Buying and Selling South County Homes

North Port Cornhole Tourney

2010-04-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is back! The North Port High School Cornhole Tournament. Be there! This exciting event is held at the North Port High School Football field. There is a small entry fee, but it is all for the good of the North Port High School Varsity Football Program. This program has lots of promise as earlier in the year the young guns of the community, the future of North Port High School Football, went to Orlando to play in the finals for Pop Warner for the entire United States. Stay tuned to Bobcat Football!

Sarasota Golf Course Homes for Sale

2009-11-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

Golf Course homes for sale:

Venice, Florida Golf Course Homes for Sale:

Pelican Pointe has 48 homes for sale.
The Platation has golf course 34 homes for sale.
Sarasota National has 7 homes for sale.
Venetian Golf and River Club has 59 homes for sale.
Venice Golf and Country Club has 50 homes for sale.
Sawgrass has 16 homes for sale.

North Port, Florida Golf Course Homes for Sale
Heron Creek has 48 homes for sale.

Englewood, Florida Golf Course Homes for Sale:

Boca Royale has 9 homes for sale.

If you cannot decide where to play or live, contact www.playgolfsarasota.com. These PGA professional will do the best job of matching your budget and game to the course and club. Fore!!!

Sarasota County Short Sales

2009-09-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

It seems most of the sales in Sarasota County and Charlotte County are from short sales at this time. Charlotte County has listings that number in the thousands, as does Sarasota County.

Banks are doing well with their inventory. They are holding it and letting it out slowly. As they control most of the inventory, they also can, and have, a significant effect on market price. By letting the property on the market slowly, they they can effect market equilibrium.

Market equilibrium is when supply equals demand. When supply is greater than demand, the price drops bringing in more buyers until the buyers buy up the supply. With a lot of homes for sale, prices drop. The banks do not want that as they want the most for the homes they now own from foreclosure. So, they don't put them on the market as they get them. They wait.

They do have other issues also. Stockholders who want a return on their money.

Discount Brokers in North Port

2009-08-21T12:40:00.001-07:00

I am unaware of discount brokers in North Port who are not National Brands. It seems to me that dicount brokers in North Port are disappearing. Assist to Sell had an office on Tamiami Trail in North Port next to the restaurant...

The Olde World Restaurant is nearby. There are for sale signs on the building where Assist to Sell was located. I don't believe they are in business at this point, at least in North Port.

I don't think there are existing discount brokers. If any one knows of any discount real estate brokers in the area, please blog here or let me know.

Discount Full Service Realtor

2009-07-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

If you are considering a full service Realtor at a discount, find out what you get, and what you pay for. It sounds simple, and it is simple.

Should I hire a Venice, Sarasota County Realtor?

2009-07-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

That is the bog question isn't it? Can you do it alone?

Again, your decision needs to be on what you can and cannot do with your skill set. Where are you in the sales process? Are you just thinking about it? Have you already started?

The statistics are that most For Sale by Owners nationally will eventually list their home with a Realtor. That's why you are getting all those calls from Realtors in Sarasota, Venice, or in some cases from the East Coast of Florida. Realtors know you have to sell and they will try to get the business. They are real estate SALES people.

To sell your home it needs to be priced right. The Sarasota Realtor will certainly be the best person to determine the market value of your home. It is because they have the best tools. The best tool, as we've discussed in a prior FSBO entry on this site, is access to the Venice or Sarasota MLS sold data. It is the most current most up to date sales data in your area. Using that comparative pricing, comparing your home to the homes that sold in your neighborhood at what price, gives you the best, most accurate, most up to date pricing.

You need to decide whether or not you want to hire a Realtor. You certainly need this critical information; the up to date comparable Venice or Sarasota Real Estate sales information for good, market sensitive pricing.

Real Estate Attorney?

2009-07-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, Real Estate Attorney's can help you. There are some things the can do and some things they cannot do.

Attorney's can write the contract for you. A Real Estate attorney has experience in writing and negotiating contracts. The contract a Real Estate attorney will prepare will be legally binding. The contract will most probably consider all of the things that a contract on a real estate transaction will require. They will not leave anything out.

The attorney does have to represent one party or the other. That means while you may want to have an attorney prepare a contract to the mutual understanding of the parties, there will be one party, the party who brings the attorney the deal, who may very well benefit from doing so. It may be a slight issue. It might be a major issue disguised as a minor issue. But in either case, the other party beware!

In addition, a Real Estate Attorney has the legal authority to actually close a transaction. While in " title states" (Florida is a "title state") a real estate closing is usually done at a title company.

