Sarasota Florida Flat Fee MLS Listings FSBO – Discount Realtor & Broker

Today’s Rates: 

 30-Year Fixed Mortgage- 5.75%

15-Year Fixed Mortgage – 5.27%

5/1 ARM – 5.67%

30-Year Fixed Jumbo Mortage- 7.16%

5/1 Jumbo ARM- 6.36%

When one door closes, one typically opens. With the slumping real estate, but showing signs of vitality, there is a real opportunity to finally buy that vacation home on the beach for a reasonable price. Also, due to the slowing economy the Federal government has put Sarasota and Bradenton Real Estate Homeowners in a position to refinance their mortgage and pay less interest, lowering mortgage payments. Shirley International Realty Inc. is licensed  as a mortgage broker & can refinance your mortgage. Listed below are the benefits of a refinance. 

Put Cash in Your Pocket:

 Refinancing your mortgage takes the equity in your home and puts cash in your pocket. In a slumping market many homeowners are looking to protect their cash by using the equity in their home to refinance, putting that cash in their pocket while simultaneously locking in a lower rate, lowering monthly payments.

Lower Your Monthly Payments:

When you refinance your mortgage to a new lower rate, less interest paid on your mortgage will result in lower monthly payments.. This is a great tool for investors to increase their cash-flow capabilities and non-investor homeowners to save on outgoing expenses.

Shorten the Length of Your Mortgage:

When you refinance, you have the option to shorten the length of your mortgage and establish a new payment plan. For example, if you are on a 30-year conventional fully amortized payment plan, it may be in your best interest to shorten that plan to a 15-year payoff plan. This may not be congruent with lowering your monthly payment, but in the long run paying less in interest will save you money.

Exchange an Adjustable-Rate for a Fixed-Rate:

This is where the real opportunity is, given our current market conditions, to save some money. Take advantage of the recent basis point cut by locking in today’s low fixed rates, compared to the adjustable, unstable, and unpredictable movement of future rate changes.

Say Goodbye to PMI!

If your loan to value is any higher than 80%, you are probably suffering from Private Mortgage Insurance. This is a fee added to your monthly mortgage payments, penalizing you for not putting at least 20% cash down on your mortgage when you purchased your property. If you have that 20% equity currently in your home, your refinance will eliminate that PMI payment and save you $100-$500/month.

Your home is like a Cash Cow.. Talk to Shirley International Realty Inc. about reorganizing your mortgage to tap into that milk!

Justin

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Shirley International Realty Inc. is in the process of taking our Flat Fee Listing capabilities statewide. We will be expanding our office locations into Miami, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Orlando, & Tallahassee. Our goal is provide the most exceptional flat fee listing package for the most competitive price in the Sunshine State! We feel this service gives sellers the most “bang-for-your-buck” advertising & our success rate of selling homes via the service is rapidly growing. In a buyers market, sellers have got to find a way to put their home in front of a scarcity of buyers and make it as appealing as possible. The leading indicator in a buyers psyche of “to buy? or not to buy?” is price. The Flat Fee service puts your home in front of the widest range of buyers @ the most competitive price. No more paying 6-7% to sell! Talk to me about your options.

Below is a list of areas where Shirley International Realty Inc. can CURRENTLY list your home, condo, land, or rental in the CORRECT MLS:

-Sarasota                                                  -Manatee/Bradenton
-Manatee/Bradenton                             -Venice
-Pinellas                                                    -Tampa
-Hillsboro                                                  -Osprey
-Englewood                                               -North Port
-Nokomis                                                  -Port Charlotte

Give our offices a call @ 941-448-4872 & let us know how we can help you sell your home!

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You don’t need to pay 6-7% to sell your home.. Use broker incentives to create a competitve advantage over other listings.. This guy does a super job of highlighting the benefits of the flat fee listing service.. We actually offer this service in multiple MLS’s at once, so you won’t find a local outfit that provides a more exceptional package for marketing your home for sale.

Buyers.. Since we are so in touch with the FSBO community, we have an in-house list of these properties that typically out-price other listings. Since our Flat Fee sellers are not having to pay us a listing commission, they discount their asking price, putting more equity in your pocket and making the whole deal a little sweeter. I always try and push my flat fee listings to buyer clientele because these are typically the best bargains in the community. These are sellers in distressed situations and that is what buyers are looking to purchase. Providing Flat Fee listings to sellers & showing discounted property to our buyers have made Shirley International Realty Inc. one of Southwest Florida’s leaders in selling homes through the first quarter of 2008.

