brandonre's Blog: Tampa Real Estate Market

I believe to be a successful real estate agent you need to be able to adapt to the market. When we saw the market swing we had the opportunities like most agents to capitalize on the short sale market and brandon foreclosure market. While we are happy we chose not to focus on the short sale market you really need to be a special kind of person to deal with these in my opinion, I nor my wife has the patience to deal with these.

We feel however we may have missed the boat on the foreclosure market. Although we have worked with mostly buyers since we have been in real estate jumping into the bank owned market could have been a great avenue to increase our business, most of recent sales with buyers have all been foreclosure homes and…

False short sale list prices. We are seeing more and more listings on the Tampa mls that are just not realistic and are fictious numbers that effect the entire real estate market. If you are working with a buyer who is not interested in short sales it gives the appearance that they can buy a home at a price that is a lot lower than a bank is going to approve. For instance there are two similar homes on the market one is a short sale with a list price of $150,000 and the exact same home listed at $190,000. Now the actual fair market value on the home is around $185,000. Well the buyer is looking at the exact two homes and say wow that short sale home is $40,000 less than the non short sale home it appears at first glance if you were to purchase the non…

Like there was not enough things to do as a Realtor. I decided to start a Real Estate forum geared to the Tampa Real Estate Market.With all the several different blogs to keep up with, different social networks, updating my websites, and last but not least showing and selling homes.I think we need to add more hours to the day. I am either stupid or crazy not sure which one probaly both but I guess I am glutton for punishment. But serious now I have been to many real estate forums including of course real estate webmasters which is one of the best around and thought it would be great to have a forum for real estate professionals in my market to exchange ideas, promote their listings, advertise their services and more.

I know it is difficult for agents to…

I recently had a gentleman call me from out of state recently, he said he was thinking about relocating and was in the first stages at the moment and would plan on relocating towards the end of the year. He asked me if it was a good time to buy in Tampa, well I am a Realtor in Tampa what am I going to say no? I told him it was great time to buy with many forclosure homes  and homes priced more than reasonable by sellers. He then asked me if it has hit the bottom. Well if I could predict where the top or bottom of any market is then I wouldn't be selling real estate I would be sitting next to Jim Cramer on Mad Money. I went on to tell him that I couldn't say it was the bottom but felt it pretty close as it could be to the bottom.

What I like to point out…

Realtors now more than ever before are utilizing blogging, web site optimization and other online resources. This is great for the consumer as now it is the Realtors, who are able to communicate, attract and provide professional service almost instantly to the consumer will be rewarded. The Tampa market alone is a very competitive market and I am noticing a lot more competion in terms of agent’s blogging and utiling the internet in terms of marketing. I always scratch my head when I see agents spend so much money in local newspapers, magazines, and real estate publications. Especially when nearly all home buyers begin their home search on the internet.

With all the great real estate professionals out there vying for a piece of the real estate pie…

Tampa Real Estate

We have been working with quite a few buyers ready willing and able to buy since the first of the year. Many deals in the Tampa market can be found at prices once impossible. Most of our buyers have been either relocation buyers from other states or first time home buyers. The Tampa home rental market is getting tighter with less home rentals available. So now more than ever is a great time to buy in the Tampa market!

We had the great opportunity this weekend to sell homes to a pair of first time home buyers. I have made several posts before on how we love working with the first time buyer and there is no better joy than seeing a happy couple or family getting exciting on buying their first home.It really makes what we do as Realtors so much more enjoyable.

With the low interest rates and affordable housing now available in Hillsborough county now is a great opportunity for all the first time home buyers.

If you are a first time buyer in Hillsborough county there are some great programs offered by the county to assist in down payment assistance and education on the home buying process. For more information on the Hillsborough county first time home buyer programs…

Ok, We hear all the stories on how bad the US  real estate market is. Well there now is a good alternative if you don't think buying here in the US is a viable option and that would be Mexico .Apparantly the Mexico housing market is booming. Is it time to run for the border? Is Mexico going to have to build a wall to keep out the US population ready to flee? I think I am going to stay in Tampa area and take my chances with the Tampa Real Estate market. No offense to Mexico it is a great country but I will always love the USA.