Florida Buyer Broker 

Real estate Sellers need to know property inventories in many Florida communities are beginning to increase and prices are decreasing.

Serious Florida real estate sellers need to consider the facts.  Winter sales for 2023, Florida’s biggest real estate selling season are down in many Florida communities.  Investors maybe showing negative cash flows, especially in areas hit by hurricanes. 

High prices mean higher real estate taxes, insurance and mortgage rates have increased to exclude the average home or second home buyer in Florida. 

Incomes for 2^nd home and primary property owners has not kept pace with the rising price of Florida properties. 

For decades, the most affordable prices of Florida entry level property was between $125,000 for a condominium and $325,000 for a single family home.  More affluent and  2^nd home buyers have typically spent up to $350,000 for a off water luxury condominium and $900,000 for beach front luxury condominiums. Affluent buyers paid between $500,000 for a resale and to $800,000 for a new second home in a golf course community in Florida.

Real estate Sellers should realize 2024 home pricing will be set by the builders, click here for information on:  Florida new developments

Florida real estate Sellers are preparing for Snowbirds to buy property. 

Ask your agent to show you CURRENT LIST of the local properties for sale.  Check the CRITERIA entered, COMPARABLE SALES AND COMPETITIVE LISTINGS. You want your property to be at the top or next to the top of a list sorted with the lowest priced property on the top.  The lower you are on the list the longer you may have to wait for a sale. 

A most recent check of an affluent Florida area, a condominium which had been on the market for several months had dropped their price $30,000 from $379,000 to $349,000.  Two more VERY SIMILAR properties have recently been listed at $379,000 and $369,500 in the same neighborhood. Where is the common sense in this?  Why would an agent list a similar condominium for $30,000 to $40,000 more than one that has not sold in many months?  Condominiums typically sell within the same price ranges. 

During Covid-19 large investment companies, REITs, Real Estate Investment Trust added single family homes to their rental properties.  For those properties to be profitable, annual rents on Florida properties were raised to match the amounts snowbirds were paying.

They raised annual rents  25 to 50 percent more than pre-Covid amounts.  Many renters are forced to downsize to a one bedroom apartments.  Some renters moved in with family.  Other renters share rental homes with others to manage the rent increases.   In the meantime, inflated prices for gas and groceries makes it impossible for renters to save for down payments.

HOMETOWN HEROS PROGRAM

The State of Florida has implemented a Hometown Hero’s program which helps some buyers who qualify for financial assistance for down payment and closing costs.  The program is  not longer exclusive to Hometown Hero’s.  The program is offered to all buyers who qualify.  Anyone who does not currently own a home which they live in and meets the criteria for employment, income and credit rating may qualify.   Florida minimum wage will only be $12 per hour in Sept. 2023.  This is still disproportionate to being able to make a mortgage on an entry level property.  When you look at the average incomes of professionals in Florida, it still takes 2 incomes to purchase a home in a 300 to 400 thousand price range.

Why real estate sellers should care what investors are doing. 

During the Covid years many homes were sold to secret international investors who funded broker and other LLCs to purchase US properties.  The properties were purchase with CASH and quick closings. 

One very large real estate firm in California bought and flipped properties.  At the end of 202 they admitted their valuation system was incorrectly valuating properties at 25 to 30 percent more than they were worth.  They quickly sold off their inventory of homes.  The company had such a large internet presences,  it impacted property prices throughout the US.  No adjustment was make by real estate agents or appraisers who based their comparable sales on large cash investors and real estate brokers who continued to purchase homes throughout 2022 and 2023 and flip them or rent for high rental rates.   

Today, investors are discovering the increase in property values comes with increase in taxes and insurance.

Consequently, many Florida single family home investors are no longer getting a positive cash flows on their rental properties.  This is especially true in Florida.  Incomes of annual renters make it impossible for them to pay the high rental rates. 

Florida  has a glut of over priced rental properties waiting for the seasonal renters to come and pay high seasonal rates.  This winters seasonal renters should expect to pay even higher rents to make up for the investors losses.  

Smart investors will be taking their equity out of the property via refinancing or selling. 

Smaller investors refinance to  take their equity back plus the appreciation.  They may then try to sell, short sale or let the property go to foreclosure.  

This activity will bring more properties to the market for sale creating a more competitive market the winter of 2023.  There will be more inventory for perspective buyers who are not investors to purchase.   

Neighborhoods with the largest inventory of homes for sale today, are most likely the heaviest investment rental areas of communities.  Many investors who purchased in early 2020 will have a considerable amount of equity they can negotiate. Provided they have not over improved a property which only had lot value. Or that was torn or has become a tear down after a hurricane.

If you are selling your residence, be sure you have a place you can afford to rent or buy before you move.

If you are planning on buying a new home, CUSTOM HOME, be prepared to pay more than initially contracted.   Building supply prices increase with inflation.  It is not uncommon for Florida to experience summer building supply shortages for roofing material and other supplies after a hurricane.  Be happy if your building project closes on time.  However, do not expect a property to be finished when the salesperson says it will.  Most contracts do not have a completion date, or may have an “estimated,” completion date.  Be prepared for several additional months waiting for completion.

Real estate sellers should look for their property listing on the internet.

If your property is for sale and not listed on the internet, ask your real estate agent WHY it is not there.   It could be the listing is too new and it may take a couple of days for the photos to be uploaded. Make sure the map location is correct.  Check your listing agreement to be sure you did not check the box which says not to put it on the internet.  Check Craigslist and other local sites to see if your property has been relisted by a fraudster for a lesser price. See the webpage Real Estate Fraud on this website.

If you are a real estate seller you want your listing on the internet.  The majority of agents rely on cooperation of buyers agents to bring the buyer for their sellers property.  There are always a few agents who do not want their listings to advertise online.  Because they want to get both the selling and buyers’ side of the commission agreed to by the seller in the listing agreement.   

This is detrimental to the Seller time spent on the market.  Those agents typically refuse showings by other agents in hopes of obtaining their own buyer or having the other agents buyer call them directly. Other agents know who these agents are in their communities.  Their listings are avoided.  Cooperating agents know it is a waste of their time to show a property listed by an agent who has a reputation for not cooperating with other agents.    

The agent should use a SUPRA lock box on the property.

NEVER a combination lockbox which can be purchased from a hardware store.  (Sellers see Real Estate Fraud) That way a licensed real estate person must always accompany the showing. ONLY a SUPRA BOX records when anyone goes in and out of the property and who it was, including your listing salesperson. You can ask for history of showings, so they can’t lie to you about showings. Also, make the property available on short notice. Buyers don’t wait.  If you are serious about selling your property, you should be able to handle showing with a couple of hours’ notice.

Some agents keep the listing private or confidential.

If you are a real estate seller you want your listing on the internet.  The majority of agents rely on cooperation of buyers agents to bring the buyer for their sellers property.  There are always a few agents who do not want their listings to advertise online.  Because they want to get both the selling and buyers’ side of the commission agreed to by the seller in the listing agreement.   

If you are a real estate seller and cannot find your property on the internet and your listing agent makes excuses, they are not giving you a good service.  Make sure there is not a check in the box in your listing contract.  This allows them to keep your property off the internet and out of the MLS database.  The more exposure your property gets the quicker it will sell.  I can not think of one reason why a legitimate real estate seller might not want their property advertised to sell quickly with the help of advertising on the internet.

Every buyer looks for property on the internet.

A greedy listing agent can still ignore request from other agents to set up showings.  If your listing agent uses a showing service, there is a record of who calls for a showing, you can see if the listing agent is turning away other agents  for a legitimate reason.  This stuff really happens.  Selling real estate is a very, very competitive business, and even more so in an affluent community with scarce inventory.

Open houses can also be set up on the internet thru the MLS and other database searching portals.

