Worst Cities For Homeowner Debt

I read an interesting article tonight from Forbes.com about the worst cities for homeowner debt.

Here are the top 50 cities for worst homeowner debt:
Sacramento--Arden- Arcade--Roseville, CA
Denver-Aurora, CO
San Diego-Carlsbad- San Marcos, CA
Minneapolis-St. Paul- Bloomington, MN-WI
Washington-Arlington- Alexandria, DC-VA-MD- WV
Los Angeles-Long Beach- Santa Ana, CA
Boise City-Nampa, ID
Colordo Springs, CO
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
Madison, WI
Reno-Sparks, NV
Boulder, CO
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
Portland-Vancouver- Beaverton, OR-WA
Columbus, OH
Richmond, VA
Atlanta-Sandy Springs- Marietta, GA
Boston-Cambridge- Quincy, MA-NH
Green Bay, WI
San Francisco-Oakland- Fremont, CA
Lexington-Fayette,KY
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Salt Lake City, UT
Raleigh-Cary, NC
Worcester, MA
Louisville, KY-IN
Baltimore-Towson, MD
Pittsfield, MA
Indianapolis, IN
Charlotte-Gastonia- Concord, NC-SC
Bridgeport-Stamford- Norwalk, CT
Akron, OH
Dayton, OH
Virginia Beach-Norfolk- Newport News, VA-NC
Lansing-E.Lansing, MI
Providence-New Bedford- Fall River, RI-MA
Appleton, WI
Portland-South Portland- Biddeford, ME
Durham, NC
San Jose-Sunnyvale- Santa Clara, CA
Lincoln, NE
Allentown-Bethlehem- Easton, PA-NJ
Omaha, NE-IA
New Haven-Milford, CT
Milwaukee-Waukesha- West Allis, WI
Orlando, FL

Do you see anything interesting? There is only one city in Florida and that is Orlando and #50. It is refreshing to see this.

Market Update

Sarasota MLS shows:
846 single family homes under contract and waiting to close
362 condominiums under contract and waiting to close.

St. Armands Key home under contract

This home on 213 North Washington Drive went under contract yesterday. Read my post below.

Property description:

Exquisite classic modern on St. Armands Key. Gorgeous bay views from most living spaces and truly amazing 360-degree views of the open bay, city & Ringling bridge from the roof top terrace. Wonderful interiors w/walls of glass for lots of natural light, wide plank blond maple floors, silky marble and honed granite, high ceilings, Snaidero kitchen, faucets of Axor and an elevator are some of the extra details. The private, designer landscaped grounds are set off by a dramatic 40 ft. lap pool with stone waterfall. This is a very special residence with exciting visuals at every turn.

I represent the buyers. They came to me from the United Kingdom via the web. If you would like your home to be featured on this and several other highly visited websites email me.

Trapped on the Roof

On Wednesday, I showed this lovely modern home at 213 North Washington on St. Armands Key to some clients of mine from England. The home has 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3,412 square feet with 2 floors of living area, a bottom non conforming ground floor and a 4th floor rooftop terrace.


We meet the listing agent, Hannerle Moore of SKY Sotheby's, at the home so she can give us a tour. She gives us a tour of the private lush swimming pool area. Then we proceed to see the non conforming ground floor, 2nd floors with 3 bedrooms and then the 3rd floor which is the main living area and kitchen. They designed the house that way so you can get high enough to view the lovely waters of Sarasota bay.


My clients and I then decide to take the elevator to the 4th floor to check out the view from the rooftop terrace. The elevator is not equipped to carry 4 people so Hannerle decides to stay on the 3rd floor. So my clients and I take the elevator to the top. It is the type of elevator that requires you to shut the metal cage door in order for it to move. We get to the top and go out on the roof top deck to look at the gorgeous views of downtown, Sarasota bay and the Ringling bridge. The views are gorgeous. When we left the elevator I did not think to shut that cage door because I figured we would only be up there for a couple of minutes.


We take a couple of minutes to enjoy the view and then decide to go back down to the 3rd level. Well, somehow, the outside door to the elevator got locked. My client thinks he may have locked it but was not sure. I call Hannerle on the telephone who is on the 3rd floor to tell her that the outside door is locked and to call the elevator to the 3rd floor so she can come up and unlock the outside door. Unfortunately, she cannot do that because the metal cage door on the elevator is not shut so she cant retrieve it.


