What Does 2010 Look Like

Are prices going to be on an upward trend? Is it a good time to buy as an investor? Statistics are a great way of measuring the answers to these questions and in the Lehigh Acres area properties selling like hot cakes to investors interested in buying, renting and holding their properties. I would like to say that we are on an upward trend but I think that only time will tell us for sure.

Lenders will need to loosen up more and Obama's plan for helping folks stay in their home is still unsure whether it will have any impact at all on the market.

In the meantime, my advice if you are looking for great deals at a price that is a 1/4 of what they can be built for, try Lee County and especially Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres FL for the place to awesome prices that make sense to just about anyone.

For more information you can check out http://www.aaarealtyllc.com for the latest listings from MLS and bank owned.

Merry Christmas

This year has mixed views for most people. Hard times for most make it a tough year to celebrate. If we look to what we have verses other much more unfortunate, it helps a lot to celebrate.

I think that one of the best ways of showing a spirit of the season is to share with those who don't have as much as we do. There truely is more happiness in giving and we can find ways to do so this season.

One way is to be a secret Santa. You can go to people you know or just drive to a store or a gas station or an area that you might have a lot of people around. Giving to those that might need maybe food, maybe some cash, maybe some gas. Maybe for a child a toy. Doing for a stranger that can't repay you is the best feeling in the world. It doesn't have to be much but I say give till it hurts a little.

We all have much to be thankfull for. Even if there is a death in the family, even if you lost your job or lost a lot of money in the stock market. There is so much we do have. Look at the positive and help others. That will help us all and you to have a Merry Christmas.

Our Best to you all,
Tammy Rodriguez
AAA Realty LLC
www.aaarealtyllc.com

$8000 Tax Credit for First Time Homebuyer Extension?

It appears likely that the U.S. Senate will go forward and approve an extension of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.

Will there be a catch though? they want some fiscal offset for the cost of the extension. That could stir up a "hornets nest" for some.

What appears to be most likely to pass is an extension of the $8000 through March 31, 2010 and then a drop of $2,000 for each quarter following.

Hearry Reid- Navada's Senate Majoriey Leader and Senate Finance Committee Chairman is the leader of the extension.

Let's support this plan and call your Senator's to let them know you support it. We as a group should be able to make it happen.

We will watch the news closely for udates. Check for those updates on www.aaarealtyllc.com

Chears,

Chamber of Commerce Moves Next to Us

We are very excited to see that the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce has relocated in our Shopping Center! We immediately joined and are excited about working with them to increase our presence in the Lehigh Acres market.

First meeting we will attend is today at the Majestic Golf and Country Club. Not sure who the speaker will be but we are excited to be there and to meet lot's of folks that have the same vision for Lehigh Acres that we do.

We will follow up with a post after the meeting to let you know how it went. In the meantime, we are stocked up with properties for rent at all price ranges and areas and are running some great specials for Christmas. We have a home that you can receive December's rent at no cost.

Check out our homes for rent at www.aaarealtyllc.com

Christmas Specials

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas! Even though the stores are starting to stock all the Christmas items to try and build us up for the season, for many this Christmas is going to be hard to be Merry. Many are still facing housing issues. Jobs are still being lost. This year I think we will see many services we use on a regular basis will be discounted. To go along with that, we as a company will be offering Christmas specials for any new property management homes as well as new tenants.

Check out our Christmas offers that will be listed on the web at aaarealtyllc.com. If you have a business that doesn't normally discount for the holidays, I want to challange you to do so this year. We can help our communities in a small way find some way to cellebrate the holidays.

Cheers,

Tammy Rodriguez

Homes are Selling in Lehigh Acres

There is no doubt in my mind that Lehigh Acres will rebound and come back better than ever! Why do I say that? Comon sense! Let's forget the rumors. Let's forget what the media says. As a real estate broker, I sell homes. Homes are selling. Homes are selling with multiple offers. That drives up the prices and shows upward turn in the market.

It's a pretty simple to put the peices together. So here's the rest: There is just too many of us who care about Lehigh Acres We will take Lehigh to a level that will be attractive to anyone looking for a nice place to call home. Florida is a great place to live and the availability of fair priced homes in Florida is becoming more and more of a commodity. What that means is- 0ut with the theives that have been stealing appliances and a/c's and trying to take away our peacefull life here and we will prevail. The homes will be be filled with community minded homeowners and we will prevail.