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Tax time is here again! It seems like only last week my 2006 taxes were being filed, but here we are again in 2008, and the deadline for 2007 taxes are soon approaching. I am not a CPA and never give personal tax advice. I’m asked many questions about personal tax deductions in relation to owning real estate, but always suggest contacting your local tax attorney or CPA for details and clarification for congruency with IRS rules and regulations. But, today I want to highlight 3 fundamental tax deductions the federal government grants homeowners that could save you money.

1-Mortgage Interest- The interest paid on your mortgage is tax deductible. If you have a mortgage for $400,000 and pay 7% annual interest on that money, $28,000 is a huge tax deduction! Take advantage of this one Sarasota! This interest can be deducted on a first or second home loan. There are a few limitations to this I believe.. One being, the total loan amounts on all homes being more than the fair market value of your home, or home equity loans totaling more than $100,000, but check with your CPA on those details. Also, filing married or single has an effect on these deductions as well.

2- Discount Points- If you refinanced your mortgage, you may be able to write off the points you paid to reduce your interest rate on the new loan. These points must be deducted proportionately over the life of your loan. So if your new loan has a 30-year term, you’ll deduct 1/30th of your points each year. If you’ve refinanced before, and you have points from the previous refinance that haven’t yet been deducted, you can write off the rest of those points in the year you refinance.

The points you paid for, to reduce your interest rate on a home purchase loan, are also tax-deductible for that year. Whether you or the seller paid for the points for you, you may be able to deduct them.

3- Capital Gains on the Sale of Your Home- You Sell Your Home! Nice… As long as this home was your primary residence for 2 of the past 5 years, unmarried sellers are immune to the first $250,000 of profit on their home, and married couples filing jointly returns are immune to $500,000 of the profit of sale.

Noted here are 3 important tax favors the federal government rewards you for owning real estate, so take advantage of these. There are many other tax benefits to owning real estate, but contact your local CPA for the details. I have a few great local CPA’s I’d be more than happy to refer you, if need be.

Hope your weekend went well! Let me know what I can do to help with your Florida Real Estate experience..

Justin
 

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Shirley International Realty Inc. is in the process of taking their Flat Fee listing services statewide. However, we are a full-service real estate company, taking full service listing opportunities, representing buyers in the purchase of Florida Real Estate, & outsourcing real estate council to our preferred clients. Part of our new ancillary marketing services provided to sellers struggling in this competitive market is our Flat Fee Rental MLS listing program.

I’ve found that many sellers are in the mindset of, “if our home doesn’t sell, I wouldn’t mind renting it out”. Many buyers are of the same mindset that if the market is at a standstill & prices are still depreciating, this may be a good time to sit on the fence & rent. A market over-saturated with renters isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a short period of time. As the demand shifts for consumers to rent, typically rental supply will go down and prices will likely go back up. This trend will continue until rental prices rise to a point where it makes more sense to buy than rent, and then the cycle shifts to, a “purchase demand-driven market”. This is when appreciation follows and inventory shrinks.

How can Shirley International Realty Inc. help get your real estate rented? We provide strategic marketing tactics to attract tenants looking to make a transition from one rental to another. Among the many venues we stage your rental on, the MLS is the most powerful showcase. The MLS is a brilliant place to market your home for rent because it is searched by all local property managers, real estate agents specializing in rentals, and people around the world that are looking for a home to rent in Sarasota/Bradenton. Our rental listing service will offer the same high-quality standards that we hold ourselves to in listing homes for sale. Click on this link to read all about the details our service entails. The cost for our “rental” service is less than the “for sale” service, so disregard price here. But the quality of excellent service does apply.

