You may be asking yourself, “What the heck is a blog?” Well, let me tell you. A blog is what I describe as a  “living and breathing" website. It’s a place where information is shared in a more personal way and it’s updated more frequently than a web site. I will be writing new articles (posts) on this site 2 to 3 times a week. I use this site to write about anything and everything related to Real Estate. Or I may just tell you something about myself. By reading my blog posts you will get a real good idea of who I am and how I conduct my business. It will also keep you updated on market conditions in Poinciana Fl.  

Read more »

Tutas Towne Realty specializes in pre-foreclosure remedies and Short Sales. If you are a property owner who is struggling with your mortgage payment or a Buyer looking for a good deal let us know. We CAN help. All conversations are of course confidential. Do NOT get foreclosed on. Please let me help.

102 Big Sioux Dr Kissimmee Florida 34759

You won’t find a better house than this for the money. Tile flooring in kitchen, dinette, entry and all 3 bathrooms. Formal living and dining rooms. Two family rooms, one upstairs and one down stairs. Bonus room downstairs could easily be 5th bedroom. Inside laundry room. All on an over sized corner lot. Listing price may not be sufficient to cover all encumbrances, closing costs, or other seller charges and sale of Property at full listing price may be conditioned upon approval of third parties.

Hi folks, buckle up, it’s time for a new market report. I do have some good news this month. The number of properties that have sold has increased quite drastically over the last 3 months. To be exact, sales have increased 35%!!

Inventory has also remained steady with there currently being 1,172 single family homes on the market. This number has been roughly the same for about a year now. However, prices have continued to decline with values dropping 15% since the end of July.

Read more »

Come on down to Tutas Towne!

Hi folks. Today, I spoke with Countrywide (CW) about one of my short sale listings. This particular home was placed on the market back in July of this year. I priced it properly and within a few weeks submitted a cash contract to CW for $87,000. Since the 3 most recent sales were for $85,000, $87,000 and $90,000 I figured CW would jump all over this deal and remove their 3^rd party approval so we could move toward closing….. WRONG!!!

After many attempts I could not even get this transaction in front of a negotiator. I tried and tried and tried but they kept telling me the offer was too low. After about 2 weeks of going back and forth I finally spoke to someone at CW that told me their opinion of value was $105,000 and to resubmit at that price if I wanted it to be accepted. Well the Buyer said “adios” and went and bought another house. This all took place back in August.

In late September CW contacted me to let me know they had declined the short sale!!! Heeeeeeello…..you had already done that 6 weeks ago!!!

Anyway……after the contract being declined, in August, I placed the property back on the market, at $105,000, to try and meet CW’s expectations of value. Of course that got me exactly where I knew it would…..no where. The property languished on the market with 100s of other over priced listings while the properly priced REOs (bank owned properties) were selling with multiple offers.

As usual, I started reducing the price every 10 to 14 days to try and find the sweet spot….AGAIN!! This morning, I reduced it to $79,000. Later in the day I contacted CW, as I do every week, to let them know I am still trying to get them another contract and to make sure they haven’t set an auction date yet. I was fortunate to get a nice lady, who was very forthcoming with information, so I thought I’d check to see if she would tell me the price that the recent appraisal came back at.

She placed me on hold and about 10 minutes later came and told me that CW has placed a value of $85,000 on the property!! $85,000!!! I had a cash buyer at $87,000, 3 months ago, and now they tell me $85,000. Holy crap batman!!!

Folks, you need to buy this house today. Make an offer of $79,000 and my Seller will accept it. Check it out:

521 EAGLE CT KISSIMMEE FLORIDA 34759
$79,000
Listing price may not be sufficient to cover all encumbrances, closing costs, or other seller charges and sale of Property at full listing price may be conditioned upon approval of third parties. Folks…. this is a great opportunity to own a 4 bedroom home in Poinciana for a reasonable price. The house is in very good condition. This is a short sale and will require minimum 60 days to close. Seller will contribute towards your closing cost if the price is right. Ceiling fans in all rooms. Tile flooring through out.

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE SHORT SALE INFORMATION

POINCIANA FLORIDA REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORTS

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR® OPPORTUNITIES

MORE INFO FROM BROKER BRYANT… THE SOURCE FOR POINCIANA REAL ESTATE

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks. I’m sure there are many of you that are getting behind on your mortgage payments. Please remember you do NOT have to be foreclosed on!!!! What you DO need is the advice of a qualified real estate broker. That’s where I come in :)

If you are experiencing a true hardship and you are not able to keep your house then we may be able to negotiate a “short sale” on your behalf. Here’s a sample letter that will give you an idea of what is involved in getting your lender to agree to a short sale. 

