TopAgent Blog

Have you ever negotiated with someone and felt like you weren’t getting anywhere, or felt like you’d like to ring their neck because they weren’t reasonable. After negotiating thousands of transactions and teaching negotiating sessions for the Council of Residential Specialists and national conventions, we’d like to offer a few tips that may help you in the future. While we could probably write a book, we’ll offer what we can in a small article.

Negotiating Success Tips

Some people feel they’re excellent negotiators as evidenced by their ability to out-negotiate anybody and win at someone else’s expense. This rarely works unless one party is all out of options and there are no other interested takers. In this market, there are usually several interested takers. Let’s talk about some tips that may lead you to a successful deal.

Find out what’s most important to the other party and try to give it to them. Most people think it’s all bout price, but sometimes the closing date is important, or the move in date. Maybe it’s the personal items or the furnishings. I’ve seen some people emotionally attached to a washer and dryer a family member gave them as a present. Ask yourself, is that washer/dryer more important than the overall deal? This question could be asked of either side.

One tactic that rarely works is when one side asks to split the difference as a gesture of good will. This works when both sides feel each has negotiated in good faith and you’re close on the deal. This will blow up the deal when this isn’t the case. Here’s an example. Let’s say a seller prices their home at $200,000 and it’s truly worth $200,000. A buyer makes an offer at $150,000 and the seller laughs. Maybe the seller goes to $198,000 and the buyer goes to $160,000. The seller says they’ll go to $195,000 just to keep it going, but they’re about done. Buyer and seller are now $35,000 apart when the buyer says, “let’s split the difference and go to $177,500.” The deal dies.

Splitting the difference is usually the quickest way to death of a transaction. It’s all a function of where you started. Had the buyer started at $190k and they were only a few thousand apart it might work, but using this tactic when the buyer was unrealistic to begin with only exaggerates an unrealistic deal.

You might save a little bit on price if you give the seller something they want. Maybe the seller has kids and doesn’t want to move them until the end of the school year. They might sacrifice a little bit of money knowing they have their house sold but occupancy until the end of the year for the kids. If that works for the buyer, it’s win/win for both buyer and seller, and buyer saves a little bit of money while helping out the seller.

Another tip is research the market and offer fairly upfront. I’ve seen buyers get better deals by making a fair offer upfront rather than insulting the seller and offering far below market value. Everyone wants to get the best deal they can. This includes buyer and seller. If a buyer insults the seller, the seller is on guard and subsequent dealings tend to be contentious, so the seller counters higher to a buyer they don’t like than a buyer that was fair to begin with.

Don’t use gimmicks and deceit. Make your offer clear and complete. If you try to back-end your way into a negotiation the seller or seller’s agent will sniff that out and it will usually backfire. If you’re clear upfront with your intentions, contingencies, etc. you’ll build trust and perhaps you can get what you’d like. When trust is broken on the front end, it’s very difficult to get what you want through trickery and deceit. I don’t have room for examples and we could list plenty.

Work with an agent that listens and will guide you. Listen to your agent. Agents work with people all day long, every day for their job. Experienced agents who are successful have learned a thing or two about dealing with people and negotiating for success. If you find yourself out-negotiating the market but never ending up with a purchase or a sale, you might be out-negotiating yourself. It pays to seek the advice of a negotiating pro. It pays even more when you listen and act upon it.

If you’re a buyer, your success could very well be getting your first choice or moving on to your 4th or 5th favorite home. If you’re a seller, your success could very well be negotiating to close with your first buyer or waiting months and several price reductions later to close with your 4th or 5th buyer.

Your agent’s marketing brings buyers to the table. What you do with it can make those efforts worthwhile or futile.

Tags: Council of Residential Specialists, Negotiating Tips, Negotiation success tips, real estate agent SW Florida

If you look at the February and March 2012 graphs for single family home sales in Lee County, you’ll quickly notice that a large percentage of homes have sold for cash versus financing. This is not a new trend. While cash sales have saved our market the last few years, it does have its good and bad points. And we’ll attempt to explain why we’re seeing so many cash sales as well.

SW Florida Cash Sales Versus Financed Sales

You would think that with interest rates at historical lows, more people would be jumping on the train to buy now and finance. Homeownership is affordable, as rates are low and prices are low compared to the height of the market, although prices are on their way up. We believe price will go much higher if the government would get out of the way and make financing possible again.

