Appliance, Furniture and Material Delays
We are still feeling the effects from supply chain disruptions caused from COVID and huge demand causing serious delays in certain materials like lumber and shingles and home appliances. In addition to a shortage of materials around the nation, we are still experiencing extremely high demand as the area works to recover from Hurricane Sally's impact in September 2020. This is causing an increase in pricing and a delay in time to complete serious repairs. We expect further delays with the recent Suez Canal blockage.

Here's a few articles about the issues we're seeing and reasons behind it: 

• Forbes: Renovating Your Home? These 4 Things Are In Short Supply- And Could Cost You Time, Money
• NBC Nightly News: What's behind the backup in new furniture and appliance orders
• The Washington Post: Suez Canal mishap puts battered supply chains under more pressure

Appliance Delays Causing Serious Issues
While this may be frustrating while you are trying to upgrade to a new washer/ dryer, it becomes a serious issue with your tenant occupied property when your tenant is left without a crucial appliance like a fridge. We cannot wait weeks or months to get a replacement unit. Your tenant may be entitled to a rent reduction, credit, or some other incentive if you experience a lengthy delay in repairing or replacing an appliance. Here's more about the appliance delays and what can be done. 

Roofing & Fence Work
We are finally receiving roof and fence estimates in a timely manner.  Unfortunately, these estimates are coming back higher than ever. Roofing repairs are running about a month out and new roofs can be replaced in the same amount of time. If you have outstanding fence, roofing, and tree work at your property, talk to your manager about your options. 

Spring has sprung, especially in Florida, and it's time to look at preventative maintenance items. There's no better preventative maintenance item in Florida than a Spring A/C Tune Up! We've got two companies offering a great deal on these tune up.

Panhandle Heating and Air offers a spring tune up for $65 and Mathews Heating and Air provides a spring service for $75. These are done at the normal service call rate and can prevent your property from needing additional service this spring. It can also identify if your system is close to a breakdown due to age or condition and alert you to this issue now.  

What are the benefits of an HVAC Tune Up?
During an HVAC tune-up, the technician reviews your A/C system and provides routine maintenance to prevent seasonal issues like an A/C leak or back up. They also test the system thoroughly and can identify problems that can easily be fixed early to prevent a breakdown or more extensive damages. A well-maintained HVAC system lasts longer. Neglecting your system results in a shorter system life that can cost you hundreds or even thousands in early replacement costs. Unfortunately, tenants are not great at maintaining the system, and this is one of the ways we can educate the tenants plus show them you care about their comfort during the season. 

What does the Service Include?  

• Clear Out Condensation Drain Line
• Change filter if needed
• Check Indoor and Outdoor Coils
• Check Refrigerant Level
• Check All Electrical Connections
• Lubricate All Moving Parts
• Measure Temperature Split
• Check Voltage on Motors
• Monitor A/C and Heating Cycles, season applicable Test Starting Capabilities
• Check Safety Devices

If you want to schedule a spring HVAC tune up for your property, reach out to your property manager or respond to this email, and we will reach out to discuss.  

Pensacola Real Estate Market Update
2021 has been the hottest year for selling in decades in the Pensacola area, and the proof is in the statistics. The strength of the market goes hand in hand with how many days on the market a home sits before selling. The current Days on Market average for residential homes in 2021 is 37 compared to 49 the previous year.

The other major factor is the sales price percentage of the list prices. This year, homes have sold for 99.03% of list price, which shows that sellers are not budging on prices and in many cases going well over list price. The median home sales price is sitting around $240,000 currently in our area, up drastically from years ago. 

The other tell-tale sign of a sellers' market is the percentage of listings that have expired. In 2020 that number was 5.6% and today that number is sitting at just 1.46%.

Take all those factors and combine it with a major drop in inventory of over 50% in most price ranges, and you can begin to see why we are dealing with such a strong seller's market. There truly has never been a better time to sell. With Summer just around the corner, the market  is only going to keep heating up. Call us today and we can show you just how valuable your home is in this market

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Pensacola Rental Market Update
More comforting news for Pensacola area landlords is that the Pensacola rental market is performing stronger than ever despite COVID and financial difficulties for many households. Despite the COVID pandemic, Pensacola’s rental market saw increases for the 2nd half of 2020 by 10%, on average, for new move in rents.

We came across this New York Times Article titled “How the Pandemic Blew Up Rents” discussing the disparities between different markets and metros. The article cites that Nationwide, 2020 rents were down 1.2% year over year. The majority of larger markets saw rental decreases while smaller metros had the opposite, rental increases. As mentioned, we definitely saw strong rental increases in Pensacola’s market. According to Apartment Lists National Rent Data, our data matched up with theirs in showing that the Pensacola area saw nearly a 10% year over year increase. In contrast, other Florida markets did not perform as well. Markets like Orlando and Tallahassee saw a 5% rent decrease in 2020.

Locally, our employment numbers are strong despite and remained so during the pandemic. While we did experience high unemployment in the tourism industry, it’s clear that our area was not affected as much as others in the state of Florida, whose economy highly depends on tourism dollars.

Locally, inventory levels for both the real estate sales market and rental market are at record lows. Hurricane Sally’s impact on our area in September 2020 exasperated our low inventory issue causing a spike in both rental and sales prices. Into 2021, we continue to see record low inventory and vacancy rates. Both rental rates and home sales prices continue to rise and affordability continues to be an issue as rents and mortgage rates are rising above what the average Pensacola family can pay. Many landlords continue to choose to sell their properties as they become vacant, especially with costly hurricane repairs and eviction moratoriums that limit the landlords right to collect rent and evict for non-payment.

According to the New York Times Article, rents are now stabilizing around the country and rent fluctuations are starting to slow. Locally, we expect the trend of low supply and increasing rents for the foreseeable future.