Coastal Florida Real Estate

Real estate research company First American CoreLogic has sued eight rival companies, including Zillow.com, for patent infringement, claiming to own the rights to the "automated valuation model" (AVM) these companies use to estimate property values.

At issue is ownership of a complex mathematical model. Besides Zillow, CoreLogic is suing Fiserve, IntelliReal, Interthinx, Lender Processing Services, Precision Appraisal Services, Real Data and Realec Technologies.

In the lawsuit, CoreLogic demands that the companies stop using the AVM model and pay treble damages for loss of profits.

Zillow released a statement: "We have seen the complaint, and have no comment at this time. Zillow has to plans to change any aspect of our business as a result of this complaint."

None of the firms have officially responded to the lawsuit, and a court date has not been set.

Yesterday, I posted my thoughts on selling a home on the holidays.  Here is another thought I had.

Marketing, whether cars or real estate agents, is all about creating a memorable image in the mind of the consumer.  Usually, this is accompanied by a tag line such as: ” Please don’t squeeze the C__________.”   Or, “B__, the ultimate driving machine.”

Real estate is no different.  So all agents are looking for an angle, something to make the phone ring.

Some may just come right out and tell you, “I want to be your Realtor for life”.  But like Gordon Gecko, said in Wall Street, “If you want a friend, get a dog”.

I read about some agents who are now wearing flip-flops in order to create a memorable image in the mind of the consumer.  Now, if  you are Carlos Justo selling properties costing tens of millions, this is one thing. 

So I ask will flip-flops help you find the right agent?  Here are my thoughts.

And here's my answer!

More than 371,000 homes in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties were worth less than the mortgage amount at the end of the first quarter, Zillow.com said recently.

Pete Flint, chief executive of Trulia, said on a conference call with reporters he "absolutely expects" more homeowners to walk away in the coming years as the stigma of foreclosure fades.

This is the fifth such survey of consumer attitudes since 2008, but the first time questions about underwater mortgages were included, Flint said.

Because South Florida home prices have fallen by more than 40 percent since the peak of the housing boom in 2005, underwater borrowers here may have to stay put for a decade or more until they can break even in a sale, housing experts say.

Some of these homeowners say they're unwilling or unable to wait that long.

I have been commenting on the strategic default for over a year.  This is the skeleton in the closet and now without the social stigma attached to losing your home, we will see more and more of it.

And remember, if something declines 50% in value, it then has to double to get back to its original price.

Admirals Cove, Jupiter's premier waterfront community, currently has 99 properties actively listed for sale.  This is not including properties under contract.

They range in price from $ 325,000 to $ 13,500,000.

Two interesting points for your consideration.  The 2 lowest priced homes have both been on the market for over 800 days.

And the mandatory membership is now approximately 1/3 of the purchase price or more.

I believe these properties aren't selling because of this expensive membership issue.

A person who spends $ 13,000,000 on a house doesn't care about the cost of the membership.  I mean the taxes alone will run about $ 20,000 per month.

But a person who wants to buy a small pied-a-terre may not want to plunk down this much money for a membership.

It's just my perspective, but for such lovely properties in such a great community to be on the market for so long, there has to be a reason.

If you have one of these properties that simply won't sell, instead of lowering the price, give some thought to paying some of the membership fee.

It's just a thought but you've tried the other way for hundreds of days and it didn't work, so what do you have to lose?  What is the hidden cost of carrying that home for so long?  Think about it.

Here are examples of single family homes that just sold in Jupiter.

This first one is in the Abacoa community of Martinique, located in It is 2,506 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths.  This 2 story home was built in 2006 and has a private pool with mother-in-law suite above the garage.

It was a bank owned property listed at $ 356,400 and it sold after 57 days on the market for $ 385,000.  Why that's higher than the listing price you might say??

This next property is located in the popular central Jupiter neighborhood of Egret Landing.  It was built in 1998, has a private pool, 2,249 square feet under air with 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. 

It was listed for $ 439,000 and sold after 119 days on the market for $ 400,000.

Egret Landing is one of a couple of our most popular communities, like The Shores of Jupiter, The Hamptons and Woodland Estates.

You can search for homes like these from my HOME PAGE where I offer three different ways to search.  Or set up an automated search to do the work for you.

Be sure and visit My You Tube Channel where you can see videos on these and other communities as well as the Coastal Florida lifestyle.  Then be sure and send along to your friends.

