Blog Northwest Florida

Every now and then you just want to share some photos.This is one of those Nows!

As I sit in my real estate office and look out at the gorgeous Gulf of Mexico in that beautiful fall light - emerald green waves lapping up against the sugar white sands I'M DAZZLED! And I get to see this every day! I can just imagine how it must look to those who are currently bundled up against the cold.

So here are some recent photos:

An October camp out on Pensacola Beach. We played frisbee, water skiied and hunted shells all afternoon. Once the sun went down we roasted marshmellows and told spooky stories.

What a treat!

      Happy Campers arrived by Boat

                 Maggie and her marshmellows!

          The sailboats line up on Quietwater Beach

            Colorful Beach and Pool Floats line the Streets!

Today there are 368 homes, townhomes and condos for sale on Pensacola Beach. Prices range from $165,000 to over $2 million. I'll be happy to help you find just the right property to start making your beach memories!

To read related blog: Ugly Market . . . Best Time to Buy Click Here

For related blog: Jubilee . . . Remembering Old Florida Click Here

Everybody LOVES the beach! And when we are talking about Pensacola Beach, what's not to love?

We are blessed with sugar white sands and emerald green waters to rival anything you will find in the Bahamas, we are a "low traffic" area and we have - among other things - the Blue Angels!

As a Realtor whose office is located on the beach, I spend a good amount of time looking out my office window . . . AND selling beach properties. We have seen a lot of changes in our beach market over that last few years.

We watched our prices run up dramatically from 2002 to 2006, and we have watched them move down - albiet not as quickly as they moved up - since 2006.

While we are on track to sell about the same number of beach properties as were sold in '06 and '07, our average sales price has come down over 10% from the '06 average sales price.

So what's really happening with our real estate market? Let's take a look at the numbers:

For an article on the Emerald Dolphin on Pensacola Beach Click Here.

For more specifics on the Pensacola Beach real estate market, give me a call at 850-516-8185. Or better yet, kick your shoes off and come visit me at the beach!

Since my real estate office is on Pensacola Beach flood insurance is always a "Hot" topic with my real estate clients. Who should buy flood insurance? What does it cost? What is a specila flood hazard area? These are crucial questions when looking at purchasing on or near the water.

Flood insurance is a MUST PURCHASE if you live in a special flood hazard area. According to the Santa Rosa Island Authority Pensacola Beach had 3,349 flood policies in force as of June 2008.

Flood insurance is provided through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which is federally backed and available to everyone, even those who don't live in a special flood hazard area. Flood insurance is always a separate policy from your homeowners insurance policy, so don't get into the mindset that you have homeowner's insurance so you are covered for flood . . . this just isn't the case.

In my real estate market area, Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, we saw hurricanes in both 2004 and 2005 which resulted in flood insurance claims. Unfortunately, many homeowners - and those with second homes on the beach - were not covered for flood damage. Don't let yourself be caught by surprise like this! When arranging for a home sale I - and my team - always make sure our real estate clients are aware of the necessity for appropriate coverage.

Should you have any questions about flood zone determination on Pensacola Beach, or in other areas of Escambia or Santa Rosa counties, feel free to call me at 850-516-8185.

Click Here for an article on Pensacola Beach improvement plans

I'm so proud of our Pensacola Bay Area Coldwell Banker United Realtors who fielded a team and turned out EARLY Saturday morning to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research!

Our team joined others in Pensacola - over 5,000 strong - in a sponsored walk that raised over $165,000 in just one day. The Pensacola area Coldwell Banker United Realtors were able to raise more than $3000 in donations.

In addition to Coldwell Banker United Realtors from our Pensacola Beach office, Ruthie Johnson, Jessica Schnell, Kelli Malone and Bobbi Blades, Realtors from several other Pensacola offices participated in the event.

