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SPECIAL TO THE FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January,2008
LOCAL AUCTIONEER SEES OPPORTUNITY IN DOWN MARKET
Local real estate auctioneer, says "Both would-be homeowners and investors should be buying vacant lots in Southwest Florida right now, while the daily news in all the media is gloomy."
"Now's the time to buy. Anyone waiting for the media to announce a "bottom" in the market is going to miss it. It's as though we've been able to turn back the clock a few years, before the rapid run-up in prices began."
If "fear and greed" are stronger market forces than "supply and demand," then right now fear, and the hesitation to act that accompanies uncertainty, is causing many buyers to miss what may well be the last chance to buy lots at minimum cost.
He further says, "Watching TV news about the sub-prime mortgage crisis could easily lead would-be homeowners into believing that a mortgage loan is impossible to obtain with less than perfect credit. In fact, mortgage money is available backed by the US Rural Housing Agency of the US Dept. of Agriculture."
Lehigh Acres qualifies under this program for new home construction. Up to 30 year, fixed-rate mortgage loans are available with minimum application and insurance fees included in the loan. All you need for a down payment is to already own a suitable lot, so this is essentially 100% financing without the excessive fees and adjustable interest rates that currently plague so many existing homeowners.
Furthermore, could there be a better time to negotiate with building contractors? Buyers can get exactly the house they want, where they want it, built to the latest codes, and all without being "over-financed." As market conditions improve, so will the value of their new home and their equity.
Further he says "Investors should be snapping up these lots as well, especially if they are looking for a "flight to safety" from the volatile stock market, and prepared to hold them for at least 1 to 2 years or more. The holding costs, mostly property taxes, will be dropping as they adjust to current market values. Any decent Lehigh lot bought under $10,000 today is close enough to rock-bottom pricing. I don't think would-be investors realize that lots can actually be bought at these prices when they see that the seller will take a loss. Many will, as overall economic conditions force them to raise cash wherever they can.
Back in 2001, I told bidders at my live auctions to buy these lots, it doesn't matter what you have to pay for them. At the time I had as many as 150 lots in an auction and couldn't get bids at the "tax value" of $700 - $1,500. Those who bought benefited greatly when I also advised them to sell in 2005. Now, I hear from sellers who turned down $40,000+ bids in 2005 and are ready to sell for whatever they can get.
I see the same circumstances now, just at slightly higher prices, and I doubt that we'll ever see so much land available for so little in Southwest Florida. No matter what the national economy does, people will still be moving here in droves, and they all need a place to live."
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