Brandon Florida Real Estate

I just received a phone call from a buyer out of state that was calling about one of our listings.  Due to the price of the home, she wanted to know if it was being sold as a short-sale, and yes it is. 

She explained to me that she has been working with an agent here in the area for quite some time, but he doesn't seem to want to show her any listings that are short sales.  She said that she has called him about some listings she wants to see when she comes here, but his response to her is "those are short sales."  My response to her, was "so what if they are?"

She was very honest with me and said that she wouldn't feel comfortable buying a home without him, yet she felt like she was getting short changed from not being able to see everything that was available to her.  She said her family has mentioned that she should find another agent. 

I told her that if he is still refusing to show her the homes she wants to see, that I would be willing to show them to her IF she signs a buyer's agreement with me, because of the statement she made to me about not feeling comfortable buying a home without him.  She understood where I was coming from, and to a point I can understand where she is coming from.  Yet, if you're working with someone that isn't showing you everything that is available to you, are you doing yourself a favor by still working with that agent?  Or are you short-changing yourself?

It's her decision as to what she feels comfortable doing, and if she wants to stick with him and not see everything, then it's her choice.  Either way, I hope she ends up finding her perfect home.

I don't like "stepping on other agents toes" when I know someone is already working with an agent, so we'll see if she calls me back or not to want to see them when she gets into town, or if he decides he will show them to her.

He must not be hurting too badly for business to not want to show ANY short sales to any of his buyer's, since short sales seem to be pretty popular around these parts these days!

I guess my only statement to him is....."Well if you won't, then I will".  Get use to short sales, they will be around for a while!!

I was reading the newspaper online this morning, and was happy to see that condo sales have increased 10% from this time last year in the Bradenton-Sarasota market.

It is mentioned in the above article about 3/4 of the way through the article.  Condominium results in Sarasota-Bradenton for both the third quarter and for October are signs of improvement.

Last month, condo sales were up 10 percent, from 193 to 212. The median price was down slightly, from $226,000 to $224,000.

"That's very good news for us, suggestive of a bottoming out in that segment of our market."

From what I remember, we were one of the first markets to take a hit when the market turned, so it would only seem natural that our market would be one of the first to turn back around.

Builders are starting to see a change as well and seeing an increase in sales and traffic this year over last.

Neal Communities said it sold its 100th home this year, outstripping the 88 sold in 2006.

"The amazing thing is that we are seeing about a 50 percent increase in traffic, which is a great improvement from last year at this time," he said, noting attention from foreign customers. "There are a lot of buyers out there feeling out the market in Sarasota and Manatee."

They are cautious, though, and definitely looking for bargains. "But they are not fence-sitters, they are buyers."

Can't wait to see what happens during "the season" this year!  I am hopeful that the snowbirds will see how many great deals there really are out there right now and help jump start things once again!

Now is the time to buy!!

Apparently FDOT has known since 2004 that the work that needed to be done on the Anna Maria Bridge would force it to be closed, yet failed to make this information publicly known in meetings.

FDOT officials:

• Knew at least 3½ years ago that the project would require a lengthy closure and that they needed to let the public know about it early and often
• Set the closure date without consulting local emergency officials
• Repeatedly missed opportunities to notify local officials about the pending closure even after it was set, despite the agency's fears that it would be seen as withholding information
• Didn't plan to hold public meetings on the closure until two months before it was set to begin.

Umm.....how do you know something 3.5 years ago and "forget" to notify the public as well as emergency officials that a closure would be necessary?  Sounds pretty intentional to me!

Anyone that lives in the area, or visits the area knows how much of a PAIN it will be and who knows what will happen in an emergency situation once the bridge is closed.  Once the bridge is closed, you will literally have to drive several miles south to Cortez Rd in order to cross over to the Islands, to then have to drive those same several miles north again in order to get back up to Anna Maria Island. 

Map of Anna Maria, FL US

There are only 3 ways to get onto the Islands:

1. Manatee Ave
2. Cortez Rd
3. Gulf of Mexico Dr via Sarasota (way out of the way)

Anyone that visits, lives or works on the Islands also knows what it's like when that 2 lane road of Gulf Dr. gets clogged up and backed up with traffic.  You aren't going anywhere, anytime quickly! 

