Florida Median Home Priced Down 7%  

Home Sales are UP 29%

see below

North Carolina Court Rules

Realtors Must Divulge Commissions

If a builder offers a real estate company a bonus for selling its homes, that company could theoretically direct its agents to show those homes first. If those companies were exempted from providing full disclosure of their compensation, those incentives could be hidden from consumers

In North Carolina a 2008 court ruling requires agents and brokerages to disclose the compensations offered on properties shown to Home Buyers.  This was a result of Real Estate Agents not showings properties with Low commissions in favor of Higher commissions and Bonus on another property. Realtors in Florida are NOT required to make this disclosure.

It is not uncommon for a listing agent that has found a buyer for his listing to refuse to take Higher offers from other Buyers.  Why,  even though his client would benefit from a higher price the Listing Agent would lose half the commission he would otherwise make. 

Exclusive Buyer Brokerages provide Full Disclosure to their Home Buyers because they work directly for the Home Buyer and NEVER take listings or represent sellers.  Exclusive Buyer Agents and their Exclusively Buyers Brokerages have no obligations to the Seller so their is never a confect of interest.  The entire buying process is completely open including individual home commissions/bonus, seller motivation, current market values, property history and property financial's and taxes.

The Home Buyer also has the option of being paid the Buyer Agents Commission.  This commission is paid by the Seller at closing to the Home Buyer.  This frees the Buyer and his Exclusive Buyer Agent to negotiate compensation that create incentives that work for the Buyer... not against them.

NAEBA and Florida Association Exclusive Buyer Agents

Push for "Full Disclosuer" for Buyers on Home Purchases

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Question: I'm a very concerned buyer. Recently I placed an offer on a house and was turned away by the selling agent, who claimed he had too many offers. To make a long story short, he was not taking anymore offers due to the fact that he wanted to collect the maximum commission by representing the seller and buyer.      ( this is known as a "Transaction Broker" in Florida )

If other potential buyers were interested in the house, he would say 'we already accepted an offer' reducing or eliminating others from the American dream of purchasing a home. This information was leaked to me by a close friend of mine who works in the same office as the agent. Even if other offers were higher, or the buyers were better qualified, he wouldn't accept them. He was only taking the offer from the buyer that he was representing to max out his commission. NOT FAIR!!!

Read complete article HERE

Still Calling on Realtor Yard Signes ? What you should Know.

Florida Real Estate Market News

Housing Starts UP 5.8% in April

Here are the facts....

Florida Home Prices

Florida Home Supply

Florida Home Sales

Waterfront Home Prices

The above chart shows the Median Home Prices of Waterfront Homes in the Greater Tampa Bay area  buy quarter in 2008 and in 2009.  Price have adjusted from a high of $507k in the 1 st. qtr. of 2008, down to $366k in the 4th qtr. and then rebounding in the 1st qtr of 2009 to $449k. There was a big dip in the 2nd qtr. of 2009 coinciding with the Global Economic picture followed by a steady increase back to the $449k level.

The target properties are residential singld family homes with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms that have direct Gulf Access.  In 2008 there were a total of 300 of these properties Sold.  In 2009 there were a total of 344 of these homes sold.  This equates to a 14.6% increase in waterfront home sales.

Currently,  an interesting trend has developed with DOM or Days On Market or the average number of days it takes for the subject property to Close.  In 2008 the average DOM was 90 days.  In 2009 the average DOM was 91 days however during the last quarter of 2009 the DOM dropped to 66 days.  This is a significant change reflecting buyer demand.

Florida.. Looking out for Home Buyers ?

Looking out for the Buyer

In 1983, a Federal Trade Commission study revealed that over 72% of all home buyers mistakenly believed that they were represented by the agent who was showing them homes. The fact was that most agents showing homes were representing sellers. And by the legal requirements of "agency representation", a Real Estate agent must negotiate in the best interest of their client. This requires not withholding any information from them (possibly meaning they would reveal such important information as buyer's motivation, financial qualification etc.) and presenting their property in most favorable way. When consumers became aware of this, they demanded their own representation. Consequently, laws requiring disclosing representation were passed all over the country... Enter the "exclusive buyer agent", an agent that does not have a conflict of interest since he/she only represents the buyer in a transaction. An Exclusive buyer agent works in the Buyer's best interest getting back to the legal definition of "Agency Representation".

Florida’s Dual Agency Solution ?

Florida is now a "Transaction Brokerage" state. Due to the FTC finding and the widespread practice of "Dual Agency", where the seller’s agent would represent both the Seller and the Buyer… "Conflict of Interest" was a legal problem that more and more brokerages had to deal with. Todays Transaction Brokers must walk a tightrope between the Buyer and the Seller. The Transaction Broker can't provide Full Disclosure or Fiduciary Representation to either the Buyer or Seller (some would call this leveling the field). In fact, They can't represent either one. They are simply "Facilitators". That's why they are called Transaction brokers. Now why would an agent choose to be a Transaction broker ? Simply, they are able to collect both commissions, the same as a Dual agent.  Some argue that there is little difference.

About Face….

Some insist that today, Florida Law protects the Buyer's interest from a Seller orientated Real Estate industry and Dual agency. However, in 2008 the state of Florida DROPPED the long standing requirement that a Real Estate Agent   must identify who he/she was working for or representing at the very first meeting with a new client. This law was originally written to protect buyers from agents not disclosing they were really working for the seller. Since then there has been a rush to "Buyer Brokerages" and the Exclusive Buyer Agent.

The Informed Home Buyer

Last month the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD.gov) added the following statement to their "Home Buyers Handbook",

"It is your responsibility to search for an agent who will represent your interests in the real estate transaction. If you want someone to represent only your interests, consider hiring an "exclusive buyer’s agent", who will be working for you."

Reprint with permission from FAEBA.org blog 

• Dangers of Realtor Yard Sign Calling
• The Open House Harpoon
• Can't Give you Full Disclosure
• The Buyer's Agent that's NOT
• Think you're seeing ALL the properties ?

HUD looking out for Buyers

HUD released its new Home Buyers Handbook and noted the following:

"It is your responsibility to search for an agent who will represent your interests in the real estate transaction. If you want someone to represent only your interests, consider hiring an “exclusive buyer’s agent”, who will be working for you."

Why the odds are Against Home Buyers in Florida !

The deck is stacked against you....

In Real Estate,  the norm is that the Seller of the property pays a fee for selling his/her property. This FEE is most always based on a percentage of the Final Sales Price.  This creates an natural incentive for the Listing Agent to sell the property for the highest possible price.  The higher the price the Higher his/her commission.  It also creates an incentive for the Listing Agent to display and promote the property in the most favorable light. This is how the industry as a whole functions and why it has always been a Seller Orientated Market.  All the incentives are in the Sellers favor.

As a BUYER,  the incentives still work, but they always work AGAINST you.  If you are using a traditional Buyers Agent or a "Transaction Broker" the incentive is to get the Highest Price. It's the commission thing again. 

With an Exclusive Buyer Agent you have an agent that never works for sellers,  will work directly for you and provides you the option of work on a Flat-Fee basis.  This is a paradigm shift and creates a Buyer Orientated Marketplace. Because Exclusive Buyer Brokerages and Exclusive Buyer Agents work exclusively with buyers, they provide Fiduciary Representation and Full Disclosure to their Buyers.