Your Florida Real Estate Expert

"You seem to have changed you tune on housing. Last spring, you said we were nowhere near the bottom, and to avoid purchasing the typical fungible suburban tract house. Now you are saying to come see you if we are interested in buying. What gives?"

I offer this tip for a few reasons. One of them is so non-cash buyers can compete with cash buyers. Most banks selling foreclosed properties require an As-Is contract. They believe this means the buyer is locked in, but in fact, it gives the buyer complete control of the contract through the inspection period. Please remember I am a Florida real estate broker, so I am only referring to what goes on here in Florida.

More specifically, here in Florida we have what is called a FAR/BAR As Is contract. This means the contract was written by and approved by the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) and the Florida Bar Association (BAR). You can't get much better than that, right? Well, let's examine what this "AS IS" contract means.

The AS IS contract in Florida has what I call the Buyer "OUT" Clause that reads like this . . .

. . . if Buyer determines, in Buyer;s sole discretion, that the property is not cceptable to Buyer, Buyer may cancel this Contract . . .

So here we have a contract that provides a 100% lock guarantee that the Buyer can back out for any reason whatsoever . . . and the Seller has no right to remedy. Period. Full Stop.

I can tell you that most banks and builders have no clue this clause is in the contract or that it means they Buyer can back out for "any reason whatsoever," which means if the buyer changed their underwear and decided to change the deal, they are out . . . and the seller must return all deposits. The only catch, is that this clause only applies during the Inspection Period. No big deal there because most contracts give the Buyer 10-20 days to do the inspection.

This . . . my friends . . . is the way to make sure you can get out of a contract, and there is not a judge in the English speaking world that will deny you.

For more information on Florida Homes and Home Buying, visit our website - www.FloridaHomes.Pro

or email me Mike@FloridaHomes.PRO 

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In the current market, cash is truly king. In fact, it is more than king. It is Ruler of the Universe. The force behind the cash is our financial system. Banks stuck with several million foreclosed homes and homes to be foreclosed are the culprits. And it is a double edged sword for home buyers.

Banks Closed for Business - The same banks that were racing to finance overpriced homes just a few years ago are now essentially "closed for business." A few years ago they were giving buyers 100% financing, even though the buyer was not required to provide any documentation to support their income or financial condition. Today, even very qualified buyers are finding it difficult, if not impossible to get a mortgage. You see, even when a bank decides to make the loan, they take so long to approve the loan, that the property the buyer was interested in, is no longer on the market.

By the way, the same banks that created the mess we're in are the very banks our government rewarded with billions of dollars in the ongoing Bailout. They were supposed to be using that money to free up the credit system and make loans. Instead, they have taken that money and used it to gamble in the stock market . . . with our money. Companies like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have made billions of dollars trading stocks . . . not making loans. So what have we done. We've turned our bankers in to gamblers with a twist . . . heads they win - tails you lose.

Bankers Making it Worse - Instead of loan modifications, banksters are foreclosing on homes and then trying to liquidate them. But here's the twist. They are not willing to finance these homes. In many cases, they are not willing to finance these homes under any conditions. That means the cash buyers are King. We have seen cash buyers pick up homes at 20% below offers made by buyers that required financing. The banks don't even want to wait a few days to determine if the buyer will qualify for an FHA loan. Instead, they want to dump for cash . . . and this drives prices lower.

What You Can Do - It would be great if we could simply vote Congress out and take back control of our government, then put the banksters in jail. Unfortunately, that is just a dream.

If you can't come up with cash, make sure your offer is not based upon financing. To do this you must get pre-approved for a mortgage based on your actual financial condition, and you must be sure the home you are buying will appraise for the value you are paying. With these two elements addressed, you should be able to write an offer with no financing contingency.

Now your offer is as close to cash as it gets for the bankster looking at the offers. You should also be prepared to put down as much as possible, and waive any right to get your deposit back if by some odd chance your financing falls through. This sounds risky, but it's not. I'll explain why tomorrow . . .

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It's not enough to have your agent set up an auto-search in the MLS system, because most agents are going to set up the search to show you only the new listings. You also want to see what goes Pending and what Closes.

Pending Sales - These are not really sales but pending "offers." You will want to watch these to see what areas are seeing activity, as well as to see if any of these fall through and come back on the market. You see, if the home was pending for a month or two, and the deal falls apart, you can bet the seller is now more anxious to sell. So if you are in the market for that home, you will want to jump on the opportunity of a Pending Sale that falls through. So make sure your agent sets up your auto-search to include Pending Sales, Pending Sales with Contingencies, and also Pending Short Sales. Some MLS systems only have one category for Pending, but others have all three.

And one more thing . . . you will want to make sure your agent sets your auto-search to notify you of status changes.

