Marci Miller’s funky, just-renovated Boise bungalow (circa 1905) had personality to spare. But the 1,200-square-foot house lacked the elbow room she and fiancé Dave Roth, 43, needed. The pair, both realtors, were ready to trade up. “The house looked nice, but the floor plan felt too small for us,” says Miller, 40. Boise’s once-hot market has cooled in recent months, a fact that the couple knew all too well from their work. Houses are sitting longer - an average of 74 days vs. 66 days a year before. Sales fell 37% from September 2005 to September 2006. And prices have slumped too, down an average of 3.5% between July and September, according to the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service.

Miller wanted to make sure her house looked buyer-friendly before putting it on the sluggish market. So she called in Jim Meadows. A professional home stager, Meadows uses interior design principles to make houses look appealing to buyers.

This bungalow had plenty going for it already: a prime location and $50,000 in renovations, including a new kitchen. But the combination dining room/living room made the house feel small, says Meadows. So he first removed some furniture to make the space less cluttered; then he brought in a couch, positioning it at an angle to form a pathway.

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The froth is gone from most of the housing boom markets, but that doesn’t mean that home prices are fizzling everywhere. The latest quarterly federal survey of home price appreciation rates, issued last Wednesday, reported that prices are still increasing in dozens of metropolitan markets around the country — and some are even experiencing double-digit appreciation rates.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s home price index examines appreciation and depreciation trends in over 275 markets. Unlike sales price statistics compiled by the National Association of Realtors or the Commerce Department, OFHEO’s data tracks the values of millions of existing properties whose mortgages were financed or securitized by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Overall, according to OFHEO, average home prices nationwide increased by 7.7 percent from the third quarter of last year to the third quarter of 2006. But most of those gains occurred in late 2005 and early 2006; the third quarter national price gain was just 0.86 percent or 3.45 percent annualized — the slowest quarterly appreciation rate since early 1998.

To locate the perfect home or condominum, Sarasota FL realtor Annette Smith is available to help you be an informed home buyer or home seller in today’s changing Sarasota real estate market. (more…)

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It’s amazing what buyers can get in today’s new home and resale market. Consider some of these recent promotions: $8,000 to closing credit to purchaser, special pre-construction price with 2.5 percent financing incentive makes this a stunning value, 5 percent closing cost credit (on $500,000 price = $25,000), free rec room, full bath and $10,000 in closing.

These are just a few samples of the available buyer assistance, upgrades, and financing options available to buyers who get into the game now and start negotiating. With 100 percent financing also available, it’s almost to the level of where an auto dealer says, “Sign and Drive.” A buyer who can qualify for the mortgage amounts, can get in for nearly $0 out of pocket with such incentives offered above.

Why is this available now? Builders are on a drop till you shop campaign, waging a battle against swollen inventories and dropping sales numbers. If you have a community of 100+ houses, inventory standing at 3 to 6 months and sales are down 15 to 25 percent — you would be wheeling and dealing as well.

Looking for that perfect Sarasota FL home for sale? Realtor® Annette Smith is ready to help you buy or sell your dream property. (more…)

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Sales of existing homes in Broward County bucked the recent downward trend in October, but don’t assume South Florida’s housing slump is over. Broward had 591 sales last month, a 5 percent increase over the 561 sales in October 2005, according to figures released Tuesday by the Florida Association of Realtors. It was the first year-over-year sales increase in Broward since June 2004.

While that might raise eyebrows, it does come with an asterisk. Hurricane Wilma affected the housing market last October, slamming the region during the last week of the month. Sales were canceled and postponed as buyers insisted on re-inspections and sellers scrambled to fix property damage.

South Florida’s housing market continues to face major problems: a glut of homes for sale, a lack of affordability and diminished buyer confidence, area housing experts say. Delray Beach real estate consultant David Levin insists those are “long-term issues.'’

To find the perfect home, Palm Beach realtor Annette Smith is available to help you be an informed home buyer or home seller in today’s changing Sarasota real estate market. (more…)

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When a family embarks on a new home project, how democratic should the decision-making be? Should Mom and Dad decide everything or should the kids have some say? There is no one-size-fits-all answer. The participation of the kids depends on the family, their style of parenting and the age of the kids, therapists who work with families said in recent interviews.

Some parents will welcome their kids’ input because they think that the more engaged their children are with the new house, the easier it will be for them to leave their old one. For these families, bringing everyone on board and reaching consensus on the choice of cabinetry, floor finishes, carpet colors and other details is more important than what the final results may look like, said Lenni Gimple Snyder, a psychotherapist in Kensington, Md.

