Fort Myers Archives - Page 25 of 58 - Fort Myers Real Estate and Homes For Sale

Each year the Ellis Team studies a publication put out by the National Association of Realtors research department. This year we’re studying the 2018 National Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers. We do this for several reasons.

We’re able to gain insight on how best to serve the buyers we work with. We want to know what issues are most important to them, and what issues might be affecting them. When we identify and isolate these issues, often we can come up with solutions for them.

By understanding buyers needs better, this also helps us with sellers as what affects the buyer usually comes back around and affects the seller. Better understanding buyers helps our seller clients tremendously. The most educated and skilled agents tend to come up with the best solutions, and when this happens everybody wins.

Secondly, we want to understand home sellers better too. Sellers have needs that need to be addressed. We want to pay attention to changes. Even though our team has loads of experience, we can’t let that blind us to the possibility things are changing in real-time.

So, what did we learn this year? Gross household income increased to $91,600, up from $88,800 the previous year. The median age of a home buyer is now 46, up from 42 back in 2013 and 45 last year. 63% were married couples, 18% were single females, 9% single males, and 8% unmarried couples. Children in the home decreased to 34% and has been on a steady decline from 40% since 2013.

2018 National Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers

Drilling deeper into the reason buyers were rejected for a mortgage we found that 33% were rejected due to their debts being too high relative to their income. 27% had a credit score that prevented them from buying, while 14% had income that was difficult to verify.

Buyers of new homes had a median income of $111,770 while buyers of existing homes had a median income of $89,100. Did you know that 15% of buyers chose their neighborhood because of their pet? We can’t tell you how many buyers won’t buy a property due to neighborhood restrictions on pets. It’s often the first question we get regarding condo or HOA documents.

Student loan debt typically delayed a home purchase for 2 years, and the typical student loan debt was $28,000. 3% of buyers are active in the armed forces, while 18% of all buyers were veterans.

The Internet played a large role in the purchase of real estate. 83% frequently used the Internet to search, and 90% used an agent. 88% found the detailed property information useful while 90% found the photos useful.

Single females outpaced single males 2 to 1 in purchases. Convenience to friends and family was important to single females while convenience to job was important for single males.

54% of unmarried couples rented together before purchasing. First time home buyers expect to be in their 1^st home for 10 years. Repeat buyers expect to be in their next home 15 years.

The stats go on and on. We like to look at data to see if there are trends we need to pay attention to. For instance, we notice a rising age in the typical home buyer. Is this because younger people are delaying their first home purchase, or having trouble saving for the down payment or qualifying for the mortgage. Once we identify the issue, we may be able to identify a solution. We do have some down payment assistance programs available. It’s all about knowing where to look, if you ask the right questions.

Only 4% of buyers can purchase a home without help. The rest either need help getting a mortgage or have something to sell first. This is where a good Realtor comes in. We listen, we identify, and we help. Call us at 239-489-4042 and see how we can help you, or search the MLS for Free at www.LeeCountyOnline.com If you have questions about selling a home, ask for Brett or Sande Ellis Ext 4.

Find out what your Home is Worth for Free

Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Featured Property of the Week

7152 Reymoor Dr

Agents around the office often ask us how the Ellis Team sells so much real estate each month. The answer is, it’s marketing. It’s not about the dollars you spend each month, although we do spend more on advertising than just about anybody out there. It’s about spending smart, understanding how and where to find your customers, and converting. The Ellis Team smashes industry standard online advertising conversion rates.

The industry standard for online display ads back in 2016 was .35%. Many say it’s below that now. The Ellis Team converts 26 times that rate with an average in October at 9.13%. Some of our ads convert at 20%. The industry standard for a search ad is 1.91%. Again, the Ellis Team smashes industry standard online advertising conversion rates in every category.

So how do we do this? We’re not going to divulge that but suffice it to say we know a thing or two about online advertising, and it works. In fact, the Ellis Team was the first team in the country to put the MLS on our website. That first year we sold over 100 homes, and Realtors everywhere wondered what was going on.

NAR (National Association of Realtors) called us to Chicago to talk about this. They said the info was in the MLS books and couldn’t be made public to everyone on our website. After meeting with the president of NAR and NAR general counsel, they realized what we were doing was legal and met the bylaws of NAR. And this is how VOW (Virtual Office Websites) was born. SW Florida, you received it first. It later transitioned to IDX (Internet Data Exchange) and now Realtors across the country, along with Realtor.com, Zillow, and others are displaying agent’s listing data. I was always against Realtors letting 3^rd party companies display our data. I felt it should be reserved for agents displaying each other’s data, but somebody up at NAR decided otherwise.

