Summer Ushers in Highest Consumer Sentiment in Four Years

Summer Ushers in Highest Consumer Sentiment in Four Years

 The Consumer Reports Index, an overall measure of Americans’ personal financial health, saw a sharp improvement in its consumer sentiment measure, which jumped to its highest level since October 2008.

The rise in sentiment (53.1 from 47.5 the previous month) was broad-based, with significant gains among those Americans in households earning less than $50,000 (+5.5 pts) as well as more affluent households earning $100,000 or more (+7.7 pts).

“With more than half the country earning less than 50,000, any improvement among that group may have a significant impact on the economy. They still have some distance to climb, but these are positive signs,” explains Ed Farrell, director of Consumer Insight at the Consumer Reports National Research Center.

The improvement in consumers’ mood was supported by a decline in financial difficulties, which reached the lowest level since first measured in April 2009. The Consumer Reports Index’s Trouble Tracker, a gauge of financial difficulties faced by Americans in the past 30 days, dropped to 41.8, down from 46.5 last month.

The decline in financial troubles was evident in both lower- and upper-income households. However, the level of financial difficulties faced by those in households earning less than $50,000 is three times as great as experienced by those in more affluent households (earning $100,000 or more) as measured by the Trouble Tracker, 58.9 versus 19.5, respectively.

The Consumer Reports Index’s employment measure climbed into positive territory this month (50.9), up from 49.7 last month, indicating that more Americans have started a new job versus those that reported losing a job in the past 30 days. The employment measure’s improvement was driven by a gain in job starts (5.5 percent), up from 4.0 percent last month, reversing a three-month decline.

After a five-month slide, the index’s past 30-day retail measure moved upward this month to 9.9 from 8.9 a month earlier, but is virtually unchanged from a year ago (10.2). Planned purchasing over the next 30 days (8.6), reflecting intent to buy in July, was also up versus last month (7.0), but lags last year at this time (7.7).

Source: Consumer Reports

The Serena Group ~ Keller Williams Realty of Manatee

… is here for you!  Contact Us Today!

7 Issues That Will Prevent Your Home From Selling

7 Issues That Will Prevent Your Home From Selling

No curb appeal

Buyers won’t even go inside if the outside of the house looks unappealing.  Clean up your front yard by trimming trees and hedges, and getting rid of weeds. Make sure the outside of your home looks well cared-for by painting the trim, mowing the lawn, refreshing mulch and plant beds, and placing attractive potted plants by the front door.

Offensive Odors

You may have become accustomed to and not even notice bad odors that may be lurking in your home, but buyers most certainly will. Smoking and pets are the prime causes of offensive odors, so, if you’re a smoking household, smoke outside while you are selling your home and make sure to dispose of the ashes right away.  Take time to devise a plan for how to handle your pets while buyers will be viewing your home.  Make sure that they are always well-groomed, that their pillows and bedding are laundered frequently, litter boxes emptied and cleaned, and that any ‘accidents’ are thoroughly and completely eliminated.  Allow the house to air out thoroughly before viewings – don’t just try to mask the odor with another scent.  If a freshening scent is needed, place a pan of water or apple juice on the stove, set to simmer on a low setting, with cinnamon sticks, and lemon or orange slices.

Loud and intimidating pets

Apart from the odor of some animals, a big dog or noisy bird can be off-putting to some buyers. If that’s a concern for you, try to remove the pet from your home when you have viewings so your potential buyers aren’t distracted from appreciating the great features of your home by your pet, or worse, frightened.

Signs of Moisture or Mold

Problems with moisture are a big turn-off to buyers. Make sure your home doesn’t smell of mildew and there are no signs of mold or mildew on walls, cabinetry, sinks, bathroom showers, A/C units, or flooring. It’s much better to address and remedy moisture problems, proactively, before you get a buyer, than to wait until buyers point them out to you.

Dirt and Grime

Although dirt is usually only cosmetic, it sends a ‘red flag’ out to buyers, leaving the impression that; overall, the house isn’t well cared for. Make sure that your kitchen and bathrooms, in particular, are squeaky clean, as these areas are particularly scrutinized for cleanliness by potential buyers.

Questionable or Dated Décor

Although your home’s décor shouldn’t matter, due to the fact that it’s also a cosmetic fix or design choice, with many buyers it does influence their choices. ‘Move in ready homes’ are very appealing to home buyers and are usually at the top of their favorite’s list due to the fact that they can move in and get settled quickly without having to make a lot of changes. Given this reality, make it a priority, when getting your home ready to sell, to replace or refresh tired or out-of-date carpeting, flooring, paint,  or wallpaper with more neutral colors and modern scheme.

