Fort Myers Real Estate

Lately our office has been inundated with calls from investors throughout the country looking to snap up foreclosure listings at bargain basement prices.  It’s true, we do have some bargain prices, and foreclosures tend to be a good deal.  Most of these investors want to only talk to the &#...

6:52 P.M. — Orion Bank has been closed by state and federal regulators and all deposit accounts have been taken over by IberiaBank, based in Lafayette, La.

We’re excited to bring you The Future of Real Estate Radio Show now on video.  We just aired our first show which will be simulcast today on 3 radio stations along with the video.  The advantage to video is we will be able to show graphs and charts as we discuss the market.  We did have our...

This week we’ll focus on freshly updated numbers for the distressed segment of the Lee County real estate market.  It’s important to study this segment of the market as it has been responsible for a large chunk of sales, and has influenced pricing in the market. As you can see from th...

Last year we told you 3rd quarter sales were very strong, which led up to an almost record 4th qtr in 2008.  Official numbers are in, and 3rd qtr sales in 2009 blew past last years big numbers and surpassed 2005 record numbers by a mile.  To put this in perspective, last years sales numbers were ...

It’s been a few months since we’ve reported numbers for the Current Market Index, so here is the update.  The Fort Myers-Cape Coral area index now stands at 4.02, up slightly from 3.86 in September and 3.81 in August.  The lower the index numbers the better the market for sellers. Thi...

A few weeks ago we stated here that we believe there will be more mid to upper priced foreclosures coming to the market in the next year, as more Alt-A mortgages are foreclosed on as scheduled interest rate resets take effect. We’ve seen most of the sub prime loans already come and go from ...

This is another question we get asked a lot and the quick answer is value is in the eyes of the beholder.  It also depends on who you ask. If you ask the seller, they’ll tell you about how they personally built the house, what kind of insulation is in the attic and walls, how many screws ar...

The most asked question I get, both in daily business and on Facebook is, “Are prices about to spike up?”  People are reading that inventory is shrinking, and buyers are buying all the foreclosures faster than the banks can bring them to market.  People assume the foreclosure pool is ...

You’ve probably heard the term pent-up demand bantered about over the years.  Pent-up demand is a term used in business to describe consumers who have held off purchases, bolstering savings accounts in uncertain economic times, and waiting for consumer confidence to increase before unleashi...

We’ve been researching and studying the SW Florida real estate market ahead of official releases due out next week, and our preliminary research tells us we expect sales numbers to increase approximately 100% or more over last August sales numbers.  The third quarter of 2009 is setting up t...

You’ve heard the expression Tis the Season, and in real estate season can mean many different things depending on where you live, and what type of product you’re referring to.  For many years in SW Florida condo sales were highly dependent on seasonal sales, and in many tour developme...

A new video has been released that explains the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. It is called RE/MAX Agents Know $8k Tax CreditIt explains what the following:Definition of a first time home buyer The difference between a credit and a deduction How to get up to $8,000 refund on your taxes Income ...

Official real estate sales numbers were recently released so we decided to take a look at how the Fort Myers/Cape Coral market fared against the top markets in the state.  Cape Coral/Fort Myers is considered a metropolitan statistical area (MSAs) Our MSA includes Bonita Springs, Estero and all of...

A new video has been released that explains the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.  It is called RE/MAX Agents Know $8k Tax CreditIt explains what the following:Definition of a first time home buyerThe difference between a credit and a deductionHow to get up to $8,000 refund on your taxesIncome Li...

You’ve heard reports that listing inventory has been coming down for many months.  This is true, and not only have buyers absorbed all new inventory coming onto the market, they have also helped to purchase a backlog of existing inventory as well.  We wondered if inventory levels relative t...

I recently attended the Star Power convention in Denver where the presidents or founders of RE/MAX, Prudential, Coldwell Banker, and Keller Williams spoke about where the market is today and where it’s going.  Dave Liniger from RE/MAX stated that nationwide we have a market fueled by invest...

About 8 years ago the Ellis Team created a market index that accurately predicts the SW Florida real estate market. It helped us in 2005 warn the public that the local real estate market was about to turn.  Later in the fourth quarter and on into 2006 people began to realize the train had run out...

2009: Housing Bust or Housing Boom Its official, the 2nd Qtr of 2009 set the All-Time record for single family home sales, eclipsing the 2nd Qtr of 2005 by a wide margin.  Many people don’t realize that the 1st Qtr of 2009 also set the All-Time home sales record, and the 4th Qtr of 2008 was nearl...

Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp is this week’s guest on the Future of Real Estate which is broadcast on Saturdays at 11:00 AM on WINK AM 1240 in Lee and Charlotte Counties and AM 1270 in Collier County.  You can listen to this special show Online Now   We ask the Lieutenant Gov th...

Last week we tested a social media experiment.  Our goal was to create a few Facebook Fan Pages for various parts of the SW Florida real estate market and see if we could drive 100 fans to each.  If we could do that, we could signup for Facebook unique URL’s.  We’re happy to report th...

The tax rate in Lee County will not go up — likely remaining at $5.34 for every $1,000 of taxable property value — meaning thousands of residents will pay the county less in taxes.

We’re doing something new this week for the Future of Real Estate Radio Show here in SW Florida.  This week’s special guest is Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson, and this week we video taped the show as it was being broadcast and we’ve decided to bring it to you in vid...

The Ellis Team SW Florida Real Estate Current Market Index for June 2009 shows another slight improvement, down from 3.99 to 3.92  Remember, the lower the Index number, the better for sellers, and if you’ve followed this index for any length of time you’ll discover that it’s bee...

We’re conducting a social media experiment.  We’re seeking to add 100 users to our Fan Pages in the next several days.  If you are a Facebook user, simply go to the following pages and select Become a Fan.  Once we’re at 100 users we’ll announce the Facebook URL assigned t...