TeamDuncan Blog

Kudos to Washington for extending the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and for expanding it to provide up to $6,500 in credits to homebuyers moving up into new primary residences. This brings much needed opportunity to many more homebuyers who want to get into the market and helps to provide greater stimulus for our economy. Continue reading ARE HAPPY DAYS HERE AGAIN?

I was so pleased to see that two local Sarasota celebrities, HGTV’s Design Star Contestant Jason Champion and “Chic on the Cheap” author Mark Dalton will face off on a home style competition for Manatee County Habitat for Humanity and unveil their designs for two Habitat homes on Saturday, November 14. The proceeds from this event will benefit the County’s Habitat and celebrate the building of their 100th home in a new 12-home community situated in Palmetto named Washington Park. Continue reading CHIC “BIG SHOTS” COMPETE IN MANATEE

With summer over and our season about to “kick in,” many of our customers who took advantage of great pricing to jump into the vacation rental market are now wondering how to go about renting those properties, more specifically, if they should hire a management company or try to go it alone. Continue reading TO MANAGE OR NOT TO MANAGE? NO CONTEST!

Darcie Duncan was recently featured in Scene magazine based in Sarasota, FL. In a special issue entitled Women on the Scene, they focus on “more than 100 women who contribute a great deal to the fabric of our local society. Some started their own businesses, others became professionals in their chosen fields, and many of them give of their talents and financial assistance in support of community nonprofits.” Continue reading Darcie Duncan featured in Sarasota’s Scene Magazine

Once in a while it’s fun to see what trends, if any, may be evident in the luxury home market. A recent overview of MLS sales and listing data for both Anna Maria and Longboat key regarding this particular segment, i.e. properties selling at or over one million dollars, uncovered a few interesting revelations. Single family luxury homes sold for about the same average price as luxury condos since last October, and while three times as many of these residences sold on Longboat Key than did on Anna Maria Island, there’s only a 28% differential between the average sales price of a luxury property on Longboat Key ($1,877,000) and on Anna Maria ($1,344,000). Considering, however, that the average square footage of a Longboat Key luxury property was 3,300 while on Anna Maria it was 2,600, Anna Maria property sold at around 3 percent more a square foot! Continue reading LUXURY IS LUXURY IS LUXURY…

Having just become a Certified Distressed Property Expert®, like several of my TeamDuncan Associates who are CDPE’s or about to become CDPE’s, I’d like to advise any and every homeowner out there who thinks they may be facing foreclosure at some point in time, to know that they’ve got allies among our group who hold specific understanding of the complex issues confronting the real estate industry, and the foreclosure avoidance options available to homeowners. Continue reading CDPE’s TO THE SHORT SALE RESCUE!

There’s a new tool available to realtors that will come in handy for sellers and buyers wanting a clear understanding of trends in the marketplace and how that will affect pricing or offers. It’s called the Market Conditions Report that can be accessed via MLS, and it is actually part of the required information residential property appraisers must submit when delivering appraisals for Fannie Mae loans. For realtors, this report will come in handy as we work with sellers and buyers to evaluate property values. Continue reading WANT TO UNDERSTAND MARKET CONDITIONS? JUST ASK YOUR REALTOR!

A recent front page article in the Wall Street Journal provides and astounding portrait of the growing divide between the mass housing market (under $300,000) and the high end market—generally defined as homes that cost above $750,000. Partly due to the housing rescue plan which is stirring first time home buyers to get out in droves and continued low mortgage and down payment rates, the divide is also being caused as the affluent take to saving cash, following large economic losses. Additionally, the article notes that inventory of high end homes is on the rise, as are defaults and deficiencies of prime jumbo mortgages, leading analysts to predict overall price declines of 60% –way above the 40% of the rest of the market. Continue reading HIGH END FACING HIGH PRESSURE

The Florida Association of Realtors announced last week that Florida existing home sales had risen for the 10th consecutive month in the year-to-year comparison as well as in the May 2009 to June 2009 comparison. Sales of existing homes rose by 28% over last June, while condos were the biggest winner with a 39% increase over last year, and an 8.3% increase over condo sales in May this year. Of course, these great figures sent me poring over my MLS stats to see where Manatee County and the Island stand. Continue reading AND THE WINNER IS….. THE CONDO!

The virtues of Anna Maria Island and its restaurants are extolled by Cindy Price of the New York Times in the July 26th issue. The Sandbar Restaurant, the Rod & Reel, The Sign of the Mermaid, The Starfish Company, the Beach Bistro and Skinny’s vs. Duffy’s rivalry are all featured in Price’s witty article. Read the article…