Pricing

If your home is overpriced compared to similar properties on the market for your neighborhood or community, you’ll be limiting buyer interest and activity, and it will be very likely that your home will sit on the market without getting solid offers. Pricing for your home depends on a number of important market conditions and factors, so it’s very important to seek out the advice of and engage a real estate professional that you trust, and then take their advice when it comes to setting a price for your home.

Follow the link below for more home selling tips from The Serena Group ▼

HOME SELLING, SHORT SALE, FORECLOSURE, TIPS, INFORMATION, AND RESOURCES!

If you’re contemplating or need answers to questions that you may have about a short sale of your home, The Serena Group is a team of distressed property experts and specialists, sharing 100+ years of real estate experience and expertise… We CAN help you!

Follow the link below to schedule a free short sale consultation ▼

The Serena Group offers online SHORT SALE CONSULTATION scheduling HERE!

or Contact our team leader, ROBERT SERENA directly ► 941.928.1248.

Bradenton, Sarasota, Manatee County, or Sarasota County Home Owner, Contemplating a Move?

If you’re thinking about the pros and cons of selling your home in the current Bradenton, Sarasota, Manatee County, or Sarasota County real estate market, here are a few key points to consider:

1. Low inventory in your neighborhood with high ‘buyer’ demand is usually indicative of a seller advantage or seller’s market for that area.  If this is the case for your neighborhood or subdivision, you may end up with multiple offers or a bidding war on your home, which is a great position to be in as a home owner!  Offers over the ‘list price’ are becoming more common for high demand areas.
2. Even if there are distressed property competitors or a higher inventory of available properties for sale in your neighborhood, if you’re selling a home and then buying a new home too, you could very well make up on the ‘buying side’ of the process what you might lose on the selling side.  In some instances, you might even gain more than you lose.  Enlist the assistance of a great real estate team/agent to give you an analysis of the real estate market for your area and to offer their professional interpretation of the facts.
3. Although the real estate market is moving in an upward direction, after a number of ‘down years,’ you still might be able to take advantage of a ‘move up’ opportunity or of purchasing a bigger, more elegant, or newer home at a price that may not be available long or be seen again for years.

Need an ear, a hand, or just some wise and professional real estate advice?

Contact The Serena Group today!

Our team of 7 seasoned agents is here for you with free online home research tools, market reports, a free home seller consultation, short sale resources, or a free market analysis for your home.

Email or contact our team leader, Robert Serena at ►  info@TheSerenaGroup.com

or by Direct phone ►941.928.1248.

If you do decide to sell your home, you may benefit from some of these excellent moving tips.

Vital Ideas to Make Moving as Easy as Possible

Moving is one of life’s most stressful events.  Here’s a quick guide to make your move as painless as possible.

Decide what not to pack

• Now’s a good time to declutter your life by deciding which items you don’t want to take with you. Decide what you want to give away, throw away, or sell.
• Get packing materials
• If you’re not using a professional mover, you’ll need to get some packing materials. Bookstores often have strong boxes they don’t want anymore — call on the day of a delivery to ask for them.
• Draw a floor plan — and use labels
• Create a plan of your new home that you can use as a guide throughout the moving process. Label each of your boxes according to this plan. And clearly list what’s in each of the boxes.

What to pack first

• Pack things you don’t need often first. Books, out-of-season clothes, and memorabilia make good candidates to go into boxes right away.
• Pack “essentials” boxes
• Mark some boxes as “essentials” and put in them the things you need on your first night in your new home.  That way you won’t waste time (and valuable energy) trying to find important things.

Food…and plants

• Food, particularly from the freezer, isn’t easily stored, so try to use it up. Put plants in big plastic bags to avoid dirt spilling.

6 Arguments for Buying Versus Renting a home

You’ve probably been bombarded by local and national real estate market news and information stating that “Now is the time to buy!”  

Especially if you are a first time home buyer, you might be asking yourself,

“Should I take the leap now into the real estate market to purchase a home?”  Or  “Is now the right time to buy a home?”

