The workshop will talk about some basic hurricane information that we all should know like: important items to take during an evacuation, disaster supply kits, comfort items, and more. 

If there is a mandatory evacuation you will need to have a RE-ADMIISON TAG or you will not be allowed back on the Island to check your home after a storm has passed. If you like a RE-ADMIISON TAG, go to your City Hall they will issue you one and suggest leaving it in your glove box. (There is no expiration date)

So how does the public differentiate between cheap talk and a results oriented Anna Maria Island Real Estate company?  The first step is to recognize quantitative versus qualitative results.  Qualitative results are warm and fuzzy.  A great qualitative example, ” Our office uses the highest degree of ethics when selling your Anna Maria Island

Anna Maria Island Real Estate

property.”  So what does this really mean?  Does this statement confuse action with results?   You bet it does.

So now that you know what to look for lets talk quantitative results and lets talk action that creates results…

Island Real Estate is the only Real Estate office on Anna Maria Island that is open both Saturday and Sundays.  Do you think our office being open 28% more than the rest creates results?

Island Real Estate averages 30,000+ visitors per month on our website.  Depending on the month more than 25% of those visitors are from Europe.  Do you think Island Real Estate has a better chance of selling your home compared to most real estate companies that have 5000 visitors in a good month?

Island Real Estate displays between a half page and full page of our listings every week in a local newspaper.  Island Real Estate consistently takes out the largest ads in our local newspapers.  Do you think displaying your real estate listing consistently in local newspapers creates more opportunity to sell your home?

Do you think an office that sells twice as much as its closest competition has a better chance of selling your property?

Quantitative results NOT qualitative!

Island Real Estate’s closest competition on a bad month has half the transactions we see.

Hopefully I have helped create some quantitative statements that help you work through the “bull” of everyone claiming they have the best real estate service on Anna Maria Island.  If you have any doubts who supplies the best service focus on quantitative results and when all else fails, Call Me and we can discuss specifics.  Better yet, just try to call your top pick offices at about 4 PM on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.   When no one answers give Island Real Estate a call (941) 778-6066.

I look forward to helping you sell or purchase your “peace” of paradise on Anna Maria Island.

Larry Chatt (941) 345-1288 or Email me.

Questions?

Professional Real Estate sales agents boast that they provide the best service. So how can all REALTORS^® claim to provide superior service but provide dramatically different results? The thought that continues to come to mind is passion. The 80 – 20 rule applies to any service industry you research. Doctors, Sales Professionals, Medical Professionals, Plumbers, etc. It really does not matter which industry you are researching. Typically anyone can find the person that is within the upper 20% by asking intelligent and educated questions. Thankfully, finding a top 20% REALTOR^® is fairly easy with the right knowledge.

Let me provide a road map to your journey to find the sales person that will educate and aid you in what could be the largest sale of your life time. Below is a list of questions to ask when researching a listing real estate sales person for the sale of your single family home, condominium or duplex. In a later post I will be sure to publish a top ten list of questions for finding an outstanding buyers real estate agent.

Here it goes…

#10) What separates your real estate services from the rest? (The answer to this question should provide very specific examples of what unique services the real estate professional provides. This general question should also provide more information about their REALTOR^® services.)

#9) How specifically will other real estate professionals access your property? (This is more of an insider SECRET that most REALTORS^® won’t tell you. Full time real estate professionals prefer the use of electronic lock boxes. While the cost is substantially higher than traditional manual lock boxes, an electronic lock box allows the listing agent to retrieve a log of exact times and a list of REALTORS^® that have accessed the lock box. If a manual lock box is being used there is a fair chance that your real estate professional is part-time or not the real estate sales person you are

E-Lock Box

looking for! Electronic lock boxes also make for the EASIEST access to your property. Many real estate sales professionals are LAZY and they force agents to come to their office to pick up a key. Remember, 20% of the sales professionals sell 80% of the inventory and they are very busy. Sometimes due to a 30 minute round trip drive to pick up a key they may have to skip your property in the initial meeting with their buyer. They just don’t have time to run and pick up a key. An electronic lock box allows the buyers agent to show up at the home with their client, they use a special hand held device to type in their PIN and whala, two seconds later they have a key in their hand. That is a pretty big difference as compared to driving 20-30 minutes to come pick up a key. Not to mention IF the office is OPEN to get a KEY!)