My advice to anyone thinking about it, Don't hesitate to buy in Lehigh. I did 10 years ago and don't regret it for one minute. We will be part of the solution! Come join us.

Check us out at www.aaarealtyllc.com

$8000 Tax Credit For First Time Homebuyer

November 30th of 2009 is the deadline to close. After that and this credit disappears. Many people are trying to get the money right away but need to understand that it is a tax credit. The only way to get it is through your tax return. If you file an ammendment for 2008 you can get it sooner or wait until 2009 taxes in a few months to get it.

It is always wise to check with a tax professional for advice but the bottom line is that $8,000 is a lot of money so whether it's now or later, you will get it. Let's just concentrate on getting you a home and close it before the deadline.

Go to our website at www.aaarealtyllc.com There you can look at homes and sign up to receive regular updates as well as let us help you with financing. Do not determine for your self whether you can get financing for a home or not. Many of our clients have been in a position to buy with no money down and didn't even realize it.

Call us at 239-368-8520 to get more information.

Vision

More than 70% of homeowners are finding their properties to purchase on-line. Finding the easiest way of accomplishing this task is very important to a homebuyer. We have made this the most exciting informative and fun way of looking for properties. Our site is at www.propertiesinleecounty.com . It is also available from www.aaarealtyllc.com When searching you will be able to put in the criteria that interests you and that you are looking for, rather than what an agent thinks is right for you. It also gives your agent a good idea of what you are looking for.

You may also search for the neighborhoods and areas checking out the schools and crime rates as well as job potential in the area.

Again, having a realtor agent working for you is important and after all, it is no cost to you whatsoever, so as you enter this process, give us the opportunity to earn your business. We create the sense of urgency needed to make a transaction go from offer to closing as smooth as possible.

Call us at 239-368-8520 or visit us on the web at www.aaarealtyllc.com

Lehigh Acres loses 40 Firemen

What a tragedy! Our public service workers got a big hit the beginning of this week when the county followed throught with firing of 40 fire fighters here just in Lehigh Acres.

Just a few weeks ago, at my office, my staff had to call 911 for me due to some chest pains I was having. Just a few minutes later, the Lehigh Acres paremedics showed up and started immediately checking me, treating me and getting transported to a local hospital. When I spoke to the girl that was caring for me about the possible cut backs, she informed me that she was in fact one of the ones that was on the chopping block.

I sat there and listened to her story on how sad this possible cut back would effect her life and how much she loved her job and my heart really broke for her. Well I was just thinking this morning that she is out of a job now. I hope for her sake she is able to find a job elsewhere and or that she has another career to follow up on.

I would love to get a hold of her and offer her a change of careers at my company. If anyone out there would like an opportunity to become a realtor, I will pay for the eduacation and licensing. Give us a call at AAA Realty LLC at 239-368-8520 or check us out of the web at www.aaarealtyllc.com.

Coach Your Way To Homeownership

Our next free seminar on Coaching Your Way to Homeownership is September 3rd at 6:00pm. At this event you will be able to see the process it takes to own a home. You will learn where you are in the process and then leave with a to do list that you can do on your own to work towards the goal of homeownership or you can continue in our group coaching that will take place bi-weekly in a relaxing setting at which time you will actually be working towards your goal of homeownership with our help and most importantly the accountability of keeping you motivated and moving forward in your goals.

There is limited space available so call us today at 239-368-8520. You can also check out more information on the web at www.aaarealtyllc.com

Lehigh Acres is getting a bad rap

Tell me- where can you go in the US that doesn't have crime?  Doesn't have the same issues that is happening here in our community?

Here is the difference in my opinion.  You have an area that it's major growth happened during the housing boom a few years ago.  Anyone who had a pulse could buy.  100% financing with no money down.  What they were not told was that that meant in a couple of years they would go from a 900 dollar reasonable mortgage payment to 2200 dollar payment and climbing.  That along with losing jobs etc. etc. etc. 

So leaving these poor people with no option other than giving up their homes, we now sit as the highest or one of top 10 foreclosures.  Then let's top that off and give us the reputation of being very crime ridden.  Well guys a bunch of desperate people and even move vacant homes equals dramatic increase in burgluries.  It's just gonna happen.

