Counts Real Estate

Auction, Auction

2008-06-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

“Going Out of Business Sale”

“Lost Our Lease Sale”

“Everything Must Go Sale”

Do any of these slogans sound familiar? Have they stopped peaking your interest because you know there is always a “catch”? In real estate we have the same hoopla with the term “Auction” or “Absolute Auction”. There is always a catch, and here are just a few: The term “absolute auction” leads you to believe they will have to accept ANY offer. Not true. The name of the auction company may be “Absolute Auction”, but usually there is a minimum bid and properties that are auctioned as absolute mysteriously have multiple bidders. There may be only one property out of 20 being sold that does not have a minimum bid requirement. Read the small print, most of the time the add a 10% commission to the final bid, along with the buyer having to pay doc stamps and title insurance. This is a cost that the seller usually pays in a normal transaction. You may be required to pay with certified funds at the auction or pay a penalty to wait a day. There may be a plant or a straw man in the audience to insure a minimum bid is met. Occasionally a buyer has already made an offer to buy all the parcels for sale and the “act” of the auction is to establish a market price for valuation purposes. So, the whole sale may be a waste of time. Most properties I have witnessed sold at a real estate auction could have been found at an equal or lower price through a real estate agent. Not to mention legal issues and property conditions that surrounds an auction property.

Remember these words…….Caveat Emptor………let the buyer beware!

Short Sale Mania

2008-03-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Everybody wants a short sale. "Boy we can really get a steal with a short sale!" Well, let me tell you about my experiences with short sales and you can decide for yourself.

My best looking, sexiest client heard about a short sale and asked that I submit an offer on it for her. This was in October of 07. We made a very low offer to the "owner" and started the bidding process. As soon as we got close, the listing agent had his sister put in a little better offer than ours to push us out of the game. Both offers were submitted to the bank and for approval and the waiting began. By November, the lending institution threw out the other offer because they found out it was not an "arms length offer". Yippee. Justice was done. We were in first place, but we still had no contract because no one would sign.

The questions revolve around "Who owns the property?" If it has actually been foreclosed on, the bank owns it. If it is in the process of being foreclosed on, the owner still has the legal right to sell but cannot agree to a price lower than his debt without first arranging something with the lender. Otherwise, he has to come to closing with the difference, and people being foreclosed on generally cannot do that. So then you are at the mercy of bureaucrats who, by definition, refuse to make a decision least they be blamed for a lack of foresight.

So we wait. January and February passed without a word. Then we heard that the "investors" had agreed to our offer and all was well. We just needed to wait for approval by "management". That was 3 weeks ago. Management is still at lunch and we cannot get the lenders to give us a name of anyone in authority. Keep in mind that in all this time, my buyer has nothing. No one has signed the offer. Prior agreements about assessments with property management are no longer valid because the numbers have changed with each passing month. We still have no guarantee that we have a deal and no assurance that another buyer won't come along and offer $5 more. In fact, with some of the listing brokers around, that is a distinct possibility. Tax debt has increased along with arrears for electricity and various penalties.

Most frustrating of all is that, as a buyer's agent, I have NO vehicle to protect my customer's interest. She thinks I am a skillet since I have so much egg on my face. If I tell her once more, "they say it will be next week", she will fry me.

On the other hand, if we get the deal, it will still be at a good price. I have writted the president of the mortgage company begging for help. The only problem is that he is in "management".

PIER PARK

2008-02-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

Good news from the Simon Property Group, Inc., announcing more store openings at Pier Park in February and March of this year! Joining The Grand 16 Theatres, Target, Panera Bread and LongHorn Steakhouse are the following:

Anchors to open: Dillard's
JCPenney
Old Navy

Specialty shops: Alltel, Beach Scene, Bebo'z Gifts & Collectables, Bootleg Barbeque, Buffalo Wild Wings, Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, Candymaker, Del Sol, Emerald Coast Photography, Fish Tales, Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries, Gamestop, GNC, Guglielmo's Italian Restaurant, Hofbrau Beer Garden, Jake at the Beach, Kilwin's Chocolates & Ice Cream, Marble Slab Creamery, Margaritaville, Message Envy, Merle Norman Cosmetics, Mermaid Trading Co.,No Regrets Stationary and Gifts, Payless Shoes, Quizno's, Red Brick Pizza, Ron Jon Surf Shop, Smoothie King, Southern Water Outfitters, Starbucks, Sunglass World, TaToe Tots, The Back Porch, Trader Tom's, ULTA Cosmetics, and Unique Boutique by Irene and Co. Also, construction on the new pier has begun, so the namesake will be resurrected in 18 months.

Pier Park sits on 93 acres and is located between Panama City Beach Parkway and Front Beach Road. It will have 900,000 sq. ft. of retail and entertainment space. Along with our new airport, Pier Park is the key to our future. Panama City Beach is developing smartly. A well thought out infrastructure and major develpement companies like The Simon Property Group and the St. Joe Co. participating in that development create an unimaginable future for our area. We have location, the beaches, the ammenities, The Gulf Of Mexico, the weather, the fish, the golf and Southern Hospitality. Its a no brainer and a definate WINNER.

New York judges to allow airport!!!

2008-01-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

As much as it seem absurd that some judges from New York State could have stopped construction on our new airport, even they saw the wisdom of having it. Friends of PFN and their "green" conspiritors failed Monday to get these out of state judges to put a stop to progress.

The airport is Bay County's future. The airport is the key to expansion and growth. It will bring commercial enterprise to our county and allow us an occupation pool that will mean our children can stay, be employed richly and raise their families in America's most blessed county.

Thank the Lord that a few angry pilots could not stop our future, even though it means they might be alittle inconvienced by having to drive further to get to their private planes.

New Office!

2008-01-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

We are proud and excited to announce our newest office in Baldwin Plaza,Panama City. This location is very convenient to Panama City and Lynn Haven. Joining us there are Jim Everitt, Charlie Haas, Lanny King and Judy Ryan. This team has a tremendous reputation in commercial real estate throughout Bay County and we are very pleased to welcome them to our family. The new office was completed today so please stop by and see the team.

We shall also be serving residential clients from the Baldwin location. The new location at 3009 Hwy #77, Suite H has all the same technology and amenities as our other two offices. We certainly want you to stop by.

Blog Meister

2008-01-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

Call me "The Meister of Blog". Counts Real Estate Group is now open for Blogging of all sorts. Real Estate questions will be answered promptly and astutely as soon as I figure out how it is done and as soon as I can find someone qualified enough to answer them.