Cape Coral Archives - Page 26 of 62 - Fort Myers Real Estate and Homes For Sale

Remember all that talk about rising rates in 2019 and how it would impact buyers and sellers? Rising rates absolutely impacted buyers in 2018 in a negative way, but we’ve gotten a reprieve of sorts in 2019 for various reasons. The US-China trade war benefits home buyers and sellers, and we’ll explain how.

Rates slipped back in the 1^st quarter of 2019 because economic conditions didn’t warrant rising rates, and because inflation had been tame. Back in April we wrote about rate drops as everyone speculated how long they might last. Rates are affected by economic news and wildcards, and a wildcard just happened.

As soon as China announced retaliatory tariffs on the US last Monday there was a flight to quality, which means investors put money into the safety of 10-year US treasury notes. This drove the yield curve down quickly. As we know, most 30-year mortgages are pegged to the US 10-year Treasury note so this trade war became an instant boom to buyers and sellers.

How long will this window last? Your guess is as good as anybody’s. If the trade war becomes protracted, it could lead to inflation as goods and services become more expensive. Or perhaps companies will find suppliers in other countries and the effects will be minimal. Because this could cause a global slowdown, it could tame inflation worldwide.

Some have suggested the US could devalue the dollar which would help trade imbalances and really put pressure on China. To do this we could lower interest rates. There are a lot of strategies in play right now, and nobody can predict what will happen with certainty.

Our best advice would be taking advantage of the low rates while they last. They could be here for a little while or they could vanish like a blip on a radar screen. With rates around 4%, buyers’ purchasing power is about 11% more than it was last year. This opens more buyers for each home, and let’s buyers stretch higher if they need to.

Lower rates should also help the housing market. Last year there was downward pressure on prices because of rising rates. With rates lower again that pressure has abated. Job growth has been stellar, so if rates stay this low, we could have a pretty good run with increasing home sales.

We’re not sure buyers understand the opportunity they have right now. Sellers have the same opportunity, because when they sell, they usually buy another property. Those sellers that sell and buy now will save big money on their next mortgage, if they act soon enough.

We’re not trying to be the expert and tell you how long this will last. We are telling you there is an opportunity for those in a position to take advantage. Borrowing costs can make a huge difference in the long-term success of your financial well-being.

There is more inventory for buyers now. Many sellers couldn’t sell before because there was no place for them to go. That may not be the case now. Go to www.LeeCountyOnline.com and look around. You’ll see more homes on the market than last year, and there are some excellent buys if you know where to look.

This website allows you to see all the homes on MLS in real-time. No more waiting for days or weeks for new listings to appear on those other sites. If a seller reduces their price, you’ll be the first to know. Our website produces listings in real-time so you have a definite advantage. The best listings go before they even hit those other websites, so you can beat out other buyers to hot new listings.

Our agents are out showing daily, so we know the best homes. Give our agents a call at 239-489-4042 and we’ll be glad to help you. If you have a home to sell, ask for Sande or Brett Ellis.

Let’s find you your next home before rates go up again. We’ve got a window. All we know is it’s open. We don’t know for how long.

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Which is more valuable, your home or your data? iBuyer Programs Steal Your Home and Your Data so let’s investigate what an iBuyer program is and what its goals are.

iBuyer programs offer an easy button to sell a home, with a catch. These are investors looking to scoop up homes at a large discount. Essentially you sell your home so far below market value it becomes lucrative for an investor to buy and flip your home. They make all the profit. In other words, you’re giving your home equity over to them.

iBuyer programs are nothing new. Investors have been posting those pesky road signs all over the place offering to pay cash for your home or buy ugly houses for decades. Today’s iBuyer program is different, because they have another motive. They want your data.

iBuyer programs realize once people see their offer then subtract fees, closing costs, and repairs after their inspections, over 90% of sellers become disgusted and turn them down. By then, it’s too late. They’ve captured all your data. They sell that data and make millions. Their goal is to make billions.

Here’s how it works. First, you get an offer. It’ll be low, perhaps 10% or more below market value. It gets even better. They tack on fees, typically in the 5-7.5% range. Then they add closing costs in the 2-3% range. Then they do inspections, because up until this point they haven’t even seen your home. It’s all been done using data points and algorithms. The report comes back, and they decide you need $15,000 in repairs plus your kitchen needs updating, so tack on another $20,000. At this point, the seller is furious.

