Foreclosures are in the forefront of the news and are taking their toll on the regular homeowner market as well as affecting complete neighborhoods. Properties that are not short-selling and go out to foreclosure will most certainly affect property values in the neighborhood where that foreclosure took place. Naturally the more foreclosed properties in a particular neighborhood, the more pressure on the downward pricing.

With the banks and lending institutions not wanting to be in the real estate business, they will dispose of the foreclosed properties by selling them for substantial losses, which will help to further depress an already depressed market. Those selling prices will now become the new benchmarks for appraisals, dragging the market prices down even further.

Across the country, foreclosures were up some 58% just in the first half of 2007. Projections are that there could be well over 2,000,000 filings prior to the end of the year. The states currently with the highest amount of filings are Florida, California, Ohio and Texas. What is driving the foreclosure market are the huge amount of borrowers with sub-prime loans, along with those with adjustable rate mortgages now adjusting. Last week Countrywide, one of the nation’s largest lenders, announced that some of their low risk borrowers were having trouble making their mortgage payments, which is not good news.

Some analysts feel that despite the downward pressure created by the general cooling off of the market, as well as the foreclosures, will, in the long run, help the markets that were overpriced. The philosophy is that it will help to speed up the healing process.

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I have talked often about the virtues of investing in Panama Real Estate with vigor and enthusiasm, because after just one visit, you’re hooked for life. There are just so many things that attract people from the world over to this small but diverse country. There is so much to do and see, that it can boggle the mind. You can visit lush rain forests, see desert areas of the country, explore wonderful national parks, climb mountains, go rafting on raging rivers, trek to the black sand beaches of the Pacific, the menu is virtually endless.

Just a short drive from the capital, Panama City, you can find vast jungles with no roads, where Jaguars and Pumas roam free, see 940 documented bird species, and 105 species that are endangered, such as the Central American Tapir, as well as the Speckled Bear. Interestingly because of its size, you can be big game fishing and diving in the morning on the Carribean side of the country and be swimming in the Pacific Ocean in the afternoon. And no trip to Panama is complete without a dinner at the classy restaurant at the Miraflores Locks, where you can view the eighth wonder of the world, the Panama Canal.

The country is a haven for retiring Americans as well as Europeans, who cannot afford to fully retire in the United States. The cost of living is extremely inexpensive, compared to other parts of the globe. Taxes are moderate, with no real estate taxes on new construction for 20 years.

There are just so many interesting things to do in Panama, that you could literally write a book.

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Well its here! The long-awaited and project delayed $38 million over-pass at the intersection of Airport-Pulling Road and Golden gate Parkway opened at 6am this morning much to the delight of project managers and county officials. The over-pass was vehemently opposed by not only residents of the Grey Oaks and Bear’s Paw communities, but many Naples City residents as well.

The residents of the Grey Oaks and Bear’s Paw communities feared traffic noise, coupled with what they perceived as an unsightly eyesore monstrosity running in between the two developments on Golden Gate Parkway. The finished product certainly isn’t unsightly at all. As a matter of fact, the county seems to have taken great pains to make it as esthetically pleasing as possible, including brick pavers that cover the sides. As far as the traffic noise, that will most likely be determined during the upcoming season.

The great fear with Naples residents was that the traffic that clogged the intersection at Airport and Golden Gate Parkway for years would just be delivered to the intersection at Golden Gate Parkway and Goodlette-Frank Road faster. Again the real test will come in season, when the snowbirds get back into town. The other issue will be how much of that traffic will try to scoot down side roads through the residential areas, trying to avoid potential delays at that intersection.

I guess time will tell!

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I’ve always had this great fantasy of going to Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker, and not only playing but winning the grand prize of $8.25 million. Yeah…right fat chance! (And people think that we realtors are over paid!) But when you think about it, this year’s winner, Jerry Yang, (the same name and nearly the same age as the founder of Yahoo,) has only been playing poker for about two years. So maybe there is a chance…anyway it’s a great fantasy.

Can you imagine do this for a living, actually making money like some people, traveling the world and playing poker. What a great deal!

Yet when I really give it a lot of thought, I wonder if the stress is more or less that of a real estate agent, especially in today’s market. I have to confess, I’m not totally sure. I do know that to win a major poker tournament can set you for life, so maybe the stress isn’t that bad playing poker after all.

At any rate, imagine how surprised I was to get this photo of my friend Evan Obrentz a few weeks ago. (He sent it to me, along with a few friends.) So I send him back an email saying “great picture…too bad you weren’t at the World Series of Poker playing for the big money.” (I thought that this was some low-level game in a smoke-filled back room in Naples.

Well was I surprised to find out that this really was him at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Turns out that he won a free spot through playing online. He managed to make it through about 6 hours on the first day before he busted out. Now I’m hooked…maybe we’ll have to put the real estate game on the back burner. Just kidding!!!

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Sometimes we, as realtors, tend to forget about the cultural differences between us and the Europeans. For that matter we can forget the differences between us and the rest of the world many times as well. From a financial standpoint, it can cost us dearly if we don’t pay attention.

