It's rewarding for everyone to receive kudos for the job they do. I wanted to share a quick note I received that illustrates a Realtor's importance...our knowledge extends past getting a property from contract to closing.

Rich,

Dick and I, want to thank you for recommending Dan Butts, Insurance Co.

Citizens Ins. sold (or transferred) our policy to Homeowners Choice Prop. and
Causality and we received our copy of the policy on Friday. I took the time to
read it and told Dick that I thought we had a real problem, so I phoned them
yesterday to ask questions about our coverage and the woman was rude and could
not quote a price on changes we wanted to make. She said it could be $300, $500
or even $1000.00 difference in price and we could not make changes until the
policy was renewed next year. What a nightmare that was, knowing that we could
possibly not have adequate coverage with our hurricane deductible at 5%.

So, I called today and Sandy was so nice and after faxing copies of our declarations
to her on the homeowners and flood insurance she called back with all the answers.
Basically, if I had not read the policy and taken the time to check into it, she said that if we had any damage from that storm Sunday, that we would not be covered. She went over everything with us and is taking care of all of it for us to see that we have the coverage we need with very minimal increase in our premiums. She told us to contact JNR Inspections to come out and inspect our home which they are doing this Thursday.

Sandy is going to cancel our policy with Homeowners Choice and take one out with Citizens and we do not have to wait until renewal. I believe she was surprised at what coverage we actually had which was not much and recommended what we should have.

The whole scenario is that it could have been disastrous to us had you not referred us to them. I feel comfortable knowing that we will have the coverage we need to protect us given just about any situation. Sandy was very polite and courteous and is going to take care of it and set it all up for us.

We cannot thank you enough Rich, for you help in this matter. Makes me wonder just how many people out there have that coverage and is not aware.

Again, Thank You,

Dick & Carrol

Excruciating...frustrating...nails-on-chalkboard...

That may very well describe every realtors job these days. If a realtor is not experiencing these emotions, I claim they are not really working!

I always like to say that I will take real-life situations and store them away as a teaching "moment". I had one occur recently that has thrown me (and my clients) for a loop and really caused some heartache.

Long story short, Buyer contracted to purchase a beautiful pond-front home that has recently been remodeled. Seller got it at foreclosure, did some very nice things, and put it on the market. All well and good...

...that is, until today. I get a call from the title company closing the deal who proceeds to inform me/wreck my day that the home has an OPEN mortgage on it. Huh? Apparently, only 1 mortgage was foreclosed on and the other mortgage remained open and in force. Ugh.

The delicious topping on this was that the mortgage that was foreclosed on was riddled with errors relating to the legal property description...those, too, must be corrected.

This is an excellent illustration of CAVEAT EMPTOR, or Buyer Beware. Some people believe that when a property is purchased at county auction due to foreclosure, the property is free and clear. It's not. IRS liens MAY stay with a property until satisfied or negotiated. If the 2nd mortgage is foreclosed on and a buyer outbids the 2nd, then the Buyer takes title SUBJECT TO the 1st mortgage. Utility liens normally stay on past foreclosure.

One MUST due a quick and dirty title search, at the very least, before purchasing a property at auction. That is the only way to know the true picture. This is not true, however, if the property is bank-owned. Normally the proper channels have been followed and title is clear of defects.

Will let you know how this turns out...

We're making progress now!

All sectors of Tampa Bay real estate (non-commercial) have shown dramatic increases in sales volume. Inland, both Single Family Home and Condo sales increased anywhere from 3 - 5 percentage points compared to last month.

The beach, which has been practically on life support, DOUBLED in sales volume!

Are we out of the woods - hardly. Is the forest "thinning"? Seems to be.

Below are the numbers for March for the TB area:

MLS MONTHLY REPORT MAR ‘10


TAMPA BAY AREA (tri-county) Homes Condos Total Units

Total Units Available: 17,931 8,948 26,879

Total Units Pending: 3,728 1393 5,121

Total Units Sold: 2,263 916 3,179

Absorption rate: 12.62% 10.24% 11.83%

Avg Days on Market 93 days 107 days 97 days

Months of Inventory 7.9 mons9.8 mons 8.5 mons

Sold vs List Price % 93% 93% 93%

Sold vs Original List Price % 75% 86% 77%


PINELLAS COUNTY Homes Condos Total Units

Total Units Available: 6,483 5,489 11,972

Total Units Pending: 1213 696 1909

Total Units Sold: 763 503 1266

Absorption rate: 11.77% 9.16% 10.57%

Avg Days on Market 80 days 102 days 89 days

Months of Inventory 8.5 mons 10.9 mons 9.5 mons

Sold vs List Price % 91% 93% 92%

Sold vs Original List Price % 78% 87% 82%


N. BEACHES (476-478, 370-375) Homes Condos Total Units

Total Units Available: 600 1428 2,028

Total Units Pending: 69 136 205

Total Units Sold: 37 104 141

Absorption rate: 6.17% 7.28% 6.95%

Avg Days on Market 95 days 87 days 89 days

Months of Inventory 16.2 mons 13.7 mons 14.4 mons

Sold vs List Price % 85% 93% 91%

Sold vs Original List Price % 76% 89% 85%