Greg Snow - Southwest Florida Real Estate Expert provides real estate services to Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Islands

Today is my sister's birthday (don't worry Liz, won't tell :), and also the 36th anniversary of Richard Nixon's resignation as 37th President here. Our real estate market is trying to avoid an association with either event, and recover from a nagging case of starting and stopping to gain strength. Lee County may have been the first hit with the housing recession, since we appreciated over 50% in home values for 2005, and logically, we should be at least one of the first to emerge into a new sunshine state. The list of stop signs run the gamut from the BP oil spill (not here in Lee), end of tax credit(s), delay in implementing National Flood Insurance Program, new difficulties in obtaining conventional financing, and over 12% of our eligible workers not being employed. In the year 2005, most local families were priced out of the rising market. Today, prices have fallen about as far down as they could be, and some choice properties have multi offers when they are marketed. The banking industry claims they have money to lend, but the underwriters want to know everthing, and then want more documentation. Owning a home used to be a dream for almost all of us and now it is more like auditioning for a documentary.