Group Compiles Stats on Homes Built in 2005

The National Association of Home Builders Economics Group compiled these U.S. Census Bureau statistics on single-family houses built in 2005:
• Average size: 2,434 square feet
• Average price: $297,000
• 89 percent have central air conditioning
• 96 percent have at least two bathrooms; 28 percent have three or more
• 88 percent have at least three bedrooms; 39 percent have four or more
• 50 percent have a fireplace
• 84 percent have a garage for at least two cars
• 34 percent have vinyl siding
• 53 percent have a porch
• 46 percent have a patio
• 27 percent have a deck
• 55 percent have two stories or more

Are You a "Professional" ??

The following short Quiz consists of 4 questions and will tell whether you are a qualified to be a “professional”. Scroll down for each answer. The questions are NOT that difficult.

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door.
This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Open the door and put in the elephant and close the refrigerator.
Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. The previous tests your ability to think through repercussions of your previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. This tests your memory.

OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This test whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong. But many pre-schoolers got several correct answers. Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a 4 year old

Pass this along to frustrate all your smart friends.

And you don’t have to pass this test to Buy or Sell with Rob and Linda Clark

New Social Security Scam

The Internet is a wonderful tool to make our lives easier, however, there are potential dangers lurking when consumers are too easily lulled into a sense of complacency. In an effort to keep you informed we wanted to share news concerning a new Social Security e-mail scam.

The sender claims to be from the Social Security Administration with concerns that "someone is illegally using your Social Security number and assuming your identity" and directs you to a Website designed to look like Social Security’s Internet Website.

Once directed to the phony website, you will be asked to divulge personal and confidential information about your credit card. The Administration's Inspector General advises consumers to always avoid disclosing such information online. Any request for personal identification should be confirmed over the telephone to protect you against possible scams.

Identity fraud can include a host of crimes, ranging from the unauthorized use of a credit card, to assuming another person's identity and accessing their financial accounts. Unfortunately, the explosive growth of the unregulated information industry has created an environment in which individuals with a little time and effort can access your Social Security number (SSN), unlisted telephone number, and even your mother's maiden name.

These scammers then use that information, such as the data requested in the new Social Security scam, to take over your identity in order to open new accounts, apply for loans, obtain credit cards, and rent apartments. Studies show that victims of identity theft spend on average 90 hours of their own time and $1,700 in out of pocket expenses resolving the problem. In some cases, victims must change their Social Security numbers or phone numbers in order to alleviate the financial and emotional pain inflicted by identity theft.

Either through personal experience or personal contact, most Americans have been exposed to identity fraud. It is our fastest growing crime, costing approximately $750 million a year, and untold emotional stress. It is critical that Consumers have the information and the tools they need to fight identity thieves and to repair any damage they might inflict.

To report receipt of this e-mail message or other suspicious activity to Social Security’s Office of Inspector General, please call the OIG Hotline at 1-800-269-0271. A Public Fraud Reporting form is also available online at OIG’s website:

Tax Deductions for Housing Not Always Equal

Home owners prize their tax deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes, but a study by the National Association of Home Builders shows that some people get more benefit than others.

Home owners in the 14th Congressional District in California, which includes Silicon Valley, took more in mortgage interest write-offs than all the residents of Vermont, Wyoming, West Virginia, Alabama, North Dakota and South Dakota combined. The average deduction in the 14th District was $35,000, compared with an average of $9,500 for home owners nationwide.

Owners in New York's 3rd District took $1.25 billion in property tax deductions, more than the $1.2 billion total reached by adding together all the property tax deductions from Hawaii, Wyoming, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, North Dakota and South Dakota .

The bottom line: Be thankful if you’re not getting your share. It probably means you’re not being eaten alive by a huge mortgage and hefty property taxes.

Own Real Estate in an IRA

Own Real Estate in your IRA

Self Directed IRAs are a valuable way to build personal retirement wealth in your retirement portfolio. When income is generated from investments, the money stays in your IRA, which means it grows tax-free.

TYPES OF PROPERTY YOUR IRA CAN OWN
Single family and multi-unit homes, apartment buildings, co-ops, condominiums, commercial property, improved or unimproved land, whether it's leveraged or unleveraged, may be purchased by your Qualified Plan or your IRA.


