ASK ZEN REAL ESTATE

Major Mortgage Rates and Indicators

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and Mortgage Rates and the availability of Mortgages will have an increasing effect on the volume of sales and prices of Real Estate in Southwest Florida.

www.AskZenRealEstate.com will post weekly Major Mortgage Rates

for the week ending July 3, 2009...

30 Yr FXD, natl avg   5.42%

15 Yr FXD, natl avg   4.87%

5/1 ARM, natl avg   4.99%

1 Yr ARM, natl avg   4.93%

Current Exchange Rates in Key Countries

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121. Below are the exchange rates in key countries that could affect the Southwest Florida Real Estate market as of July 5, 2009

Euro 1.396;   Pound 1.630;   Yen .010;   Canadian Dollar .861

Austrialian Dollar .795;   Switerland Franc .919

Ruble .032;   Chinese Yugn .146;   South African Rand .126;   Peso .076

Do You Know How Big A Boat You Can Park In Your Back Yard Dock In Cape Coral?

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and the size of the boat that you can dock on your waterfront property in Cape Coral and the size of the deck that you can construct on your waterfront property in Cape Coral can greatly effect the property's value.

Cape Coral has over 400 miles of canals and the valuable property in this city is on the water.

 

Homes at the end of a canal with limited water frontage can only have docks that extend 3o feet into the water way, no matter how wide the canal is. Therefore you would be limited to a 30 foot boat.

 

Otherwise, if the property is not at the end of a canal, the restrictions on how far a deck or a dock can extend into the water way in Cape Coral are as follows:

- a deck or dock can extend into a Cape Coral canal a maximum of 25% of the canal or 30 feet, which ever is less.

- a deck and/or dock may extend the entire length of the seawall but only 6 feet out for the 12 feet on either end of the seawall and then again 25% of the canal or 30 feet, which ever is less for the rest of the water frontage. However, the entire deck and/or dock area is not to exceed 1100 square feet.

- no overhead structure is allowed except for sun shelters or boat canopies on docks

- sun shelters are not to exceed the area of the dock or deck or 150 square feet which ever is less and sun shelters are to be no higher then 14 feet

 

 

Please go to www.AskZenRealEstate.comand sign up for your own MLS account - Listingbook by submitting your name and email in the top right hand corner of the web site. Then you will have all the up to date waterfront listings at your finger tips.

 

How Will Chinese Dry Wall Effect Real Estate Prices in Southwest Florida?

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and Chinese Dry Wall is becoming a major health problem for people living in homes constructed or remodeled with the toxic material. Even homes that only one room or wall was constructed with Chinese Dry Wall are causing problems for the people that live there. Will people develop lung cancer, asthma, or some other chronic or life threatening disease in the future??? Will babies exposed to it not develop right??? Will pregnant women have more miscarriages???

 

Besides the significant unknown long term potential health hazards, the gasses coming from the effected dry wall can be absorbed, corrode and contaminate any porous substance that it comes into contact with. So removing just the dry wall in the house may not be enough to solve the problem. Even the cement in the home can absorb the toxic gases. The gasses corrode metal and the straps in the roof are metal - does that mean that these roof straps could be corroded and not protect the home in a hurricane???

How about these new condominium buildings that went up during the boom? Even though your unit doesn't have the toxic dry wall, if a neighbor's unit does could it be absorbed by the porous material in your unit???

These are the questions being asked that could at the very least stigmatize all homes built in the 2000's and reduce their value significantly and/or make the homes built before this period more valuable and in greater demand.

Please go to www.AskZenRealEstate.com and sign up for your own MLS account - Listingbook by submitting your name and email in the top right hand corner of the web site. Then you will have all the up to date listings (active, pending and sold) and you can see for yourself the effect that Chinese dry wall is having on Southwest Florida Real Estate prices.

 

 

Get Your Finance Pre-Appoval Letter Online

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and today most offers on Real Estate require Proof of Funds and/or a Pre-Approval Letter for Financing.

I find the the quickest way to get Finance Pre-Approval Letter, if don't already have one, is On Line with

Bank of America's Home Purchase Streamline Loan Application.

http://www.countrywide.com/director.aspx?action=loanApply- 30k - Cached - Similar pages

Please click the link above to get started and chose the apply on line option for the quickest results

You may also try the link below that is from a finance company

http://www.choicefinance.net/tools/pre-approval.html

 

Also, please go to www.AskZenRealEstate.comand sign up for your own MLS account - Listingbook - by submitting your name and email in the top right hand corner of the web site, then you will have all the up to date listings at your finger tips.

