In spite of all the news about a housing slump in the Bradenton - Sarasota, Florida market our team is busy. We have executed 21 contracts on our listings and with buyers since the beginning of the year. That’s quite amazing.How do we do it?

When working with sellers, we help them….
1. Price their home right
2. Give them tips for preparing the home for sale
3. Create a specific marketing strategy for their home
4. Employ our negotiating skills
5. Utilize our superb systems to achieve a smooth closing

When working with buyers, we help them….
1. By understanding their needs and just what their perfect home would be like
2. Narrow down their search from 100’s of homes to the few that fits them perfectly
3. Help them understand their financing options
4. Employ our negotiating skills
5. Utilize our superb systems to achieve a smooth closing

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Bradenton Real Estate

I’m Dan Forbes and I want to be your Realtor and resource for all your Bradenton real estate needs.

Last week under a plan proposed by House Republican leaders “Florida voters would be able to abolish property taxes on primary homes and put caps on government revenues in exchange for adopting the nation’s highest statewide sales tax.”

A second part of the proposal is designed to reduce taxes by an average of nearly 20 percent for all property owners, although most of those savings would go to businesses. It would not require voter approval but could go into effect sooner.

“House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Miami, said a proposed constitutional amendment that would raise the statewide sales tax by 2.5 percentage points – from 6 percent to 8.5 percent – could go on the ballot later this year or at the 2008 general election….”

Our legislature is trying to find solutions to rising property taxes and rising insurance rates. We have seen quite a few Sarasota - Bradenton residents leave town for other less costly states. We are hopeful some workable solution is found soon.

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Bradenton Real Estate

3 Keys to Investing Success - CD

This CD contains the material shared in our 2 hour investor workshop:

Three Keys to Investing Success:
· How to find motivated sellers
· How to determine market value
· How to evaluate deals

This two hour workshop is led by Dan Forbes, president and co-owner of Premier Team Inc., along with his partner Marie Avery. Dan is a Certified Residential Specialist, a Graduate of the Realtor Institute, holds a masters degree, and is founder of the Bradenton Real Estate Club. He is a practicing real estate broker, Realtor, and investor in Bradenton, Florida. Dan has served as President of the Manatee Association of Realtors, Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee, and an Ethics Instructor. He was named Realtor of the Year in 2005. Premier Team was named Small Business of the Year by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce in 2002.

The workshop includes a fast-paced powerpoint presentation loaded with practical advice to help the novice to intermediate real estate investor.

What you will learn:
° How to know a motivated seller from all the others
° 14 types of motivated sellers and how to find them
° Why you need to look for problems instead of looking for properties
° 30 ways to find motivated sellers
° A telephone prospecting script that works
° Simple ways to determine the market value of a house
° How to get experts to give you useful advice for free
° How to determine if a deal is good or not
° 7 principles you absolutely must follow when making deals
° How to avoid the alligator and attract the cash cow
° Using a Buy, Fix-up, and Sell Worksheet
° Using a Buy and Hold Worksheet
° How to make a good deal even better

The CD contains the following documents:

1. The entire 58 Slide Power Point Presentation (PDF)

2. The telephone prospecting script for qualifying the seller and discovering their motivation (Word and PDF)

3. How to prepare you own CMA. A Comparative Market Analysis Worksheet with a step by step demonstration of using the property appraiser’s website (Word and PDF)

4. Preparing a Comparative Market Analysis (Article in Word and PDF)

5. The Buy and Sell Worksheet. Just plug your numbers in and the worksheet generates what your offer should be (Excel and PDF)

6. The Buy and Hold Worksheet. Just plug your numbers in and the worksheet calculates your cash flow based on your offer price (Excel and PDF)

Cost: $20.00

Please order through our website:

http://bradentonrealestateclub.com/Products.htm

I’m Dan Forbes and I want to be your Realtor and resource for all your Bradenton real estate needs.

In a market where selling a home can be a challenge many sellers are thinking about renting their house out. Does that make sense? For some the answer is, yes. For others, there are several factors to consider.

1. Do you need the proceeds from the sale of the home? If you are buying another home can you qualify for the mortgage without selling your existing home. Remember, lenders usually only count about 75 percent of the rental income toward your ratios. Talk to your lender before making the decision to rent out the home.

2. Will the rent cover your expenses? Add up the cost of your mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and property management fees to determine if the rent will cover these expenses. If not, you’ll have a negative cash flow each flow. Don’t forget the cost of advertising, and vacancies as well.

3. How will it affect your taxes? If the home has been your primary residence for two out of the last five years you qualify for a capital gains exclusion of up to $500,000 (if married). If you rent the home out for a year or more, be aware of how it affects your tax situation.

4. Are you prepared to be a landlord? If you manage the property yourself, be sure that you’re prepared to be a landlord and to deal with tenants. Also, be aware that tenants rarely take as good of care of the home as you did. At the end of the rental period you may need to replace carpets, paint, and do other fix-ups.

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Bradenton Real Estate

Sellers who refuse to make minor repairs are likely to pay dearly for their stubbornness, says Sid Davis, author of the new book Home Makeovers That Sell (AMACOM, 2007).

Here are some of Davis’ suggestions for sellers who want to get the most out of the deal.

Start with the kitchen; it’s the most important room in the house for most buyers. Refacing the cabinets or sanding them and painting them white is often a worthwhile undertaking. If the flooring is in poor condition, replace that too.

Update the bath. While paint and flooring help here too, sellers may find spending $200 to replace the mirror and vanity set will net them the greatest payoff.

Clean the laundry room. Hire a carpenter to install built-in shelving and repaint and replace worn flooring. Upgrade the light fixtures.

Scrub, scrub, scrub. Squeaky clean wows buyers, Davis says. “If people think [a home] is super neat, they’ll give [the seller] the benefit of the doubt. If it’s dirty, they’ll assume it’s ridden with hidden defects,” he says.

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Bradenton Real Estate