The seller says no, and the deal is off. The iBuyer program knows how much you owe on the home, how old your roof, appliances and air conditioner are, what improvements are needed to the home, where you’ll be moving once you sell, and much more. How? Because you answered their questions to continue through the process. You didn’t like the ending, but you were curious through the process to see what number they would give you. They had you at hello.

So, you say, “I’ll sell my home with a broker and keep the profit yourself.” That’s ok, because they refer you to “top brokers” in the area. You guessed it; they collect a referral fee from agents they recommend. They may not be the best agents, but surely, they are agents paying them a fee.

Have you seen ads on TV promising to find the best agents in your neighborhood? HomeLight is one that comes to mind, and they are also an iBuyer. Contractors, remodelers, home improvement stores would all be interested in the age of your appliances, or what your kitchen and baths look like. Same with flooring. Now they have pictures, because you guessed it, the inspector took pictures during the inspection period.

Outside mortgage companies have your info too because they bought your data. They know your phone number, email address, how much you owe, where you’re going, and more. The simple offer you were curious to get has become a treasure trove of data.

If you sell your home to the iBuyer, they win big. If you refuse to sell, they still win big. The only loser is the poor seller who was just curious to use the easy button and sell their home if the price was right.

Keller Williams is coming out with an iBuyer program to prevent this. We have no intention of selling the data. We’re not going to refer it out to other agents. If the seller doesn’t like the cash offer, they’ll use one of our agents to get full market value. We have our own mortgage company that offers a zero-lending fee loan. So, we’re not selling to other mortgage companies. We’re not selling to contractors or home improvement stores. We simply want to provide the iBuyer option so people don’t go to other places that will sell your data.

Our program is rolling out to 8 markets this year and more after that. If you’re thinking of selling your home and want full market value, Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty Fort Myers & the Islands 239-489-4042 Ext 4 or visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open Saturday 12-3 PM

Eagle Ridge Home

The number one question real estate agents get asked is “How is the market?” Often, people wish to know what it means, and how we’re doing against other parts of the state, especially nearby counties. Today we’ll look at Fort Myers-Cape Coral home sales versus Naples and Florida real estate sales to get an idea.

In March, Florida home sales were unchanged and median prices were up 2% over last year. Year to date numbers tell a similar story. In Fort Myers-Cape Coral, home sales were down 4.4% in March while median prices were down 3.7%. These are continued signs of a shift occurring in our market. Year to date numbers show home sales down 8.5% while median prices rising 1.4%, but we think median prices will reflect lower numbers going forward.

Naples homes sales were down .4% in March while median home prices were down 7.9%. Year to date numbers show closed sales up 1.1% and median prices down 7.7%

Because these numbers reflect year over year numbers, many customers, and agents alike don’t understand what’s been going on in the market. When a market begins to shift, it takes up to a year for people to see it in the numbers, even though the trend has shifted.

Market Shift

For instance, the Fort Myers-Cape Coral market began shifting last Fall, but because we compare year over year numbers people didn’t see the negative numbers until now. Agents felt it as sales slowed and listings began to expire. Seasoned agents knew and adjusted. The sellers that listened to their seasoned agents got out and the ones that didn’t listen, or weren’t working with a seasoned agent who’d been through a shift before could still be on the market or expired.

Perhaps we’ll do another story about invisible inventory. Invisible inventory refers to the old saying that if your home is priced over the market then it’s not really on the market. It’s overpriced and won’t sell. It’s invisible to buyers because it’s attracting the wrong buyers.

So, what are sellers to do in a shifting market? They could wait it out. Some sellers decide to wait a few years until the market recovers to a price they like. The thing about that is they miss out on low interest rates today if they’re financing their next home. And, while they wait for their home to go up in value, their next home is probably going up too, so they don’t gain anything, only lose.

Sellers could try to sell themselves and save the commission. This rarely works out as only 4% of lookers can actually buy now. We have a free report on how to sell your home without an agent should you like to try. It’s packed with helpful tips, so just email me and let me know Brett@topagent.com

Sellers could try a discount broker. Problem is, you can’t save your way out of a shift. I can’t tell you how many homes we’ve listed and sold after a seller has tried the discount route. You might as well try it yourself than pay an agent for little to no service.

