Tallahassee Real Estate Blog

I have been posting the Tallahassee real estate market charts on the Tallahassee real estate web site for the past week. In doing so, I and many readers were observing that the following chart is a bit baffling.

As we can see above, it appears that prices are rising…. yet we know inventory has risen and unit sales have fallen. What we expect to see is some downward movement on prices. I asked readers of this blog (and others) for opinions on why this was happening and really none of us had a good answer…..

UNTIL

Gooch recommended we look at price per square foot. He reasoned that maybe consumers were able to buy more expensive homes due to falling interest rates, but that maybe they were getting more house. So, this next chart is what  Gooch requested. It shows residential home sales in Leon County by price per square foot, across different price ranges.

Gooch, prices are indeed falling. While this is not the best news in the world, it certainly makes sense with unit sales being down.

So, how are the current asking prices for Tallahassee homes reflecting this?

As we can see from this, with few exceptions, there are many price ranges that have a majority of their homes over-priced. It appears that homes priced between $150K and $200K are priced very reasonably, while homes in higher price ranges seem to be off the mark quite a bit.

Just remember, in every market, their are unrealistic Sellers who ask more for their home than the market is willing to bear. They make the “average” asking price much higher than it would be if only serious sellers were in the market. Today, you can definitely find the serious sellers out there. They are the ones that have their homes priced well below their competition.

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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I received so much feedback on The Creative Cure For Selling Your Home article that I decided to follow it up with a “how and why” to consider a Purchase Money Mortgage when selling your home.

So what is a Purchase Money Mortgage?

Sometimes a buyer wants to buy a home and has good enough credit to purchase the home, but is short some of the cash that the lending institution will require to close the loan. In cases like this, the Seller can hold a note for some of the cash and secure it as a secondary lien on the home. When this is done, we refer to the Seller’s second a Purchase Money Mortgage. Let’s consider an example on how this could work.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith would like to buy a Tallahassee home. They find that Mr. and Mrs. Jones have the perfect home for sale in Tallahassee and it is priced at $250,000. The Smith’s go to the bank and discover that the bank will lend them $200,000 to purchase the home, all the Smiths need to do is invest $50,000 ($250,000 price - $200,000 loan = $50,000 down payment).

The Smiths look at all of their sources of money and discover that they can only raise $35,000, leaving them $15,000 short. So, working with an excellent and creative Realtor in Tallahassee, they make the following offer:

At closing, the Smiths get $235,000 as well as a note from the Joneses for $15,000.
This creative solution is simple and creates a large market for the Smith Home. Rather than have to lower their price to attract more buyers, the Smiths have attracted more buyers by making the house more affordable (not only to people with large cash reserves).

In today’s market, Tallahassee homeowners need to consider all the creative solutions possible to sell a Tallahassee home.

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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Well, it is finally started. After receiving so many requests for a permanent location to find real analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market, Century 21 First Realty has created the place! If you want to know more about the current trends in Tallahassee real estate, just following the link!

This page will be updated on a regular basis, with weekly summaries and monthly reports that will include charts, graphs, and analysis. As this will be a work in progress, often times you will be able to check out the Tallahassee Real Estate Reports before the summaries are even written.

You can also navigate your way to this site for great information on Tallahassee housing. Just go to our Tallahassee Real Estate Web Site (www.manausa.com) and click on the “Tallahassee Real Estate Market Update” link that is circled in the picture below.

As usual, we look forward to your comments and feedback to better guide our efforts at bringing Tallahassee real estate market information to you.

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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Today’s Tallahassee Real Estate Blog

This has to be a short one, as we have a lot going on in the office today. It is nice to see that plenty of people are still looking to buy a home in Tallahassee!

And speaking of buying a home in the Tallahassee real estate market, it looks like people are doing just that. This new chart was created from the most current data from the Tallahassee Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.

Of particular interest is the blue line and the green line. The blue line is the “pend trend” meaning the trend of new “under contract” homes. This began rising in September of last year and continues to do so. The green line represents the trend of the “consumed pendings” and historically hovers in the 70-80% range. This means that roughly 75% of contracts that are put under contract in the MLS actually make it to closing. When we see the number rise above that, we are either getting more efficient or the market is shrinking. Also, when we go above 100%, that means we are closing on more homes than we are putting under contract, meaning the market is definitely constricting. Above, the green line is a great sign, finally dropping below the 100% level. Once we see it settle in low 80’s or high 70’s, I will feel much better.

