As I look back on 2010 – I can’t help but remember what a crazy ride we had the entire year.

The Panama City Real Estate Team began 2010 with a bright outlook toward the new year…

The Good

We added several new people to the team – Corrie Leavins our office manager and Christina Daniels our newest sales consultant both joined in the beginning of the year.  What a great way to start off!

• While long term rental prices had declined, we were seeing many more properties become available for our Panama City property management business.
• People were beginning to look for Panama City Beach condos and homes in vast numbers – My website numbers were incredible having the highest number of leads I’ve experienced since I started the site.
• The new airport was about to open its doors – The ease of arriving to Panama City peaked a lot of interest across the country.
• Interest rates were at an all time low – Many people who were not previously able to purchase a new Panama City home or condo were now in the market.
• More Panama City homes and condos were sold in the first few months than have been in years – Agents on my team alone were closing more transactions and on track to have their best sales year ever!

The Not so Good

• The real estate market continued its downward spiral at an alarming rate – Not only locally but through out the country.  Locally, the Panama City Real Estate market was nothing less than a roller coaster ride.
• Banks continued to foreclose on properties at the highest rate in history – even though the banks were bailed out by the government, banks found it more profitable to foreclose rather than work with their customers – incredible.  Everyone needs to remember this!
• Panama City Short sales and Panama City Beach foreclosures made selling a home a difficult situation for many not having difficulty – obviously due to the banks foreclosing at an incredible rate as well as more short sales than time in history.
• The Oil Spill hit us smack in the busiest time of the local economic year – Just when you thought things were getting better BP let an oil spill devastate local economies along the gulf coasts.  Even though Panama City Beach was minimally affected, the news media made it out to seem like we had black, oil stained beaches up and down the coast – of course this could not have been the furthest thing from the truth.
• The oil spill kept vacationers away for months – loss to local businesses was staggering, keeping our local economy from realizing its fullest recovery and minimizing the impact of the new airport.

Even though there were several factors affecting the Panama City real estate market and the local economy, my team ended the year with a bang…

The agents on the Panama City real estate team helped more customers buy homes in the Panama City Beach area than ever before.

As one of the highest producing teams in the Panama City area, we pulled together to help sell more of our customers homes in one year than ever  before.  Even though the foreclosure and short sale market brought prices down to the lowest levels in years.  Many of my selling customers were able to walk away with profits.

Of course, in continuing my promise to provide my customers and visitors with the most technologically advanced and up to date Panama City real estate information, I added several new features to the site.  These include:

A new blog layout – improved and with more information for video listing presentations

The first ever Panama City Life Style search – Life Style searching will be the way many will search for homes and I’m bringing it to you first!

The Future

As the team and I say goodbye to a crazy year, we look forward to working with our existing as well as new customers and visitors to the Panama City Real Estate website.

The teams numbers are up make the start of this year as promising as it was in 2010.

We’re seeing more leads come to the site and more sellers interested in working with buyers to move their properties quickly.

I’ve been asked to start a weekly radio and or video broadcast by many customers and visitors which I am currently in the process of looking in to and developing so… Stay tuned for that.

And of course I will continue to bring new and interesting technologies and information to the website you’ve all come to expect from the Panama City Real Estate Team and JenniferMackay.com.

Of course, since our visitor and lead counts are up, I’m looking for more agents interested in taking their Panama City real estate career to the next level.  No experience necessary – just have a valid Florida real estate license and be willing to work and help people realize their dream of owning a new Panama City home or condo.

Panama City Beach homes for sale

Contact me directly (850) 774-6582 for a private showing on any Panama City Beach home or condo for sale.

Owners, put my technology to work for you. If you are interested in selling your home or condo, contact me today (850) 774-6582 for a free no obligation Home value report.

Buyers, when you’re ready to purchase a Panama City Beach Gulf or Bay front condo for your vacation home, contact me directly (850) 774-6582 for the latest information and pricing on any of the Panama City Beach condos for sale.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Florida Real Estate | Panama City

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

I hope your turkey day is a pleasant and joyous day and we look forward to making a few new announcements following this wonderful holiday.

We have some exciting new features and surprises we’re working on for the coming weeks.

Once again we will be setting the technology standard with these new and innovative features for our visitors and customers.

Owners, put my technology to work for you. If you are interested in selling your home or condo, contact me today (850) 774-6582 for a free no obligation Home value report.

Buyers, when you’re ready to purchase a Panama City home or condo, contact me directly (850) 774-6582 for the latest information and pricing on any of the Panama City homes sale.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Panama City Real Estate | Florida

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

Panama City has long been known for its military locations: Tyndall Air force Base as well as the Naval Support Activity base.