The walk started at Cordova Mall with a kick off celebration and the award ceremonies were conducted at University Mall. The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is an annual event sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

My SUPER team of Northwest Florida Realtors just sold a $500,000+ home in less than three months in a market where the average(read - less expensive) home is selling in 5.5 months. How did we do it? By following some tried and true rules of the real estate trade:

#1 Price it Right! This home had been handled by two other real estate groups and been on the market for over a year when we took the listing. Do you think the house was priced right from the beginning? Of course not. And as our market slowed and prices dropped the seller did not drop the price of this home to match . . . a condition we call "chasing the market." By providing the seller with up-to-date, accurate comps we were able to convince them of the appropriate price range to attract a buyer in the current market.

Here are a few other suggestions for selling your home quickly - ones that we always employ - provided by William Bronchick and Ray Cooper, authors of How to Sell a House Fast in a Slow Real Estate Market (2008: John A. Wiley & Sons).

Have Information Available - Buyers need their questions answered, and answered in a timely manner. You need all the key information at your fingertips. Wat are the local taxes? Do you have utility records? Are their covenants and restrictions in the neighborhood? These are only a few of the important questions that buyers want answered.

Market to the Neighbors - They already know and - presumably - love the neighborhood. Give them a chance to be an ambassador for your listing.

Make Sure the Seller Understands the First Offer Rule - And old real estate maxim: the first offer is usually the best offer - is one I've seen born out time and again. The first person to make an offer on the house is likely someone who has been watching the neighborhood for a home. Even though the offer may be low, we always encourage our clients to come back with a counter-offer.

For similar Real Estate Articles - particularly on the Greater Pensacola Bay Area - Click Here

Woo Hoo and Yippee for Me and My Dedicated Team! Not usually one to run around and "Toot My Own Horn," I just have to share this news. The Robin Sherman Realtor team was one of the top 10 Coldwell Banker real estate teams in Florida for the second quarter 2008. Yes, that's right . . . little 'ole us from Pensacola . . . Robin Sherman, Ruthie Johnson and Harriett Gilbreath!

How'd we garner this real estate distinction you ask. By working hard, respecting our clients and delivering what they want elegantly and efficiently. But what - exactly - did we do? We listed more properties and sold more properties in the second quarter of this year than all but 9 other Coldwell Banker teams in the state. And who knows . . . they didn't give us our number ranking so . . . suppose we were number one? Say it could be so!!!

Now, before I let my dreams of jetting off for talk show interviews take over I'll come back down to earth to share something important that this distinction proves: REAL ESTATE IS SELLING! If homes are priced right there are buyers waiting to buy them.

Look for more good things from my team in the future as we are constantly looking for GREAT ways to serve our clients' real estate needs. We have a SUPER new home search website that you can access by Clicking Here.

We're pretty darn proud of our track record and we thank you - dear clients, each and every one - for helping us climb these heights!

How lucky am I? VERY, VERY lucky! Being an active real estate agent in these trying times, I try to remind myself every day of the many ways I count myself lucky!

So here's number one for today: I have tagged along on one of my husband's business trips to Lake Tahoe. Doesn't get much more lucky than that, but what - dear reader- you ask does that have to do with real estate and affordable housing in Pensacola? Well, absolutely everything!

Do you have any idea just how lucky I am to be a real estate agent in an area where housing truly is AFFORDABLE? In today's trying economic climate it makes the difference between making a home sale - and bringing home a paycheck - and looking for other employment opportunities until the housing market turns around. 

So number two for today: I live and work in an area - the Greater Pensacola Bay Area - of AMAZINGLY AFFORDABLE housing.

I had the good fortune (luck again) to meet a young couple in the hot tub at our hotel here in Lake Tahoe. They live just south of San Francisco and were telling me that when they bought their home almost two years ago they were fortunate to pay only - ONLY - $590,000. Did I mention this was a young couple? Perhaps in their early thirties? They were bemoaning the fact that when they bought the home they thought they were lucky (fortune again) to pay less than $600,000, in a neighborhood where most of the homes were selling in the mid $600,000s. Today there are several foreclosures in their neighborhood of approximately 150 single family homes, and while they realize their home has lost value, they estimate it would still sell in the mid $500,000s today.