On May 5, Wells Fargo Bank, as successor to Wachovia Bank, filed a foreclosure lawsuit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against the center’s owner, an affiliate of shopping center giant Woolbright Development of Boca Raton.

It seeks repayment of a $15.6 million loan used for the purchase and renovation of the open-air center. According to the lawsuit, the loan was due Aug. 27, but more than $14 million remains outstanding.

The lawsuit is the latest in a string of foreclosure actions against Woolbright, underscoring the company’s troubles in commercial real estate.

The foreclosure also calls into question the concept that created Abacoa Town Center.

In 2001, when the project opened, de Guardiola envisioned a place where people could live, work and play. He expected residents in nearby Abacoa neighborhoods to walk over to shop. The pedestrian-friendly ideal is called New Urbanism.

“It was based on a concept that if you put all the shopping in the middle of a residential community, everybody would walk to the town center,” said Rebel Cook, of Rebel Cook Real Estate of Jupiter.

Similar thinking went into the much-larger CityPlace in West Palm Beach.

De Guardiola said New Urbanism can work but has turned out to be vulnerable to many factors. “This includes recession, pricing wars (among retailers), anything like that,” he said. Stores offering the cheapest products will draw customers who will drive some distance even if slightly more expensive stores are within a short walk, he said.

But Cook said Abacoa Town Center was flawed.

“That concept looked great on paper,” Cook said, “but in reality it doesn’t work, particularly in South Florida. It’s too hot (for people to walk).”

Others say Town Center has problems because it is hidden off Donald Ross and doesn’t have the right shops to interest patrons outside of Abacoa. Parking also is difficult, said Peter Reed, a principal with Commercial Florida Realty Services in Boca Raton.

Wells Fargo now seeks foreclosure, repayment of the loan, collection of rents and the appointment of a receiver for the property.

Abacoa Town Center today is known chiefly for its Green Market, the ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival and car shows. Roger Dean Stadium is adjacent to the center. Florida Atlantic University is nearby.

Tenants include J.J. Muggs Stadium Grill, Jumby Bay Restaurant and Rooney’s Public House.

Scientists from Scripps Florida frequent the center, especially French bistro Le Metro, Kelso said.

G4S Wackenhut will provide a boost. The security company broke ground last month for its North America headquarters at Abacoa and plans to employ about 225 people there.

To follow the Jupiter and Tequesta real estate market, to search for a home to call your own here in paradise or to see any Jupiter/Tequesta property offered for sale visit my website: www.CoastalFloridaRealEstate.net and send to your friends.

I posted a new video on my You Tube Channel on Jupiter Island.

Jupiter Island has been in the news recently because Tiger Woods is building here and Celine Dion has built a mansion with her own water park.  But for decades it has been a quiet enclave for old money.

One beautiful, Coastal Florida day recently I took a ride up on the Island and shot some pictures for you.  Enjoy the video.

Or you can cruise over to my Picasa online albums and look at my Coastal albums.  Be sure and send this along to your friends.  They will enjoy it too!

This just in from Florida Realtors:

While 46 percent of homebuyers include open houses in their home searches, only 12 percent last year found the residence they eventually purchased through an open house or yard sign, according to the National Association of Realtors^®.

There are Realtors on both sides of the debate concerning the value of open houses. Some host them to keep their options open, while others hold them to obtain new buyer clients or to attract shoppers who don't have computers at home.

Realtors who do not believe open houses are valuable say sellers don't like neighbors traipsing through the property, and that serious buyers prefer to view a home with their agent when other prospective buyers are not around. They point out that open houses account for few of their closed transactions.

However, most agents emphasize the importance of viewing a home in person – whether at an open house or private showing – because virtual tours do not showcase all of the home's features and can conceal flaws in the design as well as any defects.

They shouldn't have included the yard sign data with the open house data.  Still the total is only 12%.  I have posted before and still maintain that Open Houses serve as a method for agents to find buying clients, not to sell your house.  And remember, I sold a home during an open house for $ 692,000 and I would still say they do not increase your value proposition.

Open houses were conceived decades ago before the Internet, Virtual Tours, You Tube, Google Earth and the like.  It's time to let them die the quiet death they deserve,  unless you are an agent looking for buyers.

Check out www.CoastalFlorida.blogspot.com then send to your friends.

In the western cowboy movies of yesterday, whenever there was a chase, (good guys going after bad guys), the good guys would often yell, "We'll head them off at Bottleneck Pass!".