At Panama City real estate, we work with many relocating and retiring military families in various ways:

• Rental – Special considerations for active military
• Sales – Relocation assistance, assisting with VA financing and home purchases to name a few
• Property Management – Helping our military clients rent their homes when stationed else where to ensure their properties are well maintained and care for upon their return.

To celebrate these heroic  men and woman, there are several parades in various locations through out the area:

Panama City

Line up for everyone in the Panama City Parade downtown on Harrison Ave is from 730-830 am 11-10-10 the parade begins at 9am the parade goes from Bay High School to the civic center

Callaway

Line up for the Callaway parade is from 1230-1pm on Cherry street and Berthe ave the parade begins at 1pm and they walk to kmart parking lot on Tyndall parkway

Why not come out and celebrate our heroes with us!

Owners, put my technology to work for you. If you are interested in selling your home or condo, contact me today (850) 774-6582 for a free no obligation Home value report.

Buyers, when you’re ready to purchase a Panama City Beach Gulf or Bay front condo for your vacation home, contact me directly (850) 774-6582 for the latest information and pricing on any of the Panama City Beach homes sale.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Panama City Real Estate | Florida

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

We also met with a few colleagues and friends – Carla and Rob Masse in Tampa from Find My Florida Home and Eric Miller from Fort Lauderdale Group.

During our time together, of course we discussed the real estate markets in our corresponding areas and concluded we’re all experiencing similar issues:

• Short sales – very difficult and time consuming to close
• Foreclosures – Continue to occur at an alarming rate
• Preferred listings – when priced to match the above sales types, sell very quickly

It’s interesting to note, that none of us can figure out who the bail out of the banks actually helped… Besides the banks of course.

With the alarming amount of foreclosures currently on the market (as well as Bank of America announcing another 100,000 to come this month) and banks unwilling to help home owners, where did all the bail out money go?

In another note, we’re seeing renewed interest in gulf front homes and condos which is a good sign for our local economy.

Historically, this time of year we see increased activity in the investor and retiree market for various reasons such as 1031 exchanges, sales of business and reinvestment etc.

If you’re one of the many investors who need to purchase something before the end of the year, contact me today (850) 774-6582 for a list of properties that match your criteria.

My team and I are always ready to help you with your investment, retirement or relocation needs.

Owners, put my technology to work for you. If you are interested in selling your home or condo, contact me today (850) 774-6582 for a free no obligation Home value report.

Buyers, when you’re ready to purchase a Panama City Beach Gulf or Bay front condo for your vacation home, contact me directly (850) 774-6582 for the latest information and pricing on any of the Panama City Beach condos for sale.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Florida Real Estate | Panama City

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

As a real estate agent you can imagine how it important it is for me to have a working, reliable phone with as many gadgets as possible.

No phone = No business!

I’ve had an A.T.&T. account and phone service for over 20 years with out too many issues.

Last year I purchased 2 phones on special – After a few months, one of the 2 broke (the touch screen stopped working).  On Sunday, guess what – the other one broke EXACTLY the same way as the first.

I took the phones to the local A.T.&T. store and they told me there was nothing they could do for me aside from buying another phone and signing a new contract.  They also told me this was a “known defect” with this model .  Gee thanks for sending a notice or recalling the phone.

I purchased a $30.00 phone without a contract so at least I could continue to conduct business, went back to my office and phoned A.T.&T. and requested they replace at least one of my broken phones since there was obviously a problem with the phone and it was a defective model.

In no uncertain terms, and rudely the customer service rep told me “too bad”, buy another phone and sign a new contact.

Furious, I hung up the phone, went online, found Boost Mobil picked the phone I wanted and the plan and within 2 hours I had “pay back” to A.T.&T.!

Not only did I get an inexpensive phone with no service plan, but I also am saving $150.00 a month!  Gotta love it

Hit em’ in the pocket is what I say!

If I were to treat my customers the way I was treated at A.T.&T. I’d be out of business within a month.

Well A.T.&T. – I may only be one person (with 3 phone plans), but it starts here.  No more business for you from me!  I’ll be canceling the rest of my plans this week also.

Owners, put my technology to work for you. If you are interested in selling your home or condo, contact me today (850) 774-6582 for a free no obligation Home value report.

Buyers, when you’re ready to purchase a Panama City Beach Gulf or Bay front condo for your vacation home, contact me directly (850) 774-6582 for the latest information and pricing on any of the Panama City Beach condos for sale.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Florida Real Estate | Panama City

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

However, I am beside myself with anger at the state of the housing market and the people making decisions at the lending institutions.

The Economic Recovery Act should be renamed to the Economic Disaster Act!!!

It’s gotten’ insane.