Local lenders are complaining, as are buyers, that the Dodd Frank Act has made it so difficult for qualified borrowers to actually produce unnecessary redundant and onerous documents that many just give up. Banks have gone from easy documentation loans in the boom to crazy stupid documentation now. We can’t just blame the lenders, because lenders are just following new provisions of the Dodd Frank Act. You might recognize the names, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, two names synonymous with getting loans and perks from the banking industry maybe they shouldn’t have gotten. We’ll leave those scandals for another story. I’m sure you can read all about them over the Internet.

In an attempt to regulate and improve the mortgage market, Dodd Frank has hurt the market in several ways. Parts of the act require higher down payments which will take many buyers out of the market. 2 recent studies suggest requiring all buyers to put at least 10% down would force about 40% of otherwise credit worthy buyers out of the market and requiring 20% down would force about 60% out.

Mortgage Rates Trends

FHA has always required about 3-3.5% down and allows sellers to pay buyers closing costs, and their delinquency rates haven’t been substantially higher than banks requiring 10% down or more.

Secondly, and speaking from personal experience, the documentation requirements banks are adding because they’re afraid of getting fined or having to buy back the mortgage are awful. We’ve had several buyers have to go back to the Social Security Administration and request newer social security cards because their older cards may not reflect a name change due to a divorce, marriage, etc. The number has stayed the same throughout their life, and the lender can see this, but they still require the new card which pushes back the closing. Because the closing gets pushed back, it generally requires all new bank statements and employment stubs. We’ve had lenders wait until next month’s stubs before they’ll loan the money, so both buyer and seller must wait.

Wait, there’s more. Because a few fees might change due to the delays, like the interest rate lock may have expired, or the prorations could be off due to the delays, it required a new Truth in Lending Disclosure. You guessed it, if the lender has to re-disclose, there is a waiting period for that. That waiting period could trigger more bank statements, and updated pay stub, etc. It seems the cycle never ends, and it’s ridiculous. It’s no wonder listing agents want to know which bank is approving the buyer, and if the bank has a track record of delaying deals due to extemporaneous paperwork, it may cause the seller to accept another buyer’s offer over that one.

Lenders are getting penalized under Dodd Frank, and they’re getting hammered by sellers and real estate agents who are looking at best offer and most likely to close on time, if at all.

We feel that requiring higher down payments wouldn’t stop the market in a correction like the one we saw starting in 2006, so why add that on to borrowers who could never save that down payment while paying rent, preventing them from the American Dream? And even if you disagree with that statement, most would agree that Dodd Frank is preventing the market from moving higher because it’s essentially blocking access to capital markets for many.

Don’t get me wrong, if you’re qualified, you can get a mortgage. You just have to know where to go to get the money, and be prepared to document everything just in case.

Good luck and happy house hunting. Rates are low, and prices are low but on the rise. If our buyer agents can be of assistance, feel free to call us at 239-489-4042

SW Florida Real Estate Update April 2012

Tags: 239, Cash sales versus financed sales, Dodd Frank Act, FHA financing, Fort Myers Florida, Lee County, Mortgage rates trends, RE/MAX Realty Group, SW Florida Real Estate

It seems these days everyone’s got a quick and easy theory on how to price a home, but many are filled with errors that will either cause you to under-price your home, or over price it. Neither is good, because under pricing it means you’re just giving your equity away to the new buyer, and over pricing it means it will sit on the market longer and perhaps never sell. Statistics show that homes that are over-priced tend to sit longer and the seller ends up taking less because the market wonders what is wrong with it when it sat so long.

Top Tips For Pricing Your Home in Today's Market

Here are some tips to consider:

1. Don’t go by the property appraiser’s assesses value- I’ve talked to several property appraisers over the years including our own Ken Wilkinson. A property appraiser from IL told me it’s not the property appraiser’s job to value a home correctly, but rather simply it’s their job to value it fairly. There is a big difference. Because property appraisers use a mass appraisal system, they’re trying to price all homes fairly. Obviously if they could price each home at market value that would be wonderful, but they appraise hundreds of thousands at a time without going in the property, so it’s all done in relation to every other property. There can be a wide margin for errors with this system, and thus why there is an appeal process if you believe they’ve made an error. It’s amazing how well they do county-wide, and yet we can’t rely on any one valuation to be absolute. There are variations on many properties.
2. Sites like Zillow provide Estimates. In fact, they call it a Zestimate, but it’s only that, and I’ve seen the valuations vary widely in just a matter of days. They use an online computer model, but again this model doesn’t visit the home, see inside, evaluate the condition, etc. They may look at all homes in a subdivision or street, but here in SW Florida there can be wide variations from street to street. Picture a riverfront home compared to a home 100 ft away across the street, or a golf course lot versus off golf course.
3. Be Wary of Price Per Foot- I could show you two identical 2,000 sq ft homes from a builder. One is built with a pool, the other is not. One is on a waterfront lot, the other not. One upgrades the kitchen, adds a 3rd garage, upgrades carpet, cabinets, etc, and the second remains plain Jane. Obviously the pool and the lot location affect the price per square foot, so the square footage doesn’t really mean much. You could have a home built in 1952 sitting next door to a stupendous home built in 2012 with all the new hurricane protection, wiring, plumbing, roof, etc.
4. Study the Appraisal- Appraisals can be ordered for different reasons. It could be ordered for resell, refinance, estate value, eminent domain, taxation, etc. The scope and purpose can affect the value. If the bank sees you’re a great credit risk, it’s possible a refi appraisal could come out higher than a resale appraisal.
5. Be Careful Valuing Amenities- Just because you put an upgrade in the home 20 years ago doesn’t mean it has much value today. I recall back in the late 1980’s going to a seller’s home on Wren Rd in San Carlos Park. Back at that time homes were selling on that dirt road for $30’s. The seller added a $20,000 pool and expected over $50,000 for that home. It’s true, if you add value to pool cost you would think it would be worth that, but a $22k pool to a $30k home buyer is an extravagant amenity they cannot afford. That’s roughly 50% of the house value which was considered an over-improvement for the area at that time. It’s possible that pool had little to no value in that price range at the time. FHA wouldn’t even give value to a sprinkler system there as it was considered an over improvement.

It pays to value a home correctly the first time, as the market has a way of speaking in the end. The sooner you listen to the market, the better off you’ll be. It pays to work with a seasoned agent who can help you price your home using sound methods. On paper you might be able to make it come to what you want, but does that do you any good if a buyer won’t pay that, or a lender won’t lend that much. Be realistic. No matter the market, up, down, or sideways, you will always find those that over price and find a way not to sell. And even in the ugliest of markets’ homes do sell, because sellers price it at today’s value, not some number they need, nor a number from the past.

Remember, the market never cares what you need for your home. The market only cares if it’s priced correctly, and if it matches the buyer’s needs. Good luck, and happy home selling.

Tags: Brett Ellis Ellis Team RE/MAX Realty Group, Fort Myers Florida, Ken Wilkinson, real estate expert, SW Florida Real Estate, Top tips for pricing your home in today's market, zestimate Fort Myers, zillow

All news is relative.  Building permits are up which is good for construction and jobs. While building permits are up from last year, they’re a shell of what they were in the building boom, so you can spin the data any which way you want and we’ve seen it spun both ways recently.

April Leading Economic Indicators

For years we’ve talked about statistics and provided updates about what’s going on in the local SW Florida real estate market.  Prices go up, prices go down, sales go up, sales go down, etc.  All along we’ve said supply and demand will affect the market, but ultimately the real rebound will occur when the economy improves and jobs return to the area.

Well, we’ve got some actual good news to report, and while some may spin it and say jobs are not what they used to be back in 2005, I would argue this is good news no matter how you look at it.  Nationally, jobless claims rose to 380,000 which was an increase, and this doesn’t even count those who have given up seeking a job, or whom are under-employed.

Locally it’s a much better story.  Two recent stories in the press touted jobs coming to SW Florida.  You may have heard about a company called Arthrex that is building a $25 million manufacturing plant in Collier County.  That will bring construction jobs to the area, but that’s just the beginning. According to a News Press article, the company employs 347 Lee County residents between its Plantation Rd complex and it’s North Naples facility.  The company plans to add another 400-500 workers by 2016 with an average salary at its Collier facility running $59,580. Arthrex expects to have about 2,000 local workers by 2016

I spoke to Government leaders back in January and other projects like this are in the works, so we look forward to bringing more good news to our area in the future.  Another local company made news this past week.  CarMax announced it is hiring for about 80 positions at its news store on Colonial Blvd.  CarMax is a retailer for used cars and a welcome addition to the SW Florida employment pool. By the way, if you’d like to apply for a job, visit www.carmax.com/careers

The real estate market has definitely been on the upswing since 2009.  For any recovery to be sustainable, jobs have to enter the picture, and now that is happening.  As inventory dwindles and more jobs come to the area, there is the potential for more construction opportunities, which fuels more jobs.  SW Florida has always been home to service industry jobs and construction, and with the addition of manufacturing companies like Arthrex, it could be a boom to our local economy.