Marketing Matters

Marketing matters now more than ever. Like we’ve said, just listing a home on 100 websites isn’t marketing. We have a database of thousands of buyers because we market so much. Call us and we can see if we have a buyer right now looking in your neighborhood. Chances are we do, and we can do an instant search to see who they are. If not, our marketing creates buyers specifically for our listings. Let us show you how we use cutting edge technology and marketing muscle to market your home.

Call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4 You’ll be glad you did. Or go online www.SWFLhomevalues.com to get an instant estimate of your home’s value.

Good luck and Happy Selling!

You might wonder how a successful real estate team who just had breakout sales this 2019 season could call this year’s season a bust. The market wasn’t terrible, it just didn’t live up to many sellers’ expectations. This is the exact reason why the market had so many expired listings and fewer closings this season.

In fact, of the 12 market measures we track each month, all 12 went negative in March. This is the first time in as long as we can remember that every single measure went negative. Earlier this year we pondered whether season was going to mask the shifting market we were experiencing going into season, and the answer is in.

Sellers generally want to list their home with a Realtor that is confident and positive. There is a difference between being positive and knowing the market. The Ellis Team is positive in any market. We know marketing sells homes, and when the market shifts that becomes even more important. Sellers can’t discount the commission away enough to make up for what’s going on in the market.

Sellers often think if the market is slow, I’ll just list with a discount broker and that’ll enable me to sell. The reality is they’re giving up marketing, which is the precise thing you need when the market shifts. Saving a few commission dollars can cost you thousands on your sale price due to lack of marketing and limited buyers. Some Realtors hold a few open houses, place the home in MLS and a few hundred websites and call that marketing. That’s not marketing. Every home is on a few hundred websites. That part is automated by the MLS.

If you go back and read our Blog http://blog.topagent.com you’ll see we’ve been discussing the market for months and what’s really going on. There is a fine line between hiring a Realtor that is positive and one that is real.

For instance, our team has been though several market shifts. The average Realtor hasn’t. We know what it takes to sell a home when the market shifts. The first thing you must do is identify the 12 market measures, then identify where we are today. You can’t counsel a seller on how to market their home and where to price it unless you understand where the market is and all the factors influencing it.

This is the silly season for Realtors. Many Realtors didn’t accomplish their goals this season. Total dollar volume of sales was down 13.6% in March alone. This means Realtors are hurting too, and they’re going to be making moves now that season is over.

Some agents will move to less costly brokerages in hopes of a higher commission split. They’ll receive fewer benefits for themselves and their clients. It will be a last-ditch effort to cost-cut and save their career. If you’re interviewing agents to list your home, ask them if they plan on making a move. If they do, can you get out of your listing contract?

Other agents will seek to join a team, or move to a company where the technology is better, or pays for more things like marketing, photography, brochures, assistants, etc. Sellers need to know who they’re listing with and exactly what services will be provided. Remember, the broker owns your listing, not the agent you sign with. Be sure to get clarity and in writing whatever you agree to.

Study the market measures. Ask your agent to show you how the market is performing. You’ll want monthly updates on new pending sales, time on market, median and average prices, inventory supply and market absorption to name a few. If the agent you’re interviewing can’t provide this, interview another agent. This market is changing, and you want a Realtor that will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. This market has enough sellers that listened to what they wanted to hear. They still own their home, which is not what they really wanted. Ask for our Free Report on which agents had the most expired listings in the past year.

You can call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4 to talk about selling your home or go to SWFLhomevalues.com to get a free online report of your home’s value.

Good luck, and Happy Selling!

SW Florida real estate inventory drops in April. Back in February we calculated 6,677 listings from MLS and today we have 6,283. Either more homes are selling to cause this drop, or homes are expiring and have not re-entered the market yet.

So, let’s dig deeper, find out what is causing this, and look at the opportunities. We run a 365-day moving average tracking the SW Florida home sales. Back in February we tracked 13,083 sales compared to 12,986 today. What this tells us the inventory levels are not coming down from increased sales. In fact, sales have lightened up a bit. The other thing it could be is increased pending sales taking inventory off the market, but they haven’t closed yet.

