Pensacola Real Estate Weekly Market Report for the Week Ending May 3, 2008
May 9th, 2008 Categories: Pensacola Market Data
Weekly Update For Residential Listings
In Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties
Here is another weekly Pensacola real estate market report. I didn’t publish a market report for last week. No, I’m not getting lazy, but this market just had nothing new to offer. This past week at least shows a bit of an increase in sales. Inventory dropped a little also. Still not very exciting, I know, but I wasn’t going to miss another weekly report just because the market isn’t moving very much. Keep checking back, and I’ll keep watching for movements in this blah real estate market.
- The table shows the weekly market data for Pensacola residential property.
- These numbers include only residential homes and condominiums in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties that are listed in the Pensacola MLS.
- They do not include vacant land or lots, mobile homes or manufactured homes or Pensacola FSBOs.
- The numbers above are created using data from the Pensacola MLS and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed
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Pensacola Real Estate Market Report for April 2008
May 7th, 2008 Categories: Pensacola Market Data
Pensacola Market Data For April 2008
Residential Properties in
Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties
The table shows the Pensacola real estate market data for the month of April 2008, as compared to previous months. Pensacola home sales are up a little from the previous month, although inventory levels are holding steady. It is good to see sales up a little, but these numbers still show a stagnant real estate market in the Pensacola Florida area. Overall, this table shows that the Pensacola real estate market is still in a buyer’s market. Keep checking back for my weekly and monthly updates to keep abreast of what is going on in this market.
And remember buyers, if you are waiting for the market to bottom out, it is likely the market will be moving up by the time you buy.
- The table shows the monthly market data for Pensacola residential property.
- These numbers include only residential homes and condominiums in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties that are listed in the Pensacola MLS.
- The numbers do not include vacant land or lots, mobile homes or manufactured homes.
- The numbers are generated using data from the Pensacola MLS and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed
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Think You’re In Good Hands? Think Again: Insurance Info from Pensacola Real Estate News
May 5th, 2008 Categories: Insurance
Homeowners insurance is a big expense in Pensacola Florida, and all along the gulf coast. Since the hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, insurance on real estate has risen dramatically, making it harder for people to afford to purchase homes. I understand that Allstate Insurance has stopped writing homeowners insurance in the state of Florida, as have other large companies. While you may be able to go to an Allstate office to get a homeowners policy, it won’t be through Allstate. It would be underwritten through another company, such as Citizens.
I recently came across a couple of posts regarding Allstate that I wanted to share with my Pensacola Real Estate news readers.
I was speaking with two attorneys recently and they were discussing insurance settlements. Both were in agreement that Allstate was the most difficult company to work with when it came to winning claims for their clients. Shortly thereafter, I came across a post by the Pensacola Beach Blogger regarding Allstate. If you are considering purchasing insurance, I highly recommend reading his article. You can find it at the link below.
You’re In A Bully’s Hands With Allstate
And if that is not enough to get you hot under the collar, here is another web page I found with consumer issues with Allstate.
Consumer Affairs Allstate Complaints
If you are moving to Pensacola Florida and will be needing insurance, contact a good real estate agent to help you find a great value on a home. Your agent should also be able to offer good advice on where to get quality affordable insurance coverage. At least after reading this article, you have an idea of which company you might want to avoid.
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Pensacola Real Estate News Subdivision Report on Carracres West
April 29th, 2008 Categories: West Pensacola
This article provides a Pensacola real estate market report on the Carracres West subdivision. If you are interested in seeing any homes in the Carracres West subdivision, or any other homes for sale in Pensacola Florida, please feel free to Contact Me for assistance. All of the homes pictured on this page were for sale at the time this article was published.
To see all current Pensacola Homes for Sale in Carracres West, follow these simple steps:
Click on Search for Homes.
On the Property Search screen, click on the “More Search Options” button.
Then type Carracres West into the “Subdivision” category and click the “Search Now” button at the bottom of the screen.
Carracres West is located in West Pensacola. It is not within the Pensacola city limits. Carracres West is accessible from Fairfield Drive, just north of Lillian Highway. Carracres West is convenient to the Perdido Key Florida beaches and local Pensacola military bases Pensacola Naval Air Station, Saufley Field, and Corry Field. Many other popular Pensacola destinations are under 30 minutes from Carracres West. 
Information on travel times provided below will depend on traffic and time of day.
