Well here we are just a few days away from 2008 and all I can say is "Thank God I made it through 2007!" This has certainly been one of my more challenging years as far as Real Estate goes. But you know.....it wasn't too bad.Granted my sales volume was down about 30% from 2006 and my income was also down but.....I'm still here and I'm looking forward to next year.I was fortunate to have made some good real estate investments during 2004 and 2005 so I'm now able to sell off a few properties to supplement my income. Also, as most of you know, I'm now Brokering my family's Disney Vacation Club Resale business, Garden Views Realty, Inc.TLW and I just moved into our new home. So I now get to work out by the pool all day. Hey someone has to do it!!2008 is also going to be very challenging but... 12/26/2007

A rumor moving around the blog-sphere is scaring some area sellers into believing that that banks are not lending money for home purchases in Poinciana, Florida, a surprising rumor given that a home was in fact just sold in Poinciana just last week on 12/21 by, of all entities, a bank.  Folks, this is a scare tactic.  The fact is that, if this were happening, it would be an illegal practice called redlining.  Granted, only 400 homes have sold in all of 2007, money is still out there and banks are lending.  Agents encouraging this rumor are likely to be agents wanting to list your property for sale who may very well not be working with buyers.  If you run into an agent who tells you "mortgage money has dried up" for Poinciana, I would question this person as to which banks, exactly, are ... 12/25/2007

Today I had my last closing for 2007. Yippee!!! I made it through a difficult year. This particular closing is the definition for "get ‘er done!".I listed this property on January 5th 2007. It was my first listing of the year and fittingly my last closing of the year. It's been quite the ride.350 days on the market, 5 accepted contracts and at least that many that we didn't come to an agreement on. This property was in pending status for almost 200 of those 350 days.Our first Buyer got caught up in the sub-prime fall out and couldn't close since he no longer qualified.The next 2 Buyers got blown out by their MBs asking us to commit fraud at the last minute to get the deal closed.The 4th Buyer just disappeared. Finally, on our 5th try, we were able to get ‘er done. It wasn't easy. In fac... 12/22/2007

Hi folks. How many of you have heard "REALTORS® are the reason prices skyrocketed so high during the boom"? I know I have. Especially from the "bubble heads". They feel that we were out there setting prices higher and higher because the Buyers would pay it. There is some truth to that but the price was dictated by the market, not REALTORS®.I can remember, in 2005, going back and forth with Sellers on where to price their house. They would want to price $20,000 higher than the last sale and as hard as I tried, I couldn't talk them out of it, so we listed it. It would sell in a matter of days at their price!!! Then the appraisal would come in too low and the Buyer would agree to pay the difference. The market was pulling values up with me kicking and screaming!! So I did what any good REA... 12/18/2007

  Lenn Harley posted yesterday about market data and the media. She pointed out that it is not all about the price but also about the volume of sales. In her area the price is up 57% since 2002 but volume is down 59%. She explains it better than me so here's the link....go read and her post. I'll wait...........la la la la la la. Ok are you back?Anyway, Lenn's post inspired me to do a little research on my market, Poinciana, Fl., to see how things have changed since 2002.Here's a little chart I put together:Price and volume comparisons 2002-2007Poinciana FL.YEARSALES% CHANGEAVE. PRICE% CHANGE2002494 $ 94,000 2003716+ 31%$107,000+ 12%2004923+ 22%$131,000+ 18%20051256+ 27%$189,000+ 31%20061075( -14%)$217,000+ 13%2007409(-62%)$194,000(- 11%)OK, here are my comments. First statistics can al... 12/13/2007

 Hi folks. I was just sitting here today going over some of the consumer responses I have had from blogging. As you know, most of my posts are geared towards my peers BUT I do make sure they have good information for the consumer as well. It's been my experience that the consumer likes to see how we interact with each other.I don't make a distinction between Localism and ActiveRain posts. Whatever I write usually goes to both places, including this one. For me it works. Anyway here are some of the responses I have had. There are many more but I won't bore you with them. I just wanted to maybe show some of the newer folks that this place does work. Just be yourself."First I want to tell you I appreciate your honest approach. I need your help to sell my Poinciana house."We need someone l... 12/12/2007

Earlier today, I received a call from the Realtor/Mortgage Broker(RMB) on one of my pending deals. I was kind of expecting it but was hoping it would happen sooner rather than later. You see when this guy called me about a month ago, to let me know he was sending over an offer for one of my listing, the caller ID on my cell phone read FRAUD! When I was speaking with him I couldn't for the life of me remember why I had his number programmed in as FRAUD! Anyway, since it was an office number, I decided to give this guy the benefit of a doubt and we negotiated an acceptable deal with my Seller. I did all of my homework and actually had one of my trusted mortgage brokers review the Buyer's situation. All looked good to go.The Buyer was getting a loan of 100% through Country Wide with the Se... 12/05/2007

