Corcoran on what's next for real estate

Barbara Corcoran shares her thoughts on today's housing market.

Home insurers ask for rate increases

(Big surprise!) Seven home insurers in Florida have requested rate increases. The average rate hike ranges from 10% to 36%. Full Story.

Florida Couple forecloses on Bank of America!

Thinking about BUYING or SELLING a home?

Russ Perlowski, Realtor, 813-505-7460.

Home warranty can provide a security blanket

When buying a home a home warranty provides some added comfort to homebuyers but they should read the fine print and clearly understand the policy.  It doesn't cover everything and there are service call fees, etc. and you must call them for the repair.  Home warranty can provide a security blanket - St. Petersburg Times

Custom home for sale (SOLD!!!!)

Russ Perlowski, People's Choice Realty--813-505-7460.

Sorry.  This one went fast!

Do you think you know who owns your mortgage?

2010 US Census Data for Florida

This afternoon, the US Census Bureau released the 2010 census results for Florida!

"Data for Florida show that the five most populous incorporated places and their 2010 Census counts are Jacksonville, 821,784; Miami, 399,457; Tampa, 335,709; St. Petersburg, 244,769; and Orlando, 238,300. Jacksonville grew by 11.7 percent since the 2000 Census. Miami grew by 10.2 percent, Tampa grew by 10.6 percent, St. Petersburg decreased by 1.4 percent, and Orlando grew by 28.2 percent.

The largest county is Miami-Dade, with a population of 2,496,435. Its population grew by 10.8 percent since 2000. The other counties in the top five include Broward, with a population of 1,748,066 (increase of 7.7 percent); Palm Beach, 1,320,134 (increase of 16.7 percent); Hillsborough, 1,229,226 (increase of 23.1 percent); and Orange, 1,145,956 (increase of 27.8 percent)."

Additional info.

Improve the curb appeal of your home before putting it on the market

Spring is just around the corner and the time when many homeowners decide to put their homes on the market.  It is said that 49% of buying decisions are based on curb appeal!  The following video gives some easy tips on improving the curb appeal of your home which can reduce the time it is on the market and add value.  Additional info.

How To Improve Your Home's Curb Appeal on Howcast

Underwater homes the new "normal"?

The Tampa Bay Business Journal recently reported that nearly half of homeowners in Florida had mortgages that were underwater (worth less than what is owed). CoreLogic reports that Pasco and Hillsborough counties are in the top 25 counties in the nation with the highest percentage of mortgages underwater.  We are not alone.  CoreLogic, also reports that while Florida had a negative equity of 46 percent, two other states had higher rates of negative equity--Nevada (67 percent) and Arizona (49 percent).  The following video shows the impact on some underwater homeowners in California.

    Government efforts to help underwater homeowners have not yet been well received by banks and homeowners can only hope for an imminent death knell for the housing recession.  That's one bell that can't ring soon enough for any of us.