In Jacksonville market some buyers offering over 100% of asking!!

Very encouraging news about NE Florida.  Lenders have tightened standards for borrowers including with regard the properties they will consider.  This is pushing buyers away from "as is" properties and to the upper price range of homes for sale.

Jax homes gaining value and selling quicker
WOKV

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — 

WOKV’s real estate expert tells us that Jacksonville’s home prices are on the rise, and homes are selling quicker.

Paul Gruenther, a realtor with The Moves Brothers at Watson Realty Corp. in Jacksonville Beach, says inventories are becoming depleted, and there are a lot of active buyers who are qualified and want to buy a home.

To put it simply, he says, demand is outweighing supply.

“So you’re tending to see people are pushing,” Gruenther says.

These days when he puts in an offer for a home, he says he’s competing with anywhere from two to ten other buyers.

When the market was down, he says people tended to offer anywhere from 85 to 90 percent of the asking price.

Now, he says they’re offering anywhere from 95 to over 100 percent of the asking price.

“It’s difficult to find a home for under two-hundred thousand dollars in any of the communities here.”

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Florida's building permit total is second highest in nation - Q1 2013.

Home building permit totals were second only to Texas for the first quarter of 2013.  For Polk County, hit hard in the recent downturn, the 184 permits last month were the highest reported since August 2008.  This follows a national trend which RealtyTrac reports to be in response to a decline in foreclosure properties.

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Polk Home Construction Booming; Decline in Foreclosure Properties in April

Permits for single-family homes for April mark area's highest total in nearly 5 years.

By Kyle Kennedy
THE LEDGER

Published: Friday, May 17, 2013 at 12:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, May 17, 2013 at 1:28 a.m.

LAKELAND | If April was any indication, Polk County home builders are going to have a busy summer.

A total 182 permits for new single-family homes were recorded in Polk last month, marking the area's highest total in nearly five years, according to county and city building departments. April's total jumped 163.8 percent from 69 permits the year before, and was up 33.8 percent from 136 permits in March.

Last month's sum was the highest in Polk since August 2008, when 184 home permits were recorded

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Buyer using snail mail to compete for homes they want . . . and it's working

Buyer are using personalized, first-class letters to appeal to sellers.  They are sending photographs and specifics about their reasons for choosing a home.  It is connecting with sellers and often giving them an edge with sellers who feel a personal connection with their home.

Pick me, please: Homebuyers writingletters to sellers

May 17, 2013 | By Paul Owers, Sun Sentinel, By Paul Owers, Sun Sentinel

Some buyers are solving housing woes with prose.

They're not writing poems or romantic novels – just short notes to sellers, telling them how happy they'd be to buy their homes.

The simple gesture is paying off in today's ultra-competitive market, where inventory is tight and bidding wars are typical. 

"Money talks, but a letter gives a human element to an offer," said Michael Citron, a real estate agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties. "Sellers want to sell to a buyer who they're comfortable with and can relate to."

Cynthia Kelley fell in love with a four-bedroom home on Northwest 99th Way in Coral Springs as soon as she saw the "doggy doors" and the big back yard.

But four other buyers also wanted the home. So her agent suggested she write a letter, explaining to the seller how much the home would mean to her.

"I have three golden retrievers myself and know they would be in heaven with all that fabulous space to run and play," she wrote.

Kelley, 48, included a photo of herself with the pooches and also explained that she is a reserve army nurse who is ready to buy after enduring some financial hardships when she was called to active duty from 2005 to 2007. 

"I was hoping to appeal to their personal side," Kelley said.

She submitted a strong offer, which was the most important factor, said Clayton Banks, the seller. But her note confirmed for him that she was the right buyer. The deal closed Friday.

"It made us feel better about selling to her," Banks said.

Writing a letter probably is one of the easiest things buyers have to do to land a home these days, said

Samantha DeBianchi, a Fort Lauderdale agent.

In some cases, they're giving sellers more time to move by allowing them to stay in the homes after the closing. Lawyers typically advise against these post-occupancy agreements, but buyers are willing because so few properties are available, agents say.

One of DeBianchi's clients had to adopt the seller's cat as part of the purchase. The client was a dog owner, but she agreed to the deal.

"This is just how it is," DeBianchi said. "Sellers are completely in control."

A letter from a buyer probably won't make a difference if the offer is considerably lower than others that the seller has received, agents say. Nor will a letter sway a lender, which wants the highest price and the easiest closing possible.

But many traditional sellers feel attached to their properties and don't want to unload to just anybody, said Judy Trudel, an agent in Lighthouse Point.

"Sellers want to know the buyer will live in and enjoy the home as much as they did," Trudel said. Heather Cameron found a quaint, three-bedroom home in Coconut Creek, but it had multiple offers.

Cameron, a fan of HGTV's "House Hunters," saw that an eager buyer on the show wrote a letter to a seller, so she figured it was worth a try.

Cameron began by complimenting the sellers on the home and explained that she and her fiance, a Fort Lauderdale police officer, hope to buy before they get bogged down in wedding plans.

She added that they want to start a family, and the home would be perfect because her sister lives in the same community.

Within hours of receiving the letter, the sellers accepted the offer.

"Everyone told us horror stories about buying a home," said Cameron, 23, an event planner. "But this was the easiest process."

Powers@tribune.com, 561-243-6529 or Twitter @paulowers 

Affordable prices and sunshine lifestyle attracting foreign buyers to Miami

The markets in Florida continue to attract foreign buyers paying cash.  This, coupled with continued decreasing inventory mean it's a great time for people to consider selling to move up.  The three part balance of the market - price, interest rates, and availability give agents a challenge and people looking to either invest or move up, something of a "challenging opportunity."  Check out this informative article for more.  

Affordable prices and sunshine lifestyle attracting foreign buyers to Miami
Property Community
'The Miami real estate market is experiencing significant strengthening as we continue to see greater demand than supply. While this trend continues to fuel double digit price appreciation, countywide prices remain at 2003 levels, which makes our …

Housing Bubble Unlikely, Home Price Appreciation Should Slow - CoreLogic

Here is a great article on an overview of home appreciation across the country.  There is some interesting information to note in there for your clients worried about a future bubble, and ways to discuss that question.  Florida Realtors also posted an article here with more specific Florida city information.  


Housing Bubble Unlikely, Home Price Appreciation Should Slow...
Mortgage News Daily
... by the housing crash and resulting foreclosure epidemic are also recovering the fastest. Phoenix saw a year over year price gain of 24 percent, Miami 14 percent, and Las Vegas 13 percent. ...Consider Phoenix, where home prices rose 27 percent …