In mid 2005, one of my Investors had a contract to purchase a vacant lot that he was going to build a 10 unit condominium on. At the time, we negotiated a deal for $64,000 that was accepted and we also negotiated a 90 day "due diligence" period. The lot is owned by a REALTOR®. Once the contract was accepted we spent the next 75 days or so doing due diligence and we were satisfied that the lot would work for what my Investor wanted to do. So like a good little Broker I sent the owner over an addendum releasing our contingency and to let her know we were ready to close.Well, during this time, values sky rocketed and a similar lot sold for $245,000!! Needless to say, my Investor was ecstatic. The owner wasn't so ecstatic and decided NOT to honor the contract and refused to close. Well OK t... 11/30/2007

Today, I have spent some time, trying to get my head around the current market in Poinciana Fl. I need to know how many properties in our MLS(Multiple Listing Service) are currently in foreclosure, bank owned or requiring a short sale. For the purpose of this post I will call these "default properties". I must say, this data is not easy to get.The problem I'm having is a lot of the default properties are only mentioned in the comments section of the listing. If the REALTOR® hasn't clicked off the appropriate fields then the only way I can know if it is a default property is to read each listings remarks. Well, I can't do that. We have 1682 active listings and it would just take too long. Anyway, here is my analysis based on what I could find.  ACTIVE LISTINGSDEFAULT PROPERTIESPERCENTAG... 11/27/2007

Hey guys. I took a little time today to put together this resource for you. In case you hadn't noticed there were some excellent posts written over the last few days relating to the mortgage crisis. I've placed all the links in one place so I can send it to my Sellers. This is good stuff.Ten  Nine Writers with close to 200 years and 1,000s of closed transactions in experience writing their opinions on the mortgage crisis. These writers are Real Estate Brokers, Mortgage Experts, Fraud Experts and Title Agents who work everyday in the trenches. This compilation truly shows the power of ActiveRain. Use it.THE ACTIVERAIN MORTGAGE/HOUSING CRISIS RESOURCEEd Rybczynski-Mortgage Fraud Speaker and Expert located in MDA Recipe For Unmitigated DisasterA Coin Has Only Two SidesThe Metrics Of A Mark... 11/24/2007

Hi folks. This post was inspired by Lenn Harley's excellent featured post "CALIFORNIA SUBPRIME BORROWERS MAY GET RELIEF? - More Questions than Answers. If you haven't read Lenn's post, you need to. Make sure to read all the comments as well. She has a great discussion going on over there.Anyway, I had left a long winded comment on Lenn's post pointing out a few of the different types of Sellers I speak with on a daily basis and what they have done to create their problems. One of the things I pointed out was that Sellers in my area are just walking away from their properties instead of staying and fighting to keep them. Their properties are worth quite a bit less than what they owe on them and since they have no equity left there is no reason to stay.Lenn wrote this in response to my co... 11/23/2007

Online Videos by Veoh.com He we are two days before Thanksgiving and I can't seem to get off the phone. I really just want to take some down time and relax this week but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Too many people calling wanting me to list their properties. Normally that would be a good thing but since I am in a declining market, I spend most of my time just saying, "Sorry, wish I could help but I can't. Here's the number for an Attorney and here's the number for a management company. Good luck with that!."I hate it when that happens! I had three of those calls today. They call, I get their details, I do an analysis and then have to call them back and say,"Sorry...."At least I don't spend time going over to look at the properties. One advantage of being in the same mar... 11/19/2007

Hi Folks. I know I've written about this topic on several occasions but I feel it's worth repeating. Don't wait for people to find your blog, PUSH it at them. The way I look at it is, I spend a lot of time and effort putting together blog articles. Just about every thing anyone could ever want to know about Real Estate in Poinciana Fl, what I do and how I do it, I have already written about. Why not use it?    Here's an Email I sent out this morning: Hi Mr New Seller,   I have attached the listing agreement for your review and signatures. Also, there is a 5 page "Property Disclosure" that needs to be completed. Please initial ALL pages and sign/date where indicated. I will pick up the key from xxxxxx Realty on my way over to the house tomorrow morning. OK a couple of points: My suggesti... 11/15/2007