The fix is to get the homes sold and homeowners living in them again.  This will take away most of the problems.  Once the homes are lived in again, most of everything else will take care of itself.  The local economy will thrive with people spending money and making more jobs for those that buy and want to live and work here.

Let's not stand for the media giving us a bad name for one more minute!  Lehigh Acres is a great place to live and work.  I have lived and worked here for more than 10 years and I look forward to another 10!

Check us out on the web at www.aaarealtyllc.com 

Chinese Dry Wall Problems

Wow we didn't see this one comming. If the market itself wasn't a reason to rethink what business to be in and the market crashing still being so fresh, now we got Chinese Dry Wall to contend with. Where did that come from? Look at housing prices now! Falling falling falling.



It is reported that during the housing boom 500 million pounds of this nasty stuff was imported into the US  a few years ago. That equates about 100,000 homes built this drywall in the United States alone.

Wall Street Journal reports that the danger is to electric, fire and health. This leaves many homeowners with a big decision to make. The EPA revealed that the drywall contained elevated levels of strontium sulfide, as well as several organic compounds associated with the production of acrylic paint which were not present in samples of U.S.-made drywall. What that exactly means, we don't know yet but it does not look good.

The cost to rehab these homes is over $20,000 as all the drywall, insulation and some of the plumbing as well as the air conditioning air handler needs to be replaced. So what does this leave for homeowners? Many are just plain walking away. Some are trying to deal with the issues. Many are becoming available for sale as great deals and the investors buying them are rehabing and fliping them.

For those buying homes right now, make sure you get a home inspection that includes the inspection for the Chinese Dry Wall.

For more information on buying homes contact us at AAA Realty LLC 239-368-8520

Weekly Local Lehigh Acres New Spot

Home Improvement Ideas

Now is not the time to sell if you don't absolutely have to so many homeowners are turning to restoring old, refurbishing and renovating their existing homes. There are many ideas that you do-it-yourselfers can tackle with a little time and some small expense, can make a huge change in how your home looks and feels. For this week's blog, we will give you a few quick easy ways to spruce up your kitchen.

Let's start with lighting. You can go a long way with updating your lighting with some track lighting or hanging tube lighting both available at most home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot. Mood lighting with candles, oil lamps and dimmers make a dramatic look vs the old hard lighting regular standard light bulbs or flourescents create.

Not happy with your cabinets? Why not paint your old ones. There is some great paint out there again available at local hardware stores and can real update your old cabinets on a budject that is affordable.

One last consideration is to cover your old countertops with tile. You can do it an a much lower budjet than marble or granite and it really can make a difference to pick up the room and dress it up.

If you are on a budget than can afford some outside contractor work, we can help you. We are painting contractors and work with a general contractor to do any and all home renovations at a price that might pleasantly surprise you. Give us a call at 239-303-1318 for a no cost evaluation or price quote.

Housing Statistics:

Lehigh Acres snapshot of the last 24 hours sold 11 homes at an average price of 53,622. There are 34 new homes that hit the market today at an average price of $115,591. 85% of these homes are banked owned properties. This time last year we had sold in the month of Feburary 58 homes at an average of $133,419. This year the decease is 147% in price at an average of $54,419. You ask if the deals are out there? Yes Yes Yes they are. Call us today to find out what deals are out there for you.

In The News:

"Lehigh Reputation takes big hit" This is the headlines of the News Star (Local Lehigh Acres Paper) The New Yorker Paper had an article that named Lehigh Acres one of America's potential new "slums". I am disgusted personally about how this article was written and I beg to differ. I am not saying that Lehigh Acres doesn't have it's problems but it's mostly due to the unsuspecting people that were taken advantage of by the big banks and disgracefull lenders that took many nice hardworking folks, wrung them up and twisted them up and now spit them out as wasted as they foreclose one after another on homes they should have never lent them money in the first place to buy. And then to make things even worse, in case they didn't do enough harm, they now foreclose and sell the houses to someone else at 1/4th of the price they sold it for the first time. When the buyers asks for modification to avoid the foreclosure, they are told the help is available. In fact most times the help available is not enough to save them. So the cost is passed on to the bank to foreclose, manage and resell at a price that is out of control low. How's that for fair? Is there anywhere we can call safe anymore? The New Yorker should look at their own neighborhood and take the plank out of their own eye before taking the speck out of ours. Lehigh Acres will come out of this, bigger and better and we will be a growing community of mostly hardworking good folk that want to be part of a neighborhood of decent human beings and you all will see!

