How Long Does it Take to Sell a Home? | What is the Average Time to Sell a Home? In recent years, the average time to sell a home has dramatically increased. This is largely due to the unemployment rate and credit crunch, which are limiting the number of first time home buyers entering the market, as well as the increasing number of short and foreclosure sales. According to the Accredited Seller Agent Council, the average time to sell a home in the U.S. is 10 months. However, there are many factors that can impact how quickly your home will sell. Factors Affecting the Average Time to Sell a Home Home listing price - An asking price that is either too low or too high can dramatically reduce the chances of selling your home on a timely schedule. Your agent should be familiar with the l... 07/24/2013

How to Buy a House Before Your Other House Sells | Buy Before You Sell In a buyer's market, the inventory of homes for sale can be astounding. Deciding on a home to buy is difficult enough, but what happens when you have one to sell beforehand? Many times, especially in a soft real estate market, a buyer may get into a situation where they find a new house before their current house sells. Acting as a buyer and a seller in separate transactions can be tricky business, especially if you need the equity from your current home to pay for the new home. Luckily there are some best practices that can help show you how to buy a house before your other house sells.   Consider a Bridge or Home Equity Loan. There are many financing options available when it comes to home buying, and bridge loans... 07/24/2013

  5 Tips To Save Energy | Strategies to Help Save Energy in Your Home With the price of oil on the rise - let's be honest, with the price of everything on the rise - these simple strategies to help save energy in your home will help when having to make difficult decisions in your household budget. For this article, we'll focus on strategies around heating your home. Program Economical Thermostat Settings in Your House One of the smartest strategies to help save energy in your home is lowering your thermostat when you go to sleep and when you're away. Start with a comfortable setting of 68 F, then turn it down by 10 degrees on your way out. Save on your peace of mind, too, by installing a programmable energy-saving thermostat. Most are priced under $100 and will pay for themselves withi... 07/24/2013

  Can I Use My 401(k) to Buy a House? | How to Buy a House With a 401(k) For many families, their 401(k) or other retirement plan is their biggest, most important asset. So it's very natural to wonder if you can use your 401(k) to help make a down payment on a house. The answer is a qualified "yes." It is possible to use a 401(k) plan to help with purchasing a home, though if you are still working for the company, your plan rules have to allow for something called an "in-service withdrawal." If You Still Work for the Company If you are still actively working for the plan sponsor and your plan rules allow for in-service withdrawals, all you have to do is notify your human resources department or your plan administrator that you want to take a distribution to put toward the down payment ... 07/23/2013

Check Out the Comparative Analysis for Tradition, FL vs St Lucie West, FL   Price Trends - 34987 vs 34983     Market Inventory Trends - 34987 vs 34983   Property Ownership - 34987 vs 34983   Income by Household - 34987 vs 34983   Education: Highest Level Attained - 34987 vs 34983   Weather Risk - 34987 vs 34983   Crime Risk -34987 vs 34983   Community Summary - 34987 vs 34983   Market Stability Summary - 34987 vs 34983   School Summary - 34987 vs 34983   Fair Market Rents - 34987 vs 34983   Based on the data in this comparative analysis, which area would you prefer to live in?   07/23/2013

Top 10 Reasons to Hire a Real Estate Agent | Don't Go Alone With so much information readily available online, clients sometimes ask me, "Why should we hire a real estate agent?" They wonder, and rightfully so, if they couldn't buy or sell a home through the Internet or through regular marketing and advertising channels without representation, without a a real estate agent. Some do OK, many don't. So if you've wondered the same thing, here are 10 reasons why you might want to consider hiring a professional real estate agent. 1. Education & Experience You don't need to know everything about buying and selling real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, it proves you are smarter than they are. T... 07/22/2013

Market Insider for 34953 | Port St Lucie Price Trends Rising The data on this page is consolidated from multiple sources and includes current listings, recent sales, and more. Whether you're a buyer or seller, the knowledge you gain will help put you in control of your real estate transactions. Call (772)204-9965 or email anytime to discuss how this information can benefit you!     07/22/2013

