This past week I’ve spoken with several real estate agents in Southwest Florida and all have offered varying perspectives on the current state of the real estate market.  Two feel the market has stalled and not doing much while others feel the market is on fire for December. We believe Santas sled bringing gifts Southwest Florida.

Just looking at the quick Market Watch statistics provided by our local MLS we can see that in the last 7 days 291 new listings came on the market in Lee County and 265 went pending.  That sounds like a pretty balanced market.  If you look further, you’ll also notice 257 price reductions.

Santa’s Sled Bringing Gifts to Southwest Florida

It’s possible we placed so many homes under contract because, so many sellers adjusted their price to get in line with the market.  Price reductions are not a bad thing.  Imagine getting a D or an F on a test and being stuck with that grade.  It kind of stinks doesn’t it?

We’ve probably all had that one teacher that allowed test re-takes and makeup homework.   This teacher was more interested that you eventually learned the material than if you learned it on time the first time when it was due.

Price reductions are a lot like test re-takes.  You misjudged the market the first time.  Your final grade can still be salvaged, if you respond to the teacher’s directions.  You must show up and try again.  Some say you must try harder.  Wanting that A isn’t the same as working for it.

An A in a real estate sale is selling at fair market value in the time-frame that works for you.  If you overprice the home and it eventually sells for less because it became stale on the market, you don’t get an A.  When your home takes longer to sell, and you miss your ideal time-frame because you overpriced the home, you don’t get an A either.

You can still get a B though.  The sooner you react and make changes, the higher your grade will be.  Sellers who price correctly upfront receive higher sales prices and faster sales than sellers who overprice the market.

In a shifting market, you never want to get caught chasing the market down.  I’m not convinced we’re in a shifting market.  We had 5 closings last week and several more for the month.  That’s the result of hard work in October and November.  The sales we have in January will be a direct result of the hard work we’re putting in this month.  December is a month where many Realtors take off and ride easy into the New Year.  They tell sellers nobody is buying in December and we’ll go get them next year.  The truth is sales are there, if you’re hungry and willing to work for them.

The Ellis Team is hungry, and we work hard all 12 months for our buyers and sellers.  We’re getting Top Dollar for our sellers.  When the market doesn’t respond, we’re honest with our sellers.  Just because your home doesn’t sell in the first 30 days doesn’t mean you have to take an F in the class.  In fact, if you’re time frame didn’t dictate a 30 day sale, there’s still time to get an A.  If you absolutely must sell your home quickly, over-pricing it doesn’t make much sense, does it?

We’ll be glad to sit down with you and discover your needs.  Together we’ll come up with a marketing and pricing plan to get you on your way.  Santa is bringing gifts, so you might as well get yours.  The market is good!

Always Call the Ellis Team

Call Sande or Brett Ellis at 239-489-4042 Ext 4 if you’d like to explore selling your home.   If you’d like to shop around on the MLS, check out www.LeeCountyOnline.com for Free.  It has all the listings and is updated instantly when new properties enter the market.  You’ll beat out other buyers to hot new listings.  It’s like having the teacher’s test ahead of the other students, so take advantage.

Happy Holidays from the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty.

New Southwest Florida real estate blog

Putting off that home purchase?  Perhaps you’re saving up for the down payment, or you’re waiting on sellers to reduce prices?  That might cost you in the long run.  Let’s explore the cost of waiting to purchase SW Florida real estate.

Cost of Waiting to Purchase SW Florida Real Estate

In October median prices were up 6.7% and average prices were up 8.6%.  These numbers are indicative of how we’ve been running all year, so we’ll say they’re legit for conversation purposes.

Cost of Waiting to Purchase SW Florida Real Estate

Let’s assume home prices increase 5% going forward. That’s reasonable compared to this past year.  The Federal Reserve is expected to hike rates this week and the consensus is 3 times again next year.  Right now, as of time of this article the Fed Funds rate is 2.1%.  It’s expected to climb to 2.7% in the next year and 2.9% into 2020. That’s almost a 1% incline in rates.

If rates go up 1% and home prices go up 5%, it will cost a buyer about $12,500 in price which translates to an increase of $190.38/Mo in payment.  Over the life of the loan that’s an additional $68,537.

When people see it broken out like that they realize the true cost of waiting.  This doesn’t even factor in the equity gains over 15 or 30 years. If someone were to rent and never purchase, they would never end up with a paid off home for retirement.  Buying real estate is the single best option for people to build wealth.