Case in point…I recently worked some potential buyers from Sweden who now feel ready to buy, after renting from us for several years. My assumption was that because we had somewhat of a relationship (actually I thought that it was a good one,) because of the rental aspect over the years, that they would be loyal to me. (Potentially a huge mistake!) The second big mistake was that they understood that I am a full-service realtor.

You see in Sweden the only function of the realtor is to sell someone a property, they do not normally assist with the banking or much of anything else. In England, it is much the same. Realtors in England have their own listings, but do not represent other realtor listings, like we do here in the United States. So in many areas of Europe, buyers are used to dealing with multiple realtors before they make a purchase and there is no real sense of loyalty.

My Swedish buyers were rather stunned to hear that I handled everything, (from soup to nuts,) the contract negotiation, help with financing, should they need it, being the lea-son for the closing, as well all all the other work and follow-up that we as realtors do. They were pleasantly surprised, because in their country, the whole process is handled entirely differently.

The bottom line is that had I continued to make general assumptions about these clients, I very well could have lost a sale because they felt no need for a sense of loyalty. Instead I coached them fully on what I do as a full-service realtor and now they are mine for life!

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The Naples, Florida market remains firmly in the hands of the grasp of the ‘summer doldrums’, with sales taking place, but mostly in the upper end ($3,000,000 +) of single family homes and condos. Inventory levels remain extremely high, and that inventory needs to be re significantly reduced so that we can get toward a more balanced market.

One of the keys to reducing inventory is to get the massive amount of over-priced homes off the market. Unfortunately, there is an abundance of over-zealous realtors who have the sellers convinced that the market lives in 2004 – 2005. Coupled with that, there are also a myriad of home sellers who are also living in that bygone era. These two factors help to make up a lot of the inventory, and again, it needs to go away, and by go away, I mean that it needs to be taken off the market.

The good news is two fold. Number one and foremost, Naples is and will most likely always be a world-class destination. Despite the down market, it remains a place where people want to have a primary or secondary home. Secondly, with the strength of the Euro versus the US dollar, many people overseas see Naples as a bargain, where the American buyer might be a bit ambivalent about purchasing.

My forecast for the next year is a rather flat market, but despite that, I feel that we have hit bottom. Certainly once the general public realizes that, the market will again gain strength the increased sales. 

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If you have ever spent any time around the Southwest Florida area and have been to a hockey game at Germain Arena to watch the Florida Everblades, you know the name Reggie Berg. Reggie Berg hung up his skates today, announcing his retirement.

As an off-ice official for the ECHL, the premier AA professional hockey league, I had the pleasure of watching Reggie play over a seven year span. The Everblades all-time leading scorer and captain was one of the most unselfish hockey players that I have ever seen play the game. Often playing hurt, he still managed to be a factor on the ice, scoring critical goals when the team needed them the most. As irony would have it, his last career game was in this year’s first round playoffs away from home in Texas against the Texas Wildcatters. In that fourth game loss, playing with a sports hernia which had aggravated him all season long, Reggie scored the Everblades first goal of the game.

Today Reggie said, “I’ll always miss the game, and I don’t think that will ever go away, but I think now is probably the right time to step away,” Berg said. “I’ve given it all I had for a long time now and I just think it’s the right thing to do, to step back and maybe let the organization go in a different direction, and it’s time for me to put my family first.”

“I’ve known Craig (Brush, Everblades General Manager) since I was 16 years old and he’s always treated me like gold,” Berg said. “I’ve always had a lot of respect for him and a lot of gratitude for what he’s done for me and my family in terms of allowing me to play out my career with one team; when you look at minor league sports that’s pretty rare.”

“What I’m most proud of is just the fact that I think I gave a great effort every night I was out there, played through some injuries until I couldn’t any longer, and another thing is that as long as I was there I kept my nose clean away from the rink. Of course I would have liked to have won a championship, and we had a couple of good runs, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Reggie certainly will miss the game, but the Everblades fans will miss him even more!

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How quickly the market can turn! Several years ago here in Naples, Florida, when the norm was over bidding on properties, (and even then you weren’t assured of getting them,) to now when builders and homeowners alike are doing anything to get their properties sold. How many BMWs can they give away and how much bonus money can be attached to successful contracts has now become the new norm.

Along with all the hoopla is the sheer fact that there are now more foreclosures than ever, primarily because of all the greed from the good old days and the properties that both large and small investors are stuck with that didn’t turn. Most of those investments were done with negative amortization mortgages, and now it is time to pay the piper and there is no income to do it.

The sad thing is, in my estimation, that many an unsuspecting (as well as uneducated) individual person got caught up in the fray. Some were duped into purchases by shady realtors who projected a non-stop rising market and got caught. Those are the people who haven’t the where withal to sustain their purchases and are now allowing them to go to foreclosure, because they have no other alternative.

Again, short sales (a term that we knew little about and was virtually unheard of) have now become the norm. The one good thing in a short sale is that if the lending institution is willing to go along with it, it does stave off foreclosure, but still does not mean that the individual or company is not responsible for that deficit.

It’s a wild real estate market that now we play in, and liable to be for some time to come!

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