There is talk of adding convention center space and perhaps a casino in the Fort Myers area which would also be a boom to the area job wise.  Gambling has always been a hotly debated topic and will always have opinions on both sides of the fence.  We’ll keep our eye on this however we suspect it will take months for this decision to play out.

Traditional Sales Bring More Money Than Foreclsoures

Foreclosures are down which is another reason prices are up.  If you look at the attached chart you’ll see the median price of a traditional sale in Lee County Florida is almost double the foreclosure price.  This is a function of which homes come on the market in a particular price range, but I think it’s safe to assume that traditional sales are more indicative of actual market values than distressed sales. The good news is, there were almost 600 more traditional single family home sales the 1^st qtr of 2012 than there were in 2011.

Let’s keep the Good News coming! It’s hard to spin this data as anything but good.

Tags: Arthrex, CarMax Fort Myers, Collier County manufacturing, leading economic indicators, Naples Florida, SW Florida job market, SW Florida real estate market, SW Florida real estate market update April 2012, traditional sales Fort Myers

In a typical town in anywhere USA, local, state, and national economics dictate real estate demand and prices.  Sometimes destination locales and tourist areas forget this fact as some places buck national trends and can do well in a recession and poorly in boom times.

Economic Indicators Week of April 7, 2012

One could argue it all comes down to economics, and one could argue Florida will always have sunshine and retirees, so we’re immune to such things.  I agree that Florida has a lot to offer no matter the economic situation, and I also agree that economics affects us as well.

For instance, rentals are doing very well as many people have been foreclosed upon.  Foreclosures are synonymous with bad economic times, but it goes deeper than that.  People with bad credit are actually helping the rental market, which in turn makes the apartment building worth more.  REIT’s (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and insurance companies tend to buy up apartment buildings, and their value is derived from the income they generate, so as rents go up, so do values.  This can also affect single family homes, especially in the low to mid end.  Upper end homes never rented well enough to support their value, so their value is determined by something else, like appeal, and future price appreciation.

This takes us to national economic factors.  As Realtors in Florida, we all have access to economic data, and it’s important to look at how this data potentially affects real estate values here.  If nobody had a job, it would surely impact housing. All real estate is local, and so is economic data.  Today we are looking at national data, because this data affects real estate economies all over the US.  Other markets affect us here too.  If a snowbird can’t sell their home up North, there’s a chance they can’t or won’t purchase that 2^nd home or retirement home in Florida.  If their market is in the dumps, or their 401k, they may be less inclined to invest down here, so even though we are insulated from certain events, we can still be affected.

Unemployment went down nationwide, but so did payrolls.  Many people gave up looking for a job and are not included in the unemployment data.  Of course, we also have the under-employed.  These are people who have given up on finding a job today they are qualified for and have alternatively taken a lesser job just to scrape by and pay some bills until jobs come back.

Average hourly earnings were down.  This can be because less workers are full time and more are part-time.  It could also be because there is pricing pressure and employers have had to cut salaries, or replace higher paying workers with less experienced and lesser paid employees.

Many employers are cutting back on bonuses, benefits, and salaries by furloughing employees in an attempt from laying more off, or shipping jobs overseas.  We are in a global economy, and we must compete, or business will cease to exist here in the US.

Construction spending is down, as is the average workweek.  These are not signs of a revved up economy and definitely a trend we’d like to see reversed. Keep in mind, small changes in numbers equate to big dollars, so it is important we start growing this economy in a sustainable way.  All these parts work together, just like real estate markets do.  We do not live in an economic or real estate bubble.  We are affected, so it’s important we pay attention to what’s going on.

We just finished season, and by all accounts it was very successful.  Many people from up North bought.  Many will come back and buy in the summer or by next year.  People loved their visit here.  We’re entering the summer months, and an election year.  This is the time of year economics matter.  Keep your eye on the news.

