Roy Cohen\’s Blog

Did you enjoy the northeast or Midwest’s winter last year?   Are going to spend another one locked in your house trying to stay warm?   Imagine endless sunshine, warm swimming weather, and active warm outdoor days and cool evenings.   It is all yours for the asking.

 Condo and home  prices have never been lower but it looks like we have hit a bottom.   While no one has a crystal ball every indication points towards prices creeping upward.   Inventory has reduced and banks seem to be moving short sales and foreclosures.   Non short sales and non foreclosure sales are just as competitive.   If you ever thought about spending the winters in South Florida now is a great time to make the move.   Call us today!

Did you enjoy the northeast or Midwest’s winter last year?   Are going to spend another one locked in your house trying to stay warm?   Imagine endless sunshine, warm swimming weather, and active warm outdoor days and cool evenings.   It is all yours for the asking.

 Condo and home  prices have never been lower but it looks like we have hit a bottom.   While no one has a crystal ball every indication points towards prices creeping upward.   Inventory has reduced and banks seem to be moving short sales and foreclosures.   Non short sales and non foreclosure sales are just as competitive.   If you ever thought about spending the winters in South Florida now is a great time to make the move.   Call us today!

Did you enjoy the northeast or Midwest’s winter last year?   Are going to spend another one locked in your house trying to stay warm?   Imagine endless sunshine, warm swimming weather, and active warm outdoor days and cool evenings.   It is all yours for the asking.

 Condo and home  prices have never been lower but it looks like we have hit a bottom.   While no one has a crystal ball every indication points towards prices creeping upward.   Inventory has reduced and banks seem to be moving short sales and foreclosures.   Non short sales and non foreclosure sales are just as competitive.   If you ever thought about spending the winters in South Florida now is a great time to make the move.   Call us today!

There are some really great buys out there.   Some as much as 50-70% off of their highs.   You can be in a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom 1470 sq. ft. apartment for under $75,000.00.   It is truely unbelievable.   Why spend another cold winter in the north or mid west when you can enjoy the best weather in the country?   Prices couldn’t be better.   For my Canadian friends, the dollar couldn’t be more favorable for you.   Don’t wait any longer.   We seem to be at or near the bottom.   The time is NOW!

Boca Lago Country Club is a wonderful, non-mandatory, country club community of approximately 1700 apartments, townhouses, and villas.   It is situated on 550 acres wrapped around two 18 hole golf courses and many large beautiful lakes.   The majority of the 8 subdivisions are 55+, the Horizons of Boca Lago is not age restricted.   Both the Horizons and Glades allow one small pet.   The others do not allow pets at all.

If you like to play golf and tennis, the country club offers both as well as fitness, dinning, and a strong social network.  The club itself is magnificent.   It has been recently updated and is a wonderful environment to be in.  No other club offers memberships that are more reasonably priced.   Boca Lago’s members are friendly and all are welcome.   You should inquire about joining.

Last but not least are our homes.  If it’s a 2 bedroom apartment to a 3+ bedroom villa you are looking for, now is the time to buy.   We have many units that are priced to sell.   Bargains by comparison to other communities.   Don’t wait any longer.   Now is the time to act.

I was listening to Jim Cramer, the financial expert, on MSNBC this morning.   I couldn’t agree more with his view of the current real estate market.   He pointed out that a key real estate indicator is the number of buyers who take back their deposits on new homes.   This number decreased by 50%.   That means more buyers are proceeding with their new purchase, and in most cases have been able to sell their current homes.   Mr. Cramer indicated that we are at or near the bottom of this market and prices will start heading up wards within the next 8 months.   I couldn’t wait to get on the phone with several of my customers who have been sitting on the fence deciding if now is the time is right to buy.   I believe it is, and I don’t want to see any of them miss this opportunity.   I don’t want to hear from them next year how they could have purchased the same house for $100K less last year.   When opportunity knocks you have to answer the door, it won’t wait around forever.   If you are one of those sitting on the fence now is the time to buy!