*************SAMPLE SHORT SALE COVER LETTER***************

Ref: LN# XXXXXXXXXXX
345 Saint Blasse Ct Kissimmee Fl 34758
Bertha Tutas SSN# xxx-xx-xxxx 

To whom it may concern, 

Following is a complete short sale package. We are requesting a removal of the 3^rd party approval clause in the attached purchase contract. 

Included are 56 pages: 

• Authorization to release information
• Fully signed purchase contract with addendums
• Buyer’s pre-approval certificate from Bank of America
• A copy of the escrow deposit
• Preliminary HUD 1
• Current listing agreement with addendums
• Listing history 
• MLS property print out
• Property market analysis
• Hardship letter
• Seller’s financial statement
• Last 2 years tax returns
• Last 2 bank statements
• Last 2 paycheck stubs
• Proof of child support payments

My comments: 

This property has been on the market since 01/04/08. It was first offered for sale at a price of $129,000. The property has been extensively marketed on the MLS, Realtor.com, Craigslist, Zillow, Trulia, Cyberhomes, Virtual tours and was syndicated to over 500 web sites. 

Unfortunately, with the market decline, there was no interest in this property. The property has functional obsolescence being that it only has 2 bedrooms, a 1 car garage and sits on a “back flag” lot. With over 1200 homes available in Poinciana and only 30-40 selling per month this property was being overlooked. We slowly started lowering the price, however, trying to avoid getting into a short sale situation, we were not able to price the property low enough for the market to be interested. 

Finally, the Seller, due to the hardship outlined in her letter, had to vacate the home. As hard as she tried to keep the house she could no longer afford to live there. At that time, we reduced the price to $109,000 then slowly reduced every 2 weeks until there was an interest. There were NO showings until we reduced to $59,000. Several days after reducing to this price we received and accepted the attached contract. 

There has not been a 2 bedroom home that has sold, on the Osceola County side of Poinciana, since August and there has only been 2 in the last 4 months. 

Based on current market conditions and the fact that this property is not only functionally obsolete but also a short sale, we feel the agreed purchase price of $60,000 is far better than the price the property will sell for if it is foreclosed on and placed back on the market. We have done everything possible to get as high a purchase price as the market will bare. 

I have 14 years experience as a Broker specializing in selling Poinciana property and on behalf of Ms. Bertha request that Country Wide accept this short sale so we can move forward towards closing. 

Please fee free to contact me with any questions or additional information that you may need. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. 

Sincerely,  

Bryant Tutas
Broker/owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
407-873-2747
BrokerBryant@gmail.com

****************************************************

So there you have it. I will take care of the entire process for you. Give me a call if I can help. Your call will be kept confidential as always. 

So the big news in real estate this week is…. “The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose by 5.5 percent from August to September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million units - far better than the flat results analysts had expected. On an unadjusted basis, sales were up 7.8 percent from September last year. But even with the gain in sales, prices kept falling. The median sales price has dropped to $191,600, down by 9 percent from a year ago.” (From Newsweek) 

Let’s see how this applies to real estate in my market Kissimmee/Poinciana Florida. 

In August there were 55 sales in Poinciana Florida. In September there were 66. That’s an increase of 17%. Compared to 5.5% Nationwide. OK so Poinciana beat the National average. That’s a good thing. 

Now let’s compare the other stats. Nationwide sales were up 7.8% compared to same time last year. Poinciana had 26 sales September of 2007 and 66 this September for an increase of 61%. Holy crap!!!!! 

Read more »

Hi folks, it seems like just yesterday that my business consisted mostly of listing properties for Mr. and Mrs. Regular Seller. I spent a lot of my time preparing print ads, brochures, virtual tours and making sure I got the properties disseminated throughout the Internet. When I wasn’t doing these things I was busy arranging showings, negotiating deals, talking with my Sellers and fielding Buyer calls. Life was good. I was busy helping folks move up or move on. It felt good to help and everyone I had contact with seemed to be in good cheer. 

Now those times are just a memory. The market has changed and so has my way of doing business. I jest with TLW in the mornings saying “I’m heading off to work to try and pull some money out of my &*%!” 

But, I have to say….. I LOVE this new market! It has taken me a while to find my groove and I have had a couple of setbacks BUT things are really starting to come together. My entire focus has shifted. My new focus is now Short Sales, REOs(Bank Owned), Buyers and expanding my business. 

Poinciana Florida Real Estate distressed Sellers and distressed properties make up over 80% of the closed transactions each month. To spend time and money looking for the very few Sellers that have equity and are able to sell makes no sense.

Read more »

Hop on and let’s take a ride together.

This is a SHORT SALE and will require 3rd party approval.   Beautiful pool home with ceramic tile flooring throughout, travertine in the master shower, updated fixtures, solar heated inground pool, family room, heavily landscaped lot, new roof in late 2004, new AC in 2001 and much much more. Let this be you own tropical paradise. A place to call home and to build memories. Act today!