Working with Foreign Investors

Florida real estate has always been attractive to international buyers. With rock bottom prices and the decline of the U.S. dollar, Florida is the #1 choice in the United States for foreign investor purchases. Florida Realtor magazine recently published statistics regarding Foreign investor purchases in the state:

 

• 51% purchased single family homes
• 37% purchased a condo
• 11% a townhome
• 38% purchased in a suburban area
• 30% in a resort area
• 25% in a within a major city
• 7% in a small town
• 81% of International buyers paid cash in 2010

The majority of international buyers plan to use their home less than 6 months out of the year. 

With 2 out of 3 realtors in the state claiming to have at least one International buyer in the past year, many Realtors are trying to capitalize on the foreign investor buyer segment. If you are a Realtor interested in growing your global niche you may not have to go as far as you think. Florida real estate is the major target for foreign buyers with the predominant buyers being Canadian, European and Latin American.

Obstacles you need to consult with your international buyers

• State property taxes
• U.S Property & Tax laws such as FIRPTA – Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act
• Visa regulations
• Currency rates
• Mortgage availability and complexities

 

Before diving you advertise yourself as an international property specialist, check out these sites to help you understand the complexities and differences.

International Real Estate Federation

IRS.gov – FIRPTA

Certified International Property Specialist

KW St. Pete Paints the Town Red – again….



Today, Sunday March 27^th, Keller Williams Realty St. Pete is holding their monthly ‘Paint the Town Red’ open house event in coordination with the 2nd annual Florida Association of Realtors statewide open house weekend. From the Keys to the Panhandle, more than 50,000 homes will be held open making this the largest open house weekend in the nation!

KW St. Pete will have 20+ houses, condos and townhomes showcased for buyers in the St. Petersburg, St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Pinellas Bayway areas. From beach and downtown condos to custom waterfront homes – there is something for every buyer in every price range.

 

Open House Flyer pg 2

 

According to research conducted for the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), every time a house is built, bought or sold, jobs are created. NAR found:

• Home sales in the U.S. generate more than 2.5 million private-sector jobs in an average year. For every two homes sold, a job is created.
• In Florida*, 7.5 percent of the state’s workers in 2009 were employed in the construction (392,900) and real estate (155,000) sectors.
• Each home sale touches dozens of different occupations.
• Every home purchase pumps up to $60,000 into the economy for furniture, home improvements and related items.

• An overwhelming majority of homeowners say they are happy with the decision to own a home. A full 93% of owners surveyed by NAR would buy again. 

If you or someone you know has been considering a home purchase, this is your chance! It is the biggest sale of the decade with the best interest rates! Contact your local Keller Williams Realtor today to help you find your dream home!

KW St. Pete is located at 70 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701

(727)894-1600

 

Open House Flyer

Keller Williams Realty St. Petersburg knows TEAMWORK

Keller Williams Realty St. Pete

The World English Dictionary defines teamwork in 2 parts:

1. the cooperative work done by a team

2. the ability to work efficiently as a team

At Keller Williams Realty, teamwork is an essential part of our belief system. This teamwork was in full force on Thursday as our team of Realtors came together to participate in the Festival of States Illuminated Night Parade in downtown St. Petersburg.

Rachel Sartain, Team Leader

On Thursday the ability of the team to work cooperatively started at 8:30 am with Catherine Bostian and Rachel Sartain preparing for the parade. As the day continued the office filled with agents bringing in food, drinks and preparing for the festivities. By 3:00 the office was full of Realtors, food and helium balloons. The ability of the team to collaborate on ideas and work efficient was evident by the outcome of our float! 

A special THANKS to our great TEAM of Realtors for all of your hard work! We had so much fun working together and I know we made a big SPLASH OF RED on St. Petersburg with our balloons, candy, beads and flyers.

Thank you Mike Lawson for building the frame for our ‘J.D. Power and Associates award banner’ and for bringing the Jimmy Buffett C.D.

Jeff Joyner, Realtor

Thank you Jeff Joyner for letting us decorate your boat, fish for buyers and sellers with your fishing poles and pull us along the parade route as you missed watching the Florida Gators play in the NCAA tournament.

Thank you Marlene and Pete for everything you do to make our office run smoothly even during all the chaos.

Thank you to the many realtors that planned and participated in this fun event! You guys all ROCK!

Nadine Appelt, Realtor

Keller Williams Realty is taking St. Petersburg by storm! We are painting the town RED with balloons, signs, and Open House events. None of this would be possible without the TEAM! And this great team is your best choice when it comes to buying a home or selling a home in the Tampa Bay area.