Apparently, all canyons out west have a large end and a small end, like a funnel.  And much like a roach motel, bad guys go in but they can't get out...except through Bottleneck Pass, the small end of the funnel.

Today's Bottleneck Pass is called IDX, or Internet Data Exchange and here's why it's important.

1.  About 85% of buyers starte their home buying search on the Internet.

2.  You cannot advertise other people's listings in print media without permission.  But you can on the Internet through IDX.  All agents and companies have IDX set up on their websites and show all the homes offered for sale.  This is no different than what Realtor.com or the MLS itself provides, but it looks better.

So, every buyer looking for a home will go through Bottleneck Pass and that's where your presentation comes into play.  It doesn't matter if you are selling an estate on Jupiter Island or a home in Jupiter Farms, IDX is the only game in town.

Make sure you choose an agent who will get your home situated perfectly to capture the buyers as they come by.  This may be the only chance you get to gain their attention.

Like this?  Then send it along to your friends.  And then check out my other Jupiter videos at www.youtube.com/richardsites

I comment all the time on how fractured this real estate market is.  Look at the above headlines.

If you want to find good news, just be sure you get it from the right source.

My son is always teasing me about using old sayings to which I reply, “You kids don’t have any sayings.  LOL  and OMG are not sayings”.

Old sayings come from people who have had similar experiences and come up with sayings to describe them.  Here’s one I love:

Good judgement comes from experience.  Unfortunately, most experience comes from bad judgement.

Two more that are relevant to the real estate market are these:

Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish and Quality remains when price is forgotten.

Sure the real estate market out there is very fractured.  Navigating turbulent times can be difficult, but you don’t need to make it more difficult by trying to save a few dollars when listing your home.

I see listings in the MLS where only the required fields are filled in and in some listings a “place holder” in the field so the listing can be completed.

About 85% of buyers start their search on the Internet so are you really helping yourself but presenting nothing but the basics?  I mean, trying to sell your home this way is like trying to advertise using a sign with half the lights burned out.  It just doesn’t make sense!

Remember: HOPE IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE SELLING STRATEGY!

If this make sense send it along to a friend who is struggling to get their house sold.

One of the biggest mistakes sellers make when trying to sell their home is falling into the trap of thinking the highest asking price will get them the biggest net check after closing.  False.  Why?  Two reasons.

First, most showing activity occurs during the first 3-4 weeks.  If you miss this period of greatest activity because you are priced away from the market (hoping that an uninformed buyer looks at the house), it can be shown statistically that you will suffer more than pricing it lower to start with.  Ask your agent to discuss the theory of standard deviation re: the pricing.

Second, the hidden cost of carrying your home month after month can be eating up any hoped for additional profit.  Make a list of your expenses:

1. Mortgage
2. Insurance
3. Property Taxes
4. Homeowners Insurance
5. Repairs and maintenance
6. HOA & POA fees
7. Contractors

You get the idea.  When you add these up you will be shocked at what it is really costing you to hang on to that special house.  Get over it and let's get your house sold!

Remember: HOPE IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE SELLING STRATEGY!

If you think this makes sense, send it along to your friends. 

Recently, I was involved in a transaction with another agent who wouldn't answer the phone.  Now, I understand that out of courtesy to clients you may be working with at the time, you shouldn't answer the phone.  Once, while covering for 2 agents on vacation, I took phone calls while showing homes to a couple.  Even though they didn't include me in their conversations, they took offense at the phone calls.  They bought a house with me but listed their homes (2) with other agents.

What is funny though, it that the above mentioned agent had a note in the MLS saying, "For a faster reply, email me".  When you did, he would reply from his phone.  How do I know?   On the bottom of his email was the message, "Sent from My Blackberry".  So, basically he would email from the phone but wouldn't talk on it.

Yesterday, while researching properties, I came across this note: " For a faster response, text me".  Now, I know this agent and she is a very hardworking and successful agent.  But it seems odd to me that she would text from her phone but like the agent above, doesn't want to talk.

I have posted before that people love technology.  They love to push buttons and in fact would rather do that than talk.  So, when choosing an agent and trying to sell your house take all these facts into consideration. 

Remember: HOPE IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE SELLING STRATEGY!

Have you been over to my other sites? www.youtube.com/richardsites

and www.coastalflorida.blogspot.com.  Enjoy then send along to your friends!