WASHINGTON – March 29, 2010 – The Senate adjourned last week without approving H.R. 4851, which would have extended a number of programs, including the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Authority for the NFIP expired at midnight on Sunday, March 28. That change impacts all home closings that require a flood policy, unless the policy was issued before Sunday.

Homeowners who hold flood insurance policies still have coverage; but NFIP cannot issue new policies, increase coverage on existing policies or issue renewal policies. Once Congress authorizes the program again, however, it’s expected to make it retroactive.

“This is now the third time in recent months that the National Flood Insurance Program has been allowed to lapse, and each time for reasons that have little or nothing to do with the program itself,” National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies’ spokesman Matt Brady says. Brady notes that this lapse, like the others before it, will have a “serious impact” on homebuyers in flood zones who hope to close on a home during the inactive period.

Efforts to reach a bipartisan flood agreement last week in the U.S. House and Senate failed over discussions on how to pay for the broader bill, which included other programs. While passage is still not assured the week of April 12, a procedural motion has been filed in the Senate setting up a vote.

The National Association of Realtors® says it has stressed the importance of the NFIP program to Congress, and NFIP’s role in the real estate market. NAR hopes to not only see the program extended in April, but to also forge a long-term solution that extends the program as long as possible.

According to a letter from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Division Director Dennis L. Kuhns, Bulletin W-09068 – “Recommendations/Guidance for Possible NFIP Authority Lapse and Hiatus, issued Oct. 27, 2009 – should be used as a reference on how the program operates during a hiatus.

The Bulletin can be downloaded (PDF format) at: http://www.nfipiservice.com/stakeholder/pdf/bulletin/w-09068.pdf

View the MLS stats for Feb 2010. The home sales are up and the market is moving.

“Click on the link and open the pdf. file”

If you would like a market snap shot of your home or neighborhood let us know. Leave us a comment let us know what we can help you with.

Enjoy Del Centro – Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood just 2 blocks to downtown St. Pete shopping, dining, entertainment & waterfront parks. Completed in 2005, this corner 3 story townhome has a bedroom and full bath on each level making this functional floor plan work for almost anyone! The 2 car garage is also unique to downtown living. 1st floor features tile floors with laundry under the wood stair case. High ceilings on each floor add to the volume of the space and the large windows allow for a lot of natural light to flood the home. The main living level was custom designed with wood floors through out the living space & upgraded SS appliances complete with a granite dining bar. 3rd floor is all master suite and what a master suite this is, with 3 huge closets, you’ll enjoy the Spanish style, private balcony over looking the downtown skyline, vaulted ceilings and a large master bathroom.

Don’t forget to send to friends and family, if you want to take a private tour give me a call.

Experience low maintenance Florida living at its best here in this free standing Villa in a gated community. Feel the spaciousness of its open floor plan and high vaulted ceilings as soon as you step in. This contemporary home has plenty of built ins, a large eat in kitchen, lots of cabinets & granite counter tops, SS appliances. The pass thru from kitchen to the formal dining room makes entertaining a breeze. Cozy up by the wood burning fireplace that is visible in the family room and master bedroom. Relax is the comfort of your oversized, jetted tub in the master bath. The roomy master suite has a large walk in closet and sitting room with access to a private atrium and the pool deck. You’ll love being outside by the pool that’s enclosed with a vaulted screen enclosure and ample shade overlooking the tranquil pond. Also… central vacuum system throughout & water softener.

Like this home? Let me know! Don’t forget to send to friends and family.

Before I get stated I want to admit I have a real estate problem! I spend 8-10 hours most days working as a Realtor and when I come home I’m either reading real estate magazines, researching how to get more traffic to my website or writing blog posts, all of course after I play with Mackenzie and put her to bed. For downtime I love yard work or build things and I watch HGTV, love watching the shows where the agents list and sell homes in different parts of the country.

Last night there was a show where a young couple owned a 1 bedroom two story townhome just under 1,000 sqft. They hired an agent Sean who ran some comps and gave them a vale of $182-$182,500 as a selling range. They listed the home for $189,900 and within a short time received an offer for $175,000.

After going over the offer it was the seller who asked if a counter offer would be appropriate! The agent who should have been looking out for his clients hesitated, saying “You can but you run the risk of loosing the buyer” One thing I’ve learned over the past 13 years in this business is when a buyer makes an offer on a home they are emotionally attached to the property! Also, 80% of buyer’s who make an offer, make a low offer to see how the seller is going to react.

