INFORMATION ON VARIOUS SUBDIVISIONS IN LAND O LAKES AND WESLEY CHAPEL COMING SOON ...

I thought it would be an interesting idea to mention specific subdivision here in the Land O Lakes and Wesley Chapel areas.  I decide on these two locations for various reasons, but the primary reason is this is where I live and this is where I want to specialize in.

I want to know everything I can about these subdivision so that if any of you have questions or discussion items, I want to be able to answer them with 100% accuracy. 

While I welcome the opportunity to show any home buyer  properties, I think it is just as important that each buyers has all the answers before making such a large purchase.

I think is important that you are aware of everything and have included a few below:

Price ranges - Is this a good deal for you?  Does this area provide you with a home in your budget.  What are the taxes?  What are the HOA fees?  What are the CDD fees?  All these together along with Insurance determine your overall monthly price of owning your home.  A 200,000 home with a mortgage of 1000.00 a month can add up quickly if your taxes are 300 a month, your HOA is 150 a month and your CDD is 150 a month.  You can get a home for 250,000 with a 50 per month HOA and have a larger home in a nice area (sudivision or not) with a little looking around and asking questions.  PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND ALWAYS ASK ABOUT ALL OF THESE FEES!!!

Traffic - Is this is a location that I can get to and from work in an acceptable time, can I get to the grocery store, mall, medical appointments and things of that nature.  What looks good on a map doesn't always equal an easy commute.

Crime - I recommend always searching the local crime page.  Here in Land O Lakes and Wesley Chapel, the Pasco County Sherrif's Department has some great information.

Schools - Many websites have disussion items regarding schools.  I have kids that are in the High School right now, so I can understand that this is very important to many buyers.

So as I write this on April 17th, I am committed to doing this.  If anyone out there wants to send a quick e-mail with a subdivision that they would like information on, please do so.

Have a GREAT WEEK everyone and thanks for stopping by ...

Dan Strauss
Realtor
LaRosa Realty
http://dstrauss.larosarealty.com
danstraussrealtor@gmail.com

Tampa Real Estate YoY Home Sales

I really like this snapshot put together by the My Florida Regional MLS.  This information presented shows the changes in home sales over a set period of time. 

What I really find facinating about statistics is that you can make them say almost anything that you want them to say to support your point of view. 

Are homes selling more than in the past?  It definately appears so.  But I ask myself, does this chart show me the following:
- What is the average home price sold?
- Are these Bank Foreclosures finally coming off the banks balance sheet?
- How many of these homes are Short Sales, where the bank is finally making an effort to answer someone's offer?
- What was the average days on the market (DOM)?
- What was the average price difference between the asking price and the initial sales price?
- How many of these homes were bought by investors for cash?
- How many of these homes that sold were put right back on the market a month later for rent?
- How many of these bought homes are sitting vacant?
- What was the breakdown in credit score for individuals that bought homes?
- How many of these homes were sold to someone that lives outside of Florida?

These are some of the questions that in turn will determine the strength of our housing market.  I do believe that homes that are well priced, in good condition, will sell.  I do believe that there are still many people out there looking for lifetime deals, but they are not having that much luck.  Investors and Investment Companies are very savvy on buying Real Estate.  By the time you see it, a good investor has already decides if they want to make an offer on this home.

The Great Tampa Association of Realtors had a training seminar last week that I attended.  The one common theme that Realtors and Real Estate Agents (yes, we are different - but can both help you buy/sell a home) are talking about is how incredibly FAST Bank Owned Homes are selling.  1-4 days and it is usually SOLD.

If you are looking for one of these, I would suggest having your pre-approval in hand and your Realtors number on speed dial.  You have to work very fast!

Thank you all and have a Great Day!

Historically, 30 year fixed rate mortgages are at record lows.  While this doesn't mean everyone needs to go out and by the biggest house they can, it is a great indication that you can in fact actually buy the home that you wanted, and PAY LESS!
You never want to be over extended on that perfect home.  Being able to afford the mortgage payment and not much else isn't recommended by me. 
Here is a great example of a home that costs 200,000.  I didn't include insurance, taxes, Home Owners Association Fees, Private Mortgage Insurance or any of those costs.  It is just an example to show what the difference in a mortgage payment will be based off an interest rate.

200,000     3.75% 30 Year Fixed     Payment is 926.23
200,000     4.75% 30 Year Fixed     Payment is 1043.29
200,000     5.75% 30 Year Fixed     Payment is 1167.15

That speaks volumes to me.  Will rates remain this low?  To me, that is anyones guess.  I have read the Federal Reserve wants to try to keep thier rates low, which in turn works to keep the mortgage rates low.  But so many unknowns occur. 
That rate difference between 3.75 and 5.75 is over 240 dollars!  Getting that mortgage right now at 3.75% could in effect make your payment plus your taxes and still not be as high as if the rate increases to 5.75%

There are some New Home Buying Opportunities in and around the Tampa area. The area of New Tampa, zip code 33647, has some of the nicest subdivisions in there area. Yes, strictly my opinion, but if you were to take a look at Grand Hampton, Live Oak, Cory Lake Isles, Heritage Isles, and combine that with the well establised areas of Hunters Green, Arbor Greene, Meadow Pointe, Cross Creek and Pebble Creek, you may be hard pressed to find anything that compares with that.

