Bryant Tutas's Page

A Few Essentials For Learning Your Local Real Estate Market.

Hi folks. About a month ago I did an interview with Tim and Julie Harris of the Harris Real Estate University. One of the listeners posed a question that has been on my mind ever since. The question was "How do you learn your market?". It caught me a little off gaurd. Not that I don't know the answer but that someone in our business had to ask the question.

• Knowing our market is what our job is all about.

• Knowing our market is why buyers and sellers need us.

• Knowing our market is what gives us confidence in our business.

• Knowing our market is how we know where and who to market to.

• Knowing our market is how we plan for the future.

Knowing our market is so important that if we don't know it we will surely fail. It's just a matter of time.

But having said all of that......"How do you learn your market?" is a very good question and one that I'm going to try and answer. To begin with, knowing your market means being able to answer the following questions if asked. There are many more but these will get you started:

1. How many properties are for sale in your market today?
2. What's the average price?
3. What's the average days on market (DOM)?
4. What's the median price?
5. How many properties sold last month? Last 6 months? Last year?
6. How many properties are currently under contract (pending)?
7. How many of the sold properties were Short Sales? Foreclosures (REOs)?
8. What's the "sold price to list price" ratio?
9. What's the absorption rate (Active listings divided by a month's average sales)?
10. Are values declining or increasing?
11. Is inventory declining or increasing?

These questions are asking for essential market information that buyers and sellers will want to know. The answers to all of them can be found in your MLS system. I check my MLS hotsheet every day first thing in the morning. I want to know what is going on in my market. Make this a DAILY activity. And while you are at it go ahead and solicit the expired and withdrawn listings. Kill two birds with one stone. This one little daily exercise will give you market confidence AND you will also pick up listings. I've done this daily for 15 years.

By answering this next batch of questions you will become even more of an expert on your market. By knowing the answers to these you will be able to laser focus your marketing.

1. How many total properties are located within your market?
2. What's the average age of the folks that live there?
3. Who's buying property there? Are they relocation buyers? Move up buyers? First time home buyers?
   
4. What mortgage products are they using? FHA? USDA? VA? Conventional? Cash?
   
5. On average how often do folks move OUT of your market?
6. Where are they moving to?
7. Who are the largest employers?
8. What Real Estate Company does the most business? What agent? Listing side? Selling side?
9. What percentage of business do they have?
10. Who sells the most REOs? The most Short Sales?

Folks, you may have to dig a little deeper for the answers to these questions. Some can be found in your MLS. For others you may need to contact your Chamber of Commerce. Or you can check online at sites like ZipSkinny.com (just remember these sites will be far more accurate once the census is completed).

So that's it for now. Hopefully this post will get you started in the right direction. Let me know if you have any questions for me. Does this help?

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Short Sales Can Be Frustrating. However You Do NOT Have To Go It Alone!!!

Hi folks. Have Short Sales got you down? I know from experience that dealing with Short Sales all day every day can be very frustrating. BUT......it is what it is. NAR put up a good fight a few years back to keep Banks out of Real Estate. And NAR won!!! You wouldn't think that today would you? Banks found their own way to control the Real Estate market.....REOs and Short Sales.

I struggle with this because I'm a control freak. Not only do I have to be in control but things have to make sense to me.

Kind of funny in this current market isn't it? I have no control and nothing makes sense. But Real Estate is what I do. So I have to keep moving forward. I have to figure out how to work within the system. People in my market need my help and I would be letting them down if I didn't learn everything I can about Short Sales.

That's why Wendy Rulnick  and created www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com. We needed a place to go where we could get help and support from others in our industry that are going through the same things. If you haven't joined us yet then you are missing out. We now have almost 3,600 members who are helping each other with Short Sales.

You do NOT have to go it alone. Pop on over an join us. We'd love to have you. Here are some samples of the conversations going on today:

***CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO JOIN US. BUYERS AND SELLERS ARE WELCOME***

Are you facing foreclosure in Florida?

IBM is now in the Short Sale Business as LBPS...

.......Lender Business Processing Service.  Not quite sure how long they have been offering their servies to lenders but I have just had my first experience with them this week. In fact, I am on hold with them as I write this article. I've been on hold for over 2 hours!!!

I wrote a post a few weeks back about receiving Short Sale approval from Chase in 5 days. My approval was good until August 23rd. I had a really great Chase negotiator by the name of Gregory Williams. Mr. Williams is awesome at what he does and always responded to me very quickly. I emailed him last Friday asking for an extension of a couple days so we could get the transaction closed. He called me immediately to let me know the file had been sent over to LBPS and Chase had nothing else to do with it. YIKES!!! This is NOT what you want to hear 2 days prior to closing!!

Anyway, like the good little Broker I am, I did not let it derail me and instead just picked up the phone and called LBPS. That's when the fun and games began. I have now spent a total of 6 hours on hold this week and still have not sorted anything out. In fact, that 6 hours has been spent doing nothing more than holding to confirm that my LBPS 3rd Party Authorization has been received and approved!

I fear this is going to be a very painful experience. While I was writing this article (still on hold) I received an email from one of my other Sellers to let me know his loan was also just sold to LBPS. Oh well....no one ever said our jobs were supposed to be easy. I guess I best figure out the LBPS system!

Here's some info put out by IBM LBPS.

Folks, if you have a loan being serviced by IBM Lender Buisness Processing Service (LBPS) and are facing foreclosure, PLEASE contact me so I can help.

Are you facing foreclosure in Florida?

A Tour Of The SoliVita Riviera Spa and Fitness Center Pool Area.

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And the new Palms Amenity Complex with it's state of the art fitness studio and 4,000 sg ft pool. Professional staff on site. Oops! I forgot to mention the tennis courts, pickle ball courts, horse shoe pits, dog park, softball fields and nature preserves. You really just need to come have a look. Houses from the low 100s to mid $500s.

Want to find out more? 407-873-2747
www.RealEstateSolivita.com

www.YouTube.com/SoliVitaRealEstate

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Owner Financing. The way of the future.

Owner Financing Available on this Country Estate Home

$250,000

Hi folks. What happens when lending guidelines tighten even further? What do folks do that have just gone through a Short Sale or foreclosure? How are Buyers going to be able to purchase a home now that their credit is shot? How are you going to be able to sell your home?

Well how about offer financing?

Let's look at the numbers. You own a home worth $100,000. If you had no mortgage on it and sold it the numbers would look like this.

Purchase price                $ 100,000

Real Estate Com            (      6,000)

Tax Stamps                   (         700)

Title Insurance               (      1,000)

Misc.                             (         100)

                                  -------------

NET                               $   92,200

                                  ==========

Now what if you held financing for 5 years instead. First you'd be able to get a little more for the property since more Buyers would qualify. In fact it's very possible to get 10% to 20% more. but for the purpose of this illustration let's use 10%. Let's also use a 25% down payment with the balance being amortized over 30 years at 8.25% with a balloon payment in 5 years. OK here goes....

Purchase price of           $  110,000

Real Estate Com            (     6,600)

Tax Stamps                   (        770)

Title Insurance               (     1,050)

Misc.                             (        100)

Held Mortgage               (    82,500)

                                  --------------

NET                            $     18,980 at closing

60 Payments of $620         37,200

Balloon Payment                 78,700

                                 -------------

5 Year NET                $   134,880

                                  =========

The difference is $42,680 or 46.3% for waiting 5 years. That's a pretty big deal. These numbers also work if you are considering renting the property out. The Seller financing is usually a better deal.

***Of course you should discuss this with your Attorney and CPA before making a decision.

Are you facing foreclosure in Florida?