rmasse10's Blog: All Categories

The temperatures here in the Tampa bay area are reaching the mid 90's with a couple of peaks to 100.  With the high temps come high demand for real estate in the Tampa Real Estate Market.  I think the concept here is that most of the clients we speak to live in parts of the country where it is cold and rainy and they just want a piece of sunshine, nice walk on the beach, or a good day fishing (any day and everyday is a good day fishing).  Tampa is a great place to live and play, so if you are one of those people that has always dreamed about living in paradise, on the water, or by a great backyard pool, give us a call today!  There are some great deals going on right now as well as the Tampa Foreclosures market, it just may take a bit longer to…

Now that the Tampa Real Estate market is busting at the seams with homes of all styles and price ranges and because of this we have a problem.  With so many choices, comes that feeling of being overwhelmed and lack of ability to make a decision.  By the time you make a decision, odds are the property is going to be gone.  Here is some advice if you are in the market to buying a home:

1. Figure out what you are willing to spend and then increase that by $20,000.  The reason for that is it is a buyers market and you will most likely be able to get a better house for a good deal.  Negotiate down.

2. Know exactly what you want.  Don’t waste time looking at homes that don’t meet your needs.  Put your needs on paper and stick to them.

3. Speak with a…

OK, so I think the banks are starting to figure out that they stand to make more money (or should I say loose less) by processing short sale offers instead of making it to the foreclosure process.  Working in the Tampa Real Estate Market, which is improving, the Tampa Foreclosures market is moving quicker in terms of offers, but not closing.  Lets take a look at a few examples.

Example 1. My wife takes out some first time home buyers and they are interested in this one property.  The price is listed at $125,000 and they put in an offer of $97,000.  The bank, after  4 weeks says no way.  Ok, so the clients move on and are still looking and then we see that the property went thru foreclosure and is now bank owned.  The property is now listed at…

I have lived in a few states, had a few different types of careers and sold Real Estate in Massachusetts and now sell Tampa Real Estate, and let me tell you…so many times people, including myself, get wrapped up in their everyday lives and they forget the reason the live where they do.  I moved to Florida for the reason to enjoy the weather, the water and life in general.  I get wrapped up so much in what I do everyday, that I forget that a simple walk on the beach is worth its every second you spend just enjoying nature at its finest. 

My buddy, who is a pro hockey player, is getting ready to head back to Russia for 10 months so I have been trying to spend some extra time with him and his family (my wife and I treat them like family as that is how we…

People often ask me what I think about the Tampa Real Estate market and what I think the future of Real Estate is going to be.  It's easy for me to come up with some sophisticated Real Estate scenario, Virtual Homes, Virtual Open Houses, Virtual Brokers Open, Virtual this, Virtual that.  Virtual Tours will be replaced by Video Tours, will be replaced by 3-D Tours.  I believe that Real Estate is moving into a new era of combining sophisticated computer software, and Real Estate Sales.  Maybe the Realtor of the Future will need to be a Software Salesman, or maybe a Webmaster Guru.  Whatever the future holds, I believe that Technology and Real Estate are coming to a collision point.  It's easy for me to say this because I have an engineering mind and would…

The Little Harbor development is a little known location in Ruskin Florida.  When my wife and I first moved to Apollo Beach, which is the neighboring town, no one ever spoke of Little Harbor and what was there.  It took us about a year to come across this "gem" but sheer accident.  It was truly amazing that a place like this even existed where it is.

There are a couple of reasons why we were so surprised.  The first and foremost reason was it's location, it is in the middle of no where, and I mean no where.  You have to drive about 2 miles off of Rt41, the main drag.  Then at almost the end of this road, there is a small sign on the right...if you are not paying attention, you will miss it.  You enter the development and there to your immediate right is a…

The title may have thrown you a little bit as Mirror Matching and NLP techniques are something that really "Good" Realtors tend to initiate with clients.  Mirror Matching is when you attempt to match the style and attitude of the person that you are communicating with, hence the name, and I won't go into NLP as it is a little more complicated to explain.  But this is where the problem is. 

What I have been seeing from many Realtors in the Tampa Real Estate Market, and especially in the Tampa Foreclosures arena, these agents that are assisting the banks in selling their homes (ie bank owned or soon to be), these Agents are taking on the attitude of the bank.  They have become rude, take multiple offers and don't put the properties pending when the first…

I have been thinking about this lately, why would someone invest in Tampa Real Estate or move completely to the Tampa Bay Area?  Well, I decided to show you why I moved here some 5 years ago with my wife and 3 dogs (although I knew no one here at the time)

1. The Weather - By far the main reason I moved here, I hate the cold.

2. No Income Tax - I am not cheap, but I hate paying the tax man

3. Could afford a home on the Water - the market has gone crazy up and down at the time and now it is beginning to  stablize...but still the same reason

4. Theme Parks - I love Disney and Busch Gardens and hate to take a plane to get there.

5. Fishing - Some great fishing in and around the Tampa Bay Area

6. The Weather - Did I say that already?

7. A Simpler Life -…