Real Estate News

Top 5 Reasons to List Your Home with a Realtor

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you’re thinking about selling your home, the lure of saving the money you’d have to spend on a commission to a Realtor is tempting. Don’t be tempted. There are very good reasons to list your home with a Realtor and here are a few good ones.

Let’s start with someone to look out for your interests. A Realtor is bound by a code of ethics to do the right thing. That means putting you, their client, first. They have the knowledge of things like issues you have to disclose to prospective buyers. They can tell you what you need to do to get the best price, and market your property at its best price. They will also be the ones to negotiate with others.

A Realtor is your advocate through the entire process; from listing, to showing, to negotiating, writing the contract and settling on the property. They will know reputable people to handle all the details like inspections and settlement.

If you list your home with a Realtor, they will get you the best price. Statistics show that people who sell with a Realtor get about 16% higher selling prices. That means you are an average of 10% ahead of the game even after the commission is paid. They are well-versed in the market. They know inventory levels, how long it’s taking to sell and what differences are between listing and selling prices. All of this is important when making a decision on accepting an offer or even what to list your home for.

In this day and age you also need to consider who is coming through your home. You are guaranteed that each person that enters your home is accompanied by a licensed Realtor. This means you don’t need to be there. It also means that someone who might be thinking about committing a crime will be deterred by the pre-showing questions about qualifying as a buyer, or at being accompanied in your home. Don’t be tempted, be smart. List your home with a Realtor.

Terrazzo Flooring – A Legacy of Old Florida

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Terrazzo flooring has a long history and with the heavy influence of Spanish and Mediterranean architecture in Florida, is rather popular. Look around and you will see it in all kinds of places, buildings, businesses, homes and walkways.

Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or pre-cast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It is made from marble, quartz, granite, glass or other materials in chips, held together with a binding material. Terrazzo is laid, cured and then ground and polished to a smooth surface. It looks beautiful, and like it should be bumpy, but has an amazingly smooth, yet textured surface. Terrazzo artisans create walkways, floors and patios by exposing marble chips and/or other aggregates on the surface of finished concrete or epoxy-resin, almost like it was sprinkled into the concrete.

Terrazzo flooring was originally invented by Venetian construction workers. Large slabs of marble were heavy and expensive. Terrazzo was a low cost flooring material using marble chips from jobs they had done. The workers would usually set them in clay to surface the patios around their living quarters. When first invented, the floors would be made from marble chips, clay, and goat’s milk which was used as a sealer. Obviously as time and technology has improved, production of terrazzo became much easier and relied less on goats milk!

While the modern versions are Venetian in origin, archaeologists use the word terrazzo to describe the floors of early Neolithic buildings (9,000–8,000 BC) in Western Asia, eastern Turkey and other ancient middle and far eastern cultures. The floors are very durable, surviving thousands of years.

Today’s terrazzo floors may not last thousands of years, but the beauty that they add to any room, home or building will make it seem as if they have been there for centuries!

Florida Luxury Real Estate – More Luxury for Your Money

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Florida luxury real estate gives you more bang for your buck. Want a lot more for your money? Buying big in Florida will get you a lot more house for your money! Want a luxury property that screams anywhere else “I’m snooty and have this amazing real estate”? Buy big in Florida.

Florida hit it big in the real estate bubble and building went bonkers. Luxury homes and condos were all the rage. Big homes with high end finishes, big lanais and pools. Condos with amazing beach views, high end finishes and amazing community amenities. Luxury real estate then meant you had money to burn. As with many other places in the US, real estate was the place to sink your hard earned cash. After all, historically it was a safe place to invest. Even in recessions real estate weathered the storms reasonably well. This one, however, was an exception to that rule and real estate took an amazingly hard hit, especially in Florida.

The problem was when the bubble burst; housing prices fell in a huge way. Overpriced home markets overcorrected. Builders left projects half built and people lost homes by the hundreds of thousands. Properties lost 3/4 of their value or more. While the overcorrection is now settling down, and prices are climbing a bit, finding a luxury home at a bargain price is definitely possible.

So if you weathered the storm and want to find a property that makes you feel rich, but at a price that makes your bank account happy, Florida is the place to look. There are many homes for sale. Want the beach life? Find a condo on the Atlantic or Gulf. A small hometown community? Got them too. A house on the intercoastal? With places to dock your boat if you have one.

Young or old, family or single, there is a luxury home for you in Florida.

Looking for a great Florida Luxury Realtor? Give Deb a call today! 727-410-0336

Why YouTube Works So Well For Real Estate

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you’re a realtor and you’re not using YouTube to market your business, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to market yourself and the properties you are selling.

As social media goes, YouTube is a big deal. It has billions of visitors a day. It isn’t just for cute baby or pet videos, or music videos. YouTube is a great way to demonstrate techniques for business. In the real estate business, it’s a great way to do two things: preview a property and share your extensive real estate knowledge.

