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

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Flat Fee MLS Listings show Innovation & Creativity among Real Estate Corporations: Finally, an Option for the Owner Wanting to Save Money & Sell Fast

The competition for listings between so-called “traditional” realty brokerages and commission discounters kicks up a lot of dust, but when the air clears it’s apparent that cut-rate brokerages aren’t the only force putting downward pressure on realty commissions as a percentage of the home sales price.

Fee-for-service brokerages, Internet-savvy buyers, skyrocketing home prices, a dearth of listings in some markets and some sellers’ notion that they can sell their home without paying an agent are among the other factors bearing down on conventional realty pricing structures.

Brokers and agents for decades have feared and resisted changes that would restructure commissions and traditional business models. But experts say change is unavoidable due to the new breed of real estate consumer created by the Internet.

“Real estate for almost a hundred years (considered) the end-user as being the agent and the brokerage, not the consumer. With the advent of the Internet, the entire paradigm is shifting and our end-user is definitely the consumer, not the agent,” said Julie Gardon-Good, founder and president of the National Association of Real Estate Consultants, a 1,000-member group formed in 1999 to assist realty practitioners in reframing their focus as real estate consultants.
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Unbundling the Real Estate Transaction:
Providing fee-based services as a real estate consultant
Julie Garton-Good, DREI, GRI

As a broker of twenty-five years, I’ve always had a problem with how our industry is designed. We spend eons of time consulting with buyers and sellers-for free. We receive no up-front fees, even though we’re expected to expend hundreds of dollars per listing (our stock in trade, even though we have no control over it) just to make the phone ring (as well as appease the seller, even though he has no earthly idea what goes into a marketing campaign!) We then spend dozens of hours each month driving buyer prospects around educating them, often to have them purchase from someone else–oftentimes a for-sale-by-owner. And last, but certainly not least, there’s the concept of service — we service the seller, we service the buyer. We provide service at every turn, hoping that the consumer will see value in all this service and reward our efforts by selling or buying with us. Then, and only then, do we get paid.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but is it likely that Bill Gates or Mary Kay Ash would use our current real estate sales model to design a multi- billion dollar business empire? No, I don’t think so either.
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Custom-Built, Racimo Ranches Home, in Immaculate Condition * 4 Bedroom / 2 Bath Spacious Floor Plan Accomodates Large Family Looking for Interior Space * 1+-Acre Lot & No-Deed Restrictions * Peaceful & Serene Setting with Pond in Back of Lot * Soaring Trees & Tropical Landscaping Provide Shading & Beautiful Curb Appeal on this Oversized Lot * Bring Your RV or Boat * Current Owner Built Home in 1991 * Large, Caged Pool & Oversized Lanai Perfect for Entertaining * Hardwood-Flooring in Bedrooms & Ceramic Tile Throughout Living Areas * New Roof in 2004 * French Doors Leading to Formal Living Room * Family Room off Kitchen Shows as Open Floor Plan * Sliding Glass Doors in Family Room & Master Bedroom Leading to Pool * Outdoor Shower *  Heavy Insulation Throughout Home * Radiant Barrier Roof * Solar Hot Water Heater * Hot Tub Does Convey in Sale * Volume Ceilings Throughout *  Total Appliance Package included in Sale * Interior Windows Provide Ample Amounts of Natural Lighting * Large Master Suite with High Ceiling * Walk-In Closets * Home is Well-Maintained & Shows Beautifully * Easy Access to I-75, Downtown Sarasota, & World-Renowned Beaches * Surrounded by Top Rated, Private & Public Golf Courses * Not a Short Sale or Foreclosure * Home is Priced to Sell

 Click on the Thumbnails below to Preview Additional Pictures of Home

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Asking Price: $194,000
Lot Size: 24,981 Sq. Ft
Schools:
Elementary: Robert E. Willis
Middle: Nolan
High: Lakewood Ranch

Build Your Luxurious Dream Home @ Lake Club, a Tuscan-Inspired, Private Community in Lakewood Ranch * This is a Manor Lot on (8376 Catamaran Circle) Lot 123 * Excellent Waterfront Home Site with Expansive Lake Views * Exclusive, Private, Gated Community Featuring Mile-Long Park & Scenic Lakes * Custom Built Home Community with homes from 3,000 to 10,000 sq ft. * Surrounded by Luxurious, Multi-Million Dollar Homes * Exceptional Amenities Include Day Spa, Resort Style Clubhouse & Concierge Services * 24-Hour Man-Gated Security * 54-Holes of Private, Championship Golf * Cascading flowers, Grape Vines, Bricked Roadways, Picturesque Bridges, & a Spectacular Clubhouse * Located close to the Sarasota Polo Club and Lakewood Main Street with Fine Restaurants, Shopping, Movie Theater & Medical Facilities *  Enjoy Quick Access to the Theatre, Boutique Shopping, a Great Polo or Cricket Match * Contact 941-448-4872, or email justin@thesarasotadeed.com for More Information

Click on the Thumbnails Below to Enlarge Photos of this Oversized Lake Club Lot for Sale & Community Amenities

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High-end homes: is the tide turning?

