HOME SELLERS REAL ESTATE ALMANAC, BAIL-OUT PROGRAMS TO HELP YOU, SEE BELOW ==2-FOR-1 SALE== DISCOUNTS, REBATES, FOR SMART SELLERS IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

For genuine golf junkies, there's nothing like retirement. With your schedule cleared of the 9-to-5 grind, you're finally free to pass the days as you always wished: taking extra swings at the driving range, lining up that perfect putt on the 18th hole, and enjoying the fresh-cut grass and sunshine.

But for retirees, golf offers much more than just fun. In addition to the exercise, the game provides seniors with a wonderful social outlet, says 18-year LPGA Tour veteran Penny Pulz. "You [have] to deal with people that aren't always on your page—and that is terribly important in seniors," says Pulz, who now runs the senior-focused Penny Pulz Golf Academy in Sun City, Ariz. We dug into the U.S. News database of more than 1,000 Best Places to Retire and came up with a list specifically tailored for duffers.

Of course, retiring golfers have no lack of attractive options. Bonita Springs, Fla., is within easy reach of more than 135 courses in Lee County and is just a 20-minute zip down the sun-kissed southwest Florida coast to Naples, one of the country's golf meccas.

10 great retirement spots for golf nuts

Auburn, Ala.
Bonita Springs, Fla.
Charlotte, N.C.
Georgetown, Texas
Lemont, Ill.
Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Portland, Ore.
Rancho Mirage, Calif.
St. George, Utah
Sun City, Ariz.

NAPLES IS NUMER ONE Home sweet retirement home

With prices down by a third in many markets, it may be time to start shopping for the house you want to end up in.
By Dan Kadlec, Money Magazine contributing writer February 11, 2009

Money Magazine -- My wife and I recently swallowed hard and bought a tiny cabin on a prime lake-front lot near the Berkshire hills in western Massachusetts where we'd like to retire one day. (At a later date, we'll build a bigger house.) Were we early, buying before housing prices hit rock bottom? Almost certainly. Are we losing sleep over it? Absolutely not.

We love knowing we've locked up a fantastic piece of property at 20% below the asking price - the price it might have fetched a few years ago. Now we're enjoying planning for our retirement in specifics - and meanwhile, spending as much time in our Berkshires retreat as we are able to.

If you also dream of retiring to an idyllic waterfront locale, a country plot or an active-adult community, you may similarly find that now is the right time to buy - or at least to start looking in earnest. Prices in once frothy retirement havens like Las Vegas, Naples, Fla. and Phoenix have tumbled more than 30% since peaking in 2006.

Sure, values may go lower still, given forecasts that the housing market will stay soft through 2009. Picking the exact bottom is a dicey game, however. And in any case, the question that matters most to retirement buyers is not what price the house you want will sell for next year but whether it will be worth more than what you paid for it in, say, 10 or 15 years.

Framed that way, the values in retirement homes right now are compelling in many areas. The following steps can help you decide if you're ready to make this leap and, if so, how to land the best deal.

Discount Territory for Retirement

Since 2006, home values in many retirement areas have fallen 30% or more vs. a 23% average drop in house prices nationwide.

City	Average home price	Drop since peak
Naples, Fla.	$350,843	-38%
Las Vegas	$215,542	-36%
Phoenix	$203,151	-32%

Source:SOURCES: S&P Case-Shiller

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT

NAPLES THIRD Best Undervalued Place to Live

The real estate bust has created some attractive bargain opportunities in certain housing markets
By Luke Mullins Posted July 16, 2009

While the national housing bust has devastated property values, it has also created some outstanding bargain opportunities for would-be home buyers—if you know where to look. During the first half of the decade, easy credit and speculative fervor sent home prices in certain states—Florida, California, Nevada—scorching to phenomenal heights. But nearly three years into a real estate crash that's dragged home prices down 32 percent from their 2006 peaks, some of these once wildly overpriced markets present today's real estate shoppers with perhaps their best shot at long-term value. "What we have seen is that those markets that became significantly overvalued [during the housing boom] are right now very undervalued," says Jeannine Cataldi, senior economist and manager of IHS Global Insight's Regional Real Estate Service.

To pinpoint the nation's most undervalued housing markets, we turned to IHS Global Insight's first-quarter 2009 House Prices in America report, which uses household income, population density, and other data to compare a market's actual value with where it should be on a statistical basis. We then used employment, quality-of-life, and other research to determine America's best undervalued places to live.