Hear I am with a couple from England stuck on the 4th floor of this modern home on St. Armands Circle with no stairs and a very long way down so there no chance of jumping. Fortunately, it was a gorgeous day. So, I try to jimmy the door lock with my house key and that did not work. I yanked on the door as hard as I could and that did not work. I called Hannerle on the 3rd floor and told her to throw up a key or flat head screw driver. She said, "I can't throw something up that high." She calls the owner who was close by to come back to the home to see if he can figure out what to do. We wait up there for about 15 minutes and one of the owners friends shows up. He tries to mess with the elevator to see if he can get it to come down. That did not work. While we were up there I was making jokes about how they were going to have to sign a purchase agreement in order to get off the roof and that is how we sell real estate in the United States. Fortunately, these buyer are very nice and have a great sense of humor.

Finally, after they exhausted of their ideas of getting us down I told them to throw up a flat head screw driver. The owners friend goes to the very back of the back yard and launches one of those large, heavy screw drivers up to the roof, over me and was about to go over the entire house and land on one of the cars in the drive way. My client who looks pretty athletic jumps in the air deflects the screw driver and it lands on the deck. I take the screw driver and jimmy the door open to access the elevator.


We got down safely and had a wonderful laugh about it. I had a good story for my friends in the office and my clients have a good story for their friends back in England.

Just Sold - Casey Key Home

Isn't the above photo gorgeous? It was taken from the Sugar Bay estate on north Casey Key.

3005 Casey Key Road just closed today for $4,500,000. It is the highest transaction on Casey Key this year. The home was listed for $4,750,000. Kudos to the fellow Realtor who listed and sold it and another brokerage firm.

The home was built in 1970. It has 3 bedroom with possibly a 4th bedroom or den and 4,028 square feet. Please call me at 941-812-6272 if you are considering a purchase on Casey Key or in the Sarasota area.

New listing - Siesta Key Condo Terrace East

I just listed a gorgeous condominium in The Terrace East building on Siesta Key. This building is located in the village of Siesta Key. It offers fabulous views of the beach and crystal clear waters of Gulf of Mexico. Tired of hopping in your car to do anything fun? No need to drive when you live here. This location allows you to walk to the beach, shopping, restaurants, ice cream, entertainment or a drink with your friends.

The condominium is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom 1,375 square foot unit on the 4th floor. It has been remodeled with new ceramic tile flooring, new kitchen cabinets, appliances and granite countertops.

Asking price $899,000. To view the unit call me at 941-812-6272.

Lido Key Home Sold

This gorgeous home on Lido Key just closed for $6,387,500. This is the second-most expensive house to sell this year in Sarasota County. It was originally listed for $10,990,000 in January of 2006. The sellers eventually dropped the asking price to $7,495,000 and it went under contract in January of 2008.

This home is a gulf front estate on coveted Westway Drive which has the most valuable real estate in all of Sarasota. It offers breathtaking gulf views and sunsets, 121 ft on the Gulf, over1/2 acre. 4 bedrooms, office, exercise room, wine room storing 700 + bottles, family and gathering rooms, elaborate elevator w/entry vestibule, 9 car a/c garage, its own white sand beach, elevated pool and spa w/fire pit, docking pier w/fishing station, children's gulf front play area, gated & walled.

The thing I love about Lido Shores is the diversity of homes in the neighborhood. Every home in the neighborhood has deeded access to Lido Key beach. The waterfront homes offer stunning views and the convenience of the neighborhood to St. Armands Circle and Sarasota is great. Give me a call if you are looking for a home on Lido Key 941-308-6766.

SKY Sotheby's Luxury Property Auction

SKY Sotheby's hosted another luxury portfolio auction yesterday at The Longboat Key Club. The auction team was much more selective this time. Last November there were over 80 properties for sale which was way too many. I was pleased with some of the results. The highlight of the auction was the sale of 4067 Shell Road.

This home on Shell Road has been on the market since November 2006. It was originally listed for $12,800,000. It was eventually lowered to the current asing price of $9,950,000. This is a good example of how an auction can be successful when the traditional method is not working.

This home at 1644 Dolphin Lane fetched in the 900,000's. I dont remember the exact number but with the 10% buyer premium the final sales price will be just over $1,000,000. This recently built home at 1654 Dolphin Lane in downtown Sarasota fetched $775k which puts the final sales price at $852,500. The above two homes were very nice.

