I’m hearing and reading that people are looking for foreclosures and short sales to get a great deal. I say, let’s back up a bit and talk about what most buyers really want – they want the best price they can get. If you’re buying Daytona Beach homes and looking for the best value, does it really matter if it’s a foreclosure or short property? No, all that matters is the you get your best deal.

It’s All About Discount to Market Value

Bank and mortgage lenders dealing in short sales or REO or foreclosed properties are getting better at knowing market value. They are a lot better than they were two years ago. That being said, it is possible to get great deal from distressed properties. However, if you remember nothing else, remember this – not all foreclosed and short sale properties are great values.

A Better Home Buying Strategy

Want the best possible deal? Here’s one strategy. Find the most narrow area and focus your efforts. The best value is the highest discount to market. That means that you need to understand the market. The market for Ormond Beach homes, Port Orange homes and Daytona Beach homes are different. Further, within those cities, neighborhoods and communities are different. If you want the best deal, pick an area with a good number of homes for sale and then learn what’s sold and what’s for sale. Then and only then will you know if you are buying below market.

It takes a lot of work and it takes a real estate agent who is willing to work hard for you. Yes, that’s my specialty. I work closely with my clients to find the best deal for them. And – we do it. We’ve found tremendous bargains with a combination of patience and hard work. If anybody tells you it’s easy, you just might want to run.

Now, to get an idea of the foreclosure and short sale homes in the area, click on the following pages:

Daytona Beach Foreclosures
Daytona Beach Short Sales
Ormond Beach Foreclosures
Port Orange Foreclosures
Port Orange Short Sales

There are some amazing homes for sale in Daytona Beach. I marvel at some of the old Victorian style homes in the city as well as well as Ormond Beach. I love things Victorian and have a Victorian clothing collection.

A marvelous piece of local history just changed hands when two cousins purchased the Blodgett House on South Ridgewood Ave. in Daytona Beach. According to an article in the Daytona Beach News Journal, Sale, renovation plans for old Victorian home thrill Daytona historians, Nicholas Montagna of South Daytona and his cousin, Russell LaRiviere Jr. bought the home to renovate it.

I toured the Blodgett House a few years ago after the hurricanes that caused so much damage to the structure. Act Corporation was using the facility for offices when the 2004 hurricane damage forced them to move out. I was in tears by the end of the tour because it was such a shame that this old Victorian was sitting vacant and hurting. The home was built in 1896 as the home of Delos A. Blodgett. It passed through many other owners over the century plus of its existence. You can read the entire ownership train in the New Journal article.

I’m really excited that the cousins will be restoring the home to it’s original style. They’ll need to convert the structure back into a residence after it was converted to office space. I wish Mr. Montagna and Mr. LaRiviere Jr. the best of luck and hope to see her when they’re finished.

Energy costs for Daytona Beach homes are very high in the summer months when air conditioners run around the clock. US Building codes are being updated to significantly reduce energy costs. I found the story about the updates to the national building code in an article at Sustainable Business – Landmark US Building Codes Finalized. Here are the highlights from the article:

The changes represent the largest single-step efficiency increase in the history of the national energy code. It requires homes and buildings to achieve energy savings 30% higher than the 2006 code.

And the effects for residential homes:

• Better seal new homes to reduce heating and cooling loss
• Improve the efficiency of windows and skylights
• Increase insulation in ceilings, walls, and foundations
• Reduce wasted energy from leaky heating and cooling ducts
• Improve hot-water distribution systems to reduce wasted energy and water in piping
• Boost lighting efficiency

Local codes are based on the national code, but there are differences. What happens in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Port Orange will depend upon state and local changes. The code changes are expected to save homeowners an average of $500 per year in energy costs. The article states that incremental building costs will be small, but I’m not so sure about that.

I see the costs affecting lower price homes more because these are the areas where builders focus on keeping costs as low as possible. These changes will be a bigger percentage costs than cost homes.

The changes will take some time to work through, but the affect for Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Port Orange homes for sale will be that existing homes will cost less per square foot, but new homes will be less costly to operate over the long term. If you’re planning to spend many years in a home, the savings will pay for the added initial cost.

