The new law pertaining to the Florida Homestead Exemption increases the exemption $50,000. The law states that every person with legal title to a residential property, can show that this is their primary residence and does not currently have a homestead exemption, is is now entitled to and qualifies for the exemption. The key is that the applicant must be able to show that he or she is a legal Florida resident on January 1st of the the initial application year.

If you are a current resident already receiving a homestead exemption, it is not necessary to re-apply for the additional amount exempted. It will be automatically added to your current exemption. The deadline for a new filing is March 1^st of the qualifying year. Normally you can make application either in person or by mail. (Naturally mail applications for this year are too late, however, you could still fill in person.)

In order to file you will need a copy of your deed or tax receipt, as well proof of residency. That proof could could be a voter registration card, your driver’s license, vehicle registration or any other form of a permanent residency card. Information can be found on the Collier County Appraiser’s web site at: www.collierappraiser.com or you can also go to www.colliertax.com.

If you are going to transfer the exemption difference to another permanent residence within the State of Florida, you have until March 3^rd to file for that transfer.

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I am totally amazed about the amount of Canadians that having been opting in to my web site during the past month or so, and even more amazed about the number scheduling trips to Naples and actually writing contracts to purchase. When I look at Google Analytics for the web site, I’m shocked to see that the site has reversed the former trend of more hits from Europe than Canada.

For years Naples has been a destination for Canadians to rent, more especially in ‘high season’ certainly because of the cold weather at that time of year. They have been coming in droves this year with their Canadian dollar now almost on par with the U.S. dollar, making greater Naples real estate a real bargain for them.

What I find even more interesting, since I always kiddingly accuse my Canadian friends of being cheap, (actually they call themselves frugal,) is the fact the many have been purchasing vacation homes in the upper end of the spectrum. You would normally think that because, in many cases these are just that, vacation homes, that they would be more interested in smaller condos. Not necessarily so though, in a lot of cases, their interest is in the upper and single family homes with land.

Whatever the reason is that they are here buying, we welcome them with open arms, because they, along with others, are helping to stimulate the down real estate market!

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More and more buyers seem to be popping up out of the woodwork and one wonders what the real motivation is. Is it just that seasonal push or is there something else behind it? 

It may well be a combination of things, not the least of which is the modest rise in the mortgage interest rates, (the average rate for a 30–year fixed-rate mortgage shot up 32 basis points in just the past week, rising from 5.72% to 6.04%.) After trending up the past two weeks, long-term fixed mortgage interest rates are now where they were at the beginning of the year.

It also could be the fact that buyers have finally come to the conclusion that we are indeed at the bottom of the trough of the real estate market and they worry that the exceptional values in the inventory will evaporate, unless they take action now. To be sure there will be a strong inventory throughout the summer and into next year, but many of the great deals will be gone.

Whatever the reason is, after the lag the past year or so, it is great to see the enthusiasm back and we hope that it continues far beyond the ‘high season’. We have to remember and promote the fact that real estate remains the top investment vehicle!

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The buzz words today with real estate buyers coming to the greater Naples area seem to be ‘short sale’ or ‘foreclosure’. Everyone is looking to get in on what is perceived to be a very hot segment of the market, and in actuality, it is.

Having been on both sides of quite a few short sales and foreclosures, I can tell you that it is not easy to bring the transaction to a close. In one instance where I had the short sale listing, it took nearly five months before the lending institution made a decision about whether to take the offer and bring the transaction to a successful conclusion. The interesting thing was that the homeowner was a lawyer and knew who to deal with at her lender.

I suspect that the inherent problem is that it can take that long because the offer is passed from desk to desk of people who are totally incapable of making that final decision as to whether to take the offer or reject it. By the time it does finally get to the potential decision-maker, it can take a substantial amount of time and one of the key elements is that a buyer has been effectively taken out the market with no guarantee that he or she will eventually get the property.

With regard to foreclosures, my belief is that the average buyers do not stand a chance of going up against all the professional groups that show up on the courthouse steps and should a buyer happen to win that property, they most likely paid too much money for it anyway.

I’m coaching buyers to totally avoid looking and bidding on short sales and foreclosures. There is so much value in our market now that a buyer can find something to fit their needs without having to go through all the confusion messing with short sales.

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