Florida Housing Market

I looked at two houses today that are for sale at or below what they sold for in 1989….. But now is not a good time to buy, no you better not… What if prices keep dropping? My sister’s friend said that she wouldn’t buy a house right now.

Let me reiterate I looked at two houses that are for sale at or below what they sold for in 1989. Oh and there not in bad condition. I had other clients just put an offer on a $235,000 house on the golf course that is at 1997 levels, turn key, and move the furniture in.

The reason I’m letting you all know this is because you might be getting fed negative information and I want you to take a serious look at your investments and see for yourself if it might not make a lot of sense to diversify into a rental property RIGHT NOW.

Not next month or next year, but right now!

I had the pleasure to hear David Dweck from BRIA speak this past weekend and it was nice to hear someone else in the local real estate market echo my thoughts.

I particularly liked the part about how he feels everyone “everyone” should own at least two properties a primary residence and an investment property.

In this market right now, when? “Right now” you can buy rental properties which will actually cash flow in the neighborhood of 10% to 20%. But I’m sure your getting that in your money market account or maybe in a CD at BofA.

What’s that, did I hear someone just whine about not wanting to be a landlord? Well in this market you can have a property management company handle that for you and still be left with a ROI many times greater than your getting now.

 These are investments that can help pay for your retirement. Hold on to them for five or six years and cash in on a nice chunk of long term capital gains.

Here’s another option, instead of buying property yourself, why not become the bank. Earn 10% by giving a first mortgage. You don’t need a lot of money, even $10K to $30K can put you in first lien position on a property. All transactions are handled by real estate attorneys and the buyers pay all closing cost.

Call me and we’ll talk about it.

Changing Lives, One House at a Time,
Todd Dawkins
561-714-5541

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Total Foreclosure Sales

"With average prices on disrtessed real estate trending down and average discounts trending up, this report is clearly good news for well-positioned buyers and investors looking for bargain real estate that will build them wealth in the long term and often cash flow as rental real estate in the short term," said James Saccacio chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "Maybe less evident, however, is the good news in this report for distressed homeowners looking to sell, and even lenders saddled with large portfolios of delinquent loans.

Saccacio said, "The jump in pre-foreclosure sales volume coupled with bigger discounts on pre-foreclosures and a shorter average time to sell pre-foreclosures all point to a housing market that is starting to focus on more efficiently clearing distressed inventory through more streamlined short sales - at least in some areas. This gives distressed homeowners who do not qualify for loan modification or refinancing - or who are not interested in those options and want to sell - a better chance of completing a short sale to avoid foreclosure. Streamlined short sales also give lenders the opportunity to more pre-emptively purge non-performing loans from their portfolios and avoid the long, costly and increasingly messy process of foreclosure and the subsequent sale of an REO - which may end up selling for a lower price than it would have as a pre-foreclosure short sale and in the meantime further stresses already overloaded REO departments."

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Lets Look at Our Local Palm Beach County
Foreclosure Barometer

Current:

When We Started:

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BBQ RULES

With Labor Day here we are in the midst of BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:
(1) The woman buys the food.

(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables and makes dessert.

(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - drink in hand.

(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.

Here comes the important part:

(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

(6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.

(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another drink while he flips the meat.

Important again:

(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauce and brings them to the table.

(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed her 'night off,' and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women!

** I met a real jerk this week that treated his woman like this -- Don’t be a JERK!**

Bar Jokes

• Two peanuts walk into a bar. One was asalted.
• A jumper cable walks into a bar. The barman says "I'll serve you, but don t start anything."
• A sandwich walks into a bar. The barman says, "Sorry we don't serve food in here."

• A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: "A beer please, and one for the road."

Bonus Joke

A guy walks into the psychiatrist wearing only Glad Wrap shorts. The shrink says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts."