Highlands County Talk

If you read my last article about "Staycationing in Sebring" you probably wonder if swimming and tanning on the beaches of Lake Jackson is the only fun Highlands County has to offer. Not by far!

We are one of the many lucky families that get to staycation in Sebring this summer. The $5,000 a week horseback riding camp just wasn't in our budget. Thanks to Granny living in Frostproof, our daughter got to spend time with 7 cute puppies, baked cookies, watched silly sitcoms from the 50's with Grampa and Grampa got to eat more ice cream because you gotta have ice cream around with an 11 year old visiting. 

Heartland Horses & Handicapped offers weekly horseback riding sessions for a donation of $5. All proceeds support Heartland Horses & Handicapped's free riding program for children and adults with special needs. 

My daugther is 11 and of course she loves horses. She had a blast. She couldn't believe she would get to ride on a real horse! It was a great surprise for her and something to remember for a long time.

If your kids are telling you they're bored during the summer break, check out Heartland Horses & Handicapped. $5 is only a small price to pay and they'll be happy to have you over.

Check my monthly calendar of events for dates and driving directions.

I send frequent market updates about Central Florida Real Estate to all my current clients, potential clients and past client. The #1 complaint I hear from expired listings is "She never called us, she never kept in touch with us!"

I want my sellers to be up to date on market changes. I'm selling THEIR home, shouldn't they know how the market is doing? The best and easiest way to do this is with market updates. It enables my clients to understand why I'm doing what I'm doing. Graphs work great. They tell the whole story in one single picture, no need to weed through tons of numbers.

I export my numbers from my MLS into Excel. I use the $/sqft approach. I highlight the SOLD properties in green, ACTIVES are yellow, EXPIREDS are red and my client's listing is blue. My list is ascending with the lowest $/sqft on top. They can see in a split second how they rank. If their blue line is within the green section, they're good! If it's not, then we might have to talk about an adjustment.

I also preview new listings in my clients immediate neighborhood. The MLS gives me numbers but I do not want to rely on another agent's remark in the MLS describing a 10 year old kitchen as "newer". I want to see for myself. I want to be able to tell my clients that the listing that looks like a fierce competition to them on paper is not nearly as neat and updated and ready to move in as their own listing. I try to include a short description for every listing I have previewed. I also include a short paragraph of how my market is doing in general and add deadlines for taxes and a short calendar of events for my area.

I try to approach FSBO's in my client's neighborhood to find out how much they are selling for, what their features and terms are. I do include them in my market update but I make sure they are marked as FSBO.

I package all that information in a template I have created. I use Microsoft Publisher (so much easier to work with than Word) and then convert it into pdf files. My updates are ready to be attached to emails AND can be printed for snail mailing.

Some clients want to hear from me once a week, some don't want to be bothered that often. I ask my clients about their preferrence when I take their listing and I make sure that they will hear from me once a week if that's what they asked me to do.

I follow up on my emailings and mailings with a phone call on Mondays.

Below is the template I use for Market Updates as well as monthly newsletters:

Andrea Mills - "Central Florida Real Estate - Be Your Seller's Partner" Copyright 2008 *All Rights Reserved

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/

I can count the buyers that haven't asked me to show them short sales on one hand. Everyone is after them and there's plenty short sales and foreclosures available in Highlands County.

Dear Bargain Hunters, short sales are most likely not turnkey. They are most likely not ready to move in. Don't expect curb appeal. Don't ask for seller concessions. Short Sales are WYSIWYG's - What You See Is What You Get.
If there's a big ol' hole in the roof, you'll buy it that way. If the walls haven't been painted since Jay Leno took over the Tonight Show, then this is what you'll buy: Johnny Carson era wallpaint. You get the picture.

