With the market shift over the last year we are seeing many first time homebuyers buying homes. This is great for our real estate market. When first time homebuyers are able afford homes I'm happy. The past 2-3 years most could not afford a house here, unless they shared expenses with someone.Things change. We have experienced at least a 20% decrease in home prices over the last year. Honestly, I feel like we have about 10% to go down. "Oh, no, should I wait to buy?" my answer to that is "NO". Why? "Because right now at the present time you can heavily negotiate with sellers. Right now you may even walk away buying a house 20% under current market value. Then even if the market goes down another 10% you are still ahead 10%. Not to mention that you were able to homestead to save on prope... 01/24/2007

Short Sale Fully furnished Gulf Access property in Cape Coral, FL. 1460 Vendome Ct Cape Coral, FL 33904. Desirable yacht club area, oversized corner lot, walk to shops and restaurants, new everything, professionally furnished. Only 1 bridge to the river about a 10 minute boat ride and you are there. Fantastic opportunity to own a very nice fully updated home located extremely close to a proposed redevelopment area. This fully furnished home sits on a corner lot with quick access to the gulf of mexico. This fully updated and remodeled home has excellent potential. It comes fully furnished and ready to live in or rent out. Zillow has this at $446,000, Assessed Value is $401,000, your price only $312,000! Pics and more at http://www.buyahousefromray.com/1460VendomeCt  Ray HigdonRLH Holding... 01/22/2007

3/2/2 Gulf Access Home with Pool and Large Screened-inLanai. 1506 SE 13th Ter, Cape Coral, FL 33990 -  one bridge to river. 15 mins to the river. Includes Great Convenienceof a Large Pass-Through Window for Entertaining. Plus2 Brand-New Lanai Fans with Lights. BeautifulCanal. Gulf Access. Dock and Ladder already in place!MAJOR UPDATES AND RENOVATIONS all completed in2003...NEW ROOF! NEW Sod and NEW Sprinkler System. NEWTile Through-out Living Area. NEW Kitchen Cabinets.NEW Oven. NEW Flat-top Range. NEW Dishwasher. NEWMicrowave. NEW Refrigerator/Icemaker. NEW Washer. NEWDryer. And...NEW Carpet in All Bedrooms and EntireHouse FRESHLY Painted in Sept. 2006. I have an executable interest in this property and am assigning my contract. Zillow has this home at $460,000, should appraise around ... 01/10/2007

I have been receiving many inquiries as to the local vacant land value here in Cape Coral, Florida. Here are the 3 top questions I've received & my responses below as well. 1Q.  Why is my taxable value so high in comparison to current market value?2Q.  When will the market go back up?3Q.  Should I sell or should I wait?1A.  The values for the taxes are for 2005. In 2005 many off water lots sold up to $100,000. We pay taxes in arrears so the bill you have now is for 2005 & the one you received in 2005 was for 2004. The one you'll get at the end of this year will be for 2006 values.2A.  We had many speculative investors here buying up the lots which drove them up to these unsustainable highs. Now the market has adjusted downward more in line with where the true values should/would have be... 01/02/2007

Cape Coral Real Estate Market - Comparing 2005 to 2006- These figures were pulled out of the Greater Ft. Myers MLS & do not include the Cape Coral MLS (although many listings were entered in both MLSs & the majority were in the Ft. Myers MLS) -From Jan 1, 2005 - Dec 27, 2005817 condos/townhomes sold4,291 single family homes sold8,474 vacant lots soldFrom Jan 1, 2006 - Dec 27, 2006219 condos/townhomes sold3,134 single family homes sold1,472 vacant lots sold These figures tell us that the single family house market has not fallen that far from last year. We're looking at about a 27% drop. Not bad considering the crazy buyer frenzy of '05. The condos tell a very different tale at a 73% drop in sales. This tells us that we have too many condos & not enough buyers for them. Finally, the most... 12/28/2006

2004 Freshwater Canal 3/2/2 home with Pool - 2130 NW 9th Ave, Cape Coral, FL 33993  - I have an executable interest in this property and am assigning my contract. Immaculate better than new 3 bedroom 2 bath plus den pool home on a very wide freshwater canal. 1500 sqft of living, great room floor plan comes with plantation shutters, security system, sprinkler system, amazing landscaping and lighting, hurricane rated shed, vaulted ceilings, and walk in closets. Will Appraise in the $350,000 range, your price only $255,000. Pics and more - http://www.buyahousefromray.com/2130nw9thave   12/26/2006