As much as all of the positive signs that we’re seeing in our local real estate market for the Sarasota, Bradenton, Manatee County, and Sarasota County area of Florida seems to provoke the answer to those questions to be a resounding “YES!” … buying a home is a very personal action with very unique and individual circumstances to be considered for making the right decision at the right time .  A ‘one size fits all’ answer to the questions posed above would not do you, as a home buyer,  justice as the unique person that you are.

The advantages to home buying versus renting a home are numerous, but only you can determine if those advantages outweigh your other personal situations.

The very best home buying advice that you could follow is to, first, sit down with your family to privately discuss your options, pros and cons of both home ownership and renting.  When you’ve got a clear picture of your family’s priorities and have decided to look into buying a home, poll your trusted family members, friends, and colleagues, do your research on the web, and then,  seek the advice and guidance of an experienced, seasoned, and skilled real estate team or professional.

A good real estate agent or team of agents will be happy to schedule a home buyer consultation to go over your list of priorities, home criteria, and personal family situations to help you to decide the best plan of attack for purchasing your new home.  A good real estate agent will also counsel you on the steps of buying a home so that you will feel comfortable all throughout the home buying process… from the beginning point of looking at homes, to the end of the line at the closing table when you finally take possession of the keys to your new home!

If you or anyone that you know would like to schedule a home buyer consultation with The Serena Group, please contact our team leader, Bob Serena, directly at ► 941.928.1248

Click to enlarge view!

Click to enlarge view!

Click to enlarge view!

Click to enlarge view!

Click to enlarg view!

Click to enlarge view!

Updates to Florida’s Hardest Hit Program for Underwater Homeowners

This past Friday, April 27, 2012, Changes to the eligibility requirements for Florida‘s Hardest Hit Fund Program were approved by the Florida Housing Board.  

Even after passing through the Florida Housing Board, the changes to Florida’s Hardest Hit Fund Program will not take effect until the US Treasury reviews, approves these changes, makes changes to their systems, and trains their staff.

Approved changes to Florida’s Hardest Hit Fund include:

• Increase of time period for homeowners to receive assistance increased from 6 months to 1 year.
• Cap for allowance to bring a loan current increased from $6000 to $18,000.
• Monies to bring a loan current will be given to the homeowner upon approval instead of later in the process, helping to minimize the damage to the homeowner’s credit.
• Monthly expense limitation of 31%, to qualify for money to bring the loan current, has been removed.

As of April 1, 2012, in Florida, nearly 90 million dollars has been earmarked to assist approximately 4,955 homeowners.

For more information or for an application visit: https://www.flhardesthithelp.org/ 

Changes and Updates to the HAFA Program for March 2012:

Changes and Updates to the HAFA Program for March 2012:

• The deadline for HAFA has now been extended to December 31, 2013 for submission of a Short Sale Agreement or a written request to the lender for considering a short sale.
• Very important!!  ► There are no longer any requirements, concerning occupancy,taken into consideration for HAFA eligibility. Previous to these changes, a homeowner had to have occupied the residence sometime within the previous 12 month period.
• Second lien holders can now receive up to $8,500 instead of the previous limitation of $6000.

For more information and details about the HAFA changes visit:  MORE HAFA INFORMATION AND DETAILS

Video report:  HAFA CHANGES

Bradenton, Manatee County, Golf Course, Homes for Sale

Bradenton, Florida, in Manatee county not only offers some great golf courses for golf enthusiasts… it also is home to some fabulous golf course home communities.  If you’re an avid golfer, you probably already know the benefits of living the ‘golfing lifestyle.’

Several members of our real estate team, The Serena Group, are not only experienced REALTORS, they’re also huge golfing fanatics.   In fact, a couple of them are very good players!  Since golf is our passion in real life, it only makes sense that our team also specializes in listing and selling golf course homes.  We know these golfing communities,  in the Bradenton, Manatee County area of Florida, inside and out.

If you’re new to the area, or just thinking of making your dream of living in a golf course community a reality, use the ‘quick links’ below to search for homes in a few of the more popular golfing communities in the area.

          

For a tour of other options or for a list of properties

              

Bradenton, Manatee County, Real Estate, News, Statistics, and Market Report

Welcome to the Latest Issue of The Serena Group Newsletter!

As a real estate professionals, we strive to keep in touch with our clients providing them with information that we hope they will find useful.

This newsletter is an opportunity to let you know about the state of the market & current trends. It may even touch on ways that you could enhance your home’s value.

