A recent NY Times article titled In Defense of Home Ownership makes a strong case for home ownership vs. renting.  Four key ownership benefits mentioned in the article are:

1. Lock in Housing Expenses – Fixed rate mortgages lock-in monthly payment and don’t increase like rents do
2. Forced Savings – Mortgage payment allocated to principal is a forced savings plan
3. Landlord Headaches – Landlords are a mixed bag, particularly the ones around here that collect rent and don’t pay their mortgages
4. Neighborhood – It can be challenging to find rentals, particularly those with 4 or 5 bedrooms for a growing family, in desirable communities

Here is a resource to begin your Fort Myers home search.

A huge shout-out to Coronado CA Realtors Christine Van Tuyl and Margaret La Grange for their blog post about why it is a good time to buy a vacation home.  While they were specifically writing about Coronado Island in Southern California, the fundamentals are applicable to our market here in Southwest Florida.

Here is the post written by Margaret and Christine:

Prices down 20-40% 40%-50%. In places like Coronado, CA and greater San Diego Fort Myers and Southwest Florida, you can pick up a beach cottage or high-rise condo at extremely low prices. That’s only the beginning. Lower prices and less competition are the tip of the iceberg-sized list of factors that make it a good time to consider a vacation home buy.

Interest rates. Rates, of course, are at historic lows. Lock in a good rate, buy a vacation home in a desirable location, and watch your asset appreciate over the long-term.

A relatively safe investment. Real estate has proven itself to be a safe place to park your money for the long-term. (Long-term is key). Stock market woes have always pushed people to look for alternate investments, and real estate is a consistent stronghold.

Make a profit. Or, better yet, make your vacation home pay for itself. Only planning on using your vacation home a few months out of the year? Rent it out short-term to vacationers looking for a great place to stay. Many homeowners make a killing listing their homes on VRBO.com. (Vacation Rental By Owner). When your monthly mortgage payment is less than or equal to one peak week rental, twelve weeks of rental will cover your mortgage payments for the entire year.

Vacation rental demand is heating up. Overall, vacation rentals are less expensive than hotel rooms, especially for longer visits and for families. Savvy travelers know this, and are heating up the demand for vacation rentals. In addition, the weaker dollar makes U.S. destinations attractive to travelers from countries with stronger currencies.

The pressure of bidding wars is off. Sure, you may not get bargain basement prices on a beachfront cottage—but you might if you’re willing to buy a few blocks away. Houses aren’t exactly flying off the shelves these days, but buyers now have less pressure to make a hasty decision. Buyers looking for deals on vacation homes can really do their homework.

Here is a resource to begin your search for a Fort Myers vacation home.

An article in the The New Brunswick Business Journal titled Becoming a snowbird can make good sense offers tips to Canadians looking to buy a second home in the US.  The article details why it is a good time to buy in the US right now and an organized approach to completing a purchase.

The Fort Myers market on Florida’s southwest coast is very popular with Canadian second home buyers.  Our climate is tropical, so chances are you are going to experience warm weather throughout your winter visit.  The beaches of Southwest Florida are beautiful and a magnet for young and old alike.

We are continuing to see heavy user traffic on our Fort Myers real estate website from Canadian users.  Last month seven percent of our website visitors were from Canada. Our team is experienced in handling the intricacies of a Canadian buyer transaction.  Here is a great resource to start your search for a second home in the Fort Myers area.

After a several year post-boom hiatus, the sound of nail guns and tile cutters is permeating the air at several Fort Myers area neighborhoods.  New construction is occurring at several neighborhoods across the region.  In many cases, builders are pricing new units to aggressively compete with the existing inventory of distressed property.  Some builders are also clearing out bubble-era unsold inventory at fire sale prices.

Buyers are benefiting from the aggressive incentives that builders are offering to quickly move inventory.  It appears to me that builders are making deals to raise cash to be able to purchase raw land at today’s discount rates

Fort Myers area communities with new construction availability and aggressive builder incentives include:

• Avalon Preserve / Taylor Morrison
• Bell Tower Park / Grosse Point Development
• Botanica Lakes / GL Homes
• Catalina Isles / DR Horton
• North Star Yacht Club / Liffey NSYC LLC
• Promenade at the Forum / DR Horton
• Residences at Coconut Point / Kosene & Kosene
• San Simeon / DR Horton
• Tarpon Point / Grosse Point Development

We track new construction opportunities and incentives and are available to provide guidance and representation to buyers interested in these communities.

Banks Fast Tracking Short  Sale Approvals

Just as we were getting ready to dump some tea from the Midpoint Bridge over our continued frustration with banks delaying short sale approvals……..the fairy princess of short sales has come to Southwest Florida and is approving these deals in droves!