Official pending numbers for March will be released next week, so we’ll study those. We watch the expired listings hitting the market each day and we noticed a large number at the end of March. With listing numbers down almost 400 we can assume some sellers gave up when they didn’t get their price.

SW Florida Real Estate Inventory

We can also assume that many of those same sellers would like to sell. Perhaps they have another property they’d like to move to. Perhaps they’re tired of the HOA or condo fees where they live now. Maybe it’s just time. In any event, there may be a way to get your property sold.

Sometimes sellers just hire the wrong Realtor. They assume all Realtors market the same, therefore they will all fetch the same price for their home. Reality tells us this isn’t true. Some Realtors practice the 3 P’s of marketing. 1. Put a sign in the yard. 2. Place it on MLS. 3. Pray that another Realtor sells it.

Placing a home on 100 different Internet sites is not marketing. Anybody can do that. It’s easy, and I’ll show you how. The real marketing is finding buyers for your home. This entails calling a database of buyers looking in your neighborhood. That’s right! We have a database of buyers looking for homes in your neighborhood. If you doubt me, I’ll show you the database. I’ll show you the buyers.

Marketing for New Buyers

Secondly, we want to create new buyers not already in the database. We target buyers online who are looking for a home or condo just like yours. You can’t wait for the market to come to you. You must go and get the market. This is why so many homes expire and never sell. The Realtor didn’t go and get the buyer.

Sellers do not want to reduce their price until they’re satisfied that all the marketing is being done. They only want to reduce the price when they’re convinced it is the price, not the marketing. When you hire marketing gurus when you list the home, you’ll know. Hiring the wrong Realtor can cost you valuable time on the market with no sale.

Lots of people call us the 2nd or 3rd time around. Why not call us 1st? If you’re thinking of selling, or tried to sell and failed, give us a call. It might not be the price. You might have simply selected the wrong Realtor.

Open House App

We have an app that will show you all the open houses in your area, no matter where you live. It even works up North. Simply go to www.SWfloridaopenhouse.com and download the app. Sellers like it so they can explore the competition. Buyers love it so they can see today which homes will be open house next weekend.

Free Home Value

You can also check out your home’s value online for Free. Go to www.SWFLhomevalues.com This site does a pretty good job of estimating your home’s value. It’s scary how accurate it is many times. Of course, if you’re thinking of selling, always call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4 and we’ll be glad to visit your home and verify its value. We’ll show you how we go out and find the buyer. We don’t wait for the buyer to find you!

Happy Easter, and Happy House Hunting!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Boosting your credit score can reduce borrowing costs, and we’ve got some tips to help you do that. We’ve found three new products to help you achieve a higher credit score. One is approved for home mortgages, while the other two will help with all other types of loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may accept the other two in the future.

Boosting Your Credit Score Tool

Let’s start with the tool that helps with mortgages. CreditXpert Wayfinder works like this. With your lender, you determine how much of an improvement you need to qualify for a loan, or to reduce your rate. The higher score you have the lower rate you qualify for. A lower rate means you either save money on your payment or qualify for more home. Why pay more for less of a loan?

The software comes up with options and a plan to achieve a higher score within 1-2 months. The average credit score goes up about 27 points on this program, which can save you lots of interest on the money you borrow.

In the promotional video for this program, it shows you which credit cards to cancel or pay down and by exactly how much to improve your score. Sometimes cancelling a credit card can lower your score. It’s always been a complicated business figuring out exactly what credit bureaus are looking for. They look at available credit, credit history, credit utilization, etc. The consumer had no good way of figuring what methods would help their score.

This plan comes with a fee of about $15-$18 at each of the credit bureaus plus a rapid re-score fee by an outside vendor when it’s completed, but the fees more than pay for themselves in lower borrowing costs. Check with your lender to see if they offer this service, and if you need it. Borrowers are sometimes surprised to find out they can borrow with their existing credit.

We Work With Several Lenders

We just got a buyer a home with a 550-credit score on a FHA loan. Actually, we didn’t do anything. The lender did. We have great lenders with a proven track record of closing loans. There is nothing more frustrating than picking the wrong lender and finding out your deal is dead after spending money for appraisal, inspection, etc. If you’re working with an Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty agent, we can recommend lenders with proven track records. We know who they are.

Another option is Experian’s new Boost product. It imports your utility and phone bills history into your score. If you’re paying those bills on-time, this can raise your score in a majority of cases.

