Great Florida Homes Blog

Yesterday I listed a cute home in Coral Springs, Florida owned by friends of mine that need to sell for a relocation and of course it is a short sale.  When I got there I was floored.  Fresh trimmed landscaping, new mulch, house smelt Pine Sol Fresh and Clean!

WOW!  I don't get this from most Short Sales, because odds are if they are upside down they don't have the funds to keep the home up.

http://bit.ly/bBiwcy

They said this is our home, until it is no longer our home.  We live here, we entertain here and want it presentable.  They have three dogs too and you couldn't tell.  In Florida it is usually easy to tell if you have dogs in a home because they sweat from their feet and the smell gets in the carpet fibers.

Short sale or not, presentation is a big deal!  I had two showings tonight and now have two offers!!

Presentation and proper pricing is a BIG DEAL!  I've listed four homes in the last couple of weeks and two are under contract within days!  They were clean and showed fresh.  The other two are clean but the price is a little too high.  This makes a difference too.

Mike Ferry taught it best, when he said, "The world will communicate to you in one of two ways to tell you if you are priced correctly....One with their feet they come and Two with their pocketbooks they make offers.  If they are coming and not making offers - wrong price!  If they are not coming still the wrong price!"

Any objection or lack of attendance can be overcome by proper pricing, but a great presentation goes a long ways!

I grew up in an aviation family which moved every 8 months to 5 years.  When that is all you know, you think it is normal.  Normal not to have repetitive friends, normal not to stay connected to people you loved and enjoyed.

Long before the days of EMAIL, FACEBOOK and TWITTER.  (On that note I have connected with the friends I went to high school with in South East Asia and they all live in different parts of the world).  Thank Goodness for that part of social media!

I am grateful for technology on many levels and on many levels I abhor it!  Abhor it when it comes to the over whelming amounts of emails I receive in ONE Day.  God forbid you go on vacation and have NO ACCESS to email.  I would want to shoot myself at 200 plus emails a day.  I'm the techno for the team....My Brother/Partner would rather find another career than have to handle the Teams emails.  I on the other hand leave the details of contracts up to him.  Being the type "A", multi-Tasker, I miss the contract details that he can catch so we each manage a different aspect of the business.  This is what makes a GREAT Team and in our case family-(Mom who lives with me after being widowed is our Bookkeeper).

Back to the point of this BLOG!  After dealing with this week's overwhelming contracts, negotiations and just the normal amount of stuff that goes with being a successful team.....I left the office early (8:00pm), on a Friday night.

I wanted to go to the mall to see what I had been missing out on the latest and greatest for fashion.  Admittedly I get a lot of good ideas from the magazines that arrive at the house but the trip to the mall, was the GREAT reassurance, that I was not MISSING THE BOAT!  Or maybe at 51, I'm just too old for that, "HOT BOOTY", look.  I did catch myself saying this a lot as I walked thru the mall...."THAT IS NOT ME!"

Prior to reaching the mall - I saw the AT&T store and whipped in there.  Nana/Mom/The Bookkeeper needs a  NEW CELLPHONE.  She text's my kids, me, my brother and I think her personal trainer.  Nana wants nothing to do with Google - she is actually AFRAID of Computers!  We really have to push her!  She is hilarious at family functions as she tells people, "My Daughter tells me to, "Google", whenever I need anything."  Hey, works for me (the Daughter)....Nana on the other hand would rather I do it for her.  NOPE-I still have to push her beyond her fears of technology.

So back to the title of this BLOG!   At the AT&T store, I think I am going to waltz in there and say, I need a phone for Nana aka Mom.  She likes to text....doesn't need Google and has to be able to see the numbers and keys.  Well this just was not going to be as easy as I thought.  If they had one choice and color, I could have called it an evening!  There were three choices of phones and multiple colors.  UMMMM SORRY - Love you Mom and I AM NOT MAKING THAT DECISION for you!

