Fort Myers Housing Market Nearing Bottom, according to Zillow.com

We have great news that hit USA Today's front page today for Fort Myers Real Estate. According to the article in USA Today, Fort Myers Real Estate is one of six cities in America that have gone through the worst part of the foreclosure and mortgage crisis that took America by surprise in 2006 through today. The foreclosure filings in Lee County have dropped some 28% in a year and the inventory available to purchase has decreased by 52%, according to the article. What does that mean for Suzy Q HomeOwner and Joe Smith Home buyer? If Joe is an end user who will move into the property as his primary residence and stay in the home for years to come, then his choices for availability are limited. It used to be that Joe Smith Home Buyer could see 20 homes in a day and love 2 or 3 of them put an offer in and purchase it that day. Today if Joe Smith Home Buyer is able to see 5 homes a day or 10 in a month, because inventory is so low and one of them he sees hits 7 out of 10 wishes on his wish list, well then he better pick it up. If he doesn't he is likely to purchase something with only 6 out of 10 items on his wish list or worse yet, might only get 50% of his wishes. When searching for your dream house there are many things to consider so please buyer, visit my son's blog finding that Dream House. Now, if you are Suzy Q Home Seller, today's news couldn't be better!! For sellers who have tried to compete with the REO market only to learn that lenders hate real estate and they hate not selling it in under 30 days and they are motivated beyond all reason to lower the price to get it sold, well that price competition is moving out of the way for Suzy Q Home Seller. If you considered selling your home this past year but thought better to wait, I commend you and say your wait could soon be over. Does this mean Fort Myers Real Estate is going to rebound and recover in the next 12 months? I predict it will "recover" in that people who want to sell can sell and people who want to buy will still be out there, but in terms of gaining prices back that we say in the 2005, that will still be years down the road, in fact my son wrote a blog on that as well.

Property Management in Ft Myers FL

There is not many joys in the real estate career equal to that of telling a prospective tenant; They meet requirements to rent your property and you would be happy to have them as a tenant. The pure joy and often relief of finding the home they need for the next year, or maybe 2 years and sometimes just a few months is one reason I love my job. I am the head of the Property Management division within Just Right Realty Co. and today I had the joy of telling a tenant they made the cut. What a great way to end the week. I have made three families happy. First the homeowner who hired us on March 1, will be happy to know that within 3 weeks we found a tenant who is moving in April 1, so vacancy is null. Second a tenant who is in love with home and neighborhood that the house is located. Last but not least my family is grateful that we are able to have one more client added to our list of properties we manage successfully.

Now, lets talk about “successfully” managing property. This is where property manager earn their keep. This is where the stress and headaches come in that force many people out of the business. This is where paying 10% of the rent each month becomes a huge benefit to the homeowner. Yes, this is the part of the job I try to avoid at all costs. What are the items that create troubles for a property manager? For the most part it all deals with money, the money the tenant is required to pay for rent each month. This is where Life Happens, and rent often becomes the last bill paid. I think there is a different term for Life Happens but we will keep this PG rated. As life throws us the curve balls that it naturally does to each and every house hold we as property managers need to be clever in our ways to communicate the importance of making sure rent is paid on time, every time. However in the event it is not paid on time, as property managers we need to be understanding, compassionate, and very good problem solvers of problems we have no control over. There are some of my tenants that pay me on the 5th of every month. They get their paycheck that day and go and draw a check for rent immediately and like clockwork I can count on it. SO, do I charge them a late fee because the lease says I have the right to if not paid on the 1st? Do I hold it over on them because they are late every month? Absolutely NO to both of the previous questions, remember Life Happens, so we have to roll with the punches. The toughest times as a property manager is the times you have to go to the extreme and evict someone.

Those times you try to do everything humanly possible so you don’t have to go to the extreme but in my tenure with property management and the hundreds of tenants I have worked with on the properties we manage in Lee County, we have had to evict a few. I pride myself on that fact that over the time I have managed property that I can still count on my hands how many I have had to evict. Which for the home owner means less costs and less head aches in the long run. I hope your Friday is starting off great and I hope it carries over to a great weekend and an even better Monday morning that you could ever hope for. If you would like more information on Our Property Management Services in Fort Myers FL, Cape Coral, Estero, and Lehigh Acres, please send me an email. Jerry@jrrc1.com.

