Sep 30, 2007

Watson Realty reports average sales price in Orlando region.

Year to date average sales prices were reported this week from the offices in the Orlando area real estate market. A sample of office reports are as follows:

  • Orlando/Maitland at $354,210
  • Oviedo at $325,007
  • Kissimmee at $309,157
  • Clermont at $373,262

If you would like to know the value of your home, give me a call at 407-681-4432.


Related Florida real estate views:

Average price of a home in 1959

Watson Realty reports average sale price.

Price adjusting equals sales


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Sep 29, 2007

Casselberry real estate stays below Google's radar

Casselberrry Florida is within 7 miles of downtown Orlando Florida but appears to have not been found by Google base.

Google base has over the last year or so been showing near the top of most "(City) real estate" searches. Casselberry is in our market area and for now seems to be unnoticed by the Google.

Casselberry is a fantastic and affordable area to purchase a home in Central Florida. If you want current information about homes for sale in Casselberry, visit our Casselberry homes for sale page.

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Casselberry condo in a ski lake community for sale

Casselberry home for sale

Casselberry Florida condo market


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Holding an open house to sell your home.


This weekend like many weekends in the past will find Realtors in the Central Florida real estate market holding open their listings in hopes of finding a buyer.


Is this an effective way to market a home?


Here is an informative article on how to make sure your open house is a success.
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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Sep 28, 2007

An interview with Watson Realty's Central Florida Regional Director Ken Bennett .

The following is an exclusive interview with Watson Realty's Central Florida Regional Director, Mr. Ken Bennett concerning today's Florida real estate market conditions.


Question: How would you describe the current Florida real estate market?

Mr. Bennett: The Florida real estate market is in a period of transition and adjustment after experiencing record annual sales since 2001. From a sellers perspective the market is highly competitive due to record inventories throughout the state, yet this is great news for purchasers as there has never been a greater selection of homes to choose from and prices have been softening throughout the state. It’s a great time to buy.


Question: What advice would you offer today’s home seller?

Mr. Bennett: Today’s home seller needs to 1) Price their property below any and all direct competition; 2) Completely catch up on all deferred maintenance… new paint, new carpeting, landscaping, etc. The home has to be in ‘showroom condition’; and 3) Listen to the advice of their Realtor when it comes to price adjustments. If you have complied with recommendations 1 and 2 above and haven’t received an offer to purchase within the first thirty to forty-five days, you need to bring your asking price down as the market is telling you the buyers are taking advantage of better buys elsewhere.

Today’s market is still active, but the qualified buyers are waiting for the best values to come on the market. When the best buys do become available, they are normally purchased within days of being placed on the market.


Question: What advice would you offer today’s home buyer?

Mr. Bennett: Do your homework. Ask your Realtor to research values within your intended price range over the last six to twelve months. Compare what has sold against what hasn’t sold within your price range to determine a realistic price point range for what you are looking for, based on what has actually SOLD vs. what is currently listed for sale. Ask your Realtor for the average listing vs. selling price differential so you’ll have a solid perspective as to what you should offer a potential home seller for their property. If your offering price is too low, you can upset and alienate a seller and lose leverage when attempting to negotiate favorable terms such as closing cost assistance, subordinate financing, etc.

And lastly, very carefully scrutinize the lender that you select to finance your purchase. Don’t be mislead by interest rates that sound too good to be true. Ask your Realtor for recommendations as to reputable lenders that they have had solid success with in the past… I would recommend steering clear of online lending institutions or lenders that are outside of our immediate area as you want to be able to deal personally with a lending institution when and if you run into some challenges on the way to closing your loan.


Question: What are the biggest challenges facing real estate agents today?

Mr. Bennett: Educating home sellers and home buyers as to current market values in 2007. The market is driven by two principles, supply and demand. When the demand for housing is high and the inventory levels are low, we relate to that as being a sellers market and prices escalate accordingly. A prime example of that phenomenon was in 2005 in Central Florida and in many other markets throughout the state. Conversely, when inventory is high and demand is low, we label that as being a buyers market and that’s where we find ourselves today.

The Realtor plays an important role in both the aforementioned markets by bringing buyers and sellers together at what is deemed to be a reasonable price, given the current market conditions. Today’s real estate agent has to work very closely with home owners to establish a realistic fair market value range for their property that reflects today’s values, not the escalated values we experienced in years past. That is a very real and present challenge to today’s Realtor as home sellers don’t want to lose any more equity in their homes then they have to while seeking a range of value that both fair and reasonable in today’s market.

Once again, properties that are priced properly sell quickly, those that aren’t don’t. It’s that simple.



Question: When do you expect the Florida real estate market to stabilize?

Mr. Bennett: The market will stabilize when the overall balance of supply and demand is achieved. Until current record inventories throughout the state are reduced to more manageable and recognizable levels, our market will continue to experience the dynamics we’ve witnessed throughout 2007.

The overall impact of the sub-prime lending boom that we’re just now beginning to obtain data on will also effect not only future mortgage lending practices and guidelines, but will further exacerbate the increased inventory or supply issues we’re experiencing due to the foreclosure of a fairly large percentage of those sub-prime mortgage loans.


