Linda Flack - Your Southwest Florida Real Estate Specialist

SW Florida on the Move

Linda Flack — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:28:00 GMT

Just this week we have had several articles in the newspaper and on local news that properties are moving at a rapid rate. We are definitely moving forward. I did a search on the MLS and found 30 homes closed in the past three months in Lee County Listed over $1,000,000. WOW! It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a perfect home at the price it was last month.

The Ripping off of Cape Coral

Linda Flack — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:02:00 GMT

Not completing the audit because the contractor refuses to release payroll records is not right! Think their costs were excessive? Someone made and obscene amount of money at the expense of the citizens. The job of council is to find out why and how this happened. How can you have half an audit? MWH needs to turn over these records. What are they hiding? I know; huge profits and price fixing. Prove me wrong, please. History should not repeat itself. Knowledge is the key. We need a city manager that can control the overcharging our citizens. Look at the $110 million building turned down by the citizens. It was well known and talked about by commercial builders in town that they could build that building for $45 million. How did it get to a vote? Why did the city let it get that far? If we the public get it, why don’t the people running our government get it? Council needs to think with common sense. They need to put people in place that watch the spending and bills.

Cape Coral utilities expansion shouldn’t be that hard. We need answers. I have stated for years that the amount of money charged for utilities is ridiculous. You don’t have to be an accountant. THINK about it; Dig a trench 80’ long in front of a standard Cape Coral lot. Bury three pipes. Hook them to the neighbor and pay a portion of the pumping station. How on earth can that possibly cost $26,000 to a home owner? It just doesn’t add up.

Look at Lee County over paying for the newly acquired land in Lehigh by 2/3. OUCH! It’s our tax money. How does this happen. Fix it! Hazel McCallion (Mayor) of that wonderful city in Ontario, Mississauga. She has run her very large city for over 30 years in the black with reserves. Check her out on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY79KbCptTo. Go to Canada and take her too lunch, dinner or whatever it takes to learn and get ideas for our beautiful city to be a better more fiscally responsible Cape Coral.

Short Sale Crazy

Linda Flack — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:07:00 GMT

The long wait to get your short sale approved is mind numbing. Then the word comes down and it is like a Keystone Cop event. The clock is ticking and everything takes too long. First the home inspection to see if you even want the house. It has some issues, but OK it’s a great deal. You get some cost estimates and that still makes sense because of the great deal you got on the house. Now the week before closing you go to get insurance and the costs are all different and all crazy. Older houses need all kinds of inspections or the fees are ridiculous. Now you wonder, is it worth it? You made it through the appraisal nightmare, and now the insurance. Once closed you are overcome with relief…… This is just my way of saying, short sales are not easy, have many surprises, and are definitely a challenge but so much worth it.

New Year’s Eve Mortgage? NOT!

Linda Flack — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:34:00 GMT

The mortgage crisis is still a nightmare. As a real estate agent for 29 years I try not to have surprises for my customers but, it seems that this market keeps them coming. My client was putting down $90,000 on a $134,000 home. Wouldn’t anyone think that was a slam dunk? Wrong: Turned down because the house to be purchased was a flip only purchased 93 days before contract.

Yes it appraised. The seller is an investor who had purchased it on the court house steps, fixed it up and put it back on the market for market price. But, because it was a “flip”, the new underwriting rules were not to approve any “flip”. They consider a flip if owned for less than 6 months (Not FHA guidelines).

The bank had no risk with that huge down payment but because of the “rule” they couldn’t sell the loan. Therefore, the buyer was turned down the day before closing Dec. 30^th. We scrambled and the buyer came up with cash to close on the 31^st.

Cape Coral's Newest Resort

Linda Flack — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:57:00 GMT

WOW! The Resort at Marina Village at Tarpon Point is absolutely 1st class. I attended the Cape Coral Arts Auction done by the Cape Coral Realtors. We took our own tour of the property and it is already being discovered by the locals. We watched sunset at the Nauti Mermaid; a beautiful outdoor bar area overlooking the water. a huge glass sparkling fire pit adds to the opulance of this beautiful property. Inside the lobby is a two story water feature you have to see to believe with circular open stairway climbing to the next floor. It is amazing. The new restuarant is gorgeous with a wow of modern and wood ship like decor.