Together we’ll be watching to see if Lee, Collier, and Charlotte Counties can lure some businesses to SW Florida.  We’ll be looking at Florida employment figures, local construction, and housing numbers.  We’ll also be looking at the national scene. We really need about 400,000 new jobs per month to grow the economy.  Anything less than that is dragging our economy, and you can see that in March losing jobs did not help us gain 400,000.

Economic reports are only a point in time.  They go up and unfortunately down.  We’re focusing on trends and not blips.  We’re praying for positive trends.  I think this nation, and particularly SW Florida deserves some good news going forward.

Tags: Florida Realtors, Lee County Florida real estate market, Real Estate Investment Trusts, REIT, SW Florida

Fort Myers Beach

Last weekend I was down at Fort Myers Beach taking pictures for our Pinterest site.  I was amazed at how many people from all over were enjoying our beautiful beaches.  Traffic wasn’t too bad, although practically every car had out of state license plates.  This past weekend most seemed to be from Indiana, although there were plates from Kentucky, Ohio, Canada, and many Sunshine State plates as well.

Many were enjoying Easter break.  There were many college aged people, but also many families.  What’s not to love about our beaches?  SW Florida boasts some of the best beaches, and certainly the best weather in the country this time of year.  In fact, Fort Myers was on the map as the warmest city in the country this past week.

Best Florida Beaches - US News & World report

In fact, US News and World Report ranked Fort Myers Beach as the 8th best beach in Florida, and ranked Sanibel Island as the #1 best beach in Florida due to its laid back atmosphere, art galleries, quaint eateries and supreme shelling.

Fort Myers Beach made the list for its small town feel.  I really like the wide beach with all the new sand since they’ve completed the beach re-nourishment project. People from all over the world travel here for our beaches and it’s a shame local residents get so busy working and tending to their families that not all get out to enjoy the beauty that SW Florida has to offer.

I know having lived in SW Florida for years there were long periods of time I didn’t make it to the beach.  It seemed like such a bother to pack up the car, go look for a place to park, find a spot on the beach, not to mention cleaning up all the sand that would inevitably find its way home with me.  In the past few years I’ve made getting to the beach a priority recognizing the sand, sun, and water are so relaxing and truly a natural wonder.

Perhaps the thing that makes SW Florida so unique is the small town feel, and the beach is no exception.  All are welcome here as practically everyone down here in SW Florida is from somewhere else.  SW Florida is truly a melting pot.  We’ve always attracted people from the Midwest, and in the last decade or so it’s seems we’re attracting more from the Northeast.  This could be the natural migration of people coming from the East coast of Florida who have always attracted people from the Northeast, or perhaps it could be the influence of ball teams like the Red Sox.

Whatever the reason people visit and enjoy SW Florida, few could argue an area has more to offer than right here.  We have world class fishing as many consider us the tarpon fishing capital of the world, top rated beaches, outstanding year round golf, and we’re home to influential innovators like Edison, Firestone, and Ford.  Even Al Capone called SW Florida home.

Whether you’re looking for a waterfront home where you can park your boat in your backyard, a golf course home, or a condo in a gated community, SW Florida has it all.  We even have vacant lots for you to build your life-long dream home.

This is the last weekend of season.  If you’d like to explore your options on how you could join the party and call the Fort Myers/Cape Coral area home, give us a call or send us a note and we’ll be glad to go over your options and answer your questions.  We too moved here years ago and remember what it’s like to have a dream and wonder what’s the best way to make it happen.  Once that dream becomes a reality you’ll be telling all your friends how you made it to paradise.

If we can help make that dream a reality, then you’ll help us with our dream which is helping others making their dreams happen.  Call the Ellis Team at 239-489-4042 or visit our website at Topagent.com

Tags: Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach, Fort Myers Easter, Indiana Spring Break, Pinterest, SW Florida, Top Florida Beaches, US News & World Report Top Florida Beaches

A new study just released shows International buyers chose SW Florida over other top destination when purchasing real estate in the United States.  The study researched 97 metropolitan markets and was conducted by DataQuick and Inman News.

Top 10 Real Estate Markets For Foreign Buyers

Lakeland-Winterhaven scored #1 followed by Cape Coral-Fort Myers and #2  Phoenix came in at #6, New York City #7, and Honolulu at #8, so SW Florida edged out some pretty nifty places.