The reason real estate agents do open houses is not always to sell a listing, but to obtain buyers.  If you know your listing is over priced and you have found a agent to list it, beware you are just providing a marketing tool for that agent.  They will advertise it on the internet and do open houses.   Because they know they can get buyers to work with on other listings that are priced right by advertising and sitting open houses on overpriced listings.  These types of agents quickly obtain a bad reputation with other agents who learn to ignore their  listings because they are always overpriced. 

Negotiating with agents who take overpriced listings and sellers who are overpriced is not realistic for buyer.  When a seller is serious about selling they price their property correctly and competitively. 

Open house signs are a great way to tell what your local area’s market is like.  The more open house signs you see, the more competition there is for sellers.

Potential sellers should try to call the listing agent not just their office.

Try calling the agent after 5 PM and on weekends, at the phone number they advertise to the public.  A seller wants the agent to answer their calls because it could be from a potential buyer.  Real Buyers do not wait, they will go to the next agent or the next property.

Sadly, not cooperating with other real estate agent has become common practice since Covid-19.

For several years real estate brokers have been flipping homes to large investment companies.   Homes sold right away for cash to brokers or investors.  Buyers lined up outside of properties attempting to compete with corporate cash buyers.  Real estate agents have not needed to share their commission with other agents.  Since Covid, they could sell to brokers, investors or their own buyers and get commissions from both sides of the sale.

Unless a buyer has sold another home for a lot of money, taken out an equity line on another property and can pay cash, they have not been able to compete with cash buyers.  

Household income has NOT increased 150%to 200%

Incomes have not increased enough in Florida for Floridians to be able to afford the high cost of housing and rentals in Florida. Minimum wage in Florida changes to   $12.00 per hour in Sept. 2023.

Some large real estate brokers have been working with large corporate investors from California and overseas buyers, including China since 2008. Florida recently passed some legislation to stop some foreign corporations from purchasing property in Florida.  However, there are many foreign companies with LLCs in the US with US partners.

It should be no surprise foreign investors have been some of the biggest buyers between 2020 and 2022. 

As prices got higher,  primary homebuyers and second home buyers have been pushed out of the Florida real estate market.

The commercial real estate dilemma is just now making the news. 

April and May 2023 has some large US bank closed.  The commercial real estate market is in trouble.  There has been a glut of vacant, mostly smaller, commercial properties all over Florida.  Covid-19 put small business owners out of business.  Now, large financially stressed buildings without tenants may be heading toward foreclosure. 

Developers will be seeking to add rental/housing units to large commercial buildings along with office and retail space.  Florida’s new “lacks” laws on building permitting and zoning will make this easy.   Larger metropolitan areas may benefit from the change or ownership of large buildings.  Conversions could make working and living in the same building attractive for people.

Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc on auto owners. 

There is a large population in Florida which can no longer afford to own automobiles. Most insurance companies’ total automobiles caught in hurricanes and flooding catastrophes. The amount paid to owners may or may not paid off outstanding debt.  Many auto owners get left without the ability to purchase another vehicle.  This is real life in Florida.

2023 high cost of homeownership in Florida has made affluent home buyers and corporate investors nervous.  They do not want to invest in a property they know is likely to lose value when the market is losing traction.  Prices are coming down and listing inventories (competition) is increasing.

The State of Florida is one of the only States without written real estate disclosure requirements for agency relationships.

The webpage on Broker Relationships you will find more information on Seller agency relationships with the listing agent.

Buyers know prices are coming down.

2023 Florida buyers will be those who have sold properties in other States with high priced real estate like California and New York.

Investors will downsize their investments if they have difficulty renting and inventories will increase for primary and second home buyers.

Beverly Howe, is the owner of Florida Buyer Broker and a licensed real estate buyer broker in the State of Florida.  Helping buyers for decades to purchase homes and investment properties her my specialty.

Please take time to look thru the other pages of this site at: https://FloridaBuyerBroker.com

Sellers listing agents  have confidence in buyers who obtain the services of  Florida Buyer Broker  a Single Agent buyer agency, serving buyers with integrity, loyalty, honesty, skill and expertise.   

Florida Buyer Broker  is a registered Trademark in the State of Florida. All copyrights reserved.

Cleversubmitter