We have clients taking advantage of the opening reasonable fees and they love their rooms. This venue will surely put Cape Coral into a whole new upscale city. I ran into lots of old friends. This was quite a memorable evening.

Cape Coral's Farmers Market

Linda Flack — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:48:00 GMT

It's back and it's wonderful. Every Saturday lets go shopping for locally grown fruits and vegetables. I saw some friends and snapped up fresh fruits and veggies. There of course is a booth for our furry friends, craft stuff, bakery items, plants and bushes for sale, live tropical style music and much more. This is a don't miss opportunity.

Elections So Important

Linda Flack — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:31:00 GMT

Did you vote in the last primary? Probably NOT! Well I guess you don't care about higher taxes and mismanaged money. We are on the verge of recovery. New homes are being built. (Not huge numbers but the builders still left standing are getting busy again). The great deals on the market are creating a bidding war with the bunch of people streaming in to get their piece of paradise. We have already seen a rise in value because of this. If they increase milage, will they take it back next year?

Now all we need is our local government to take responsibility for the spending debacle and get things under control. We have all put some things off in our own lives because of the cut in income. Don't you think there should be greater gains in that avenue for the city of Cape Coral? Vote for the people that are mad and not going to take it anymore. I just don't get that they don't get it. We took in massive amounts of money in the boom times. Did they really spend it all?

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! It is not only a privilege, but a right and responsibility. Be responsible, cast your VOTE! Our world is better when you VOTE.

Cape Coral is "On Fire"

Linda Flack — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:24:00 GMT

The News is “Cape Coral IS selling!

Housing is a hot commodity in Cape Coral. The stock market have you scared? I don’t blame you. It scares me to death. What kind of interest are the banks paying? 2%-2.5%. Yipee!

My advice is not free but it is priceless.

Come on folks. Don’t miss this bus. I don’t think we will ever see this again. We have people flying in from all over the world to buy these deals. We have multiple offers on most everything. Who wouldn’t? Prices are far below anything you could build. There is still plenty of inventory, but those who hesitate… .

Have you dreamed of your vacation home in Florida or your permanent residence; blue sky, crystal white clouds, palm trees swaying in the breeze and the occasional pelican cruising by. What are you waiting for?

Looking to make money on rental property? Well, get off that fence. I have investors taking their money out of the bank and buying as much property as they can. They have the five year plan. The rent alone makes good interest on your money. Now, factor in the market increase in 5 years. Now we’re talking a real investment.

As of today 8/22/2009 these are the statistics on single family homes in Cape Coral.

Foreclosures 236

Short Sales 691

Regular Listings 1081

Total Listings 2008

Pending 937

Active Contingent Short 1126

Ready to close 2063

Closed past 60 days 1205

You tell me, is this market hot? I certainly think so. Questions or comments welcome.

Foreclosure Mess

Linda Flack — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:34:00 GMT

We had one bright spot in the foreclosure mess in Cape Coral and Fort Myers. Folks that couldn’t afford their first home have had an opportunity to buy an affordable home at the bottom of the market. GREAT! We also have had a run of folks buying their second dream home. Again because it is affordable. GREAT!

Enter the banks into the scenario:

First, they were the greedy culprits that led us into this huge mess. Can you say “predatory lending”?

Second, we the people of the USA bailed them out. In plain English, the kids were very bad but let’s give them tons of money because not doing that would be worse. Now they are trying to work quickly thru their losses but they are giving the homes to investors over new homeowners for less money. Time and time again buyers that are very qualified for a new mortgage are being rejected for cash buyers. I’ve seen the difference as much as $10,000 less from the cash buyer. That just makes me MAD! That also continues to drive prices down along with appraisals.

Finally, is this a good business decision? NO it isn’t. It’s just easier. It seems they don’t care about their losses. We give them money on the back side with free money. It’s like a garage sale at the end of the day. “Just take it, I don’t care.”