Are you submitting your blog to different RSS feed sites?  If so, does it really matter to which one's you submit it to and/or how many different one's you submit it to?

I ran across a website with a ton of different places you can submit your blog to for RSS feeds.

Question is, do you really need to go through and submit your blog to many of those?  Will it help increase the traffic to your blog by doing it?  Just wondering if it's worth the time to submit it to many of them, or just not worry about it?

That's a WHOLE lot of people!!!  That's nearly double what they had from last year.  "Last year, an estimated 12,500 shoppers arrived between midnight and 6 a.m., according to mall estimates."

All of the 130 stores opened up at 12:01 am on Friday, but people started to arrive at the mall about 9 pm.  Traffic on I-75 was backed up 2 miles each way and all 2,400 mall parking spots were filled by 12:30am (no wonder it's so damn hard to find a parking spot there on the weekends sometimes....they need more parking).  People were parking in the nearby Kmart parking lot and walking over to the mall.

I myself have only gotten up early one time to go shopping on black Friday morning and will NEVER do it again!!  It was total madness.  I guess if you have a lot of people and kids to shop for, it's a good time to get some great deals, but I don't have any kids and not too many people to shop for....so I think I'll keep my sanity and continue to sleep in year after year just like I did this year! 

I was watching the news yesterday and they were also doing a story on black Friday shoppers and they interviewed one man that waited in line for 31 hours at Best Buy so he could be one of the first in the store.  31 hours???  That's insane!!!  Wonder if his family brought him a plate of turkey dinner while he waited in line?

To those of you that do get up and shop like crazy at the wee hours of the morning....I don't know how you do it!!

Anybody know why or how the term "Black Friday" ever came about?

Is anyone using RealBird?  It says it is free, but I haven't had much time to dig into it yet to see if it really is a free service or not.

It seems to be a *really* cool place to advertise your listings with interactive maps from what I saw. 

"With the Publisher, you can create unlimited single property websites to showcase listings online and to reach potential buyers via the built-in automated distribution services and with the growing number of blog widgets. Each listing website is built with effective search engine optimization techniques to ensure highest possible ranking."

"The RealBird Listing Publisher gives you all the tools you need to create stunning listing presentations with unlimited descriptions, maps and local points of interest, videos, unlimited photos, any type of videos and with additional features not available with any other platform."

I wonder does that Listing Publisher cost to use it?  Or is it free too?

Anyone have any input on this service?  I think I am going to try it out.  Gotta be worth the try if it's free anyhow!  I'll let you know once I start to play around with it.  Don't have time to do it today though, maybe tomorrow!

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Edit:  Just noticed that some things are at a cost to use on this site.

RealBird also belongs to ActiveRain....LOL...I should have known....they have a blog here on AR that explains some of the features.  I will have to read through it more when I have some time.  Looks cool though.

Yes, you read that correctly!!!  Sarasota-Bradenton home sales tops in state!!!

I just read this article in the Herald Tribune and was pretty excited to see this!  I'm glad they at least posted this little bit of good information.  Not all is doom and gloom for the entire state or the entire nation for that matter.  Here are the 5 best and 5 worst markets in Florida for the third quarter.

FIVE BEST
Sarasota-Bradenton -5%
Panama City -8%
Gainesville -10%
Pensacola -13%
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton -15%

FIVE WORST
Ocala -53%
Miami -42%
Fort Myers-Cape Coral -39%
Orlando -39 %
Lakeland-Winter Haven -38%

Sales performance among condominium sales in Sarasota-Bradenton market was also among the best in the state, with a 15 percent increase in sales.

Now that winter is upon us and the snowbirds will be arriving shortly, I hope this will be the start of a boost in the market to get people moving again.  We shall see!!

First let me start off by saying that not all agents charge 6% commission.  Commissions are negotiable.  Some agents charge less and some charge more. 

With that being said, let me share with you why many agents charge 6% commission and why most agents won't negotiate that commission down if you ask them to.