Built in 2003, 4/2/2 on Freshwater canal! 1301 NE 19th Ave, Cape Coral, FL 33909 Approx.80' concrete seawall. In an excellent area close to shopping and schools, as well as proposed Academic Village. Fully fenced backyard to seawall. recently appraised for $330,000, your price, only $225,000 - pics and more here - http://www.buyahousefromray.com/1301ne19th Ray HigdonRLH Holdingshttp://www.BuyAHouseFromRay.com 12/19/2006

Handyman Special - Freshwater Canal, 3/2/2, Cape Coral, FL - 2514 Retunda Pkwy, Cape Coral, FL 33904 - 3 bed 2 bath fresh water home over looking more then 700 ft of water with dock. Lots of brand new homes in this awesome neighborhood. Tile roof. 1890sq ft under air and access to some of cape corals largest lakes. All accessments are paid in full. This home needs rehabbed and should appraise at $375,000 or higher. I have an executable interest in this property and am assigning my contract. Repairs inlude - Kitchen, bathroom, flooring, paint, estimated repairs are $20,000+ Your price only $210,000. Pics and more here - http://www.buyahousefromray.com/2514retunda  Ray HigdonRLH Holdingshttp://www.buyahousefromray.com 239-248-2182 12/09/2006

To be quite frank with you I am sick of discussing it. I feel like a record stuck on the same groove. Day in & day out I answer the question over & over again.True, I work with mostly investors so this information is in fact, important to them to know. Not crucial though. Let me explain. Investors buy real estate (or stocks or bonds, etc) all of the time, in good & bad markets. They just make sure they are getting the best 'deal' at the present time.In real estate that means that it matches your criteria. What is YOUR criteria for buying? Are you looking for a second home? Cash flow? A long term investment? Short term? Retirement home? Can you afford to hold the property or are you expecting to have it sold or rented right away? If you do not have your criteria determined, you better fi... 11/25/2006

2004 Freshwater Canal 3/2/2 home with Pool - 2130 NW 9th Ave, Cape Coral, FL 33993  - I have an executable interest in this property and am assigning my contract. Immaculate better than new 3 bedroom 2 bath plus den pool home on a very wide freshwater canal. 1500 sqft of living, great room floor plan comes with plantation shutters, security system, sprinkler system, amazing landscaping and lighting, hurricane rated shed, vaulted ceilings, and walk in closets. Will Appraise in the $350,000 range, your price only $265,000. Pics and more - http://www.buyahousefromray.com/2130nw9thave   Below Accessed value! - Gulf Access, Cape Coral, FL - 1 bridge, 10 minutes to River - 1111 SE 16th St, Cape Coral, FL 33990 - I have an executable interest in this property and am assigning my contract. Beau... 11/24/2006

Are you considering a move to Southwest Florida? Maybe even just Florida in general? Maybe even just somewhere warmer in general? Perhaps for a second home, perhaps you are moving to live here full time?Here are some things to consider:Let's start with some possible negatives:The world moves slower here. What do I mean by that? Well if you are from the country in the midwest you may not notice it, but if you are from a larger city or the NE you will notice it for sure. Everything is done slower here. Deadlines are often overlooked by many. Stop by the grocery store & the cashier will most likely spend more time talking about the groceries you are buying vs. just checking you out quickly. Some call this good ole southern hospitality, some call it annoying. Honestly, the slowness drove me... 11/05/2006

When I was first starting out in real estate, one question I loved to ask other SUCCESSFUL people is "What was your biggest mistake?" In the world of investors common answers were, I didn't buy enough houses, or, I didn't use my money wisely, or I misjudged repairs, or I sold too many houses and wished I would have held onto them, and the most common was, "I wish I would have started in real estate sooner". Amen to that. I like that question as I like to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible and I still aim to learn something new every single day. Not too long ago, someone turned the tables on me, and asked me that question. I had to think about that long and hard but my answer was that I was not flexible enough when I was starting out. As I was focusing on rental properties, i... 10/18/2006

