Cape Coral Real Estate : March 2008

Cape Coral Real Estate - Bad news or Good news?

Cape Coral has sure made the news a lot in the past few years. It was a few years ago, double digit appreciation which spurred all of the ‘bubble' controversy. Everyone called and wanted to ‘invest' in Cape Coral. Some, as we know now, lost their shirts, but a lot of folks made a lot of money here and the city did grow.

Next we had some hurricane scares. Charley hit just north of us & caused quite a bit of damage to homes in Cape Coral. My phone rang off the hook with calls from people wanting to know about the real estate deals that must now be available. Yes, seriously. While I was worried that it would HURT our market it got our name out there again.

The newest news is all of the FORECLOSURES in Cape Coral. Guess what? Our phones are ringing off the hook again. People that had thought about moving here & weren't sure they could afford it are calling. Investors and snowbirds that were looking during our peak in 2004-2005 are wowed by the prices of today.

Our current market is about the hottest I've seen. We might have a lot of inventory but when you look at TRUE inventory (those that are priced to sell & can sell) it is almost not enough.

When myself, and other agents in my office, sit down with potential buyers going over their needs & wants at first the buyer is overwhelmed thinking so much is for sale. But once the details are plugged in & the search performed they are usually left with 5-10 properties that actually match their needs. The first 2-3 are usually pending within the first day or two of looking. Of course, more inventory will become available but this just goes to show you that even in THIS market homes are selling.

My question is, what are you waiting for? Let's talk!

Cape Coral Real Estate Search

Yours in Success,

Susan Milner, Broker

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

(239) 218-2229

Search Cape Coral & other area listings: http://www.florida-future-realty.com/

Susan@SusanMilner.com

Curious about the median values of home sales, I did some data mining on our home sales in Cape Coral. I used March as the month to compare. Starting in 2002 I measured how many SINGLE FAMILY homes sold, the median price, the days on market & the average LP/SP. Since I'm not a chart expert, here's the data:

Bank Owned 3 bedroom pool home in SW Cape Coral - Just $180,000!

				Property Type	Residential	Property Subtype	Single Family
				GEO Area	CC23 - cape c	Subdivision	Cape Coral
				Building Des	2 Story
				Beds	3	Living Area	2328 Tax Data
				Baths(FH)	2 (2 0)	Price/Sq Ft	$77.32
				Year Built	1994	Lot Sq Ft(approx)	15028 ((Tax Data))
				PID	234423C4019100190
				DOM	3	Lot Acres (approx)	0.345

Newly Listed Bank Owned POOL home in SW Cape Coral. Asking $180,000 - That's only $77.32 per s.f.!

Easy to show, submit all offers!

Susan Milner

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

(239) 218-2229

Search Cape Coral & other area listings: http://www.florida-future-realty.com/

Susan@SusanMilner.com

Attention Banks with Real Estate in Cape Coral, Florida 

I'm not for sure what your process is for hiring a real estate agent to market & sell these foreclosed homes but I can tell you a few things about my experience.

Let's start off by saying that we have closed many short sale listings & that is a huge part of the current market.

We work with A LOT of buyers that are looking for homes right now. Many are looking for waterfront or homes with pools (seems to be the best sellers here in Cape Coral, FL).

Well I had a short sale listing, submitted a GREAT offer to the bank along with the entire seller's package, comparables, market info, etc. And it was DENIED (well actually countered with a VERY unrealistic price). Why? Well the bank hired some inexperienced or maybe just lazy real estate agent to perform the BPO. Even though I met with the agent to give her some guidance, she still pulled BAD comps. How bad you ask? Get this; she went out 8 miles, yes EIGHT miles to pull one comparable. Not only that but it was a brand new unit near the beach while my listing was older and in the middle of town miles from the beach. The next comp she used? Was 3 miles away, not as bad but get this - this one was ON A GOLF COURSE - and a nice one at that. The unit I had for sale, not even close to a golf course. WHEW. I attempted to explain this to the bank using other comps & such to no avail.

My seller became frustrated & after many more collection calls from this bank was threatened into signing a deed in lieu unbeknownst to myself.

Now, get this, the new listing agent to-be has someone come out & access MY lockbox to open the door & CHANGE the locks. Yep, they did that. According to our local board of REALTORS this is not allowed.

Now he officially has the listing & guess what he did to make sure the property was shown in the best light? He took NO interior photos. Yep, the place is nice but he's too lazy to take photos I guess. And get this....he used MY exterior photo to market the property.

And the bank told him to list it $20,000 more than the price they said they'd take previously (which remember was still completely over priced?). By the way, the new price is about 200% more than the current market value. Yeah & the agent went with it. Why? Maybe he thinks the bank knows more about the real estate market than the agent does. If I were a bank, or any seller, for that matter, I'd want to know the truth about market value.

So there you have it. One example of many more to come.

Buyers if you are considering making a purchase in the Cape Coral or Fort Myers, FL areas please interview your real estate agents carefully. Our real estate agents at Florida Future Realty, Inc are trained to help buyers find the best value for their current needs. Whether you want to buy a bank owned foreclosure, a short sale or a property that only requires negotiations only from the seller, we'll assist you & make sure that you do not over pay or waste your time.

Yours in Success,

Susan Milner, Broker

Florida Future Realty, Inc.

(239) 218-2229

Search Cape Coral & other area listings: http://www.florida-future-realty.com/

Susan@SusanMilner.com