Question: With more and more buyers starting their home search online, what changes have/are you making to capture these potential customers?

Mr. Bennett: Our data suggests that upward of seven out of ten perspective home buyers initiate their searches online. As such, we are continuing to focus a significant amount of our attention and resources towards our corporate website. Watsonrealtycorp.com wants to be positioned as the vehicle to address, answer, and assist with any and all real estate related issues for today’s real estate buyer and seller, and to make that process as simple and expedient as possible. Our goal is to be THE website that anyone would want to bookmark for all their real estate needs, and to have them come back to our site time and time again for any real estate related questions or interests that they might have.


Question: Do you blog?

Mr. Bennett: Yes



Final comments?

Mr. Bennett: This is the very best time to purchase real estate in Florida that we’ve experienced in recent memory. ‘Sitting on the fence’ and waiting for prices to drop further is a risky strategy inasmuch as any benefits that you are likely to realize by doing so will most certainly be offset by what you are losing in tax savings and what is sure to be a gradual yet stable increase in value over the next five-to-ten years. Get together with your Realtor and mortgage finance professional and take advantage of this window of opportunity that surely won’t last much longer. Ninety-six percent of the wealthiest people in this country have established their wealth through investment in real estate. It is still the American Dream… make yours come true today.



Mr. Bennett's bio: Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ca, and attended L.A. Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Ca. Served on active duty in the United States Navy for five years and was honorably discharged in 1977 and obtained my license to sell real estate in the Washington, DC. Area. Received many sales honors in the ensuing years and was issued my Broker’s License for the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1982, and have been actively engaged in real estate management since that time. 2007 marks my thirtieth year in this industry.

Related Florida real estate views:

More people sharing living arrangements suggest University of Florida

Homebuyers and sellers in Florida may have fewer Realtors to choose from

Real estate agent costs rise as income dwindles


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Sep 26, 2007

Watson Realty continues to caravan residential listings

Watson Realty has been in the real estate business in Florida for over 40 years. We continue to lead the way when it comes to our marketing efforts.

There is one tool we continue to use that seemingly has been forgotten by our competitors and that is the weekly caravan of new listings.

Each week our associates hop into each other's cars and form a nice caravan with the goal of personally visiting the new listings taken in office. We will normally visit anywhere from 4 to 10 homes of our newest sellers each week.

Why do we continue to do this basic marketing step with so many advancements in technology taking real estate marketing to a new and exciting level? The answers are simple.

We still believe that a good salesperson needs to physically see their inventory. We have a better chance of selling a home if we personally have been to the home, enjoyed the view, studied the layout, noticed the little things that make the house a home all with the goal of highlighting these same features to our buyers.

Additionally we believe that as a group we can review pricing and staging in order to advise our seller and the agent to points they may be overlooking. All with the goal of helping to facilitate the sale.

Selling a home is a team effort. We value the trust each seller places with us and strive to do all we can to sell their home.

Even caravan.


Related Florida real estate views:

Does your agent have enough money to advertise your home?

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Free report on why your home did not sell.


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Sep 18, 2007

Using a twenty dollar bill to explain the importance of pricing a home correctly

Proper pricing when listing homes is the name of the game from this point forward at our Orlando Watson Realty office. With a record number of homes on the market and a limited amount of buyers it is extremely important to advise sellers on the real market value of their home, both at the listing appointment and during the listing contract period.

To drive home the importance of listing a home at its real value I brought to our sales meeting a twenty-dollar bill. At the beginning of the meeting I announced that a friend has asked me to sell the bill for him at today's meeting. I placed it on the dry erase board and wrote the offering price my imaginary friend asked me to sell his $20.00 for. I received a few chuckles when I wrote down the $50.00 list price. I further explained that any agent at the meeting that wishes to purchase the bill must have the cash with them at the meeting. The point being that there would be a few in my meeting not qualified to buy much like buyers we meet in our day to day business. Then I asked if there were any interested agents wishing to purchase my $20 for $50 and of course I had no takers.

Continuing on with the meeting for the next 15 minutes, we discussed several other important real estate topics.

After 15 minutes, I turned my attention back to the $20. With still no offers, I suggested that maybe I am not advertising it properly and enough. So I took out a colored dry erase marker and wrote a big “for sale” over the $20 with an arrow pointing to the bill. This advertisement guaranteed that every potential buyer in the room saw the $20 for sale at $50 and yet...still no offers.

30 minutes into our meeting, I reduced the price by $5.00. No offers

5 minutes later I offered a $5.00 selling bonus to the agent who would give me $40.00 for my $20.00. Even with this agent bonus, no offers.

I lowered the price yet again to $30.00 and told my agents that my friend had someone else look at this $20.00 and it was definitely worth every bit of his asking price. This tactic did not sway anyone to make an offer.

I then informed my group of agents that if I sell this $20.00 for my imaginary friend, he promised that I could sell other $20's for him in the future. Still, no offers.