Median List/Sold Price

For the past few years we’ve been reporting that International buyers have been buying here locally because Florida is on Sale and they know it.  Our prices were too high in 2005 and needed to come down, but they over-corrected in the correction and became artificially too low.  Most pros knew back in 2005 prices were too high and not sustainable, and almost everyone in the business recognized a few years ago that prices were too low.  In fact, they were so low builders couldn’t compete, so they didn’t.  Builders sat on the sidelines for a few years, but they are coming out of their shell now.  While everyone agreed prices were too low, nobody really knew exactly when those prices would begin to rise.

We predicted 2009 would see bottom, but that the bottom wouldn’t be a nice curvy slope back up, but rather a rocky bottom filled with ups and downs.  We did manage to bounce along the bottom, but in the past year we’ve seen evidence of some nice increases.

In fact our median prices are up about 30% over last year.  Inventory is declining, and builders are building again.  Construction adds jobs to the economy, which also fuels the housing market.  Nationally real estate accounts for 32% of the nation’s GDP.  Each new construction adds 3 jobs to the economy and adds about $90,000 in wages to the economy.

While our recovery won’t happen overnight, it is underway and a welcomed sight.  Foreign buyers will continue to invest here until prices rise so much that our normal economy sustains itself.  At that point, we won’t need foreign investors.

We are seeing many baby boomers investing in SW Florida as well.  Many would like to retire here and are buying property at today’s low prices so they can afford to live here down the road.  We’re also a pretty nice place to visit, both in the winter and year round.  SW Florida is certainly warmer in the winter, and we also boast year round boating, fishing, beaches, golf, and more.  You can fish year round up north, but you might need a snow blower, chains on your tires, and an ice cutter to do it.

Retired folks love riding bikes, taking walks, or enjoying bocce ball or horseshoes year round, and this is one reason SW Florida will always be a top destination.  People who live down here are generally healthier and fitter as they can exercise year round and aren’t shut in.

If this article sounds like a chamber of commerce letter it’s because it’s all true.  We live here and love it, and apparently people from all over the world do to.  As the world discovers our beauty and our bargains, simple supply and demand takes over.  Our prices are rising, our inventory is shrinking, and our roads have been busy.  Now that season is almost over, we can all take a deep breath and enjoy our roads until the summer tourist season begins, and be thankful SW Florida is back on the map for good things instead of the bust that followed the frenzy.

Here’s to good times, rising values, and better fortune ahead.  Throw in some low interest rates, and the only thing we could ask for is lower gas prices.  Hey, 4 out of 5 isn’t bad.

Tags: Cape Coral Foreign Buyers, Fort Myers foreign buyers, International buyers Fort Myers, SW Florida real estate market, United States foreign buyers

It seems like everyone is reporting that prices are up in SW Florida, but prices only tell part of the story.  Supply and demand usually influence prices.  Even then there can be variables to this equation.

Here’s a little story that illustrates the public’s perception about how Hot a neighborhood is.  There is a golf course community in South Fort Myers called Eagle Ridge.  I remember back in the late 80’s people commenting that it seemed like the whole neighborhood was for sale.  It seemed that way, when in reality about every third home was on the market.  33% of homes in a neighborhood on the market at one time is a big number, and homes weren’t particularly selling well at that time in Eagle Ridge either.  It was just a lot to absorb, and 1989-1991 was a different market.

Fast forward to several years later, exact date unknown.  Another consumer was questioning why they should buy a home in Eagle Ridge when there were very few sales in the past year to compare to.  The buyer questioned why nobody wanted to purchase in there and if they were making the right decision.

The answer was many people wanted to buy in Eagle Ridge at that time.  It just so happened that very few sellers wanted to sell at that time so there were no sales, simply because inventory wasn’t available to sell.  We had a good market at that time and Eagle Ridge was desirable.  In both instances buyers were questioning a neighborhood’s desirability.  In both instances there were very few sales, and yet the reality of the situation was diametrically opposed.

SW Florida Residential Listing Inventory

While statistics can sometimes be deceiving, we try to provide pertinent stats and describe what is actually going on and what they mean.  Aside from a few blips, listing inventory has been going down.  This is due to the market absorbing and buying up available inventory so it doesn’t stay on the market long, assuming it’s priced correctly, and the lack of enough new foreclosures entering the market.

Just as the first waves of foreclosures drove prices down in SW Florida, the lack of foreclosures entering the market combined with a healthy appetite from buyers has propelled prices higher.  Just reporting prices without going in depth doesn’t explain to a buyer or seller what’s really influencing the market.