FINANCING THE PURCHASE
You may finance or leverage any property you purchase for your Plan. The property is the collateral for the loan. As the property is an asset of the Plan, repayment of the underlying debt must come from contributions to or income from the property or other assets in the Plan.

Consult with your Tax Advisor then call us to purchase investment properties.

Tighter Market Brings Innovative Pricing

Thanks to changing Real Estate markets, pricing a house is getting trickier than it was a year ago. As a result, some home sellers are trying new strategies.

In a slowing market, Real Estate professionals typically recommend setting a price that's around 5 percent below what similar properties are selling at. But some are trying less-conventional techniques.

Another idea: Cutting the price quickly and continuously until the house sells. Rob Clark, a real-estate professional in Sarasota, thinks this works, especially for Sellers who have a lot of equity in a house and can afford to be flexible.

Another theory is that switching pricing blocks may help because it brings a house to the attention of home buyers searching online who only are looking between certain parameters. Buyers tend to look in $20,000 to $25,000 increments for homes under $500,000, in $50,000 increments for homes between $500,000 and $1 million, and in $250,000 increments over $1 million.

Set a price at the top of a break point, and then jump down a whole notch if the market doesn't respond, say, from $749,000 to $699,000. "The goal is to hit the top of the market, without going over the edge."

Our First Grandchild

Our New Grandson


William Russell Phillips

Cruise on Your Condo

Condo cruise line converting more ships

After selling out its first luxury cruise ship condominium project, Condo Cruise Lines is working on converting two more medium-sized ships.

The first ship's condo prices started out at $349,000 and went as high as $529,000 last January.

The Cruise Line announced last January that it was taking semi-retired cruise ships and converting about two-thirds of the staterooms into multi-room luxury condo suites. Now, the company has four more ships targeted for conversion to condos, and the next two are already being re-configured by its maritime design partners.

Condo Cruise Lines officials say that many real estate investors are opting for this variation to the pre-construction condo purchase because the rental income is about five times higher than a beachfront condo on the Gulf of Mexico.

THE NEW REAL ESTATE REALITY

Many Sellers cringe, thinking they are "losing" money on their house.

The discussion goes something like this:
"I lost $40,000 on my house. It's only worth $480,000 now."
"Really? So, you bought it for $520,000?"
"No – but my neighbor's house sold for $520,000 last winter and now the same model is on the market for $480,000. I have the same model, so I must have lost $40,000."
"I thought you bought your house three years ago for $340,000?"
"Yep."
"So where did you lose the $40,000? Sounds to me like you've gained $140,000."

When you’re ready to sell it, keep in mind you must sell in the market you’re in today. It doesn’t matter what your former neighbor got six months ago, or what properties are listed for now.

Somebody needs to blink. Sellers seem to be saying to Buyers "I’ll drop my price, just make an offer." While Buyers are blankly replying, "I’ll make an offer, just lower your price."
Keep in mind, the market is the market. When it’s time to buy, buy. When it’s time to move, then sell. Work with the market you’re in, not in the market you wish it would be. As inventories grow and days on market increase, those in the business know what will sell a house more than anything else …the price needs to come down to where the buyers are biting.

What is your true goal -- to get a certain amount of gain, or to get to the next house; and, finally, are you really in the game or just playing around? Get serious. Price right. Get on with life.

Priced Out of the Market

First Time Buyers Are The Key

The great strategy of the American Real Estate market works like this: You buy a first house and then as incomes rise and equity grows you sell and move up.
To make the system work you need First-time purchasers because if you don't have lots and lots of first-timers then you don't have replacement buyers for the folks who want to move up.

First-time buyers make up 40 percent of the existing home marketplace.

High Real Estate Prices and Rising Mortgage Rates creates a smaller number of first-time buyers and thus less demand and lower home prices.

NEW ACTIVE ADULT COMMUNITY

Priced from the $280's

Take advantage of current Builder Discounts and Closing Cost Offers.

Meet new friends at your 14,000 square foot Clubhouse with Swimming and Resistance Walking Pools, Spa, Social Hall, Card Rooms, Billiard, Arts & Crafts Rooms, Internet Café and Fitness Center.

Maintenance-Free, Gated Community with a choice of Single Family Homes and Villa Homes with tile roofs.

