Lehigh Acres Real Estate Snafu

Travel And Leisure Magazine is read by many but this article was one that makes the folks of Lehigh Acres laugh their butts off when the see and read this headline. In the article, the photo's caption says "Southwest Florida is filled with half-built McMansions, lots taken over by snakes and alligators and derelict cul-de-sacs that lead to nothing."

Lehigh made the too of the worlds most eeriest places along with a deserted psychiatric hospital in Norway and a derelict amusement park in Tokyo.  The picture that made it was a typical foreclosed home the likes of which has popped up all over the country with the housing bust of 2009.  This is when this article first surfaced but has been reported by the Huffington Post just at the end of 2012. 

What the heck is going on and where in the world are they getting their information and even better who could have even slightly have verified this to be true. I won't spend a lot of time on proving the specific allegations to be untrue as they are so off the wall and ridiculous that it doesn't deserve much specific response. I will however say that I have lived in Lehigh Acres for 13 years now. My 3 children go to public schools within Lehigh.  I have two businesses in Lehigh and so I think I am in a pretty good position to make a professional legitimate assessment on Lehigh.  Ready for a promise from me?  You can take this statement to the bank and I stand behind the following statement. Lehigh Acres is not overrun with snakes and alligators. 

There may be 110 square miles of land and yes there is plenty of undeveloped land but that is a temporary issue and one that is changing over time. The population almost tripled over the last few years and then spiked down for a short time while the foreclosure problem was at the highest rate. There is a very explainable reason for the high percentage of foreclosures in Lehigh. I will explain it for you. After I do, I only ask you to stop the next person you hear say some of the false nonsense about Lehigh. So here we go:

In 2004-2006 the explosion of growth in the housing market was mainly due to the ease of getting a mortgage for just about anyone. You could have been self employed, state your income and not have to prove it nd we used to say, if you have a pulse, you can own a home. Those that had been renters jumped on the wagon and those with homes bought more. Many who had homes refinanced to use the funds for other things. People were buying land for 40 times what they had cost just a year or two prior. It seamed like everyone was thriving. Builders were coming in from all over and setting up shop. Model homes were a dime a dozen. 

Much of the new homeowners worked for the housing industry in some way or another. Things were rocking and rolling.  Then the housing bust hit. Lehigh and the Cape were hit very hard because we were in the high growth due to all new building taking place as mentioned above. At the same time where many new home owners were enjoying the low interest rates given to them by the financial institutions as what we like to call a honeymoon rate, those times changed.  The adjustable rates adjusted and rates skyrocketed.  Building came to a halt.  People were losing jobs that worked for the housing industry. People could not afford the homes and the homeowner felt that since they bought the home with really nothing down that they had nothing to lose if they just simply walk away. Many felt they had no choice.

This is what led to the temporary demise of Lehigh Acres. Then on top of that some of the lenders were caught using robo signers and other illegal means to make many loans and that caused a stop to a great deal of the foreclosures. Now they sat there until the legal system could work out the issues.  We still today are dealing with some of the remnants of this mess.  Mostly due to the large amount of vacant homes made us a big target for vandalism and theft. Vagrants and Some of the other places on the list are a deserted psychiatric hospital in Norway and a derelict amusement park in Tokyo. So many people living in Lehigh were shocked the area was even on the same list – saying foreclosed homes are just a sign of the times.

When you drive around Lehigh Acres today, it is a different place.  Most of the vacant homes are rustling with activity and there are all kinds of plans to expand the infustructure of Lehigh as well as eventual plans for when we become a city and where the city limits will be and when and where all this will take place.  This is exciting news for Lehigh Acres. 

Next time you talk to someone that has something negative to say about Lehigh Acres, send them this link and let them see what the real story is.  We hope you check out Lehigh Acres and consider making it your next place to call home. 

Check us out on the web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

regards,
Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/Owner for AAA Realty LLC

Fish- A Way Of Life

Hey All,
I am happy to be able to get back to some writing.  I just read and am making part of our company the Philosophy from the book FISH.  Not sure it you have read it but it is a must for anyone who is in business that wants to make a positive and dramatic change to their business.

I for one love to be silly and have fun whenever possible.  I like to be light with my staff and understand that if we can do that, it makes for a happier work environment.  What I didn't really put together was how using the principles from this little Fish Market in the State of Washington, would bring home just how important the principles are to being different, to standing out in the business community.

The principles spoken about is first Attitude.  We are responsible for our attitude.  We need to decide to have a good attitude.  I like that the writer of the book used a company menu and on it was your choice of attitudes.  It can be a good one or a bad one.  In order to be successful we must choose the good one.

