Friday, November 26, 2021

Marco Island Real Estate Stats and Commentary October 2021

The following stats compare October 2021 to October 2020


Sold Single Family Homes Down 38% (33 vs 54) 
Sold Condominiums Down 51% (38 vs 78)
Sold Single Family Vacant Lots DOWN 70% (9 vs 30)

Inventory:
92 Single Family Homes (DOWN 46% from 2020)
74 Condominiums (DOWN 77% from 2020)
67 Single Family Vacant Lots (DOWN 61% from 2020)
233 Total Homes, Condos, and Vacant Lots for sale. THIS NUMBER IS VERY LOW!

Summary:

A total of $80 Million dollars worth of real estate closed on Marco Island in October 2021. Last month we sold $81 Million and last October the number was $126 Million.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have not been keeping my 7.6 faithful readers up to date on the market, and for that, I apologize profusely.  In my last newsletter, I said there was unbridled enthusiasm in the market, well now that same horse is not only unbridled, but it also jumped the fence and is getting ready to run in the Kentucky derby, and my money is on it. The market is beyond hot, it is currently nuclear. In this market, just like my horse, you have to be fast. When properties come on the market they are selling in hours, not days, I kid you not.  The demand and money are there to back this up.  If you are looking to purchase you need to let me know and jump on it when something becomes available. Conversely, if you are looking to sell let me know and I will go over some of the strategies for each of you to make the deal a successful one. 

Speaking of nuclear, I recently had a doctor's appointment that required the doctor to get up close and personal. In the middle of the exam she looked, what I thought was lovingly into my eyes and said, "I love your cologne, what is it called". I said "fear" and she said "who makes it?", to which I replied "me".  She laughed and said I passed the sniff test, however, I failed the medical exam and I'm not talking about the one you take to become a doctor.  Anywho, she sent prescriptions to my Publix pharmacy and it took a week until they called and said they were ready to be picked which is 6 days longer than it normally takes, which I found odd. I then showed up to pick them up and was informed the one script was $1,300 for ten days of pills and that is WITH insurance.  When I heard this I almost had a heart attack and died right there. It then dawned on me that the insurance company does this on purpose because they want you to have a heart attack, think about it, it makes economic sense for them to get rid of you. Hah, nice try insurance company not to be named!  When I came back to my senses I asked the pharmacist why they only give you 10 days worth of pills and she said "well, you know".  I said, "what do I know?" She said, "you know".  I said, "listen you dirty drug dealer, tell me what's going on".  She said, "well, hopefully for you (not the insurance company), you show up next week and I'll give you another 10 days' worth, get it?" - the insurance company doesn't want to get in too deep because your family can't return any unused pills". After selling my one half-good kidney to pay for the pills I then strolled from the pharmacy department in Publix to the produce section and starred at the green bananas for a while until I decided that might be a bad investment. And, along the same vein, the insurance company has now assigned me a private nurse that checks in with me every day at 9:00 A.M. prompt.  I don't know if I'm paranoid or not, but it certainly seems to me she is disappointed when she hears my voice each day when I answer the phone and say "hello". I think she gets paid by the closed cases. BTW, the side effects of the medication are constipation, diarrhea, insomnia, drowsiness, numbness, tingling, erectile dysfunction that lasts 4 hours, memory loss, blurred vision, tremors, and then more diarrhea.  Luckily they gave me 10 days worth of some other stuff that is guaranteed to cure 3 of the side effects, I certainly haven't figured out which 3 yet.

Now, my faithful 7.6 readers know this fable has something to do with the current market and I hopefully have enough mental clarity at this moment to explain it. Here it is.  No matter what something costs, sometimes you just have to take the plunge and go for it. Sure, the market is hot right now and what you want to buy is now 30% - 40% more than a year or two ago.  Who cares! If you want something and have the money I say GO FOR IT!  You will get to enjoy that new home or condo and be happy you took the plunge. Nobody ever looks back and regrets a purchase on beautiful Marco Island.  This is what life is all about, no regurts, trust me.  The world as we knew it has changed and Marco has turned out to be the epicenter for the new world.  Kind of like the colony that will someday be started on Mars. As a matter of fact, I heard they were going to name the Martian colony "Marco" which is short for Martian Colony.

