Renting Your Daytona Beach Vacation Home or Condo

It’s a very good time to buy a vacation home or condo in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Ponce Inlet. Prices remain low and there’s still a fairly large inventory. Many of my buyers are buying second or vacation properties. Some of these buyers are renting the properties out for a few years before they are ready to make the move.

I just found a good article at the Finance Blog, written by Ilyce Glink who is a nationally syndicated real estate author and writes for CBS Moneywatch. In Renting Your Vacation Property? Here are Nine Things You Need to Know, she lists the following 9 things to consider:

1. Get the word out.
2. Be visual.
3. Make your property appealing for travelers.
4. Anticipate your renters’ desires.
5. Price it right.
6. Describe your property in minute detail.
7. Write the right ads.
8. Respond to questions immediately.
9. Have a handle on the logistics.

I urge you to read the article for more detail, but the point is that it takes some work to rent and manage your property. There will be expenses, just like any other property. If you are living close to the property, you may want to handle renting and managing the property yourself, if you are out of town, you will probably need a property manager.

Property management firms vary in fees and services. You will need to shop around. As part of my full real estate services in Daytona Beach, I do offer property management services that are reasonable and reliable. I’ve been managing property for about seven years and have solid relationships will plumbers, lawn services, pool services and a very few select handymen. My large internet presence also makes renting properties easier.

However you go about, know that you are in a competitive situation with all the other similar properties. You need to be aggressive in marketing your home or condo and responsive to your renters.

Technorati Tags Condo, Daytona Beach Second Home, Daytona Beach Vacation Home, Real Estate Service in Daytona Beach

580 More Daytona Beach Homes and Condos Sold in 2010 First Half

Sales of Daytona Beach area real estate are up 33.4% in the first half 2010 compared to 2009 and 62.3% over the first half of 2008.

Here is the breakdown of the first half sales for the last three years:

• 2010 - 2316 homes and condos sold
• 2009 - 1736 sold
• 2009 - 1427 sold

Numbers tell a little of the story, but the picture below shows the progression visually.

It’s obvious that the market has improved significantly over the past two years. Each month in 2010 has shown an increase in sales from the month before. Sales in June were 481 condos and homes sold.

The market is much stronger in the lower price ranges and that where about 90% of all sales are taking place. Homes and condos under $200,000 made up 74% of sales in June and sales under $300,000 made up 88.1% of all sales. Check out the June 2010 Daytona Beach homes sale report.

Contact Lynn at 386-566-7503 for more information or to discuss the current market and your options.

Technorati Tags Daytona Beach Condos, Daytona Beach Homes, Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales

Cleaning Your Home or Condo Hardwood Floors

Beautiful hardwood floors are common in Daytona Beach area homes and condos. There’s a hard way and an easy way to clean hardwood floors. You can spend good money on specialized products, but an old standby from your pantry can work wonders.

Plain white vinegar used properly will clean you hardwood floors without worries about harsh chemicals on your floor or in the air. Vinegar won’t harm your children or pets either.

I found a nice article that describes the process of cleaning your hardwood floors. It’s written by a Brit, so enjoy the color (colour) of the language. Oh and 150ml is about 5 ounces and 4.5litres is just under 1 gallon and a quart (4.2 gallons). Enjoy the article.

Cleaning Your Hardwood Floor

Graham Baylis

Now that you have your beautiful hardwood flooring laid and settled, you need to know how to care for it.  Natural wood is very easy to care for and will last a very long time if looked after properly.  You do not need to spend hours cleaning and polishing your hardwood floor, a short time every few days or weekly will be enough.  There are many commercial products on the market for cleaning and caring for your wooden floor, however, there is a very effective old fashioned remedy which is cheap and easy and very natural.  It is distilled vinegar, the clear one which most of us have in our larders anyway. [Read more →]

Technorati Tags Cleaning Hardwood Floors, Condos, Daytona Beach Homes, Wood Floors

Remember - All Real Estate Is Local

Getting your real estate news through national news sources is dangerous to your financial health. I read a lot about real estate and too often I see so many examples of news reported that just doesn’t fit with our local situation.

I read today that mortgage applications are way down over the past four weeks. My initial reaction was a little panic about my business, but then I remembered that what’s happening nationally is out of sync with what’s happening in the Daytona Beach area.

My business is good. We had 17 phone and email inquiries over a 2-1/2 day period this week. These are people are buyers. We have a load of closings on the books over the next two to three months and we are writing a lot of contracts.

The Daytona Beach real estate market is out of sync with the national market. The things that make Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Port Orange attractive have not changed. The beach, ocean and weather that made the area to begin with are still here.

