An important aspect of the short sale process is not going to be out there forever.  Time is ticking on what is known as The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which Congress passed to provide some relief to those folks who have lost their homes in the short sale process. The law does [...]

  There had been some relief for a while with respect to the costs of building materials.  In the mid-2000’s costs had become nearly prohibitive for many making the prospect of building something new quite difficult and extremely costly.  Then…the recession hit…..prices seemed to go down and the scene changed quite a bit.  Now…..we are [...]

According to recent census numbers, many of our Southwest Florida homeowners are having a hard time making their mortgage payments.  This, obviously, is not good news.  A very high percentage of mortgage-holders in this area are now spending more than 35% of their income on home/mortgage-related payments.  This includes not only the mortgage payment itself [...]

Last night as I was out for my typical walk of a few miles around the neighborhood after dinner, I happened to come upon some kids on their bikes speaking with a boy in a golf cart who was out taking a spin around the block.  What I knew, because I was involved in the [...]

  Forbes magazine recently named Sarasota-Bradenton and Punta Gorda on its list of “America’s Recession-Resistant Cities For Real Estate” but, perhaps this is because they were looking at the present conditions as opposed to the past.  What they are likely recognizing, which is a good thing, is that it appears prices have been stabilizing in [...]

Since the beginning of the Great Recession one thing seemed to keep the Southwest Florida market hobbling along.  That was the sale of the distressed properties for under $100,000.  Since the beginning of 2011 the percentage of homes in that price range that have sold has been shrinking and, because of that, the average sales [...]