By Angie Griffith – Closing Coordinator for Eimers Group Real Estate and Land

When making a decision to purchase property in Florida be sure to do your homework before submitting an offer.   One should be aware of certain consequences as a result the way the offer is written.  If you are not a seasoned Buyer then I would recommend that you seek your answers from those that can provide the accurate information based on your situation…the EXPERTS!  Below is some data you might wish to make yourself familiar with when contemplating a property purchase in Florida.

 

• In the state of Florida if a married couple purchases a Florida property as their “primary” residence, the wife must be on the mortgage, the title, and the deed.

• In the state of Florida if a husband or wife wishes to purchase a Florida “investment” property individually (for which they must qualify with a lender) that individual is not required to add the spouse.             

• If you are unsure as to whether or you want to purchase a Florida property in your individual names or an LLC you should consult with their lender, CPA, and perhaps, a local title company before the offer is written.  For short sales, it is next to impossible to have an individual purchaser’s name changed to an LLC and often times, will result in having to start the process over again.  If your request for this Buyer name change is not approved by the Seller’s short sale lender you would be able to transfer the property into an LLC “after” closing; however, there will be an expense and it is not recommended.  There IS a “due on Sale” clause in all Florida mortgages that allows the lender the right to call the note due and payable IF title is changed.  You, the Buyer, should consult with your lender first before considering this change.  An informed closing company shouldalways disclose this clause and the possibility that the lender could call the note due and payable.  Also, you MUST pay doc stamps on the deed which is based on $.70 per $100.00 of the sales price (or this can also be calculated by multiplying the sales price by .007) to arrive at the amount that will be due as a result of this change.

• If purchasing in an LLC Buyers MUST also have the Articles of Incorporation up-to-date and be able to provide a copy to the title company and possibly, their lender.

• We are not attorneys, lenders or title experts.  Seek the advice from an educated source as it is much better than finding out the hard way.  Ask the questions even if you feel it is trivial.  This is your money at risk, this will be your investment and only you will have to suffer the ramifications of a poorly made decision.

We are contacting you to keep you informed on the BP claims process as huge and positive changes are happening right now.  At the same time the media is full of contradictory and misleading information. Our goal is to clarify your understanding of the new process and of the way forward for those who are interested in making claims (or continuing claims) for a final settlement from BP.  *This e-mail is being sent to you because you are on my list of realtors for one reason or another.  If you don’t want to receive any updates from me please let me know and we will immediately take you off the list.  We have no interest in bothering you!
HERE IS THE LATEST INFORMATION WHICH MAY AFFECT YOUR BP CLAIM:

BP has made a settlement with the New Orleans District Court that has authority over all BP oil spill claims.  There was a class action lawsuit of approximately 100,000 cases that was set to begin a trial at the end of February.  IF you are with an attorney you may already be part of this lawsuit, but you might not.  Most people are not part of this lawsuit but THE SETTLEMENT STILL AFFECTS YOUR CLAIM even if you are not signed with an attorney.

LOST PROPERTY VALUE CLAIMS ARE GOING TO BE ELIGIBLE!! – We don’t have the formula yet, but the proposed settlement includes payment on claims for lost property value.  So far we have heard that this type of claim will cover property that was sold by December 31, 2010 and BP will pay a percentage of the lost value.  I don’t know how they will have us determine what that lost value is and I don’t know how they will calculate short sales and foreclosures but they are included.  It also appears that they new Claim Center will consider paying for the lost value of a property even if it has NOT been sold.  In this case the property must have already had a confirmed contract prior to the oil spill and that contract must have cancelled after the oil spill occurred. I will keep you posted.  In the meantime, if you or a client sold a property that you owned between May – December 2010 let me know because we will be able to add that to a claim under the new rules.  If you know someone who had to sell a property during that time, please refer them to me.  We are working to stay up-to-date on the procedures for handling this type of claim and we will have the most current information available for answering questions and moving these claims forward.

Alisa Ballestra, President
Miyathwe Consulting – Claims Consulting
e-mail: ClaimsByAlisa@yahoo.com
mobile: 941-961-0927

“I dont think any of us, as real estate agents, ever got into this business thinking a brokerage would embrace the opportunity to include you as a partner” said Eimers, broker for The Eimers Group Inc. “People are motivated when they take ownership in something.” During the companies first sales meeting of the year, Eimers saw his long-standing vision come to life as three of his agents and one of his administrative employees were presented with Eimers Group stock certificates, officially making them partners in the Destin-based company. Stockholders in The Eimers Group include owners and partners Ken Cone and Richard & Melanie Eimers, Closing Coordinator Angie Griffith, Broker Associate Debbie James and Realtors John Holahan and Amanda Bonne.