So Anthony says to me, WELLLLLLLLL................If you are sending Mom in without you she has to be an authorized account user,  Anthony!  FIX ME UP!!!  After he accesses my account he says....Oh Tara Carter is on your account as an authorized user.  Yes Anthony that is my oldest daughter.  Anthony says, I know Tara.  Is she still friends with Taimy?  Yes Anthony.  If you know Tara and Taimy, then you know NANA,  He responds with - THAT'S YOUR MOM?!?!?!?! 

The end result is - Anthony will be taking care of Nana and all I have to do is pay the bill.  I am INCREDIBLY Happy as I leave AT&T and thinking to myself.......Thank goodness my girls were fortunate enough to grow up in the same town, with the same friends since pre-school (unlike me who had to wait 40 years for Facebook to come around to reconnect).

In the end as I drove to the mall, I could not stop smiling and being happy about living in the same town for 25 years!!!  I am SOOOOO Lucky!!!   Joy

When I left new construction sales with Coral Ridge Properties (the developer of the city of Coral Springs, Parkland and the Galt Ocean Mile in Fort Lauderdale), in "1996", it was one of the scariest moves in my life.  I had a strong reputation and sales were good, but I was so unhappy with all of the corporate downsizing and how it affected our morale.

When the downsizing took its toll on my emotional system, I left in tears.  My boss said, Are you sure you want to leave? No, I wasn't but I knew there had to be a better place out there than being emotionally distraught over something I could not fix.

I went to Re/Max Partners in Coral Springs.  Why Re/Max?  One evening I was standing in the valet line for a Woman's Council of Realtors event.  This really cute guy pulls up with a baby seat in his shiny pick-up truck.  How often do you see a baby seat in a pick-up truck?  Somewhere during the evening while talking we discovered we both had family in South Dakota (so not the norm for South Florida).  Conversation was professional and enjoyable.  In the end, he says, you are thinking of changing jobs?  As I sputter out a, "No, Not Me!" I add, I couldn't work for Re/MAX.  He (Larry Revier) gave me one of the best lines I think I ever heard...."You do not know, that you know, what you know".

Those were like the vibrations left over from the touch of a symbol.  I kept hearing them over and over.

I met with him and his partner, Ray Glynn for an interview.  If I recall I took a friend from Coldwell Banker with me, who was already a resale agent.  I loved the Re/MAX concept and I liked Ray and Larry, so I signed up.

It was a GREAT decision and I loved being part of the organization and their team but since we were a team of 3 members the Re/Max model became a little too expensive for my budget.

My previous employer, Coral Ridge properties had not stopped soliciting me to return and join their resale department.  I could not go back, because I have a rule in life-NEVER GO BACK-ONLY GO FORWARD (Childhood lesson and 90% applicable), so I kept rebuking them, until they said we are going to be a Prudential franchise.  OKAY, now I could consider another move.

The net net result cost me $1200 a year (at that time), but it was an incredible peace of mind.  My monthly expenses were $2300 to $3200 a month whether I sold something or not and some months that were really uncomfortable.  I was willing to take the loss for peace of mind and peace of pocketbook and sadly left Larry and Ray.

I've been with Prudential 10 years now and will tell you that I HATE TO MOVE companies!  I was in new construction for 11 years and went to Re/MAX for 2 and a half years.  After 5 years at Prudential (and I market the heck out of myself to my clients), some thought I was still at Re/MAX.  Although 10 years later Re/MAX is a favorable distant memory because I respected the people I worked for).

Moving offices is still a challenge when it comes to marketing yourself in real estate.  Fortunately, after 10 years at Prudential, past President of the Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce and many other leadership and committee positions in the city of Coral Springs, people know where to find me. 

I was, 26 years old, married and I arrived in Coral Springs, Florida, with a real estate license that I obtained in Jacksonville, Florida, working as a receptionist for a Property Management firm.  I didn't even know what a REALTOR was, until I became one and I only became one as the result of a bad experience my parents had, from being taken advantage of by one. (That is a whole different story in itself).

