Randal Jenkins Team Blog

Today’s Market

March 3rd, 2023

Pasco County Florida, a microcosm of Florida Real Estate. Meaning you can get an idea of what is going on in Florida, by looking at the numbers from one county. Pasco is a bedroom community serving Hillsbourough County (Tampa) and Pinellas Couty (St. Pete and Clearwater). As a realtor, investor and a student of the market, I study Pasco County. In the early 2000’s when real estate was not so fashionable, they called me Mr. Pasco. Now with so many people doing real estate, I am just a small cog in the machine.

Here are the numbers today. Residential listings: Active 2172 Listings, pending 2197, 30-day solds from Feb 24 going back 30 days 1504.

For comparison, during the insanity era. The covid era when homes sold in 3 days at 20-30-40k and more over asking, with no appraisal or inspection contingency. That 2 and 1/2 years when interest rates were 2.75% and the world found out you don’t have to go to the office. The insanity era. There were around 3000 residential listings, 700 active and 2300 pending.

Since interest rates started rising the number of active listings went up 100 a week until there were over 2800 active listings…up from 700. Today there are 2172, that number has been going down every week.

Subscribe now to see the numbers as they change.

Randal Jenkins
727-409-4663
Florida Real Estate Partners
4823 Ebbtide Lane 206
Port Richey Fl 34668

Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417
Listing Your Home? What to say in your listing. What not to say.

February 27th, 2023

I read a lot of listings. Mostly so that I can write about my listings. I also read listings when I price my listings. As a real estate investor and broker, and by being an adequate writer and better editor, I have much to say.

WHAT IS A LISTING? The definition of a listing is an agreement between a seller and a broker to market and sell a property and receive a commission.

So, it is in the best interest of the seller and the realtor to market the property in the best possible way.

This is done by placing the home on the MLS, the Multiple Listing Service.

The broker creates a write up, a list of features and benefits that a buyer uses to determine if they have an interest in the property.

A list of features. This is a list. Not a sales presentation. Therefor the following statements should not be in a listing:

This one will go fast. (You see this a lot on listing that have been on the market for dozens of days).

What a great place to call home! This gem will not last long. This is an excellent opportunity to make this house your home. Check out this beauty today and bring your offer to the table. (These were all from one listing).

My complaint with this type of language is that it is selling. It is convincing. It is hype. It is not features and benefits.

What should a listing say. Neighborhood, beds, baths, pool, garage, sq footage, year built, condition, lot size, amenities, extras, community amenities, water frontage/access/view, pet restrictions, lease restrictions, annual fees, taxes, price per square foot, room sizes, driving directions, showing instructions and so much more.

So, the challenge in writing a great listing is to include as many of these features and benefits in the least amount of time, without the selling and hype.

This is in what is called the public remarks.

Pictures. Most people are visual. And they are on the internet, and they are clicking their mouse, next, next, next. And if they are not intrigued, they are clicking the next house. Next.

You had 3 chances to get them to click on the 4th picture. Too late if they are on to the next house.

Let’s start out with the bad. Placing pictures of the pool on the 25th picture. Not including the gourmet kitchen in the first 3 pictures. Saving the waterfront pictures to the end. Including personal items, shampoos, dirty laundry, open toilet seats, kitchen utensils and the obvious mistakes we see in listing pictures.

What is good? One picture of each of the finest features in the first 6 pictures. Front, pool, kitchen, master bath, back yard, game room, etc. One picture from each main group of features. If you can get the viewer to the 12th or 15th picture, you can then show the other 5 pics of the kitchen, 5 pics of the pool, 5 pics of the game room, the other bathrooms, the laundry room. It does not matter how cool a feature is if the viewer clicked to the next home without seeing it.

Pricing. People look at homes on the internet by price ranges. $200k to $250k. $150k to $200k. Pricing the home just above or below a round number is BAD. If a home in this example is priced at $199,900, it will not show up on the $200k to $250k list. It will be the most expensive house on the $150k to $200k list. It will be the most attractive home on the $200k to $250k list if it was priced at $200k. Price in round numbers only.

