Marco Island Real Estate News

Our broker passed along an interesting article today.  In it Ms. Cho explains that the Housing Affordability Index is at an all-time high - and high is good in this case.  It reinforces what I've been telling people all year, "anybody that buys in 2013 will consider themselves a genius in the near future."  The prices combined with mortgage rates have created great opportunities to buy real estate.  In fact, the buyers in town now are saying, "it's a safe time to buy all you can."  If the past is any indication of the future, Marco Island real estate prices are too cheap and appreciation is assured.  The only question is how much?

I've got the rest of the article below.  Feel free to comment.  I'd love to hear what you guys are thinking about the

I just wanted to update everyone on all the great changes that are underway at RE/MAX Affinity Plus on Marco Island. We are excited about our new location which will be in the Marco Walk Shopping Center later this Spring.  Currently, we are located in an incredible temporary location a couple doors up from Marco Walk in the same building with Stonewalls Cafe (551 S Collier Blvd.).  You may know Stonewalls for their awesome pastries and coffee.  Dinner there is tasty as well.  Come in the front door and take the elevator on the left to RE/MAX.

In order to clear up some confusion regarding our location,  I need to explain a few things.  We are no longer located across from The Esplanade.  Despite the fact that RE/MAX signs still hang there, RE/MAX

Happy New Year everybody! 2013 is here and 2012 is now in the record books.  Today, I'm going to open the Marco Island MLS record book and share some stats with you on what can only be described as an incredible year.  Prices are up. Volume is up. Spirits are up.  The market has turned around solidly.

Over the last few years, we all have been attempting to read the tea leaves to determine when the bottom of the market had been finally reached.  From early 2006 until 2009,  we watched the Florida real estate market free-fall.  Prices plummeted.  Foreclosures skyrocketed.  There seemed to be no bottom. Finally in mid-2009, the free-fall subsided and prices have started to stabilize slightly but still were creeping lower.  Any tiny spike was proclaimed

Wow! It's been quite a year for vacant lots on Marco Island.  The market, in general, has been strong all summer long.  Median prices are up for homes, condos, and lots but the stand-out statistic is the volume of lots sold.  So far this year, we've sold 196 lots.  Last year by this time, we had sold 107.  That's an 83% increase!  It's incredible.

To what can we attribute this incredible demand?  Well, construction died in Florida a few years ago.  If you live in Florida, you're probably aware of a couple of neighborhoods that are still ghost towns to this day.  New home construction came to such an abrupt halt in 2007 that some homes were even left half-built.  Builders were going bankrupt under heavy debt loads that could no longer be supported by

There are several reasons why buying before the end of the year could be a great investment.

1. Tax benefits:

Mortgage Interest Deduction: To take advantage of this deduction for 2012, buy before the end of the year.  Even though your deduction will be small since it will only be on 1 month of interest, it's better than nothing.  You can deduct on any mortgage debt up to one million dollars.

Mortgage Insurance Premium: If you have PMI because your down payment was less that 20%, you may be eligible for a deduction.  The deduction would be on the interest paid on your PMI payments.  The caveat is that your adjusted gross income must be below $100,000.  Incomes over $100,000 will have a reduced deduction of 10% for every $1000 over the

BREAKING NEWS!  The Remax franchise on Marco Island has been purchased!  We are now Remax Affinity Plus.  This change is not only exciting for all of the agents but it means great things for all of our customers. We are now part of a large group of Remax offices from Port Charlotte south through Naples and now Marco.

Our new owners are absolute rock stars of Florida real estate.  Remax Anchor of Charlotte County and Remax Affinity of Naples and Bonita Springs have combined forces and purchased the Marco Island franchise.  Remax Anchor won top honors in the Remax system worldwide in 2009.  Success like this relies a philosophy of customer service that is top-knotch.

For current sellers that were listed with the old Remax, your listings will

Admiralty House on Marco Beach got a facelift a few months ago and looks fantastic!  This condo is one of the classic favorites on Marco Island.  Its familiar vertical blue stripes can be seen for miles. With the recent improvements, it's a great time to buy or sell.  Buyers can enjoy the upgrades and sellers can compete better in the market.

Built in 1972 by the Mackle brothers, the Admiralty House looks brand new now thanks to a complete remodelling of the lobby and all of the hallways.  The lobby received a new stone tile floor that is stunning.  The color scheme was changed to what I would describe as "sophisticated tropical."  The sliding entry door was replaced.  The walls were repainted throughout and the hallways received new carpet.

With the easy access to statistics that the internet provides, buyers and sellers are more informed than ever before.  Everybody is familiar with Zillow, Trulia, and KW.com.  While these are all good sources of information, their statistics aren't that reliable or timely.  For the real information, contact The Boyle Team and we'll give you the true stats, straight from the Marco Island MLS.

Case in point - Have you seen what happened to Marco Island condo prices in the third quarter anywhere on the internet?  There was a spike in the price graph that is very interesting.  The median selling price for condos shot up over 18% when compared to the same period in 2011.  The mean price climbed over 14%.

What caused this and what does this mean going

We have four new listings in the Marco Island MLS to talk about today - 2 homes, 1 condo and 1 lot.  The first home is a fantastic, water-direct home.  "Water-direct" is the term we use for property on the water that doesn't require its owner to navigate under a bridge on the way to the Gulf.  This particular home has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and just about 2000 s.f. of living area.  It's on a 100'x110' lot with very quick access to the Gulf. It's a super deal at only $689,000

The next home we have is located off the island in King's Lake.  The interesting thing about King's Lake, besides being a great neighborhood, is Bob Seger lives here.  At least, that's what I've heard.  The house for sale has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and

According to a new survey by CoreLogic, a private real estate data provider, home prices went up 4.6% in August compared to one year ago which is the "largest year-over-year increase in more than six years."  Prices also rose 0.3% between July and August which is the sixth straight month of gains.  The good news about the steady increase in prices, the increase in home sales and rising builder confidence is that it looks like our housing recovery may actually be sustainable.

The Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller index also rose in July after two straight years of declines.  Also, all of the states are seeing a rise in home prices except for six that still show a decline.  Five of these include Rhode Island, Illinois, New Jersey, Alabama and