• We do not blame you if you want to sell your rental after 2020. Prices are at a 12 year high and supply at historical lows, especially in our area following Hurricane Sally. Do you want a CMA to determine your property's value? 
• We are slowly recovering from Hurricane Sally.  Progress is slower than we'd like. Still navigating an insurance claim? Read below for tips and additional guidance and information. 
• We filed our first evictions since March in the month of October. Read below to see the results of these, including those who have filed the CDC forms. Read below for updates to eviction legislation and our predictions for the future.

Repair and Replacement Roof Estimates 
We do have a few roofers giving us repair and replacement estimates but getting estimates has been very slow and frustrating. Because this has been an exceptionally busy hurricane season with several storms affecting the Gulf Coast, adjusters are going back and forth between Pensacola and Louisiana. To make matters worse, the price of materials has gone up due to supply shortages  because of COVID-19. This is true of roofing and fencing materials. Estimates are not guaranteed beyond 60 days for this reason as the cost of shingles could increase. 

In fact, as of January 1, 2021, a new Florida code came into effect that is increasing bids we received before January 1st. Now, roofs must have a new peel and stick barrier which is adding, on average, another $1,000 to each roof. 

Troubled Insurance Market
A recent article from Best's Insurance News & Analysis from Timothy Darragh entitled "Florida Commissioner, Citizens CEO Warn of Trouble Homeowners Market" describes a reality where lawmakers must act in order to keep insurance companies from exiting the state. Increasing lawsuits is one of the reasons for increased rates and more companies pulling out of the state.  Here's a few facts from the article:  

• 55 of the 105 companies that filed for rate hikes in 2020 for domestic residential property insurers were for 10% or more.
• Underwriting losses for domestic residential property insurers topped more than $1 billion for the first three quarters of 2020, more than double the losses for the full year of 2019.
• The top five writers of homeowners multiperil insurance in Florida in 2019, based on direct premiums written, were Universal Insurance Holdings Group, with a 9.82% market share; State Farm Group, with 6.37%; Tower Hill Group, with 5.76%; Citizens Property Insurance Corp., with 5.16%; and USAA Group, with 3.95%, according to BestLink.

Every time we feel like we are making progress with restoring landlord's rights to collect rent or evict a tenant, we face additional legislation. Throughout the year, we have faced several state and nationwide eviction bans, and are currently still working against the CDC Moratorium. Luckily, Florida's Governor has not enacted any further legislation, our county seems to be stepping back, and we will only have to worry about national legislation to affect eviction actions in the coming months. 

As of now, we can evict tenants for non-renewals and for lease violations. Unfortunately, as you will read below, Florida's laws can prevent us from filing an eviction on your behalf for both of those items. In the past, the non-payment of rent eviction has been the easiest way to secure possession, but we are now faced with the possibility that the owner may not be able to evict their tenant for months to come. 

Delinquency Rates
Overall, delinquency numbers are still low, despite COVID, the injury to tourism in our area, and further income losses due to Hurricane Sally. Currently, over 95% of our tenants are paying timely. Only 2% of our tenants are seriously delinquent.   

Current Evictions in Progress
Of the 6 evictions we filed after the CARES legislation was lifted, 3 have been issued stays because the tenants served the CDC notice, and 3 have been finalized and possession has been granted. We are anxious and hope the current legislation expires 1/31/2021 and that we will be able to move forward with additional evictions and lifting the current stays. If new legislation is enacted, we are unsure how it will affect our current pending eviction cases. We are working closely with our attorney for advice on this matter.

Local Grants & Funding
We have been locating and pushing local grants to your tenants who are delinquent. We have been able to capture some CARES Act funds for tenants to catch up on delinquent rents and will be watching for news of additional funds that are coming to the county level. While new legislation hints that landlords can apply for these funds for tenants, what we are seeing says the tenant still needs to submit proper documentation and qualify so does not seem we will have much control over this process. 

Alternatives to Evictions
If your tenant is not paying timely, please discuss with your property manager a plan to move forward or reach out to our brokers to discuss the best options for your property. Sadly, as we are unsure what to expect with future legislation, we may need to consider options like cash for keys, agreements to vacate, and payment plans. 

The Florida Property Manager's Role in an Eviction  
As your property manager, we handle several aspects of your property management as allowed under our management agreement and Florida law.  These roles have us property managers wearing several hats- Realtor, leasing agent, private investigator, maintenance coordinator, bill collector, bookkeeper, interior designer, and the list goes on. One of the roles we cannot assume, is that of a lawyer.
 
