One recent morning, Shannon Moore raced through a musty pink house — three bedrooms, two baths — that was advertised as having “good bones” and “primed for renovation.” As in many recently foreclosed homes in Florida, the appliances and air-conditioner were missing from this one, either taken by the previous residents or stolen.
”It’s not as bad as I thought,” Ms. Moore said. “You could probably get this place fixed up for $8,000. You could get a refrigerator on Craigslist for $200.”
“$70,000?” she asks aloud, referring to the list price. “What the heck?” Ms. Moore, a real estate broker, has found a profitable niche in the wreckage of Florida’s real estate market, where a glut of vacant homes continues to depress prices. She scouts out deals for several groups of investors, including one that counts a professional poker player as a member and a group of Macedonians from Toronto.
Just a few years back, real estate investors were considered pariahs for fomenting a buying frenzy that drove home prices to stratospheric levels. This time around, housing experts say investors are desperately needed because there are so many vacant homes and homebuyers are having such trouble obtaining credit.
“If Florida is going to have a comeback anytime soon, investors are going to have to play a role,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “There are just too many properties for traditional home buyers to absorb.”
Source:NYTimes
”It’s not as bad as I thought,” Ms. Moore said. “You could probably get this place fixed up for $8,000. You could get a refrigerator on Craigslist for $200.”
“$70,000?” she asks aloud, referring to the list price. “What the heck?” Ms. Moore, a real estate broker, has found a profitable niche in the wreckage of Florida’s real estate market, where a glut of vacant homes continues to depress prices. She scouts out deals for several groups of investors, including one that counts a professional poker player as a member and a group of Macedonians from Toronto.
Just a few years back, real estate investors were considered pariahs for fomenting a buying frenzy that drove home prices to stratospheric levels. This time around, housing experts say investors are desperately needed because there are so many vacant homes and homebuyers are having such trouble obtaining credit.
“If Florida is going to have a comeback anytime soon, investors are going to have to play a role,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “There are just too many properties for traditional home buyers to absorb.”
Source:NYTimes
IT WAS left devastated by the credit crunch. In Florida, property prices plunged and then virtually collapsed with thousands of homes being repossessed and then boarded up because there were no buyers.
But now there are signs of a burgeoning recovery with investors snapping up what they think are bargains.
Estate agent Shannon Moore is a real estate broker who has found a profitable niche in the wreckage of Florida's market.
Just a few years ago, real estate investors were considered pariahs for fomenting a buying frenzy that drove home prices to stratospheric levels. Now housing experts say investors are desperately needed because there are so many vacant homes and homebuyers are having such trouble obtaining credit.
"If Florida is going to have a comeback any time soon, investors are going to have to play a role," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "There are just too many properties for traditional homebuyers to absorb."
Data released by the National Association of Realtors recently shows that investors represented 17 per cent of all home sales in 2010 nationwide. This is the same as the previous year, but in recent months, investment activity has picked up, according to Walter Molony, an association spokesman, who attributed the increase to relatively cheap prices and the lack of available credit for homebuyers.
There is no shortage of deals in Florida. The Census Bureau recently reported that 17 per cent of the homes in Florida were vacant. Even though the figure includes holiday homes that were unoccupied at the time of the survey, the underlying rate within the state reflects a sustained downturn.
Source:scotsman
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