HORSHAM, Penn. – Aug. 14, 2009 – High-end homes appear to be selling better than analysts thought.

Toll Brothers (TOL), the nation’s largest luxury homebuilder, on Aug. 12 announced its first year-over-year increase in signed home contracts since 2005, suggesting that first-time buyers might not be alone in driving improving U.S. home sales.

The Horsham [Pa.]-based builder said that signed contracts in the quarter ended July 31 – though still low by historic standards – rose 3 percent, to 837, compared with the same period a year ago. But revenues fell 42 percent in the quarter, to $461.3 million. The company also said it has been able to reduce buyer incentives in several markets as demand and contract cancellations improve.

“Mood has changed”

No other major builder has matched Toll Brothers’ 3 percent increase in contracts signed, though a few reported a 2 percent improvement in the most recent quarter, said Barclays Capital analyst Megan McGrath in New York. The average quarterly decline in new home contracts for major public builders was about 14 percent, she said.

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MIAMI – Aug. 4, 2009 – Jose Garcia looks over the contract for his Gables Estates home with Realtor Audrey Ross, who deals with the ultra-luxury housing market. The price of Garcia’s home: Just under $20 million.

Elite Realty. “Now, we’re getting five, six, 10 families coming through. I’m really praying and keeping my fingers crossed this is a permanent thing.”

Confidence seems to be returning, as well as a rising tide of money from outside the country, positive signs for both the high-end housing market, and the real estate market in general. Demand fed by foreign money has always been a critical piece of the real estate puzzle in South Florida.

“We’re on our way out of the worst (of the economic downturn)” said Manny Mesa, a Doral-based trial lawyer who is hunting for a bigger home for his wife and four children.

On Thursday, he toured the digs of former Miami Heat point guard Tim Hardaway. Hardaway is asking $3.9 million for the five-bedroom, five-bath home on almost two acres in the Pinecrest area. It boasts a six-foot coral rock wall for privacy and a closet the size of a very large bedroom.

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WASHINGTON – Aug. 4, 2009 – Pending home sales are up for the fifth consecutive month, the first time in six years for such a streak, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in June, rose 3.6 percent to 94.6 from an upwardly revised reading of 91.3 in May; and it’s 6.7 percent above June 2008 when it was 88.7. The last time there were five consecutive monthly gains was July 2003.

“Historically low mortgage interest rates, affordable home prices and large selection are encouraging buyers who’ve been on the sidelines,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Activity has been consistently much stronger for lower priced homes. Because it may take as long as two months to close on a home after signing a contract, first-time buyers must act fairly soon to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit because they must close on the sale by Nov. 30.”

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Aug. 3, 2009 – Even as Americans suffer rising unemployment, foreclosure rates in three states hit hardest by the housing bust – California, Arizona and Florida – stabilized in June, offering hope that the worst of the real estate crisis is over, according to The Associated Press’ monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties.

The latest results of AP’s Economic Stress Index show foreclosure and bankruptcy rates held steady from May in some states. Yet mounting unemployment is hampering an economic recovery in some regions, especially the Southeast and industrial Midwest.

The AP calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on each county’s unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. The higher the score, the higher the economic stress. The average county’s Stress score rose to 10.6 in June, up from 10 in May, mainly because of rising unemployment.

In June 2008, the average county’s Stress score was 6.7. The pain was lower then because the economy was still expanding. In fact, the second quarter of 2008 was the last time the economy grew.

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WASHINGTON – Aug. 3, 2009 – It was – note the past tense – the worst housing recession anyone but survivors of the Great Depression can remember.

From the frenzied peak of the real estate boom in 2005-2006 to the recession’s trough earlier this year, home resales fell 38 percent and sales of new homes tumbled 76 percent. Construction of homes and apartments skidded 79 percent. And for the first time in more than four decades of record keeping, home prices posted consecutive annual declines.

A staggering $4 trillion in home equity was wiped out, and millions of Americans lost their homes through foreclosure.

Now take a deep breath and exhale. The worst is over.

By every measure, except foreclosures, the housing market has stabilized and many areas are recovering, according to a spate of data released in the past two weeks. Nationwide, home resales in June are up 9 percent from January, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Sales of new homes have climbed 17 percent during the same period. And construction, while still anemic, has risen almost 20 percent since the beginning of the year.

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