Approximate travel times to popular Pensacola destinations:
Downtown Pensacola: 20 Minutes
Cordova Mall / Pensacola Airport / Pensacola Junior College: 20 minutes
Interstate 10: 15 Minutes
Pensacola Beach : 30-35 minutes
Perdido Key Florida: 20 minutes
University Of West Florida: 30-35 minutes
Pensacola Naval Air Station (NAS) (Home of the Blue Angels): 15 minutes
Saufley Field Naval Base: 10 minutes
Corry Field Naval Base: 10 minutes
Escambia County School Districts for Carracres West Subdivision:
Elementary: Sherwood
Middle: Bailey
High: Escambia
Homes in Carracres West generally fall into the following ranges:
Age of Homes: Built between 1973 and the mid 1980s
Construction: Mostly 1 story ranch style brick or vinyl sided homes
Square Footage: 1000 - 1800
Bedrooms: 3 to 4
Bathrooms: 2
Garages: Some 1 car garages, but mostly driveway parking
Lot Sizes: .15 - .40 acres
Waterfront: None
Swimming Pools: Of the Carracres West homes currently listed for sale in the Pensacola MLS, none had swimming pools.
Foreclosures: Of the homes currently listed for sale in the Pensacola MLS, none are foreclosure properties.
Home Owners Association. No.
Average Days On Market of homes sold in the past year was 86 days. This is lower than the average days on market for other neighborhoods in Escambia County.
Cute color combinations below, don’t you think? 
Rentals: The Pensacola MLS shows 5 homes were rented in Carracres West in the past year. Rental rates were between $675 and $795. There is currently 1 home available for rent at the rate of $750 per month.
The following table shows Pensacola real estate market data for Carracres West. The numbers in the table are created using data from the Pensacola MLS and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed. These numbers do not include sales by Pensacola FSBOs.
As of April 23, 2008, the following homes are for sale in the Carracres West subdivision:
The overall percentage difference between list and sales price is only 2.2%. This indicates that most Carracres West homes sold close to their list price in the past year.
I hope this market report on Carracres West subdivision was helpful. This market report is a reflection of the Pensacola real estate market as of April 23, 2008. These numbers will change as the Pensacola real estate market changes. If this report is not current at the time you are reading it (6 months or more after 04/23/08) and you are interested in buying or selling a home in Carracres West I recommend that you Contact Me for updated market information on this subdivision.
Related Pensacola Real Estate Articles on other West Pensacola Subdivisions:
Mariner’s Oaks
Bayou Place
Lillian Woods
Shadow Grove
Springfield
Related Pensacola Real Estate Articles on other NorthWest Pensacola Subdivisions:
Crystal Creek
Logan Place
Click on Pensacola Real Estate News for a list of articles indexed by category.
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Pensacola Real Estate Weekly Market Report For Week Ending April 19, 2008
April 26th, 2008 Categories: Pensacola Market Data
Weekly Update For Residential Listings
In Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties
Here is another weekly Pensacola real estate market report. The market pretty much is remaining slow and not very exciting. I wish I could give you some new and fascinating data, or spot a hot trend in the works, but we’re just seeing the typical Pensacola buyers market. Keep checking back, and I’ll keep watching for movements in this real estate market.
- The table shows the weekly market data for Pensacola residential property.
- These numbers include only residential homes and condominiums in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties that are listed in the Pensacola MLS.
- They do not include vacant land or lots, mobile homes or manufactured homes or Pensacola FSBOs.
- The numbers above are created using data from the Pensacola MLS and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed
Click on Pensacola Real Estate News for a list of articles indexed by category.
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Make Sure Your Home Warranty Is There When You Need It, Money Saving Advice From Pensacola Real Estate News
April 23rd, 2008 Categories: First Time Home Buyers, Home Inspections, Pensacola Buyers, Saving You Money
When buying or selling real estate, home warranty plans are often included as an incentive from the seller to the buyer, or sometimes as a negotiation tool. I recommend all of my home buyers get a home warranty, even if the seller is not offering a home warranty and the buyer has to pay for it. In this buyer’s real estate market, motivated sellers should offer a home warranty. 
However, this article is not about getting a home warranty. This article is about how to protect your investment in a home warranty once you have it. Remember, the home warranty provider does not make money by fixing your problems. The home warranty provider wants to find a way to get out of fixing your problems, and thus keeping their money. Please take this advice to heart. It could save you a lot of frustration and money.
This article is based on an experience of a buyer who was my client. The behaviors described in this article may not be true for all home warranty companies. But the advice given is important, no matter who issues your home warranty.