The inquiring 7.6 faithful readers demand to know The high and low Sales for February, and they are as follows:

Single-family home, 1061 Bonita Court for $2,900,000. Condo, Prince PH 1&2 closed for $3,200,000. The vacant lot at 1539 Heights Court closed for $6,100,000. Rumor has it that the purchaser of this lot has lots of problems, however, MONEY ain't one of them.
 
For the bargain hunters and those that are certainly in the money, a 3 bedroom home at 1061 Hartley closed for $310,000,  A condo in Aquarius G8 closed for $175,000, and a vacant lot at 383 Morning Glory Lane closed for $575,000. Lots are starting to vanish on Marco.


If you are thinking of using me as your Realtor, keep in mind that I will never be out thought or out fought.   


Past boring newsletters can be viewed here: https://viewmarco.blogspot.com/



Gerry Rosenblum

Broker Associate
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty

2013, 2012 & 2007 President Marco Island Area Association of 
Realtors
2008 Realtor of The Year - Marco Island 

239-450-4770 (cell)
1-888-239-5131 (toll-free e-fax)

1-800-237-8817 (toll-free)
To View the Entire Marco MLS go to: www.viewmarco.com




Thursday, April 1, 2021

Marco Island Real Estate Stats and Commentary - February 2021

 

The following stats compare February 2021 to February 2020


Sold Single Family Homes UP 41% (45 vs 32) 
Sold Condominiums UP 73% (76 vs 44)
Sold Single Family Vacant Lots UP 127% (39 vs 13)

Pending Single Family Homes UP 41% (116 vs 82)
Pending Condominiums UP 122% (153 vs 69)
Pending Single Family Vacant Lots UP 113% (66 vs 31)
(Pending means it went under contract but has not closed yet)

Inventory:
86 Single Family Homes (DOWN 72% from 2020)
139 Condominiums (DOWN 63% from 2019)
81 Single Family Vacant Lots (DOWN 69% from 2019)
306 Total Homes, Condos, and Vacant Lots for sale. THIS NUMBER IS VERY LOW!

Summary:

A total of $142 Million dollars worth of real estate closed on Marco Island in February 2021. Last month we sold $139 Million and last February (A Leap Year February) the number was a measly $72 Million.  Unless you live under a rock, under the Jolley Bridge, or in a yurt, you have all been hearing about how hot the market is, but I'm telling you there are no words to describe the unbridled enthusiasm that is taking place. And, unlike runs in the past, I predict there won't be a pullback. I truly believe that once and for all the world has discovered Marco Island and people are seeing the value of living here. The Marco way of life comes at a price that thousands of people are willing to pay for and can afford. Here is an example, an agent listed a rundown waterfront home on Marco this week for $595,000 and within 6 hours she had 31 offers on the property, with the winner offering more than $200,000 over the asking price. Ultimately the Seller is happy, the Buyer is happy, and I'll bet you a roll of toilet paper both Realtors are happy too. If you are thinking of selling your property now is the time to list it. I don't see the market pulling back, but I do believe you will start to see resistance from Buyer's willing to keep pushing things much higher. The inventory is at an epic low and properties are selling within days of coming on the market, in spite of the flurry, I truly believe Marco Island still represents a great value when compared to other high-end waterfront communities in the U.S.