FICO Ultra Score is a new product rolling out soon. It imports your banking, savings, checking, and money market accounts into your score. If you pay your bills and have some extra money in the bank somewhere, this may help your score.

So far mortgage loans are not utilizing Experian’s Boost program or FICO’s Ultra Score program yet, but other consumer credit like auto and boat loans, credit cards, and revolving credit might.

It pays to know your options, and work with people who know their stuff. The first step in the home buying process is picking which resources can help you. We offer 3 great resources, so you’ll never have to wonder. These will help you boosting your credit score.

Always Call the Ellis Team

Always call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty. 239-489-4042. We can help you find the right lender and find the right homes. Our website www.LeeCountyOnline.com is another great resource. It has all the homes, has neighborhood data, and home value data. It’s updated every few minutes unlike some of the other online search places. Getting bad and outdated search data is as frustrating as picking the wrong Realtor or wrong lender.

Give our team a call. We can help, and you’ll notice the difference. Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

SW Florida Real Estate Market Update March 2019

Open House App

See where the open houses will be this weekend anywhere in the country. Download our Open House app at www.SWfloridaopenhouse.com

An unexpected mortgage rate drop benefits buyers, but for how long? We had a temporary inverted yield curve, which means long-term rates were less than short term rates. 30-year mortgages are most often pegged to the 10 year note, and when the yield curve inverts, it throws the market into bewilderment.

There were fears of slowdown and recession, which led many to believe perhaps the Fed was overzealous in raising rates this past year. Then earlier this week, global economic news started coming in stronger than expected, which set recession fears at ease.

Earnings are due out soon and the thing to watch will be guidance in these reports. Couple that with listening to what the Fed indicates, and the interest rate uncertainty may start to clear up. Therefore, we don’t know how long this drop in rates will last.

What we do know is buyers should not squander this opportunity. Last week we saw the largest and fastest rate drop in history in a week. Rates are down almost a full percent since last Fall, and about ½ percent since January. A buyer today qualifies for about 11% more home than they did 6 months ago. The best part is, not only do they qualify for 11% more, it won’t cost them to borrow 11% more either.

Buyers should lock-in rates right away. If your lender allows you to lock and shop, that might be a good idea. If they don’t, get your home under contract and make loan app right away. Waiting to purchase could cost you much more in interest than you could ever save negotiating with a seller. Get your negotiations locked up today so you begin the mortgage process.

Sellers, you’ve got a tight window too. More buyers just entered the pool that can qualify for your home. If rates go back up, that pool will dwindle to what it was last week. Don’t bet on the fact all buyers will read this story. By the time home buyers figure this out, it might be all over. We just don’t know where rates are headed, and neither does the market. We are in uncertain times, but rest assured, the market will figure this out.

The Ellis Team still has 20 pending sales, even after the big 1^st quarter we had. With the interest rate drop, we’re looking to add to this number. We’re down to just 11 homes and condos on the market right now. Everything else is pending or sold. We need listings. Our marketing is working.

Sellers are astounded when their listing expires to find out there is a difference in marketing. The perception is all Realtors work the same. Just list it in MLS and on all the websites, and it will sell. That’s not marketing at all. Any Realtor can do that. That’s the bare minimum. That isn’t what’s going to sell a home.

Unfortunately, too many Realtors have sold the idea that having sellers’ homes listed on all these platforms will sell a home. The truth is they do this because it’s Free. That’s right, it typically doesn’t cost the Realtor anything to list a home on all these portals. What isn’t Free is the lead generation and finding buyers for the properties. There is a reason the Ellis Team sells so many homes. It’s because we don’t take the Free route. We spend a lot to create these buyers for our listings, and we have people on our team to work them.

If you’re thinking of selling, call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4, or visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com If you’re looking to buy now at today’s low rates, check out www.LeeCountyOnline.com or call our office and we’ll get you locked in to a good deal and low rates today. There is still a good selection of homes on the market right now, even if they’re not our listings. We’ll be happy to find you the best values.

We track 12 major measures plus some other measures to evaluate health and direction of the local real estate market. 10 SW Florida real estate measures were negative in February, which is better than the 11 in January.

