This exciting news is effective immediately and should help attract additional buyers to this market which is what we need right now. If you have been waiting to buy a home this summer, now is the time!

These loans are for good buyers with decent credit scores who plan to occupy their homes. Debt ratio should be less than 45%. 95% loans apply to any single family property type dwelling.

For more information or to get pre-qualified, call or email us today.

Pinellas County and Pasco County and many other Florida school districts have grading scales that top out at 5.0. Plus Florida Universities routinely recalculate Hillsborough County’s turbo charged GPAs when taking these students into consideration for enrollment along with the others who have more usual GPAs. Yet, Hillsborough County believes the extra incentive is important and helps student strive to be the very best they can.

In case you don’t clearly understand what a short sale is let me explain. A short sale is simply the sale of a home that is probably in default for less money than what is owed to the bank or other financial body. The bank decides whether or not it will accept a lesser amount on the sale of the home, not the owner.

Well, we were the lucky winners of the short sale bid mentioned above. It definitely took a lot of work on my part and a lot of patience and understanding on the part of my customer. They had been shopping for a home for their “20 something” son, who just finished college, and is a really good guy. Since he is a first time homebuyer, with a fixed amount of cash, he needed to find a good deal. Their price range was well below the medium home price of the Tampa Bay area and quite frankly after we put a bid on this home, nothing comparable popped up in the MLS in the areas he was interested in. I truly felt that if we were not chosen to buy this home, he may miss out on finding a home in his price range.

In the end, the home will be his and he got a great deal. How did we get there? Here’s some of the key points that I believe led to our success and should be valuable information to other real estate professionals who are about to take the “short sale” adventure with a customer:

1. Make yourself present in the deal, no matter how long it takes. Find out who the negotiator is (usually it is not the listing agent) and become known to him or her. First name basis is ideal.
2. Be the squeaky wheel – communicate via phone, email, fax on a weekly basis: ask questions, follow up on progress, etc. Don’t just put your offer in and forget about it.
3. Keep the buyer’s loan updated and active and make sure the negotiator knows you are on top of it. Loan approvals are only good for 60 – 90 days, ensure that yours remains active throughout the entire process.
4. Remind the negotiator that your buyers are qualified, interested, motivated, and the best choice for the sale. Personalize the buyer to the negotiator. If you believe your buyer is deserving of this home, tell him or her why.
5. Keep your buyer informed and encourage cooperation and patience. Buyers have a hard time believing that this short sale transaction is so complicated and can take this long. Ensure them that this is just the process and to hold out.

Short sales can be frustrating, time consuming, and can even end up with little commission to the real estate agent after it is all said and done. Yet, short sales can be a rewarding experience to the lucky winner, especially when it is a young, first time homebuyer that you believe deserves a great deal on real estate. After all, that’s the reason we got into this profession: to help people realize their dream of home ownership.

Search for Tampa Bay Short Sales on our website.

Still working …..
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Making progress…
~ftp’d over the directory wp-includes/js and it works. I have no idea why this directory wasn’t there because I ftp’d the entire wp-includes directory earlier.

Oh well, all is well at least I think. I’ll be back tomorrow looking at this some more.

Many thanks to this poster:

http://jaypeeonline.net/wordpress/wp-visual-text-editor-problems/

and Adam Warner for sending me there.

1. Buyers have tons of choices. The condition of the home is now one of the most critical factors. Make it great.

2. Stay informed on the market conditions and statistics. What’s sold, what’s on the market, who is your competition.

3. Call your real estate agent weekly, better yet ask him to call you and brainstorm new ideas.

4. If the activity on your home is non-existant, be the #1 home for sale among your competition for price. Drop the price so that you are 5% lower than like homes in your area.

5. Be a cooperative seller. Take all advice and consider all suggestions from your real estate agent.

6. If a buyer views your home and you get positive feedback, write an offer to the potential buyer giving them a fair price. It might trigger a negotation.

7. Do some networking between your friends, neighbors, and work associates. Let everyone know that your home is for sale.

8. Make the home an easy-show. This means a lock box on the front door and an enthusiastic YES when the phone rings that someone wants to see your home. Then leave the house well before they are scheduled to arrive.

9. Keep the home tidy 24×7. You never know when you will get a call that someone wants to drop by.

10. Rid the home of offensive odors like pet smells and cigarettes. Those are the two biggest turn offs to fussy buyers.