Since those early days, we’ve been perfecting the art of online registrations and conversions. First, you must give people what they want. Your website must be fast, easy to use, and provide the most accurate and up to date data out there. Our website is real-time, so it’s fast, has all the listings including sold data, and it’s easy to use. Consumers like that they can see a photo gallery of all pictures instead of clicking one by one.

Buyers and sellers like that they can get neighborhood data in real-time and emailed to them weekly or monthly. This informs them of new listings, pending sales, and closed sales in a community. This is helpful when you’re keeping an eye on one or more communities.

Secondly, it helps to target the correct people. This is where the magic happens. It does no good to target the universe, because the universe will not all buy property, and certainly not in SW Florida. We target people who have an interest in SW Florida, even if they live out of the country. We find them from anywhere, and everywhere.

In the last month, www.LeeCountyOnline.com received 291 users from overseas. Our agents are working with several of them, and some are in a nice price point. Let’s not forget that we received 4,240 users last month from inside the US. And of those users, 82.5% are new users, so we’re advertising to and attracting thousands of new users each month.

It’s no wonder why Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty agents are so busy and selling so much. We know how to find the buyers, no matter where they are.

If you’re looking to buy, you should talk with our experienced agents. If you’re looking to sell, speak with Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4. Brett and Sande handle the listings. We know how to get Top Dollar for our sellers. Let us sit down with you and show you how we market. Nobody else does what we do, and the results speak for themselves. Find out what your home is worth at www.SWFLhomevalues.com

Good luck and Happy Selling!

November SW Florida Real Estate Update

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Sunday 1-3 PM

12760 Seaside Key CT, North Fort Myers Moody River Estates

Weekend Garage Sale

Saturday 8 AM-1 PM

2153 Treehaven Cir North

In 2018 we’ve been on a recent record pace, eclipsing 2015 levels for homes sold in one year. We haven’t gone back and analyzed against all-time highs more than a decade ago. Since prices and home sales reset after the correction, we’re analyzing against recent records. We believe we’re behind 2005 sales numbers, but not by as much as you would think. SW Florida homes closed YTD slipped slightly in September.

We’ve been trending above 2015 numbers, so what changed? In September of this year we dipped below 2015 levels and that set us back. We only had 922 closed sales in September. Back in 2015 we had 1,078. I think we’ll be able to track where our market is headed by how well it holds up to 2015 levels.

This year we had 968 new pending sales. Back in 2015 we had 1,169. This could be an indicator that closed sales in October may fall below 2015 levels as well. The median price back then was $211,578 and we had 3.7 months supply of inventory. Contrast that with today our median price is $245,000 and a 4.9 month supply of inventory.

What’s different today is median home prices are 15.8% higher than they were 3 years ago, and interest rates were 3.978% and falling in 2015. Today rates are at 4.875% and rising. Rising rates have a way of spoiling home sales in that they rob buyers of purchasing power. At some point they rob sellers too because if the sellers raise prices and rising interest rates also put pressure on buyers, the whole train stops. You can’t have both for very long. When buyers are maxed out, they’re at their limit. With every rise in rates, it could be at the seller’s expense next.

The only thing that can offset this is rising wages. Wages do appear to be on the rise somewhat, but they lag rises in rates. This might explain why home prices haven’t risen since January of 2017. Sure, we’ve seen blips up and down, but statistically they haven’t moved.

How does this affect sellers trying to sell their home? First off, we’ve got a balanced market. Homes are moving if marketed and priced correctly. Perhaps now more than ever marketing becomes critical. Prices are stagnant, interest rates are rising, and inventory is building. Hiring a Realtor who markets is critical. We’re not talking about posting it on all the websites. That’s not marketing. Anybody and everybody can do that. If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, then definitely give us a call. When you sit down and see, it’s easy to understand why our results are different.

This is also the silly season for Realtors. Board dues are up end of the year. Realtors that haven’t marketed or seen results from their lead generation begin shopping around. As a last-ditch effort to save their career, they look to low cost brokerages to reduce fees. Ultimately this doesn’t bring them more buyers or sellers, so they eventually quit, but it does buy them a few more months in the business. Others look to hop on teams that provide leads. Some are so deep in debt even this won’t work because they waited too long. Or, they just don’t know how to close leads.

