Hi folks. Today is the big day!! This is the official launch of my new social network BBsWorld.com. This social network is open to all and is all about ME, ME, ME, ME!! OK….just kidding. While that does sound like an excellent theme for a social network it’ll have to wait for another time.  

Today I’m launching a social network at http://poincianapeeps.ning.com. And fortunately, it’s NOT about me. It’s about Poinciana. This social site is being provided free of charge as my gift to you…..my Poinciana Peeps(friends).  

Poinciana Peeps is a place where residents and friends of Poinciana can go to share their thoughts, ideas, news, videos, music or anything that may interest Poinciana Peeps. 

I’m hoping that with time this will be the go to spot for everything Poinciana.  

So….take a minute and click on the link below and come join us at Poinciana Peeps!!!

POINCIANA PEEPS COMMUNITY SOCIAL NETWORK

Today, I thought I would post a blast from the past. Below is my very first blog post. I wrote this article on July 8, 2006. It still rings true today.

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My market area is Poinciana one of the fastest growing PUDs in the country located in  Kissimmee,Fl.  As of this morning there were 1434 homes on the market in our two zip codes ranging from $135,000 to $650,000. Twelve months ago there were approximately 250 homes on the market. Where have all the Buyers gone? Have they floated away? Or are they just letting out a deep breath after a hectic buying frenzy? Based on what I am seeing they are still here but spending more time weeding through all the overpriced properties trying to locate the Sellers that need to sale.

Poinciana like many other markets of affordable housing and strong rentals is over saturated with Investor owned properties. Investors who got into the game to late. Their initial plan of purchasing and flipping for a quick profit has now flopped. Their overpriced properties are easy to spot.

The “For Sale” sign is sun baked and askew. The wildlife is running rampant through the jungle like yard. There are still lock boxes on the front door, garage door, water spicket, chain link fence and back door from Realtors who have tried and failed. As you pull up with your Buyers to show this “Brand new, cute doll house in excellent condition. Priced to sale!” with the “Motivated Seller. Bring all offers.” the hostile neighbors armed with gardening tools confront you wanting the grass mowed and the garbage picked up. The Buyers wisely stay in the car and politely yell out the window “Think we’ll pass on this one”. Hey, they are in hurry there are 75 properties that meet their parameters and they want to see them all.  So after a quick stop at the CITCO to put another $95 worth of gas in my SUV we head on down the road to the next “Pride of ownership shows” listing.  

This post is about “disintermediation". I have a whole bunch of stuff I could write about this topic but today I want to concentrate on Real Estate portals, specifically Trulia, Zillow and Cyberhomes.

First, in a nutshell, “disintermediation” is defined as “getting rid of the middleman". The idea is that Sellers and Buyers no longer need agents and can just log on to Trulia, Zillow, Cyberhomes or any of the other real estate portals and buy and sell real estate without the help of the middleman or REALTORS® specifically. Now folks I don’t want to debate the value of a REALTOR®. Been there done that.

I want to talk about this disintermediation thing. Here’s what I think.

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Folks, prices in Poinciana are coming down. Might be a good time to purchase a pool home. How about this one? 

This article was inspired by some recent debates I have been having with another blogger. I will leave that blogger anonymous unless of course they want to chime in.

Anyway, it seems that this particular person’s message keeps getting lost because of their presentation. Their presentation is always full of harsh criticism, focus on others, blame and an unwillingness to “open their mind” to other possibilities. They are not the only one. We have all fallen into this trap before.

It happens when we disagree with someone and instead of responding we react. Responding is taking the time to think things through and then debating the topic with a calm and well thought out response. It implies listening beyond the words and reflecting the feelings. That’s why it’s important to know what perspective folks are coming from. How are they looking at this situation? Responding is most likely to create a climate where honest, frank communication can occur.

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Sometimes I dream of the simple life. No debt, no stress. Just sitting on my front porch enjoying the afternoon breeze without a care in the world. If I lived here I could realize that dream. How about you?  

I was thinking about all the people that have become a part of my team over the years. I’m one of those people that doesn’t like change. When I find someone that does a good job for me I stick with them for years through thick and thin. I like working with people that I trust and have known for a long time. By doing this, I have been able to build up quite the network of people that help me in my business. I trust them, they trust me and we refer business back and forth constantly. Here’s a list of my “partners” and the number of transactions I have had over the years that were a direct result of them sending me business.  

• Cara-my closer-12 years-3 closings.
• Jay-my handyman-10 years-3 closings.
• Sally-the mail lady-8 years-4 closings
• Wendal-ac man-10 years-6 closings
• Charlie-electrician-3 years-9 closings.
• Nigel-lawn service-8 years-4 closings
• Charlie-locksmith-9 years-9 closings

That’s 38 transactions! Just for being loyal.

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Hi folks. Today I’m going to talk a little bit about short sales.

I want to see if I can help when it comes to working with Sellers of short sales. How to price the property properly and how to negotiate the deal.

First, if you are a Seller facing foreclosure, a short sale could be a viable solution for you and the Lender. Seek the advice of an Attorney and an experienced REALTOR®.

My market, Poinciana FL, is saturated with short sale listings. Some will be successful but many more will not.

The key to being successful is pricing and negotiating.

When meeting with a Seller, who may be a candidate for a short sale, it is imperative that the property is priced right. When I say “priced right” I mean as close to market value as possible at a price that will get the property under contract quickly.

One of the problems I see in my market is that short sales are priced way to low. It seems like listing brokers are just picking a number out of the clear blue sky and placing the property on the market. While they may generate a lot of activity, these deals, more than likely, will not close. Plus they are doing the Sellers a major injustice. The Seller will either be foreclosed on or end up with a huge deficiency judgment against them. Not to mention the possibility of owing good ole’ Uncle Sam some money.

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Lenn Harley wrote a post yesterday titled “HIGH RISK RATING BY FANNIE MAE?? HOW ACCURATE IS IT?“ If you haven’t read it yet please take a minute to do so as it is very good “Hard Core Real Estate", as usual.

Lenn’s post is talking about Fannie Mae rating one of her market areas in Virginia as “high risk” and therefore requiring Buyers to have a larger down payment and higher rate than what they would normally qualify for.

The problem with this, as Lenn points out, is that Buyers with very good credit are being penalized because the area they want to purchase in has been categorized as “high risk".

Now folks, my market, Poinciana Fl. Has also been categorized as “high risk". This is due to our high rate of mortgage defaults and our rapidly declining property values. The Lenders, in order to protect their interest, are looking at loans real hard and are requiring larger down payments.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not redlining! Every time I write about this folks tell me it’s an illegal practice and they can’t do that. Well they’re wrong! Lenders have every right to not lend money or require stricter guidelines in areas where there is a history of bad loans.

What the Lender can’t do is base this decision on……..well here, read this:

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Hi folks. As I was reading my daily “Early Bird News” put out by our Florida Association of REALTORS® I was enlightened by the real reason for our housing downturn. This may come as a shock to some of you……are you ready?

Speculators may have accelerated housing downturn!

Speculators! Who would of thunk it. Well I sure did. My market, Poinciana Fl, was raped by speculators. It seems like every “investor” from NY and South Florida swooped down on Poinciana to purchase every new construction home they could with the intent to flip for a profit.

The appeal was new houses that could be bought in the mid to high 100s that would have cost them $300,000 to $400,000, or more, in the areas they were from. It seemed like an easy game plan. Purchase for $175,000 in Poinciana and then by the time construction was complete turn around and sell it for $275,000 and make a nice tidy profit. Some speculators got lucky and did.

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