Justin

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I’ve always been curious to know exactly what property tax values are in Southwest Florida counties. After reading another dismal real estate article in the Manatee Herald Tribune, I now have a better idea what those figures are. Property taxes in Manatee County are most commonly taxed at a rate of 1.7% of the homes purchase price. These taxes are reassessed on an annual basis to determine new tax bill figures, minus any deductions you may be afforded for homestead exemptions, disabilities, etc. (Categorically there are a number of options residents may qualify for to receive assistance in the cost of their property taxes). Property tax rates can be higher in certain areas than other. Bradenton Beach, Anna Maria Island, & Holmes Beach would be jurisdictions of higher property tax brackets, taxing at rates as high as 2% of the purchase of the property. Now, let’s analyze how this information and these figures will tie your tax dollars into our local government. Our local government provides many excellent services with your tax dollars. They provide upgraded schools, quality roads, public libraries, parks & recreations, and many other amenities to Bradenton’s residents. The local government entities are as much a business as a real estate company or powerhouse retailer. They have balance sheets, and cash flows that need to be organized, employees that need to be paid, retirement plans that need to nurtured, & all this revenue that fuels these costs come from your tax dollars. In a slowing market, do these government agencies suffer like the rest of the economy? Absolutely. With homes depreciating in value, new tax bills are being slashed and these government agencies are not seeing the bottom line, as they have years in the past. Read the rest of this entry »

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 The Federal Government jumped back into the swampy pool of economic meltdown today, and cleaned up a little, aiding consumers. Wall Street experts speculated a drastic rate cut of 100 basis points, and CNBC hyped-up a potential forecast of a more drastic cut than this. This much of a rate cut would surely spike our deathly-ill economy, and put more money back in the pockets through savings on car loans, credit cards, & the dreaded mortgage payment. However, soon after 2:14pm (Eastern Standard Time) I was glued to the TV screen waiting for the result of the Feds decision. 75 Basis Points! Nice.. Not quite 100 basis points as predicted, but this is a step in the right direction for waking our drowsy economy.

The dollar actually soared and showed signs of life after continuous months of beatings against the Euro, Pound-Sterling, and other noteworthy international powerhouse currencies. When rates drop, that actually destroys the value of “The Greenback”, so why did we see this rally today? (This is what I’m asking myself as I watched my long position with the Euro drop to lower lows, and then lower and lastly, even lower).. My currency trade turned into a complete loss because the speculation of a 100 basis point cut lead the 75 basis point cut to be a let down among international banks & investors. Looks like the cut didn’t quite fill the speculative shoes, in turn, a losing trade for me; however, a learning experience. So, how does the rate cut affect homeowners and our real estate market?The rate will undoubtedly put more money and cash in the pockets of Sarasota homebuyers/investors. Many northeastern second home buyers, who annually lead the serge in real estate buying on the Gulf Coast are waiting patiently on the fence of buying because they can’t dump their northeastern homes. Our market suffers when homes in New York, Michigan, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, etc. aren’t selling. Consumers need that money from those investments to fuel their Florida purchase. This rate cut will allow them to retain more money by paying less interest, on the home equity lines of credit, as well as motivate their interest to forego the “waiting on the fence stall”, and dive into our real estate market to lock in that dream interest rate on a new loan! Anyone with a home equity line of credit will could see improvements as early as next month. Hope they see that improvement before season runs out huh..

Today was a great day for us, & our turtle-slow real estate market.. Minor improvements will result from savings on credit card bills, & car loans. The only potential hazard in a drastic rate cut like this, could result from a future rate hike due to inflation & quick economic growth. This process is all about timing and improvements shouldn’t come over night. Economic improvements should occur this way to create sustainability. Any “too quick” recoveries will create an imbalance in economic forecasting & financial markets, as well, over purchasing of real estate (which is what brought us to this point)..Congratulations Feds! You got it right today! My homeowners, sellers, & buyers should feel great about the short-term opportunities this could bring to our local real estate market.

Justin

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 Interested in promoting your website? Partner-up with The Sarasota Deed and we’ll be glad to execute a link exchange promoting both of our brands! The Sarasota Deed is designed to provide buyers and sellers with a due diligent web destination to search Sarasota Real Estate, Bradenton Real Estate, Lakewood Ranch Real Estate, North Port Real Estate, Pinellas Real Estate, Venice Real Estate, and Englewood Real Estate. 85% of homebuyers are starting their search for homes online, and the only way to put your face and product in front of those browsers, is to create a popular brand via the web.