We hope the market data & articles will help you with understanding real estate today & help you with your real estate decisions. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Robert Serena ~ Team Leader ~ 941.928.1248

Trend, Tips & Tricks

Manatee County in Florida Real Estate Sales Data

Average Listing Price (last 12 months)

Average List Price in January

Single Family Homes	$444,390	Condos/ Townhomes	$308,539	Multi-family	$325,437

Home Improvements and Which Ones to Do

Home Improvements and Which Ones to Do

Whether you plan to sell in the near future, or just want to improve the value of your home, here is one low cost improvement you should consider. Give your home curb appeal!
Landscape the front yard. If the bushes are overgrown, the birds are dining on grubs in your lawn, and dandelions are the only flowers in the front yard, perhaps it’s time to get out the gardening tools.
Landscaping today doesn’t mean three evergreen bushes on the right and three evergreen bushes on the left. There are dozens of choices of plant materials that can add color and style to your front yard. Stop by your local landscaping center – they’ll have lots of ideas for you. Know the measurements and layout of your yard so a landscaper can advise you on how many plants or supplies you need.

Manatee County in Florida Real Estate Sales Data

Days on Market (last 12 months)

Current Average Days on Market in January

Single Family Homes	176	Condos/ Townhomes	207	Multi-family	288

Monthly Trivia articles

February

Valentine’s Day (February 14) has been associated with romantic love for centuries, but modern day Valentines are often expressions of non-romantic love. Originally celebrated on All Saint’s Day in May, Valentine’s Day was moved to February in the 1400s.
February is named after the Latin word februare (to purify), in recognition of the Roman festival for forgiveness of sins on February 15. But not for sins committed on Valentine’s Day as the Roman festival was many centuries before Valentine’s Day moved to February.
The birth flower for February is the Violet or the Primrose. The modern birthstone is the Amethyst (security, sobriety, spirituality and wisdom) and the traditional birthstone is the Onyx (relaxation and comfort).

Manatee County in Florida Real Estate Sales Data

Price Reduction (last 12 months)

Recent Price Reductions in January

Single Family Homes	6.4%	Condos/ Townhomes	6.3%	Multi-family	11.8%

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Our team leader, Bob Serena, has completed the necessary education & training necessary to obtain his SFR (Short Sale & Foreclosure Resource) REALTOR® Designation.Not familiar with that acronym? What does that mean to you?It simply means that Bob has taken the time, energy, & expense to further educate himself on how to provide home buyers (as well as home sellers) with the very best real estate service with respect to Foreclosures & Short Sales.REALTORS® who have earned the SFR (Short Sale, Foreclosure Resource) certification know how to help home buyers pursue short sale & foreclosure opportunities. SFR Agents know the best ways & strategies to negotiate with lenders, protect buyers, & limit risk for their clients involved in short sale and foreclosure transactions.

Please use the form below to let us know how we might assist  you with your Real Estate plans!

Name(required)

Email(required)

Phone

Details

Submit

Δ

Real Estate Statistics and Market Conditions

The Map above shows the areas that are represented in the real estate data and statistics below

View this document on Scribd

Data Source ► MyFloridaRegional MLS

Click here for a ‘no strings,’ customized, free market report for your area or neighborhood!

Make 2012 the Year of the Home Sale

Homes for sale inventory levels in Manatee County have seen more than a 30% decline, year over year, from December 2010 to December 2011.

This presents home owners who are contemplating a home sale a fantastic window of opportunity to get your home on the market for sale before the possibility of home inventory levels rising again due to the release of foreclosure properties that have been held back and delayed by the banks.

Use the form below these helpful articles to contact The Serena Group for a free evaluation of your home and personal home selling circumstances… we’re here for you!

• 
  
  

  How to Use Comparable Sales to Price Your Home

  Before you put your home up for sale, use the right comparable sales to find the perfect price. Read

• 
  
  

  Keep Your Home Sale from Falling Apart

  After finding a buyer, all you have to do to make it to closing is to avoid these five traps. Read
• 
  
  

  7 Tips for Staging Your Home

  Make your home warm and inviting to boost your home’s value and speed up the sale process. Read
• 
  
  

  Find the Best Agent to Sell Your House

  Ask detailed questions about their experience and skills to help you find the right agent for your home sale. Read
• 
  
  

  5 Tips to Prepare Your Home for Sale

  Working to get your home ship-shape for showings will increase its value and shorten your sales time. Read

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

Copyright 2012 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Name(required)

Email(required)

Tell Us About Your Situation!(required)

Phone

Best Time to Reach You?

Submit

Δ