Fisher & Company's Blog

Dear Real Estate Swami:

A couple of months ago I read something in one of your posts about the Jacksonville, Florida, Real Estate market being in a possible recovery.  Are we in a recovery and if so, do you have any idea when home prices in Jacksonville will be at the bottom? 

Signed,

Waiting

Dear Waiting:

The post you are referring to was What's Really Happening in the Jacksonville Real Estate Market.  Didn't The Great Swami already state in a Fisher & Company, P.A. newsletter to clients and later blog that there were numerous local market indicators that pointed to a recovery of the Jacksonville real estate market and that buyers would soon be looking at the bottom of the market from their rear view mirrors?  

Have you checked your rear view mirror recently?  Didn't Swami already warn you?  According to the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) recently, home sales in Jacksonville have doubled in the first six months of 2008, and Jacksonville isn't the only market to experience an increase in home sales. Statewide, single family home sales have increased nearly 74% from January to June and sale of condominiums have jumped 61%.  (Swami discloses that the statewide figures don't include data from the Naples Realtors Association.)

Even the Miami and Orlando markets have seen dramatic increases in sales, with Miami reporting that single-family sales have risen 60% from January to June and condominium sales for the same time period have increased a whopping 81%. Orlando, once flooded with in excess of 24,000 homes on the market, saw single-family sales jump an impressive 86% and condominiums 89% for the same time period.  True, the number of Orlando condominiums selling is still a relatively low number compared to the 2004 and 2005 real estate boom, but any positive movement at all in condominiums should indicate that the market has turned.

One question per fin, so either cough up another fiver or move along and give someone else a chance.

Dear Real Estate Swami,

What's happening with home prices?  Prices still seem high.  Where are the deals?

Signed,

Montee Haul

Dear Montee,

Wake up. These are the deals.  Have you checked interest rates and gas prices lately?  Interest rates are at their lowest and gas prices at their highest.  If you've been out to the grocery store lately you'd realize that everything has gone up.  Been out to eat lately?  Notice that your tab is up by about 22 to 24%?  The cost of building materials is soaring, and that's being passed on to the builders and then directly on to you.  It's a cruel world, but somebody has to pay for it, and that person is the end user, the consumer, i.e., you. 

I don't know if you are aware of this or not, but insider scoop is that traffic is up at both builders' models and Realtor offices.  Traffic means interested lookers and interested lookers are buyers.  They are coming into the market off the sidelines and getting back into the market.  The Great Swami was visited recently by a Jacksonville Realtor who told the Swami that she was working with a couple who had not one but two homes sold out from underneath them.  On the first one they made an offer just a couple of thousand dollars below the asking price, and someone else simultaneously offered the sellers full price.  On the second home, having learned their lesson on the first, the buyers offered full price, but another buyer simultaneously offered a couple of thousand more.   

Montee, you're obviously looking for a deal.  Well so is everyone else, and clearly every day you delay the buying decision someone else is beating you to the deals. Did you not read the above response to "Waiting"?  The market is moving.  That means that prices are only headed in one direction and that is up.  You need to decide what it is that you want in a new home, be it a brand new home from a builder or a previously loved home that someone has outgrown.  Make an appointment with a REPUTABLE mortgage company or bank and get an idea as to how much home the bank will approve you for.  Make up a list of what it is you are looking for in your new home and check out Realtor.com and some of the other really good real estate web sites.  Shop on-line and save gas before heading out. There are deals out there, you just need to pick one and jump on it.  Remember the lesson from the buyers who made two offers on two different homes: if you love the home be prepared to present the sellers with something strong so that you don't end up having someone else get the home you want.

Ask questions and do your homework.  Compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. The Swami finds it annoying when people shop for and compare homes by price per square foot.  That's like comparing cars at cost per pound.  The Hyundai is clearly going to cost less per pound than the BMW, but the BMW is going to come loaded up with a bunch of neat toys.  So please, think apples to apples and oranges to oranges, and don't annoy The Swami.

Montee, since you're looking for a deal, here's a tip.  Find the area that you most want to live in, and then begin by exploring the housing market in that area. Check out the builders and see what they have available, check out some nice resales, and then buy the home that best suits your budget and needs.  If you are happy with the home and happy with the amount of the monthly investment, then clearly that's your best deal.  

Montee, I see a great deal just waiting for you; don't let it get away.  I see others also interested in the very same home.  

Dear Real Estate Swami,

If the market is improving, why isn't the media all over this?

Signed,

Skeptic

Dear Skeptic,

Probably because they are too busy following really important things like Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears. Haven't you realized that when anything that is positive about the economy or the government or even this nation is buried in the back of the paper right next to any apologies or corrections.  

You're holding up the line.  Next, please.  Step up before the Great Nokandask Swami and ask your real estate question.  The Great Swami sees all and answers all.  Put your money in the slot and ask your question.