Highlands County Talk

Bob & Betty Wannabuy are ready to move. They like their community but would like to have more space and privacy. When we first met with Bob & Betty, they had already looked at several homes and lost the #1 on their list to another buyer.

Fortunately, we were able to introduce them to a charming fixer upper with a lot of potential. They are in love. The fixer upper is bank owned and hasn't been on the market for too long. Bob had the home inspected for termites already. We wrote up the contract, made all neccessary disclosures and were ready to deliver the escrow check to the title company. Because the home is bank owned, Bob & Betty Wannabuy are required to submit proof of funds with their offer. "This is not a problem", says Bob. They are cash buyers. Bob & Betty own a business in town and the funds had to be drawn from different accounts into a single account in order for them to receive a letter from their bank.

Being good agents, we keep in close contact with Bob & Betty. When we called them last week, they told us all they have to do is pick up the letter from the bank. When we called today, they told us they were just too darn busy to even think about that letter.

Whatever their motivation might be, they might once again lose their dream home to yet another buyer that didn't wait around to make an offer on a great deal!

Greetings,

Andrea Mills, who is ready to write up contracts and deliver escrow checks 7 days a week.
www.millsrealestate.net

 

 

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Sold as of Dec 16, 2008

SFH MH Condo Villa/TH Duplex $100k and less 16 03 0 1 0 $100k - $150k 12 0 2 2 0 $150k - $200k 3 0 0 1 0 $200k - $250k 1 0 0 0 0 $250k - $300k 2 0 0 0 0 $300k and up 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 34 3 2 4 0

Scheduled to close by Dec 31, 2008

SFH MH Condo Villa/TH Duplex $100k and less 16 4 0 1 0 $100k - $150k 13 0 0 0 0 $150k - $200k 6 1 0 1 0 $200k - $250k 1 0 0 0 0 $250k - $300k 2 0 0 0 0 $300k and up 2 0 0 0 0 Totals 40 5 0 2 0

SFH - Single Family Home MH - Mobile Home on owned land TH - Townhouse

While November 2008 saw the lowest sales in the past 4 years, this month promises to look at lot better. Buyers want bargains and many of them are prepared to pay CA$H. The average time it took to sell a home in Highlands County is 122 days for overall sales, homes priced below $150,000 sell within 112 days.

There are plenty of great deals available, have your pick from 1965 residential listings currently available in Highlands County. 439 homes are available for under $100,000, 507 listings are between $100,000 and $150,000.

Our regular monthly Market Report will be available Dec 31, 2008 from our website, through our blog or by email upon request.

 

Greetings, Andrea Mills, who feels a bit dizzy after typing up all those numbers :)

www.millsrealestate.net
Yes, we are available to help you sell your home.
Yes, we are available to help you find your next home.
Yes, our office is licensed to list & sell mobile homes on rented land.
Yes, we answer our phones, give it a try: 863-202-0729 or 863-386-1111

We bought our home in 2005 (without using a Realtor (R)). It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom split floorplan, sitting on a 1/2 corner lot in a quite residential neighborhood. We have a nice size pool, privacy fenced. Both adjacent lots are vacant and wooded. The cats love it and our daugther has built her fair share of hideouts in those woods. It is our first home and I guess that's why it didn't matter to us that the bathrooms are tiny and part of the floorplan is disfunctional. We didn't care much about wether or not this was our dream home. The price was right and it had the space we needed.
Hubby and I agree, we'd never buy a home with a pool ever again. It was fun for the first year, then it became a chore. It's nice to look at while I'm doing the dishes. During the summer months it's too darn hot to be out there in the warm water.

Now that hubby and I are both in real estate, our criteria has shifted........somewhat. We recently showed an older home to a couple of buyers we are working with. It's not your typical Florida home. It has a deep porch, 2 stories, 2 fireplaces. It's a foreclosure, halfway renovated, beautiful original wood floors, a formal entry. Did I mention the deep front porch?

I'm one of those people that can't imagine why someone would want to buy new construction. It has no character, no personality, no past. It's brand new. It takes years to give it a personality. I'm one of those people that would buy an old fixer upper with a rich past. I'm the kind of person to see past holes in the walls and an overgrown front yard and imagine what it would look like once I'm done with it. I can walk through an old home and feel its past. I can see family gatherings, food being prepared in the kitchen, the laughter of children, rose beds, kitchen gardens.

I want a home like that! I want an old home that comes with a past. A home that speaks to me and tells me its story. A home that will not just be a home but part of the family. A home I will love sooo much that I can't imagine ever moving again.

What is your home like? Why did you buy it and what does it mean to you?

We recently attended a free class hosted by our board. The seat next to my husband was still empty. A local Realtor (R), whom I never met personally but know by name sat down next to him and introduced herself. When he said "Darrin Mills. Nice to meet you" (LOL, I'm glad he didn't say "Denny Crane!", we love the show), she replied "Darrin & Andrea Mills! YOU ARE ALLOVER THE INTERNET!"

It's nice to know that the time I spend blogging on Active Rain, answering questions over at Trulia and syndicating our listings to pretty much every RE website online isn't wasted time. If Realtors (R) in our MLS know us by name from the Internet, then chances are that sellers and buyers do as well!

My goal for 2008 (whoopee, I meant 2009): more internet presence, more google juice to our website, more folks saying "Darrin & Andrea Mills! You're allover the internet!"

 

Greetings,
Andrea Mills, who has sore fingers from typing!

www.millsrealestate.net

 

My daughter is a bookworm (she reads a 5" thick book a day) and she asked us yesterday about becoming a "book binder". We told her that nobody does that anymore for a living. My hometown is Mainz, the town in Germany where book printing was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450 - the story and pretty much everything there is to know about book printing and book binding is still very much alive today.

I was reminded of how much pride folks took in their craft in the good old days - and how many of these crafts have died a long time ago with nobody left to pass on the skills. When I was a small child, we brought our shoes to a shoemaker to get them fixed. He had inherited his shop from his father, and his father inherited it from his father and so on. There were no power tools in his shop, but piles of leather, a tub with goopy glue and lots of hammers. I remember sitting on the barstools infront on the reception area, popping hard candy from a big glass bowl. I loved the smell of leather and I loved watching this old guy fixing shoes. Nobody has their shoes fixed anymore, it's probably cheaper to throw them away and buy a new pair.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that did learn a "craft" the old fashioned way. Right out of highschool I began an apprenticeship as a hair dresser. There was no beauty college or school. For three years I was to learn the craft of cutting and styling hair from a "Meisters". After completion I was then a journeyman. For the first year I did nothing but sweep the floors and clean, clean, clean the salon. First year apprentices were treated like crap. No kidding! The point was to actually EARN the right to learn the craft and I found that the journeymen that told the most horrible stories about their first year were actually the hairdressers with the most clients. So, there had to be a connection between REALLY learning the craft and being successful at it. No EASY BUTTON!

Back in the olden days, once you had mastered a craft, that's what you did for a living - period. No such things as getting a license real quick because the real estate market is booming and then moving on to the next money making profession.

Now, real estate is not a craft and there's no moving up the ladder soley because of your skill. Brokers licenses are not awarded after 10 years of hard work, they can be obtained by anyone that meets the 2 year as an agent requirement - at least in Florida.

I truly believe that we will be able to escape the public's perception of being right there with used car salesman (no offense) if we take more pride in what we do and if we live up to the standards set forth in the Code of Ethics and make it the foundation of what we do each and every day.

Greetings,

Andrea Mills, who loves history and has tons of more stories about ancient crafts.

www.millsrealestate.net