Close to the white sand beaches and azure blue water of the Golf of Mexico, Golf Courses to challenge beginners to professionals, the quaint shopping district and some of the best fresh and salt water fishing and boating.

Ideal location for day trips to Tampa Busch Gardens and Walt Disney World.

Call or E-mail us today and we will rush you an Information Package
(941) 586-0110 or roblindaclark@comcast.net

For the Lifestyle You Deserve

What Happens when First Time Buyers Can't Afford a Home?

When First Time Buyers are forced out of the market by too high prices and rising interest rates the market slows. Rates aren't coming down anytime soon so prices must. It's a Bear market !!!

Apartment Rents Up Dramatically

(June 15, 2006) -- Apartment rents rose faster during the first quarter than they have in five years as rising mortgage rates pushed potential buyers out of the market.

The average rent was a record $952 a month, a 5 percent gain from a year earlier and the largest percentage increase since 2001 when rents rose 8.3 percent in the first quarter.

The top rental market in the country is Miami, where the vacancy rate is 1 percent, according to M/PF YieldStar, a Carrollton, Texas-based research company. Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is No. 2, at 1.7 percent. Cincinnati and Cleveland are at the bottom of the company's ranking of 57 markets, with vacancy rates of 9.5 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively.

Source: Bloomberg News (06/15/06)

Most Expensive Home For Sale

Selling the Priciest House in All the Country
(June 5, 2006) -- Anyone who wants to tour the house with the highest asking price in the country better be prepared to prove a net worth of $500 million or annual salary of $10 million.

The house is a 30,000-square-foot mansion known as Portabello perched on a cliff in Corona del Mar, Calif., south of Newport Beach. It’s priced at $75 million.

Some local real estate professionals are shaking their heads. ''Every agent in town is talking about it,'' says real estate associate Mark Whitehead, who sells homes in Corona del Mar. "It's a joke. It's an image thing. It's an ego trip to sell the most expensive home on the market.''

Bill Cote, owner of Cote Realty Group in Newport Beach, noted Portabello's asking price is 300 percent more than the highest amount paid for an Orange County home.

The Listing Agent declined to comment but released a statement saying that the house was reasonably priced considering the land was worth $45 million and it would cost up to $1,500 per square foot to rebuild the home.

The estate belongs to Frank Pritt, who in 1982 founded software maker Attachmate Corp., a large privately held technology company in Bellevue, Wash.

Source: The Los Angeles Times, Mai Tran (06/04/2006)

BILL GATES 11 RULES

To anyone with kids of any age, and to all of us who were kids once, here is some advice from Bill Gates. He talked about how feel-good, and politically correct teachings, created a generation of kids with no concept of reality, and how this method was setting them up for failure in the real world. His 11 Rules:

Rule 1: Life is not fair ... get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. However, the world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you start feeling good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school, and you won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers at McDonalds should not be beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping . . . they called it OPPORTUNITY.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own bedroom.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with recognizing that there are winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have even abolished failing grades, and they'll give you as much time as you want to get the right answer on an exam. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. You are supposed to do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop, and go out and find a job.

Rule 11: Be nice to NERDS. Chances are you will end up working for one.

People are Talking about Rob & Linda Clark

Dear Rob and Linda

Just a short note of thanks for all your efforts in selling our Condo.

You two were always available to answer our questions or to calm our anxieties. The team approach that you exhibited ensured a quick sale of our residence by using the complementary skills that you two possess.

Would we use you again on a future Real Estate sale? Definitely!! And we have told many people to hire the "Clark Team" when they're ready to Buy or Sell.

Thanks again for all your help!

Jim and Elaine Moslener

Barron's Housing Report

Florida Real Estate

The Sunday edition of Barron's reports that second home prices are plunging in certain areas of the U.S., and says it may signal a multi-year correction for the housing market.

Take a look at some of this evidence from Barron's:
• In Naples, FL, sales of homes costing less than $1 million declined 45% in unit volume in the first four months of this year. More expensive homes fell 34%.

Barron's implicates speculative investors as the main reason for the pull back in prices. "The danger," says Barron's, "is that if enough of those investors decide the market has peaked, they could trigger a selling frenzy throughout the second-homes market. That, in turn, could add to the pressures in the main housing market.