Then the second principle is to have fun.  This really excited me.  Since I already like to have fun, I sent someone out to get a football, checkers game and yahtzee.  We played around with the football when we had to handle a difficult client and it really worked to calm us down.  We played chess outside too and that was a ton of fun.  We get the point.

The third principle was to be make our clients day by including them in our fun.  In every situation we want to make them happy with how we handle them.  We want to engage with them.

Lastly Make sure they are being treated with our full attention.  We don't want to be talking on the phone while answering emails.  We don't want to be surfing the net while talking to someone standing in front of us.

We realized that even though we needed to make some changes, that we were on the right track and that with some slight more adjustments and everyone working together, we could really make our place not just a good place to work but a great place to work and an awesome experience for each person that crosses our path.

I invite you to check us out at our website at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com.  We want to hear your comments and feedback.

Until next time...

My Best,

Tammy Rodriguez
Broker/Owner
AAA Realty LLC
tammyjrodriguez@gmail.com

Is Now The Time To Buy or Sell

How to watch the Real Estate Market and decide when is best to Buy or Sell.  It is probably the most important self taught education you must undertake before deciding when is best to buy or sell in today's Real Estate Market.  If you ask a Real Estate Professional, they will most likely tell you now is the time and most of their opinion is due to the fact that NOW is the time for a Real Estate Professional to want some income.  Right?  Think about it. This is how they make a living.  But what is right for the client?  When is the time?

To answer this question correctly I think that the client needs to educate themselves of the market.  They need to also talk to several Realtors before making a decision on who will be that person to help you buy or sell.  You want to make sure that the Realtor in fact really has your best interest in mind.  If we as professionals do that we will get more clients by being honest and truly helping then if we always say now is the time. 

Seller and or Buyers can Google today's Real Estate Market and learn so much just starting there.  The market is like a wheel constantly turning and there is a top and there is also a bottom.  We have all just recently seen the bottom, the crash in the market.  It really doesn't take much for us all to see that the housing crisis of just a few months ago is starting to recover.  How can we determine this.  Well available homes over last year to this year is a dramatic decrease.  This shows that the market is picking up and homes are selling.  This causes the old supply and demand to kick in.  Supply goes down and prices start to go up.  This is good news for the seller.  Sellers can be in a position to have some equity in their home if they purchased when the market was at the bottom. 

What about a Buyer?  When pricing is down, can a buyer still do OK?  Well in my opinion that depends on a lot of different things.  What is your credit standing?  What are the interest rates at the time?  What programs are available to a seller that may have some incentives to buy.  So not necessary because the prices are up does it mean it's not time to buy.  You do however need to research what I mentioned and ask around.  Talk to a few different Realtors.  You need to have that gut feeling that you are dealing with someone that has your best interest.  You should ask a lot of questions and then also ask for some references.  You need someone that will hold your had through a process that can be one of the most stressful times in your life and you don't want some pious jerk talking down to you.  You don't want a non-experienced person to be giving you bad advice.  You need who is right for you.

Where do you start.  I recommend that you start by self-educating yourself to the Real Estate Market in the area you like and or get on some Real Esate boards and ask alot of questions.  See where there is a fit for you.  Remember one size does not fit all in this area.

I wish you well and hope that you consider talking to me also.  Check out my web at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com.

See you around the market,

Tammy J Rodriguez
Owner/Broker
AAA Realty LLC

Not AAA Rentals and Sales

There has been some shake up at this business called.  AAA Rentals and Sales.  The owner of the company is Linda Steele.  I am not afilliated with this company and never have been.  My company has been in existance much longer than Linda Steele's company and in fact contacted her to consider changing the name because we were getting some bad feedback with folks confusing us with them.

Please check us out on the web, DBPR and FL Dept of Corporations to see that we have been in business since 2005 and that I am the owner/broker of this business and have worked very hard to have the business I have today.  I am in no way related to Linda Steele or her Company.  Our legal name is AAA Realty LLC.  We have a large property management division.  The yellow signs with AAA name hand written were also never mine.  I use a professional sign made by a sign company with our logo on it.  Attached is a copy of our logo.  If you see this logo, it's us, if not check it out first, it may not be us.

Find us at http://www.aaarealtyllc.com

thanks
Tammy Rodriguez

There Is No Place Like Home

We are proud to introduce our Vision for the future of AAA Realty LLC.  It's simple and unique at the same time.    We want our clients and our staff to feel at home.  Where is the place you want to be at the end of the day?  Why is home such a great place to be?  You can kick back, take your shoes off, either put a pair of slippers and a pair of shorts or a pair of PJ's.  You can have a seat on the couch, sit at the computer and surf the net, prepare a fabulous dinner and maybe watch the latest episode of CSI or NCIS.  The thoughts are comfortable and relaxed.  There's no place like home.  That's what we want to emulate.  That is what will become our vision from this moment on.  Our staff and our clients are family to us.