Since our site’s launch date, we have collaborated with major search engines such as; google.com, msn.com, yahoo.com, altavista.com, About.com, DMOZ.com, AOL.com, Looksmart.com, & Business.com in efforts to reach out to buyers and sellers of Southwest Florida Real Estate. As our site continues to grow, being a sponsor and partner of The Sarasota Deed, your traffic and ratings will sky rocket as well. There is nothing more important for increasing your web/blog site’s presence than putting yourself in a network of successful sites.

Send me an email or just post a comment under this article for the request. Let’s team up and grow together!

Justin

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Business Rule #1- Love Your Customers!  Its very important for me to love my customers and give you everything needed to buy and sell Sarasota & Bradenton Real Estate. At any time, feel free to click on the updated MLS Feed into The Sarasota Deed titled, “Search MLS”. This link with lead you to my page of options. Shirley International Realty Inc. delivers a strong relationship with many Gulf Coast Boards of Realtors. Because of these strong relationship we pass on the option of searching Sarasota MLS Listings, or Bradenton (Manatee) MLS listings. The two individual boards operate as separate entities and listings in Manatee County are more likely to show up on Bradenton’s MLS, and vice versa for Sarasota. Just click on the link icon that sparks your interest and let the home, condo, land, commercial, or rental search begin!

There is no registration tied to this optional search, so feel free to sign on and search at any time without handing over personal contact info. that will passed on to my sales call center for continuous cold-calling. (I always feel when I enter email info. or ph0ne numbers to registrations, I WILL be called right in the middle of my dinner.. Our agents are eating as well and won’t be calling you) So, enjoy this optional search just added to the Shirley International Realty Inc. site. It is here for you..

 Let me know how we can assist you in any way at any time. Our customer service goal is to be second to none and the only we can continue to evolve is by listening to your suggestions. I heard a very intelligent man say today on CNN, “change doesn’t start from the top and trickle down. It starts from the bottom and grows up through Executive Chairs”.. This is brilliant.. Only by listening to you, do we know what you want. Shirley International Realty Inc. will continue to innovate on your behalf!

 Happy St. Patricks Day! (pinch pinch.. Your shirt isn’t green.. Its an East Asian shade of Celadon!)

Justin

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First of all, this “roady” sign is great! I think I saw a few Real Estate investors holding this sign on Bee Ridge Rd. a few days ago. Funny but scary! This article is dedicated to finding deals that take this sign out of the investors hands and put that million in their pocket.

With over-inflated pricing in the Sarasota/Manatee market, there’s a scarcity of investments that will result in a positive cash flow. I have a number of clients looking for these types of investments and it seems 99% of real estate agents feel, “you’re not going to find anything that will result in a positive cash flow situation”. I beg to differ (I tend to challenge anyone making comments of; it doesn’t exist, its not out there, it can’t be done, and all the rest of the blanket statements made from real estate people just not doing there homework).. First of all, let’s start from scratch.. What is the rules we want to follow to make a positive cash flow investment? Well, number one, we need tenants to pay rent. Number two, we need to find a stressed seller who’s willing to charge my buyer an over-inflated price for the investment (Tons of these currently on the market). Number three, we need a property that will result in appreciation at some point, when the market turns around. Last ingredient, we need to make sure we lock in financing at a reasonable rate that will keep monthly out-of-pocket costs down. I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday looking for these opportunities and I found a handful of investments, with tenants in place that will make money for you on a monthly basis. Here’s a layout of my thinking & the math that goes along with calculating a good rental property. I want to add, I was only looking multi-family properties (duplexes, triplex, quad-plex).. I’m sure there’s a number of seasonal renting condos and stressed sellers who would dump their properties that could be bought resulting in positive cash with tenants in place.

I think the most important variable in looking for these deals are finding something that will appreciate over time and build maximum equity for your portfolio. It is my opinion that when this market turns around waterfront property will the first genre of real estate to grab appreciation. Waterfront property is scarce, it can’t be duplicated, and demand is the highest for this type of property. 7 out of 10 investors I work with ask, “how far is this property from the beach”? We all know when season rolls around every year, midnight pass becomes jam-packed with cars trying to find a parking spot on Siesta Key. The sun shines here and people love the beach. This will never change. So, the real estate does benefit from that demand. I always start my search as close to the water as I can get & work my way towards the listings with owners in the most stressful situations. Bottom line: Waterfront property is what people want and it will appreciate first when our market turns around. Read the rest of this entry »

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