Friends of mine were builders in Coral Springs and lo and behold unbeknown to me, my Dad's cousin from Nebraska was a builder here also.  Our family friends said, if you have a real estate license, you need to live and work in Coral Springs.  The developer, Coral Ridge Properties is who you need to work for.  I had always been a salesman, so how difficult could selling real estate be? 

My friends said, we build for the developer of the city we'll get you an interview.  Okay and VERY GREEN behind the ears....I'm all in!   Friends said they'd set me up and I call for the appointment.  Quickly I realize that they NEVER MADE THE CALL, to get me an interview with the developer of the city of Coral Springs.  OH WELL!  I've already made a fool of myself....I might as well go for broke! 

I did get the appointment and the Executive Vice President, Dick Steven (RIP), was BRUTAL in the interview.  Why should I hire you?!?!  YOU know nothing about real estate, you know nothing about land and you know NOTHING ABOUT Coral Springs!!!  I was flabbergasted but needed a job, so I countered with.  Come On......What do you have to lose?  I am a FAST LEARNER and I'll only take up space.  I got the job and he was right....I was a miserable failure for the first 6 months, until someone took pity on me (and that's another story!)

After that, with some coaching, I figured it out and took off!  Sold a million dollars in real estate and was flying after that, always in the top ten sales people. 

Lots of good years working for Coral Ridge Properties, the developer of the cities of Coral Springs and Parkland until the early 90's when the corporate downsizing began.  I was miserable.  I had worked for Coral Ridge Properties for my first 10 years of my real estate career and loved it.  Made lots of friends and enjoyed success.  The corporate downsizing took its toll on my emotional system.  Even though I knew I wouldn't get let go because I kept making the company money, I couldn't stand the toll it took on my friends so I decided to go into business for myself.

I've never been so scared in my life!!!!  By that time, I was divorced and had, my Mom and two little girls to support. I felt like I jumped off a cliff.  I knew I wasn't going to hit bottom, but I did not know how long I would fall.

I didn't fall far.  Went into debt the first year for a tremendous amount of money and paid it all off, very quickly.  Tripled my income and said, DARN, I wish I'd made the change sooner.

The bottom line is...IF YOU BELIEVE in what you are doing is RIGHT!!!   JUMP and Don't let anyone talk you out of it.  You WILL BE AFRAID.....Just Keep pushing Forward because DREAMS DO COME TRUE! (Sometimes they just take a little longer than we want!)

Back in 1963 when Coral Ridge Properties started to develop land in northwest Broward county (the middle of nowhere in those days)......they came up with these catchy names for their subdivisions.

The CYPRESS community names didn't come along until the 1980's.  Well how catchy are they? Considering the Cypress Tree is native to Florida and often found in the Everglades.  It is a tree of great strength that can live for hundreds of years and is known to withstand flooding.  Sounds apropos to me.

How does a customer tell the difference between a Cypress Glen, Cypress Run or Cypress Isle?  Age will be the largest difference and therefore the styling of the homes for that neighborhood.

One of the things that Coral Ridge Properties, now WCI Communities, as the developer of the city did was to create estate sections within communities.

For example, in Cypress Glen the estate homes were Glen Isles.  In Cypress Run they were Cypress Isles.  In Pine Ridge they were Pine Grove and in Brookside they were Brookside Grove, the later being built in the 1990's. 

What defines an estate home, by the developer's standards?  Larger home sites, such as or 1/3 acre or 1/2 acre and larger interior square footage.  Note in Florida square footage is measured and calculated based on air conditioned space, also defined as, "living area".  Then there is the total square footage that includes garage, patio's and overhangs.

Is one neighborhood better than another?  It depends on who you ask.  The biggest differences are going to be age and now it would be updates or remodeling. 

The city started building up shortly after it was started in 1963 and pretty much finished up in the late 1990's.  Coral Springs 50th birthday is right around the corner.  I was here for the 25th birthday.  It was a huge celebration at Mullins park, where the city fathers made a HUGE attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World records, with the world's largest hamburger and milkshake.  I don't remember if they made it, but I wasn't eating it!