Speaking of toilet paper, my faithful 7.6 readers know I now live alone and I am happy to report that I finally figured out who the a$$hole is that wasn't replacing the toilet paper roll when it was empty all these years. I also now know who the a$$hole is that leaves empty milk cartons and half-open flat cans of soda (or pop for you midwesterners, or soder for us Jersey folks). I believe they are the same person and I feel sorry for him once I get my hands on him. However, I haven't figured out why the bed does not make itself, but I now realize, much to my sadness, there apparently is no bedmaking fairy. Because there is no bed fairy, I came to the conclusion there is no sense in making the bed since I'm just going to get it in it (when I'm not sleeping on the couch or floor) and mess it up. This made my mind take a quantum leap and I decided to only sleep on the couch or floor thereby never having to make the bed. (see what a deep thinker I am).  Now, sleeping in odd places causes me to have a bad back, forcing me to see a chiropractor which costs a lot of money, so I don't bother to go. Again, I hope you can keep up with how rapidly I problem-solve. With the money I saved on not going to the chiropractor, I started going to a psychiatrist. He tells me I am a "constant stream of consciousness and it's hard for him to figure out what I'm thinking about for more than 10 seconds" followed by "here, take this pill, it'll calm us both down". As a matter of fact, at my last visit, he told me he doesn't want to see me anymore as a patient because I'm driving him crazy, which seems to be what I do to everyone, hence, why I live alone. Back to living alone, I have to ask a question: Do you need to use air freshener in the bathroom when you live alone? This brings me back to the toilet paper subject. I have had a few surgeries now that have gone awry and I would like to personally thank the Charmin company for their concern for my bum during these trying times. Just like in Real Estate, the job isn't finished until the paperwork is all done, and you want that to go as smoothly as possible. That makes me think that toilet paper is made from trees, which are rough and barky; how do they end up getting is so smooth and absorbent?  Recently I went to my internist, Dr. BoBo, and told him "I pee every morning at 5:00 and poop at 6:00". He said "what's the problem?", I said, "I don't wake up until 7:00". I know that's an old one, but very apropos for my new lifestyle. Do you know you can buy a Banquet T.V. dinner at Walmart for $1.00? Stay away from the one titled "Backyard Barbecue", I'm not sure who's backyard they are talking about, but our dog used to poop in the backyard, just saying. Now, this paragraph is just a snippet of what goes on in my brain 24/7 so the 7.6 faithful can get a glimpse of what a constant stream of consciousness feels like. lt ain't easy being me and I now understand, as do you, why I live alone. This leads me to the next paragraph where I will explain how The Gerry's Fable (like Aesop's, only more disjointed) I just wrote about relates to Real Estate.


This one is a bit trickier than explanations of the past, but here is how the above applies to Real Estate. Sometimes, not all the time, you yourself are the problem. I have clients that overthink things, underthink things, don't think about things, could care less about things, and the worst are those that wonder about things. Such as, " I wonder how much they will take" ... "I wonder what you think they will take"... "I wonder if they are highly motivated and are looking to dump this property and I am about to get the greatest deal in the history of Real Estate".  Now, the faithful 7.6 know I am a master grammartist and word inventor extraordinaire, and you will notice none of those 3 previous statements ends with a question mark. While they seem like questions, they are just thoughts that travel through the customer's brain, they go nowhere, mean nothing, and end up in the random consciousness of their brain. My job is to let those thoughts rattle around in their head for a while, then use my magical powers to read their mind, then subliminally get the deal worked out in their head without the use of any Charmin. Folks, I can certainly attest to the fact that life is difficult sometimes, Real Estate does not have to be difficult, and if you put your trust in my brain I can almost guarantee a successful result. After all, I was only wrong once and that had nothing to do with Real Estate. 

The inquiring 7.6 faithful readers demand to know The high and low Sales for February, and they are as follows:

Single-family home, 985 Caxambas drive for $3,875,000. Condo, Veracruz 2401 closed for $3,700,000. The vacant lot at 1411 Caxambas  Drive closed for $3,500,000. 3 is a magical number.
 
For the bargain hunters and those that are certainly in the money, a 3 bedroom home at 1495 Bermuda closed for $390,000,  A condo in Seabreeze F8 closed for $99,900, and a vacant lot at 1872 Dogwood Drive closed for 85,000. YES, you can still get a great deal on Marco Island, but these will start to vanish.

