Tallahassee Real Estate Growth in Every Direction

Remember the old saying in American history, “go west young man, go west?” In Tallahassee, Florida, you can go west, south, east, north, northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast and find new home subdivisions, some single family homes, some condominiums, some townhome communities, some, upscale homes, but truly, Tallahassee’s real estate development is shooting forth all over, like the falling to the earth of many sparks from an explosion of fireworks in the night sky, and this, even when the markets are buyers’ markets at this time, some strong, and some weaker. The bulk of grown in Leon County and Tallahassee is towards the east, and southeast. There is a lot of land that is undeveloped, forest land.

Off of highway 90, and Bucklake Road in east Tallahassee, appears the busy activity of building a new commercial and residential development mixed, called Fallschase. There will be a new Walmart, Cosco, Books a Million and Dilliards. There will be several thousand single family homes, and apartments. Fallschase represents  a big piece of real estate that is just in the process of moving forward. Things are moving fast. Some of the structures have been built. This will be a very big community relative to other communities in Tallahassee, and Leon County.

Home building  and real estate development does not stop in this region of canopy covered roads, forests, parks, many trees, and very friendly residents. Tallahassee real estate is a system that is moving, living and having its being, regardless of sellers market or buyers market. Real estates goes on. Government employees come and go in this capital city, new corporations take up roots here, people come to retire from elsewhere, even from foreign nations, parents comes to invest in housing for their university age students who will be studying at one of the two big universities here.  

Thinking and Dreaming Real Estate

There is not a day that goes by when the words, “real estate” does not lodge, and move around in my consciousness, specifically, Tallahassee real estate, and northwest Florida real estate.  

I like to think of real estate as a scientific system; an open system. I think a lot in terms of science and logic. Science explains the universe, and why things do what they do. I teach my son some things about science, and ecosystems. I was a school teacher prior to coming into real estate sales, so I always have an interest in learning, and so does my son. I think science is so important in understanding systems.

There is a science explaining the system of real estate, and although, we as practitioners of real estate may not think in terms of a science, or system of logic, we are certainly involved in a system bigger than us, that is moving the parts back and forth, here and there. We are some of the characters in the play. We are on the chess board. We are working the market. We are subjects in the system. We see ourselves in a specific role, working for a specific client, or customer, with a specific goal or outcome, but that specific is governed by the bigger power in the system, the general that moves the specific.
Now, we can also think of real estate as an ecosystem, in my case a northwest Florida, and specifically, a Tallahassee, Florida ecosystem, with its colors, architectural forms, identities of the land, players involved, such as agents, mortgage professionals, buyers, sellers, inspectors, title companies, appraisers, surveyors, inputs, processes, outputs, and feedback: the cybernetic model. Real estate incorporates many different processes, including technological processes.

I think real estate all the time. It is probably the most active word in my thoughts. I think of a science of real estate, an art of real estate, a practice of real estate, the game of real estate, the sport of real estate, the nature of real estate, kingdom of real estate, a family of real estate. Maybe, I am just obscessed with my career, and my love of houses, and land, and the desire to help buyers, sellers and interested others. People around me see my interest, intimacy, and love of real estate. I mean really LOVE.

Here we are, filling out real estate sales contracts, processing property data into the computer, and into listing sites, such as the Multiple Listing Service. Here we are, showing properties, taking photos, coordinating the transaction, answering questions, comparing properties, finding a value range for houses, condos, townhomes, and lot. So much goes into the process of buying and selling real estate. It all becomes clearer if we see that the entire process of creating the real estate transaction, and servicing the transaction is all one with a very big system, that even goes beyond the neighborhood, and city. It is an open door in which many factors impact the transaction.

Neighborhood Lifecycles

I wonder how many of us here in northwest Florida, specifically, Tallahassee, have lived in the same neighborhood for many years, or at least long enough to observe the process of growth that occurs in neighborhoods. When you plant a garden, it is a rewarding experience to observe the baby plants shoot up out of the soil, pass through the state of childhood, and become a full florishing plant, with fruits, vegetables, or and flowers. A neighborhood has its growth as well.

The developer moves in,  clears the land, flattens it, puts in infraestructure, such as  the roads, utilities, water system, drainage, and lighting. Next, the homes are built, perhaps spec homes, if builder is making a quantity of homes, with several models to choose from sometimes. Or, the neighborhood may consist of custom homes, in which the buyer can pick and choose what appearance and style is wanted for the home. Next, the home is lived in, the neighborhood grows, more people populate the area, trees grow, and over time, there is wear and tear of the structures, and the newness fades into history.

One neighborhood in particular here in Tallahassee, the Weems, was a forest a few years ago. I walked and explored that wooded area in east Tallahassee, which is the direction much real estate development is moving in. I was surprised when the Weems Subdivision was developed into a community of many single family homes. The trees were cut down, and new homes built. I then noticed over a few years that the landscaping in the community was developing, and trees planted or put in, were growing. The Weems is still a young neighborhood, but it is easy to notice that it is maturing, and is now established in the hearts and minds of folks here in Tallahassee.