REAL ESTATE UPDATE FOR BROWARD COUNTY & PALM BEACH COUNTY
March 01, 2010 to March 31, 2010

Broward County includes well known cities of Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach,
Fort Lauderdale, Highland Beach, Hillsboro, Lighthouse Point, Parkland, Plantation,
Sunrise, Tamarac and Weston.

There are currently ­­­­­7,871 Single Family Homes LISTED FOR SALE in Broward County.

­­­3510 priced under $250,000
2317 priced between 250,001 and $500,000
733 priced between $500,001 and $750,000
435 priced between $750,001 and $1,000,000
323 priced between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000
185 priced between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000
366 priced over $2,000,000

For the month of March, 975 Single Family Homes SOLD in Broward County. 

583 were sold under $250,000
281 were sold between 250,001 and $500,000
57 were sold between $500,001 and $750,000
24 were sold between $750,001 and $1,000,000
323 were sold between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000
185 were sold between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000
9 were sold over $2,000,000

There are currently 12,638 Multi-Family Homes LISTED FOR SALE in Broward County.  Multi-Family Homes include condos, town homes, villas, coops, all attached and or unattached as well as single story to multi levels.

9633 are priced under $250,000
1862 are priced between 250,001 and $500,000
512 are priced between $500,001 and $750,000
275 are priced between $750,001 and $1,000,000
190 are priced between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000
95 are priced between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000
68 are priced over $2,000,000

For the month of March, 1447 Multi-Family Homes SOLD in Broward County.

Note that many of the lower priced multi family homes are located in Adult only communities with a over the age of 55 requirement to live there.

1304 were sold under $250,000
102 were sold between 250,001 and $500,000
25 were sold between $500,001 and $750,000
9 were sold between $750,001 and $1,000,000
5 were sold between $1,000,001 and $1,500,00
None were sold between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000
2 were sold over $2,000,000 

Palm Beach County includes well known cities of Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Greenacres, Lake Worth,  Wellington and West Palm Beach.

There are currently 7520 single family homes listed For Sale in Palm Beach County.

­­2545 priced under $250,000
2470 priced between 250,001 and $500,000
810 priced between $500,001 and $750,000
452 priced between $750,001 and $1,000,000
410 priced between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000
257 priced between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000
576 priced over $2,000,000

For the month of March, 605 Single Family Homes SOLD in Palm Beach County. 

331 were sold under $250,000
191 were sold between 250,001 and $500,000
33 were sold between $500,001 and $750,000
20 were sold between $750,001 and $1,000,000
15 were sold between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000
6 were sold between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000
8 were sold over $2,000,000

There are currently 8731 Multi-Family Homes LISTED FOR SALE in Palm Beach County.  Multi-Family Homes include condos, town homes, villas, coops, all attached and or unattached as well as single story to multi levels.

6682 are priced under $250,000
1254 are priced between 250,001 and $500,000
347 are priced between $500,001 and $750,000
220 are priced between $750,001 and $1,000,000
106 are priced between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000
46 are priced between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000
76 are priced over $2,000,000

For the month of March, 721 Multi-Family Homes SOLD in Palm Beach county.

650 were sold under $250,000
42 are sold between 250,001 and $500,000
15 were sold between $500,001 and $750,000
4 were sold between $750,001 and $1,000,000
5 were sold between $1,000,001 and $1,500,000
3 were sold between $1,500,001 and $2,000,000
2 are sold over $2,000,000

To see specific details on a specific category of homes actively for sale or sold, please email us at Team@GreatFloridaHomes.com and we will forward the information for your reference or review.

Information deemed reliable as provided by the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale
and the Realtor Association of the Palm Beaches.

Listings were less for Broward and Palm Beach and sales were nearly DOUBLED in both single family and multi- family.  The only exception was minor in Palm Beach for multi-family homes, approximately 100 additional homes listed for sale.