#8) Will you be placing my home on the local Multiple Listing service (MLS)? (If the answer is maybe, perhaps or no, then run, run, run. Your local multiple listing service allows for other real estate sales professionals to view your home and easily present your home to buyers. MLS is what all other REALTORS^® use to perform searches

Realtor MLS

for their buyers. If the sales agent does not use MLS they ARE NOT a real estate professional. It is like carpenter using a rock instead of a hammer. Seriously, that bad.)

#7) Do you as a REALTOR^® have your own professional website? (A real estate professionals website is a very important tool for a REALTOR^®. It is similar to an engineer without a calculator. If the sales person does not have their own website they most likely are not the real estate sales professional you are looking for. Ask more questions but this is NOT a good flag.)

#6) How do you keep recent with the latest real estate best practices and technology enhancements? Do you have any

ePRO Designation

real estate education designations? (Your potential listing agent should be able to site several conferences, trainings, as well as real estate societies or communities that they utilize to stay in tune with the latest opportunities for listing properties for sale as well as buyer information. If they cannot site examples for you, it most likely means they are not passionate about the real estate industry. One last very important note, be sure your REALTOR^® is part of the National Association of REALTORS^®. NAR)

#5) Does your office offer incentives for selling listings internally? How do the rest of the agents in the office learn of new listings? (The listing real estate office should have sales meetings where they review new listings. A professional sales office will assist in the sale of your property and typically your professional sales agents office will sell 1/3 – 1/2 of their own listings internally because they intimately know the properties for sale. See more below about the REALTORS^® sales office.)

#4) How many sales professionals does your office have? Is the office always staffed by a real estate professional and what are your office’s hours. Are all your agents full time? (This returns to the fact that the office that your REALTOR^® has joined SHOULD review your property for sale in their sales meeting. The important point to this question is instead of having one person selling your property their entire office team will be selling it. In addition, full time sales

Island Real Estate

professionals attract similar like-minded professionals and expect the same from their office. The listing agent’s office should be open 7 days per week with real estate service personnel on staff 100% of the time. This is also CRITICAL because you never know when a buyer contacts a sales professional to review houses. Buyers usuall work Monday through Saturday and only have Sunday available to review houses. A good buyers agent will learn a great deal from their first caravan of reviewing properties with the buyer. Very often expectations of a home are tweaked and during the caravan the buyers are pointing to properties with for sale signs in the front yard. “What about that one?” If your real estate office is OPEN Saturday’s and Sunday’s the sales professional will be able to contact the office for showing instructions AND if there is an electronic lock box on the property buyer caravan will STOP AND GO SLIP YOUR PROPERTY INTO THEIR SHOWINGS. IF, there is no electronic lock box and IF the office is closed on Saturday’s and Sunday’s you are missing out on a high opportunity for interested BUYERS to review your property!)

#3) How many sales transactions do you perform per year and how do you rank among your peers in the community or county. (This is the toughest of all the questions but it needs to be asked. The top 20% that you are searching for will know this information. If the person struggles to answer this question and you get this far in the line of questions there is a fair chance they are in the early stage of their career. In addition, don’t discount a mature sales professional that is winding down. Was the mature REALTOR^® at the top of their game 5 years ago and now they are just starting to settle down? If the answer sounds convoluted or does not make sense you should probably move on to the next REALTOR^®. Does the “newer” sales agent team up with a more experienced sales professional to overcome a lack of experience as compared to a sales professional that has successfully completed hundreds of transactions?)

Real Estate Education

#2) Where does the sales person live? Do you currently have a listing in this location or which of the REALTOR^® current listings is closest to this area? (Does the sales person live and work in the area you are selling your home? This is not a critical item but if you have made it to question two and have two strong candidates to choose from then I would always suggest choosing the REALTOR^® that lives and works in their farm area -farm area is where you are selling your home. They will be able to more readily sell the positives of your neighborhood first hand as well positives of the community and the services that can be found. The second piece of the question is important later on and be sure to write down the address, City AND the price of the listing the REALTOR^® provides you. You will see why in a few minutes.)

