STALEMATE!

The hacker took control of my Facebook. How they got it, I don’t know. Ugh, the Scoundrel!!! First, I got a panicked call from our IT person, who saw it happen to my personal page.  I tried to secure it and had to hold my driver’s license to the camera of my computer. Had to cancel my credit card. Then a million other things the computer tells you to do which make you wonder if you are on one of those practical joker hidden camera shows. Then nothing happened for a week. *?&! Zuck! I tried again to log in like it was a bad dream. Still a nightmare and no luck. The hackers email you could partly see with lots of ******.  One person I know, the Poor Dear (never thought I’d use that in a sentence), has been hacked for 2 months now. The hacker has her selling bitcoin. You see the Poor Dear’s face transposed on billboards and delivering a new Mercedes Benz with a beautiful red ribbon to a young couple. Her friends are all congratulating her. Some though probably think the Poor Dear went “the full Kevin Trudeau”.  What is next? Magnetic toe rings to reverse the aging process?  101 cures to remove spots on Dalmatians? Anyway, I was at a stalemate. Defeated and exhausted.

Nobody works at Facebook, at least when it comes to hacking your account. Google who to help with hacking and good luck. Lots of Kevin Trudeau’s in this underworld. Someone on Twitter said they could help but when everyone like a swarm of bees recommended this person who begged us to DM him, we took a pass. Careful where you step as the stalemate could turn into the quicksand of hell like the Poor Dear.  One recommendation that came up was Hacked.com.  It was a firm based in Norway and we had no idea if they were legit. They were quoted in the Washington Post so that at least gave me some confidence. Finally, I talked to a cybersecurity expert I know and he said they were legit though I was up on Friday morning at 3:30am zooming with the Norway dude finishing off the final round of securing the account! My IT lady actually cried tears of joy as the 4am hour struck. I’m glad to recommend this company as everyone needs this firm as a source.  Logging on at the airport or hotels without passcodes is the worst thing you can do as an FYI if you need the advice. Which brings me back to Real Estate.

“What’s happening though is we are at a stalemate,” Jeff Lichtenstein of Echo Fine Properties in Palm Beach Gardens said. “Sellers don’t want to move because they’re hanging on to their rates.”

I was interviewed by NBC this week on the matter and you can watch the clip here.

Interest rates have risen to the highest since 2002.  Prices in Palm Beach County are holding firm compared to a year ago (although they have dropped if you factor in inflation).  Volume in July for single family homes (1164) was down 2.2% versus 1190 last year at this time.  The townhome and condo market are seeing less activity which I think is because so many are getting ready for Condo Reserves to fully take effect.

The volume of transactions in Martin County of single-family homes was down 8.4%. I think that though is because there is so much new construction available up north whereas Palm Beach County doesn’t have the endless new construction anymore as land is already developed.

Lots of the Buyers are also Sellers and higher insurance rates coupled with precious 2-3% interest rates have kept some from the sideline.

I see two major silver linings though if you a Seller that will eventually break the stalemate……

The first is that since supply cannot go up in the areas east of 95/Turnpike due to the end of available land, prices should jettison up north of 10% once interest rates take the inevitable tumble that should be coming in 2024 as inflation nationwide has tumbled six percent.  Barbara Corcoran said this week that she saw a 10-15% jump in prices as well if rates drop.  If you are a Seller but also a Buyer and trading up, that isn’t the best strategy as the differential for what you will pay in the trade up will be more because the price of what you are purchasing will also be more.

The second issue is homeowners’ insurance.  I’ve been writing about this for years but I’m hearing positive things from two insurance agents in the know.  Both think the majority of the inflation in the skyrocketing insurance rates is really more because of assignability of lawsuits and one way insurance costs.  Both were put to an end this spring. The reason though that competition is not yet back, and Citizens is still the forced choice of most is because of a giant backlog of cases that were filed before the new law went into effect.  It could take 18-24 months to work its way through the system. More legislation such as limiting roof costs to a portion of the cost if they are old would help as well. However, from what I hear the legal reform is 80% of the issues.  And while storms are getting stronger worldwide, the silver lining to that is over a long period of time, construction and infrastructure are so much better.  Most new homes have been built with impact glass since 2009.  Older homes have been retrofitted one by one.  I know from delivering PB&J Sandwiches last year to help out victims of Hurricane Ian, that homes that had the most horrific damage were older homes that were not built to today’s code of construction.  When those are built back stronger, the same storm would have a much less powerful effect.  Power lines and other infrastructure is also vastly improved. Thus, the damage in dollars from a storm should be much less.

Now on to more important Stalemates.  Barbie or Oppenheimer?

Jeff Lichtenstein, originally from Chicago, got his start in the home furnishings textile business where he traveled over 35 weeks a year selling fabrics. After the family business was sold, Jeff moved to Florida and became a real estate agent. Today he is the owner and broker of Echo Fine Properties, a luxury residential brokerage voted best brokerage of the year. Jeff manages a non-traditional model of real estate that mimics a traditional business model. Echo has 80 agents, an average of one million dollars per transaction and over 500 million in annual sales. Between traveling for work and annual family trips to national parks with his wife and 2 now adult children, Jeff has visited 49 states. He is also one of the few Chicago White Sox fans you’ll ever meet.  Some publications he has been quoted in.

Feel free to ask him a question directly at jeff@EchoFineProperties.com including a complementary  valuation of your home.