Merry Christmas from St Petersburg Florida

For those of you who know me you already know my bias towards St Petersburg. After travelling to all but 4 states in the United States, I still find it hard to top St Petersburg regardless of the yardstick you use in measurement. Sure, it doesn't snow on Christmas here but my kids went and played in the 'snow' last week in their shorts, and ate Beef Tenderloin by the pool Christmas eve, went to mass without a jacket, played soccer, rode bikes, and topped it off by jumping in the pool on Christmas. That, my friends, was our dose of cold weather for Christmas. Last year we had some rain, but this year the weather was normal and absolutely beautiful and another reminder that yes we do live in a wonderful place.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

A soldier buys his first home today and gives me a lesson in life and business.

I had a closing on one of my listings yesterday that held a lot of meaning for the season, the current real estate market, and for my business model. It didn't really hit me until this morning, the day after the closing, when I sat down and was reading an article in the WSJ regarding the housing market.

This listing was one of the least expensive listings that I have had this year, but it probably holds the most meaning. Isn't that usually the case in everything. The 80/20 principle, I guess.

This listing was a nice 3/2 single family home in the low $200K's. The buyer is active military and is being shipped to Gitmo in a week or so, and has a fiancee and 2 small children and this is their first Home that they can call their own. So, from a real estate standpoint, this was the case where a buyer was thrilled with his purchase. He is buying a home at well-below the appraised value of the home, it is a lot of the home for the money and is in a nice neighborhood. At the closing table, he said something like "I just bought a 1/4 acre piece of American soil". How exciting! After a hurried weekend of moving in, he can enjoy a happy Christmas with his family in his own home. One of his goals was to find a home that he could be comfortable that his family would be safe and comfortable in while he was overseas. I was happy to be a small part of that.

From a business standpoint, this was important for a couple of reasons. First of all, this listing was with a seller who originally listed with an agent in our office and was unhappy with his agent. This can happen to any of us for a variety of reasons, but is never the goal at the beginning of the listing, I can assure you. Our broker had agreed to end the agreement but asked that he speak to me about what my team may be able to offer. I met him, found him to be a pleasant and most importantly (to me, at least) a straight-shooter. Because of the price point of this home, I would use our team approach to give it a bit more local exposure and that is what we agreed to do. The previous agent has since quit real estate, by the way. Lots of that going on, thankfully. It took a lot of time, conversations, strategy, and trust in each other but the house is now sold and all parties are pleased with the outcome. Service always wins out regardless of the business.

The most important part of this transaction to me, however, was that this buyer was an active soldier who is part of the force defending our principles and freedom. Say what you want about the current administration or your party affiliations, but this young man is one of thousands who are defending our lifestyle with their lives. Imagine being so excited about buying your first home, but knowing that you are leaving in 7 days for an entire year. My wife and I have been watching the series "the war" that was on PBS a month or so ago and it was eye-opening. I studied history as a kid, of course, but watching this series showed how much we have to be thankful for and how much of a sacrifice our young men and woman offer for our freedoms. It angers me to see the way that many of the war protesters target the actual troops. Again, part of the greatness of this Country is being able to disagree with the administration (or anything really), but to target the soldiers who are doing what they are told to do bothers me. The series also makes me appreciate the lifestyle we have daily. If you watch that, you will see what everyday citizens lived through during that war. Almost every citizen was impacted by the war daily. We can't say that today. God bless our troops, each and every one of them.

Why we live in St Petersburg part 74

This photo is of the 25th Annual boley center's Jingle Bell Run that took place on Wednesday in downtown St Petersburg. I took this photo from an online gallery by a user names "tampabay" on TBT.com. If you look really closely, you can see my wife and I and a few friends just getting started on the race. It was a beautiful night for the 5K that pits racers of all types - serious runners, skateboarders, walkers, runners with 4 legs, and strollers that run/walk/other along the beautiful downtown waterfront of what I think is the most beautiful liveable downtown in the US. The weather was perfect, probably mid-70's, and clear skies. along the course, supporters wave and sing Christmas carols. Just a wonderful event that makes St Petesburg great.

My only regret is that my friends started sprinting at the start so I had to chase after them the entire 5K, finished around 28 minutes or so including about 1/2 mile of lateral running to get ahead of the pack in the beginning. Rumor was that there were bands along the way, but my goal was to stay with my friends to avoid embarassment so staying vertical and breathing was my primary focus:)

It really was a beautiful evening and event.

Median or Average - which is a better gauge?

There was an article in the paper this week about the drastic price drop in home prices in the Tampa Bay area. Big headline, prominent placement - imagine that. In any event, the numbers reflect the market accurately. Or so it would seem. I pore over market numbers every month when they come out and try to see what it will mean for my clients. I am a numbers guy, so I love this stuff. I have seen this same article appear every few months it seems and it is only when the headline can say something like "biggest drop since..." or similar catchy headline. If you read the entire article, which I think most do not, it does refer to the median price drop but it also referred to the average prices only dropping 5% or so since 2006 in that month. That doesn't garner the bold headline. The truth is evident - the averages are down from last year and I think that will continue for some time. This silver lining is that for certain homes, this is a pretty darn good time to sell a home. If you look at what the median represents and then look closer at the numbers the story that I can pull out is that the largest price block in terms of sales is in the $200K range. It is actually fairly healthy relative to other price points. Not robust, but healthier. If you apply some price reduction to the price segments across the board and couple that with a growth or strong segment of homes selling in the high $100's and low $200K's, the median must go lower. If you have a house to sell in that price range the numbers could actually be good news.

Now back to the reality. I have said this for over a year to my clients. The homes that are selling are those that are in the best condition that they can be in. They are clean, show well, in good condition, and most importantly priced as well as they can be. No secret, no crazy incentives. Just a good product at a good price.

Does that guarantee a sale? I wish it could, but it is a must if you want to sell your home in this challenging market.

List Price = Overprice ?

Based on everything you read in the media today, if you are buying a property you should offer (put in your number here)% below list price because in this market, of course, everything is overpriced.

Well, I have a problem with that but it is one that is hard to pin down. The assumption that is made is that every property is overpriced by (cut a number from your favorite media outlet)%. That is true only when you look at averages, not absolutes. The problem is how to pinpoint just exactly what the selling price 'is'. well, that part is actually easy - it is what a buyer will pay and a seller will sell it to that buyer for. Simple. Getting to that agreement is not, however, simple.

What my partner and I have been saying all year to every client is to price it within range of our suggested 'sales range'. This range is a guess, perhaps an educated one but that isn't for this debate. If you overprice and miss that range, you might miss the real buyer and even worse, you will compete with homes that you shouldn't (and in the buyers' mind) don't compete with and will end up helping another one sell.

Traditionally, we Realtors could recommend a purchase appraisal be done on the home. in this market, ironically, I have had buyers say 'yes, but that is just an opinion.' Well, sure it is, but it is one that the bank is going to use to let you have some bucks to buy the home and you bet that they are on the conservative side.

The point is that in our market, there are homes that are overpriced, absolutely, but there are also many homes that are priced well and even some (fewer) that are priced below market price. At the end of the day it takes a buyer to pay for a "market price" to be attached, so let the rodeo begin.