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With the release of N.A.B.O.R.'s (Naples Area Board of Realtors) April data report, overall sales again increased for the seventh month in a row and showed a 20% increase over the same period last year. The report also showed a 16% decline in available inventory over $300,000. Days on market declined as well, which price per square foot has begun to stabilize as well in most areas.

This certainly is more good news for the general Naples real estate market as, despite the fact that we are out of 'high season', we continue to see interested buyers and are scheduling appointments well into the summer months.

If you are interested in downloading the current N.A.B.O.R. April Report, you can find it on our website at PreviewNaples.Com.

Reverse Mortgages seem to be getting a lot of play in the media these days. Robert Wagner lends a lot of creditability and does a masterful job as front man for the Senior Lending Network who, on request, will send you out a rather seductive cd telling all about the product and people who have taken out reverse mortgages.

The reverse mortgage, sometimes called a Lifetime Mortgage or Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), was created some years ago by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) for seniors 62 years or older. The loan is rather unique because it will allow an owner to convert a portion of the equity of the home into tax-free cash which can then be taken in one lump payment or in monthly payments for a period of time or for life.

The money derived…

I found it rather amusing the other day while reading my EarlyBird News Daily Briefing from the Florida Association of Realtors and looking at Mortgage Rates. The fist few line read as follows and I quote: "Rates on 30-year mortgages inched higher this week to 4.87 after two weeks of record lows, but still remained at attractive levels for borrowers looking to refinance their homes."

The key being attractive levels...are they kidding, it's almost like they're saying that the levels are getting close to being unattractive. Maybe the writer was too young to remember 18.5% back in the day. Heck having gone through owning a home back then, anything under 10% looks good to me.

Maybe it's just that we're all getting a bit spoiled these days!

Sometimes I think that the pressure of continually having to keep up with the social networking scene can be a bit much!

There are new social network sites being formed every day and the invitations continue to just roll in. Maybe it's because I'm suffering from social network fatique or something like that, but I can tell you that I'm getting a bit tired of it all. Besides I'm not sure whether I want people, some of whom I barely know if at all, to find out all that about much my life. I know what you're saying, well then don't accept their invitation. I get it, but sometimes in the rush to get things done you end up pushing buttons that you don't even know that you have pushed and things just happen.

I think that we can all get too caught up with…

N.A.B.O.R. (Naples Area Board of Realtors) just released their monthly report for February and the news continues to get brighter and brighter.

Pending sales for February 2008 versus February 2007 showed an overall increase of almost 70% and reaching a level not seen in the past three years. One of our brokers at Downing-Frye Realty was quoted as saying that he is seeing multiple offers on properties, something that he has not seen since 2005. His prediction is that the firm will have a better season than it has had in the past four years, and if our team sales are any indication, he will certainly be correct. We are finally seeing many of the fence-sitters talking action with authority and that has been driving our sales.

A copy of that report can be…

The statistics of people finding their homes on the internet continues to climb every year and that is the good news. The bad news is that with more and more people using the internet to look for homes, it also is bringing out the scammers in full force preying on those good-intentioned people.

Article after article say that the internet is a great place to begin your research, but you had better not assume that just because of all the power you have at your fingertips, you should attempt to do everything yourself. There have been many fraudulent homes listed for sale on the internet that do not exist and people have sent money to ‘hold’ those homes only to find later that their money is gone. It’s just like the Nigerian email scam, and yet despite all…

2009 should be an interesting year for mortgage rates. The rates could well head lower than they are today and today they are at historic lows with the  30-year fixed rate at a low not seen since the 60s. So the question becomes for those who still have option arms do you refinance now or wait it out a bit.

Certainly that decision is based upon how much of a risk taker you are, although one would suggest that the prudent thing to do is keep it for the moment. For those with option arms ready to reset, whether they are tied to the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) or the one-year Treasury Bill, most likely they will see the reset substantially lower.

The key is to check your numbers closely before making any firm… Read Full Post

After having done real estate for so many years in Naples, Florida, you'd think that it would be easier to accept how quickly life changes, but that's not always the case. Sometimes we get a bit addicted to the fact that we live and work in a world-class destination and just assume life is always good and people will be buying despite the market.

Yes people are buying real estate despite the down economy but the buyer, no matter whether they are interested spending $100,000 or $1,000,000 all say the same thing, they want a deal period. If you say to them that they are getting a great deal in relation to the vertical market experience of '04/'05, they just don't want to hear that...they want a "deal".

In many cases the first words out of their mouths are…