Written by Nathan Thomas on September 14, 2004
With two hurricanes down and one on the way, Florida real estate agents are worried the once-record breaking real estate market will face a slowdown due to damage clean up and apprehensive consumers too scared to put money toward a home that may be wiped away.
Hurricane Charley pushed the closing of 10 to 15 percent of transactions on existing homes from August into September, and that number is expected to be even more significant in the aftermath of Frances, Ron Acker, owner of Winter Park's Re/Max 200 Realty, told the Orlando Business Journal.
"The numbers (of people) out looking right now are minuscule, and even if you have a contract on a home, finding a mortgage company and an insurance company to work with you are very difficult. There will be delays," he said.
It's no secret that Central Florida's economic engine has been fueled by homes sales over the past few years - both new construction and existing. But in the Charley and Frances aftermath, mortgage and insurance companies have changed the way they are doing business, causing some changes in the real estate market.
Because the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared most of Central Florida a disaster area, many mortgage companies must take a second look at properties that were appraised before the storms.
"In emergency situations, our major lenders require us to go out and do inspections to see if properties that have previously been appraised may have been damaged," Rob Mitchem, sales manager for Homebanc Mortgage in Orlando, told the Business Journal. "The appraisers are looking for visible outside damage. We just want to make sure the property is still in good condition. It protects us and the buyers."
There are other problems too - affecting both real estate agents and home buyers. Many insurance companies stop writing and binding new policies when hurricanes threaten the state, causing problems for potential home buyers needing homeowners insurance.
Plus, office damage and lack of power or phone systems in some places, hindered agents' ability to conduct business and many home buyers were faced with damage to their current homes, delaying their searches for a new one.
But many real estate professionals are confident the market will bounce back to its healthy numbers. After all, it is one of the strongest markets in the U.S.
"The effects from a weather event are typically short-lived, and sales numbers typically don't take long to rebound and normalize," said Walt Molony, a spokesman for the National Association of REALTORS®.
"The only thing we can safely say about storm impact is it can delay transactions on a localized basis. In terms of annual state sales there is no discernible impact," Molony said.
"On a monthly basis we've previously been able to detect adverse weather impact in a U.S. Census region in existing-home sales (such as a major winter storm), but see a catch-up the following month. On a quarterly basis the sales data tends to 'smooth out,'" he added.
How to e-mail your current and future customers
You've been gathering e-mails from your family, friends and associates for months and you're ready to launch your e-mail marketing campaign in an attempt to reel in some new business. Before you begin any type of e-mail promotion, you'd better make sure you're in check with the CAN-SPAM Act.
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) signed by President Bush in December 2003 and effective as of January 1, 2004 creates a national standard to control the problem of deceptive or fraudulent commercial e-mail.
The Act outlines a series of practices you must follow when sending commercial e-mails (such as your e-mail describing your services to potential home buyers) both solicited and unsolicited.
The Act requires all commercial e-mails to include:
- a legitimate return e-mail and physical postal address,
- a clear and conspicuous notice of the recipient's opportunity to "opt-out" of receiving any future e-mails,
- a way for the recipient to send a message requesting not to receive any future e-mail messages from the sender (active for at least 30 days after message transmission),
- >a clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation, and
- a notice in subject heading if messages include pornographic or sexual content.
E-mail communication to your current customers and clients is exempt from CAN SPAM, such as e-mails sent by a listing agent or broker to a seller who has listed their home for sale, or by an agent or brokerage to a prospective buyer who has already had communications with the agent. But, make sure that e-mail is what the Act refers to as a "transactional or relationship messages" and its primary purpose is to:
- facilitate, complete or confirm a commercial transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender;
- provide warranty information, product recall information, or safety or security information with respect to a commercial product or service used or purchased by the recipient;
- provide information with respect to a subscription, membership, account, loan or ongoing commercial relationship involving the ongoing purchase or use of products or services offered by the sender to the recipient;
- provide information directly related to an employment relationship or related benefit plan in which the recipient is currently involved, participating, or enrolled, or;
- deliver goods or services, including product updates or upgrades, that the recipient is entitled to receive under the terms of a transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender.
Following these rules can mean the difference between a $200,000 sale or a $2 million fine for noncompliance with the CAN SPAM Act. That makes the choice easy.