Florida had a large percentage of speculator-owned homes: Naples at 45 percent and Cape Coral/Ft. Myers at 40 percent. The average level of investor-owned homes is generally 14 percent.

Ingo Winzer, president of The Local Market Monitor, comments to Barron's, "This makes me very worried because it implies that the price increases have been driven more by speculators than by people who are going to hold onto these properties, and indicates to me that there's a speculative boom."

The price jumps of the past decade or so have brought homes to (un)affordability levels not seen in years. Homes are overvalued in Florida, California, and several other vacation-home spots.

Homes in Naples, FL, says the company, are 96 percent overvalued based on income levels, population densities, and historical prices. Port St. Lucie/Ft. Pierce, FL, homes are 75 percent overvalued, and Ft Lauderdale homes are 54 percent overvalued.

But, Barron's does leave some room for hope. The magazine points out that the baby-boom generation continues to pile up inherited and earned wealth. And those baby boomers will likely buy a second home to retire to. In the long-run, points out Barron's, these may just be profitable investments.

The question is do you have enough time to wait out the storm or do you just want get on with your life?

People are Talking about Rob and Linda Clark

"Rob and Linda Clark make a great team. Their experience and attention to detail is why we have chosen them to represent us on 3 real estate transactions over the past 3 years. They have gone so far as to monitor the progress of our last project via digital photos and commentary even though the property was well outside their home selling area. They have high integrity standards and have been a pleasure to work with, we would use them again without hesitation!"

Jim and Kelly Whitaker

Savings Help from Parents and Grandparents

Start to save Early

Let's suppose that you are 16 years old, in high school, and willing to work. Let's also suppose that you can clear about $2,000 over the course of a summer, if only because a doting grandparent puts money in the Roth while you take your earnings to school. If you invest in a Roth IRA, it will grow, tax-free, for as long as you have the account. All withdrawals from the account after age 59 1/2 will be tax-free.

If your money is invested in common stocks and you achieve the average compound annual rate on large-capitalization U.S. stocks, 10.7%, your account will grow to $9,378 at the end of the fourth year. You will be 20 years old. Invested in the same way, with no additional savings, the account will grow to:
• $25,917 by the time you are 30
• $71,625 by the time you are 40
• $197,943 by the time you are 50
• $547,037 by the time you are 60
• And $1,114,423 by the time you are 67
And you will have started and finished all of your saving before turning age 21.

SHOULD ARM LOANS BE REFINANCED?

Don't believe all the scary hype in the Media

(May 31, 2006) -- Home owners who took out adjustable-rate mortgages are facing big payment increases. But refinancing may not be the best solution, experts say.

ARMs made up 42 percent of all new home mortgages in 2005, up from 14 percent in 2003, according to LoanPerformance, a San Francisco-based research outfit.

As one example of how payments have increased, the starting rate on a 3/1 ARM — a loan with a fixed rate for three years — has risen to 6.17 percent from 3.80 percent in 2003. That translates into a $220-per-month increase.

But before they refinance to lower their payments, ARM borrowers should consider standing pat. If the annual adjustment is capped at 2 percent, the rate will rise to 5.8 percent in the first year — that's less than a 30-year fixed rate right now.

Plus, refinancing costs are high, says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH Associates, which tracks the mortgage industry.And by the time another year rolls around, rates could go back down.

Gumbinger is among those who believe the Fed’s next move will be to push rates back down to jumpstart a slowing economy.

Source: SmartMoney, Reshma Kapadia (06/01/2006)

IS IT A BUYER"S MARKET?

Sarasota Housing Market Struggles
March 2005 compared to March 2006
Realtors Sold 45% fewer homes in March 2006 than in March 2005
Sarasota's 22% decline in closings was the highest in Florida
Values rose 5% in Florida but Sarasota-Bradenton's $321,400 median sales price showed a 6% decline from $340,667

Median price is the price where half the homes sold for more and half the homes sold for less. People buy as much home as they can afford so someone buying a $400,000 home today will land more home than they would have last year. Actual prices may have declined 10-20% over the past year.

Conclusion:With the current huge inventory of homes and rise in interest rates it's naturally going to take longer to sell and the price you are going to get may not be the one you envisioned.