. 

Here's another comparison. The median price per sq footage living area right now is $59. The last time it was this low in Poinciana Florida was in 2002. 

There are currently 217 properties under contract (pending) in Poinciana Florida with a median price per sq ft of $55. This means values are still declining. And to top it off...inventory is going up!!! We have 1217 houses on the market right now up from about 1150 30 days ago. 

The increase in inventory is actually interesting since values are down and sales are up. This is a direct indicator of increased foreclosures hitting the market.

Folks, it's been a rough ride for Poinciana real estate. It does look like things are getting a little better though. Values are still declining BUT at least properties are starting to sell. This means values are more in line with what the market will bare. 

Of course, if you bought your house in the last 5 years chances are you have NO equity and may even owe more than your house is worth. So my suggestion is to just sit back and enjoy your home. 

If you MUST sell then give me a call. Together we can figure out a plan to get you out from under your house. Do NOT just walk away or let your house get foreclosed on. Talk to me first so we can discuss your options. I want to help. OK? 

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE SHORT SALE INFORMATION

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORTS

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved    

Hi folks, it seems like just yesterday that my business consisted mostly of listing properties for Mr. and Mrs. Regular Seller. I spent a lot of my time preparing print ads, brochures, virtual tours and making sure I got the properties disseminated throughout the Internet. When I wasn't doing these things I was busy arranging showings, negotiating deals, talking with my Sellers and fielding Buyer calls. Life was good. I was busy helping folks move up or move on. It felt good to help and everyone I had contact with seemed to be in good cheer. 

Now those times are just a memory. The market has changed and so has my way of doing business. I jest with TLW in the mornings saying "I'm heading off to work to try and pull some money out of my &*%!" 

But, I have to say..... I LOVE this new market! It has taken me a while to find my groove and I have had a couple of setbacks BUT things are really starting to come together. My entire focus has shifted. My new focus is now Short Sales, REOs(Bank Owned), Buyers and expanding my business. 

Poinciana Florida Real Estate distressed Sellers and distressed properties make up over 80% of the closed transactions each month. To spend time and money looking for the very few Sellers that have equity and are able to sell makes no sense. 

In fact, let's do the math, for the last 3 months there were 185 sales in Poinciana Florida. All but 36 were either REOs or Short Sales. 

How could I possibly stay in business if my focus was getting a part of those 36 closings? Let me put a little more perspective on this. There are approximately 20,500 homes in Poinciana. Mr. and Mrs. Average Seller are accounting for 12 sales a month. Finding one of these Sellers to work with is literally like finding a needle in a haystack. It ain't happening. 

Now on the other hand, depending on who you listen to, from 10% to 15% of the properties in Poinciana are in some stage of mortgage delinquency!!! Even if I used the 10% figure that means that 2,050 homes in Poinciana Florida will probably be either a REO or Short Sale in the near future. 

Folks, I would have to be a fool to not concentrate my efforts on this part of the market. Short Sales may be frustrating and REOs may be difficult to get BUT, unless I want to spend my days driving Buyers around looking at $80,000 properties, I best become an expert in these areas. And I will. 

So........over the next few months and for several years to come I plan on having tons of distressed property listings. Which also means......I'm going to have to expand my business by hiring REALTORS® to handle all of the Buyers these listings will generate. I've conveniently placed a link down there if you are interested.

My plan is in motion and the stage has been set for a GREAT 2009!!! 

OK, I wrote this post just to show you my thought process and to hopefully get you thinking about your market conditions and your future. If you are just waiting for the market to get back to "normal" you will fail. The old market is gone. What we are experiencing now is.......NORMAL! What say you?

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE SHORT SALE INFORMATION

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORTS

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved   

Hi folks, here is a sampling of "short sales" available through Tutas Towne Realty, Inc. in Poinciana Florida. Did I mention it's 88 degrees and sunny today? 

 This is a Poinciana Florida 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. 

$99,000

 Very open floor plan. Tile through out Folks this is a great opportunity to own a 4 bedroom home in Poinciana for a reasonable price. The house is in very good condition. This is a Poinciana Florida short sale and will require minimum 60 days to close. Seller will contribute towards your closing cost if the price is right. Ceiling fans in all rooms. Tile flooring through out.

$89,000

Poinciana Florida SHORT SALE. Folks if you are looking for a well maintained 2 bedroom home with over 1100 sq ft living area then this may be the one. Sits on a a very private back flag lot. New tile flooring in the dining area. Inside utility room, split bedroom plan. And almost a 1/4 acre lot. You won't find a better home for the price. So act today!