When selecting a Realtor, ask to see their marketing. Then call us. I bet you’ll see a difference. Ask them how many listings they successfully sold last year. Ask them how long they’ve been with their company. Do they jump around? Will they be at the same company in a month or two? Can you get out of your listing if they move? Ask all these questions before you sign up.

Your best bet is to just call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty the first time. Sure, we help a lot of customers who are on their 2^nd or 3^rd Realtor. Wouldn’t it make sense to just use us first?

Call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-40402 Ext 4 or visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Saturday November 3 1-3 PM

Open House Sunday November 4 1-3 PM

The last few weeks we’ve been reporting official Southwest Florida real estate sales numbers, and the numbers look good. This flies in the face of what some sellers and some agents are saying about the market. Real estate tends to be an emotional item. It is for buyer and seller, and for agents alike. This week we’ll focus on why you should avoid Dr do it all when selecting a Realtor to sell your home.

Buyers and sellers tend to get caught up in their own personal transaction. Agents tend to get caught up in their overall production. Sometimes agents confuse their own production with that of the overall market, and often they are completely different.

The typical agent’s production cycle is up and down. They prospect, farm, and lead generate which leads to appointments. As they take appointments they get busy. A lot goes into working with a buyer or bringing a listing to the market. Both can be time consuming. As transactions begin to occur, all of the prospecting, farming, and lead generating tends to stop. They must focus limited resources on the ultimate goal, getting the deals closed.

Once they get their deals closed, they’re basically out of business and must begin the process all over again. And after they do, the cycle begins anew. When agents are in the transaction phase, they feel like the market is booming, because they’re busy and they have closings coming up. When they are in the prospecting phase, they can feel like the market is dead and nobody wants to buy. Because they honestly feel this way, agents tend to report on how they feel the market is doing by how their personal business is going. And the answer always lies in which step of the process they are in. Talk to 10 different agents and you might get 10 different answers, and it’s all real to them.

Avoid Dr Do It All When Selecting a Realtor to Sell Your Home

Experienced agents with a long track record of sales have learned to level out the ups and down by doing two things. Hire talent to help handle all the fine details of bringing a listing to market and managing a transaction. This helps agents do the 2^nd thing, which is never stop lead generating.

Not only will it help an agent level out the ups and downs of their business, it also helps their sellers. Imagine listing with an agent that is so busy taking your listing and closing a few deals that they stop lead generating. Now that your home is new to the market, there are no new leads for your home because the agent stopped lead generating to get your home ready for MLS.

A lot goes into placing a home in MLS, if done properly. Professional photos must be taken. Several hours are spent on a pricing strategy, and several more hours are spent gathering information for the MLS, like HOA or condo information, and of course listing all the details and fields for the home. Then there is the dreaded agent remark section where agents must cleverly write a compelling story on why your home is a good buy.

It’s no wonder why single agents get frustrated, because there is so much to do, and when business starts happening, the lead generation stops. This is where sellers get frustrated. Their home is fresh on the market, and few people are viewing the home.

Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty

Avoid Dr Do it All- This is why we created a team. In fact, we were the first team in SW Florida many years ago. We never stop lead generating. The Ellis Team has a full-time listing manager to help with all the details of bringing a home to market. We have a closing manager to help get our deals to the closing table, so we don’t have to start all over with another buyer. And, we have a full-time marketing manager to make our ads, and our homes look good.

We never stop marketing and lead generating. This is why our homes sell faster and for more money than the average agent. We have a list of buyers ready to buy now, and we are working every day to find them homes. We may already have a buyer for your home, and if not, our marketing will create one.

Call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4 if you’re thinking of selling, or go to www.SWFLhomevalues.com to see what your home may be worth.

SW Florida Real estate closings setting strong pace in 2018 and it’s the best kept secret out there. Perhaps people are caught-up in the headlines of red-tide and blue-green algae and just assume the market is suffering.

I was just speaking with a lender this morning who mentioned she’s ready for real estate closings to start picking up. Lenders of course get a large chunk of their business through Realtors, so I asked her what her perception of the market was. In speaking with Realtors she works with, she had heard it was slow.

