tampa4u's Blog: REAL ESTATE stuff

The global real estate industry is truly in an interesting time. The sluggish property market in the United States has found its way to influence all other real estate markets all around the world. Foreign investors to properties are definitely finding it hard to determine which markets thy can logically and safely infuse their highly sought after investments.

Global property analyzing group Association of Foreign Investors in real Estate or AFIRE is conducting a yearly poll to find out an updated list of hot property markets around the world. As a standard practice, the survey is asking about 200 foreign property investors from across the globe. Such investors are estimated to infuse up to $700 billion in offshore property investment opportunities.
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It is hard to think of a seller that may not want to sell their home, but it does happen.  Oftentimes the homes have been in the family for a long time and people do not want to sell the house.  These sellers will subconsciously place the house up for sale at a price that is unreasonable.  They will also be unwilling to lower their price or help in the improvements necessary for the house.  These sellers do not want to sell their home to just anyone, they want to sell their home to the right one.

There is a lot of sentiment in a home.  The home is where everything happens, where children are born, where the elderly are cared for, where pictures are taken and dinner is served.  The home is at the center of the family life.  It is the place of safety and…

Jimmy Chamberlin of the Smashing Pumpkins has sold his home in Murrieta California for a whopping $420,000. And you thought all rock stars lived in big, fancy homes. The home houses 3 bedrooms and is located 60 miles to the south of Los Angeles.

Amy Sedaris, known as an actress and a comedian has bought into the thriving Manhattan housing market. Sedaris dropped a cool $1.3 million dollars on a one bedroom co-op in the West Village. It seems there is nothing slumping in Manhattan.

Chris O’Donnell, once an actor and now missing in action, has sold a home in Pacific Palisades. The home was listed for a length of time for just over $5.3 million, but records are not showing how much the home sold for in the end.

Down for the count, NOPE! Sylvestor Stallone…

When it comes to the real estate market and the slump felt across America, there are a few areas of the business sector that are booming. These markets have little to do with physically selling homes and more to do with the home trashing that occurs when the home is foreclosed upon. If you own a home cleaning business, general contracting business or a landscaping business you may not be crossing your fingers for the inevitable up turn.

Home cleaning businesses traditionally market their services to the public sector. But, with the huge rise of home foreclosures, these small mom and pop businesses are seeing a rise in sales for their services. When a home is going into foreclosure, the anger surrounding the fact that the homeowner will lose their pride…

Across the nation the value of the dollar is dropping and the real estate market is declining.  Could it turn out that one will end up helping the other?  Thanks to the ailing American dollar, foreign investors have good reason to buy real estate in the United States.  A favorite choice among foreign real estate investors is the sunny state of Florida.

The nearby attractions of Florida make it a popular vacation choice.  No matter where you are you have access to warm and sandy beaches.  There are also various attractions all over Florida.  With the British pound trading 2 to 1, it creates a good opportunity for U.K. residents to purchase property in these fabulous areas of fun and leisure in the sun at a bargain price.  Tampa is one of the top choice…

We know that now is a great time for buyers to buy thanks to the high inventory of houses and lower home prices.  It is also a great time for foreign investors to invest for the same reasons above, plus the low value of the American dollar.  But why choose Florida?  Additionally, specifically where in Florida are the investment dollars well spent?  Tampa Florida is a city on the rise.  Its population growth, constantly expanding commerce, attractions, benefits and excellent school district make it a premier place to live and consequently, a solid place to invest.

Foreign Investors: Check this out: Investing in Tampa made Simple

Tampa is part of Hillsborough County and is located two hundred miles northwest of Miami, along the west coast.  It is the…

There are two ways that one can obtain a mortgage.  There are the local banks and there are larger lending institutions.  There are benefits to both of these lending facilities and there are downsides to both of these institutes.  Each individual who is willing to attempt to get the mortgage needs to look at both methods of obtaining a mortgage. 

Local lending facilities such as the banks and credit unions are great places to get mortgages because every one knows them there.  These facilities can often have instant pre-approval programs for the individual and can provide low interest rates.  The banks and credit unions do not have a lot of money to lend though, and often have more restrictions as to who can be approved. 

The local lending…

We do real estate the amateur way. We don't even pre-qualify our buyers. We don't make them sign a buyer-broker agreement. We show them as many house as they like to see and houses we feel they should see. We take them  to lunch; we take them to dinner. If they're out of state, we often pick them up from the airport and take them to their hotel. We never ask for referrals.

But we have a very good convertion ratio (almost 90%) and we have built up a network of referrals that we never asked for. We have tried different methods but we always come back to this. This, for us, is the most effective. It's all about rapport and service. We treat clients how we would like to be treated. It's as simple as that. All our agents are trained (or re-trained) like this -…