Keller Williams Realty St. Pete participates in Grand Prix Parade

 Thursday March 25th our Keller Williams Realty office in St. Petersburg will participate in the Honda Grand Prix Illuminated night parade. The festivities start at 3:00 we are decorating the BOAT FLOAT. Our theme is ‘Fishing for Buyers and Sellers’. Catherine Bostian and Karen Lucas have created some great buyers, sellers, and houses for us to hang from fishing poles as we ride along in Jeff Joyner’s boat. We have 2500 Keller Williams balloons to pass out along the parade route plus beads, candy and Paint the Town Red Open House event flyers. 

Rachel Sartain, Team Leader, of KW St. Pete will lead the pack in he parade starts which starts at 7:00 and runs next to the office their office located at 70 Beach Drive NE

There will be great food here and a ton of people downtown!  Please come down and help us get out in the community! We need everyone here to make a BIG SPLASH OF RED!

Sunnier Skies

In 2010 the most searched cities on Realtor.com where those with plenty of sunshine. Orlando and Tampa Florida where among the top 10. There is a reason Florida is called the “Sunshine State”.

In a recent article from the Realtor Magazine (www.realtor.org/realtormag) President Errol Samuelson stated ‘tax credit, interest rates, and other factors created more interest in real estate there [Sunshine drenched cities] compared with other states’.

However, the snowbirds tell us a different story. Ask someone who just lived through one of the worst winters they have seen in over 10 years. It is not just the snow that drives people to Florida. It is the cold and ever-increasing price oil to fuel their heat. Interest rates and affordable housing is an attractive feature. More attractive is the 300+ days of sunshine, 663 miles of Beaches, over 11,000 miles of waterways, an average summer temperature 80-83 degrees, and more importantly, an average winter temperature between 53-68 degrees.

The Real Estate market as a whole is experiencing sunnier days. The bubble popped, deflated and blew away leaving us with historically and unbelievably low interest rates and home affordability at an all time high (read more from Luett Mortgage Group).

With a growing population, favorable purchase terms and increased consumer confidence levels, real estate markets everywhere should experience a sunnier 2011.

March Madness!

Keller Williams Realty St. Pete

March Madness is right! I think we’ve all gone CRAZY and here are 4 reasons why…

1. The weather is amazing – the sun is shining everyday and the temperature is hovering right around 78. Perfect weather means all of the poor souls from up north who are still experiencing yucky cold weather are coming down to beautiful Florida. And yes, while they are here they think about buying that early retirement home. But then again, why wouldn’t you? We are seeing prices that we haven’t seen in 10 years and interest rates are still at a rock bottom low! So as one might imagine, the real estate market in St. Petersburg is warming up as fast as the weather.

2. Crazy real estate sales are not all that makes March Mad. We are also participating in the Community Service Foundation’s First Time Home Buyer seminar this month. Realtors may have thought the First Time Home Buyer went out the door with the tax credit last year but they are still a powerful force in the real estate buying game. This 2-part class has about 20 interested home buyers eager to learn about the process. As a real estate agent it is often easy to forget how intimidating & complex the buying process can be for someone who has not done it.

Last year 50% of home purchases were by First Time Home Buyers. Of those, the average age was 30 years old. Single females made-up 20% of the FTHB purchases while purchases by single males was only 12%.  

3. The Honda Grand Prix is back in St. Petersburg and we are going to be in the Illuminated Night Parade on Thursday March 24th. The marketing committee has met and we have some GREAT ideas for our float and parade handouts. If you were not at our Keller Williams office in St. Petersburg last year, you may not know that the parade runs right in-front of our office. We had so much fun last year watching from the sidelines so we decided to participate this year! And you can’t participate in a parade without a Post Parade Party Potluck at the office – YUMMY!

4. The last event we did not have any control over timing… Florida Association of Realtors statewide Open House Event is on March 27^th (this happens to be Sunday, the final race day for the Honda Grand Prix). Our Keller Williams Realtors had a ‘Paint the Town Red’ open house event in February with huge success! We had 27 homes open and 3 went under contract the day of the open house event! We are excited to participate in the state-wide event and plan to have 30+ homes available in the St. Petersburg, St. Pete Beach, Tierra Verde and other areas for curious shoppers to see on Sunday March 27^th from 1-4.

With all of these events happening in March, you can understand why I think we have gone MAD! It will be a blast and I look forward to working with our amazing Marketing Committee and office to pull it together!