To his knowledge, Eimers says his company is the only real estate firm using this business model, but companies like Proctor & Gamble and Harley Davidson have long used the same approach, as has the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.

“We asked ourselves if they were partners in the brokerage, how would it change?” the New York-native said. “It’s changed a lot. Just in the past few weeks we have seen some of our agents go from an agent to a partner – it’s exiting and they have taken ownership”.

Eimers agent-owned brokerage isn’t't the only outside the box idea that has taken root in his offices. At The Eimers Group, real estate agents focus only on the sale side of the business. You won’t see them scrambling to print flyers, place signs or any of the other tasks that take them away from their main goal of selling.

“My belief is that the traditional real estate business model is a business model designed to fail,” Eimers told The Log from his office on Crystal Beach Drive. “That’s because it’s set up for an agent to be a jack of all trades.

“It’s just too many things they had to do,” he added. “We said ‘OK, a real estate agent is a sales person, so that’s all they are going to do.

That approach has worked for Eimers and his team, as they have been ranked as the No. 13 real estate firm in sales while only having a staff of 10, compared to other brokerages that boast much larger staffs of 30-40 agents.

With agents and partners working hand-in-hand, Eimers says more can be accomplished and goals more easily reached. Using a “philosophy of cooperation”, the team at Eimers Group is looking forward to a promising 2012.

Looking at a declining inventory, Eimers told The Log that they feel as though a recovery is not too far out. “We keep hearing the bottom’s here, but there is no more bottom,” he said. “We are in a normal real estate market – this is our new normal.”

With an office in Destin and Seacrest Beach, Eimers Group is looking to expand to Niceville and Sandestin as well as expanding into the vacation rental market.

For now though, Eimers said the biggest thing they can do is continue to focus on what has been working for them, which is their business model.
“It’s been proving itself for three years running,” he said. “We are not loosing market share and we are keeping up with guys who are bigger than us.”

Check out these charts. The first one compares single-family homes and condos from 30A to Destin FL real estate, in months of inventory from 2006 to 2012. We are at our lowest inventory levels in 6 years! And, so far, inventory is down in January and February 2012 compared to the same time last year. (Click image to enlarge, will open in a new window).

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Begin your St. Patricks Day activities on Friday, March 16th when the Annual 30A St. Patrick’s Day Parade, with Grand Marshall Jac McTighe, begins at 3:30 pm at Gulf Trace, which is about a third of a mile west of Grayton Corner. The procession will be graced with the true Celtic band Mickle-A-Do and will proceed West to Gulf Place. At 4:30pm an Irish Festival will commence. It is suggested that if you bring your “McDog” that you bring “McDog” on a leash.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Broker/owner Richard Eimers explains; “we want to reward those agents in our brokerage who exceed our expectations, this is the first time we’ve ever done something like this and actually this is the first time to my knowledge any brokerage in this market has ever implemented such a grandiose prize for its contest winning agents”.

This year’s contest winners were treated to first class accommodations aboard Celebrity Cruise Line’s newest ship, Eclipse. This excursion began with round trip airfare for all eight Destin residents, from Pensacola Florida direct to Miami. The Eimers Group party all boarded the Eclipse by noontime and was underway by 4pm with cocktails in hand.

From Miami the 8 vacationers enjoyed 2 days at sea before arriving in San Juan P.R., after a short stay they headed to St Maarten, then to St Kitts and then finally back to Miami. “This trip was better than any of us could have hoped for”, Eimers said,” besides the obvious need for rest, we built stronger bonds between the eight of us and returned to Destin well rested,  more motivated and as better friends than when this trip began”.

This year Richard has already instituted a new contest where every one of his agents can win a cruise; destination still unknown. Eimers said “with this next contest if everyone reaches his or her goals, everyone goes,  we’ll just close the office for the week and the brokerage will gratefully pay for every agent and significant others’ first class excursion.  We are looking forward to another outstanding selling real estate year and I really do hope we can include the whole office on this next trip”.

Has your dream been to own a vacation property? Did you get priced out of the market during the crazy boom time? Want to buy at the bottom of the market?