We look at things like closed sales, prices, time on market, inventory levels, pending inventory, time to sell, total money in motion, and others. It gives us a pretty good indicator of where the market is and where the market is headed. This is a blueprint for sellers on how to market their property today.

We’re able to sit at the kitchen table and show sellers exactly where we are. Sellers armed with this information can make decisions that will insure a sale and put more money in their pocket at closing. Sellers who ignore key statistics generally sell for less while their home sits on the market longer. Some never sell at all, and that’s a shame because people who list their home generally want to sell, and for top dollar.

We’ve still got a pretty good market for those that know their numbers. We have a good selection of buyers. Season has been good. We’ve sold lots of homes. Unfortunately, season can mask the underlying weaknesses this year compared to last year. When all the visitors go home in a few weeks, you may find lots of sellers who didn’t sell this season wondering what happened.

What happened was the market shifted and because it was season, sellers didn’t notice. Marketing becomes even more critical in a shifting market, along with proper pricing. Getting ahead of the game is paramount. If you were playing a basketball game with 5:00 left in the game, would you rather be up 10 points or down 10 points?

The game is not over, but our seasonal visitors will be leaving. If you didn’t market your home to the max, and if it wasn’t priced properly, you might feel like you’re down 10 points. Not ideal. You’re behind, but not out. Homes sell year-round.

If you’re thinking of placing your home on the market, you need an agent that knows exactly where we are in the market, and exactly what to do to get your home sold. If you’re looking for top dollar, you need aggressive marketing. Sure, you can price your way into a sale just by being the absolute best value around. If you want fair market value, that may take aggressive marketing along with a pricing strategy.

When you sit down with an agent, go over the 12 market indicators. Look at the trend. Focusing on just one month can mislead you sometimes. If you did sell, where will you go? How soon would you like to be there? How does that compare with the average marketing time of the market, and your price range?

We have all these statistics so we can help you make the best decision for you. We have the aggressive marketing you’re looking for, whether you realize it or not. All Realtors do not market the same, just as they don’t price the same. Making a mistake on either can cost you thousands. It could even cost you a sale.

To get a rough estimate on what your home could sell for, go to www.SWFLHomevalues.com It’s free, and fast. It will give you a good idea, but it’s not perfect. That’s where we come in. No, we’re not perfect either, but we can give you a better idea than a computer can. We can also share with you the 12 real estate measures and show you an aggressive marketing plan nobody else can match.

You can always call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4 We’d love to answer your questions and get you to your next home.

Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Saturday 1-4 PM

Pelican Preserve

10410 Prato Dr

Open House Sunday 1-4 PM

14077 Danpark Loop

Open House Sunday 1-4 PM

13 High Point Cir #302

The real estate market is always changing, so too must we to keep up with changes. We’ve been hard at work selling property in SW Florida even though most agents realize there is a shift occurring in the market. Our marketing is world-wide, and because Germany has overtaken the 2^nd spot as most visitors to our website, we’ve decided to add a German division to handle this overseas demand.

Yesterday we pulled up our sales report and noticed we have 21 pending sales. Not bad when agents are complaining the market has shifted and listings are tougher to sell. We agree the market has shifted, and listings are tougher to sell. Where we don’t agree is what to do about it.

When the market shifts, you don’t cut back marketing. And you don’t stop lead generating. In fact, you increase it. The Ellis Team doesn’t stop there either. We must react to shifts in consumer activity as well. We have a mobile app that buyers and sellers really love. It’s awesome, and in the 2^nd Qtr. it’s going to get even more awesome. I’ll tell you about the cool new stuff coming in a future article. In the meantime, if you’d like to download it, you can at http://app.kw.com/KW2TGVZZ3

Dennis Muchow is going to lead our German division. Dennis comes to the Ellis Team from Berlin Germany where his family has operated hotels in both Germany and the U.S. He is not only a hard worker but a fast learner. When we first met Dennis, we couldn’t even tell he was from another country. He had no accent even though he only moved to the U.S. 4 years ago. Maybe it’s because he spent so much time in SW Florida growing up as his parents spent 6 months in Germany and 6 months in Cape Coral.

Last year Germany was in 3^rd position for www.LeeCountyOnline.com visitors and Canada was number 2, but that’s changed this year. Despite the shifting market, SW Florida remains popular with international visitors and U.S. visitors alike. We’re a tax friendly state, and of course we have gorgeous weather. U.S. News & World Report just recognized Fort Myers as one of the best places to live near a beach because of most access to ocean, sand and sunshine, as well as being a great place to live.