Drive a little further North on Bruce B. Downs, cross into Pasco County and you come to Wesley Chapel. The entire area of Seven Oaks is a series of gated communities that has homes that appeal to just about every buyer.

New homes are being built by DR Horton, Lennar, WestBay, Standard Pacific and Ryland. This area is growing. A new Hospital will be finished late this Summer, a large Recreating Complex is planned (I thought it would already be built, but they are ironing out some issues). All these areas have easy access to I-75/I-275. It's a bit of a drive to the beaches, but living in this area is well worth it to me.

I would like to show you around if you have some time. All of my information can be found at http://dstrauss.larosarealty.com. I hope to work with you as you look for your home!

Dan Strauss
Realtor
La Rosa Realty
http://dstrauss.larosarealty.com
danstraussrealtor@gmail.com

WELCOME TO THE NORTH TAMPA REAL ESTATE BLOG

Welcome to the North Tampa Real Estate Blog.  As this is my first posting with Real Estate information in or around our area.  I plan to update this blog at least three times a week but if this really grows into a discussion forum, I may do it everyday.

A brief introduction to get that out of the way, then what you really came here to see.

About Myself and my company, La Rosa Realty:  I am Dan Strauss, a Realtor with La Rosa Realty, LLC.  Our corporate headquarters is located in Celebration, FL and Mr. Joe La Rosa is my broker.  La Rosa Realty has offices and sales agents throughout Florida and also in New York and California.  I may be biased, but we are a great company!  We put our customers first and that was my primary reason for joining Team La Rosa.  This is very important to me.  I am Semi-Retired after spending over 26 years in the US Navy.  Customer service counts more to me than anything else.  I am a Realtor that provides what the customer asks.  If you want to see a home today, let's go see it.  If you want to search and get back to me when you are ready to look, I am fine with that.  If you want me to review homes you have saved on my website and automatically send you information on those specific ones, I will do that.  If you want a call every 3 or 4 days to check, I can do that.  Realtors and Real Estate Agents work FOR YOU!  But they also work with you to get you the best Deal :)

I primarily work with Single Family Residences (SFR).  I also focus on the areas North of Tampa from the Beach (Safety Harbor, Harbor Springs, Tarpon Springs, Odessa, Westchase, Carrollwood, Lutz, Land O Lakes, Wesley Chapel, and New Tampa and all areas in and around these) out to Zephyrhills.  That includes Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco Counties.  While this is a very broad area, it is also manageable.  Keeping up with what is selling, what prices are doing, available inventory, short sale situation, bank owned homes (foreclosures/REOs) and things of that nature takes up a lot of time.  But I really do ENJOY DOING THIS JOB!!!

Okay - Now that all of the basics are out of the way, and I promise I won't put them down in the blog again, here is what is happening in Tampa and our surrounding areas??

Everyone wants to know about???
PRICES - What is happening with prices?  Are they falling?  Will they continue to fall?  Have they bottomed out? Are they starting to rise?  What will a home be worth next year at this time?
What I can tell you is that NOBODY knows.  If they say different, I would disagree.  You can read so many articles from so called experts on the internet you will get to the point where you walk away confused.  I know I get that way, and I read about it all the time.

My opinion:  I feel we are at the bottom for certain areas here.  I feel some areas will continue to fall, but not very much.  You even see areas where there are multiple offers on homes, so that area is rising a bit. 

SHORT SALES:  Banks are making great efforts to work faster.  Our title company told us that a Short Sale home closed in 29 days recently.  So if you see one you like, don't scratch it off your wish list.  Make an offer!

BANK OWNED/FORECLOSURE/REO:  These homes are going quickly.  Very quickly.  Homes are being sold in less than 4 days!  The average buyer is spending a little over $8,000 to get the home how they want it.  Some are significantly higher!  Well priced homes are selling, but again, these are going FAST!

Interest Rates:  I am going to post a historical chart that really puts the current rate into perspective.  IT IS LOW!  For how long?  The Federal Reserve says as of now, until 2014.  Things do change, so keep an eye on that.

I look forward to your feedback and will be on from time to time to provide my opinion.  We all have our opinions...please do so respective of others.  Thank you and have a Great Day!

One last thing:  If you would like me to provide something specific, please post in the comment section and I'll see if I can get that in.

My Info:
danstraussrealtor@gmail.com
http://dstrauss.larosarealty.com
(813) 469-6341