Sold - If your agent is not including Sold listings that match your criteria, you have no way of knowing what homes are selling for. When a listing goes Pending, we do not see what the offer was. Only when a home is Sold do we get the updated information that provides the contract price.

Auto-Search NOW - If you're looking for a home in our market, please email or call me. We service the following counties in Florida:

Martin County - Stuart, Jensen Beach, Sailfish Point, Palm City, etc.
Palm Beach County - Boca Raton, Palm Beach Gardens, Delray, Boynton Beach, etc.
St. Lucie County - Port St. Lucie, Tradition, St. Lucie West, etc.
Broward County - Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield, Coral Springs, Hollywood, etc.
Miami-Dade County - Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Aventura, Key Biscayne, etc.
Indian River County - Vero, Ft. Pierce, Sebastian, etc.

Mike Morgan, Broker - Morgan Florida Real Estate
Mike@FloridaHomes.PRO - 772-260-5448

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I just posted a new page to our website to explain the problems with Realtor.com searches.  Searching for a home has become easier with the use of online search tools, but don't be fooled.  All of the services offered online, including ours, is a delayed version of the real thing.  And this is a substantial delay of 1-3 days. 

The only way to make sure you are getting new listings instantly, is to have your real estate agent set up an Auto-Search within the local MLS system.

To read the full article - Click Here for Realtor.com vs. MLS Auto Search

If you would like us to set up a MLS Auto-Search for you, please email or call me Mike@FloridaHomes.PRO or (772) 260-5448

MLS Auto-Search Areas

Martin County - Stuart, Jensen Beach, Palm City, Hutchinson Island etc.
St. Lucie County - Port St. Lucie, St. Lucie West, Tradition etc.
Palm Beach County - Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Wellington, etc.
Broward County - Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Weston, Deerfield, etc.
Miami-Dade County - The Miami Beaches, Coral Gables, etc.
Indian River County - Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, etc.
The Florida Keys

In May, Barron's published my article about the next wave of the housing bubble . . . a tsunami of foreclosures.  You can read the full article - Click Here  And even though I took heat for my comments . . . we are seeing the very, very tip of the tsunami crest come to shore.

There are two ground zero markets in Florida for the housing bubble when it comes to single family homes - Port St. Lucie and Cape Coral.  In St. Lucie County everyone thought foreclosures peaked in February at 817 for the month.  March, April and May all saw drops to a low of 455. 

But that all changed in June when foreclosures almost doubled to 857.  As I noted, this is just the tip of the crest of the tsunami.  I expect foreclosures to continue to rise here on the Treasure Coast and nationwide.  Remember what I have said since 2004.  What you see here at ground zero, is coming to a town near you . . . soon.

GREAT Time to Buy - Even though we will see a flood of foreclosures, we are seeing some foreclosed homes sell at 30-50% discounts from the current market.  So even when the market drops another 30-50%, if you buy one of these foreclosed home right, it will be your neighbors overpriced home that declines.  If you paid 30-50% less than the current market, you are not only protected against a decline . . . but you are sitting pretty for when homes start to appreciate again.

If you're looking for a home in Florida, please feel free to call or email me - Mike@FloridaHomes.PRO or 772-260-5448

I just posted a new piece on the main section of our website discussing how banks price foreclosure properties and what you need to do when a Florida foreclosure property is priced Too Low, Too High or Just Right. 

For the full article - Click Here or paste this URL into your browser www.FloridaHomes.PRO/foreclosures2

If you are interested in foreclosed properties from Key West to Vero Beach, I'd welcome the opportunity to assist you.

Mike Morgan - Broker
Morgan Florida Real Estate
Mike@FloridaHomes.pro

772-260-5448

Beach House Pre-School at First Baptist of Jensen Beach is ready to receive your children, ages three – five, with joy and care.  Beach House will serve families in Martin County and St. Lucie County.

Here is a message from Beach House Pre-School . . .

Each week, your child will be exposed to his or her first Bible truths through praise and worship, Bible story time, and through hands on activities. Your child will love his or her class, and will learn how much God loves them.

We distribute take home pages for children in out preschool area. Please look for those sheets each week. These sheets are designed to help you reinforce the lessons learned during service, as well as provide another time of spiritual connection with your child.

When filling out your preschooler’s information card, make sure you complete the allergies and medical condition section. Notify the teacher of your child’s condition and any special instructions. You will need to complete an allergy/medical alert sticker and place it on your child.

The safety and security of your child is extremely important to us. When you sign your child into the Beach House, you and your child will be assigned matching number tags. Your children will be released when the matching number is turned in.

For additional information:

Cecelia Thompson
First Baptist Jensen Beach
1400 NE Jensen Beach Blvd
Jensen Beach, FL 34957

(772) 334-2202
Cecelia@fbjb.com