SW Florida Real Estate Closings Setting Strong Pace in 2018

If you look at the graph, you’ll see Lee County closings in 2018 are ahead of past year’s closings. In fact, we are 689 of last year and 211 ahead of 2015, the second highest year in this time frame. The data shows that real estate closings are not slow, and yet Realtors, lenders, and maybe even the public thinks it is.

Your perception becomes your reality, and if you buy into a falsehood that the market is slow, suddenly your closings will be slow, which further confirms your suspicion that the market is indeed slow. When you buy into false facts, your outcome is determined by your attitude and assumptions rather than what could have been. If you simply change your thinking, you can change your world.

At Keller Williams we have a list or irrefutable laws, one of which is “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” The SW Florida real estate market right now is a perfect example. This market can be whatever you want it to be. We have buyers looking to buy. We have a good economy, and rates are low historically speaking although on their way up. All favorable signs!

And yet we have some negatives. Interest rates are rising, which is slowing buyer’s purchasing power. Sales are slowing nationwide. And of course, we have Red Tide and Blue Green Algae. There, I said it. We have positives on the table and we have negatives on the table. So, which is it?

Every business should run a SWOT analysis. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Every business will have positives and negatives. Every relationship will have both. Your outcome is dependent on how you look at things. Do you choose to see the opportunity, or do you choose to see the threat?

Facts are facts, and they often get in the way of how we’d like to perceive a situation. The facts are, we’ve got a pretty good market right now. If you’re an agent, you could either decide on how you’re going to go get your unfair share of sales or sit back and complain that sales are slow. They’re not slow for everybody, only those that choose to buy into the negatives.

If you’re a seller, you want an agent that knows how to market and sell in all kinds of weather. Three things are certain, markets go up, markets go down, and the weather is always changing. If your home has been on the market and failed to sell, perhaps you need a new approach.

It failed to sell for one of two reasons. Either it was overpriced, or it wasn’t marketed properly. We’ve taken over listings that failed to sell and sold them at the same price, so it wasn’t the price. We’ve taken over other listings that were overpriced, made the proper adjustments, and added our marketing and they sold. Sometimes it’s both, the price and the marketing.

There is no substitute for proper marketing. Failure to market properly will cause a home to sell at a lower price, or not at all. Even homes priced correctly sometimes don’t sell, and that’s lack of marketing.

Call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4 and we’ll be happy to sit down and discuss both with you. Or, go to www.SWFLhomevalues.com and get a quick and Free estimate of your home’s value, then call us when you’re ready to sell.

Good luck and happy selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Saturday 1-3 PM

1742 Ardmore Rd

Open House Saturday 1-3 PM

714 Fifth Ave, Lehigh Acres

New real estate listings rose 14.8% in August and are up 11% year to date. New pending sales were down 3.4% in August and up 4.4% year to date. Percentages can be misleading though, so let’s dive deeper into the numbers.

New Real Estate Listings Rose 14.8% in August

New listings in August totaled 1,423. This was up from 1,240 last year. In August 1,226 properties went pending. This means 203 more properties came on the market than went pending. The total inventory of active listings regardless of how long they’ve been on the market rose to 5,307. This is a 13.7% increase over last year, although it’s practically the same as the month previous.

Our month’s supply of inventory rose to 4.9 months in August. This is the exact same as July, however it is an 11.4% increase over last year currently.

So, what do these numbers tell us? Statistically we still have a seller’s market. Anything less than 5.5 months supply of inventory is considered a seller’s market. Median prices rose 4.6% over last year while average sales prices rose 2.3%. Prices are rising, although the rate of rise is leveling off.

Nationwide the Case-Schiller Index was just released for July and it showed nationwide home prices rose 6%, which was smaller than previous gains. They speculate rising interest rates are beginning to tap the brakes on how much and how fast home prices can appreciate.

Home sales slid .7% nationwide in July. Lee County home sales were up 9.1% back in July, and up 10.3% in August. While we’re all affected by rising interest rates, SW Florida might be a little insulated because we didn’t participate in the price run-ups the past few years like others did. Our prices were flatter the past few years, and only recently have begun to rise substantially.

Going forward, buyers and sellers will need to do more research. Sellers looking for top dollar will need to interview agents in search of the best marketing plan. Anyone can sell a home in a rising market. Some Realtor’s say price sells homes. While we won’t argue with that, marketing does too. And that’s where some Realtors disagree.