If the seller is confident in their asking price and they have good comparable sales to back it up, my advice would be to counter at almost full price or at the top end of the comps, expecting the buyer to then make a counter. This is part of the negotiating, if you don’t do this either part may feel like they have lost something.

Buyer & sellers don’t typically want to take advantage of the other part, they just want to now they got the best deal they can get. At the end of the day paying $5-$10,000 more for a home in the long run is such a small number added to the monthly payment. (Rule of thumb if you pay $5k you borrow your mortgage will go up $25 depending on the interest rate.

The seller’s agent didn’t seem confident in the price or negotiating and it almost seemed to me he may have been more concerned about making the deal happen than providing the seller with sound advice.

The main reasons people hire real estate agents is because they want someone with knowledge and experience to advise them on the best cause of action when buying or selling a home. They also need marketing to expose their home to all potential buyers. Emotions run high when buying, selling and negotiating. I think everyone would agree they don’t like buying a new car, because you have to dealing with a trained sales person who knows what buttons to push to get you to pay more for a car.

Real estate agents should remain unemotional! (I do say, should) The advice given on this show last night was to make a counter offer, splitting the difference from the buyers offer and the asking price which was $182k was in my opinion this was bad advice because the sellers wanted to get $182k. The obvious next move from the buyers would be to then split the difference again. Which is what happened, the buyers made a counter of $179,000 the sellers were then under pressure because they didn’t want to loose the buyer. Their agent suggested a counter of $179,750 (who comes up with a counter for $750 more?). They made a counter and the buyer accepted. The seller effetely sold the home under the comps by almost $3,000 which for these guys was a lot of money.

The other big issue was the home inspection, the seller knew the heating system was making a strange noise when they listed the home. Asking questions at the time the listing was taken could have saved the seller over $1,700 for a new heater. If they would have purchased a home warranty for a little as $400 they would have been protected. But the sellers ended up having to buy a new heating system for the buyers.

The conclusion to this is when hiring a real estate agent find someone who has been in the business for sometime in your area, someone who knows how to negotiate and is confident in your asking price. Don’t overprice your home in today’s market buyers have access to all kinds of data from the property appraiser office, zillow.com, cyberhomes.com and the sold data from the MLS.

If you found this info useful leave me a comment or forward to a friend.

According to the national association of Realtors only 11% of the American public knows about the real estate tax credit. WOW! I’m shocked it so low!

If you have not heard the government is offering an $8,000 & a $6,500 tax credit to buyers who buy a home.

The $8,000 is for 1st time buyers, this doesn’t mean you have to be a true 1st time buyer an example could be own a home and moved out 3 years ago, you rent the home and have been renting for 3 years.

The 2nd credit is for people who own and want to move, example you purchased a home in 2000 and now want to move.

If you are under contract before April 30th 2010 and close on or before July 30th 2010 you could qualify for the tax credit for more info check out www.IRS.gov for more info.

If you know anyone who is renting right now, please pass this info on to them and ask them to consider buying as this is a buyers market and interest rates are low. However we are seeing in most areas of Pinellas that homes in good condition under $200,000 are going fast, homes under $100k in good condition and not short sales are like gold! No time to think or to pray, if you find something you like you need to act fast.

I’ve been showing homes to people who rent and they feel the will be saving money by buying now!

Don’t forget to check out our MLS Search from the main page. If you need any help or advice call me anytime.

Don’t get stuck in the long lines, watch this and discover the short cut!

We had a blast at the air show with the kinds, also you can take food and drinks into the event.

Don’t forget the downtown St. Pete Grand Prix later this month.

I’ve put together a few short video clips from the Signature Place auction to give you the feel of how exciting the event was. I’d love to see them do this on “The Sage” that Bank of America pretty much owns (100+ units). The Sage is located on the corner of 4th Ave. South and 4th St. South downtown St. Petersburg FL.

This Auction was a great success not only for the health and stability of the Signature building, it also created some MAJOR buzz for the downtown condo market.

If you have interest in this building or other condos in downtown St. Petersburg check out our downtown condo website, we have broken down all the most popular buildings so you can keep an eye on the market, go to http://www.davidpricerealtor.com/downtown.php

We have also setup the ability for you to create custom real estate search and receive new and updated listings each day so check it out at http://www.davidpricerealtor.com/mls_search.php

Always here to help you, so feel free to call or email me anytime.

If you like this info please comment and or forward to a friend!

What’s going on this weekend in Tampa Bay?

http://www.macdill-airfest.com/
http://www.gpstpete.com/

See you there!