Real Estate Investor Round Table Discussion

The other night Entrust Freedom had a great after hours meeting at their new location 1520 Royal Palm Sq #320 Fort Myers FL. By the way, I must say; beautiful new offices in Fort Myers, congrats on the upgrade. Entrust had a half dozen real estate experts present reasons why now is a good time to buy and invest in Southwest Florida. Entrust Freedom offers a self-direct IRA which allow you to invest your IRA money into real estate essentially tax free. Opps, I better say, “I am not a tax advisor, nor is any info in my blog tax advice, you should consult your accountant.” However I am a client of Entrust Freedom and have been purchasing real estate with my IRA for a couple years now. What a growth in assets I have seen even in this difficult market we are in. The meeting was amazing, there were well over 30 folks around the conference table from a vast array of knowledge bases, in real estate. At the table there were investors, contractors, realtors, and financers all who are very successful in their own rights. What I thought was amazing, besides the presentations by Ravenwood Homes, Great job guys, was the articles Dave had printed off that night from WSJ.

One article, “Home Affordability Returns to Pre-Bubble Levels, if you want more, read my son’s opinion. The other article was “Cash Buyers Lift Housing.” It was amazing that Nationally all cash transactions hit 28% in 2010. This goes to say that people are out there buying and they have the ability to purchase like no other time before. Many of these cash buyers were taking money out of their stock portfolio and looking for gains from rents collected on real estate. Rent prices have not dropped too far in Cape Coral and Fort Myers and Lehigh Acres, so a purchaser can often get returns greater than 12%, for me that is great. I am one of the many baby boomers that have seen my stock portfolio take a huge hit, so I too have chosen real estate as a safer investment with a better ROI than I have seen in stocks. If you are considering like the 30 plus professionals in the room to invest in real estate in 2011 and want some good advice, good service, and someone with a keen eye on details email me today. My son and I are working as a team researching great foreclosure opportunities for rent and hold, and every now and then buy and flip. Long term the hold will prove to be more profitable is my opinion.

CITY OF CAPE CORAL CODE ENFORCEMENT OVERVIEW

I feel very fortunate to have been able to attend a Code Enforcement overview given by Frank Cassidy. Frank has been the Division Manager for the City of Cape Coral’s Code Compliance Division since February 2007. Frank holds many certifications as well as being

a former law enforcement officer in Southern California and he also holds a Bachelors Degree with Honors from Florida Gulf Coast University. The meeting with Frank was held on Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

Code Enforcement stands for voluntary compliance to our rules and regulations. Code Enforcement does have the power to levy fines but it is non productive. Their entire purpose is to have the City of Cape Coral community work together so that we can all live in the “Paradise” that we have come to know as Cape Coral. The staff and organization of Code Enforcement today is 34 officers. Their goal is to have us work together for the betterment for the community. They have a huge task as a result of the short sales and foreclosures. There are 65,000 housing units in Cape Coral and thus far, 40,000 of them have been in foreclosure or short sale. Code Enforcement must strive to get the community to maintain these properties so we do not have blight overlooking our city.

The following are some of the common violations that can occur:

· You are allowed to store a boat in your back yard as long as it is licensed and operable. The boat must be stored between the end of your building structure and your lot line.

· If you own the vacant lot next to you and you strap that vacant lot to your property, you are allowed to use that vacant lot for storage as well.·

You are allowed to get a permit to park your RV for 3 days if you are the owner of the RV.

· You are allowed to get a permit for 10 days which is owned by an out of town guest.

· There are no costs for either of these permits.

· There are no rules or regulations regarding parked cars. Cars are allowed to be parked anywhere on your property.

· Utility trailers are not allowed to be parked anywhere on your property or on the vacant lots.

· A-Frame signs and realtor signs are allowed but there is a size limit.

· You are allowed to plant in right of ways as long as you contact the City of Cape Coral and get approval on what you wish to plant in that right of way.

The distressed sales have declined to 62% of the total. 35% of the totals are short sales and foreclosures so far in 2011. This compares with 2009 where 73% were short sales and foreclosures. By

getting these properties sold and in the hands of owners, it helps Code Enforcement because the owners will take care of their properties.

Just Right Realty Company will be happy to help you with your short sales and foreclosures. We have a very good history of receiving waivers for judgment deficiencies on our client’s short sales. Please contact Jerry if we can be of any help to you in selling or buying real estate.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Jerry Ruzicka

jerry@jrrc1.com

239-337-7387

http://www.justrightrealtyco.com/

http://www.capecoral.net/