We will be making some changes.  You will see our vision based on the changes you see.  Keep an eye out for the remake of our company as we live out our vision on a daily basis. 

Updates to come soon.

My Best
Tammy Rodriguez

Competitive Analysis vs Premier Home Audit

When consideration of selling your home is on the table, understanding what it is worth is a primary consideration.  You may be thinking of buying a bigger home or possibly you are being offered a position with a firm that takes you out of state. It could be that your children have gone off to college and you're wanting to downsize and possibly retire in a condo on the beach.  Whatever the reason and whoever you are, the bottom line is when selling a home, needing to know what you can hope to sell it for is a necessary part of the process.

There are options to find some information pertaining to homes sold like yours in a given area.  There is even  free ways you can seek this info out.  One example is Zillow.com.  You can type in your address and Zillow will give you a "Zestimate" or estimate of what they think the home is worth.  Try it out if you haven't yet.  It's a systematic tool.  The issue lies with that it simply uses homes in the neighborhood vs like-same properties without considering other things like, updates, remodels, tile vs carpet, new vs 20 year old roof etc.  There are some huge variables here. If there is either a price increase or decrease in the market, the time that it takes to change in this tool may be far from accurate.

Another choice is that you can contact a Realtor.  They are the professionals and are "in the business" of selling homes.  How can they help you decide what your home is worth?  A Realtor can give you a pretty accurate CMA or Competitive Market Analysis.  Realtor's have access to a local board that share's all their listing in a Multiple Listing System or MLS.  Using this system they are able to search out properties like yours and are able to utilize the system to make this analysis close to what you can expect to sell your home for.  They can change the variables that may make one home different than the other and use the "going rates" to make adjustments in the price of your home.  This is a much better alternative to using an automated system.

There is still another alternative that we want to address.  It is the most through way of determining what your home will sell for.  It is by far, the best tool to use.  It is so, because it covers most variables that can affect a home's price- The Home Itself!  Named after it's usefulness, the "Premier Home Audit" is chock full of utilities.  It get's down deep and dirty!  It's full of information that really gives you the ultimate facts about the home, neighborhood and gives ideas and suggestions of items that could or should be addressed to get the best possible price for the home.  Then after determining what needs to be addressed if anything, you can then use the info to build the best marketing plan for selling the home that is unmatched to any of the other options listed above. This Audit is proprietary and is done by a licensed Realtor.  It will help you net the best price for your home and you will want to utilize the Realtor doing the audit to list your home due to their knowledge, ethics and determination to earn your business.

Here's the best part of the process.  It's done absolutely Free of Charge by any agent at AAA Realty LLC. We understand that we need to be different and we want to earn your business.  We do that by doing our job better than anyone else out there does.  You will hear us use the term "earn your business" a lot as we work hard for you so see that we do sincerely and loyally work to "earn" your business.

To get more information on our Premier Home Audit or to sing up for yours today go to http://www.aaarealtyllc.com and click on Listing Your Property For Sale and sign up for the audit or call us toll free at 1-888-243-1720. You can also click here.

Till next time,
Tammy Rodriguez
Your Broker
AAA Realty LLC

Service For Life!

My new Newsletter is being sent to all my family, friends, clients and hope to be clients on a monthly basis.  It is funny, full of great tips, insightful, and so much more.  To show you a typical article that you will see in my newsletter, I have reprinted one of the articles below. 

The Dangers of Drinking Soda


Liquid candy...that’s what it’s been called as far back as 1942. Here we are, over a half a century later, and scientists continue to study the effects of soda drinks on the body. Now there’s mounting medical evidence that drinking even one sweetened soda drink a day can be harmful to your health...not to mention your children’s health.

The National Soft Drink Association reports that the average soda consumption is 600 servings (12-oz ) per person per year. That number has tripled for boys and doubled for girls since 1978.

In a study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers found that women who drank one sugar soda drink a day had an 85% greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The researchers also found that soft drinks contributed to weight gain and obesity in the women in the study.

The danger doesn’t stop there. Add to that, additives like caffeine stimulants, phosphoric acid (which can cause calcium loss), artificial flavors, fructose (hard on your liver), and you have a recipe for disaster.

© 2011 Forte Communications, Inc. All Right Reserved

To recieve this great monthly newsletter via mail or email- simply respond to the below email with your information and how you want to receive it.
tammyjrodriguez@aaarealtyllc.com

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