Yes, I am growing my hair because the last thing the Shrink told me to do was to get a hobby. I tried taking up shooting guns, but that ended up in a bloody mess. I tried becoming a Vodka taste tester at the Tito's factory, but they fired me for taking my work home with me. I almost applied to be a quality control inspector at the Charmin plant, but I heard the working conditions there were crappy.  My boys Andie and Willy suggested I grow my hair as it would take all day every day, and I could do it while I take my daily walk. They know I like to multitask so it turned out to be the perfect hobby for me. Sometimes I even chew gum and triple task. If it looks like I'm losing weight it's because of all the Banquet T.V. dinners I now eat because nobody invites me out, I hope that's due to covid and not my personality.  Lastly, to all my faithful 7.6 readers, please tell all your family members you love them...because you can. 

If you are thinking of using me as your Realtor, keep in mind that I will never be out thought or out fought.   


Past boring newsletters can be viewed here: https://viewmarco.blogspot.com/



Gerry Rosenblum

Broker Associate
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty

2013, 2012 & 2007 President Marco Island Area Association of 
Realtors
2008 Realtor of The Year - Marco Island 

239-450-4770 (cell)
1-888-239-5131 (toll-free e-fax)
1-800-237-8817 (toll-free)
To View the Entire Marco MLS go to: www.viewmarco.com


Saturday, January 23, 2021

 

Marco Island Real Estate Stats and Commentary December 2020 YEAR END

Inbox

Gerry Rosenblum

2:29 PM (26 minutes ago)

 

The following stats compare December 2020 to December 2019


Sold Single Family Homes UP 40% (569 vs 406) 
Sold Condominiums UP 34% (621 vs 462)
Sold Single Family Vacant Lots UP 127% (272 vs 1200)

Pending Single Family Homes UP 76% (58 vs 33)
Pending Condominiums UP 123% (89 vs 40)
Pending Single Family Vacant Lots UP 169% (43 vs 16)
(Pending means it went under contract but has not closed yet)

Inventory:
117 Single Family Homes (DOWN 60% from 2019)
246 Condominiums (DOWN 36% from 2019)
113 Single Family Vacant Lots (DOWN 60% from 2019)
476 Total Homes, Condos, and Vacant Lots for sale. THIS NUMBER IS VERY LOW!

Summary:

A total of $1.137 BILLION dollars worth of real estate closed on Marco Island in 2020. Yes folks, that is a B there for Billion. In 2019 the total was $708 Million. I want you to read that last sentence a few times and let it sink in, $1,137,455,174.00 was the actual number and that is a big booty number. For a visual I want you to think of Dr. Evil from Austin Powers saying "1 Billion Dollars". What makes it all the more remarkable is that the "C" word (that is Covid for you deplorables) descended upon us and everyone was thinking we were in for a world of hurt Real Estate wise. The great minds in the US Treasury started sending out checks for $600 dollars to everyone to stimulate the economy, which I personally thought was fruitless. But, I am here to tell you that I was 100% wrong! The ingenuity of the American public is not to be underestimated. Somehow people took that $600 and were able to figure out a way to purchase homes, condos, and lots with it. I'm still scratching my head a bit on this one, but they know something I don't know. I can tell you that lots of people started working from home and realized they will keep working from home since their companies can save money on water coolers, coffee, and office rent. The really smart workers figured they might as well work from home on Marco Island because they can play hookey once in a while from the job and enjoy Paradise year-round instead of a few weeks a year. Those that weren't as bold bought vacant lots and will wait and see if this thing works, and if it does, they will start building homes here with nice offices in them I guess.  Moreover, being a prognosticator, I am a bit concerned that all the new people I see lollygagging around on the beach all day are really supposed to be home on their computers working on the cure for cancer or how to send manned rockets to Mars and back. I have a bit of fear that this work at home thing might backfire a bit. Regardless, back to the subject, the Real Estate Market on Marco was absolutely on fire this year. The numbers will start to drop off a bit now, not because the demand is down, but because there is a low inventory of property available to purchase. SO, IF YOU WERE THINKING OF SELLING YOUR PROPERTY THERE IS NO BETTER TIME TO DO IN THAN RIGHT NOW!. Besides an on-fire market, we are now actually entering what is usually the busy and strongest time of the year so it would seem there is no let-up in sight. Interest rates are low, the stock market is strong, and the Treasury just started sending out more $600 checks, so hold on to your seats.