Some people are under the misconception that the listing agent keeps that entire 6% for selling your home.  This is not the case.  That commission is also split with the buyer's agent.  In most cases the commission is split between the agents 50/50, but once again, this is not always the case.  Some listing agents want more than the 50% due to advertisement costs.  Some agents offer more than 50% to the buyer's agent as an incentive.  You should know at the time of listing how the commission with be split between the agents.  If it's not in the listing agreement, then ask your agent to add it in there.  Does it really matter what percentage of commission you offer to a buyer's agent?  That's another post I will write about soon.  But I digress....

As an example we will say the listing agent split the commission with the buyer's agent 50/50.  So that now leaves the listing agent with 3%. 

So now you're thinking the listing agent gets to keep 3%.  Not too shabby, huh?  Not so fast.  I haven't even begun to explain what else come's out of that 3%.  Unless your listing agent is the broker of the company and doesn't have to split the commission with anyone, right off the top, that agent's broker gets a chunk just for being the broker.  Depending on the agents company, that can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to as much as 50% of that 3% commission. 

But wait...there is more!  There are plenty of other expenses that agents have to pay.

• Signs, sign posts, flyer boxes, info tubes, rider signs and such
• Lockboxes
• Office equipment (computers, fax machine, printers, scanner, digital camera)
• Office supplies
• Websites and a contact management database
• Advertisement expenses (newspapers, magazines and such)
• Business cards
• E&O Insurance
• Cell phone bills
• Car expenses, such as the car itself, car insurance, gas, maintenance on the car
• Health Insurance (we are self employed, so we don't have the luxury of benefits)
• MLS dues (local, state and national)
• Assistants (some agents have assistants to help them out)
• Lead generation
• Showing appointment service
• Toll free info lines or Talking House
• Virtual Tours
• Continuing Education
• Postage
• Uncle Sam (can't forget to pay him)
• Our time (Yes, our time is worth some money too)

I'm sure I've forgotten some things agents have to pay for.  Please feel free to add to my list!!

Of course if you're a broker, you have many more fun expenses to pay for like office leases...and well, I digress again....

Hopefully that will shed some light on why many agents charge the 6% commission they charge.  As a consumer, you have the right to pick and choose which company you want to list your home and for what commission percentage you will pay.  It's your money.  However, I hope I have been able to show you the expenses agents incur for being in the business and why many of them will not lower their commission if asked.

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Copyright © 2007 Becky Troutt.  All rights reserved.

I just received an email from Zillow letting me know that I could now answer questions about my listings that someone may have OR about listings I know about in my area. 

Since I hadn't been out to Zillow in a long time, I thought I would go check this out just to see what people are asking.  I was quite amused.  It seems like one particular person has way too much time on their hands and has posed some "interesting questions" they'd like answers to about a home.

1. Is there adequate fencing for my dogs? I have six pit bulls. I also rescue and raise feral cats, but most of them live in the crawl space and the attic.
2. Will my family be comfortable living there? I have eight children from three marriages. And each of them has a live-in partner. And a child.
3. Can I run my small business from the home? It is a combination halfway house/rehab center/entertainment enterprise.
4. Does the house have an old-fashioned dirt floor, or has more modern wood flooring been installed on top of the dirt?
5. Are there rectangular openings in the walls that allow the free passage and exchange of air from the outside to the inside? And from the inside to the outside? If so, are these window openings, complete with transparent glass to allow residents with views of the outside?
6. Do the walls contain doorways allowing passage from one room to another? And are the doorways fitted with doors hung on hinges, complete with doorknobs?

And that's not all of the questions they asked....there are more!

Good grief, if these are going to be the types of people playing around on there asking questions like this...why even bother?

Are any of you answering any of the "real" questions on there?  Waste of time or no?

Have any of you ever sold a listing off of Zillow of received any worthwhile leads from there?

Ok, I don't know about the rest of you....but I am tired of seeing crap in the MLS like the photos below.  When are agents going to learn how to take decent real estate photos and not the crap below?  All the photos below were what I found today when I did a quick search in the MLS to see what else I could find after I saw fido sitting in the recliner in photo #1 in a listing I was checking out for someone. 

If by chance any of these photos belong to any of your listings or you recognize these as your own home....GO CHANGE THEM NOW or GO CALL YOUR AGENT and give them an earful.  Crap photos like the one's below DON'T HELP SELL YOUR HOME!!!!! 

A note to the agents that took these photos......Do something different for a change.....and USE YOUR BRAIN!!!