rmasse10's Blog: All Categories

My wife and I sell in the Tampa Real Estate market, or more like my wife sells the real estate and I "Do real estate by Not Doing Real Estate".  It seems like everyone is all of a sudden an expert in the field or they have a friend that is an expert.  "My friend says that I should by short sale properties and go in real low on the price"...who told you that, "My friend told me that is the way to go".  Although this may work sometimes, the likelihood of this working is a long shot.  The only time you should try something like this is if you have no time frame for moving, you don't really care if you get the property, you don't mind waiting for possibly 6 months or more, and you will not get insulted if the bank does not respond to your…

I know, I know, this sounds absolutely absurd, but here me out for a sec'.  The old way of doing real estate, the knocking on doors, meeting people face to face, saying "Hey I am your local Real Estate Expert, Buy with Me..." doesn't work anymore.  I tried them all.  I tried what all the real estate companies told me to do, mirror matching, where my name badge, talk about real estate to everyone you know, call everyone in your sphere list, didn't work for me.  Some 9 months ago I was getting to the point of giving up.  I had decent sales last year doing it the old fashion way, but felt that this was way too hard for me and I was way out of my comfort zone.

My Wife and I out of total frustration, decided to blow off some steam and create a youtube account…

Well, the Tampa Real Estate market is running at full speed as well as the Tampa Foreclosures and Tampa Short Sale market.  But the problem still remains with the banks.  Some banks have gotten very good at short sales, some still can't figure out their butt from their elbow.  I have a listing that is under contract, it is a short sale, the Bank involved start with 'ity' and ends with 'ank' if you know what  I mean, I have had a contract in with them for about 4 weeks, they acknowledge the offer, the acknowledge the paperwork for me to speak on behalf of the borrower, but trying to get a single name of who has this account is where the problem is.  They call my seller twice a week and every time they call, he gets a different name of who is responsible for…

Living in Florida has it's perks, and has it's issues.  One issue is the fact that you have to deal with Hurricanes....it is a fact of life.  Everyplace in the US (or at least all I have either lived in or visited) have their quirks that you have to deal with.  Boston has its Blizzards/Snow Storms and Northeasters, Midwest has its Tornado's, West Coast has it earthquakes..I think you get the hint.  Anyway, I was kinda looking forward to some strong winds and some major rain (call me crazy) but I sit here looking at my weather station located in my back yard and guess what I see...2mph winds and 0.00 rainfall.  Wow, this is a hell of a storm.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want my windows smashed in, or the roof lifted off or anything like that, but a little…

Really no surprise to me, although Myspace is a very good social network, it tends to lean toward that of the younger generation...especially those that cannot buy homes at the moment.  I know that some of you out there have Myspace pages and will say that you have business generated through the site, but I believe that Facebook, if you do not have a page as of yet, will yield much better results for you in your Real Estate business.  I for one, working in the Tampa Real Estate field, have had great success trough Facebook with referrals, and clients.  The key to any of these networks is the Profile.  The profile seems simple enough, except a well written one will yield far better results than one that was just whipped together.  The key is to be as…

I just got back from a 3 day vacation (can really only take short spurts of disconnect) and I must say that I felt like a coffee addict on Decaf for those 3 days.  My wife and I work in the Tampa Real Estate Market.  I went to the beach with my wife and stayed right on the water...20 steps to the sand.  When I booked the room, I ordered what they call the "Resort Convenience" package.  This pays for a number of things, and also gives you access to business services.  Great, "Does that include Internet"..."Yes".  Ok, so I pack my laptop, my wife packs her's, along with an assortment of other electronic devices, and off we go.

The beach was beautiful, the water was warm and wonderful, and the sand and sun were very relaxing.  No, I did not carry any devices…

Ok, I am definitely for Government making sure people keep their homes, it is the American Dream.  But what's with this removal of the Seller Assisted Down Payment.  So according to this "Bail Out" Bill that the President just signed into law, as of Oct 1 2008, Seller Assisted Down Payments will no longer be allowed...Whats Up with That!  As I stated in the first line, the American dream apparently comes at a price.  So if you first time home buyers out there need a little extra cash to buy that home in the Tampa Real Estate Market, and most of you will need something due to high overall closing costs, you are out of luck.  The government wants you to come up with all the money yourself, no gifts, no seller assistance, no nothing.  This is how I understand…

The Tampa Real Estate market is moving very fast right now, mostly because the deals are a plenty and the prices are right.  People are coming out of the woodworks right now to buy homes as fast as they can get their hands on it.  First time home buyers should make note that come Oct 1 2008, seller assisted down payments will no longer be allowed and therefore any first time home buyers out there should pick up the pace and make sure you get your offers in before that time period elapses.

Markets with the highest activities have been Riverview, Brandon, Tampa, and Apollo Beach mostly due to the amount of home you can buy for the money.  So if you are in the market, don't haste, as the deals are starting to disappear.