Using YouTube will make you a popular realtor, meaning more people will be willingly listening to you as you share what you know. And isn’t that what you want? A willing audience?

It’s also handy to use to preview properties. Of course, nothing will ever replace an actual showing of a home, but your prospective buyers will call you because of your videos. People like video tours done by actual realtors because they not only showcase the property, but do it in a way that provides pertinent information. It also provides them with great information about the neighborhood the property is in.

A few tips. First, make an effort to make your videos look, if not professional, competent. Nothing is worse than a video obviously done on a cell phone with poor lighting, whiplash inducing scene changes and a jumpy screen. Invest in an inexpensive video camera. Make sure you have good lighting and pan through slowly. Narration should be natural, but full of information that will make people want to see the property in person.

YouTube is a great way to place yourself as a real estate expert, while getting your properties in the public eye. Make it part of your marketing plan for your business to make it, and you, the name people think of in real estate.

Top 5 Reasons to List with a Realtor

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Selling your home can be a chore, and if you think you can handle everything yourself, think again. Listing with a Realtor to sell your property will save you time, save you aggravation and make you more money in the long run.

A Realtor provides a lot more than most people think. Selling a home isn’t just plop a sign in the front yard and wait for the buyers to come. During the selling process they do more than just bring people to look at your home. They provide advice, facilitate contract negotiations, facilitate inspections and attend settlement with you. They earn their commission.

A Realtor should give you honest advice on what needs to be done to your home to have it in the best shape to get top dollar. You have lived in it and seeing it through fresh eyes isn’t easy, so let the Realtor be them for you. They will point out the places that need repair or updating, what is clutter and how to stage your home to make it look its best. He or she will also have specific knowledge of what buyers in your area love and hate, and can suggest how to play these aspects of your home up or down.

A successful agent is successful for a reason; they are good at what the do. A good agent can sell your home for more money in less time. They will know how to properly price your home, making it visible to those who are looking. The faster it sells the less money you spend on mortgage payments, real estate taxes, utilities and other carrying costs. That in and of itself will more than pay for the commission.

Most seller’s have no idea what it takes to market a home. What about contract negotiations? What you “save” on commission will easily be spent on hiring a real estate attorney to either do the contract work, or bail you out of trouble after the sale if issues come up.

A Realtor is familiar with real estate law and can do everything for much less.

Save yourself the headaches and frustration, use a good Realtor who can give you advice, get you the most for your home and do it in less time!

Looking for Tampa Bay Realtor to help get your home sold fast and for top dollar? Give Deb a call today! 727-410-0336

What is a Jumbo Loan – Does it Matter to You or Your Luxury Realtor

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

A jumbo loan is a mortgage on anything above $417,000.00 and your luxury realtor can help you figure out if you should sell your luxury property above that amount.

So now you’re selling your luxury property in Florida. Perfect, because people are starting to get back into the market, even for luxury properties. However, like most people, they’ll need a mortgage, which means a jumbo mortgage. That changes the picture, mostly about who you want to sell to, and here’s why.

Conventional mortgages actually have limits as to how much it can be written for. Why? Because mortgages are commonly bought and sold on secondary markets, and are backed by FNMA (Fannie Mae) and FHLMC (Freddie Mac). Over certain amounts neither will back the mortgage. Those mortgages are considered jumbo loans. A jumbo mortgage is a mortgage that is above the conventional mortgage limit of $417,000.00. They were common in many areas of the country when property values were at their peak. Most mortgage companies offer jumbo loans in the conventional formats like fixed rate or interest only loans. There are also LTV or loan-to-value limits that lenders have as well. For most jumbo loans there is usually an 80% or 90% loan-to-value limit on the loans.

Jumbo loans are risky for mortgage companies because of the lack of federal backing. Another reason is because luxury properties can be harder to sell in a short amount of time. Why is this problematic? Well if the buyer defaults on the loan, a short sale will probably not happen. Larger luxury homes are more apt to be affected by valuation shifts. This can hurt a lender if the property goes into foreclosure. Interest rates are usually a bit higher on jumbo loans as well.

In Florida, any mortgage loan over $417,000 is considered a jumbo mortgage. This is lower than other areas of the country, and may mean that the definition of “luxury properties” is different in Florida. If you are selling a property you need to ask your realtor about how to price your home. Why? Those jumbo loans are harder to get, and adjusting your price down just a few thousand dollars may mean the difference between a lot of bids from prospective buyers with conventional mortgages, and someone who will need to qualify for a jumbo loan. It will matter not only to your luxury Realtor but also to you in the long run as a jumbo mortgage may be harder for your prospective buyer to get.

Looking for a GREAT Tampa Bay Luxury Realtor who can help you make sure your home is priced right? Give us a call today 727-410-0336

The Deb Ward Team