Rereading what is written so far, I can see luxury home agents having a problem with this. They are painting a picture. Check out the following:

Enter the property through the gate onto a paved driveway and a great view of the large yard with mature trees. Exterior is freshly painted, enhanced with landscaping around the home. Newly metal roof adds character. Upon entry through the stain glass door, notice the updates and finishes. You may gaze at the whitewashed brick fireplace, or the newly installed wood look vinyl tile enhanced with 5-inch floor molding. Light airy kitchen may grab your attention…

So, what is the answer. Call me to discuss.

Randy 727-409-4663 (409-home).

Randal Jenkins

Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417

www.409home.com

Rent to Own Pasco Inc

Florida Real Estate Partners

4823 Ebbtide Lane 206

Port Richey Fl 34668

click on Active Listings or search all of MLS at www.409home.com

FloridaRealEstateFamily.com
Realtor malpractice or ineptitude?

February 26th, 2023

When you find realtor behavior that is weak. Is the realtor malicious, or just not very good?

Why would a realtor shortchange their client in the first place? The most common example is when a listing agent engages in practices that make it harder for other buyers’ agents to buy their listings. Some listing agents go out of their way to attempt to get both sides of the transaction, that is the listing commission and the buyer’s agent commission.

The most common way a listing agent can block a buyer’s agent, is too not answer the phone, and don’t respond to emails. This will give that listing agent more time to find the buyer themselves.

There are other ways that a listing agent can make a property less attractive and make it more likely that other buyers’ agents will not persue their listings:

Leave out pertinent information from the listing.

Examples: Don’t put down the financing accepted. The biggest item is financing. If a property will qualify for FHA or VA financing, and the seller’s realtor leaves this data entry empty, very few if any FHA or VA buyers will know of its availability. A large share of buyers, especially first-time buyers and veterans, use FHA or VA financing. This blocks a lot of agent’s buyers.

Pet restrictions: Leave them off. A very nice neighborhood in Pasco County is Plantation Palms. It is one where there are no pet restrictions. Therefor if you have a 100 lb. dog, you will find this community very attractive. Of 65 listings in that community, that I surveyed, not one of them noted that there were no pet restrictions. This data entry point was not included in the listing, or it said buyer to verify. 1000s of buyers coming to town and NONE of them look at this community if they have big dogs.

Zoned for Horses: A property that is 1 acre plus and zoned agricultural and has no deed restrictions (no HOA), is automatically zoned for 3 hooved animals. (horses). At the time of this blog, Feb 26, 2023, there are 65 listed properties over 1 acre that are zoned agricultural and are not in a deed restricted community. Only 12 of them have the data entry for Zoned for Horses checked. So, a buyer, looking for horse properties will only see 12 properties, when there are really 65.

I could go on and on. There are over 100 data entries that can be answered on an MLS data entry form. Many realtors put “buyer to verify”. PLEASE, what are the chances that this listing even comes up under the buyers’ criteria. They won’t because “buyer to verify” is just like leaving that data entry blank.

SO, the question was…is this malicious or incompetence?

It does not matter. What matters is the client is not getting what they are paying for.

Randy 727-409-4663 (409-home).

Randal Jenkins

Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417

www.409home.com

Rent to Own Pasco Inc

Florida Real Estate Partners

4823 Ebbtide Lane 206

Port Richey Fl 34668

click on Active Listings or search all of MLS at www.409home.com

Grab a copy of my FREE Seller’s Book! Click on the banner below:

Please Be Aware: Online banking fraud is on the rise. Please make sure to confirm all wiring instructions with a member of the Title Company closing your transaction before initiating any wire transfer. This confirmation should be done by a telephone call and not an email.
The State of Real Estate in Central Florida

February 25th, 2023

Pasco County is an example of what is happening in Central Florida and the statistics and trends sited are a microcosm of the general trends for the area.

As covid started we entered an era, that I call the insanity period. 2.5 years of real estate, that we have never seen. 15-25-30 offers on new listings that appeared to be well priced. Offers $20k-$30k-$50k over the asking prices. Offers not dependent on inspections, not dependent upon appraisals, sight unseen offers. The insanity period.

In Pasco County there were around 3000 residential listings. 2300 or so under contract, leaving sometimes under 700 residential listings to choose from. When interest rates started rising, there were around 100 new net listings per week. This rose to over 2800 active listings. Just under 5000 total listings with around 2000 or so pending listings.