Tips To Sell Your Home Effectively | Get The Most Exposure You Can     For Sale: Elegantly remodeled 4-bedroom, 2.75-bathroom Craftsman located on a tranquil, tree-lined street just minutes from downtown by city bus. This beauty has a large, new, open-plan kitchen and dining area ideal for entertaining; a new 10-foot by 8-foot master bedroom closet; refinished wood floors throughout; original marble fireplace mantle; and a finished "rec" room in the basement perfect for a children's play room or a media room. And if you enjoy bicycling and tennis, this home is for you. A quarter mile from lakeshore bicycle trail and five blocks from municipal tennis courts. What are you waiting for? Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? The price for this home will of course depend on its location and housing p... 07/21/2013

The current population in Port St. Lucie is 167,000 - we have a small town feel, interesting to know that we are the 9th largest city in Florida.  We have the lowest crime rate in the state, and we are geographically one of the largest with 116 incorporated square miles.  Our infrastructure includes state-of-the-art water and sewer utilities available to every lot in the city.  This is especially important for new businesses looking to build. With plenty of room to grow, we have attracted high tech industries and are very proud of our bio-tech firms who have built in the past few years.  Because of our cluster we have a 90 bed hospital under construction and is set to open in the fall.  In addition, a 400,000 sf medical office plaza will soon follow. In the past year, four national com... 07/19/2013

Port Saint Lucie Facts Straight From The Mayors Desk   Claire Sweet, Key Contact for RASL to Mayor Joanne Faiella furnished this information from her communication with the Mayor.  Recently the Mayor of Port St Lucie, Joanne Faiella, spoke at a Commercial real estate conference.  She had many interesting things to share and information that should delight most who are in the real estate industry. Here are some excerpts of her speech. "Those of you who work in real estate are such an important part of your community.  You are the ones who sell your town - one lot a time - so I know you care deeply about the issues that affect your communities....Let me give you a few facts about Port St Lucie that you may not be aware of...    Did you know we (Port St Lucie) has a population of 167,000. ... 07/18/2013

  What Are Buyers Really Looking For? | What Type of Homebuyer Are You?     Anyone who has ever worked with even one home buyer knows what they want:   A decent price – the lower the better. A home in move-in condition. A home in a desirable area. Assurances that the home’s value will increase. Those are the rudimentary desires of most buyers. Aside from the basics, though, just what are today’s buyers looking for in a home? That depends on several factors, including the region in which the buyer is shopping. One way to look at what the home shopping public wants is according to demographics. According to Pew Research, we are broken down into several demographics, depending on the year we were born: millennial, Gen X, baby boomers and the silent generation.   Millennial Home Buyers Mil... 07/17/2013

2641 Harem Cir Port Saint Lucie, FL 34953-2953 Looking for a 4/2 Pool Home WITH OCEAN ACCESS?? Home   Photo Gallery   Virtual Tour   Property Map   Payment Info   Request Showing     Andrew Sesta- Sesta & AssociatesABR,GRI,SFR Office: 772-419-0400 Mobile: 772-285-8702 Website: Visit Website Price : $385,900 Bedrooms : 4 Bathrooms : 2 Square Foot : 2,040 County : St. Lucie Property Type : Detached Year Built : 2003 MLS Number : R3370508 click for more information and pictures Property Description Looking for a 4/2 CBS Pool Home WITH OCEAN ACCESS UNDER $400,000?? Look no more! Check out your future home today! Equal Housing Opportunity. Keller Williams of The Treasure Coast : 819 S.Federal Highway Suite 300 - Stuart FL 34994 : 772-419-0400 07/16/2013

How to Hold the Perfect Garage Sale When you need to either store or get rid of a lot of "stuff" to make your house look its best while on the market, holding a garage sale may be the ideal solution. Not only will your current house stage easier, but you will lighten the load of what needs to be moved to the new home - and make money in the process. To be successful, a garage sale requires some planning and preparation. In fact, planning the sale may be the key to its success. Planning the Garage Sale I once knew a real estate agent who was so excited over her first listing that she planned to hold an open house the weekend after the home went on the market. She did no advanced planning – just chose the date. Nobody showed up at the open house – not even one person. It turns out that s... 07/15/2013

BASS PRO SHOPS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO OPEN 11TH FLORIDA STORE IN PORT ST. LUCIE Port St. Lucie (March 18, 2013) Bass Pro Shops, America’s most popular outdoor store, will locate a new store in Port St. Lucie, Florida at the highly visible intersection of I-95 and Gatlin Boulevard. The new 100,000 square-foot Bass Pro Shops® Sportsman’s Center® will be Bass Pro Shops 11th Florida store location.Florida ranks 1st in the United States with more than 3 million anglers.“We are very excited to bring Bass Pro Shops to this premier site in Port St. Lucie and continue our long relationship with Florida sportsmen,” stated Johnny Morris, Founder of Bass Pro Shops. “This highly visible location fronting I-95 is easily accessible and will allow us to bring Bass Pro Shops’ low prices and famous friendly,... 07/14/2013