Good morning fellow Rainers. This post was inspired by Joslyn Panka's post "Pay up, or you'll be sorry". If you haven't read her post please take a few minutes to do so. It's a well deserved featured post and managed to get my mind working this morning. While I don't agree with Joslyn's take I certainly appreciate her passion towards her work. Passion is always a good thing.Anyway, this post is to clarify a misconception that some REALTORS® have relating to Buyer's Agent asking for a higher co-broke before they will show your listing.First, I want to say that everyone is free to choose how they want to handle their business. Some agents choose to work under a BBA (Buyer Broker Agreement) and will only work for a guaranteed fee, some will show their Buyers anything regardless of the co-b... 11/11/2007

Isn't that a purdy house? It's right down the street from one of my new listings. Competition is heating up in Poinciana Fl! Folks are starting to get very creative too. There seemed to be a lot more "For Sale By Owner" and "For Rent" signs than I normally see. In fact, just about every street had one or two. These are certainly signs of the times.A FEW OF THE SIGNS I SAW TODAY WHILE RIDING AROUND                                                                                                                                                                                                Now in case you are wondering, below is the sign that was in front of that beautiful home up top there. It's brand new(or so the sign says) and can be yours with no money down. What a deal!!!Folks, as many... 11/08/2007

On Sunday, I did something I don't normally do, I worked!! I had canceled a listing appointment on Saturday and figured since I would already be dressed up and lookin' real purdy from Church I'd swing by and meet with my future Sellers. I go walking in, as I usually do, full of confidence and ready to take a listing, when the Seller hit me with this, "What's your average days on market(DOM)?"Well now, I thought, that's a pretty good question. So being the professional, experienced, big time heavy hitter, top producer that I am, I answered him, "Heck...I don't know."I was thrown off track for a minute and then I had a flash, "What a great topic for a blog post!" So here I am writing a post about DOM (days on market).Now you're probably wondering how I, Broker Bryant, listing machine, cou... 11/06/2007

Hi humans. My name is A. House and I'm five years old. I know that doesn't sound old to you but for A. House in Poinciana Fl that's pretty old. Some nice folks gave birth to me back in January of 2002. They liked me a lot. They made me look real purdy too. I was dressed up in bright red carpet and my skin inside and out was bright pink. I guess they figured since my street name was Flamingo they would make me look like a bird. I didn't mind too much since they took excellent care of me.I knew they loved me. They paid $149,500 for me in January of 2002 which was a lot of money for A. House, my size, back then. I remember something about them not needing any money to give birth to me. So, maybe some of that money was closing costs but I'm not sure.Everything was going well and then all of... 10/24/2007

> This morning, I was talking to one of my Investors and he told me something that I was kind of expecting but was truly hoping wouldn't happen. "Broker Bryant, I spoke with my bank this week about placing an equity line on one of my Poinciana properties and they said they couldn't do it. They aren't lending money in Poinciana right now."Let me repeat that, "They aren't lending money in Poinciana right now." There it is, in plain English. I knew it was coming....but damn....I was really hoping it wouldn't be so soon.Sub-prime is almost impossible to get. FHA is clamping down on down payment assistance programs and now some banks have decided not to write loans in Poinciana! If you read my post earlier this week, "Poinciana is numero uno baby!" you know that Poinciana has the highest mor... 10/20/2007

Hi folks. I'm writing this post today to bring you guys a dose of "feel good about your market" stuff. So if you are feeling down and your market is beating you up, sit back, relax and have yourself a little read. It will make you feel better I'm sure. Unless of course you are one of my Sellers. In that case....sorry...but it is what it is.Our local major paper, the Orlando Sentinel, has been running a series on foreclosures and how they affect the market in Central Fl. There's a link below to the article that ran this past Monday. The Sellers, who are the feature of the article, are my Sellers in Poinciana. Some of you guys may know them as "The Lovely's". I'm briefly in the article as well. Anyway, here's the link, check it out. Here are a couple of excerpts from the series:"Only 924 ... 10/18/2007

 Hello fellow Rainers. Let's play a little pricing game today. As most of you know my market Poinciana Fl is really struggling right now. Properties are just not selling. In fact, for the month of September we had 31 closings out of 1,625 listings. Proper pricing is critical. So as a listing Broker I must get the price right from day one if I want to have any chance at all of getting the property sold. Even then, it wont be easy.So here's my situation. I'm meeting with a Seller on Saturday to place his home on the market. This particular Seller has been reading my ActiveRain blog for several months so is pretty much agreeable to whatever I came up with.His house is a 3/2 with an in ground pool was built in 1989 and has 1255 sq ft of living space. The condition is very good and it's pret... 10/02/2007