Before further reducing the price of my $20, I made sure that the agents knew that my friend needed to realize a certain amount of money so he could buy the 100 dollar bill he had his eyes on. This admission netted the same result, no offers.

Finally I made sure that they understood that at $30.00, this was the lowest priced 20-dollar bill being offered for sale at this meeting. That too, produced no offers

With just a few minutes left in the meeting a quick thinking agent made an offer of 15 dollars cash, then seconds later another agent offered 17 dollars and I sold my 20-dollar bill.

What were the lessons learned?

Value is determined by a set of facts as they exist at the time a seller is trying to sell. You cannot get more than a property is worth by increasing the advertisement, you cannot get more than a property is worth by offering special incentives, and a property’s value is not determined by a seller’s need or opinion of value. You could fly an airplane directly above an over priced listing 24 hours a day with a big banner flying behind advertising the home and if the home is over priced, even with this type of advertisement, it will not sell. Property is worth what the market determines it to be worth. In this case, the $20 sold for less than real value.

Possibly because it was over priced to begin with?

With a limited number of qualified buyers searching the market for the best use of their hard earned dollars and an ever increasing listing inventory, our agents are advising sellers to carefully consider our market opinions and list their homes within our suggested price point range.

The twenty-dollar bill experiment gives them more confidence in their ability to advise their seller’s correctly about value and pricing.


Related Florida real estate views:

Will it sell for a dollar?

Florida Realtors who test the market may receive a failing grade.

Home not selling? What does your agent say?


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Sep 13, 2007

Watson Realty heading to Montreal

Watson Realty announced on Tuesday the destination of their 2008 incentive trip. Associates who qualify for this sales contest which runs from September 12th to December 31, 2007 will enjoy round trip air and 4 nights at the Fairmount The Queen Elizabeth.

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Who do you know that is interested in doing something related to real estate?

Watson Realty wins award

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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Sep 8, 2007

Florida Realtors who test the market may receive a failing grade.


Realtors who agree to test the market and list a home over it's real market value, may be making an unwise decison. This becomes increasingly true as conditions continue the same in this current Florida real estate market.

In the past an associate may have had the option to add a few dollars to the suggested sales price to appease a seller without too much concern about affecting the potential sale.

This liberty does not exist today. The current market is not forgiving. Homeowners who list their homes higher than the market suggests risk reducing the already limited numbers of buyers who may be interested in their home. Buyers today are offered more choices than ever before and, more than likely, they will have purchased a well priced home long before the agent and seller realize their error and start reducing the price.

The continuous increase of homes being offered for sale, with the number of homes sold decreasing, is an indication of at least 2 points. First, a large group of sellers have yet to recognize that the days of incredible appreciation have ended and secondly, a large section of real estate professionals have never experienced this type of market and are clueless as to how to properly advise their customer base.

Lack of experience and training have real estate agents confused as they arrive at their listing appointments with real data that clearly indicates that the home has not appreciated since the owner purchased it within the last few years and in some extreme cases, may now be worth even less then the owner paid. They hate to walk away from a listing so they give in to magical thinking and take the listing at a price that they know they can never get for the seller.

This type of testing will only lead to frustration and undue stress to both seller and Realtor.
Those agents who are confident of their abilities will walk away from a potential listing that has no chance of selling at the seller's desired price, devoting their time and energy instead to those sellers who value their knowledge and professionalism.
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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

August home sales in Orlando lowest of the year


Information provided by the Mid-Florida MLS today reported 571 closed sales in August. This is the lowest monthly units reported thus far for the year. Past months reports sales as follows:



  • January 687

  • February 754

  • March 806

  • April 686

  • May 738

  • June 674

  • July 647

Related Florida real estate views:

Where can you find a foreclosed home in Florida?

11,643 homes for sale in Orlando

Orlando home sales in February


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Watson Realty announces top Orlando sales associate

Watson Realty recognized Sara Jo Rusch of our Orlando-Maitland office as the top producing sales associate in the Orlando region for August. Sara Jo is a luxury home specialist with many successful years in the Orlando real estate market.









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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Sep 6, 2007

Watson Realty associates to attend a pre-foreclosure seminar in Orlando

Watson Realty associates in Central Florida will be attending a seminar conducted by Dan Miller & Chris Kyle of Right Now Consulting Speaking On…

“How to Grow Your Income with Pre-Foreclosure Sales!”

This exciting seminar will teach the fundamentals of working with a homeowners that are in financial distress.

Our associates will learn:
  • How pre-foreclosure sales (PFS) are affecting the market and how to communicate that information to potential customers
  • The elements of the PFS process and how real estate agents will need to work with banks to properly conduct a sale
  • The who, what when, where, why and how of the PFS process and procedure game. Contact info and bank-specific data to make the process seamless
  • How to make the most out of your PFS capabilities. Includes a basic outline for a presentation in real estate agent environments and specific ways to attract new clients with your PFS information.

This event will be free to real estate agents in the 15 Central Florida Watson Realty offices.
Related Florida real estate views:
- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255