Sure, perhaps you could have been lucky and bought Bitcoin 8 years ago. You’d be wealthy today.  However, you could have lost everything, and you still could as the jury is still out on its long-term value.

Real Estate a Hedge Against Inflation

Tangible assets are a hedge against inflation.  Therefore, people buy real estate, gold, silver, etc. in inflationary times.  The difference is if the price of gold or silver goes down, you can’t live in it.  Gold or silver can’t be rented out and you can’t draw income from them either.  You can live in real estate whether it’s up, down, or sideways.  You can usually rent it out too and have someone else pay your costs of ownership.

At present we don’t know what’s in the final tax bill.  We don’t know if it will even pass, although we believe something will.  There are some provisions that may not be as friendly to real estate.  Hopefully this will be offset by provisions that should jump-start the economy.

Florida stands to gain versus other tax heavy states which could lead employers and people up North seeking more tax favorable states.  We could envision a scenario where companies decide to relocate to tax friendly states like Florida, Texas, and other low tax states.  This could offset possible mortgage interest deductions and deductions for state and local income taxes.

Nothing we’ve seen in the bills so far would hurt Florida.  Whatever they do to real estate, Florida will be less impacted than most.  Florida stands to gain if other states are hit hard.

No Benefit Waiting

The bottom line is we don’t see any benefit in waiting to buy.  It will only get costlier both in terms of rate and prices.  And if sellers are waiting to sell their properties up North, right now might be the time.  Imagine an exodus out of high tax states.  That’s not a fun time to sell when everybody else is selling, all the while buyers are high tailing it down to Florida.

We’re already seeing net migrations out of NY, NJ, IL, and CA.  This could heat up in a few months if tax policy plays out like they’re talking.  Florida stands to gain, and you can too if you beat the rush.

www.LeeCountyOnline.com has all the listings, and it’s updated instantly.  Finding properties on the  Internet that sold months ago or have incorrect pricing is frustrating.  It’s difficult to beat out other buyers to hot new listings with bad information.  Our website fixes all that for you.  When time and expertise advice matters, Always call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams, 239-489-44042, your one-stop shop for great real estate success.  If you’re thinking of selling, ask for Sande or Brett Ext 4.

We get a lot of questions about the standard residential purchase contract versus as-is agreement.  Let’s go over the differences and how each should be used.

Standard Residential Purchase Contract Versus As-Is Agreement

First off, the seller is required to disclose known defects regardless of which contract is used.  In the old days agents always used the standard purchase contract which provides for automatic repairs of certain items.  There was always a fight about what was covered or not, so the contract was cleaned up and made more precise.

Standard Residential Purchase Contract Versus As-Is Agreement

Since the foreclosure crisis it’s become common practice to use the as-is agreement.  The as-is agreement has no automatic repair provisions, so it allows the buyer to cancel for any reason.  What invariably ends up happening is a fight about repairs.  Buyers get ticky-tacky about little things and demand they are repaired.  The seller says no, it was sold as-is and we’re not doing it.  The buyer walks and finds another property.

Meanwhile the buyer is out the inspection costs and starts all over.  The seller had their home off the market for 10-15 days and lost marketing time.  If the buyer wasn’t prepared to accept minor issues they should not have written an as-is contract.

Under the standard contract the seller is responsible for repairs up to 1.5% of purchase price for items like roof, water damage, heating, cooling, plumbing, septic, etc.  Cosmetic conditions are not covered.  And yet even with as-is contracts buyers ask for cosmetic repairs and get turned down and are left searching for another home.

Buyers are Fearful

Buyers are fearful the problems are bigger than they are, or that costs will mount.  Buying a home is an e emotional event, and fear often gets the better of buyers.  The time to talk about all this stuff is before they purchase a home.  Once buyers know what to expect, the process becomes much easier for them.

Sellers are emotional too.  They often feel like the buyer got the better of the deal in negotiations, and now they want stupid repairs on top of it!  You can hear their frustration the minute we present them with repair issues.  The as-is contract was supposed to cure all this and make contracts simpler and less argumentative.

People are people, and no contract is going to suppress the emotions of fear and greed.  So long as this is reality, it might be best to consider using the standard contract which addresses certain issues quite well.

Agents Should Counsel Buyers and Sellers

At the very least agents should be counseling buyers and sellers up-front as to expectations and the process once an offer comes in.  If buyers and sellers are properly educated, the emotions are tamed, and the experience of the agent takes over.  Each side has confidence they are being treated fairly and according to protocol.

