Real Estate is NOT a national market. IT IS MADE UP OF MANY LOCAL MARKETS. AND THERE ARE ALWAYS GEOGRPAHIC AREAS OF STRENGTH AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ASTUTE INVESTORS.  (for example, even when the stock market goes down, there are plenty of stocks going up!)

1)  The MAJOR HOME BUILDERS STOCK IS GOING BACK UP.  Stocks normally lead the market by 6 months.   The stock market always corrects itself and housing related stocks like Home Depot and D.R. Horton and Toll Brothers are making the upward correction now.  They are always ahead of the curve.  These publicly traded companies are predicting the slump will end soon…. thus home-builders stocks are rising again. Moreover, the financial media are reporting that Wall Street brokerages are again raising billions for real estate investments.  THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW, ahead of the curve!

2)   Hurricanes will be over soon.  Consumers will be looking to make purchases. The real estate market will firm up.  BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, REAL ESTATE INVESTORS WILL BE SAYING “I MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY!”   SMART INVESTORS are buying quietly, NOW. 

3)   Broward County has approximately $5 BILLION being invested in COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS…. not including the 160+/- acre UPSCALE MALL and HOSPITAL EXPANSIONS.   MAJOR PROJECTS, INCLUDING THE GAMBLING CASINOS will bring in new sources of steady payroll income and needs for places to live.  REAL ESTATE INVESTORS need to pay attention and TAKE ACTION NOW.

4)  DAVIE (near NOVA) is perfectly located for astute investors to BUY NOW.  (Nova University is COMMERCIALLY developing approximately 360 Acres, and Davie is sandwiched between high density areas that are almost completely filled up!)  Davie residential values will have general upward market pressures that exceed other areas.  Some areas in Homestead and Port St. Lucie are showing strength. Another area that has a lot of inventory, but should turn fast is Wellington.  Widely known for its polo sports enthusiasts, Wellington homes sell well during equestrian season.  Hurricane Wilma damaged many polo fields and stadiums last season reducing the influx of visitors and home-buyers.  This year however polo season should be back in full swing and thus absorb much of the surplus, making Wellington attractive NOW.

5)  76,000,000 (that’s 76 MILLION) people will reach Baby-Boomer age during the next 10 years, get sick of shoveling snow and paying heating bills.  These people will likely move SOUTH.  Conservatively, if you figure 20% (it will probably be 30%) that will MOVE TO FLORIDA, you have DOUBLED THE CURRENT POPULATION OF OUR STATE.  NO WONDER THE STATE IS EXPANDING ROUTE 75 AND PLANNING TO EXPAND 595.  NO WONDER THE AIRPORTS ARE ADDING RUNWAYS.  The time for astute investors to BUY is NOW.

FLORIDA has a TREASURE CHEST of people who BELIEVE in REAL ESTATE and HAVE MONEY TO INVEST.   They have actively participated in the historical growth of real estate values and they are pausing on the side-lines waiting for these early indications.  IT IS MY OBLIGATION AND MISSION AS REAL-ESTATE AGENT TO LET MY INVESTORS KNOW THE TRUTH IN THE MARKET INDICATIONS.  (PS: Even the most negative predictions say “except Florida”)

That’s it. My rant is over.  I need to get on the phones!

Respectfully,
Courtney Silverman
Courtney Silverman, PA
Phone: 954-389-3459  ext 224

“For the past five years, the housing market has been a steadfast leader in the U.S. economy,” Thomas M. Stevens, president of NAR, told the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation and the Senate Subcommittee on Economic Policy. “After five years of outstanding growth, the housing market is undergoing a period of adjustment and becoming more and more of a balanced market between buyers and sellers,” said Stevens.

Stevens said that with the falling demand and increased supply, home prices still realized slight appreciation though it was less than 1 percent, where over the past few years homes were appreciating at double-digit rates. “While recent developments raise concern, it is important to remember that the housing market varies significantly across the country,” said Stevens.  States that experienced the greatest increases in home prices in recent years are experiencing significantly lower sales, such as Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada and Virginia.

Adjustments to the housing market are not unique and can often times be necessary, said Stevens. In addition to the rapid appreciation of years past, the rise in mortgage rates affects a homebuyer’s ability to finance and purchase a home. “Pressure is being felt in the housing market due to rising mortgage rates,” said Stevens. “With rising interest rates, homebuyers have become exhausted financially which explains why sales have tumbled in higher-priced regions of the country.”

NAR forecasts a drop in home sales of around 8 percent in 2006, followed by another 2 percent decline in 2007. These numbers are based on the stabilizing of mortgage rates and modest expansion of the economy. Also predicted is that home price growth will be minimal—less than 3 percent in 2006 and 2007. However, NAR warns that a significant shift in interest rates or a change in the economy would change this forecast. NAR notes that a soft landing is possible under the right circumstances and affordable mortgage financing is an important component in achieving this.

”Housing is the most interest-rate sensitive sector of the economy and we are seeing the effects now of both rising rates during the quarter as well as increases that came before.

Although the slow down in house-price appreciation has been quite sudden, there is still strength in the housing market. Single-family house sales are on track to make 2006 the third best year for home sales. Similarly, one-family housing starts averaged just a little under the record pace set in 2005. As the full impact of two years of rising short-term interest rates is felt in the economy, the slowdown in the housing market could become more abrupt over the next year.

As the market moves from one of unsustainably high appreciation where sellers have all the power to a buyer’s market we expect to see homes sit longer on the market, with sellers more willing to make non-price concessions. These concessions can take several different forms, such as repairs, conveyances, or contributions towards closing costs to attract buyers. The result is that the house prices we observe tend to be sticky on the downside.

The East South Central states showed the highest level of home-value appreciation in the U.S., with quarterly appreciation of 8.3 percent at an annualized rate during the second quarter, and nationally, home values increased 10.2 percent from the second quarter of 2005 through the second quarter of 2006, down from the 13.9 percent annual growth seen over the four quarters ended in June 2005″ said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist on 9/14/2006

So You Thought Your House Was Locked…

A large majority of locks that open with a key, called pin tumbler locks, have structural weaknesses built into them that can be exploited with picks and practice.  But a relatively new lockpicking technique known as “bumping” takes advantage of that weakness and requires no real understanding of how locks work.  “You don’t need expensive tools or anything,” says encryption expert Barry Wels, member of The Open Organization of Lockpickers (TOOOL).  “Any 15-year-old who’s motivated can learn how to do it in 15 minutes on the Internet.” 

Most locks can be bumped open with any key that fits that lock, but does not open it.  If, for example, you live in an apartment complex, chances are your key will fit into (but not open) the doors to other units in your building.  Similarly, if you open your mailbox with a key, your key will probably fit into other mailboxes not just in your building but on your block—even though postal locks are uniquely designed and protected under federal law. Wels demonstrated that by modifying the key, that key could be used as a universal “bump key” for any lock it will fit into.   To say nothing of breaking and entering, the bump key was made for identity theft.  “The U.S. Postal Service’s worst nightmare is Ted Kaczynski with a bump key.”

After talking to two locksmiths who had heard of bump keys, we found at least two high-security locks that resist bumping: Mul-T-Lock® and Medeco.  The Medeco/Mul-T-Lock® prices run from about $225 for a residential single bolt to more than $400 for double bolts, installed.  You may find that either may very well be worth the expense.  Other possible alternatives to standard locks include combo locks, electronic locks, and specialty locks (voice recognition, fingerprint, etc), but presently none are widely or inexpensively available for residential use.