It’s always been said that the spring months are usually a new beginning and in a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, billionaire Sam Zell predicts that the Spring will be the beginning of a housing recovery for the United States. The whole subprime mortgage debacle has left a lot of people in a panic but Zell, who is the chairman of Equity Group Investments, believes that the panic will be ending soon enough.

Zell has used the textbook definition of recession in his assessment that the market has hit rock bottom and will only go up from here. He suggests that sales will start to happen again soon and the overwhelming inventory will start to decrease, perhaps allowing housing prices to come back up a bit. With a history without a first quarter…

How much do photos add to a listing?

As a Realtor® selling real estate in Fort Lauderdale, I am amazed at the number of property listings in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) without property photos. I believe this is a missed opportunity for maximum exposure, extremely frustrating to fellow agents and potential buyers, and certainly a disservice to the client seller.

By not uploading photos to each listing in the MLS, selling agents (who are the target audience you are reaching out to) searching for properties for a buyer are at a handicap when selecting properties to show if they cannot view the photos beforehand. Because of the lack of photos, agents are less likely to include this property when showing and even less likely to email the…

Victoria Park | Fort Lauderdale

Victoria Park, Fort Lauderdale Real Estate figures for December 2007 show 11 new home listings added to the maket during the month. As of this writing, there are a total of 93 Victoria Park Fort Lauderdale homes available for sale. The average Listed Price is $860,333.

Fort Lauderdale MLS reports there were 2 pending sales and 1 closing in December. The one closing was for a 4 bedroom 4 bath pool home which sold at $710,000.

Victoria Park Townhomes and Condo Figures show 29 new property listings added to the market in November. Present inventory shows there are 266 condos / townhomes for sale. The average Listed Price is $520,991.

December 2007 figures reveal 1 pending sale for November and 8 townhome / condo…

Weston, Florida, established in 1996 is located in Southwest Broward County just 35 miles north of Miami and 20 miles west of downtown Fort Lauderdale and is home to many celebrities including Dan Marino, former quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. Many of the planned urban communities were developed by Arvida/ JMB Partners building residential real estate behind gated communities all within close proximity to shopping, schools, golf courses, parks and recreational facilities.

Buyers interested in purchasing a home in a planned community are attracted to Weston Florida Real Estate because residences are set in natural settings among lakes, parks and tropical landscape. Homes are built on lots ranging in size from zero lots to several acres and all common…

While reading the August 2007 issue of Consumers Reports, I learned a disturbing fact about identity theft and a new weapon to protect against it.

Everyday nearly 30,000 people become victims of Identity theft. Almost one third of these victims have new accounts opened in their name without their knowledge simply because a thief gained access to their name and Social Security Number.  With this compromised information, an identity thief can open any number of accounts and charge endlessly racking up several thousands of dollars causing the unsuspecting victim severe personal, emotional and financial damage once the theft is finally discovered. 

Usually, the victim doesn’t find out that they are an identity theft victim until they apply for… Read Full Post

A ruling by a federal judge this week could have an impact on hundreds of pending insurance claims for massive property damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.  In the ruling, the judge ruled against a Mississippi couple who argued their insurance policy should cover damage their property received during Hurricane Katrina from "wind driven rain."

The judge ruled in fact the policy did not cover damage caused by flood waters, storm surge or damage caused by wind driven rain.

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, several insurance companies have denied billions in damage claims caused by Katrina arguing storm related water damage is not covered under the standard homeowners insurance policy.

It is vital to look carefully look over your insurance… Read Full Post

Earlier this year taking a break from posting about real estate information, I posted on my Fort Lauderdale Real Estate blog about a performer who opened the show for Cirque du Soleil Delirium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  This performer took the breath away from just about every spectator in the audience. Nitza, from Montreal, Canada, was raised with a mixture of eastern and western cultures, and weaves this incredibly into her music that she writes herself, singing with an angelic voice in many languages accompanied by instruments native to these cultures.

Her latest album, "Ageless", from the Cirque du Soleil Delirium tour has been nominated at this years Los Angeles Music Awards in two categories, "world music" and female vocalist of the year"! The…

May I suggest to each and every Florida resident to immediately contact your respective State Representatives (and local officials) to SHOUT that more is needed before they leave this Special Session (thinking they did any of us a favor)?  They need to hear from each and everyone of you.  And anyone who does not make the effort surely has no reason to complain about taxes.  THIS IS THE TIME TO ACT AND ACT QUICKLY WHILE THEY ARE STILL IN SESSION.

Further cuts are needed for this year. The current plan for reduction for this year is definitely not enough.  The Legislators needs to do much more to cut taxes this year.  It is rumored that the Legislative folks want to be home by Father’s Day.  Until they get a more meaningful tax reduction, which should have…