Naples Florida More than two years of price declines have turned some of Florida's most overpriced communities into buying opportunities, says Jack McCabe of Florida-based McCabe Research & Consulting. "There are definitely opportunities in the marketplace now that make sense," he says. The upscale retirement community of Naples is one such market, McCabe says. With plenty of golf, beaches, and fishing, Naples is an enchanting, sun-drenched spot along Florida's southwest coastline. And after home prices plummeted by nearly 50 percent from the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2009, the housing market is looking increasingly tempting. IHS Global Insight considers the median home price in Naples—$200,000—to be 33 percent undervalued.

America's 10 Best Undervalued Places to Live
Percent of undervaluation, according to IHS Global Insight

Las Vegas: 41 percent
Houston: 37 percent
Naples, Fla.: 33 percent
Oklahoma City: 29 percent
Sarasota, Fla. 28 percent
San Francisco: 25 percent
Atlanta: 24 percent
Omaha: 23 percent
College Station-Bryan, Texas 21 percent
San Diego: 21 percent

LETS ALL HOPE THE ECONOMIC CLIMATE FOR 2010 WILL IMPROVE

The “What Ifs” of an Economic Downturn

The Internal Revenue Service recognizes that many people may be having difficult times financially. There can be a tax impact to events such as job loss, home foreclosure and short sales or tapping a retirement fund. If your income decreased, you may be newly eligible for certain tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit.

If you believe you may have trouble paying your tax bill contact the IRS immediately. There are steps to help ease the burden. You also should file a tax return even if you are unable to pay so you can avoid additional penalties. READ FULL SUGGESTIONS FROM OUR FRIENDLY IRS

This Bonita Springs home, at 26726 Token Court, holds the current title for largest total in outstanding code enforcement fines. The property's owners, listed as Jody Skinner and Tammy Ortengren of 1034 Capri Drive in Naples, have been told to clean the property up or pay fines totaling $443,322.94 to Bonita. The Lee County property appraiser places the value of the building and lot at $92,160. Foreclosure proceedings on the property began in June and are ongoing. READ ARTICLE

NaplesNews.Com MATT CLARK (Contact) November 16, 2008

CHRIS SAYS Some interesting statistics

Sales: While sales are soft they are still increasing. A small price recovery is expected by the fourth quarter of 2009. Affordability is better now than it was in 2006. The inventory of existing homes is going down. (This is a key factor in price. As inventory declines, price goes up.)

Housing: Markets Nationally

Sales of Existing Homes.

National Down 29% as of September 2008 from September 2005 peak.

National Up 1.4% 12 month from September 2007 and ending in September 2008.

Prices of Existing Homes.

Median National Down 17% as of July 2008 from July 2006 peak.

Median National Down 9% 12 month from September 2007 and ending September 2008.

Sales of New Single Family Homes.

National Down 65 % as of September 2008 from March 2005 peak.

National Down 34 % for 12 month from August 2007 and ending August 2008.

Current Factors Impacting Market.

Traffic, Prices, Incentives, Foreclosures, Overdue Mortgages.

Upside Down Mortgages.

2006 at 4%

2007 at 6%

2008 at 16%

CLICK FOR FREE STUFF - 100's of useful things

CHRIS REMEMBERS - Today in 2008, I hear this.
" I feel powerless. Our home has been listed since 2006. People do come and look but not many. We reduced our asking price twice. We have done a lot of cleaning, painting, de-cluttering, and keeping the lawn in good condition. We need our home sold. What should we do?"

In 1982 mortgage interest were sky high at 14 to 18 percent. But it did not matter. Every agent knew that many persons did not want to buy a home. In 2008 mortgage interest are low at 4 to 6 percent and it still does not matter. Nobody wants to buy a home. People who feel powerless like this can find buyers when they accept yet lower prices - or they can wait until the public desire to buy a home returns to normal levels. It did in 1982 and CHRIS REMEMBERS.

Auctioneers are all the craze lately in Southwest Florida along with rest of USA. Chris sees one or ten or a hundred homes going in an afternoon. Sometimes nobody even shows up to bid. One ENTERTAINING one Chris and Deane watched went this way. People showed up but no one would open the bid which had to open at $3 million. Finally a paddle went up for $3 million. Then a couple bid $50,000 more ---- and that was it. And the poor guy said “I don’t even want the house: I figured some one else would bid again”

GET CHRIS's PACKETS SOUTH WEST FL HOMES UNDER $200,000

SELL FASTER - SHOW EVERY ROOM TO ITS BEST ADVANTAGE

MAKE EVERY ROOM LOOK BIGGER and BETTER

CLICK FOR FREE STUFF - 100's of useful things

VISIT CHRIS AND DEANE'S FUN WORLD OF COCONUTS