Other parents will choose to limit their children’s input because they have a clear vision of what they want the new house to look like, or they think most decisions about the family, including ones about the new house, are best left to the parents, Snyder said.

Looking for that perfect Sarasota home for sale or condo? Realtor® Annette Smith is ready to help you buy or sell your dream property. (more…)

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In the good old days when I bought fixer-uppers, I had to be really careful when stripping old paint from woodwork. Many of these houses had been neglected for years before I bought them, but when they were young and owned by the well-heeled, these dwellings were treated to the best of what was available in the early 20th century, including, I’m sorry to say, lead-based paint.

Now, I’m one of those people who latched on to the idea of using a special encapsulating paint on surfaces such as walls and baseboards rather than stripping the lead-based paint and creating dust that would never be completely eliminated, no matter how careful the professional lead removal technicians were. The paint won’t work on surfaces such as windows and door frames where wood rubbing against wood creates lead dust and wears away the encapsulating material very quickly. The peer-reviewed Remodelors Council research is the most comprehensive study ever to look at the effects of common remodeling projects in homes with lead paint, the NAHB said.

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Elected officials and corporate America may finally be waking up to that fact that the world is no longer able to produce the coal and fossil fuels necessary to sustain America’s energy needs, and that renewable energy holds the promise of a better future for this and future generations of Americans. For builders, this realization represents an ideal time to consider a new, profitable business model that includes solar power in new home developments. California’s Million Solar Roofs Bill (SB 1), effective January 1, 2007, is the first step in what promises to be a jump start to an energy paradigm shift among property owners across the country.

“With this new law, California is on pace to becoming the Saudi Arabia of the sun,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Clean Energy Advocate with Environment California, the leading sponsor of the Million Solar Roofs bill. “The sky is no limit when it comes to how much of our energy can come from solar power. With high energy prices, rolling blackouts, and growing air pollution problems, everyone in California will benefit from the building of a million solar roofs in the next ten years.”

California Senator Kevin Murray, author of the new law, agrees with Del Chiaro. Murray, speaking at Solar Power 2006, dubbed the largest business-to-business solar energy event in the history of the United States, said that marketing solar energy to the public is essential if new laws like SB 1 are to be successful. “The technology is already here and it’s reliable, but the message needs to be relayed to the general public that solar energy is not some future technology only celebrities or the extremely wealthy can afford.”

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Back East, the Wall Street Journal’s bullish group of more than 50 economists were leaning 2-to-1 that the worst of the housing bust is already over with only mild price declines to come. “We’re nearing the end of the slowdown for most markets,” said Ethan S. Harris at Lehman Brothers, reporting to the Wall Street Journal. Out West, on the same Monday, Nov. 20, more bearish forecasters said the worst is yet to come with some areas still due for 5 to 15 percent price declines.

Rather than being swayed away from the housing market by gloomy housing news reports, as recent real estate industry complaints have charged, consumers pay more attention to their own, individual housing needs, goals and market conditions, then what’s published in the media. That’s exactly what consumer advocates have always advocated. When consumers think about buying or selling a home, what’s in the media is one of the last things on their mind, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

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In the luxurious neighborhood of Port Royal, home to the likes of mystery writer Janet Evanovich and mutual fund magnate John Donahue, homeowners are insulated from many of life’s daily cares — including the real estate slump. This year, 15 estates in the country club community have sold for $5 million to $16 million. But in the rest of Collier County, home sales have plunged a gut-wrenching 50%.

Elsewhere across the USA, the megarich are still snapping up homes in such enclaves as Vail, Colo., and Beverly Hills, and often paying cash. Sales of homes above $5 million are up 11% this year and are on track to break another record, according to an analysis by DataQuick Information Systems for USA TODAY. As for the national average, by contrast, sales are off about 8%. Prices fell in September for a second-consecutive month, partly because they’d soared beyond the reach of many.

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To gain insight into current trends in Florida’s real estate industry, the University of Florida’s Center for Real Estate Studies recently conducted a new statewide quarterly survey of industry executives, market research economists, real estate scholars and other experts.

The threat of spiraling insurance rates was mentioned as the biggest concern, followed by the softening housing market as the second most-mentioned trend.

Still, even if a sharp downturn in the housing market occurs as some analysts predict, Florida will be less affected by it than other states because of the insulating effect of its high population growth rates, said Dr. Wayne Archer, director of UF’s Center for Real Estate Studies. Despite some people’s worst fears, housing is unlikely to suffer the same fate as tech stocks at the beginning of the decade, he said.

For more information on this and other real estate matters, your first source for Palm Beach real estate should be licensed agent and long-time resident Caesar Parisi. (more…)

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