Ramesh Nyberg's Real Estate Blog

I try to listen to my customers, and constantly re-configure my business to their most common needs.

Everyone is on the hunt for the great foreclosure deal. They are available in droves. But as I've said, over and over, to get them, you have to have someone on the lookout for you, and you have to move fast when you see killer value.

Part two of all this foreclosure-hunting business is the fact that most people--all of my customers, anyway--only want foreclosures in decent neighborhoods. They are either going to live there or be a landlord, and either way, they don't want the headache, fear, and uncertainty of owning property in a place that is crime-infested. I'm with them.

So, I re-configured my foreclosure listings, from about 60 properties down to 16 of the best I could find, in good neighborhoods. I'm avoiding the rest. Sure, if someone wants to see something in a crummy neighborhood, I will take them there, and I'll find, negotiate, and help them close on a foreclosure property in a war zone. I used to work in war zones, so no problem. (And by the way, a crummy neighborhood is something I will not define. The customer has to. Fair Housing Act ---have a beer with me some time and we'll have a few laughs over this document -- says I cannot.)

So go visit the "SWEET SIXTEEN" (click on the box that says Sweet Sixteen on my home page, or click on "Foreclosure Sales" to your left). Check them out. I will be updating them as often as possible, replacing them as they get sold, with new ones, etc.

Let me know what you think of the Sweet Sixteen, please.

And, don't forget the FREE SEMINAR on the 26th of February. Should be fun.

This is a crazy week--it's been very busy for me. I'm working with lots of buyers, seeing a ton of houses, and writing offers.

On top of that, I am closing on MY purchase this week as well, a 2/2 villa in Palmetto Bay that got priced so low I couldn't salivate any longer and made my move.

And... (as if I needed MORE to do) our seminar! I'm excited about this, the free real estate seminar I am doing with Brian Lewis and Joe Desanti from Circle Mortgage. This is happening on Thursday, February 26th, at 6:30pm, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 9100 N. Kendall Drive (right next door to Baptist Hospital), in Miami.

Make plans to come. It's only two hours, it's free, as are the sodas and coffee, and we are going to cover a lot of ground. Bring a friend or two, but if you register, it will assure you a spot. We have room for 50 attendees, and if it goes over that, the unregistered folks who come late will be turned away.

The market continues it's powerful upturn. Sales of single family homes in Miami-Dade went above 1000 for the first time in well over a year, and the inventory (unsold homes) dropped for the fourth straight month. This is outstanding. Yes, the foreclosure sub-market is fueling this activity, but the availability of low-interest and FHA mortgages is energizing buyers like we haven't seen in a while.
Case in point: the "Sweet Sixteen" on this website. I posted them as new active sales two weeks ago, and five of them are under contract. Forget the Herald, and CNN.. this is what's really happening. Make it to the seminar, will you please? and you'll hear and see more.

It's the age of information, right? With all the websites and technology, and with a professional Realtor on your side, you would think this whole process of buying and selling should be a walk in the park, right?

For a bunch of reasons, it hasn't been. Several possibilities come to mind, and one of them is the very fact that there are so many sources of information. How many places can you go to find the value of your home? Five? Ten? Twenty maybe?? I mean there's Zillow, Trulia, and a host of others. You can get dozens of different opinions on what's going on with condos, or single family homes, foreclosures, when we are going to "bottom out", and that's before you even get to the water cooler at work.

(here come the pitch that the National Association of Realtors should be paying me for): And then there's the simple act of picking up your phone and calling a Realtor who works and knows the neighborhood you want information on. She does the work, calls you, and in a live human voice, gives you the scoop. Then gives you all the things that cyberspace does not: options, ideas, and she listens. 
Did you know, by the way, that many of those "click here to get the value of your home" places actually direct you to Realtors, who have paid to receive leads from that site? Yes, some of you do.

Buying, too, is confusing the heck out of a lot of people. Short sales and foreclosures have created a landscape that has many people asking a whole new slew of questions: "What happens to my offer after we send it to the seller? How long will it take? How do I know I'll get my deposit back? How much should I offer? Will my lender finance a foreclosure that's missing appliances?"

So, I've collected a lot of the most commonly asked questions and concerns, and I'm putting together a free seminar at the end of this month. If you live in the Miami area, you need to attend. I'm teaming up with my friends from Circle Mortgage, and we'll cover everything from short sales to financing, to investment properties, whether its a good time to sell or not (you might be surprised at what we tell you!), and a lot more.

The seminar will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel, 9100 N. Kendall Drive, on Thursday, February 26th, 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Registration is free. If you want to come, RSVP at 786-205-1133, or send an email with your name and phone number to FreeRealEstateSeminar@gmail.com. We'll have tons of information, complimentary coffee and soft drinks, and a question and answer period at the end. Who is it for? Anyone who is considering buying, selling, refinancing, getting pre-approval, investing, or being a landlord or tenant.

Tell a friend... I'll hit the topic again in another blog as a reminder.