This is one more reason for sale by owners have such a difficult time selling on their own.  They don’t have anyone counseling them on how to act and feel.  More importantly, there isn’t a neutral party the buyer trusts counseling them on how to feel and act either.  Invariably the deal blows up and both sides are more frustrated than ever.

Agents, have upfront consultations with your buyers and sellers.  If your buyer is skittish or emotional, consider using the standard contract.  It will keep more deals together for you as the contract is specific about what is covered.  The as-is contract is like the old Wild West, and in the Wild West anything goes.  And usually somebody dies.  Don’t let your contracts die needlessly.  Rely on your agent’s wisdom and experience to get through these issues.  Hopefully both sides are using an experienced agent.  Learning on the job is not fun for buyer or seller.  Experience matters.  Either use an experienced agent with hundreds if not thousands of transactions experience, or someone on a team who has access to all that experience from a team leader.  Experience isn’t costly, it’s priceless when you need it.

If you’re looking to buy or sell, always call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty 239-489-4042 or visit our website www.LeeCountyOnline.com for more tips.

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Parker Lakes

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

Parker Lakes Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses
Parker Lakes – Gated Community

14811 Crystal Cove Ct Unit 1102

How Much is Your Home Worth?

 

News Flash.  Home sales in Lee County will be down in 2017.  Current Southwest Florida home sales trail last two years, and this occurred before Hurricane Irma.  Since the hurricane sales have lessened.

Current Southwest Florida Home Sales

Lee County is not alone.  Tight inventory has caused much of this.  If home inventory is down, it stands to reason homes sales would be down.  While inventory has been up year over year for the better part of 2017, it has been falling since February.

Last year inventory grew from October through February.  The same will probably happen this year.  What is not growing, at least since the hurricane, is the new pending sales.  Of course, they were down drastically in September -47.8%.  Some thought we’d see a rebound in new pending sales in October.  We’re still down 3.5%

New Pending Sales Southwest Florida Home Salesest

We know closings are down for 2017.  We also know new pending sales are down.  If new pending sales are down it means we don’t have a reasonable way to catch up to last two previous year’s numbers.  It wasn’t likely before the storm and sure isn’t likely now.

Real estate agents are probably wondering what they’re going to do.  As we’ve written in previous articles, this is the time of year agents evaluate their position.  Board dues are coming up by the end of the year.  Bunches of agents will get out of the business.  Still others will get into the business.  The merry-go-round will continue in 2018.  There are just as many who want to join as those that try and give up.

We think you’ll see two things in the 1st Qtr. of 2018.  First, more agents will join teams.  They’ll have to, or they won’t stay in business.  It’s costly to advertise, lead generate, pay assistant salaries, broker splits, etc.  It’s also costly to do all on your own and struggle.  Real estate is a very costly business.

Even though real estate is costly, it costs even more not to use an agent.  Several studies have shown that using an agent more than pays for itself in attaining a better price.  Saving a commission does not help, a seller nets less at the closing table than if they had used a broker.  And the seller did all the work.

The second thing we think we’ll see is increased listings.  They always go up this time of year, and we think 2018 will continue this trend.  Prices are up nicely over 2016.  In fact, October median prices were up 6.7% and averages sale prices were up 8.6%.

So, what’s the takeaway from these two predictions?  If you’re a seller, make sure you list with an agent that is going to stay at their brokerage through 2018.  Ask the agent you interview how their sales are.   Ask if they’re contemplating making a move, and what would happen to your listing if they did move?  Would they assign it to another agent and collect a referral fee, or could they take it to a new broker?

Agents, develop your business plan for 2018.  Before you take new listings be sure you’re at the place you’re going to be for the next year.  If not, do everyone a favor and make the move now before season.  It’s kind of like recruiting season for football coaches.  Recruiting season is now through Feb 1, and yet some coaches won’t be there next year, and they know it.  The coach can jump around but the players are locked in.  The same is true for sellers.

Look at joining a team or develop a strategy that can carry you through the next year.  You’ll have to invest in your business.

Sellers, all you can do is select the right agent, and price your home to today’s market.  The days of picking any agent to sell your home are over.  You’ll have to get selective again, and ask the tough questions.

If you have real estate questions, please call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-4042.  Or visit our website www.LeeCountyOnline.com and you can search the MLS for Free!