It is fun to reflect on how neighborhoods grow, and change over time. I am always interested in hearing and reading about peoples’ experiences living for a period of time in a community, and the observations they have.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR, ePRO
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
1607 Village Square Blvd., Suite B103
Tallahassee, FL 32303
Cell 850-339-5753, Blog: http://KennethFach.wordpress.com 

Each office is independently owned and operated.

Three Useful Real Estate Valuation Sites

There are three useful real estate websites to visit to find an estimated value range of real estate, and property information for homes on the market in most areas of the United States. The three  sites are http://Trulia.com, http://zillow.com, http://HouseFront.com.

With Trulia and Zillow, you can read and respond to blogs, ask your real estate questions and get answers from real estate professionals, and see properties on the market in the geographic area that interests you. People ask many interesting questions regarding howt to buy, and how to sell real estate, and what strategies should be employed. You can ask about whether certain homes are for sale in a particular market, or get advice about what home styles are available in a market area. Trulia has an excellent interactive map on the site, and you can view homes that sold represented by red pins, and homes currently on the market represented by green pins. You can look up homes by zip codes. Since it is an interactive map, you can move it around to other areas, and zoom in or out to see clearly the locations of neighborhoods and streets.

With HouseFront, you can text from your cell phone, 46873, and input the address of a property, and soon, you will get a text message with the approximate value of the property, approximate square footage (from the property records), last sold date, last sold price, and other useful information. I use this all the time as I am driving through neighborhoods, or researching homes. It is a quick reference tool.

Although, these are useful tools for everyone, this is not suggesting that you not use the services of a real estate agent who is in the field regularly, and know with more exactness the values of homes based on comparable properties, and the uniqueness of individual properties. Real Estate Agents are not appraisers, but they do have practical daily, intimate knowledge of their real estate markets, their neighborhoods, and comparable homes.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR, ePRO
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
1607 Village Square Blvd., Suite B103
Tallahassee, FL 32303
Cell 850-339-5753, Blog: http://KennethFach.wordpress.com 

Each office is independently owned and operated.

MyLot Is Full of Ideas

I came across another useful website not to long ago at http://MyLot.com/KennethF. You can read, make comments, or contribute posts in discussions,and blogs. You create your interest, what you have sone, what you want to do. There are icons for most interests. What is cool is that you can read discussions and blogs on your interest you have chosen for yourself. I have found news worthy information, home maintenance ideas, and history facts, along with much more.

Principle of Substitution in Real Estate

The one important principle in real estate with regards to pricing a home for sale, is the Principle of Substitution. This is the benchmark of value, when determining what price range a home should fall in. The seller can put a price on the home, but ultimately, the buyer determines the home’s value.

There are many neighborhoods, and in these neighborhoods, there are homes on the market. We wonder, how did the seller come up with the price the seller is wanting for the home. Pricing is not an arbitrary activity. There is a system behind price, a system of value supporting a reasonable price range. It is kind of like a science, and kind of like an art, both combined together.

In the Principle of Substitution, you find the lowest priced home on the market in the neighborhood, one that is most similar to the other homes, and as close to the other homes, geographically.  Then, you use use that knowledge as the basis for determining a price range for a subject property that a seller wants to put on the market. With the subject property, that is, the home that is going  to put on the market, you can make price adjustments for features like fireplace, Florida room, cul de sac location, swimming pool. However, if the lowest priced home is $200,000, with 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths, and square footage around 1800 square feet, all the other homes that may be put on the market, that are similar to his information, should be very close to that $200,000 mark, with an increase in price for those additional features such as the examples given above.

 The Principle of Substitution just makes the pricing field fair, and even. It is a guidepost when all other factors are similar. It is not always easy to price a home for sale, but when you know what the lowest price for a home is in the neighborhood, the task is much easier.

When I am out looking at real estate, I consider all the homes for sale in the neighborhood, as well as the homes that sold in the last month, and last six months. I then populate the information in an Excel spreadsheet that i have on my Treo 700. I consider: location of each for sale and sold home, the square footage, number of bedrooms and baths, unique features, and age. I can get information from the county property appraiser website, HouseFront.com, and the MLS, all accessible on my smartphone. I can do research right there from my car, or as I am walking. When I get back to the office, my research is done. At home, I go to Trulia.com, and maybe another site or so to confirm data, and find additional data, that will help me accurately see the real estate values in the neighborhood.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR, ePRO Internet Certified
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
1607 Village Square Blvd., Suite B103
Tallahassee, FL 32309
Cell 850-339-5753  Blog: http://KennethFach.wordpress.com

Each office is independently owned and operated.