"Deja Vu all over again"

Compliments of Yogi Berra

Back in the day as I was working my way through college I was an electrician apprentice with a company in Cocoa. One of the big projects was Diana Shores in Merritt Island. The corp. of engineers had finished the canals and homes were being built at a fast pace for the times, this was the late 1960’s. Our job was roughing out the homes prior to drywall. As the afternoon thunderstorms would roll in it would always be my job to go out and unplug the extension cords, needless to say I will never need anymore shock therapy which is probably good for everyone.

Then came the early 70’s and the music was not as good and the market went to hell. A lot of people made a lot of money because people had lost their jobs and had to sell their homes.

Now it is 2009 and it is déjà vu all over again. Diana Shores is a hot spot now with some fantastic buys with the opportunity to get built in equity.

On Feb 8 there are 21 active listings in Diana Shores priced from $169,900 to $845,000. There are lower priced homes that are not on the water and the upper priced homes are on direct Sykes Creek water. There are 12 homes that have sold in the last 3 months or are under contract.

This is a great neighborhood with great schools and convenient to everything.

The time is now.

Jim Bagwell

Merritt Island Short Sales & sundry

“The essence of a short sale”

As a potential buyer of a short sale property there are several items you need to keep in mind. If you are on a time schedule that is the typical 30 days then don’t consider a short sale. To achieve approval of a short sale then allow for a minimum of 60 days and possibly more. The short sale is basically the seller asking the lender to take less than what is owed on the property. This process can be achieved if the listing agent is competent and experienced in short sales. The process is dependent on the listing agent to get the full package to the lender and follow up, follow up and follow up. It involves a lot of work for the listing agent with no guarantee of commission; this is why we have formed a team of Certified Short Sale professionals to handle the process. This does make for the commission to be split numerous ways but helps us to assure success if we have the listing.

At the time of this blog there are 85 short sales in Merritt Island priced from $66,499 up to $975,000. Keep in mind that unless you are familiar with the clerk of the county court you may erroneously think that it shouldn't’t be a short sale but alas the predicament we are in is because of people treating their property as the perpetual ATM and have taken money out of it when it was available.

Now in addition to the short sales there are at the present time 17 foreclosures on Merritt Island that are priced from $59,900 up to $559,900. My pick of the foreclosures is a home built in 2004 in a very nice subdivision priced at $299,900; this home has 2094 sq ft, pool, 4 bedrooms 3 baths sitting a beautiful .32 acre lot.

I hope I haven’t confused you but if you need further info just email at walkerbagwell@aol.com.

Have a great day.

Jim Bagwell

Merritt Island Paradise

A lot of people search the Internet for beach homes and condos, naturally Cocoa Beach shows up a lot. What most people don't realize is how much more property they can have for a lot less if they are 5 miles to the west.

Merritt Island is a very diverse area that is actually unincorporated which means your taxes are a little less. Of course the most famous landmark is the Kennedy Space Center which is located on the north end of the Island. The type of homes varies as well, you can find upscale homes on the water in the south end of the island, central part of the island and the north end on the Indian river side of the island.

It provides the opportunity for the 1st time buyer as well as the buyer who is relocating or retiring to fish.

If you can find a home on the east side of the island you will find the shortest route to the locks that will open you up to fishing that is unbelievable in the Atlantic Ocean, probably about 10 minutes to the locks. In the central part of the island are canal homes which allow you to keep your boat on your lift and use it when you want without paying storage.

As a point of this blog there are currently 94 short sale listings on Merritt Island. The increase of this type listing has prompted our company to form a short sale specialist team to expedite this type of listing.

It is not for the faint of heart and in 3 days we will discuss the finer points of a successful short sale.

Thank you

Jim Bagwell