Good luck and happy selling!

Just released home buyer’s data suggests tough times for limited services brokers and for sale by owners. 94% of home buyers used a real estate agent in the home buying process.  Those same buyers also used the Internet as a tool to find their home 94% of the time as well.

How Buyers Found Their Home Tough Times For Limited Services Brokers

Limited Service brokers are brokers who provide limited services to sellers to sell their home, presumably for a reduced fee.  This is not what the typical home buyer is looking for.  If anything, they require increased services.  They become frustrated at people who cannot answer their questions; all their questions.

The typical home buyer searches for 10 weeks before making their purchase.  This is a big reason why buyers shy away from For Sale by Owners and limited service brokers.  When they stumble upon a home, they’re not ready to decide for a while.  And when they do become ready, they want someone to help them with all the details.

The most difficult steps for buyers who purchased was finding the right property (47%) paperwork (27%) understanding the process and steps (15%) mortgage (13%) saving for down payment (9%) and appraisal of the property (4%)

Warning for Real Estate Agents

What Buyers Want From Agents Tough Times For Limited Services Brokers

 

Your job is not to find the buyer their home. In fact, even though buyers predominantly use real estate agents to purchase their home, only 40% found the home they bought from the agent.  51% of buyers want help in selecting the “Right” home.  Buyers love to search on their own.  They do so on average 3 weeks before contacting an agent.  Even then they love searching on their own, but they get overwhelmed with all the choices.  They don’t necessarily need an agent to find the home.  They need help selecting the best home amongst the choices.

Sure, buyers love websites like www.LeeCountyOnline.com that gives them a competitive advantage over other websites.  However, being notified of that hot new listing before anybody else, or that property that came back on the market, or a recent price change won’t help until they’re ready.

Number of Weeks Searched Tough Times For Limited Services Brokers

This is when an agent shines, and this is what buyers look for.  They want someone that will be with them those next 7 weeks while they search, and the weeks after that to help them close.  They want an agent who has a great reputation, is trustworthy, and knows the market, in that order.

This report from Florida Realtors is 198 pages and is filled with every imaginable demographic, statistic, chart, and insight you can think of.  It truly helps real estate agents determine what buyers are looking for and how they go about finding and purchasing it.

The report also covers sellers and what they look for in an agent.  If you’re a seller and not sure you’re asking all the right questions, or covering all the right angles, we’d be happy to show you this report.  Did you know only 19% of home sellers use their previous agent?  64% of home sellers contacted 1 agent to sell their home, while 20% contacted 2, and 10% contacted 3. Page 194 has some particularly shocking information regarding how sellers perceived their home was marketed.

It’s shocking to us because the agent either did more than the seller realized, or they didn’t market to the standards that we do on the Ellis Team.

If you’re thinking of selling, please call Brett or Sande Ellis at 239-489-4042.  If you’re looking to purchase, our team can help, and we definitely provide what buyers are looking for in this report.  Or feel free to search our website www.LeeCountyOnline.com  We know you may not be ready today, and that’s OK.  It’s a process.  We’re here when you need us, and our website is here 24/7 even when you don’t.

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Paramount at the Shores- Gulf Harbour

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

Heritage Cove

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

Florida International real estate sales rise 21% of total dollar volume and 15% of total sales in 2017.  Both numbers were up versus 2016 numbers.  This tells us that foreign buyers are here purchasing, and because the total volume is higher, they are purchasing higher than average priced homes.

So where are these Lee County foreign buyers coming from?  According to the Florida Realtors profile of international real estate activity, Lee County saw the largest amount coming from Canada, followed by Germany and United Kingdom.

Florida International Real Estate Sales Rise Where Lee County Foreign Buyers Come From

Florida International Real Estate Sales Rise

Just this past week the Ellis Team placed a property under contract with a Canadian buyer, and we just completed a transaction with a German owner.  Over the course of time, these countries fairly well describe who buys in Lee County from overseas, but there are fluctuations.

Two factors that influence foreign buyers are the changes in currency valuations, and the home price growth from the foreign country.

The Canadian dollar hasn’t moved much against the US dollar, so you might wonder why the increased interest.  Canadian home prices have been sky-high.  They have equity. Some say they’ve risen so high the bubble might burst as there is no rational basis for why their prices have grown so high.  But then again, there never is in Canada.  They have their own economic forces.  It’s like gravity is different up there.