#1) Ask yourself. Do I feel comfortable working with this sales person to sell my property? Do our personalities mesh? Does the sales professional listen to my expectations? (It is not necessary to be the best of friends but your conversations should be comfortable. At times you may be faced with offers that create adverse situations and an open line of communication with your listing real estate professional is critical to ensure your large fiscal transaction meets the success you deserve. Open and honest conversations are critical to your successful sale. If your conversation is strained during “small talk” you should move on to the next best sales professional that passes the questions listed above)

0) Sorry, just when you thought we were done, not yet. Now comes a very quick visit to the Internet to verify what you have heard. After the REALTOR^® has left and they have accepted, “I will call in two days with my decision.” Type in the sales professional that has best passed all our questions above and type their name into Google. Their website should

Realtor Logo

readily come up at the very least and hopefully you find several more results that provide some history of how well the person will be marketing your home. Do you see any newspaper ads where the sales professional has been quoted or used as an expert in their field? Now it is time to see the strength of the REALTORS^® marketing campaign. Go to www.Realtor.com and first go to your area and spend about 20 minutes looking at properties for sale and be sure to make notes of which REALTORS^® you see consistently on the website. Hopefully ONE of the real estate professionals that you consistently see has several listings you have come across. Take your list of two or three and make sure you look at a couple of the listings they have. Do they have a Virtual tour or video of the property for sale? Do they have a great description of the property or just a one line description? Are there plenty of pictures on their listings so that it makes it easy for buyers to retrieve more information about the property for sale? It is a known fact that buyers perform hours of research on the Internet prior to walking through any properties. Properties with a good description, plenty of pictures, and a virtual tour are 70%+ more likely to be viewed physically by potential buyers.

If the Real Estate professional of your first choice has plenty of listings. All their listings consistently show great descriptions, plenty of pictures and virtual tours, YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR Listing Real Estate professional. If you did not cross any of the REALTOR’S’^® listings then perform a more specific search with the listing you wrote down from your interview process. IF you have NOT found good descriptions ask your first choice REALTOR^®, why? There may be a great reason but it is doubtful.

If your first search of a REALTOR^® came up short use your list of sales professionals you wrote down while researching Realtor.com and start the process all over again. After going through the process once you will be a pro and for sure the second go around will produce the best Real Estate Sales professional for you.

I want to help!

Of course if you are looking for help to purchase or selling your property in Northwest Bradenton, LongBoat Key or Anna Maria Island, Florida, I would love the opportunity to help. If you have further questions about my services please call or visit my website. (941) 345-1288

For single family residential Real Estate on Anna Maria Island our transaction levels are up over 40% versus 2007. Continuing to be just as impressive are 2008 single family transaction levels. They are up 40%+ versus 2007. Condos and multi-family transactions are substantially up versus 2007 and continues the positive real estate news on Anna Maria Island.

Anna Maria Transaction Graph

Single family residential average square foot values continue to hold steady while multi-family, and condos continue to slip in value.

Anna Maria Real Estate prices

If you are interested in single family property on Anna Maria Island we expect 2009 to begin a modest appreciation period. Condos, vacant land, and multi-family will see a leveling period in 2009. Of course this data is for information only and should not be the only decision making information used to purchase your Anna Maria, Florida Real Estate. Please visit our website for more information on Anna Maria Island as well as Real Estate property for sale.

Pool Holiday Rental

We continue to see signs of the housing turn around. It appears as though the first time home buyers credit of up to $8000 is beginning to take hold. Construction starts in United States for the month of June jumped 11% as compared to the month of May. The last four out of six months, housing starts have been up. It doesn’t hurt that home builders are in a rush to finish homes by November for their buyers to take advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit.

Our little Anna Maria island there are not many folks taking advantage of the first time home buyers incentive. Most feel as though Real Estate resort areas LEAD the market. I would hope everyone agrees that Anna Maria Island is a resort area. So, if the rest of the United States Market is moving out of the housing slump then it is investors are too late for Anna Maria Island’s low. I believe our little Anna Maria Island is a resort area and is a LEADING indicator for home sales information.

Absorption rates of real estate is a very important indicator. Nationwide our absorption rate moved down from 10.2 months of real estate inventory for sale to 8.8 months. (Source CNBC) Investors are entering the market due to low interest rates and fantastic real estate buys.

Below you will find Quarter 2, 2009 Anna Maria Island Real Estate inventory absorption chart. This shows the past number of years of inventory we have had on Anna Maria Island. The most important aspect of the chart below is the blue line which shows the amount of inventory on the island by quarter. It is an absorption figure which shows number of months of Anna Maria Island property for sale. It is a simple calculation. If there are 500 properties for sale and for the past quarter we averaged 50 properties sold per month then our inventory absorption is 10 months or there is an equivalent of 10 months of inventory on hand. The most important part of the chart below is our absorption level relative to previous periods of time.