We have a file draw full of short sale offers that we have made for clients, some stretching well back into 2009.  In recent days, banks have started aggressively working many of these offers with the goal of a rapid closing.  Just yesterday, we closed three short sale transactions, two of which had been in the pending drawer for over six months.

Much of my advice for buyers over the last couple of years has been focus your search efforts on foreclosure listings rather than short sales.  With the thaw in the approval process, Fort Myers short sales and Cape Coral short sales now look to be a more viable option for buyers.

Sanibel condos available under $300,000

Sunset on Sanibel Beach

Have you ever looked at Sanibel condos and passed because the prices were outside of your comfort zone?  It just might be time to take another look as prices have compressed in the Sanibel condo market.

At present, there are nine condos listed for sale with asking prices below $300,000.  Six of these are 2 BR units with a minimum of 750 SF of living space.  Units in this price range are generally 20+ years old and not upgraded with the latest finishes like granite counters and stainless appliances……but certainly these are projects that can be tackled after purchasing a unit.

While beachfront units are not available in the sub $300K price range, most are located within walking distance or a short bike ride from one of Sanibel’s wonderful Gulf beaches.

East End Sanibel condo developments with listings priced under 300,000 include: Captains Walk; Tennis Place; Sundial; Mariner Point

Mid Island Sanibel condo developments with listings priced under $300,000 include: Lake Palms

West End Sanibel condo developments with listings priced under $300,000 include: Blind Pass Condo

Here is a resource to view active Sanibel condo listings.

Distressed property continues to dominate the real estate market here in the Fort Myers area with nearly 2/3 of our sales either foreclosures or short sales.  If you missed the auction, here is a resource to view Fort Myers foreclosure listings.

One of the questions we hear nearly every day is, when will the economy improve and housing prices start to increase? This is one of those questions that is almost impossible to answer.  I believe that the answer is tied to job growth, which continues to be an area of concern here in Southwest Florida.

University of Florida Economist David Denslow recently spoke on the topic of Florida’s Economic Recovery and the Sunshine State News reports on his speech.  Denslow pegs recovery to demographics and the graying of America with a significant increase in baby-boomers looking to move to Florida.  The report about Denslow’s speech is a must read for anyone considering an investment in Southwest Florida real estate.

Canadian buyers are very active in the real estate market here in Southwest Florida.  At this time, approximately 7% of our website traffic originates in Canada and over 10% of our transaction in the last year have been with Canadian buyers.

Canadians are drawn to the Fort Myers area for our average annual temperatures of 72 F, our year round golfing and our Gulf coastline.  The Southwest Florida market downturn has reduced home prices in many upscale communities to a level of unprecedented affordability. Buying a Fort Myers foreclosure property from a bank is an approach many Canadians are taking to get the absolute best deal.

If you are considering a real estate investment in Southwest Florida, it is important to understand all the costs involved with both the transaction itself as well carry costs after you own the property.  A  Montreal Gazette column titled, Is it time to bottom fish for real estate in the U.S.? discusses these issues and is a must read for any Canadian considering an investment in Southwest Florida.

Zen Gardens Growing in Popularity throughout Southwest Florida

Sanibel Zen Garden

Long popular on the West Coast, creating a zen area in a home or yard is catching on in Southwest Florida.  The Zen movement has Buddhist roots emanating from China and utilizes meditation to attain enlightenment.

With year round temperatures averaging 75 degrees, most Southwest Florida Zen areas have been built outside in the form of a Zen garden.  Zen gardens are often viewed as a living work of art and often feature prominent stone compositions.  The living elements in the Zen garden are carefully pruned to create a near static picture-scape.

Here locally, the South Fort Myers high-rise development of Mastique has a shared Zen garden for its residents.  Also, there are currently a handful of single-family homes on the market with Zen gardens.  An estate home listed for $2.229M in the Fort Myers luxury gated community of Devonwood features an outdoor Zen area with a koi pond.  On Sanibel, in the waterfront sailboat access of Sanibel Isles, a single-family home listed for $2.1M features a wonderfully peaceful Zen garden.

If you are interested in learning more about Zen real estate in Southwest Florida, we are here to assist.

Tucked away in South Fort Myers off Cypress Lake Drive between Summerlin Road and McGregor Boulevard is the gated community of Palmettto Cove.  At full build-out, this condo community will have 204 units in 14 two-story buildings.  Currently, build-outs are complete in five of the 14 buildings at Palmetto Cove.

Palmetto Cove is anchored by a community lake and seven of the buildings in the development offer a lakefront setting.  The Palmetto Cove community amenities include a clubhouse with fitness center, meeting room, and library.  Palmetto Cove also has a community pool and spa.  Each condo at Palmetto Cove also comes with a detached garage.