So, what is the average sales price for a single family home in the Pensacola area? From October 21, 2007, to today, the average sales price comes in at $177,750. I don't discount the importance of wages in the area and certainly Pensacola can not compete salary-wise with northern California, but WOW what an affordable housing market Pensacola really has!

Want to know more about home values in Pensacola? Click Hereto visit my blog at Active Rain. 

I was fortunate enough to hear local economist Al Muller's latest update on the Pensacola Bay Area housing market at a Coldwell Banker United Realtorsmeeting at Pensacola Junior College yesterday. As always with Al, I had several "Ah Ha" moments, but one of my big take-aways was his rundown on the  "Demand Factors" that impact housing.

Al pointed out that - get this - the drop in gas prices from $4 a gallon to $3 a gallon is the equivalent of the recently initiated $150 billion economic stimulus package where checks were sent to all American households this spring. The difference is, the economic stimulus package provided by the drop in gasoline prices is not a one time stimulus, but and ongoing MONTHLY stimulus. When Americans found themselves putting an extra $200 a month into their gas tanks something had to give. Unfortunately for some, this took a toll on their ability to pay their mortgage.

Some of the other demand factors for housing that Al noted have moved - or are moving - in a positive direction are food and energy prices, high property taxes, the credit crunch and declining home prices. As housing prices decline, the federal government takes action designed to get credit flowing again and local jurisdictions come under increased pressure to lower property taxes people begin to see opportunities for home ownership once again. And guess what . . . with so many potential buyers sitting on the sidelines for the past two years there is definitely a pent up demand for home purchases.

Pensacola's Downtown Improvement Board just had their annual meeting and the keynote speaker, Leland R. Speed, told attendees that Pensacola's small town charm and big city amenities position it particularly well to take advantage of the next major demographic trend: movement from large cities to small cities with high quality of life.

Speed, the former executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, pointed out that Pensacola's waterfront is vital to the city's economic success.

"When I look at what you have here, I salivate," said Speed. He told the audience that the opportunities the downtown waterfront and properties afford the area are truly unique in his experience. Speed mentioned the physical assests including historic buildings and waterfront and waterview land that is available for development.  

Some positive growth numbers for downtown businesses were also presented at the meeting. A recent survey showed that downtown Pensacola is home to 578 individual businesses with at least one employee and that the number of workers in downtown Pensacola is just lest than 10,000, a net gain of 831 workers since January of 2005.

Given the constant barrage of bad economic news, who would guess that little 'ole Pensacola, Florida, has the third highest job growth rate in the state. Or even more unbelievable, that Pensacola's five years of job growth put it in place number 29 for the nation. As Carlton Proctor pointed out in a Pensacola News Journal article today, nearby Mobile, AL, only ranted in the 125th place and powerhouse Atlanta rated number 59.

These numbers come from a study by the privately funded Milken Institute. The study pointed out that Pensacola's overall ranking, including one-year and five-year growth rates, put it in the 33rd place in the nation.

So we hear enough of what Pensacola is doing wrong, what is the city doing right? Surely something to garner such good job growth rankings. Many point to the growth of small high tech firms who find the Pensacola Bay Area's proximity to area military installations- NAS Pensacola, Hurlburt AFB, Eglin AFB and their associated defense industry contractors - as one of the drivers of this job growth. The Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce has worked hard to promote both tourism and job growth and should be lauded for innovative economic development efforts like I-10 Wired, an outreach and networking initiative to help small high tech firms connect.

But our affordable housing, award winning schools and good quality of life are also responsible. So, let's resist jumping on the negative bandwagon and look around at what is really going on in Northwest Florida!