Port Orange is one of the more desireable communities in the Daytona Beach area. We’ve been expanding the Port Orange Homes for Sale section of our website by adding pages for Cypress Head, Ashton Lakes, Town Park and Spruce Creek Fly In. Each page shows a map of the area, information about the community and all homes for sale in the community.

Port Orange is located south of Daytona Beach. There is a high bridge that crosses from Port Orange over to Daytona Beach Shores. You’re about 15 minutes maximum away from the beach from just about anywhere in Port Orange. I-95 runs through the west side of Port Orange and I-4 is one exit north from Port Orange.

Golfer’s Delight

Both Cypress Head and Spruce Creek communities are home to challenging 18 hole golf courses. Of course, this whole area is a golfer’s delight with over 30 courses within about a half hour drive of Port Orange. Golfers from outside the area are often surprised with how inexpensively they can golf in Port Orange.

Spruce Creek Fly In is a gated community, and there’s a gated section within Cypress Head. Ashton Lakes and Town Park are newer communities. Ashton Lakes was built by Paytas Builders and Town Park was built by The Johnson Group. Both are nice upscale communities without the upscale prices.

Ashton Lakes, Cypress Head and Spruce Creek Fly In residents attend Spruce Creek High School, while Town Park resident attend the newer Atlantic High School.

Please visit the pages shown below for more.

Ashton Lakes Homes for Sale

Cypress Head Homes for Sale

Town Park Homes for Sale

Spruce Creek Fly In Homes for Sale

Sales of Daytona Beach Florida Real Estate continued their rise in May (2011). Sales of Daytona Beach properties in May improved 6.1% over last month and 11.0% over May of last year.

Daytona Beach MLS reported sales were 473 homes and condos sold vs. 446 in April and 426 over May of last year. Sales continue to grow at the prices ranges under $300,000. Looking at the chart below, we can see that 94.1% of sales were under that $300,000 number with 78.2% under $200,000. Sales in the higher price ranges were few in comparison.

Year over year, for the first five months of this year, sales were 1,941 vs. 1,835 in 2010 and 1349 in 2009. So year to date, we are up 5.8% over 2010 and a whopping 43.8% over 2009.

4,366 Residential and multi-family homes and condos were listed as of today. That’s down very slightly from 4,457 last month. However, because of the increased sales, total months of inventory for listed properties is down to 9.23 months. That’s down from months at the end of April. This is the first time months of inventory has dropped below 10 months since 2006.

268 of May’s sales were cash transactions. This means that a lot of Daytona Beach homes are being purchased with cash. Conventional financing accounted for 116 of the sales. That’s an improvement in raw numbers, so maybe the banks are beginning to loan a little more than they have been.

Analysis for the Daytona Beach Area Homes Sales

National numbers have reported dropping pricing and sales numbers dropping. That’s not the case in our area. Sales are up and prices are stable. Out median sales point for last month was the same as this month – $115,000. That number is driven by most of the sales coming at under $200,000. Average prices were down, but we believe that’s because of the trend that we’ve seen over the past few years – homes in the lower price ranges are selling. Homes above $300,000 are struggling.

The national economic numbers are not attractive and talks of a double dip to the recession are heard. Somehow, that hasn’t seemed to affect us. We believe we have that resource that never goes out of style – sun and sea. We believe we are at the top of seaside communities in the country for value. Many of my customers are buying second homes or buying their retirement homes now for a few years down the road. These buyers believe prices are near the bottom and are acting.

We can say about Daytona Beach home prices that they have not started moving up, but we can also say that the banks and other lenders are countering with closer to market prices than a few months ago. It’s seems that they now have a good sense of market value and “steals” are harder to find. However, the negotiation game hasn’t changed much. If you’re willing to be patient and submit offers on multiple properties, you can still get a fantastic deal.

To find out what’s available in the local area, go to the following pages:

Daytona Beach Homes for Sale
Daytona Beach Condos for Sale
Ormond Beach Homes for Sale

Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales Up 6.2%

Sales of Daytona Beach condos and homes were up in April by 6.2% over April of last year. For the year, sales are up 4.2% over 2010 and 38.1% over 2009. Here’s a look at the first four months of the last three years.