In the last 5 weeks we have seen the number of active listings drop by nearly 100 a week. Today Feb 25, 2023, there are 2223 active listings, 2312 pending listings and the 30-day solds around 1220.

What is happening? Interest rates doubling from 2.75% to 5.5% and now around 6.5% slowed buyer exuberance, more sellers put their homes up for sale, and the market slowed down with transactions falling 40% or so.

Yet prices have not dropped much. Under 5% in most categories and virtually no drop in some, try buying a 3/2/2 pool home, you won’t see any discounts.

WHY?

Why is the Florida market and central Florida in particular so strong?

Why does Florida’s population keep rising? Jobs. Weather. No state income taxes. Politics?

Look at the alternatives. Cold, violently cold winters in the North. Wildfires, earthquakes, high taxes in California. Water shortages in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, California and throughout the southwest. Devasting tornadoes from Oklahoma to Alabama. Landslides and flooding in the Carolina’s, West Virginia, Tennessee and the mid-eastern states. Extreme weather in the Northwest. Snow in southern California. It’s a mess.

Yes, but Florida has hurricanes. We get at least 2 days’ notice.

What is going to change the attractiveness of Florida real estate?

Home insurance and flood insurance is the Florida real estate markets biggest challenge.

I will talk much more about this in future blogposts.

Thank you for reading this post.

(Randal Jenkins, is a Realtor, Mortgage Loan Officer and president of a Real Estate investment company. After spending 18 years in the financial services industry, Randal has devoted the last 23 years to Real Estate.)
Hello World!

February 23rd, 2023

Welcome to WordPress! This is your first post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey.
How can you get more money when you sell your real estate?

February 23rd, 2023

There are several things that you can do to get more from the sale of your real estate.

Three of these are noted in my book Selling Your Central Florida Home.   There are more ways and today’s blog will address one of them.

Offer Owner Financing.

If you have the proceeds of the sale are earmarked, then this will not work for you.

Many sellers get a lump sum of cash and then must find a place to put it to earn a good safe return.

Some sellers in the past have offered owner financing to buyers. Leaving some of the proceeds in the form of a mortgage to the buyer.

For example, if a seller wanted to earn 10% safely.

Lets create a real world example:

Sales price $400,000.   You would have taken $350,000, but by offering owner financing you are able to get $400,000.

Down payment $160,000

Seller holds a $240,000 mortgage on the property.

10% interest

It would generate $2000 a month in income.

5-year balloon

$24000 a year x 5 years = $120,000

Then you get the $240,000 back.

You sold your property for more money by offered owner financing. This is only a good idea if you do not have a safe home for the money.

What is the downside of this strategy:

You don’t have the money. It is tied up in the house.

The buyer may not pay you back. You would have to foreclose. This might be a good thing because you could then sell the house again. You will have received the buyers $160,000 and if the buyer paid for a year, another $24,000 and then sell the house again. Another $375,000 when you sold it again. You would have $2500 or so in foreclosure costs, a certain amount of grief and some lost interest income over the months of nonpayment. And of course, the condition of the house may deteriorate as the new owner loses pride.

There are other variables. Because the buyer is paying a high interest rate, they are likely to refinance and cash you out early.

Generally, if you own a home for 1 year a refinance is easy. A buyer today might have a challenge getting new financing to purchase, but in 12 months they may be able to do an easier refinance.

In 12 months, it would look like the buyer bought a home for $400,000. They owe $240,000. A lender would likely find that kind of refinance attractive.

You would have received $160,000 up front $24,000 a year in interest and your $240,000 back.   $425,000.   This is for a home that was only worth $350,000.

The logistics are fairly easy, the title company will prepare the documents. Call me to discuss.

Randy

Randal Jenkins Realtor

http://www.409home.com http://www.FloridaRealEstateFamily.com RJ409home@Gmail.com 727-409-4663 (409-home)

Today’s Market

Listing Your Home? What to say in your listing. What not to say.

Realtor malpractice or ineptitude?

The State of Real Estate in Central Florida

Hello World!

How can you get more money when you sell your real estate?