Canada was number 4 in the world for real price growth behind the Philippines, Hong Kong, and New Zealand.  This confidence and equity has spurred opportunities for Florida as Canadians love visiting our sunshine and beaches.

72% of foreign buyers pay cash. But Canadians only finance 14% of the time. United Kingdom buyers finance 23% of the time.

Ellis Team markets to Foreign Buyers

The Ellis Team markets to foreign buyers as well as US buyers.  In a market like Florida you have to market to reach the entire universe of buyers.  Especially given the fact that 21% of Florida’s sales volume comes from foreign buyers.

While this report covers all of 2017, there can be shifts. We study our website traffic over the last year and compare to the last month and week. We see some recent changes.  This past week Canada still led the way, followed by Germany and Sweden.  United Kingdom is at #9 for the year and not even in our top 10 for the last week.  Brazil slipped to #9 in the past week.  They’ve been in the #6 spot for the past year.

Ellis Team LeeCountyOnline.com International Visitor Count October 2017

Changes in currency, political environments, and home prices abroad can affect our market here quickly.  We can monitor on a week to week or even day to day basis.

The bottom line is, if you’re only marketing to local buyers you’re missing out on a large portion of the market.  In addition to 21% of the volume from international buyers we sell many homes to US citizens from other states.

Florida International Real Estate Sales Rise Website Visitors By State

Over the past year Illinois lead the way in property searches on LeeCountyOnline.com followed by New York and Michigan.  It’s no wonder we’re working with so many buyers from IL right now.  The Ellis team is working with buyers from all 10 of these states.  They are searching for property in Southwest Florida and we are helping them purchase it.

Thinking of Selling?

If you’re thinking about selling your SW Florida property, it pays to work with a Realtor that markets across the US and internationally.  Have them show you how many buyers they’re generating and from where.  If they can’t show you, they either aren’t marketing there or don’t focus on it.

The Ellis Team will be glad to sit down with you and see how we can help you get top dollar for your home.  Call 239-489-4042 and ask for Sande or Brett.  Or feel free to search our SW Florida MLS Search Site  The rest of the world does.  You might as well too.

 

Ellis Team Weekend Open House

Open Sat 1-3 PM

Daniel’s Park

Ellis Team Featured Homes of the Week

Reflection Lakes New Listing

Gulf Harbour Condo

Paramount at the Shores

Paramount at the Shores Gulf Harbour

4 Bed 5 Bath Condo overlooking River, marina, and golf course

 

As sure as the sun comes up each day in Southwest Florida, two things are certain this time of year. Sellers consider placing their home on the market in January and November begins the Southwest Florida real estate agents year end ritual.  Real estate agents consider their career options.  It is predictable and certain.

Southwest Florida Real Estate Agents Year End Ritual

January 2016 saw an increase in listings of 20.34%.  This past January we saw a rise of 12.1%, and it’s not uncommon to see more in February as well.  Sellers must all decide “season” is the best time to put home on the market.  The smart sellers place their home on the market before season as they have less competition from other sellers.  There are lots of buyers out there right now and getting a jump-start on them can help sellers win the selling game before others come on market in a few months.

December is also the season when real estate agents decide if they’re going to stay in the business, join a team, or change brokerages.  People are surprised to learn that the average real estate agent completes less than 1 deal per year, and thousands of agents don’t do any deals throughout the year.

Southwest Florida Real Estate Agents Year End Ritual

Board dues and MLS fees are due December 31 and total $725.  That’s a lot of money if you’re selling less than 1 home per year.  Everybody thinks real estate is easy and fun, so they jump in thinking they’re going to make a fortune and get to see a lot of nice homes.  What they find is acquiring customers is costly and time consuming, and people are hard to work with when you don’t know the business.

Real estate customers need to be led.  They come to an agent with experience in solving problems and advising on their best move.  The fact is, they don’t come at all though unless you go out and prospect for them.  Advertising is expensive, and most people just aren’t financially capable of shelling out the kind of money it requires.

Are All Agents the Same?

Customers think all agents are the same and they’re just sitting around waiting for the phone call.  They’re quick to ask for commission reductions not knowing the agent they hired may not eat next week.  Customers just don’t see all the costs associated with the real estate business, and neither do agents, until it’s too late.

Agents are much like consumers.  They seek the lowest cost place to work thinking that if they control costs, more will fall to the bottom line.  For Sale By Owners have a similar belief.  The less you pay the more you’ll receive.  This isn’t true for sellers and it’s not true for agents either.