Prices had steadily declined for many months with each sale being lower than the sale before.   Now it seems, in our South Florida condo market, pricess have stabilized.   Buyers seem to be returning at a steady rate having made February 2008 one of our best months in the last few years.   March is heading in that direction as well.

I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again.   NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY!!! Don’t wait until prices return to a steady up trend.   Then you’ll be saying I could have bought that apartment last year for $25K less.   Now is clearly the time.   The stock market is shaky.   Without a great place for their investment dollars buyers will return to our paradise for  financial gain  and winter enjoyment.   Some recent sale prices have trended up.   Don’t wait, there isn’t much to be gained sitting on the side lines.   Buy while prices are low.   You won’t regret it.

As the market continues to “correct” and prices fall many customers and some agents want to blame us, the Realtors. I have heard many customers state that a particular Realtor is  ruining the value of the homes in their community.   I personally had an agent with another company chastise me for some of the  lower asking prices on my listings.   Aside from any legal arguements  about this agent’s statements, let’s be clear, we don’t create the market conditions that exist.   We assist the Seller’s in achieving their goal, which is to get their home sold so that they can move on.   In some cases it is a job transfer, an elderly widow or widower who needs to be closer to their children, and, unfortunately, some folks just can’t afford to continue living in their homes.   Pricing to meet the current market is one of the most important things we can do.   Although this market has been tough, with correct pricing we have been able to generate several sales for our customers.  

Every customer has different needs.   Some customers are in a stronger financial position and can afford to wait, while others cannot.   It is not our place to make these judgements.   Consultation with your customer is the only way to determine their situation and offer them all of their options and our sound advice.   As professionals it is our job to know the ever changing  market place and everything that is happening in it related to real estate.   Our value as agents  has to be more than  entering a listing in the MLS, it has to be our knowledge and professionalism, things that  separate us from the layman.   We have to give  insight that only a professional can give.   That is where our fees will be  earned, respected, and appreciated.

Through our expertise we will price our customer’s homes in accordance with the marketplace……………..so Don’t Blame us!  

Today I received a phone call from one of my sellers.   She stated she was annoyed with me because I hadn’t kept her informed as to what was happening.   I immediately looked  at my Outlook and I was able to see that I had called her 30 days ago.   I explained that I didn’t really have anything to tell her.   The market I am in is somewhat seasonal and we all know that the market in general is not all that strong.   There were a few lookers but no offers.   We have the unit priced correctly and with a little patience it should sell.   I promised to stay in touch with her more often.

After we hung up I began to think about how my customer must feel.   Four weeks go by without her hearing from me, her Realtor.   She doesn’t live at the property so she has no idea what’s going on.   The fact that I know the market is soft and we haven’t gotten into the season yet doesn’t mean she is aware of all that.   What a mistake I made.   I left this customer with a negative impression.   She obviously doesn’t feel comfortable with the way I have been handling her sale, and all because I haven’t communicated enough.   The ramifications of this will surely be either her not renewing with me  when the listing expires, not trusting my advice when negotiating a potential offer, and probably not referring me in the future.   None of this is acceptable to me, and can easily be avoided by keeping in touch with the Seller.   I have calendered phone calls and e-mails to all my Sellers for every 10 days. I will keep in touch!

It seems that for me, the biggest challenge in this market is staying motivated.   The ability to focus becomes more difficult when there is less to do.   At least that is how it is for me.   I constantly have to remind myself that, as with all markets, what has risen and fallen will rise again.   Activity will start up as soon as prices reach a low that is attractive to buyers.   Hopefully this will begin to happen and we can see the start of a recovery.   While I am realistic enough to know that it probably won’t happen fast enough, I still have to think positively about our market and convey that feeling to my customers.   Why would a potential buyer want to purchase from an agent who  doesn’t seem optimistic about the market place?  

Keep reinforcing the good points of this market to yourself.   Shut out the negative chatter we all hear in our offices.   It is amazing how we can allow our colleagues to bring us down with their constant complaints.   Tune it out because you want to stay  focused and be positive for your customers.   Your customers can sense it if you are negative and this can kill deals.   Make sure you’re in the right frame of mind before you get in the game.