Highlands County Talk

It's already November, how could the last 10 months slip by so fast? It is true, times flies when you are busy and time has been lightening fast for us and, according to the lastest numbers for Highlands County, this holds true for many of our fellow Realtors.

93 sales in October, that's 30 more than in September, which wasn't a bad month either. Surprisingly, despite the increase in sales, there is a noticable decrease in distress sales. At the same time, the average sale price for all of Highlands County dropped by $7,000 and the average time it took to sell a home was only 135 days, compared to 148 in September.

We believe non-distress sellers have begun to realize that it only makes sense to put their property on the market if they are able to compete with the distress sales, which can be had at unbelievably low prices.

We can't wait to see what the end of the year numbers have to say!!!!!

Darrin & Andrea Mills
www.millsrealestate.net/blog

Last week we were contacted by an absentee owner looking for a realtor in our area with a buyer for their bank approved short sale. The property is a beautiful townhouse located in one of Sebring's most prestigeous communities, The Sebring Country Club.

Upon speaking with the owners, residing in the Ft. Lauderdale area, we learned that they had hired a Ft. Lauderdale agent to list, market and sell the property. Also involved was a Ft. Lauderdale paralegal to negotiate the sale with the lender. The Ft. Lauderdale agent had found a buyer for the town house. There is no doubt in my mind that both the agent and the paralegal are highly regarded professionals even though the bank didn't approve the offer and the buyer ended up walking and purchasing townhouse. Sometimes things just don't work out, right?

We work with a local paralegal and closing agent to negotiate all our short sales and so far 100% of our short sale transactions have closed successfully.

Here's why using local professionals is always your best bet:

1. A local agent knows his local market. He or she will be able to defend the listing price with carefully selected comparables.

2. A local agent knows local buyers. He or she will be able to substitute a local buyer with another local buyer.

3. A local agent knows his fellow local agents. If he or she can't find a substitute local buyer, he or she will know which fellow agent has a local substitute buyer.

4. A local agent will likely have a trustworthy working relationship established with a local paralegal.

5. A local paralegal will have access to the local MLS to pull comps, listing history and whatever information the lender might require in order to approve a sale.

6. A local paralegal and closing agent will be able to close the transaction in the county where the property is located.

Legally, we are licensed to sell real estate in the State of Florida. This literally means we can list and sell property in Miami even though we are located in Sebring, about 2 hours northwest of Miami. Practically, is this a good idea? Probably not! We have no knowledge of the Miami real estate market. We are not familiar with local customs, we are not familiar with the local agents and other real estate related professionals. We also do not have the time and financial resourses to travel back and forth to Miami to service the listing.

We live in Highlands County. We know our market, we know our fellow agents and we know how to list and sell real estate in our area.

If you own property in Highlands County, consult local professionals!

Is your loan a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae and why you need to know this:

Many homeowners who are able to pay their mortgage on time feel they are stuck in their home forever because they are not able to sell it for market value nor are they able to refinance and take advantage of today's low interest rates because their home is worth less today than what they paid for it initially.

The Making Home Affordable Program gives eligible homeowners with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac the opportunity to refinance into more affordable monthly payments.

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide "Loan Look Up Tools" on their websites for homeowners to check if their loan is owned or guaranteed by either of the companies:

Freddie Mac Loan Look Up Tool
Fannie Mae Loan Look Up Tool

What? Buyer Agents work for FREE?

This question comes up quite often when working with buyers, especially if they are from out of town or from out of state. Now before we go any further, let me say this:

Every state has their own rules and regulations regarding buyer agents and listing agents.
Every region within every state might have its own customs regarding many things pertaining real estate.

This is how it works in Highlands County, Florida:

Generally, buyers do not pay their buyer agent! The buyer agent gets a percentage of the commission the listing agent earns from the seller.

Let's say you are from up north and are looking to buy a retirement home in Highlands County Florida. You call us up and we discuss your wants and needs. After we have identified several properties that are of interest to you, we go out and take a look at them. As I have said in an earlier post, we are not limited to our own listings or office listings. We will show you any home for sale through any agent and any office. Now, once we have found your dream home and have written up an offer that was accepted by the seller, we move towards the closing table. You will not have to pay us a dime! Our services are completely FREE to you, the buyer!
The listing agent offers a split of their commission to acooperating broker once they enter their listing into the MLS. This is how the buyer agent gets paid. It will show up on the top portion of page 1 on the final closing statement and it will be paid out of the seller's proceeds.

Now it makes even more sense to call us to help you find that dreamhome in Highlands County - it doesn't cost you dime to work with a pro!