Real estate agents shop brokers for highest commission split, lowest desk fees, etc. Sounds a lot like sellers shopping for a Realtor sell their home.

If you’re a seller, you should check out your agent’s sales for the year.  Ask them if they’re considering moving brokerages, joining a team, or leaving the business altogether.  This might influence whether you hire them, wouldn’t it?

Agents will want to reflect on 2017.  Was it a good year?  Are you at the best place for you? If you had only a handful of sales or less, what could you do differently in 2018?

Real estate is a tough business.  There’s always room for great people.  I wish people did more homework before getting licensed, jumping in and selecting a place to work.  I wish buyers and sellers did more homework on selecting the right agent.

Experience Matters

Experience matters when you’re competing against other buyers and sellers.  It certainly matters how your agent advertises.  If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.

If you’re thinking of buying or selling, Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty 239-489-4042  Or search online for Free at www.LeeCountyOnline.com  If you’re thinking of getting into the business, call Sande or Brett Ellis and we’ll talk about how you can succeed in real estate, and things to think about Before you make your decision.

Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Estero Country Living Perfect for RV or Boat Owners

Open House Sat 1-3 PM

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

Olde Hickory Golf Course Open Houses

 

 

Olde Hickory Home Open Sat 1-3 PM

14381 Old Hickory Fairway Ct

$430,000

2,647 SQ Ft Living Area

 

 

Olde Hickory Golf & Country Club Open House Sat 1-3 PM

9071 Old Hickory Cir

$375,000

3 Bedrooms, 3 Baths

 

 

Can you believe it’s 2017 and we still receive phone calls from people who say “I want to buy a foreclosure in Southwest Florida?”  It’s true.  Short sales too.

Who wouldn’t want a bargain, especially when prices have risen so much from the bottom of the market back in the housing crisis?  People also watch those TV shows and see how others flip houses for unbelievable profit with little to no work.  Other TV shows illustrate how buyers can buy a property, put some sweat equity into it, and flip for amazing profits.

Want to Buy a Foreclosure in Southwest Florida

Southwest Florida isn’t that market.  In September there were exactly 2 short sales and 13 foreclosure sales in Lee County.  As we know Hurricane Irma slowed down sales, so we went back to August and found there were 8 short sales and 41 foreclosure sales.  Short sales and foreclosures combined came to about 4% of the total sales in Lee County in August, and about 2% in September.  There just are not many short sale and foreclosure listings out there.

Want to Buy a Foreclosure in Southwest Florida

We get it, everybody wants a deal.  However, the thing people need to know is when a bank agrees to take less to allow a short sale, they still do an appraisal.  They may consider taking less if the owner is a default risk and the property’s value is truly below market value.  What they will not do is give the property away just so a new buyer can keep the equity.  If a bank is going to take a loss, they want to minimize the loss.

When a bank sells a foreclosure, they typically want as much money as the market will allow for the property in its present condition.  The banks often even spent money to fix up homes to increase their value.

There are good values in Lee County, you just need to know how to find them.  Wasting time searching for 2% of the market will leave buyers frustrated.  It all depends on your definition of a good value.  Homes priced at or near fair market value are a good value.  Homes priced well over are not and will probably not sell unless the seller makes changes.

There are two ways to find value.  First is pick a website that has all the listings and is updated instantly.  Our website www.LeeCountyOnline.com has all the listings and it’s updated every minute.  So when a Realtor inputs a new listing, or makes a price change, our database will know about it and display the new information.

In a race to beat out other buyers to the best listings, speed wins.  Having perfect knowledge of the market back in 2007 will not help you buy a house today.  And having day old MLS data from yesterday will not help you either.

Secondly, you need an agent on your side that understands the market.  Agents with experience know how hurricanes, interest rates, new schools, company headquarters, new roads, hospitals, etc. affect the market.  Numbers are great, but having an expert helping you can make all the difference.

 

The Ellis Team has been around for 30+ years in Southwest Florida.  We’ve done thousands of transactions, and some people think we’ve seen everything.  We haven’t, as we see new things all the time that still amaze us.  What hasn’t changed is people.  People still want the same things for their family today.  They still use the same negotiating tactics.  They may have different tools, but the tactics are the same.

We can help you navigate the maze of real estate.  From selecting the property, to negotiating, to inspections, and closing, we help coordinate it for you.  You don’t have to worry as we handle the process.  If not the Ellis Team, make sure you’re working with an experienced team who will be there for you.  It’s all fun and games until somebody gets poked in the eye, then the name calling begins.  We’ll help you avoid all that.  Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty 239-489-4042.