Refine Your MLS Search Of Southwest Florida Properties By Using GEO Area Codes

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, wwwAskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and understanding the different search techniques that the MLS offers (your own Listingbook account) can give you the edge in your search by helping you identify valuable property as it becomes listed on the MLS.

 

A Buyers' personal MLS account - Listingbook - allows a search by GEO Area Codes which are much more specific then zip codes.

For instance, GEO Area Code CC22 is located in Cape Coral and consist of Units 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, and 75. CC22 is in the Cape Harbour neighborhood of Cape Coral where there is easy access to the many upscale amenities in the neighborhood as well as direct access boating from your backyard with many properties. CC22 is the hottest GEO Area in all of Lee County with record sales and holding it's value.

If a premium property came on the market as a Bank Owned in CC22, you would need to know the day that it came onto the market (MLS) in order to have a shot at purchasing it. Your personal MLS account - Listingbook - would give you a daily update of what is new on the market that meets your criteria (for example CC22).

GEO AREA CODES FOR CAPE CORAL

CC11 = UNITS 1,2,4,5,6

CC12 = UNITS 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15

CC13 = UNITS 19,20,21,25,26,89

CC14 = UNITS 16,18,22,23,24

CC21 = UNITS 3,30,44,44-1,64,65,67,77

CC22 = UNITS 69,70,72,73,74,75

CC23 = UNITS 28,29,45,45-1,49,62,63,66,68,

CC24 = UNITS 50,54,58,71,92,93,94,95,96

CC31 = UNITS 17,31,32,33,34,35,36,36-1,46,47

CC32 = UNITS 84,85,86,87,88

CC41 = UNITS 37,38,39,40,41,42,43,48

CC42 = UNITS 51,52,53,55,56,57,80,98,98-1

CC43 = UNITS 59,60,61,76,81,82,83,83-1,90,91,97

 

Please go to www.AskZenRealEstate.com and sign up for your own MLS account, Listingbook, by submitting your name and email in the top right hand corner of the web site and then if you would like more Lee County GEO Area Codes, you may contact Broker Robin Speronis directly from Listingbook.

Believe It Or Not - A Good Short Sale Is Now The Best Place To Find Your Best Deal On Southwest Florida Real Estate

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and GOOD Short Sales have just recently emerged as the best way to find a deal on Southwest Florida property.

 

As a Buyer's Agent in this fast moving and changing market in Southwest Florida I am always looking at trends and where the market is going and at the emerging details of how deals are being worked. I have studied the foreclosure auctions at the court house and represented cash buyers there. I have followed properties through the foreclosure process so that my buyer would be the first bid when the property hit the MLS. I have researched the mortgage note buying business - in bulk and single notes. I have of course been very active and successful in helping my buyers buy bank owned properties and estate sales.

My philosophy as a buyer's agent in this competitive, fast changing  Real Estate Market in Southwest Florida is pretty straight forward and simple:

- KNOW THE PRODUCT, THE PLAYERS AND THE MARKET

- THEN DRIVE THE DEAL BY HAVING A GREAT UNDERSTANDING OF THE LEGAL AND THE CLOSING PROCESS

A Good Short Sale has recently emerged as the best way to find your deal whether you are a first time buyer or an investor buying many properties; Whether you are paying cash or financing; Whether you can wait to close or you need to move into the property quickly.

Also, the Treasury recently added a supplemental piece to the Government Mortgage Relief Plan to avert foreclosures and stabilize the housing market. This component has been put into place to encourage the quick private sale (short sale) as an alternative to foreclosure.       

Let's define a Good Short Sale.

It is real simple...

The Listing Agent HAS To Know What They Are Doing and has already closed Short Sales.

Also, the Buyer's agent HAS to convince the Seller that it is their best interest to only accept one offer -your's.

Once you get to that point:

- Fist Time Buyers are dealing directly with the lender without the competition and stress of a bidding war and bidding against cash buyers and professional investors. A General Warranty Deed is issued, instead of a Special Warranty Deed, there are not pages of addendums that protect the banks on a Bank Owned Property, and you are closing with a local title company instead of a title company on the east coast that doesn't answer their phone, etc.