Advertising costs money and that eats into margins. Some agents can’t afford to market homes properly, so they don’t. They rely on the MLS and other agents to sell their listings. As inventory begins to grow, the need for marketing increases.

You’ve got to find a way to make your client’s home stand out. As inventory rises, their home is just another in a long list of homes on the market. What makes it stand out? Once you determine that, you must tell the world.

An agent can’t rely on MLS and real estate portals to do that. They are nothing more than a directory listing of homes on the market. Imagine searching through your neighborhood directory wonder which neighbor has the best home. A directory won’t tell you that. The MLS won’t sell your home, and neither will real estate portals. If you’re thinking of selling, you should call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty. 239-489-4042 Ext 4. We’ll show you how advertising makes all the difference.

Buyers today are doing more research too. As inventory rises, they have more to choose from, and more to learn. Buyers must be careful though, because although total listings are up, they may not be in your price range or the neighborhood you’re looking for.

A good agent can help you sort through the maze of homes and educate you on the process. Buying or selling a home isn’t simple. You may not realize it until you run into trouble, and then it can be costly. Always call a professional.

To get an idea of what your home is worth, you can at www.SWFLhomevalues.com It’s free and easy, and it’s pretty darn accurate most times. For a more detailed analysis, call Brett or Sande Ellis and we’ll come view your home and show you what we can sell it for, and how much money you’ll end up with in your pocket at closing.

Call us if you need us 239-489-4042 Ext 4 and Happy Selling!

Last year we warned about interest rates and what it could do to home buyers and sellers. Since that warning interest rates have climbed .82%. The consensus on the street is we’re not done yet. Today we see rising interest rates squeezing home buyers and lowering affordability which can ultimately affect both buyer and seller.

A simple rise in rates robs a home buyer of between 10-11% of purchasing power. In the example in the graph, a $200,000 home buyer before the rate increase now only qualifies for $180,000. Let’s say the buyer still qualifies for $200,000. Their monthly payment just went up $114.82. Nothing else changed. The purchase price is the same, the amount financed is the same. The only thing that caused that payment to go up was the interest rate. Over 30 years that increase adds up to $41,335.20.

Simply by waiting a year to purchase it cost a home buyer more payment or less house. When you combine that with home price increases, it’s a double whammy for buyers.

Rising Interest Rates Squeezing Home Buyers

We’re not done yet. Experts are predicting rates to shoot up to 5% by the end of the year, and perhaps 6% by the end of 2019. Even if they only raise half of that, you can clearly see that waiting costs more than it’s worth. For home buyers, the time is now, and the sooner the better.

We have buyers just waiting for their lease to end. In some cases, it makes sense to break the lease and pay the penalty. Some apartments have a 1-month rental penalty. Other landlords charge much more, so it’s wise to look at your lease and consult with an attorney.

Right now, we have limited inventory, so homes go fast. As rates continue to climb, it will put more pressure on more buyers. The pace at which the market can appreciate will have pressure on it. If you’re a seller, you might want to think about listing now, for several reasons.

If you have a mortgage, chances you’ll get a mortgage on your new home. Waiting to sell your home will cost you too when you go get a new mortgage. Additionally, as rates rise, there will be fewer buyers that qualify for your home. Lastly, as buyers begin to qualify for less and move down a price bracket, listings may rise in your price bracket. When this occurs, price appreciation can stop.

If you’re waiting for prices to climb further, it’s a risky strategy. Sure, price may climb higher, but it may still cost you. You may not gain anything, and you’re taking a risk. It’s more fun to sell when inventory is low. And it’s more fun to purchase before rates rise much further.

Rates are still pretty low historically speaking. We’re still in the 4’s. I remember double digit rates. The point is, even though rates are low, why pay more than you need to? Next year, you’re likely to pay more. The economy is heating up, and this drives pressure for rates to rise.

You know you want a new home. The only thing holding you back is your home is still appreciating, and you don’t know where you’d go. Give Sande or Brett Ellis a call at 239-489-4042 Ext 4 and we can walk you through the steps of a possible move.

We can figure out how much you’d net on the sale of your current home, and what it would take to get you a new home. We can discuss financing options and how we’d structure the deal to make it work for you. You never know until you speak with us.

Or, you can search the market online at www.LeeCountyOnline.com We’re here to help you today, tomorrow, or down the road when the stars align for you. We just want you to have the best information available, so you can make the best decision for your family.

Always call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty Fort Myers & the Islands!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses