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

 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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I pulled the February 2008 statistics for Sarasota County. This search bullets Sarasota properties that have “closed” only.. With local market conditions placing constraints on buyers financing capabilities, among other transactional hurdles, homes that go under contract aren’t guaranteed to close. So to keep my statistical analysis very consistent moving forward, I will only be reporting numbers reflecting a “closed” status on MLS..

-Single Family Homes- 42

-Condo- 110

-Multi-Family (i.e. Duplex, Quadplex, etc.)- 0

-Lots & Acreage- 5

What can we learn from these numbers? We see a nice spike in the condo market. I would attribute this to the second-home buyer vacationing in the Florida sun and escaping the cold northeastern winds. I think we’ll see this number continue to spike for the next 3 months, then come to a screeching halt around June. Plus, the condo market is the niche where most of the bargain prices reside. Single-Family homes sales are down from December, but close in the same ballpark as they were in January. 0 Multi-Family units sold in February! Wow! Sellers see the lack of activity on the investment properties they’ve owned for years, so look for positive cash flow opportunities here. Consumers won’t see many incentives here to buy other than cash flow opportunities. Typically, owners of multi-family properties have owned these properties for years and taken more of a long-term approach to ownership and won’t be giving these properties away.

Let’s look at listing inventory for the month of February and compare this to the sold inventory. I think we’ll see the reason for depreciation in prices in this statistic.

The numbers here reflect new listings that hit Sarasota’s MLS market throughout the entire month of February.

-Single Family Homes- 907

-Condo- 504

-Multi-Family Units-17

-Lots & Acreage-60

With 907 single family NEW listings hitting the market and only 42 closing, that’s representative of selling only about 4.6% of our monthly inventory. This closing percentage needs to reach levels of 35% or higher for us to make the slightest move in eliminating inventory and returning to equity gained through appreciation in our homes. The condo market seems to be a bit healthier showing a 22% closing percentage in monthly inventory. I’m confident there’s a 3-month window to try and sell your condo as baby boomers and second-home buyers love the maintenance-free lifestyle & opportunity to cash flow the ownership through lease agreements.

 Justin

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 I’ve been asked a number of times of the past few days to repeat exactly what comes with our 2008 Flat Fee Listing Package.. First, I’ll point out that a Flat Fee Listing is just a means for a seller to get exposure for their home on the Multiple Listing Service. MLS is important exposure for your home because there are 4,000 real estate agents in Sarasota County that are working with buyers & you need your home in front of these agents. Most brokers won’t allow their agents to list property through this type of service, but many Sarasota & Bradenton sellers have sold their homes through my offering. So, as long as there is a demand, I will continue to promote it. Here is a layout of what comes with your Flat Fee Listing through Shirley International Realty Inc.

* Full Listing on Both Sarasota & Manatee MLS - (Shirley International Realty Inc. will maximize the marketing space on MLS to promote your home and fill in all the blanks to provide buyers/agents with a due diligent explanation of all the details on your home.)

* Professional Photography - (Shirley International Realty Inc. will use the maximum amount of pictures allowed through MLS Rules and Regulation to make your home look as photogenic as possible on the MLS.

* Listing on Realtor.com -(Realtor.com is the most-searched real estate website on the web. Your home will be promoted on that website until it sells)

* Comparable Market Analysis- Shirley International Realty Inc. will use the latest technology and tools to assist you with the most competitive price for your home.

*Agent-On-Call (8am-8pm)- Have any questions about Sarasota/Bradenton Real Estate? That’s what we’re here for.. Your MLS Listing ties you into a relationship with us and we become your real estate resource for you!

* YOUR LISTING WILL STAY ACTIVE UNTIL THE PROPERTY SELLS- This is big.. Other Flat Fee Companies aren’t as flexible with this policy.. List with Shirley International Realty Inc. and your listing will stay active until the property sells (or until you wish to have it terminated)..

These are the “cut & dry” facets of Shirley International Realty Inc.’s Basic Flat Fee Listing program.. Other items such as signs, flyers, info. tubes, & lockboxes can be purchased on an a-la-carte basis. Click “Flat Fee Listing” for more information or call 941-448-4872 for more details.

Hope this clears things up..

Justin

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