As you can see, sales for 2011 are pretty close to 2010. The big increase came from 2009 to 2010. The best we can say about this year is that the sales volume is holding pretty consistently since that big increase.

April 2011 Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales

April 2011 sales of Daytona Beach area homes and condos are showing the same trends that we’ve been seeing for over 3 years now. Look at the chart below:

The percentage of all sales under $200,000 came in at 78.7%. This is consistent with the sales distribution since prices began falling in 2006. Add sales between $200,000 and  $300,000 to count and over 90% (90.4%) of all sales of homes and condos were under $300,000. The median price, which is the mid-point distribution of sale (1/2 above and 1/2 below), was $115,000, but the average sales price was $158,000. Both the median and the average sales prices have been holding close to this range for about a year.

Have Daytona Beach Real Estate Prices Bottomed?

This is a big question and the answer will be more opinion that fact at this point. Saying that prices have bottomed is risky because we will still see monthly variations in the numbers. However, the numbers appear to be saying that we are in a more stable period than we were last year at this time. If we look back to 2009, we are in a much more stable market than then.

There are 4457 residential and multi-famlity properties listed as of this morning. This puts us at 10 months of inventory. In September 2008, there were 21.6 months of inventory. There were 5986 properties on the market then, but only 277 homes and condos were sold. Now, we have a drop of more than 25% in listings and a 61% sales increase.

So, the slighted convoluted answer to price bottoming is – inventory is down significantly, sales are up over the past few years and median sales and average prices are pretty stable. If we haven’t reached bottom we are close barring a major economic calamity.

Please contact Lynn at 386-566-7503 to discuss the market and what you are looking for. Click this link to –>search all Daytona Beach area homes and condos for sale.

What is the Difference Between a Potential Short Sale and Bank Owned?

We deal with a lot of customers and we get a lot of the same questions. This is one that’s asked often.

A bank-owned/REO (Real Estate Owned) property is one that has already been foreclosed on by the bank.  The price is what they determined the market value to be and then it’s decreased by whatever formula that particular banks uses to procure a quick sale because they’re not in the business of owning real estate.  The price is negotiable, but if it’s Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (both government owned banks) they typically will not give more than a few percent off the asking price.

A short-sale is a whole different animal.  The price you see on those can be rather arbitrary unless it has been approved by the 3rd party the holds the lien on the property for the mortgage.  Basically what happens is a property has a mortgage on it that is more than what the property is worth and the owner, or seller, puts it on the market for less than the amount they owe and attempts to generate an offer.

Once an offer is received it’s passed on to the bank for approval to determine if they’re willing to take less than the loan amount to get the property off their books and avoid a potential foreclosure.  This can be a time consuming process, sometimes taking more than 6 months.  Our experience is that the best deal come from short sales, but it takes a lot of patience.  Most often the outcome is a counter proposal from the bank.  Example, seller owes $200k, property is worth $150k, buyer offers $125k.  After going through their review process the bank will either completely reject (unlikely), accept and add stipulations, or counter, probably closer to the $150k value.

On foreclosures, banks can be pretty aggressive in setting their prices. I’ve seen bidding wars on several properties with my buyers. Sometimes the bank will say present your best offer by a certain deadline and then select the best. On short sales, it’s a bit like of Wild West. Since there is no set price, only what the seller and real estate are guessing the bank will accept, many of my buyers make lower offers. Again, this is not a quick turn-around game. Short sales can take from a few days for a bank response to months. Many buyers will make multiple short sale offers on different properties.

I’ve tried to make short sales and bank owned homes a little clearer here, but it can be pretty complicated. I work with these everyday. I would be happy to talk with you about it more. Give me, David, a call at 386-566-4169 and I’ll be happy to answer any other questions you might have.

David Byrne is a Daytona Beach real estate real estate agent who specializes in condos, homes, short sales and foreclosures.