One thing an attorney cannot help with is valuation. I have seen deals where attorney's put in there opinion of what a property is worth, and end up losing the deal for the buyer client. Also, in preparing a market price, attorneys have no access to MLS, a lockbox key, or other ways to help you with valuation.

In addition, attorney's generally are not known for marketing skills, and usually have had absolutely zero training in marketing.

So, yes, an attorney can be helpful to a FSBO seller. An attorney can be helpful to a For Sale By Owner Buyer. Do yourself a favor and know when it works best, for whom, and what specifically they will do.

Venice FSBO - Going it alone

2009-07-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

Going it alone as a for sale by owner, or FSBO, is difficult. This will not be breaking news on the Real Estate Reports, or at the next meeting of the Venice Area Board of Realtors.

The FSBO has to deal with issues that can be handled, and some that cannot. It's a little more complicated than just making sure you have a sign, a balloon, a cookie and a candle. You must find a buyer, write a real estate contract, and close the transaction.

Let's take writing your contract. What will you do here? A contract is a legal document. I am not an attorney. However, contracts are essentially agreements between two parties, put in writing. This is the same for anywhere in the country. Contracts are an area of law studied by attorneys in law school and tested on the Florida Bar Exam. There are legal issues that make a contract valid, void, or voidable. There are items which need to be included in the contract to make it an agreement, a legally binding agreement, a valid real estate contract in Sarasota County.

Real Estate contracts can be found at Staples, Office Depot, and possibly your neighborhood Venice stationery store. They can also be found at Real Estate Attorneys and, of course, the local Venice Realtor you may be trying to avoid.

The documents at the stores come with blanks to fill in, and are generic for every state. They come with the fear that not everything is covered. And, you will not be surprised that, when putting together a generic real estate contract for every state in the United States, not every issue relevant to Florida real estate contracts is considered. You could very well be vulnerable, and at risk with your buyer down the road with a lawsuit for something that was not done right or omitted. This could happen even with the best intentions.

On the other hand, the contracts available at the Realtors office and the Real Estate Attorney's office done come with fear. They come with something else. A qualified professional who knows how to complete them.

Sarasota Charlotte FSBO Help - go it alone?

2009-06-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

There are many ways to get help. You may way want to check out your alternatives.

You can do it alone.
You can hire an attorney.
You can hire a full service Realtor.
You can hire a discount full service Realtor.
You can hire a Flat Fee Realtor.
You can hire an MLS only Realtor.
You can hire an Hourly Realtor.

Sarasota FSBO Pricing

2009-06-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

In pricing you house, consider the decorating of your house. This is difficult to do objectively. But do it. No this is not a huge deal in terms of dollars. But a neutral colored home will most often sell before a dramatically styled home. For example, if you have NASCAR painted in all the rooms, and a checkerboard styled driveway, like its "victory lane", you may be gearing it to a NASCAR fan only.

If you have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers logo everywhere, the same thing applies.

Consider the paint color or wall paper. Even though it is a tiny percentage of the entire price of the home, it has psychological importance to the broader market of home buyers. And remember, in Sarasota County, the buyers come from everywhere.

Good buyers though, see it for what it is; as that it is a small part of the cost. That it is, at the end of the day, only dollar signs. In other words, these "cosmetic" fixes certainly are a negative for a particular FSBO buyer, but they will recognize these things as a dollar cost. They may not like it, but recognize it will take a certain number of dollars to bring it into their taste. The cost of materials and time, or to hire it, is the cost of the problem. They will ask themselves, what would it cost to change this to my taste. It is only an $X problem. If a home it is very different, with lots of odd items, and too unique for the average person, the cost of fixing "the problem" will be greater. Price your home accordingly.

You will realize, once you do market research, that the standard decor is always best. And you know why. Anyone can live in a neutral color schemed house for a time, as it is not offensive. If it is not offensive, then they do not have to determine what the cost of changing it is, because it will be considered move-in condition. Move in condition for the the interior colors, anyway.

As you begin to research other Sarasota County homes for sale, house yours is neutral you don't forget the decorating or decorations or nicknack's. You are seeking to be objective. Price it like you would compared to the others. Be objective in pricing your home. Be competitive in pricing your FSBO.

Pricing Your For Sale By Owner Home

2009-06-25T09:39:00.001-07:00

Another way to price your for sale by owner home is the boots on the ground technique.

If you have neighbors with open houses, go. If you have neighbors who are for sale by owner, look at it.

Do the same thing for other for sale by owners around the area of within 2 to 3 miles of your house if in a metro area, or as wide as you need to where you think your competition will be.