- Cash Investors are again in effect dealing directly with the lender without competition.The list price on a short sale is just a number where negotiations start. That lender is going to sell short at market value for a distressed property and the price is negotiable almost up to closing. When buying at auction or buying notes you are up against great competition and the due diligence can be very difficult and risky. Many times short sale properties are in great shape with a good tenant in place that wants to stay so you could cash flow from day one.

- Cash is still King in this market and paying cash will give you more of a selection of properties. Financing a Short Sale is mush easier and often possible where financing a Bank Owned is often impossible because of the condition of the property and the lenders preference to accept cash offers.

Often buyers are in no hurry to close because this is a retirement home and they are not ready to retire for a few years or a buyer may be interested in a condo or a home in the luxury market and both those markets have not bottomed. A short sale can take months to close and the price can be negotiated almost up to closing. Also, if you need to take possession immediately, a lot of short sales are vacant and the seller will rent it to the buyer as it goes through the short sale process.

My short sales closings are at 100% over the last 10 months. That is on offers that are accepted by the seller as the only offer. And right now about 75% of my business is Short Sales. My Short Sale closings from contract to closing have taken 2 1/2 months to 9 months.

Please go to www.AskZenRealEstate.com and sign up for your own MLS account - Listingbook by submitting your name and email in the top right hand corner on the web site. Then you will have all the up to date listings at your finger tips.

 

 

 

Breaking News: Cape Coral May Get $35 Million Swimming Complex and Wellness Center plus a$250 Million Hotel/Convention Facility

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and the National Swim Center Corporation, supported by USA Swimming announced today that they are interested in building a $35 million Swimming Complex and Wellness Center, and a $250 million Hotel/Convention Facility in Northwest Cape Coral.

 

 

Other phases of the project could include two more hotels, a USTA tennis center, shops, restaurants and a business park for a branch college campus

 

If a feasibility study indicates the site is right for the facility and all parties come to terms, then hopes are to have the swimming, hotel/convention center complex constructed by 2013

Under valued Cape Coral property is now maybe looking even better.

Please go to www.AskZenRealEstate.com and sign up for your own MLS account - Listingbook by submitting your name and email in the top right hand corner of the web site then you will have all the up to date Cape Coral listings at your finger tips.

Have You Look at Sanibel Lately?

       My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and do you yearn for the days when you had time to look at a property before putting a bid on it; or when you could negotiate price with the owner who wasn't a bank; or when you weren't competing with 10 or more bidders for the same property; or when you could understand the purchase contract and the closing process and you didn't feel uncomfortable and pressured into signing documents that were stacked against you?

Have you looked at Sanibel lately?

Sanibel's prices are down and there are some short sales and foreclosures, but the craziness that you find in most of Lee County has not caught up with the Islands.

Today you can buy a furnished condo starting in the low 200's.

                                                                                                  You will also find that many properties that are

for sale have no mortgage on them and/or have been in the same family for years.

Single Family Homes are now starting in the low 300's and everything in Sanibel is close to the water.

 

Please go to www.AskZenRealEstate.com and sign up for your own MLS account - Listingbook by submitting your name and email in the top right hand corner of the web site, then you will have all the up to date listings of Sanibel Property at your finger tips.

Did You Know...You Can Search the MLS for Cape Coral Properties by Boating Time to the Gulf of Mexico?

My name is Robin Speronis and I am the Owner/Broker of Zen Real Estate of Southwest Florida, www.AskZenRealEstate.com, 1-877-890-0121 and Cape Coral has over 400 miles of canals and many of these canals have Gulf of Mexico access.  Also, Cape Coral has some of the lowest priced waterfront property in all of Florida and some that live in Cape Coral would also say the most valuable.

But if you are a serious boater the time it takes to get to the Gulf from your waterfront property is important. Listed below is a map with the areas of Cape Coral that show the shortest to the longest run times to the Gulf.

 

The Red and Orange Sections should be less than 45 minutes to the Gulf and there Unit Numbers on the MLS are:

 

Please go to www.AskZenRealEstate.com and sign up for your own MLS account - Listingbook by submitting your name and email in the top right hand corner of the web site, then you can seach for waterfront property by distance to the Gulf and have all the up to date listings at your finger tips.