August 2010 Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales Bounce Back

August sales of Daytona Beach real estate were up over 10% over both last month and over August of last year – 10.8% over last month and 10.1% over last year. For the year, sales stand at 3020 this year vs. 2447 last year through August, that’s 23.4% up over last year for the same period.

94 Condos, 20 condotels and 256 houses were sold for the month. That means that condos and condotels accounted for 30.8% and houses accounted for 69.2%. Condos are selling at a higher percentage than normal. Normally we see condos sales at about 24% of the total. That’s what we saw in 2009.

Looking at the chart below, sales under $200,000 are still dominating the market. Sales under $200,000 were 76.8% of all sales and sales under $300,000 accounted for 92.5% of all sales. This is now what we would consider a long-term trend. Sales of homes under $300,000 have been over 90% of all sales for several years now.

There are 4384 properties for sale in the Daytona Beach MLS as of this morning – 1308 Daytona Beach condos for sale and 3076 Daytona Beach homes for sale. The Daytona Beach MLS includes properties for sale in Ormond Beach, Port Orange, Holly Hill, Ponce Inlet, South Daytona and Ormond by the Sea.

Inventory Levels

There are still a lot of homes and condos on the market, but there’s a twist. There are a total of 4384 homes and condos for sale as of today. Based on August sales, that’s 11.8 months of inventory – still high. However, in August, 25.1% of properties sold were on the market for under 30 days and 44.3% were on the market for under 60 days. This means that aggressively priced properties are selling pretty fast. To put it in perspective, 164 homes and condos out of 4384 represents only 3.7% of the properties listed.

So, to go out on a bit of a limb… There are two markets. One is very healthy and hot and the other is not. The first market is hot with aggressively priced homes and condos, foreclosures and to some extent short sales. Aggressively priced homes under $200,000 are selling fast. The second market includes many very nice homes and condos that are not as aggressively priced.

Many people are listing their homes and then dropping prices over time. This eventually gets them into the right price range, but extends the time that the property will be on the market. If you want to sell fast, you need to price aggressively. If you have time, then set the price a little higher and wait. Regardless, get good comparisons of home values in your neighborhood or building from your real estate agent.

Daytona Beach Real Estate Outlook

We saw a little bounce back in August from July, but we are still well short of June’s 481 level. My sales were up in August and September is looking good too. We’ve had a lot of inquiries and we are showing a lot of properties. If our activity is an indication, the market will stay strong through September.

As always, please call me if you need information on any home or condo, or, just want to talk about the market.

Also remember to check out Port Orange real estate and Ormond Beach homes for sale. These are wonderful communities in the Daytona Beach area.

Daytona Beach News Journal Quotes Me on Condo Sales

On Wednesday, I was quoted in a News Journal article on the current Daytona Beach Homes market. Bob Koslow wrote the article about the decline in sales in July. I reported on July Daytona Beach home sales on August 6th. See – Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales Drop 30.6% in July 2010. Just to update you quickly on sales, it looks like August sales will surpass July’s sales easily.

Here’s the quote from the article:

“They are mostly second-home buyers and retirees renting them out who are taking advantage of the low prices,” said Lynn Byrne, a condo specialist with CenterPointe Realty. “They are mostly cash deals with buyers using retirement funds or big bonuses to invest in real estate.”

I’ve reported before that over 80% of my buyers are cash buyers. This is a bit higher than homes sold by all agents. In July, 58.2% of all homes and condos purchased through the Daytona Beach MLS were cash deals. I don’t think this surprises anyone. Mortgage loans are still difficult to obtain without good credit or a significant down payment. However, FHA and VA loans are available and are available for those with good credit score with less down.

Condos sales are up because of prices driven down by short sales and foreclosures, and their attractiveness as rental investments. As an investment, building maintenance is taken care by the association from monthly fees. A condo owner who rents out the condo will only need to maintain the inside of the unit and the A/C in most cases.

Another great thing about condo ownership for retirement and second homes is the idea of “Lock and Leave.” When a condo owner takes a trip, they don’t need to worry about whole lot. Turn the water off and go. It’s great for those who love to travel.

Click the link to find out a lot more about Daytona Beach condos for sale.

You can read the News Journal Article here.