The Florida Supreme Court does allow for Florida property managers to handle evictions for property owners but only in a limited scope and only in certain instances.
 
They give us the authority to:
-With the help of our attorney, draft and serve a 3-Day Notice
-With the help of our local county court, draft and file a Complaint for Eviction and Motion for Default
-With the help of our local Sherriff’s Office, obtain a Final Judgment and Writ of Possession
-Prepare eviction forms approved by the Florida Supreme Court
 
Your Florida Property Manager may be able to file and proceed with an eviction if:
-The eviction is for non-payment of rent
-The eviction is uncontested by the tenant
-We have written authorization from the property owner to evict the tenant
 
Unfortunately, if your tenant fails to move at the end of the lease, an eviction is necessary, but your Florida property manager may not be authorized to file this on your behalf. Additionally, if your tenant violates a lease term and is served a 7-day notice of non-compliance, we can serve the notice, gather the documentation, but cannot file the eviction on your behalf. Additionally, if we know your tenant will contest the eviction and that they have any ground to stand on, we will not be able to file any eviction on behalf of the property owner.
 
Why? Well, because the Florida Supreme Court does not want Realtors practicing law. Unfortunately, at a certain point, the eviction process can turn into such. This can be frustrating for property owners as the eviction process can be a little intimidating to navigate. The good news is that many owners, with a little guidance, are able to file and carry through the eviction with no problem. It may require an in-person or a conference call hearing. Luckily, with COVID, most of these hearings are being done remotely on ZOOM and you would be able to attend. In many instances, hiring an attorney to handle the process is the best choice for many. Talk to your property manager or reach out to our management team to discuss further if you have questions or concerns. 

After a rough year for many businesses and people due to Covid-19, it has become hard to find the positives for the year 2020. However, landlords and home owners can rejoice, because the real estate market has been absolutely exploding with growth. The market for Pensacola and the surrounding areas in general has been performing at all-time highs in many areas and all the positive indicators of a sellers’ market can currently be seen. 

The area is experiencing a housing shortage like many areas, but this shortage has only been magnified by the recent coming of Hurricane Sally. This unique situation is causing prices to soar, as options for buyers are limited.

• First of all, the inventory we are experiencing is significantly lower than 2019. This time last year, the MLS had a total of 2,361 active listing for buyers to choose from. Today, the MLS currently has only 1134 homes that are actively for sale. The drop in supply is over 50% from 2019-2020 and this is causing prices to go up as buyers are working against multiple offers the first week the home goes on the market, in many instances.
• To put things into perspective, the average sales price of homes in our area has gone up a whopping $46,000 from this time last year. Even the median sales price has gone up $30,000 from last year at this time. We've seen, on average, 15% increase in median re-sale average sales price.
• Not only are the prices going up, but even the average days on the market for sales has gone down significantly. Last year, the average time on the market before a home sold was 58 days. That number today, is down to about 40 days.   

Homes are truly selling for historically high prices, while closing in record time. All these factors make for a perfect opportunity for home owners to capitalize on their investments. If you have considered selling your home in the past, now may be the best time to capitalize on the market conditions. Even if you are just curious how much your home could sell for, we would be happy to give you our opinion on the value, while also, helping you weigh the pros and cons of selling. Give our sales office a call today to take advantage of the market today. Contact us at (850) 453-9220 or email Pam@PensacolaRealtyMasters.com  

Pensacola Rental Market Update
More comforting news for landlords is that the Pensacola rental market is performing stronger than ever. Despite all the last year entailed, we did see increases for the 2nd half of 2020 by 10%, on average, in new move in rents. We are seeing record low inventory and vacancy rates. As with sales prices, affordability continues to be an issue and will be the one we need to watch in coming years as rents are rising above what the average Pensacola family can pay.  

We are still facing challenges with COVID in regards to:

• Access to show tenant occupied properties
• Access to properties for evaluations, maintenance and repairs

As our attorney has advised us for liability not to push these issues yet, we are working on a case by case basis to mediate these issues with tenants. As the rise in COVID cases continues locally, it's hard to press forward with occupied evaluations and tenant occupied showings. Many companies have gone to marketing the properties only after the property is vacant, however, we are still continuing to market while occupied and utilizing private video tours so long as there are no strong objections.