Ready to Sell Your Home? 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling a House   Lucky is the homeowner who has experience with selling a home. First-time sellers have a steep learning curve ahead of them and many obstacles on the road to a successful sale. Although common with first-time sellers, some of these obstacles aren't obvious. 1. Not Preparing the Home for Sale "Dress your house for success," is probably the best advice for home sellers. Just as you wouldn't attempt to get top dollar for a car without cleaning the interior and detailing the exterior, so it goes with the sale of your home. Cleaning the house is the first step because, face it, nobody will buy a dirty house. But, here's incentive for you to put on the rubber gloves and drag out the cleaning supplies: Clean houses sell quicke... 07/12/2013

Negotiating Tips For Buying a Home You've found the home of your dreams, now it's time to negotiate with the seller to make it yours. Follow these tips to negotiate the best price you can without upsetting the seller and ruining the deal.   10 Home Buying Negotiation Tips   1. Don't Lowball Start off negotiations by offering a fair price to the seller. You can offer a price that's lower than the asking price; just don't offer one that's too far off-base from the home's fair market price. If you start off with a severely low-ball offer, you'll negatively taint the negotiations from the get-go, and may even prompt the seller to reject your offer outright.   2. Be Informed Know as much about your local market as you can, such as the selling price of homes comparable to the one you hope to ... 07/08/2013

  Here is the market data for our favorite market area in Port St Lucie, Tradition, FL and as you can see by this report for June, the NEW listings coming on the market has fallen off, and Rising Prices are still continuing.  You will also notice that DAYS ON MARKET and absorbion rate are rising as number of sales is slowing,   The one statistic that is RISING is the LISTING to SOLD price ratio with most  homes sold ending in multiple offers due to the low inventory. However, with rising interest rates and new foreclosures coming on the market very shortly, prices are almost certainly going to start falling, so for home owners in Port St Lucie and Tradition, if you have been holding off on listing your home to see how it was going to get, NOW is the time to be calling Kevin B Tolbert PA... 07/04/2013

  FREE REPORT: Debunking Five Short Sale Misconceptions.   Five Facts Distressed Homeowners Need to Know Sooner Rather Than Later   It's a troubling time for a lot of folks.  Tough times hit and suddenly families that were living the powerful dream of home ownership find themselves struggling to make ends meet and overwhelmed by a mortgage they can no longer afford.  For some anxious homeowners, fear, stress and shame have kept them from reaching out and finding out the very real options available to help them once again sleep easy and find peace of mind.  If this sounds like you or someone you know - please take a look at the real truth behind five of the most common short sale and foreclosure misconceptions. I'm all alone in this.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Our shiftin... 07/03/2013

Five Ways It Could Cost You Plenty,     By Waiting To Put Your Property On The Market. Interest Rates.  Over history, interest rates have fluctuated up and down.  No one can guarantee that interest rates will not go up again.  Currently, we know what the rates are.  If rates increase, buyers are knocked out of the marketplace.  With fewer buyers in the marketplace, the chances of finding a buyer willing to pay your price decreases.  You can't predict what's going to happen with interest rates.  Nobody can.  There is an advantage to dealing with a known set of circumstances. New Property Could Cost More.  If you're buying a new property that's more expensive, you could cost yourself plenty.  For example, let's say you're selling a $100,000 property and looking to buy a $150,000 property.... 07/02/2013

Pitfalls of Overpricing Your Home Timing is everything:   Very often a seller asks, "We can always come dow later - right?"  Historically when your Tradition, FL house goes on the market, the greatest potential for buyer traffic is in the first 30 days.  By pricing it high with the intention of dropping the price later, you completely bypass you best buyer candidates.   Showings shut out:  Agents have an obligation to do what is best for their clients.  Clearly, showing overpriced listings does not fall into those criteria.  With inventory high, agents will always choose to show properties that are within their buyer's price range and that meet the current 34987 Fair Market Value.   Benefits the competition:  Unfortunately, when a home is overpriced, it not only sits on the market but a... 07/01/2013