Flreia's Blog

South Florida State of the Onion | May 14, 2010

I’ve always wanted to see it in print – State of the Onion vs. State of the Union.

If you caught the FLREIA’s FAN report this week then you probably heard how our local unemployment rate is doing. It’s a couple of points above the national average at 12.1%.  Shocking, not really.  South Florida is largely a service-based economy so when others don’t come to visit it hurts our local economy.

It’s not as bad as it probably was in the past.  I’ve lived in Florida most of my life and I’ve seen it go through the ups and downs.  There really hasn’t been too many downs, at least not like this one.  But again the skyrocketing real estate prices didn’t help.  A few years ago I saw this coming, especially when I was hearing of reports of an exodus of nurses from our community because they could not afford to live here.  They get paid pretty good and if they couldn’t afford it, how about our service workers who probably make half as much they do?

So what can we expect?  in 2008, I had predicted that we would not begin to see an improvement in our market until mid 2011.  Do I still believe that?  Have we hit bottom?  I believe we’re skipping across the bottom, but I don’t foresee the real estate market in our area gaining any momentum yet.  There’s quite a few variables.  Like I stated earlier we are primarily a service industry, tourism at the top.  If the rest of the country and the world is hurting then we can expect to feel some pain.

Lenders have made lending more difficult. Some of our members have shared with me how ridiculous some of the hoops the banks are making their buyers jump through to get a loan.  One member in particular was exacerbated after the bank requested a document at closing from the buyer that was impossible for him to obtain.  The document was an IRS form that the IRS could not provide until after a certain date; which they were weeks away from at time of closing.

Lastly, some local municipalities are hurting for money that they have no other choice but to raise property tax rates.  Another ploy some have taken is fining property owners for menial issues.

All is not lost.  As an entrepreneur I’m always looking for the opportunity instead of focusing on the negative.  Case in point.  The other day I was going down the elevator with my copy of the WSJ and another resident joined me a few floors down for the rest of my trip to the lobby.  She commented on how much bad news there was and I replied and yet so much opportunity for us to do something about it.

I don’t know about you, but we’ve been busy.  We are coming across so much opportunity that we can’t see straight.  It’s exciting times.  Just think about it.  If you’ve been laid off, maybe it’s time for you to start that small business venture you’ve been pondering over the years but never had the time to; or invest in real estate.

Just remember whatever you focus on will expand, so focus on the opportunity you have before you and move ahead.  Did you know that board-game Monopoly was created during the Great Depression?

Please share your comments or ideas with us on how you’re overcoming the current State of the Onion!