There are exceptions: I recently showed a new construction short sale. My buyer was excited. Asking price $100,000. Gorgeous kitchen! Nice open floorplan, not huge but perfect for a starter family. We noticed that washer/dryer and the refriderator were missing. All other appliances still had the tag on them. My buyer asked if the seller would furnish the missing appliances. No! The seller is in a financial hardship. If he wasn't, then the appliances would be there and the home wouldn't be offered at this bargain price. Then my buyer asked if the seller's lender would furnish the appliances? No! The seller's lender is already losing money. They lend money, they don't stage homes. Then the buyer asked if the seller would take less than asking price to make up for the missing appliances. No! The seller can accept less but the lender will have to approve what the seller accepts. Again, the lender is already taking a loss. Will the lender take even more of a loss because the buyer's offer is contingent on replacing missing appliances? Not very likely!
As we walked out on the covered and screened porch, there was big puddle of rain water sitting on the concrete floor. No doubt, it had rained through the screen. Happens all the time in Florida during our rainy season and it's no big deal. However, the concrete had a nice layer of mold where the puddle was. The concrete porch didn't have any drainage. Rain water had been accumulating and sitting there for quite some time. "Will the seller fix it?" Not sure. "Will the lender take less because the concrete floor is mold covered?" NO!

My buyer asked to see homes other than short sales.

I don't mean to discourage you from hunting down a short sale bargain. If you have the time and some elbow grease and maybe some extra cash - I can find you great bargains in Highlands County! No problem at all!

If you're looking for a nice single family home where the seller will give concessions and is open for negotiations, then short sales and foreclosures are probably not your cup of tea. Best of all, there's plenty of those around and many can be had for a reasonable price too!

Andrea Mills - "Short Sales - Hunting down that bargain" Copyright 2008 *All Rights Reserved

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/

Some time ago, agents started wearing "Now is a great time to buy" buttons in an effort to support NAR's campaign to educate buyers and encourage potentials to get off the fence. I have read quite some not so nice commentary from agents in the fields about this campaign. At the time, both my office manager and his wife wore the buttons. Personally, I thought they were cheesy looking and I didn't think it would encourage anyone to actually buy.

However, back then it was indeed a great time to buy and it still IS! However, we all know that his window will eventually close and sellers might not be that willing to negotiate the "give away" of their home anymore once prices have stabilized (and that might be just around the corner, depending on where your market is).

I attended a seminar yesterday and received a handout; an article by Peter Lynch. He clearly makes the case why THE TIME TO BUY IS NOW, not next year when prices might have decreased and interest rates have gone up:

Beautiful 3/2/2 in a nice neighborhood, the wife loves the kitchen, the kids haven't stopped talking about the pool.......
JULY 2008: $218,900 with 20% down | 30 year fixed at 5.5% = $994.31 (principal & interest)
JULY 2009: $197,010 with 20% down | 30 year fixed at 6.0% = $994.94 (principal & interest)

Now considering this home was in Highlands County: the FHA cap is currently at $270,000, which buys a whole lot of home in the Heartland.

Maybe it's time to think again...........how much will you really safe trying to wait out the market?

Andrea Mills - "Beaten to Death? Now is a great time to buy .... or not so dead after all
Copyright 2008 *All Rights Reserved

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/

For the last couple of weeks, I've been driving by a caladium road side stand every morning on my way to work and it reminded me of when I was a little girl in Germany and my Mom's favorite house plant was a vividly colored caladium. In Germany, due to the climate, they can only be grown indoors. Here in Florida, they grow adorn front yards! Oh, I know my Mom would love that!

I live in Avon Park, 30 minutes north of The Caladium Capital of the World - Lake Placid, where 98% of caladiums are coming from. I visited the Annual Caladium Festival in Lake Placid last year and had a blast. Not only do you get to pick and choose from an endless variety of caladiums offered for sale, you can sample mouthwatering foods and refreshments, take a bus tour to the caladium fields (don't forget your camera), marvel over arts & crafts by local artists and completely free of charge, admire the many wall murals, which give Lake Placid its second nickname: Town of Murals.

Dates for this years festival are: August 22, 23 & 24 2008

I'm hoping to have my Mom visit me in the Heartland of Florida one of these days. I'd love for her to see the caladium fields in Lake Placid.

Andrea Mills - "Celebrate Caladiums" Copyright 2008 *All Rights Reserved

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/