Florida mansion sales surge as tax exiles seek savings

For the past year, Florida real estate agents have been actively courting wealthy Northeasterners who took a hit from the Trump administration’s tax overhaul. Now signs are emerging that some of those disgruntled taxpayers are indeed jumping at the chance to cut their tax bill by moving to Florida. [Source: Bloomberg]

Have college dreams? Florida Realtors® seeks student scholarship winners

Do you have kids currently in college, or maybe one who is about to graduate high school? Are they interested in a possible real estate-related career? Then find out more about the Student Scholarship Program offered through Florida Realtors® Education Foundation Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that provides real estate-related educational scholarships. [Source: Florida Realtors]

Millennials want to be homeowners. It’s more a matter of finances than desire.

It’s time to kill the idea that millennials in Florida and around the nation don’t want to buy homes. Time and again members of the younger generation say they’d be happy to buy homes. And many are. For several years, the group under 37 years old has made up the largest slice of home buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Northeast Florida realtors learn the ethical way to sell

If real estate agents are hoping to keep their jobs and keep money in their wallets, they may want to listen to Chuck Bonamer. A group of Northeast Florida Realtors recently discovered some tips at an ethics course that could affect their income and profession. Every licensed Realtor is required to take the course every two years. [Source: Jacksonville Daily Record]

Zillow will start buying Orlando and Miami homes directly this year

The real estate website Zillow plans to start buying houses in Orlando, Miami and four other cities, joining a handful of companies offering quick and easy solutions for home sellers. The Seattle-based online service plans to roll out its Zillow Offers program by fall, buying houses from sellers in as little as a week and then turning around and selling them for a higher price, the company said. See the announcement from Zillow and read more from the Orlando Sentinel and WOFL.

ALSO TRENDING:

› Incoming NEFAR president wants more members to be involved [Jacksonville Daily Record]
As the incoming president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, Jeanne Denton-Scheck has one main goal. The longtime real estate agent wants to involve more of her fellow Realtors with the organization. With a membership of about 9,000 that continues to grow monthly by the hundreds, Denton-Scheck said she would like to see more participation, particularly from the group’s youngest members.

› Mega-developer Gil Dezer: Prices at our Trump-branded properties in Florida 'have continued to go up' [CNBC]
The presidency of Donald Trump has indirectly helped the real estate market in South Florida, Miami property magnate Gil Dezer told CNBC on Thursday. Dezer, who runs his billionaire family's real estate empire, said prices of his firm's Trump-branded properties in Florida have been pumped up by the president's popularity there.

› Government shutdown is starting to squeeze real estate sales in Bradenton, realtors say [Bradenton Herald]
The partial government shutdown, which entered its 26th day on Wednesday, is beginning to have an impact on potential home buyers in the Bradenton-Sarasota area. Among those affected: Veterans who need a VA loan to finance a home purchase, federal workers on furlough and small business owners seeking a Small Business Administration loan.

› 2018 was solid, not wild year in Northeast Florida real estate [St. Augustine Record]
The 2018 local real estate market was one of increased sales and higher prices again, but the uptick wasn’t particularly drastic, according to the annual report from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors.