Marialby’s Real Estate Blog

Fla.’s attorney general warns consumers about a new phishing scam: Fake websites are trying to steal from people who already lost data in the Equifax hack.

Fla. Realtors Pres. Sain: “Like the weather, July was a hot month for Fla.’s housing market.” Statewide existing single-family sales up 10.4% year-over-year, median price up 5.1% to $268K; condo sales up 4.3%, median price up 4.4% to $188K.

National home sales rose in all U.S. areas – 2.5% month-to-month, 0.6% year-to-year – except the West. Two Fla. metros logged high sales numbers.

Your town doesn’t have its own song? Create one. A Colorado agent hired professionals to create an online music video that markets her services and her town.

It’s been 37 years since Fla. had no named storms before mid-August. But forecasters see changes and maybe a future chain of storms marching across the Atlantic.

“We’re much better positioned to weather an economic downturn then we were in 2008, 2009, when we really took it on the chin,” he said in a speech posted online.

Everything centers around the smell – the part of staging that too many homeowners neglect. But many sellers are “noseblind” and need an agent to point it out.

Fannie and Freddie must consider FICO credit-score alternatives, and the one that already exists – VantageScore – will likely take on a bigger credit-score role.

The guidance released in April tried to clarify documentation requirements for government entities that provide downpayment assistance to buyers with FHA loans.

FHA’s new condo-approval mortgage-loan rules give developers flexibility to create more profitable projects – generally ones that are “large mixed-use projects or larger condo projects … marketed to investors as well as to owner-occupants.”

Updates to Vacant Land Contract (several), two sections of the Seller’s Property Disclosure (residential), Extension Addendum and CRSP Addendum L. 

Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville have Opendoor or Offerpad, but instant-offer home buying is rarer in S. Fla., and Zillow Offers is one of the first to arrive.

If property values rose 8%, property taxes are 8% higher too. Local governments could cut their rate to even-out year-to-year collections but few plan to do so.  

Pensacola’s post-hurricane recovery could have been slowed by fraud – scammers, individuals lying about damage and unlicensed contractors misusing Fla. AOB laws.

Spread by a rice-sized, plant-hopping insect, lethal bronzing has gone from a small infestation on Florida’s Gulf Coast to a nearly statewide problem in just over a decade. Florida’s state tree, the broad-leafed sabal palm, is highly susceptible.

As one of the most powerful advocacy organizations in the state, Florida Realtors can affect change. Pick any hot topic– algae, flood insurance, iBuyers, service animals – the annual convention is a once-per-year chance to change talk into action.

Excluding the Great Recession, a study of 1,039 state-level recessions since 1997 found that home values appreciated at the same rate they did in other times.