Florida properties

[Buy Florida]

I just returned from Florida, in the Venice/Sarasota area and was surprised by the amount of for sale signs compared to when I was there in November. The news was still very focused on the foreclosure problems, although they also were reporting that sales were up, with many foreclosure properties receiving multiple offers. The unusual thing is even with increased sales, the price of homes is still dropping, 10% for Jan. in that area. They did not explain why, but I would assume that it is because more homes are coming up for sale than are being bought.

You are right about agents wanting you to sign up for info. It is an eye opener down there to see the low prices, but the market value according to the county is usually still way below what they are asking. There is still room for prices to drop as far as I can tell. Getting a good agent down there who does not sugar coat the prices and issues is very important. The area I am in has problems with homes with rotted drywall from China, copper pipes weakened by the type of concrete they are in, and lead paint, just to name a few things to watch out for.

Cameron
Author of Buy Florida

[26.2]

You are right about agents wanting you to sign up for info. It is an eye opener down there to see the low price

I have a few r/e agents that regularly email info on specific properties or potential properties and they have only talked the talk regarding foreclosures.  I have only found one  site that did not require signing up for foreclosures and what they had were unbelievable dumps.  I would post the site except for the fear of smites.
What is the spread between foreclosure prices and mls prices?  My guess not a lot.  In all cases the lender is trying to sell to re-coop their  loan and is looking at market values to set their price whether it is a short sale  or banked owned and if it is at auction they simply buy it if the bid price is too low. 
On the Trulia there is a site that posts foreclosures called Realty Trac,  but you only get it free for 30 days.
Are there any free foreclosure listings?

There is still room for prices to drop as far as I can tell

With the US gov't on a spending spree my guess is the US dollar will tank likely b4 property values stabilize. Likely the cdn dollar will, rise again.  I think this will be a key year for southern real estate shoppers.

[Pfm1011]

". Likely the cdn dollar will, rise again.  I think this will be a key year for southern real estate shoppers. "

I would not bet on a strong dollar when looking at investment. The Canadian dollar will not go above 84 or 85 for a very long time if ever again.  Our dollar was artificially strong based on 150 a barrel oil..That will not happen again in the forseeable future.

Our banks have been bailed out just like the US and we are getting hit very hard by the slowdown in manufacturing.  We lost our factories years ago and survived by selling raw materials to china..who is no longer buying ..

It is good for our economy to hover 15 to 20 under the US dollar so I would forget the dollar in profit calculations.  Additionally you will drive yourself mad watching the forex

[speedfreeksteve]

I do not know other areas in Florida and know the larger cities are crime infested.  The area of Englewood and Port Charlotte seems to be a newer area.  Similar to Toronto, Florida seems to have 'prime real estate' areas and areas that do not appreciate much, even in a very good economy.  Florida also has several trailer parks, manufactured homes and 'mobile homes most of which are being foreclosed.  The one I was looking at is neither foreclosure or short sale and is selling for 89K.  I compared it to homes in an area that I know to be more affluent (Naples and West Palm beach) and similar homes were selling for more than 200K or 300K.  I do not have anyone to contact in Florida and don't know if I should trust a realestate agent since, unlike Toronto, Florida has a lot of racial issues and crime areas.  In some areas, real estate does not appreciate due to these factors.

What type of area is Port Charlotte?  Is it a 'newer' area on its way to becoming established?

I'm not old enough, but there's quite a few 'gated communities' down there.  They range for 80K to 1 million, depending on the type of amenities and type of home (mobile, manufactured or solid).  Many of the keys are built up, there are very few homes on Big Pine Key or marinas, as these areas develop, the prices of other homes will go down.  Since the real estate bust in the states, the keys are probably the only place that haven't gown down, homes have maintained their values, keep in mind the retired people have a fixed income, they do not have jobs to lose, many of the them are living of past investments, 401K plans and good pensions. 

I can comment on some of the things you mentioned.

What do you mean by a "newer" area? Englewood and PC have been developed starting in the 60's and 70's.. with many new developments just like anywhere else. One benefit of late has been that Hurricane Charley destroyed much of the older and lower quality developments and many have been rebuilt into more modern and nicer developments.

Personally I would stay away from gated communities. It's not the same as a gated community in the GTA where it's mainly built for privacy and prestige. Down in Florida their primary purpose is for safety. If an area is full of gated communities then you can take that as a pretty good indication of the local crime rate. I don't see the point of paying to live somewhere where I would need to live behind a 12 foot wall with 24 hour security.

You mentioned racial issues. Ironically, I would say many of the general areas with racial issues actually have the more expensive areas within them. Miami, West Palm, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando all have both ultra expensive properties and high violent crime rates. I prefer the Gulf coast personally.. alot less crime, and less touristy and overpriced.

I have noticed that sales prices (not "listing" prices) have stabilized in many parts of Florida since around November which I take as a good sign for the future as a landowner there.

As for places in the US that haven't gone down much.. Rochester, NY has been pretty stable too believe it or not.

[Buy Florida]

In answer to 26.2's questions, there are some free foreclosure sites but you get what you pay for. Many of the sites offer some view of the home and price, but if you want details you need to sign up. Realty Trac and Foreclosures.com are the two that most people use and find somewhat useful, and give you a free trial period so you can judge for yourself.

The spread between MLS price and foreclosure price is dependent on what the bank is willing to take, which will be different in each case. A good agent may be able to help find the banks willing to deal, but they are often frustrated by the extra tiime involved in dealing with banks who do not want to play ball, and clients like us who want to put really low offers in to a lot of places.

Banks are obligated to get fair market value, so that is why the prices for foreclosures seem high, but prices keep falling and number of homes for sale keeps going up, keeping pressure on the market.

Cameron Roach
author of Buy Florida

[speedfreeksteve]

Sounds like abit of "theoretical" knowledge on here and not as much first-hand knowledge.

I should add that when buying a foreclosure in Florida, the banks won't even talk about an offer until you show proof that you either have the money in the bank to buy it, or you have pre-approved financing. That was definitely the case for the last Florida foreclosure property that I bought last summer.

Searching for foreclosures specifically isn't necessarily the best use of time and money. Right now over half of the MLS properties in Florida are bank foreclosures, so you really don't need much extra help in finding them beyond skimming through the listings. You can pay the $30 or so a month for Reality-Trac, but there's not much added value in having a list of properties that are in the process of foreclosure since it will be at least 6 months to a year before you have any chance of even putting an offer in on those properties.

My experience with real estate agents at the current time is that things have been VERY slow for them in the past few years. Not many sellers other than bank foreclosures, and the private people selling are for the most part trying to get as close to 2005 prices for their properties as they can. On the buyer side their business has all but dried up. This has added up to the real estate agents being very eager and accommodating to bend over backwards for any business that they can get, even if it is a low ball offer.

With the Florida banks I have found they have also been very nice to work with since they're just happy to be unloading some inventory to keep themselves afloat.

Take the knowledge here with a grain of salt. I didn't write a book.. but I have bought a few Florida properties in the past couple of years and I'm still actively looking for more.