The government’s partial shut down this past month doesn’t seem directly related to the Real Estate market. But like many other areas of finance in the country, the effects of the shut down are trickling through in ways many Realtors expected but hoped to avoid.

The most affected area of Real Estate? Loans. “Most lenders rely on IRS transcripts regularly to qualify buyers for their loans,” Sarah Burbage of Movement Mortgage told us. “If they cannot summon a transcript, loan applications are delayed. That's why you need lenders like Movement who can often find other ways of qualifying buyers. A lot of lenders can't do that and so right now, buyers are stuck." The IRS began releasing transcripts again on January 8, but the transcript requests are

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You don’t often hear about agents from the same brokerage helping each other if they’re not a team. Typically agents like to keep their tools and their clients close to the chest. At Round Table Realty, it’s different.

Kim Harshaw, an incredible RTR agent who joined us at the beginning of 2018, hit the ground running. A Washington D.C. transplant, she had nothing to work with but time and leads, and she quickly proved she was willing to do what it took to build up a solid client base here in Jacksonville and the beaches. 

Leslie Dow is an RTR agent and Broker-Associate here at The Table with a knack for technology and an incredible dedication to helping others. So when Kim took a holiday trip back to D.C., she called Leslie.
“I got a call…

You can spend a weekend on the couch watching HGTV and take notes on home trends. Chip and Joanna or those Property Brothers are a great resource, but unless you are a professional carpet-straightener with an all-in investment of $800,000, there's a good chance you won't ever achieve those levels of trend-greatness. 

 

In better news, having a Realtor on your side will actually give you a tremendous advantage. Realtors are going in and out of houses all day every day. They're watching trends in real time. So while the following trend tips can help, your specific home might call for different trends. First and foremost, find a Realtor who can tell you if this list applies to your home...

Trend #1 -  Backsplash Take a chance on your…

You've heard it everywhere. (We have, too.)

“It’s a sellers’ market!”

When Real Estate agents shout from the rooftops that we’re in a sellers’ market, we often look at each other and cringe. Here’s why:

Some Real Estate agents believe that a sellers’ market means sellers can jack up the price of their homes and still sell. However, this is the downslide we’ve watched time and time again in brokerages all around town. When the homes don’t sell (because the value of the home doesn’t match up with the selling price), sellers panic and ask their Real Estate agent to lower the price. This is what we call The Slow Death. A little at a time, agents continue to lower the price of the home over weeks and months until, eventually, they hit the range of the

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It seems so easy. The property taxes are listed right there in the city records! Our clients regularly check those records to get an idea of what their taxes will be when they purchase their new property or home. The trouble? Most real estate agents never even go over property taxes, let alone put a blinding STOP to clients trying to figure them out on their own. Eek!
The taxes on the property you're purchasing are simply-put not the same as the taxes were for the previous owners. In some cases they're far more than what the previous owners were paying, depending on how long they'd been in the property and whether or not they rented it out. And to determine how you'll be taxed on your new property, you need an expert.
With so many nuances involved in

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Single Agency, Dual Agency and Transaction Broker Relationship

What is Agency?

Dual agency is outlawed in many states, including Florida. The issue with dual agency is that the sales associate (licensed agent) enters into a relationship with a client to whom he or she owes a fiduciary duty, also known as obedience, loyalty, disclosure and confidentiality but he or she couldn't do that for both. She is working on behalf of one client in all matters pertaining to a specific real estate transaction. That is the definition of agency.  In Florida, we refer to having a fiduciary duty as single agency.

The Problem with Dual Agency

Dual agency is just what it says it is: an attempt to act in both the buyer and seller’s best

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Could NW St. Johns County Become The Place To Be?

My Case For It

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=547842

St. Johns, FL - So I've been thinking a lot about NW St. Johns County and its potential and we've all been chomping at the bit for the area to take off and I think that time is before us.  However, could it be even bigger than anticipated? I wonder out loud.
We already have a lot going for us in the area, as we all know and tout vociferously. Let me count some of the ways. We are located within a comfortable drive to one of the nicest beaches in the state (Ponte Vedra Beach and Mickler's Landing, not to mention those along A1A headed to St. Augustine). We are minutes from the fastest and most accessible thoroughfare in the

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  Posted by Howard Flaschen on Sunday, February 14, 2016

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