$65,000

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved 

Hi folks. If you are looking to purchase single family homes, that will cash flow, the time is right. The homes below would rent in the $600 to $650 per month range. With 20% to 30% down each would have a positive cash flow of approximately $100 to $150 per month. There are currently 65 properties on the market in Poinciana Florida for $75,000 or less. Most of these are 3 bedroom 2 bath homes with about 1200 sq ft. 

Check it out: 

3 bedrooms 2 baths with 1088 sq ft of living area built in 2000. Last sold in August of 2005 for $163,500. It is currently back owned and is being offered by First Service Realty, Inc at $44,900!!!

3 bedrooms 2 baths with 1750 sq ft of living area built in 2006. Last sold in February of 2006, brand new, for $198,300. It is currently bank owned and is being offered by First Service Realty, Inc at $63,500.

4 bedrooms 2 baths with 1410 sq ft of living area and a pool built in 1986. Last sold in December 2006 for $182,000. It is currently bank owned and is being offered by Goodwin Realty & Associates at $64,900.

***These properties are not listed by Tutas Towne Realty, Inc but are a sampling of available homes per the Mid-Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service.

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved 

Hi folks. Many times over the years I have heard from Sellers wondering why their home hasn't sold. The usual comment is "it's priced right". Well is it really? My experience has been that any property will sell if the price is right. What is the "Right Price" in today's market? Is it "Market Value" based on the last 6 months of sales? Is it based on homes that have sold in the last 30 days? Is it the "Appraised Value"?

The "Right Price" is the price that will sell your home in 60 to 90 days. But what is this magical number and how do we arrive it? Well in my market (Poinciana, Fl) the right price is 10% to 15% below recent comparable sales. When Realtors are searching the MLS they may have 100-200 homes that meet their Buyer's parameters. My Seller's property, in order to sell, needs to be in the top 5 (preferably #1) properties on the list (by price) and it needs to have a competitive or better co-broke.

If you can achieve this positioning you should be able to get the property sold in a short period of time. Seller's need to know this. It is very important when pricing a house to look at the whole picture that includes active, pending, withdrawn, expired and recently sold listings. I know this is Real Estate 101 but I have met with many Seller's recently whose listings have expired and they have never even seen a "Market Analysis". When asked how they arrived at the listing price they say "this is what we told him/her we wanted." They used a little known technique to price their property it goes something like this:

Down payment for house I want to buy + moving expenses + credit card debt + closing costs + Realtor commission + current mortgage balance="Market Value".

Now I know this may be the new math but folks it won't get your house sold. When hiring a REALTOR(R) it is important that that REALTOR(R) provides you with a detail analysis of current market conditions and counsels you on what it will take to sell your property. They need to be 100% honest about pricing. It may not be what you want to hear but it must be what you need to hear. Then and only then can you make an informed decision on how to list your house at the "Right Price".  Make sense?

Here are a few photos I took while driving around Poinciana Florida today. If it's true that a picture paints a thousand words then I guess these pretty much sum up what's going on with the Poinciana Real Estate Market.

IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE!!!

MOVED ON WITH NO FORWARDING ADDRESS!

TRYING TO MOVE ON!!

NEED I SAY MORE?

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved 

Hi folks. I had one of my Sellers email me earlier today needing an update on what is going on with her property. She's an absentee Seller and I could feel her frustration. She had been to my Poinciana website and noticed that I had just closed on a short sale that was similar in size to her house. Anyway, I'm sure many of you are getting these types of emails, so, I decided to post my response here, just in case it will help you with responding to your Sellers. The main thing, of course, is too just be honest. As a listing Broker, I can't control the market and I certainly don't take responsibility for it. 

When I first listed this property we were within 5% of market value and have in fact had 2 offers on it that were turned down. So here's my response to my Seller. 

START OF EMAIL

Thanks for your email. I did just close on a short sale property a couple of weeks ago. It was about the same size as yours but was a single story. It sold for $140,000 with the seller paying $8,400 towards the buyers closing costs for an effective selling price of $131,600. 

We are getting some activity on your home but it is very sporadic. I have attached a market report showing how homes with at least 4 bedrooms, 2000 sq ft or more built no earlier than 2004 are doing in Poinciana since we placed yours on the market. 

What it shows you is that there are currently 199 homes for sale that meet these parameters. The average home has 4 bedrooms 2,551 sq ft and is priced at $174,413 or $68.49 per sq ft. For reference yours is priced at $74.79 per sq ft. 

There are 18 properties under contract(pending). These are on average 4 bedroom homes with 2,623 sq ft priced at $151,446 or $58.50 per sq ft. 

There have been 52 sales since your house was placed on the market. These were 4 bedroom homes with 2,552 sq ft and sold for $160,917 or $64.30 per sq ft. 