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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This is a video of a 5000 square foot home being built from the cleared lot to the finished home.

It is also my first attempt at figuring out how to use youtube in my business plan.

I would love some feedback on the entire process. Duration, picture quality, music selection, etc.

Watch A Home Being Built In Tallahassee By A Classic Builder

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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We are helping somebody sell a home in Tallahassee who is considering an offer from a Buyer that includes a lease-purchase provision. A lease-purchase in Tallahassee is an agreement where the Buyer and Seller agree to a sale on the home and then the Buyer rents the home from the Seller, prior to closing. The closing could happen as quickly as 1 day, or could be extended for a long period of time (even years in some cases).

So, why would a Buyer offer to do a Lease-Purchase? Why would a Seller consider accepting a Lease-Purchase?

A Lease-Purchase can be a very beneficial “win-win” opportunity for the right Seller and the right Buyer. Some of the reasons that they might conspire to do a lease-purchase contract include:

Typically, home buyers see the benefit of a lease-purchase right away, as they are in a position to need a creative solution to buy a home in Tallahassee. Often times though, I find that Tallahassee home owners are not so quick to see the benefits of a lease-purchase to help them out of their situation. I hope that some of this blog can help Tallahassee homeowners understand that they too have creative options.

As a Seller, most people would prefer to get cash for their home and then just go along their merry way. Unfortunately, in today’s real estate market, less than a third of homes listed for sale in Tallahassee this year will sell! That means 2/3rds of our homeowners will fail to sell their homes. So, in case that you are one of the not-so-fortunate ones, what are your options?

• Lower Your Price
• Take Your Home Off the Market
• Lease Your Home
• Give the home to the bank
• Sell Your Home With Creative Financing

Obviously, cash in hand is the favorite option. But when that fails, the other options must be considered. The lease-option will allow you to move from your home and reduce the cost of continued ownership. If you absolutely need to move, the benefits listed above will apply to you. You can lock-into a sales price, get higher than market rent, cash a non-refundable deposit, and eliminate maintenance costs. Additionally, when you let the market know that you will sell your home through a lease-purchase, you increase the size of the market for your home, thus making it more valuable (you will attract all the buyers you would have attracted before, plus buyers who need creative financing as well). And don’t forget, you can use the lease-purchase method of buying your next home as you wait for your tenant/buyer to close on the sale of your Tallahassee home!

But what about the additional risk?

There is definitely additional risk selling a home through a lease-purchase. A party could agree to buy your home, move in, and then never close on the property. They could even destroy the property while never paying you rent, forcing you to evict them from the property. While this scenario sounds horrific (and it most likely would be), there are many things that you can do to mitigate the risk of this occurring.

• Make the Buyer submit a full loan application (Download Free FNMA Uniform Residential Loan Application)
• Seller review the loan application and make own determination of credit risk
• Collect a non-refundable deposit large enough to motive the Buyer to close
• Make the monthly rent payment higher than market rate, with the excess to be credited to Buyer at closing
• Make sure separate purchase agreement and lease agreement (lease agreement drawn by attorney in accordance with Landlord-Tenant Act)

Ultimately, we are going to see a strong return of the lease-purchase agreement as creditors tighten borrowing standards and inventories remain high. Don’t be afraid to consider a creative solution if it partially solves your Tallahassee real estate problem!
FNMA Uniform Residential Loan Application Form 1003

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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More news from the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. I will be doing a good bit of research and analysis this weekend, so today with be just a quick graph from the new data.

So, let’s take a look at new construction in the Tallahassee real estate market. New permits and new sales data is something that I have been tracking for a very long time. We can get a feel for the near-future inventory movement by what is happening in new construction today. The following chart shows the relationships between Tallahassee new permits and new sales in single family homes in Leon County, Florida.

The red line represents new permits while the green line represents new sales. We can see that new construction starts have been dropping since January of 2006, and correspondingly, so have the sales just thereafter. This went on until March of last year, when permitting turned from the lowest level seen since I started tracking this in 1997. It appears that we are just starting to see the sales follow.

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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The February numbers are in, and it’s time to take a look at the Tallahassee Real Estate Market for the Month of February.

The first thing I check every month are the average prices of the major residential groups. Single-family detached homes, condominiums and town houses, residential lots, and mobile homes.