I urge you to take your real estate news in local doses. A good place to start is our just published Daytona Beach Area Home and Condo Sales Up in May 2010. We’ve also just updated our foreclosure pages to reflect current listings, you can see that at Daytona Beach Foreclosures Pages Updated.

As always, you can call me to discuss any home or condo, or just talk about the local market.

Technorati Tags Daytona Beach Homes, Real Estate News

Will Daytona Beach Homes and Condo Bargains Be Hard to Find?

Reports out of Las Vegas say housing bargains are drying up. Is the same thing happening in Daytona Beach?

A Wall Street Journal story by James R. Hagerty reports housing bargains are tough to come by in Las Vegas for many people. The reason he states is that investors with cash are more desirable to banks. See the full story - Vegas House Bargains Dry Up.

This report doesn’t surprise me at all. Cash buyers are more attractive to banks and lenders for both short sales and foreclosures. The reason is fairly simple, in an ironic twist, the banks know that if a buyer is getting a loan to make the purchase, the deal is not as tight. Too many things can go wrong.

We’ve been seeing this with Daytona homes for sale for some time. Many of my buyers over the past two years have been cash buyers. All of my buyers who financed were pre-approved before making any offers on short sales or foreclosures. Buyers who are not pre-approved will not be considered in nearly all cases when submitting an offer to banks or lenders.

The Las Vegas market is much larger than the Daytona Beach market, but the dynamics are very similar. Both areas have experienced a lot of foreclosures. Investors may find Las Vegas more attractive because of future economic prospects, but we can expect the same investor attention here for the more attractive properties. There will be more money chasing the bargains that bargain property available in Las Vega and our market will get attention when that happens.

To some extent we are seeing investor action here. I’ve sold more than a few properties to investors recently. Most are renting the properties out while they wait for values to rise.

What Next?

We see more investors coming to the Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach real estate market as the economy improves and prices further stabilize. We are no longer seeing the dramatic price drops we saw over the past two years. When it’s generally recognized that prices have stabilized, more investors will jump.

The point is to understand that there is competition for attractive well-priced properties and that competition will increase in the near future.

Technorati Tags Daytona Homes for Sale, Foreclosures, Ormond Beach Real Estate, Real Estate Bargains, Short Sales

New Listing - Beautiful Halifax River Home in Ormond Beach

On the Haifax River this Home in Ormond Beach Florida has magnficent views and direct river access with dock and lifts. This area of Ormond Beach is gorgeous with many fine homes on both sides of John Anderson Drive. This home is located just a little north of Granada Blvd on beach side and close to everything. The beach, restaurants and shops are within walking distance.

There are also two parks a short walk away on the beach side and two more on the mainland side over the Granada Bridge. Many people enjoy “Walking the Bridge” for exercise and the views from the height of the bridge. Oh, there’s a great view of the bridge from the backyard of this home.

If you’ve dreamed of living on the River in Florida, you must check out this home. Listed at $995,000, this home with it’s large riverfront lot, is well priced in the current Ormond Beach real estate market.

Features

• 3 Bedrooms
• 2-1/2 baths
• Large Living Area
• Formal Dining Room
• Breakfast Area
• High-End Kitchen
• Large River Lot
• Over 2,800 sq. ft. of luxury living area
• Boat Dock
• Wood Floors
• 2 Car Garage
• Complete Rebuild in 1994
• Spectacular River Views from Home and Outside Patio

For more information, give me a call at 386-566-7503. Be sure to check out more photos of this home at Ormond Beach River Front Home for Sale - John Anderson Drive.

Technorati Tags Halifax River, Ormond Beach Homes for Sale, Ormond Beach Real Estate, Ormond Beach Riverfront Home

A  Small Step to Help Haiti

This is a reprint of an article that I posted on my main website a few minutes ago. Please take a moment and do what you can. Thank you.

The earthquake in Haiti has devastated the nation and its people. I see the news on TV and although it appears horrible, I don’t think we can begin to understand how bad it is there in Haiti.

I am not able to help directly, but I can give and I have. I would like to point you to an organization that has been helping Haitians for over 25 years with health care and support. The Haitian Health Foundation spends 92 cents from every dollar donated on direct services. They were in Haiti before the earthquake and they will be there long after short-term aid is gone.

I’m giving money because that’s what aid organizations the world over ask for during these times. I’m giving to an organization that’s dedicated to Haiti because I know the money will be spent there.

Your preferences may be different, but I urge you to do whatever you can to help the people in Haiti. You may literally being saving people’s lives.