Go online and see what is for sale in your neighborhood. If you need a larger radius, do that. Go see. So then price your home based on what you saw. Be competitive with the comparable homes and you will sell your house.

When you look, be sure to look at those which are the same as yours considering the main search criteria. The main search criteria include the number of bedrooms, the number of baths, and the garage.

Seek out and learn the competition before you price your home.

For Sale By Owner Pricing

2009-06-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

To price your for sale by owner home, you need to know the market. On a prior post, we discussed the county appraiser's records. These are important records because as transactions are closed, this data goes to the appraiser's office.

Your buyer will need a loan. This loan will require an independent appraiser. After the great mortgage meltdown, the appraiser's are under more strict guidelines. One of these guideline changes is that the mortgage broker or lender cannot pick the appraiser. The appraiser is chosen randomly. Again, the idea is to make the appraisal as objective as possible.

To keep the appraisal objective, and not biased by the appraiser, mortgage broker, or mortgage banker, the appraiser must use objective data to determine the market value of the property. The best data for that is recent sales. Recent Sales are available from the county offices, and also the local MLS. Both are available to the appraiser. Sold data on MLS is not available to to the general public. This is a big advantage to the appraiser in determining value as this information is brought back from closing by the listing agent and is updated within 24 hours of the closing. The appraisers therefore have access to data you will not, and therefore will have more up to date data than you would have.

So the most up to date data is available to appraisers and local real estate agents, but not to you. But by using the data from the county appraiser, for example, in Sarasota County, you will get good accurate information, and can use it in valuing your house.

Pricing the For Sale By Owner Home

2009-06-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

There are several ways to price your home. The good news is that they will cost you no money at all.

The first factor in pricing your home is deciding when you want to sell it. This is important for a couple of reasons. If you don't need to sell it immediately, you'll have more time to do the work. Also, if you have time, you will be able to do the additional work required to get your best price.

Now it's time to get to know the market. You can do this with online research, doing some personal legwork, and with the assistance of local Realtors.

When using the internet to determine prices, most For Sale By Owners will go to sites like www.zillow.com. This is not a good idea. Zillow values rarely are even close to the actual market price of your home. Do yourself a favor and do not go here! It would be much better for you to go to your county website. In the county website you can find the office of the local property appraiser. For example, in Sarasota County Florida, the County Appraiser has their own website. Do not go to the property tax website. The appraiser gets updated on all of the transactions from the county.

If you are aware of homes in your neighborhood that have sold in the last 12 months, find the place on your county's website to search for sales or solds. Then key in that address and make note of the price. Also, you can find the square footage of that house, which will be important as you price your house for sale. You will also find information as to when it was built, how many bathrooms, and how many bedrooms. Make notes on all this information. If this information is not on the appraiser site it will be on the tax collector site so find it there. Again, this is accurate information on actual sales from records delivered by title companies, escrow companies, and closing attorneys. This is much better than zillow or trulia.

This is very important to value. Remember, chances are very high your buyer will need a home loan to purchase your For Sale By Owner home. We'll talk about this later, but the bank's appraiser wil use this information in the formal appraisal of value they perform for your FSBO Buyer.

Should I sell my home For Sale By Owner?

2009-06-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

Yes. If you are asking the question, yes, try to sell your house yourself. Of course you have doubts or questions. Those questions CAN be answered, and your doubts reduced, and upon the successful closing of your home, eliminated forever.

Let's not dismiss the fact that the process of selling your home For Sale By Owner, or FSBO, as it is called, is not simple. That's why Real Estate Professionals, Realtors, are required to be licensed and continually be kept current on trends and state laws. Selling For Sale By Owner is a big project requiring knowledge in many areas of law, construction, the local real estate market in your home area, marketing, the internet, but most of all, knowledge of yourself.

Knowledge of yourself, honesty, is the most important piece of the For Sale By Owner puzzle. For example, I do not like working on cars. There is nothing I like about it. I bring my car into a mechanic. And, there is not a whole lot I like about plumbing either, but I can do some things. And with plumbing, I almost always try on my own first. I have the support of licensed plumbers if I get too frustrated or over my head with the level of skill required to complete the task.

The same is true here. Determine what you know. You can do this either on a formal basis with with written notes and nice neat columns or in your head. I recommend you do this "What do I know about selling a house For Sale By Owner" more formally than informally. Make a column with these words: Marketing, Contracts, Buyer Qualification, Closing.

You are now started. Whether you are considering becoming a home in Venice Florida For Sale By Owner or Venice, California FSBO, the first two steps are the same. Decide that the outcome you desire is to have your house sold. Step two is to begin to see where you are in terms of what you know and where you will want help in the process.