We can see that average prices are still moving higher in the Tallahassee Real Estate market. I’m not so sure why we are seeing this. This does not necessarily mean appreciation, it just could be an indication of what people are buying right now. More analysis on this is needed.

The next graph is for the Gooch, who always wants to know what is up with lot sales. Lot prices in Leon County, Florida are holding steady with the average Tallahassee residential lot selling for roughly $90,100.

Well Gooch, lot sales have trended down from a high of 228 lots selling per month in April of 2006 all the way down to 100 lots selling per month through February of this year. Tallahassee lot prices hit a monthly average high in March of 2006 at $113,000 and is currently holding steady at an average of $90,100.

There will be much more of the Tallahassee Real Estate Market Update for February 2008 in following blogs.

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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In yesterday’s blog, I analyzed the Southeast Area of the Tallahassee Real Estate Market for the purpose of demonstrating how to use the Free Monthly Tallahassee Real Estate Market Report that anyone can download from the Century 21 First Realty web site.

Today, we’ll conduct the same analysis on the Southwest Leon County real estate market. The picture below represents the Southwest Section of Leon County. The price ranges are featured on the left, and then 9 columns of data fall to the right of each price range. Those 9 columns are actually three sets of three columns. The first set of three are homes for sale in Southwest Tallahassee (All, New Construction, Resales), the second set of three columns are homes that sold in Southwest Tallahassee in the past twelve months, and the final column displays the amount of homes for sale in Southwest Tallahassee (measured in ‘months’ of supply).

Based upon what the above numbers show us, the Southwest quadrant of the Tallahassee real estate market has the least amount of activity of all the market area segments. With only 418 sales in the past twelve months, there is most likely not enough data to draw as confident of conclusions as we can in the more active areas.

Using this information I would advise somebody who wants to sell a home in Southwest Tallahassee, with a value between $200,000 and $250,000, that they have a whole lot of competition. With 8 comparable resale homes on the market and 3 newly built and available for a total of 11 homes, this price range is going to be very competitive for home owners. The Southwest Tallahassee real estate market sells roughly 1 home per quarter, so a serious seller would need to be the single-best buy in order to get a serious look from buyers in todays market.

We can see a “picture” of this data below, and it does shows that due to such a low sales volume in this area, the chart is all over the place. The months of supply go from as low as 0 and as high as 33 (almost three years worth!).

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

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In yesterday’s blog, I analyzed the Northwest Area of the Tallahassee Real Estate Market for the purpose of demonstrating how to use the Free Monthly Tallahassee Real Estate Market Report that anyone can download from the Century 21 First Realty web site.

Today, we’ll conduct the same analysis on the Southeast Leon County real estate market. The picture below represents the Southeast Section of Leon County. The price ranges are featured on the left, and then 9 columns of data fall to the right of each price range. Those 9 columns are actually three sets of three columns. The first set of three are homes for sale in Southeast Tallahassee (All, New Construction, Resales), the second set of three columns are homes that sold in Southeast Tallahassee in the past twelve months, and the final column displays the amount of homes for sale in Southeast Tallahassee (measured in ‘months’ of supply).

Based upon what the above numbers show us, the Southeast quadrant of the Tallahassee real estate market has more over-supply than the Northeast, but less than the Northwest.

Using this information I would advise somebody who wants to sell a home in Southeast Tallahassee, with a value between $200,000 and $250,000, that they have 54 homes that they are competing against, of which 17 are new construction. The Southeast Tallahassee real estate market sells roughly 6 of these homes per month, so a serious seller would need to be one of the best 6 buys in order to get a serious look from buyers in todays market.

We can see a “picture” of this data below, and it does not look nearly as friendly as the Northeast Tallahassee real estate market.

As a reminder for those who subscribe to the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog by email, some embedded pictures and videos might not be appearing in your email and you might need to click the title header to go to your browser where all will be visible.

Keep checking out the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog every day for updates that include charts, graphs, and analysis of the Tallahassee real estate market.

If you like this Article then please subscribe to my blog through a full RSS feed. You will be able to stay informed about the happenings in the Tallahassee Real Estate Market. You can also subscribe to this blog and have it delivered by Email.

Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.

If you'd like to forward this post to someone you think might be interested, simply click on the "Share This" link and click "E-mail."
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