If you’re thinking of selling, call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty 239-489-4042 Ext 4 and see how our marketing can help sell your home. Ask for Sande or Brett. If you’d like to speak with a German speaking agent, we can help with that too. If you’re buying, our team of talented buyer specialists can help you find your piece or paradise, and the best news is, it’s all right here. You don’t have to travel around the world to find it.

And don’t forget that app. You’ll appreciate the Open House search and Nearby Homes lookup. You’ll even find out how you can save thousands on your next mortgage loan. The app will automatically update to the cool new stuff coming out. You don’t want to miss that, so go ahead and download it now.

Real estate is local, and it doesn’t matter where you’re from or where you’ve been. The Ellis Team is here to explain what makes SW Florida so special, and how we can make your dream a reality. We enjoy helping people, so let our team help you.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Be sure to download our Free Real Estate App

Brett Ellis Keller Williams App — Keller Williams App

You’ll be able to see all home for sale, and all see which homes are open house this weekend. Try it out.

At last week’s Ellis Team meeting we asked our buyer specialists how they did the past week and what they were working on this week. One agent just sold 3 homes that week, and another sold 2, and another sold 1. Each agent was working with 3-4 buyers that were going to purchase in the next week to 10 days. Suffice it to say, home sales are heating up in SW Florida just like the weather.

It is mid-March, so home sales should be heating up. If they weren’t, we’d have a problem. This is peak season after all. For the past few weeks we’ve noticed pending sales outpacing new listings. As we write this article, we notice new listings outpaced new pending sales again.

By our count we see about 6,625 listings in Lee County. This is down from the 7,100 we saw in January, however there may be a few more when official numbers are released because listings from outside agents in other MLS boards can increase this figure. Believe it or not, sometimes a Miami or Jacksonville agent will list Lee County properties in their MLS and not here.

So, what is all this telling us about the market? Overall, we’ve got a good market. If you price it right and market it correctly, homes should sell. Is it still a seller’s market? No. Is it a buyer’s market? Possibly, but maybe it’s shifted back to neutral. We won’t know until numbers come out next month.

For us, it really doesn’t matter. A buyer’s or seller’s market is just a term. It’s close either way. What’s more important is how buyers and sellers are reacting to the information available. All real estate is local, and usually hyper-local. If the overall market sits at 6.18 months supply of homes, and the home you like is in a neighborhood with 2 months supply, it changes the dynamic.

Numbers are constantly changing. Buyers who fail to recognize this may find themselves missing out on great homes. It’s frustrating to miss out on home after home. If this keeps happening to you as a buyer, you need to take a step back and evaluate the advice you’re getting and your reaction to it. Perhaps you’re listening to family members or friends, and while their advice is well intentioned, it could be bad. Or perhaps your search online isn’t considering up to the minute trends. Is the agent you’re working with full-time?

Sellers, you too always need to know what’s going on. The market can change in an instant. New listings enter the market, or current sellers drop their price. Far too often sellers set their price and believe they’re done. The seller sets the price and the market determines the value. If the home doesn’t sell, constant monitoring is required to see what your competition is doing as well as sales activity.

One way buyers and sellers can study a neighborhood is using our Neighborhood Market Reports Site. http://www.leecountyonline.com/sw-florida-market-reports/ This site provides data for active listings, pendings, and solds. No other site can do all that. But wait, there’s more. It also has the photos and key data buyers and sellers like. And of course, our Blog has weekly articles going back years. http://blog.topagent.com

In the end, your success is determined by the agent you work with, the research you do, and the advice you listen to. Consumers mistakenly believe all agents are the same, so it doesn’t matter who they work with. Are all doctors the same? How about attorneys? Of course not, and neither are Realtors.

Making any of these common mistakes could cost you thousands, or worse? It could cost you a sale. Your dreams are too important. Life is too short. You don’t want to wait for the next market cycle to make that move. The time is now.

We hope you find this information helpful. If you need to talk to us, call us at 239-489-4042. We’re experts at listening, and offering ideas based on your goals. We look forward to speaking with you.

Happy Selling!

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