Just when you think this mess could get cleaned up with some benefit to real people, big business ruins it. We gave the banks huge amounts of money. We need to insist those same banks encourage lending to real homeowners and let these same people get a leg up ahead of investors in buying these foreclosures. That’s good business. That’s good for the economy.

Cape Coral Utility Expansion

Linda Flack — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:21:00 GMT

It seems we are in NO MAN”S land. The city of Cape Coral like the rest of the world got fat and happy in good times with expectations of the growth advancing at a rapid rate. The problem is no one took notice that most of the buyers were investors and not end users. They assumed these homes would be occupied with tax payers.

Hind site is so 20/20. Now we have these big plants built or near completion and we need money to pay for these loans. WOW are we in trouble. Today we have 273 vacant double lots for sale under under $15,000 in the NW and NE Cape. Many are listed at $6000 and $7500. Remember when people turned lots back to the city? I see this as a probable scenario for the next couple of years. The value of the property is far less than the utility assessment. There are a lot of vacant lots out there that will just be turned back to the city. This will hurt. No tax money and no payment on the utility expansion. I hope the city is taking this into account.

Surprising numbers for Cape Coral

Linda Flack — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:02:00 GMT

The News-Press indicated the numbers were actually up for Cape Coral’s population. Just driving around seems to be a lot less. Population for schools seems to be down. Something seems to be off. I just can’t quite put my finger on it.

We do have a ton of people that have bought short sale homes and foreclosure homes. It’s great. Some people have left, but others have come here to find their piece of paradise. These folks have come from all over the world. I just love this place. SW Florida is just like the Energizer Bunny; It keeps going and going and going.

The Train Has Left The Station

Linda Flack — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:38:00 GMT

The inventory of homes is continuing to reduce. That is great news for the economy. If you are looking for your piece of paradise, it is time to BUY! Hesitate not! The word has spread and folks from all over the world have come to buy their dream.

First time buyers can snag $8,000 in government money. This is huge!

The builders are looking to come back to the marketplace. That is the sign of recovery. Don’t despair, the deals are still there. I imagine the super deals will be around at least till the end of the year, but the prices are starting to creep up and there is competition in snagging that deal.

Investors Come on Down

Linda Flack — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:36:00 GMT

What a great opportunity. I have been contacted by several lenders and wholesale companies looking for investors with cash. It's time to buy, fix it up and sell for a profit. There is a need for homes that have been fixed up. There are so many homes I am looking for a few more investors ready to do their thing. I have people in place to fix them up. Don't miss your window of opportunity. call me for more information. These are exciting times.

Headlines In Cape Coral

Linda Flack — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:29:00 GMT

We were first in, first to drop and first to recover. The numbers say it loud and clear. In April, Cape Coral had nine new building permits and there is a large increase in remodeling permits. These permits are for pools, docks, commercial and other fix ups. The deals of neglected homes are being snapped up and fixed up. These homes are fulfilling lots of dreams. It is a 27% increase since the beginning of 2009. That is huge.

Folks bemoan the loss of property values and the foreclosures. This news made national media attention and has brought buyers from all over the world. One mans trash is another mans treasure.

Even Jim Cramer of MSN Money stated this morning housing has stabilized, banking nightmare over. Banks are starting to pay back the tarp.

It is that intangible positive attitude that can be felt everywhere. Buy SW Florida NOW. Prices are starting to rise. Sign up for ListingBook at the top of this page and search the MLS like a Realtor. It is FREE and powerful.

Cape Coral and Fort Myers Heating Up

Linda Flack — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:48:00 GMT

Cape Coral market is heating up.

Let the games begin! Cape Coral – Fort Myers have hit national news again as #3 in foreclosures in the country. That means buyers are coming as fast as they can. Multiple offers are on every well priced listing. Most sell for thousands over asking. So, be prepared. This market is not for the weak of heart. Buyers must move fast or lose to another.

Keep heart. Whatever home you are lucky enough to get, it is a deal that won’t come around again. Our buyers are so excited about their new home in Paradise.