This chart is property of Island Real Estate of Anna Maria Island and Alan Galletto and should not be duplicated.

Anna Maria Island Inventory

See the story below thanks to the Associated Press on the seven month high for housing starts… For more information on Anna Maria Island Real Estate for sale visit Island Real Estate’s website.

updated 1:49 p.m. ET, Fri., July 17, 2009

WASHINGTON – Construction of new U.S. homes rose in June to the highest level in seven months as builders rushed to pour foundations for homes that must be completed by the end of November for first-time buyers to take advantage of a special tax break.

The Commerce Department said Friday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 3.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582,000 units, from an upwardly revised rate of 562,000 in May.

It was better than the 530,000-unit pace economists expected, and was the second straight monthly increase after April’s record low of 479,000 units.

Slow for Rental Scams

The original article leads readers to believe that the scam is mostly occurring on the Gulf Coast however feedback after the original story hit “Early Bird” many Florida Real Estate professionals came forward with similar feedback. Below a few additional suggestions have been made that I think would be helpful to educate us all regarding on-going rental scams.

“Donna Fries, a Panama City Beach Realtor, says the scam operates in her area too. She says the fraudulent ad uses the real owner’s name or the Realtor’s name, but a contact method that goes only to the criminals.

She offers the following suggestions for detecting the scam:

• The Craigslist ad is a carbon copy of the original ad with correct spelling, good English and a photo. Follow-up email responses, however, usually have incorrect spelling and awkward English.

• Scammers offer rental prices up to 40 percent below actual value, making it an attractive deal. If potential renters see identical ads in different locations with different prices, the lower-priced one is probably a scam.

• Criminals ask for deposit and rent money to be sent by Western Union or another method that works like cash, and it usually can’t be tracked or refunded.

• Many times, they use a foreign phone calling card that cannot be traced.”

I want to help. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call or email me. Have a great day and remember….if your rental seems too good to be true, proceed with extreme caution.

Property Tips

It seems we need to keep an eye out for scams every minute of our lives. Phishing scams, banking scams and now rental scams. The latest scam takes advantage of Annual Renters however it could be applied to bank owned Vacation Rentals as well.
See the article below thanks to Florida Association of Realtors…

“TAMPA, Fla. – July 14, 2009 – Property managers along the Gulf Coast beware: Criminals in the area are lifting rental listings, fraudulently adding their name as a contact, and posting it on Craigslist. The consumer sees a legitimate listing, but then contacts the criminal to request more information. A report has been filed with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department regarding a specific incident in Hernando County. According to the sheriff’s office, criminals have gone to extraordinary means to collect the first month’s rent and a security deposit. In some cases, they have drilled into lockboxes and placed renters in properties. Tenants who pay the criminals then believe they have a legal tenancy. The case has been turned over to investigators with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, though Pasco County law enforcement authorities also remain on the alert for additional incidents. So far, the problem seems limited to the central Gulf Coast area, but it could be duplicated anywhere in the state. If Realtors suspect a similar crime has occurred, they should call the local police or sheriff’s office rather than try to deal with the problem.”

So how do we become educated consumers to be sure we don’t fall into the craigslist or classified advertisement scam?

#1) When speaking with the individual does the opportunity seem to good to be true?
#2) Ask the person listing the property if they are the owner or a property manager.
#2A) If property owner, ask for their full name and go to public records and verify the address is owned by this

Rental Scams

person.
#2B) If it is a property manager ask for their website and call the number on the website and ask for the individual you were speaking with. All property managers these days have a website!
#3) The lister should have plenty of digital photos of the property. Ask for plenty of photos.
#4) If the lister is promoting a vacation rental most would normally have a website. Check out the website.
#5) Most owners participate in a community organization that helps them rent their property like a chamber of commerce. Ask the lister where they participate and call the community organization for more information. Get the phone number from the world wide web NOT the lister! They could give their girlfriends number and after the conversation you would be no wiser.
#6) If all the above ideas get you no where and the lister has reasonable reasons why you cannot follow through on the points above then I would strongly suggest you move on to another property. If you cannot move on, ask very pointed questions about the property. Where is the hot water heater? Where is the electrical panel? Is there a garbage disposal and a dishwasher?

