Parkland Parrot

Sun Sentinel Quotes Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team On Foreclosures

Data Shows That Foreclosure Listings Starting To Loose Appeal From Parkland & South Florida Buyers

Michael Citron, Parkland Realtor and co-founder of ParklandParrot.com, was quoted in today’s Sun-Sentinel cover story supporting recent statistics showing how Parkland and South Florida bank foreclosure listings are loosing their popularity among current home buyers.

According to RealtyTrac Inc., the Tri-County area (Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties) posted that in January, February, & March of 2011, there was a total of 8,878 foreclosure sales, which was a 11 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2011.  Even more dramatic from a year ago to date, there was a 20% decline in foreclosure sales.

One factor that has slowed down the sale of bank foreclosure inventory is that many distressed homeowners were being unlawfully foreclosed upon.  As a result, many banks slowed down their foreclosure process and even implemented moratoriums on future bank foreclosure proceedings.  This caused a dramatic decrease in available bank foreclosure inventory.  But, will the banks start listing their foreclosure inventory for sale soon?

Another factor is that buyers are not as enamored with buying distressed properties as they were in the past.  Many savvy buyers are seeing that foreclosures or even short sale listings are requiring a lot of out-of-pocket costs to fix damage to properties that were possibly left vacant for many months and even years.  The numbers sometimes just don’t add up, and potential buyers are seeking regular listings, where they can purchase move-in-ready properties.

Finally, regular home sellers are starting to become aware that distressed listings (bank foreclosures and short sales) are their competition and are instead pricing their homes at appealing asking prices in order to compete with the distressed listings.  Among many Realtors, we are emphasizing to our home sellers how appraisers are using distressed sales when appraising properties.  As a result, we are better preparing our sellers to list their homes more competitively in order to beat their competition.  Instead of overpricing, which results in helping to sell the competition, sellers are now starting to price their homes correctly from day one!

In South Florida right now, nearly 4 out of every 10 home sales involve a foreclosure.  Many experts still believe that the drop in South Florida foreclosure sales is due mainly to the freeze from the banks.  Only time will tell, but we definitely see more and more potential home buyers seeing the advantages of purchasing a regular sale over distressed ones.

We want to thank Paul Owers of the Sun-Sentinel for thinking of our team when providing expert advice and opinions in regards to the South Florida and Parkland real estate market.  We encourage all readers to check out his articles as well as his contributions on the House Key Blog site.

Know the neighborhood.  Know the value.  Know your hometown agents:  The Parkland Parrot Real Estate Team.  If you are interested in buying or selling in Parkland or South Florida and are looking for experienced local Realtors, please do not hesitate to contact the Squawk at 954-609-0591 or send us a message here.

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Can Buyers Be Liars?

Calling All Parkland Liars … I Mean Buyers!

More than ever, it is important to understand that your local expert Realtor needs as much pertinent information from you in order to help guide you throughout the buying process.  Many novice or first-time homebuyers are unaware of how the buying process works in today’s real estate market.

Many times, when we receive buyer inquires from our advertisements, people only ask for the price and some more information on the home.  When we ask if the person is qualified, they are not forthcoming with this extremely important question.  Many Realtors will become tour guides driving people around town and truly not know if they are 100% qualified even to purchase a home.

Purchasing a mortgage is certainly not as easy as a couple of years ago.  Banks have tightened their purchasing requirements, so again it is imperative that potential buyers first learn about their financing requirements and sit down with both an expert Realtor and mortgage professional.

To stay updated with all of the current Parkland real estate information, receive our blog posts directly to your inbox by subscribing to the squawk.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Parkland, please give us a call at 954-609-0591 or send a note to the squawk.