TYPICAL SCENARIO
Let’s say that you purchased a home, along with a home warranty plan. You are feeling good knowing that if you have problems with warranted items, you pay a small service fee and the home warranty company will cover the rest. You had your home inspected prior to closing and the inspector told you that everything was in working condition.
Let’s say that you close on your home in July, a very hot time of year in Pensacola. Why would you think of running your heater in July?
Now November comes, and a blast of cold air comes down from the north. It is time to get some heat on. But to your dismay, the heater does not seem to be blowing any hot air. After checking what little you actually know how to check, and getting advice from your friends who don’t know any more about heating and A/C units than you do, you decide it is time to call the warranty company.
Important: Don’t bother calling your real estate agent. He or she likely knows very little about heating systems, and that is why he or she recommended you get a home warranty.
MAKING THE CALL – BE ON YOUR GUARD
You dig up your paperwork from the real estate closing, and give the warranty company a call. A very sweet customer service representative from the warranty company answers. She talks to you like a friend, sharing how terrible she feels that you may have to endure a few cold nights in your home while you wait for service. After several minutes of basic question and answer conversation, you are feeling very good about the whole situation. This warranty company really cares about you. You can just hear it in her voice. She is like a genuine friend.
And then the warranty company representative asks if you have tried the heater since you moved in to your new home. Your guard is down, you are at ease with your friend on the other end of the phone, and you answer “Well, no. We bought the home in July and it was very hot. But we had a home inspection and the inspector ensured us that the heater worked when the home was inspected”.
Then the warm and friendly answer on the other end comes. “We’re sorry, but since you have told us that you did not know if your heater worked when you purchased the home, we are not obligated to cover it under your warranty plan. You did not actually own the home when the inspector tested the heating system”.
OUCH!!! Even though the weather has gotten cold, you are now feeling pretty hot. But don’t lose your cool, as you can be sure the call is being recorded “to ensure quality service”. 
Don’t let this happen to you. When you move into your new home, test every item that is covered under the home warranty. If it is the middle of winter, test your air conditioning. If it is the middle of summer, test your heater. Test all of the burners on your stove, even if you never cook. Test all the features of your oven and your dishwasher. If the seller left you a freezer in the garage that you really don’t need right now, test it anyway.
Now if you have a problem in the future, you can call your home warranty company and say “YES, I know it worked when I moved in because I used it”. It is as simple as that. You keep your warranty in force.
BUT what if you move in and test your heater, or your stove, or your A/C, and find that it doesn’t work? You have no way of proving that it worked at the time you purchased your home warranty, which was at the closing table. What are you going to tell the warranty company when they ask you if you have tried it since you moved in and verified that it worked? I just wrote this article to explain how to protect your home warranty, not to answer moral dilemmas. Hopefully you will never have to decide how you would answer your friendly home warranty operator in this situation.
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Stop the Credit Card Offers and Protect Your Credit Score
April 22nd, 2008 Categories: Credit And Financing
One of the most important assets you have is a good credit score. It becomes even more important if you plan on purchasing real estate in the near future, whether it be investment property or a new home for yourself. Anything you can do to protect and improve your credit score is important.
If you are like me, you receive several “pre-approved status” credit card offers monthly, along with the guaranteed rate insurance quotes. Did you know that these companies check your credit before sending you these offers? Did you know that these credit checks affect your credit score? Granted, the affect is small, maybe 3-5 points for every inquiry, but every point can count when it comes to getting approved for a loan to purchase real estate.
You can stop these unwanted inquiries into your credit, and save time and paper by stopping the junk mail. At the bottom of every credit card offer should be a little box with an Opt-Out notice. It used to be in tiny print, but now it should be very readable.
There’s nothing new about consumer rights to notice and opt-out for prescreened credit and insurance offers. For years, consumers have received such offers with required notices and opt-out telephone numbers buried in fine print along with other mandatory legal notices. The result: Consumers seldom saw these notices and relatively few called the required opt-out number. Now the credit card and insurance companies are required to make this notice big and bold. The notice says
“You can choose to stop receiving “prescreened” offers of credit from this and other companies by calling toll-free 1-888-567-8688. See PRESCREEN & OPT-OUT NOTICE on other side for more information about prescreened offers.”
You can call, or you can Opt-out at this website: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
Opting out will also stop the annoying phone calls that you will be flooded with if you apply for a new mortgage or apply to refinance your existing home. Read more in my article Stop The Credit Bureaus From Selling Your Private Information
Related Articles on Pensacola Real Estate News
The New Credit Scoring System - How Will It Affect Your Credit Score?
How Not To Lose Your Home Loan After You Are Already Approved
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