Prices for completed, new construction 2/2 units currently start at at $102,000.  Condo fees for 2010 remain at $299/mo and includes building insurance; community amenities and landscaping.

Beyond the sunshine and warm weather, the tax benefits of a Florida residency can be substantial.  Everyone probably knows that Florida does not have state income taxes, but it is generaly less known that Florida estate taxes are more favorable than many other states.

One of the questions that many snowbirds ponder is whether or not to establish residency in Florida.  Boca Raton Attorney Allan Lipman offers a free online audio domicile guide that covers the benefits of establishing residency in Florida.  Lipman is licensed in both Florida and New York and his 10 part free audio guide provides numerous comparisons of the tax handling for both states.  A good listen for anyone pondering an investment in Florida real estate.

ABC-7 reports that a German shepherd named Snoop is being trained to identify Chinese drywall.  This innovative  approach to identifying toxic drywall is great news for Southwest Florida.  Snoop should be able to find the drywall even if it is just a sheet or two and not prevelant throughout the entire house.

I have another use for Snoop and that is to have him spend some 1 on 1 time with Realtors that are knowingly listing homes with Chinese drywall and not disclosing its presence.  The Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Board of Realtors needs to step up and create and enforce specific rules about listings containing or suspected of containing Chinese drywall.

WGCU hosted a panel of Southwest Florida real estate experts including Dick Hogan from the Fort Myer News-Press.  The panel discussed the state of the market and expectations for 2010.

Distressed real estate and foreclosures dominated the discussion.  The panel fielded calls from local homeowners facing foreclosure and having great difficulty trying to renegotiate with their lenders.

The panel discussion was recorded and is available for replay.

One of the buyer misconceptions about our current Fort Myers area real estate market is that banks will approve ultra-aggressive, low-ball offers on short sales and foreclosures.  Approving low-ball offers in Lee County has absolutely not been the operating model for lending institutions during 2009.   Particularly for foreclosures, much of the discount on these properties is reflected in the aggressive selling price.

The numbers speak for themselves regarding the ratio of selling price to listing price.  In 2009, 20,480 residential properties were sold in Lee County for a total of $2.7B.  The average listing price was $140,706 and the average selling price was $132,068.  This represents an average selling price to listing price ratio of 94%.  Anyone who tells you that banks are accepting offers at 50% of asking price is just not dealing with reality.

Complete inventories of Estero foreclosure listings, Fort Myers foreclosure listings and Cape Coral foreclosure listings are available on our site.

NBC-2 reports on unrecorded liens, a surprise post-closing challenge many buyers of foreclosed properties have faced in Cape Coral.

The current policy in Cape Coral is to not file liens for things like overdue water bills if the amount is less than $500.  In the scenario presented in the story, the buyer of a foreclosed building in Cape Coral received two water bills for over $800 that had not been recorded as a lien against the property.  Cape Coral’s Mayor John Sullivan vows to fix this issue so that buyers of Cape Coral foreclosures will not be surprised after closing.

A good Realtor representing the buyer would know to call the City of Cape Coral to check on any unrecorded liens.

Wink News reports that the foreclosure auction held last night at the Harborside Event Center netted sales of 75 homes.  Our market is still heavily weighted towards foreclosures with approximately two-thirds off all homes being sold falling into the distressed category.

We continue to see significant activity mostly from second-home buyers looking to take advantage of aggressively priced foreclosure listings.  Here are free web resources that are updated daily with the latest foreclosure listings:

• Fort Myers foreclosures
• Fort Myers beach foreclosures
• Cape Coral foreclosures
• Estero foreclosures
• Bonita Springs foreclosures

The first wave of foreclosures to impact Lee County were dominated by investor-owned single-family homes in Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral.  Many of these were the speculative products constructed by the likes of First Homes and sold to under-qualified and inexperienced investors.  These investors were the first to fall and many just walked away from their under-water investment.  Many of these homes have now been resold to new investors at 25% – 50% of he original price tag.

As reported by the Tallahassee Democrat, the next category of foreclosures impacting our market are more upscale owner-occupied homes.  These are homes are owned by middle-class Southwest Floridians suffering from the economic downturn.  As reported by USA Today, many have lost their jobs and are not having much success finding a new one.

These economic challenges have created a buying opportunity for anyone considering an upscale retirement home in Southwest Florida.  We are currently seeing foreclosures in upscale communities come on the market at significantly reduced prices.  Upscale communities like Gulf Harbour, Miromar Lakes and West Bay Club have been impacted by recent foreclosures.  Banks do not want to carry these homes and are doing whatever is necessary to quickly sell these properties.

Bonita foreclosures,  Estero foreclosures and Fort Myers foreclosures in upscale communities are hitting the market daily.   If you have considered an investment in Southwest Florida, now is definitely a good time to take a look.