Technorati Tags Community

Make Sure You Get You Tax Credits for Consumer Energy Efficiency

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Did you replace your hot water heater, windows, doors or A/C last year? Will you do it this year? You may have up to a $1,500 tax credit coming.

Many home owners are staying put. Most have no need to sell their Ormond Beach, Port Orange or Daytona Beach homes. That means that as systems like hot water heaters and air conditioners fail, they need to be replaced. If that has happened to you, you need to check the units you purchased to see if they are eligible for a tax credit from the federal government.

If you plan or need to replace hot water heaters, door, windows or and A/C unit this year, making sure that you buy a unit that is eligible for the tax credit could save you 30% of your purchase.

The federal government wants to encourage home owners to be more energy efficient. That’s why they’re providing this tax credit incentive.

The tax credit expires at the end of 2010. You can take 30% of the cost (including installation) up to a total tax credit of $1,500. If you spend $5,000 you can get the full $1,500 ($5,000 X .3 = $1,500). $1,500 is the maximum credit you can take for 2009 and 2010 combined.

The government’s Energy Star Site provides the details of determining if a product is eligible for the tax credit. It’s actually a good site with specifics of what’s eligible and a nice FAQ (frequently asked questions) section.

Technorati Tags A/C Tax Credit, Daytona Beach Homes, Energy Star, Energy Tax Credits, Hot Water Heater Tax Credit

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

I just posted our Christmas message on lynnbyrne.com. Please enjoy the happiest of holiday seasons.

I’m taking a break from cooking for our family Christmas dinner tonight to write a short message to all our clients and friends. At this special time of year, we wish you the best possible holiday season. We wish you joy, peace, comfort and prosperity for this season and in the coming years.

I’ve always loved this time of year. I think it’s because people seem to be kinder and friendlier. I believe in the Christmas spirit. As I grow older, gifts mean little and family and friendships mean much more. I am truly blessed with the opportunity to do what I love. I am also blessed with wonderful friends and close family relationships.

This is the time of year to enjoy each other and to eat and drink way too much. I raise my glass and toast all, “Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays.”

The Byrne Family - Lynn, David and Michael

Technorati Tags Merry Christmas

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Talks About Home Sales

Kenneth Harvey at Realty Times reports on a speech that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave in New York a couple of weeks ago. Mr. Bernanke said, “Housing in the coming year is going to be a relative bright spot - a helpful driver of national economic growth, rather than the wet blanket it’s been for the past couple of years.”

Can you believe it. Housing that has been a weight around the neck of the economy, could actually stimulate the economy next year.

Mr. Harvey also reports:

Fannie Mae issued its projections for the coming year — and predicted that housing sales will jump by 11 percent — even in the face of a slow recovery for the economy as a whole.

A few days ago, unemployment figures were reported down for the week. Now one week doesn’t make a trend, but it makes for a lot of talk in the media. Maybe it’s an anomaly, but maybe it’s the beginning of the end of this economic recession that we’ve all been living through.

We seen housing prices begin to stabilize over the past few months with prices in Miami actually up slightly.

What’s it all mean?

I’m not going to predict exactly when we will see a turn around in the economy and improved home sales. I look at it a little differently. The economy will turn around and home sales will rebound to traditional levels. It’s coming, but we won’t know when until it has actually happened. Recessions are like that. The end is called months after it actually happens.

Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales

Now Daytona Beach real estate sales have reached the level of about where they were before the run up to the housing bubble started. In the year 2000, 3671 properties were sold through the Daytona Beach MLS. Last year 2900 were sold and in 2007, 3047 were sold. As of today, 3617 homes and condos have been sold in 2009. A 10-11% increase next year is where we would likely have been without the bubble. In other words, based on year 2000 sales figures, we could expect to be at about 4000-4200 property sales through the Daytona Beach board. Not exact science, but the point is, we are probably approaching a sales level that will be pretty stable in the years to come.

We still have tons of inventory with 5375 residential properties for sale, but at November’s sales rate of 404 properties sold, that’s only 13.3 months, down from 29 months at the end of last year.

So, in Daytona Beach, if the current trend continues, and that’s a big if, we are quickly approaching a stable market. A stable market, or balanced market, means that buyer’s advantage will be less and there will be a lot of competition for well-priced properties. We are seeing that now with ocean front condos and some homes under $200,000.

Is it Time to Act?

If it’s not, it’s getting closer. The window is not closed, but it may very well be closing. Keep an eye on all the market news. Where? Well, here of course.

Technorati Tags daytona beach mls, Daytona Beach Real Estate, Home Sales Predictions, Housing Prices