I am looking for a great deal in St. Petersburg but I don't want a Short Sale.
This is something I hear from about 50% of my buyers. No, do not show my regular listings, I am only interested in Short sales or Per Foreclosure properties, that is what the other half says. I hardly ever run into a buyer that says "I don't care" Why are people so dead set on one or the other? There are a lot of horror stories about Short Sales and Pre Foreclosure properties and there is a misconception that "regular "listing are all overpriced. None of the above is true. Sure, closing a Short Sale can be challenging but with the right Real Estate agent on your site you will know right from the start what you get into and you will be prepared. Every Short sale I have closed was a great deal and it was worth the time and some trouble to get it done. But then again, there is nothing wrong with buying a "regular" property and most of them are not overpriced anymore. In this kind of market the sellers have to compete with the distressed properties in the area and prices have gone down for EVERY home or condo.
So,is it better to buy a Short Sale or a "regular" sale?
Well, it all depends on YOU, the buyer. If you need to close within a few weeks, most Short Sales (unless it is a pre approved Short Sale) won't work for you because they take longer to close.
If you need to buy in a specific neighborhood, you might have to go with a regular sale because a Short Sale might not be available. The point I am trying to make is that there are great deals in our St. Petersburg area, some of them are Short Sales others are bank owned and other are regular sales. Keep an open mind, look at everything, and don't restrict yourself because you do or don't want to buy a Short sale property.
I am looking for a great deal in St. Petersburg but I don't want a Short Sale.
If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Tampabay Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.
We also work with short sale, bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us. 727 409 8706
I just have to write this. A few days ago we closed on a property in St. Pete for a client of mine and at closing when we talked about the little obstacles we run into during the process, my buyer said "I always thought it was easy to be a Realtor, I had no idea what you have to deal with" Ever since that conversation this sentence is stuck in my mind.
I have a lot of buyers from Canada or somewhere up north and most of them are looking for direct Gulf front condos or homes. Buyers find a lot of real estate listing for sale on the internet and sometimes the description can be confusing and you cannot figure out "Is it direct Gulf front or across the street"?
As always, Real Estate Short Sales can be difficult, it depends on a lot of things but I have to say this one with Citibank was painless. We listed a Short Sale property here in Saint Petersburg Tampabay on 8/5/09 had some problems with showings because of renters but managed to get an offer on it beginning of September. BPO was done end of September, bank countered the offer buyer did not accept the counter, property went back on the market the second week of September. We got another offer on this Short Sale the first week of October Citibank accepted it the first week of November and we got a clear to close and Citibank is forgiving the significant difference between mortgage amount and sale price. So, Short Sale in St. Petersburg Tampabay, start to finish in 3 month with Citibank.
A lot of people that want to buy in our area are from out of town, out of state even out of the country. The buyers typically start their search on the internet. Not knowing our neighborhood they might type in Pinellas County, Saint Petersburg or Tampabay. Well, our little Peninsula has a lot of different areas where you can find waterfront properties. In this post I will try to break it down for you so you can do a more specific search. When it comes to buying or selling or for that matter living in Saint Petersburg we (the locals) separate St. Petersburg into "The beaches" meaning the west of Pinellas County and "The Bay" meaning the East. We also have "Central Ave" which further divides Saint Petersburg into North and South. If you ask the question "Where do you live?" people will say "On the beaches, meaning the Island of St. Pete Beach or Treasure Island or Madeira Beach or Redington Shores or North Redington Beach or Indian Rocks Beach Bell Air or Indian Shores. If someone says "I live on THE Island you know he means Tierra Verde. All these little Islands - towns are on the Gulf of Mexico and it doesn't matter which waterfront property you buy, you will never be more than a mile or two from the beach
When we go to the other side of town, places like North East St. Pete, South East Saint Petersburg, Pinellas Point, Maximo, Coquina key, Tanglewood, Caya Costa, Downtown Saint Petersburg etc. you will also find gorgeous waterfront properties for sale but you will be at least 20 minutes away from the sandy beaches. Due to the unique location of Pinellas County which is right in-between the Gulf of Mexico and Tampabay our waterfront properties are all different and have different things to offer. If you buy your home or condo right on the Gulf of Mexico, you have a beautiful sunset right in your backyard every day but you cannot have a boat. If you buy waterfront property on the Intracoastal Waterway, you can have a boat but might have to drive a mile or two to see the sunset. Buying waterfront property on Tampabay, the east site of Saint Petersburg, you will have a long drive to see the sunset and due to a lot of sand bars you might and might not be able to have a boat. My point is that you if you find your waterfront dream home on the internet check out Google earth or look at a map. Waterfront property here in the Saint Petersburg area can be different from one block to the next.