Hot Buys:

How about $48,000 for a 3/2 pool home in Lehigh Acres? That's right. 4113 2nd St SW Lehigh Acres is a property that has a pool, a fenced in back yard, a shed and lot's of potential. Call us today for more information and a showing at AAA Realty LLC 239-368-8520.

Gov't May Force Banks to Reduce Homeowners Mortgages to Meet Market

Capital Hill debates go on and this very controversial legislation looks like it's on the fast track to be passed into law, maybe as soon a the end of February (This very month).

You may have heard it called "Cramdown" legislation and it's designed to help financially distressed homeowners from losing their homes to foreclosure. So the idea is in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the homeowner shows that they owe $200,000 on their home but the home is now only worth $80,000 the courts will tell the banks that now the homeowner only owes you $80,000 and you can't foreclose, so live with it.

What are your thoughts?  This sounds too good to be true for some and has others completely up in arms thinking about the people that will take "advantage" of such a law and may default even if they really could pay their mortgage.  

My opinion, for what it is worth is that it could be great for some very unsuspecting people that were taking advantage of by unscrupulous mortgage brokers, banks and Realtors.  Ouch did I just say that?  Sorry but it really is true.  Many people were taken advantage of and the guilty of the originators is what it is.  So again in my humble opinion, there needs to be laws in place to stop that and if the banks suffer some more because of it, well so be it.  They may learn a thing or two- Those that are left.

My advice and only my opinion again is that if you are in a position that you need to possibly foreclose on your property, talk to a lawyer first.  Get advice from them and only after you really know all the facts, should you go forward with your plans to foreclose.  The time you take could save your home, a lot of aggravation and many sleepless nights.

For more information on foreclosures, feel free to contact us at 239-368-8520.

AAA Realty LLC 

55 Homestead Rd N

Lehigh Acres, FL 33936

BUY YOUR INVESTMENT PROPERTY NOW

No one has to guess right now as to when is the best time to buy an investment property.  Now is the time.  The deals are out there and cash flow is positive if you buy right.  

Never had the opportunity to buy but now you have some money that is not making money for you in the stock market and you may be thinking about a real estate investment.  This blog entry will deal with some suggestions of what to look for and also what to watch out for when considering an investment property.

First you have to decide what your exit strategy will be.  Is it to hold the property for long term, rent it now and wait for the market to turn?  Is it to move some fast cash flow and move on to another? Depending on which is your desire or goal, you would buy very differently.

Let's talk about buying and holding for a few years.  If this is your goal then consideration needs to be made on how the house will rent will play a large part in the decision process.  If you don't know the area, this is where enough can't be said that you need to research research and then research some more.  Call a realtor in the area or maybe 2 or 3 different ones.  Ask them as many questions as possible to ascertain the best or most popular areas.  Where are the schools?  Where is the center of town?  Where is the police station?  Check the local crime logs to see if you can see a pattern.  Go at night time to the area if you are close by and see what is happening at night in the neighborhood.  These are some ways of determining very quickly the better areas to invest for the best return of your investment.

Buying to flip the property can be looked at slightly differently.  It's a numbers game.  If you can get the property cheap enough and can clean it up and resale it, everything has a selling price and if you are not greedy and don't take anything personally you can flip a property and make an easy few thousand dollars and then move on to the next.  The end buyer gets a great deal and you made your money and move on to the next one.

In any case of these two opportunities we spoke about, you absolutely should be working with a Realtor.  Their expertise, if it's a good one, will pay for itself over and over.  

Tune in for the next post where more discussion on specifically what to look for in the investment opportunities we spoke about above.  

In the meantime, feel free to contact us and we will be happy to sit down or talk on the phone and explain in more detail how you can safely invest in real estate that can bring you many years of monthly positive cash flow now and a later when you decide to sell, some retirement money or whatever your desire is to do with the money made on your investment.  

The best part of it all is:  You are in charge of your investment.  You are the boss.  Try that in the stock market when your money goes down the tube and you can only watch it happen!

Call us today at AAA Realty LLC at 239-368-8520.