I have been remiss in sending out this newsletter to my faithful 7.6 readers for the past few months and the .6 reached out to me recently and said "listen, I know you've had a very tough year with getting sick and divorced, and whatever else happened to you, but those are your problems, not mine. And when you let your problems become my problems, then we both have a problem and I'm not standing for that. So, why don't you make like all the stay at home workers, get your butt over to the computer, and start typing some Real Estate facts and figures so I know whether to sell my condo or buy another as an investment". I took those words to heart and am now hammering away at my keyboard with my lame hand so all of you are informed and entertained at my expense.

For the other 7 out of the 7.6, who care more about a story with a real estate moral than the facts and figures, here we go. With the C-word going on, I have all kinds of doctor visits that are done via Zoom and Facetime instead of in person. Now, I am all for keeping people safe and all that, but it is hard to be dealing with medical issues online.  I recently was chatting it up on Facetime with my Urologist, whom I really like, regarding something I am smuggling in my body. We have a nice chat, go over some test results, talk about some new pills and whatnot, and about life in general. Now, for all of you men out there, you know that a normal visit to the Urologists office always ends with the one-finger salute to check your prostate. As we are wrapping up our conversation my doctor said "so you live alone now", to which I replied "yes". He said, "do you have any close neighbors or friends nearby that you could call on to lend a hand?" I said "what for?", he said, "you know, we need to check your prostate". I said "it's good", he said, "oh, you checked it yourself?". I said, "no, but I'm pretty sure it's okay". He said, "okay, I'll let it go this time, but next time you need to have somewhere with you when we Facetime".  I let it go, but about 2 weeks later my neighbor called up who sees the same doctor and said "hey, can you stopover for a minute and lend me a hand, Dr. G is on the phone?". I think this whole telemedicine thing has some kinks that need to be worked out.

Now the moral of the story, without question, is that in Real Estate, just like medicine, you want a trained professional to help you. Stop listening to what your friends, family, and neighbors tell you about the market and speak to a licensed Realtor (preferably me). Please believe me when I tell you Zillow and Trulia are not the experts. Quit listening to every Tom, Dick, and Harry, and no matter what, don't take matters into your own hands and try to do it yourself.

The inquiring 7.6 faithful readers demand to know The high and low Sales for 2020, and they are as follows:

Single-family home, 475 Gate House Way in Hideaway closed for $10,500,000. It was on the market for 25 days. Condo, Belize 2305 closed for $5,124,000 and it was on the market for 25 days. and a vacant lot at 350 Seabreeze Drive closed for $3,350,000 and it was on the market for 302 days.
 
For the bargain hunters and those that are certainly in the money, a 2 bedroom home at 168 Dogwood Drive closed for $325,000 (76 days on the market) A condo in Coquina Gardens closed for $95,000 (43 days on the market), and a vacant lot at 185 Dogwood Drive closed for 55,000, (138 days on the market). YES, you can still get a great deal on Marco Island, but not like these anymore.

I want to make a little public service announcement to thank everyone that has gone out of their way these past few months, feeding me, driving me, and checking on me. (now I know what it feels like to be a common house plant).  I especially want to thank my sons Andy and Willy who have done more for me than I could ever have dreamt of. And to all my faithful 7.6 readers, please tell all your family members you love them...because you can.

If you are thinking of using me as your Realtor, keep in mind that I will never be out thought or out fought.   


Past boring newsletters can be viewed here: https://viewmarco.blogspot.com/




Gerry Rosenblum

Broker Associate
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty

2013, 2012 & 2007 President Marco Island Area Association of 
Realtors
2008 Realtor of The Year - Marco Island 

239-450-4770 (cell)
1-888-239-5131 (toll-free e-fax)
1-800-237-8817 (toll-free)
To View the Entire Marco MLS go to: www.viewmarco.com


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