New Tampa Homes | Bassett Creek

Basset Creek in K-Bar Ranch is located just off of Cross Creek Boulevard and Kinnan Street and only a hop skip and jump from I-75.  The community boasts a cabana, pool, community parks, walking trails and open playing fields.  Elegant luxury homes from three of the areas top builders, Mobley, M/I, and Meritage dot the conservation landscape and provide a secluded, natural setting in the heart of New Tampa, 33647.



Homes for sale in Land O Lakes: Click Here

Looking to sell a home in Land O Lakes?  Contact me today to set up an appointment.  I have the tools knowledge and experience to sell your home quickly for more money  Michael Galovic Homes.

South Tampa Pond: Barbwire to Boardwalk

Site plan for the Osbourne Pond Trail and Fitness Area

Last week, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced the creation of a new park and fitness trail around Osbourne Pond.  What was, until recently, surrounded by a barbwire covered fence will be revamped into a boardwalk trail, fitness area, and scenic retreat for the once crime ridden location.  

The city plans to spend around $500,000 to create a half mile long trail that will circle the retention pond.  The trail will feature eight new fitness stations and the planting of over 110 new trees to help create an inviting look and shade for the trail.

This first bid in the project has been completed and is slated to get underway in December of this year with completion set for April of 2014.

Tampa Real Estate Report: September 2013

The Greater Tampa Association of Realtors releases a monthly report detailing Real Estate market statistics for the Tampa Bay area.

The first thing most people say when I mention that I am a Realtor is that they have heard that the market is heating up.  That is definitely true in the Tampa market.  Homes are staying on the market for less time and the average home sales price is increasing year over year.

For the month of September, of the 2,026 homes that were sold in the Tampa Bay area, the average sales price was $201,759, up from $175,642 last year at this time.  If you are thinking of putting your home up for sale, the average time it will take to generate an acceptable offer on your home is 62 days, down from 85 a year ago.

As home prices and average days on market are increasing and decreasing respectively, inventory is also becoming also becoming constrained.  Just 3 years ago, there were 16,375 properties on the market, as of September 2013 the were a little over 8,000.

This constraint in inventory is what has caused a sellers' market to emerge.  Multiple offers are common and as a buyer you have to be looking to put your best offer forward for the home of your dreams.

As I wrote in a post earlier this week, analysts are expecting a large chunk of US homeowners to break out of negative equity on their homes in the next year.  This is leading to an expectation of an increase in the number of homes on the market in the next year which will cause home price growth to taper off.  The important thing to realize is that we are in year two of a long term housing market recovery and will see an ebb and flow of the seller/buyer market before it stabilizes.

Need help navigating the current Real Estate Market?  Visit Mike Galovic Homes to get tips on the home buying and selling processes. 

Florida Chamber Foundation: Economic Foundations Are Strong

On October 15th the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation released it annual State of the State report.  In it the chair of the foundation, Bentina Terry, described the economic foundation of Florida to be strong and still growing.

"In just one year, Florida's economy has seen a substantial boost with 3,000 more businesses than last year and 131,000 new net jobs," said Terry.  "Florida also regained a Top 10 ranking for educational quality and prepared 224,120 college students to enter the workforce.  With record-breaking tourism numbers, a rising housing market, and continued export growth and increased manufacturing output ~ Florida's economy grew by more than $30 billion from the previous year."

Terry warned that allow there was a lot of growth, there is still much work to be done and Florida still faces challenges.

• although 20,000 new jobs are created each month, 13,000 initial new unemployment cliams are filed each week.
• Half of the drop in state unemployment is from workers dropping out of the workforce
• Florida experienced 70,902 foreclosures last quarter
• 39 states posted higher income gains over the previous year.

The foundation has also been working on a study to expand the state's economic foundation of tourism and agriculture into areas of trade and logistics.  The aptly named Trade and Logistics Study 2.0 focused on identifying essential areas for strategic development tied to creating jobs, advancing economic growth and diversifying the state's economy.


Looking for help with buying or selling your home?  Visit Mike Galovic Homes today to take the first step in the right direction.  


source: Florida Chamber of Commerce

Its almost that time of year.

This isn't the case anymore, but I still laughed. 

























If you want to see how much equity you have in your home, contact me on Mike Galovic Homes.

Florida Real Estate Commission Offers College Scholarship

The Florida Real Estate Commission(FREC) announced yesterday that it will be opening a scholarship for students pursuing a degree in Real Estate.

The online application process opens Oct. 21 2013 and ends Nov 8th at noon.  The scholarships are for $1500 to $2500 and have some additional requirements below.  Applications can be submitted online at https://floridarealestatecommission.fluidreview.com.

Requirements for application:

1. Students must be a Florida resident. A copy of a Florida driver license or Florida state ID must be provided.
2. Students must be attending an accredited Florida educational institute that offers majors with concentrations in real estate studies. Degrees must be at the undergraduate or graduate level.
3. Students must be officially enrolled in and pursuing a degree with a concentration in real estate studies. Minors in real estate or certificates in real estate are not eligible for the scholarship.
4. Students must be currently enrolled in real estate courses with a degree with a concentration in real estate studies OR enrolled in a real estate course(s) in a forth coming semester, again with a degree with a concentration in real estate studies.
5. Undergraduate students must maintain an overall grade average of a “C” (grade point average of a 2.0 on a 4.0 scale) or higher. And students at the graduate level must maintain an overall grade average of a “B” (grade point average of a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or higher. School transcripts must be provided.

Interested in the next steps once you complete your Real Estate degree or get your license?  Contact me on Mike Galovic Homes

source:  Florida Association of Realtors

Low Home Inventory To Get a Kick in the Rear

RealtyTrac, a company that monitors real estate trends across the country, released a report stating that over the next 15 months, 8.3 million homeowners, making up about 18% of outstanding mortgages, will cross the equity threshold in their homes and can possibly sell their home without completing a short sale.

On average homeowners have seen a 1.33% increase in their home's value since the national average home price bottomed out in March 2012.  A lot of homeowner's have been sitting on the sidelines waiting to regain enough equity in their homes to be able to sell.  This has left the real estate market in a short supply situation for the past several years. 

"Steadily rising home prices are lifting all boats in this housing market and should spill over into more inventory of homes for sale in the coming months," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

The elephant in the room is that a much larger swath of the homeowner populace won't see positive equity any time soon.  Roughly 10.7 million homes have at least 25% negative equity in their home currently.  Albeit, this number has been shrinking and was at 12.5 million last year at this time.

The report also concluded that 25% of homeowners in foreclosure have positive equity in their homes giving them a chance to sell their homes before the end of foreclosure proceedings.

If you're curious where you stand with your home's equity, visit Mike Galovic Homes today to get your free Competitive Market Analysis and see what your home is worth in today's market.