The home above was located in The Sanderling Club on Siesta Key. I don't remember the exact amount it fetched but I believe it was just over $1,100,000. While this number was much lower than the asking price of $1,660,000 I think the final sales price was near market value. Auction haters may go on about how low this fetched compared to the asking price but that is going to happen when the asking price is too high.

These were great units near Bradenton beach. There were 3 of them in the auction and all fo them sold. They have partial views of the bay and the gulf! Every amenity including elevator, full use of the bayfront pool and dock, attached garage, beautiful finishes throughout and only 1 block to the white sand beaches.

This is Hudson Crossing on Orange Avenue west of the trail. These were finished in 2007. It is a small community of 12 units offering bayou views and sailboat water. They are very nice. This was put under contract shortly after the auction. There were other sales and I am sure a few more of them will come together over the next few days. Overall, I think it was a very successful day. Love them or hate them auctions can be successful for some people. They aren't for everyone. In fact, they probably aren't for 99% of the general selling public. There are situations where they can be useful. If you want to buy or sell in the next auction give me a call at 941-812-6272.

What is Selling?

I was getting a haircut the other day when I overhead the guy next to me talking about real estate. This guy was telling his stylist that only the low end of the market was selling. It turned out that this guy was not a Realtor so I'm guessing he heard this information from one.

Let's see what is selling. Below are all of the sales of single family homes and condos by price range for the first quarter of 2008.

There were 1,293 total sales of homes and condos in the first quarter of 2008.

$3 million and up - 10 units - .7%
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999 - 86 units - 6.6%
$500,000 - $999,999 - 184 units - 14.3%
$300,000 - $499,999 - 293 units - 22.7%
0 - $299,999 - 720 units - 55.7%

Since I just woke up from a very refreshing nap I am going to the Sarasota MLS and get these same stats from 2002 to 2007.

2002

1,773 closed homes and condos in the first quarter of 2002

$3 million and up - 9 units - .6%
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999 - 51 units - 2.9%
$500,000 - $999,999 - 117 units - 6.6%
$300,000 - $499,999 - 262 units - 14.8%
0 - $299,999 - 1,334 units - 75.2%

2003

2,012 closed homes and condos in the first quarter of 2003

$3 million and up - 6 units - .2%
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999 - 69 units - 3.4%
$500,000 - $999,999 - 214 units - 10.6%
$300,000 - $499,999 - 319 units - 15.8%
0 - $299,999 - 1,404 units - 69.7%

2004

2,557 closed homes and condos in the first quarter of 2004

$3 million and up - 10 units - .4%
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999 - 102 units - 3.9%
$500,000 - $999,999 - 335 units - 13.1%
$300,000 - $499,999 - 521 units - 20.3%
0 - $299,999 - 1,589 units - 62.1%

2005

2,612 closed homes and condos in the first quarter of 2005

$3 million and up - 19 units - .7%
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999 - 159 units - 6%
$500,000 - $999,999 - 494 units - 19%
$300,000 - $499,999 - 705 units - 27%
0 - $299,999 - 1,235 units - 47.3%

2006

1,687 closed homes and condos in the first quarter of 2006

$3 million and up - 13 units - .8%
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999 - 116 units - 6.8%
$500,000 - $999,999 - 405 units - 24%
$300,000 - $499,999 - 493 units - 29%
0 - $299,999 - 660 units - 39.4%

2007

1,722 closed homes and condos in the first quarter of 2007

$3 million and up - 24 units - 1.4%
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999 - 104 units - 6.1%
$500,000 - $999,999 - 359 units - 20.8%
$300,000 - $499,999 - 541 units - 31.4%
0 - $299,999 - 694 units - 40.3%

Low end of the market
The percentages are obviously going to change as the overall market prices move up and down. In the 2003 to 2006 time frame notice that the percentage of homes selling under $300k decreases as market prices moved up. Also notice that in 2002 about 75% of the units sold were under $300k.

Now as prices decline from 2006 to 2008 the number of properties under $300k increases.

Luxury Properties
Even though prices have declined from 2006 to 2008 the million and up market still constitutes 6%-8% of the market.

So what does all of this mean? I don't know but let me digest it. Right now, my family is waiting for me to take them to dinner.

What do you think?