Southwest Florida housing inventory fell in August to a 4.37-month supply of homes on the market.  This has turned our local market into a seller’s market from a balanced market.  Most experts state that anything around 5.5 months is considered a balanced market.

Market Influences

What influenced our market to change?  Markets rarely stay the same for long as they are subject to influences.  We believe two things are influencing buyers today.

The first is interest rates.  One of our loan officers we work with just got a buyer a 30 year fixed rate loan for 3.3% That’s an incredible rate and it makes it hard for buyers to pass up buying opportunities with rates that low.

Secondly, people are migrating from high tax states to Florida.  We don’t have a state income tax.  There is a $10,000 deduction limit known as the SALT deduction on federal income taxes.  SALT stands for state and local taxes.  High tax states like New York and New Jersey have both high property taxes and a state income tax.  People are tired of the high taxes to begin with, and now they face higher federal taxes on top of it.  Sellers are bailing from California too to places like Texas.

Because Texas and Florida have managed their money better it’s an attractive option.  Not only are property taxes lower, there is no state income tax, and their federal tax is lower too.  That’s a win on three fronts.  Add in the weather, and you’ve got a deadly combination to high tax states.

There could be other reasons, but these seem the most logical to us.  Boomers will still keep retiring and places like Arizona and Florida are natural destinations.

Sellers Benefit

The real question is, how can these factors help you?  If you’re a seller locally, you now have more buyers qualified to purchase your home due to lower rates.  You also have more buyers from up North looking to move here.  You’re going to want a Realtor with national reach.  We get a lot of referrals within our company from agents in these other states to us in Florida.  That’s a fantastic way, because they trust their agent up North to find them a great agent here.

We also have a large digital footprint online.  I’m not talking social media.  Everybody has that.  We target and advertise to buyers in those areas most likely to move to Florida.  Because we know where buyers are coming from, we can target ads directly to them.  Of course, you can’t target everyone in a state.  You must reach the residents likely to move, and we have ways of doing that.

I’m not going to announce all our trade secrets publicly as every agent in town would attempt to copy if they knew the strategy.  Suffice it to say it takes a lot of money, and a lot of know-how to pull this off and it’s something we’re good at.  We enjoy it actually.  It’s fun to watch the leads roll in and see all the sates they come from.

Sellers also benefit on their next purchase.  If they sell now at top dollar, they get to enjoy a low interest rate on what they are purchasing.  It’s absolutely win-win for a seller, not solely the buyer.

Buyers Resources

If you’re thinking of selling, please call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4.  Or visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com to get a good idea on what your home may be worth today.

If you’re looking to buy and not sell, check out www.LeeCountyOnline.com  It has all the homes on the market.  We even have pending and sold data there too.  If you’re looking to do both, start out at the home values site.

Of course, we’d love to sit down and talk with you.  Together we can come up with a plan to make a possible move reality.  Sometimes the biggest block people have is the logistics.  How can they time a sale and a purchase?  We can help with all those questions.

Good luck and Happy Selling!

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