If renting long term NEVER give money prior to walking through the home. Remember if you have upfront concerns regarding the legitimacy of the lister then walking through the property alone with a potential thief is EVEN WORSE. Is your life worth a great deal on an annual rental?

Information

There is no doubt a great deal can be had by going directly with an owner. With a good deal comes risk. Working with a property management company like Island Real Estate certainly limits a tenant’s or vacationers risks.

For more information on Annual Rental properties available on Anna Maria Island and Bradenton, Fl visit Island Real Estate’s Annual rental website.

For more information on Anna Maria Island Vacation Rentals managed by a team of professionals visit Island Real Estate’s website.

Sea Turtle

We entered a very important season recently on Anna Maria Island – turtle nesting season. The turtle volunteers do a fantastic job of protecting turtle nests all along Anna Maria Island. Ensuring beach lights do not detract baby turtles, roping off nests within hours of construction, walking miles and miles of beach every morning for several months are some examples of the passionate volunteers on Anna Maria Island.

News and Information

There is some fabulous news for Florida home owners. More specifically, Anna Maria Island vacation home owners and potential buyers of Anna Maria Island Real Estate.

Firstly, HB 521 was passed which puts the home owner in the drivers seat when appealing assessment values of their home. Currently the burden of proof lies with the Anna Maria Island home owner to prove the property assessment is incorrect with Ken Burton Jr. Not any more. Bill HB 521 changes the burden of proof to be on our local tax assessor to prove their estimated value is correct.

Florida Realtor Days

I had the opportunity to attend the Great American Realtor days in Tallahassee, Florida. I cannot say I enjoyed the drive from Anna Maria Island although I did have the chance to visit a few towns I have never had the pleasure of visiting. The most interesting visit was a small fishing village just North of Tampa called Cedar Key. Cedar Key is a very small village with the closest grocery store being 30 miles away. Their real estate has started to pick up in the last month and the realtor I spoke with proudly stated there were 2 contracts pending for her office which has not happened since 2006.

The Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) has the event very well planned. One meeting prepared the ~1000 real estate professionals with the talking points of our visits with our local representatives. Some of our highlights of the talking points were SB 1718, SB 2250, and HB 809 which was legislation to reduce the current eviction fees for landlords of $265. In addition, we worked to be sure our representatives knew we supported HB 7057 and SB 532 which limits the growth of property tax assessments on businesses, second homes, and non-homesteaded properties to a cap of 5% annually. Finally the last legislation that caught my eye was legislation that supports a “preponderance of evidence” for challenging property tax assessments. SB 1006 and HB 521 changes the philosophy of property owners challenging their assessments. Instead of a property owner proving their property is lower in value, the local tax collector must prove the value of your property is correct. There is a subtle difference between the two but if passed it could make a large impact on the ease of fighting your property value estimates. The above links for each individual bill is a link to the progress of each bill in Tallahassee. In addition for a list of more legislation visit FAR’s website.

Realtor Days - House

Our local boards made appointments with our local representatives so we could have about a half an hour with them during their open session. While the Manatee board chose not to attend the Great American Realtor days, (GARD) I was able to attend a few very well run meetings with the real estate board from Naples and they were a well oiled machine. It was very impressive.

Lastly I was able to attend the open session of legislation in Tallahassee. The most interesting point was while our political representatives were discussing legislation points there was a “circus” occurring on the political floor. Pictures being taken and conversations occurring were just a few of the activities taking place as the politicians voted on legislation. It is difficult to understand how our politicians can be productive in open session when a “circus” is occurring on the floor but I have always learned not to judge a book by its cover…

Part of 2009 Florida Leadership Academy

FAR has a lunch and dinner networking function that is fabulous. Wonderful food and wonderful company. The event was closed out with Cynthia Shelton and Charlie Christ giving a speech to the Florida Realtors on hand. Cynthia quoted some staggering first quarter real estate results for areas of Florida. Cape Coral, Miami-Dade, Naples, Tampa were among the few quoted with real estate transactions for the first quarter up more than 20% with some as high as 80% more transactions versus the first quarter of 2008. Unbelievable…Now is the time to buy!

Thanks to Cookie Douglas for the photo while our politicians were in session. She specializes in Fort Myers real estate.

2009 Florida Leadership Academy