This shows me 2 things:

1. First, the homes that are selling (sold and pending) are larger than yours and are selling for less money per sq ft. The sales are at $64.30 and the pendings are at $58.50.
2. Secondly, this shows me that prices are still declining. That means that your house will be worth less tomorrow than it is today and less next week than it will be tomorrow. 

The last time we discussed pricing was 4 July. At that time, the average price per sq ft was $66.00. Your house at that time was worth $141,000. Based on that figure a price reduction to $149,000 was suggested. You agreed to $159,000. 

Based on today's price per sq ft the value of your house is $137,500. So the issue is still pricing.

Poinciana is averaging about 45 sales a month out of 1200 listings. That means that there is 26 months of inventory on the market. 83% of the sales are either bank owned properties (REOs) or short sales. 

So, to answer your question, people are looking at the best priced properties out there. If they can find a bare basic house that is relatively new for $20,000 less than yours then that is what they are buying. 

To compound our market difficulties, as of September 31st, Seller paid down payment assistance will no longer be allowed. This is a huge part of the market in Poinciana. FHA is also raising their minimum down payment from 3% to 3.5%. Mortgages are getting more and more difficult to get. 

So what do you do?

• Reduce it and sell it before it gets worse.
• Rent it out. 

Here is a link to my latest market report. 

I hope this helps you to understand what's going on. I'll look forward to your thoughts. Please feel free to give me a call if you want to chat. END OF EMAIL 

Folks, chasing a declining market downward is a losing proposition. What say you?  

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT... THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved 

This is one of my classic posts that I felt I needed to bring to the front of my blog. It shows that short sales aren't something new. This post was written in December of 2006. Enjoy!!!

Tomorrow, I'm placing a home on the market, that is going to require a short sale. Seems like I'm getting an awful lot of these lately. This is one where I just don't understand what some folks are thinking. Nice young family, who were first time homebuyers just about 2 years ago. They bought a great little house, new construction, and they only paid $135,000 for it in November of 2004.

This was right before our big increase in prices that happened in Poinciana in early 2005. So when I made my appointment with them, earlier this week, I assumed they would be in a pretty good equity position. Even if they had purchased with 100% financing, which they did, they would still be able to receive a sizeable amount of money at closing. Based on my preliminary analysis, the property is worth between $225,000 and $235,000. That's some real good appreciation for 25 months of ownership. After expenses they should be looking at around $70,000 to $75,000 in their pockets. That's a lot of money for a young family.

Well, when I met with them, I was shocked to find out they currently owe $225,000 on this house! How the heck did that happen? From what they told me, when they moved into the house they wanted to fix it up and furnish it real nice, so about six months after moving in, they refinanced and pulled out the equity that had built up when prices started skyrocketing.

They used this money to purchase the things they wanted. New furniture, TVs and all the other items that a young family think they need. What they didn't count on was hitting a financial bump in the road about 9 months later. But they weren't too concerned since they kept getting all these mailers from mortgage companies in the mail promising them more money.

The temptation, being too much, they decided to call one of the mortgage companies and have a salesman came out to see how he could "help" them. They said he was a real nice guy and he told them they could put a second mortgage on their house for $65,000. He was also nice enough to let them know, that the way houses are appreciating, that after a few months, they could refinance again and get rid of the second mortgage. He said "Don't worry about the high rate, once you refinance the payments will come back down to what you can afford. You can use the $65,000 to make payments in the meantime."

What a great guy! They can now get that new car they want and buy more nice things for their three young children. They told themselves, "It's not a big deal. We know we will get jobs real soon and then we can just refinance like the nice man said. This homeownership is really awesome! It's like having our very own ATM machine."

Fast forward to this week. I met with them and they are in dire straights. Husband just started work a couple of months ago and the wife has still not been able to find work, since she is too busy, taking care of three small children. They have enough money to make two more mortgage payments and then they are done.

So, tomorrow, I am placing the house on the market at $225,000 and I will be trying to negotiate a short sale.

These folks are in their late twenties. Instead of selling the house and using their, what would have been, $70,000 equity to purchase a better and bigger home for their children, they are now looking at possibly being foreclosed on and in the best case scenario, ruining their credit for years to come. It is sad but it's largely self inflicted.

They made a mistake and they know it. They're not bad people they were just weak in the face of easy money and instant gratification. Now they must pay the price. I hope I can get them through this with the least amount of stress possible. I hope they have learned a valuable lesson. I hope they move forward from this and are able to get it together. I hope all their new furniture looks good in their new apartment. I hope they don't read this post.

Moral of the story: Your home is your castle, not an ATM machine.