What happens when you pull together the power and reputations of two of the top agents in the real estate marketplace? You get incredible leverage for buyers and sellers.

That is what Whitey Phillips and Michael Burke of Keller Williams Elite Realty did for select communities in our area; they joined forces to provide superior customer support and service. "The market is changing very quickly and we need to stay on top with cutting edge marketing tools enabling us to

Whitey Phillips

reach out to our buyers and sellers, therefore it was a natural fit to partner with Michael Burke of the Coconut Point Team" says Whitey.

With Whitey Phillips’ he has nearly 20 ye

D.Michael Burke

ars of experience in listing and selling residential real estate in Bonita Springs, Naples, and Fort Myers Beach. Whitey has been a top producer and is highly respected as one of the area’s top producers. Michael Burke has been launched to the forefront of the real estate market place these last few years with his highly creative and aggressive marketing. "To be aligned with someone of Whitey’s caliber is an honor, our styles complement each other" says Michael.

Each month we will be bring you our exclusive market report update filled with community rich information whether you are buying or selling.

State of OUR Real Estate Market…. Our market continues to thrive and its upward trend this year. Sales are on the rise and inventory is being reduced. We have seen the single family market stabilize in some communities and the condo market is still adjusting.

As we reported last month, the majority of the sales

activity remains to be under $500,000 (85%), while under $250,000 is still the strongest segment of our market at 63%. This remains to continue.

The successful sellers continue to prosper that understand the difference of being "IN" the market rather just being "ON" the market. 70% of the active listings continue to be overpriced.

We am sorry folks; We are just being brutally honest with you. Let us try to help you with an analogy: Let’s say we go fishing… We can have the best bait, we can have the best boat, and we can have the best fishing equipment, however, if we throw the bait out of the boat and it goes down ten feet and the fish are down at forty feet, they’re not going to bite. So what happens if we lower another ten feet? They’re still not going to bite because the fish are down forty feet. But we can’t see where they are from the boat, can we? So we fish. We keep lowering and all of a sudden, guess what, your bait is right in the middle of those fish and you have a feeding frenzy. Pricing your house in this market is much like fishing—we can’t see the fish so we just keep lowering the bait until they hit.

We have received so many emails and calls with suggestions to enhance our market reports. We are listening!!! Please make sure you check out the New and improved Market Report! Keep the comments coming, THANK YOU!

NEW!!! Comprehensive

Bonita Springs/Estero Real Estate Market Trends
NEW easy to read graphs and charts with a quick click to your community.

Click here to view Bonita Bay’s Market Trends

Whether you are a buyer or seller in today’s market you do need a professional to navigate the market trends and advise you the way it is, and not tell you what you want to hear. In addition, someone who can provide you compelling data to help you make a good business decision regardless which side of the transaction you are on. We have the tools and the expertise to help you get results.

Choose The Whitey Phillips Team as your real estate professional and sit on the side of success. Buyers and sellers do not sit on the side line any longer, call now free consultation.

Whitey@WhiteyPhillipsTeam.com

Office: 239-498-7600

Cell: 239-287-2933
EFax:866-890-4452

Feds: Homes with Chinese drywall must be gutted

New guidelines say homes tainted by Chinese drywall, many in the South, should be gutted

Cain Burdeau, Associated Press Writer, On Friday April 2, 2010

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Thousands of U.S. homes tainted by Chinese drywall should be gutted, according to new guidelines released Friday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The guidelines say electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes and drywall need to be removed.

"We want families to tear it all out and rebuild the interior of their homes, and they need to start this to get their lives started all over again," said Inez Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the commission, the federal agency charged with making sure consumer products are safe.

About 3,000 homeowners, mostly in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, have reported problems with the Chinese-made drywall, which was imported in large quantities during the housing boom and after a string of Gulf Coast hurricanes.

The drywall has been linked to corrosion of wiring, air conditioning units, computers, doorknobs and jewelry, along with possible health effects. Tenenbaum said some samples of the Chinese-made product emit 100 times as much hydrogen sulfide as drywall made elsewhere.

The agency continues to investigate possible health effects, but preliminary studies have found a possible link between throat, nose and lung irritation and high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas emitted from the wallboard, coupled with formaldehyde, which is commonly found in new houses.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said now the question is who pays to gut the homes.

Click here to read full article

Lee County rental market red-hot

By EVANGELIA GANOSELLIS news-press.com March 28,2010

After foreclosure, many people turn to apartment living

Lee County’s rental market is a work in progress, but there is a silver lining – higher occupancy rates.

"We’ve probably been steady since January," said Sue Lutter, a broker for Fort Myers-based Gulf Waters Rentals and Management. "Our biggest problem right now is that we have so little to offer."

About 98 percent of the company’s properties are occupied as of now, a reflection of occupancy rates countywide.

Lee County’s apartment occupancy increased 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 from the previous year to 91.1 percent, according to statistics compiled by Novato, Calif.-based RealFacts.

The increase was the highest in the state.

Click here to read full article

Government, lenders cut short sale wait time

By Amy Hoak McClatchy News Service March 28, 2010

CHICAGO – Short sales are a valuable tool for struggling homeowners, but they’ve been notoriously difficult to complete, with buyers and sellers often playing a long waiting game before hearing back from lenders.

Now, however, a new government program plus some lender initiatives may make for shorter wait times and a smoother process.

"Any structure is better than what we’ve had," said Kathryn Bovard, a broker/manager for Prudential Americana Group in the Las Vegas area.

Short sales are useful for borrowers who are underwater on their mortgage, owing more on the home than it’s currently worth. In a short sale, the homeowner’s lender accepts less than what the borrower owes on the mortgage in order to complete the sale. Both parties thus avoid the foreclosure process.

The government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program goes into effect April 5.

"It’s an extension of (the Home Affordable Modification Program) to provide a default solution before it gets to the worst," said Arvin Wijay, chief executive of Retreat Capital, a provider of products and services that facilitate short-sale management and loan modifications. If the borrower doesn’t qualify for a modification, loan servicers will then assess the possibility of a short sale through the HAFA program.

HAFA is expected to improve the traditional short-sale process in a few ways:

Click here to read full article

Bonita Bay Market Trends

Bonita Bay Market Trends

UP, UP AND AWAY!!! Bonita Bay is bought by the members and 34 homes are now under contract. Newly member owned Bonita Bay will continue to see great sales numbers in the coming months. Sellers may want to consider keeping their homes on the market during the summer because of the back lodge of buyers due to the membership turmoil of the previous months.

In today’s market it takes a lot more than just listing your house on the MLS. Whitey Phillips Team, Professional Luxury Experts, of Keller Williams Elite Realty have proven to be the industry leader in SW Florida real estate. The combination of KW’s resources and Whitey’s personal and flexible marketing plan make the Whitey Phillips Team, your best choice when choosing a REALTOR in today’s market.

If you or someone you know is in the market to buy or sell a home in SW Florida, please feel free to contact me to discuss our real estate products and services. "Experience the Luxury Lifestyle"

Sincerely,

Whitey Phillips

Keller Williams Elite Realty

Local: 239-498-7600

Cell: 239-287-2933

E Fax: 866-890-4452

Email: Whitey@WhiteyPhillipsTeam.com