Like clockwork Lee County summer real estate sales are heating up. So why aren’t Lee County home sellers jumping for joy? Many home sellers are happy, because their home was on the market all season and now it’s selling. Others are happy because their home just sold while their neighbor’s home sits on the market.
This past season we saw many sellers priced at one point while the buyer’s perception of value was at another. In many cases, the seller’s perception exceeded the buyer’s perception by 10% or more. Sellers didn’t want to accept this reality, so homes sat on the market. You’ll always have some sellers that refuse to accept today’s market prices, but when you have many, it causes the market to take note and listen.
The market always speaks to us. It’s up to us if we’re ready to listen. We’re humans, and we don’t always want to accept change. For those that accept change and react quicker, the opportunity is the greatest.
Right now, home sales are brisk $300,000 and below. This makes sense because that’s where the bulk of the buyers are. That’s what more people can afford. We just pulled up the 7-day market watch from MLS, and we notice there more pending sales (379) than new listings (365). You’ll notice too there were more price reductions (385) than either. These price reductions are leading to more pending sales as sellers get their home down to where the buyers are.
Selling a home is kind of like fishing. If you place your bait 20 ft above where the fish are, you get nothing. Lowering the bait 10 ft above where the fish are still yields nothing. Fish tend to swim in schools. You’ve got to place the bait where the fish are, not where you want them to be. Pricing a home is the same.
If you price your home above where the buyers are, they don’t even look at it. Typically, you should expect an offer with every 4-5 showings. If you’re not getting offers, your home is probably still overpriced. Sellers say, “We just reduced our price $10,000” so that can’t be it. It can. If you were $30,000 overpriced, that $10,000 reduction still places you 20 ft above the fish. Until you get down where the fish are, you’ll attract few showings and little to no offers.
Of the 379 new pending sales, the median price was $249,000. The average price was $335,540. This confirms the $300,000 range and below as being the sought-after part of the market. If you have a home $400,000 or more on the market right now, you’re probably still fishing for the correct asking price. You may be wondering why buyers just are not accepting your price. Your neighbor’s home may be sitting on the market too. Occasionally one will sell, and you’ll be wondering what they did to attract that buyer.
It takes aggressive marketing. Aggressive marketing alone won’t work. Together with your agent, you’ll need to adjust that bait until you find where the fish are. When you do, it will sell. The SW Florida real estate market isn’t suffering from a lack of buyers. The buyers are not aligned with some sellers’ asking prices. When the seller gets down to where the buyers are, the buyers are biting. This past week or so the Ellis Team has placed 7 properties under contract. Some agents believe the summer is the slow time, but that’s a bad assumption. We have buyers in all price ranges. We just closed a property over $1 Million.
The agents out there hustling are selling homes. It’s a great time to sell, so long as you’re willing to price your home at the market. Isn’t that always the case though? Together with your agent you should ask yourself, “Am I willing to price my home at a price that will cause it to sell?” If the answer is no, then why are you putting it on the market?
If you’d like to talk to Sande or Brett Ellis about selling your home, call us at 239-489-4042 Ext 4. Next week we hope to share some exciting news that may make your home stand out and sell faster. Find out what your home is worth online.
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