SW Florida Residential Sales

Of course all real estate is local.  What’s going on nationally doesn’t necessarily affect what’s happening here.  The national market was doing OK back in 2006 while we began flat lining.  Flat lining would actually have been good; however our prices were headed for more like a cliff.  We’ve talked about those reasons in the past at length, and in fact many people on the ball who study the market were warning about what would someday happen with prices.  We don’t see those factors in play today, so we believe we can be in for sustainable price increases going forward.  In fact, our market may have over-adjusted to the downside as prices were artificially too low for awhile.  Our market is correcting those errors now.

The market eventually gets it right.  The real estate market isn’t as efficient as the stock market, but it does work over time.  As prices rise we’ll begin to see more building and we’re already seeing signs of that.  Builders have been able to cut costs to compete, as long as they are into the land at decent prices.

Closed sales are on their annual march upward.  March and April tend to culminate in finishing of a strong season.  By all accounts we’ve had a strong season so far, and when we look at pending sales we can see that March/April closed sales will be better.

We continue to look for higher prices than last year.  Sales numbers would actually be higher if only we had more inventory to sell.  The trend is the same even if the numbers of sales are down.  This could put more upward pressure on prices going forward.  We’ll report soon on pricing trends, and now you have the context ahead of those reports as to what’s moving the markets.

Tags: Cape Coral listing inventory, Eagle Ridge Fort Myers, Eagle Ridge South Fort Myers, Ft Myers Beach real estate, SW Florida residential home sales

Fenway South-JetBlue Park

Tags: Boston Redsox spring training, ESPN, Fenway South Fort Myers, Hammond Stadium, JetBlue Park Fort Myers, Lee County residents, Major League baseball Fort Myers, Minnesota Twins, New England baseball, SW Florida Real Estate, Washington Nationals

What a difference a year makes. As you can see from the 2010-2012 Single Family Median Price Comparison chart, January 2012 prices are up 30.86% over last year’s numbers.

SW Florida Single Family Median Price Comparison Chart

We’ve been reporting that prices have been on the rise for months and that we thought we could be in for a strong selling season and the numbers are bearing witness to those sentiments.

Inventory levels are down which is affecting sales.  There are fewer transactions because there is less to sell, which is causing prices to go up.  Word is spreading up North too, as snowbirds and baby boomers are looking to buy now before prices go higher.

Don’t worry; it’s still a very healthy market.  We still have buyers offering $10,000 less on bank owned properties even though there are more than 10 offers on the property and the bank is countering at highest and best.  Some buyers just have to try even though their Realtor is advising and educating them on the market.  I always get a kick out of buyers that call me because they’re disgusted with their Realtor.  Upon asking a few questions inevitably the buyer tells me they’ve made offers on several properties but they never win any of the bids.

Usually the buyer isn’t following the advice of their Realtor.  If they are, perhaps the buyer just isn’t strong enough to compete with other buyers in that price range.  If the buyer feels they’re strong, ie. Writing cash offers, decent money in escrow, few contingencies, and offering above asking price and still not getting the properties, perhaps they need an experienced agent who knows how to structure offer to compete.  We’ve written many articles in the past that may help your agent understand what a seller considers when looking at multiple offers.  Check out our Blog archives at http://blog.topagent.com

SW Florida Homes Sold by Price Points

Look at the price point’s chart. Foreclosure sales are down across the board as foreclosure inventory is down significantly. Conventional sales are up as prices have risen since 2009.  Many more sellers can afford to sell today than 3 years ago.

You’ll also notice more sales in the higher price ranges.  This is because there is less inventory to sell in the under $100,000 range, so those sales are off.  That’s pushing buyers into higher price ranges.  Additionally, the economy is faring just a little better in some places.  Buyer sentiment is stronger, and buyers in the higher price ranges realize if they want an investment or place to eventually retire, buying sooner rather than later may be their least expensive option.  These higher priced homes seem like such a bargain compared to 6 years ago, and who doesn’t enjoy a good bargain, even if you’re rich?

We look forward to reviewing the February numbers once they’re out.  We think February will be another strong month, and already March has been super busy.  It should be, as March is the height of season.  It’s also the month of St Paddy’s day, so with a little luck of the Irish, our market might just end the season in fine shape.

Tags: Cape Coral homes, Fort Myers Beach inventory, Fort Myers homes, Single Family Median Price Comparison, SW Florida real estate market