So I ran across this article today:Click to read itBasically, they have decided what major real estate markets will see the largest decline in values. They have determined where the peaks were & have guessed on where the bottoms will be.Guess what? Cape Coral, Florida is first on the list. I don't care. I still think now is a very good time to be buying. Read my latest news report on Cape Coral, Florida.The reason now is great is because sellers all pretty much now know that it's a buyers market (many were in denial up until recently). A buyer can negotiate here. There is a lot of inventory now, many sellers need out, not so many buyers here right now & oh wait, everywhere you turn you hear it's NOT the bottom so sellers are freaking out here - or should be. But if you wait until they s... 10/13/2006

~ Here's our Oct 2006 News ~SW Florida Real Estate NewsOct. 13,  2006viewable online at www.SusanMilner.com/news.html     Oct 2006 News Wow, it’s October already. And from what I hear many of you northerners are already seeing major snowfall in your area. Our weather is great here J We are about through our Hurricane Season, the weather is drier and mid to high 80’s during the day & low to mid 70’s in the evenings. This is my favorite weather here. I would still like to have a house somewhere up north for the hot & muggy summer months but for Fall, Winter & Spring I can’t imagine a better place to live. What’s new here? Well let’s start with what is on everyone’s mind right now:  The real estate market Buyers Have we hit bottom? The short answer is YES. Why & how can I say that? I say t... 10/13/2006

You too can fly to Florida for a free steak dinner & be whisked away to look at swamp land...err I mean vacant property. For $50 down & $50 a month you too can own your own piece of the sunshine state.Yes, that's REALLY how it all got started here. It's amazing isn't it? You can check the tax rolls in Cape Coral & see that the original buyers were from all over the country and the world. They mostly purchased one or two parcels each. Most are classified as 'disqualifed mail order sales'. Now, our town has over 150,000 residents with more moving here every day. We have big businesses here. Like a super wal-mart, a neighborhood Wal-Mart, another on the way, a Target with a Super Target coming in, Lowe's & a new Lowe's opening up soon. We also have a Home Depot with another one a few miles... 09/25/2006

I have had this house listed for a few months now - in SE Cape Coral - with its central water & sewer hooked up & paid for as well (this is a big PLUS in Cape Coral). When we first listed we were a little high but that's just when the market had began to slow down so we didn't know if it would keep heading down or come back up. It has at least 2-3 showings a week & the only feedback I receive is that its too close to a main road - Del Prado Blvd. Well, we can't change that folks. So how much is that worth price wise? I've actually had buyer's agents tell me that their people chose an older home needing WORK at the same or higher price over this house. Its not ON Del Prado Blvd but if you are in the front yard looking across the street you see the back of buildings on Del Prado. The back... 09/16/2006

While we are still seeing a decline in most residential markets here locally we are seeing more and more commercial developments. Cape Coral has been behind in commercial growth for years. Slowly, we now have about 8% commercial. A recent article in the news-press examines this. Many of my clients & prospective clients have been worried about the current market conditions. They call & e-mail me to see what I think they should do in this current market. One aspect that always seems to come up is the commercial growth. With over 150K residents in Cape Coral & with so much vacant property ready for newcomers, businesses see opportunity here & are capitalizing on it. Many small businesses have opened along the Pine Island Corridor, restaurants & strip centers as well. Along the Santa Barbar... 09/10/2006

My opinion is that now is the best time to be a first time homebuyer in our area. The prices of homes have actually been declining making them once again affordable. In SW Florida we experienced price appreciation of 20-30-40-50%+ a year depending on type of property & location over the past 2-3 years. We knew this couldn't go on forever but it was fun while it lasted. Now the market is adjusting back to normal. First time homebuyers are able to take their time to research, plan & make a decision on the best options available. Last year, they had to move quick & often times make offers ABOVE asking prices. Now, with more options available you can actually make offers BELOW asking prices & GET THEM ACCEPTED. There are NICE homes in Cape Coral under $75,000 again. There are brand new ones... 09/06/2006

What kind of an investor do you want to be? I am currently reading The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller. As an investor myself I am constantly looking at ways to increase my investment portfolio & learning about what other real estate investors are investing in & how is a great way to enhance your current situation as well. Why re-invent the wheel as they say? Exactly. And maybe youve been successfully investing & your way works but maybe there is an easier or more lucrative approach out there? Im sure if you are reading this that you are the type of person that is always looking to find great advice out there though. By continuing to educate yourself through books, tapes, seminars, etc you are becoming more & more of what you ultimately seek to be. One part of the book I... 09/06/2006