Yes, yes and yes?! continue reading

The UF survey shows these increases ranged across income and age groups, except for lower income respondents whose perceptions of current personal finances declined slightly. Results also indicate little difference in confidence among political parties, which indicate that the rising consumer confidence is most likely linked to perceptions of the economy rather than concern about the upcoming November elections, McCarty says.
Employment gains, especially in trade, transportation and utilities, may help explain the boost in confidence. However, McCarty says, the drop in unemployment may also reflect a decline in the labor force, along with adjustments the Bureau of Labor Statistics used to remove seasonal fluctuations in its unemployment calculations.
Encouraging news about housing prices and stock market investments, which are the major asset sources for most households, also may be helping to buoy Floridians’ spirits. For instance, the median price of a single-family home increased in December to $134,300, a $4,000 gain from the previous month. In addition, the stock market is near a post-recession high.
“Concrete plans to modify Social Security and Medicare have been shelved, at least temporarily, which is a relief to many seniors,” McCarty adds.
Finally, although gas prices have increased nearly 20 cents a gallon over the past month, inflation overall remains low. In addition, interest rates are at near record lows and the Federal Reserve has announced plans to keep them low for the next two years.
“While many aspects of the economy are better this year, it remains to be seen whether this level of confidence will be sustained,” McCarty says. “The biggest threat to the U.S. economy, and therefore Florida, is the recession in Europe, which would affect Floridians primarily as decreased demand for Florida tourism, decreased demand for houses from foreign investors, and the stock market portfolios of workers and retirees whose investments would include companies with exposure to much of Europe. However, barring a very negative outcome to the turmoil over European debt, this pattern of confidence, if sustained, bodes well for Florida.”
The index used by UF researchers is benchmarked to 1966, which means a value of 100 represents the same level of confidence for that year. The lowest index possible is a 2; the highest is 150. The UF survey was conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 25, and reflects the responses of 420 individuals statewide.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®

“Residential real estate sales are stronger than they’ve been in the past five years,” said Mary Anne Windes of Real Estate Professionals of Destin. “Some buyers are still hanging on to see what happens in the 2012 elections, but many are taking advantage of the huge inventory, low prices and historically low interest rates.”

With a real estate market that continues to recover from its historic drop over the past decade, there are plenty of signs that point to a recovery and stabilization of the current market.

For local broker Richard Eimers, of the Eimers Group Inc., we are back in what he calls the “new normal” market. For the first quarter, numbers showed that from Destin to Inlet Beach, south of U.S. Hwy. 98, there was a total of 14 months worth of inventory.

“That’s the lowest it’s been in 7 years,” he said. “In the world of supply and demand, supply is down.”

Early measurements on first quarter activity, which runs from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2011, are pretty much “on par” with what they saw last year, Eimers added.

Looking at today’s market, Windes told The Log that the residential markets are showing the best results so far and that she anticipates the commercial market making a recovery, but not quite yet.

“I’m seeing multiple offers on houses priced below $200,000 with the expectation that prices will rise,” she said. “Unfortunately, the large waterfront homes are bringing in unrealistically low offers, although some of them have panned out.”

Homes in the $1 million range are gaining traction, Eimers says, because sellers are more willing to negotiate and agree on the price they sell for. The biggest challenge, he said, much like Windes, are the high-dollar homes in the $5-$10 million price range.

When The Log asked Eimers where he would put his money in today’s market, he said, if he were a cash buyer, he would purchase land, as long as he had a five-year plan for it.

“I think residential land is the place where you are still going to be able to get your greatest values,” he said. “The problem is, it’s hard to get financed.”

With promising signs in 2012 so far, Windes says the key moving forward is to take advantage of the excessive inventory, low prices and low interest rates by selling your smaller home and moving into something larger.

The challenge is for those who are already in a larger home and looking to downsize.

“This is not your market,” she said.

For Eimers, the biggest challenge for both buyers and sellers in 2012 are Gulf-front single-family detached homes. As you drive around Destin, Eimers says you can see people who want to sell and are going through the process of fixing up their properties to sell or rent.

“You are seeing a lot of people working out there,” he said. “I think there is a good opportunity for rental income.”

As for the rest of 2012, the market has made its moves and it’s time to buy.

“Over the past seven years, we have seen it adjust and adjust and adjust,” he said. “If you are a traditional investor and your plan is to hold on to property for 7-10 years, the two, three or five percent that you might have overpaid for your property is now insignificant — it was true of 2009, 2010, 2011 and it’s going to be true of 2012.”