The lenders are foreclosing on more properties than any time in history and our government is helping them do so by empowering them with the so called economic bail out!

I was under the impression the economic bailout of lending banks was supposed to help our economy and save homes of those in need, not give lenders carte blanche to foreclose  and ruin the housing market!

How am I as a top selling Panama City real estate agent supposed to help my customers if the lenders have their heads shoved where the sun doesn’t shine!!!

Here’s an example:

I had a condo listed as a short sale.  I received multiple offers between $75,000 – $85,000 and submitted them to Bank of America: the lending bank.

The chief bottle washer at BofA declined all the offers, foreclosed on the property and sold it for $55,000!!!

Incredible!

I ask you… How is that helping the Economy?

I am so livid at the insanity these lenders are displaying – why were they bailed out?  What moron at Bank of America running the show  decided $55,000 is  more than $85,000?

Here’s another example:

I had another short sale listing and received and lost several offers due to waiting for the lender to respond.  We all know that short sales can take awhile, but more than 6 months is ludicrous!

The 2nd lien holder demanded an extra 6K at closing.

What happened?

The buyer walked, and the property is scheduled to foreclose next week.

Want another example?

I  received a contract for $220,000 on another listing.  The bank foreclosed and re-listed the property which sold for $195,000!!

The insanity has to end.

President Obama – please help the citizens of the U.S. – I implore you to have someone investigate how and why lending institutions are making these incredibly idiotic decisions.

Banks/lenders need to get a grip on reality. The hand out in the form of the economic recovery act was to help the citizens of the United States, not give you the go ahead to be incredibly irresponsible and make idiotic decisions.

Lenders – WAKE UP!!!

If you have horror stories of losing your home or dealing with lenders, I’d like to hear them…

Owners, put my technology to work for you.  If you are interested in selling your home or condo, contact me today (850) 774-6582 for a free no obligation Home value report.

Buyers, when you’re ready to purchase a Panama City Beach Gulf or Bay front condo for your vacation home, contact me directly (850) 774-6582 for the latest information and pricing on any of the Panama City Beach homes sale.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Panama City Real Estate | Florida

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

Christina Daniels – one of the team’s buyer and military relocation specialists gave birth to 7 lbs 1oz. baby boy yesterday.

The newest member to the Daniels family and our team is named Jayden!

The team and I wish Christina and her family the very best and congratulations on the newest addition to their family.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Panama City Real Estate | Florida

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

USA Today agrees and has named Panama City Beach one of the Top 5 Bargain destinations.

While Spring break may not be everyone’s “cup o’ tea”, it only lasts few a few short weeks, the rest of the year is filled with relaxing fun times, warm sunny beach days and plenty of dining and entertainment for the whole family.

Don’t believe me? Come down and see for yourself.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Florida Real Estate | Panama City

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

Jennifer Mackay’s Profile |

I am very pleased to announce the addition of Christina Daniels to the Panama City Real Estate Team.

Christina comes to us with a strong military family tradition.  Her unique skills and talents in working with first time home buyers and  Military relocation families is a welcome addition to our team.

Christina brings to our team not only her military tradition but also her strong family values and business management experience.

Read more about Christina Daniels and please join me in welcoming her to the finest Panama City Real Estate Team in the area.

Christina Daniels – Realtor®
Panama City Real Estate Team
850-890-2320 Cell
christina@jennifermackay.com
www.jennifermackay.com
Keller Williams Success Realty
2110 W. 23rd Street, Ste A.
Panama City, FL 32405
850-392-1700 Office
850-392-1709 Fax

Owners, put my technology to work for you.  If you are interested in selling your home or condo, contact me today (850) 774-6582 for a free no obligation Home value report.

Buyers, when you’re ready to purchase a Panama City Beach Gulf or Bay front condo for your vacation home, contact me directly (850) 774-6582 for the latest information and pricing on any of the Panama City Beach condos for sale.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Florida Real Estate | Panama City

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”

It’s a small island (something I aspire to own one day:) ) they are still constructing quite a bit more tourist attractions.

Since Jessie is a Scuba Instructor and I a divemaster, we decided this would be a beach day and we’d do some skin diving.  Unfortunately, all snorklers as they call them have to wear a vest.

This doesn’t sit well with us so we scouted the island and found a few nice reefs away from the lifeguards and the vest wearers.

Overall, the sea life was scarce but the water was clear and blue.

No real estate to purchase on this island unfortunately.

Well that’s all for our vacation.  Here are some photos of the island and a water spout that happened to come just before a storm for our last day at sea.

Jennifer Mackay
850-774-6582
Florida Real Estate | Panama City

“Liked this post? Subscribe to my Panama City Real Estate blog RSS feed and get loads more!”