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Gulf Harbour

360 Virtual Tour Gulf Harbour Condo

Reflection Lakes

2 Condos in South Fort Myers

Most people tend to believe the lower end is always the strongest segment of the real estate market.  If you looked at the October Months’ Supply of Inventory you would agree.  The months’ supply graph is a snapshot in time, so we added a little something to it this month. Upper end homes leading the SW Florida real estate market.

Upper End Homes Leading the SW Florida Real Estate Market

What if you looked at the change in direction from our previous snapshot in July?  Would that change your opinion?  Static data paints a picture and changes in direction tells a story.  The changes are not huge numbers.  For instance, the $Million+ went from 15.66 months in July down to 14.62 months in October.

Each price point above $300,000 saw a reduction.  Each price point below $300,000 saw an increase in months’ supply.  Many times, we see a price range here and there flip, so it stood out to us when we saw such a shift up to a point certain.

Upper End Homes Leading the SW Florida Real Estate Market

So, what does all this tell us?  Perhaps a lot, and perhaps not much.  It tells us we should keep an eye on it more so for the change in direction than for the change in numbers themselves.  You see, the number change isn’t particularly significant.

We did have a disruption in the market in September.  Could it be that lower end homes were hit harder than upper end homes?  Possibly, but if it were true that closed sales were disrupted you would also think that current inventory would be disrupted too.  Could it be that prices have risen to a point where first-time buyers and below $300,000 buyers are tapped out and can’t afford more increases?

If the latter were true we’ll see that going forward.  Keep in mind, as season approaches we’ll have more listings coming to the market and more buyers from up North buying homes too.  That can skew local buyers’ affordability issues until after season.

My intuition tells me numbers going forward will be strong.  While we’ll track these numbers going forward they may just be a blip.  I would have expected the lower end to have done better simply because we see lower end homes being gobbled up in days if not minutes.

Data Speaks For Itself

We like to report the numbers as we see them.  We don’t use the numbers to prove what we think is happening in the market.  The numbers tell us what actually is happening.  From there we can interpret what we think it means, but it does no good to try to use numbers to prove a point just to be right.

Throw in a hurricane for good measure and numbers can state about anything you want them to say.  We’ll report September housing numbers for Southwest Florida soon.  As you would imagine, our market was disrupted, and the numbers bear that out.  We may even see a rise in October numbers due to sales that were postponed from September.

Our team is bringing several homes to market.  We’ve got some good values and more coming.  If you’d like to search the MLS like a pro, visit www.LeeCountyOnline.com  Customers love it because the data is updated instantly.  This past week a customer asked me why a home shows one price online but a different price on our website.  I explained that our website has an instant feed, so when any agent in MLS changes a price or adds a new listing, it shows up right away on our site.

Accurate, Speedy Data Wins

This is particularly important when you’re looking to find the right home.  Speed wins, and beating out other buyers to hot new properties can be the difference between owning that home and watching someone else buy it.  The same is true with price changes.  Imaging having your eye on a property and seeing it sell because it was reduced.  But you didn’t see the reduction because the site you use never displayed it.  It was sold before they could display it.  That doesn’t happen with our website.

If you have a property to sell, the Ellis Team can sell it fast and for Top Dollar.  Call Brett or Sande 239-489-4042.  We can help you buy that dream home too.  Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty!

Ellis Team Featured Property of the Week

New Listing in Reflection Lakes

How Does Financing Impact Cost of Ownership?  We’ve found that three items have the largest impact on the cost of ownership due to financing.

The most talked about are the amount financed and the rate.  For a moment, let’s talk about creating real equity while thinking like an investor. Payments are lower on 30 yr loans than 15 yr loans so most people choose the lowest payment.

How Does Financing Impact Cost of Ownership

What if you could afford the payment on a 15 year loan?  Would it make much of a difference?  If you look at the sample chart, a 30 year loan pays down about 25% of the original loan in 15 years compared to 100% on a 15 year loan.

How Does Financing Impact Cost of Ownership?

Let’s say you have a $250,000 loan at 4.125%.  The P&I (principal & Interest) portion on a 30 yr loan is $1,211.62  That same loan on a 15 yr is $1,864.92.  But wait, there’s more.  15 yr loans carry less interest rate.  Currently 15 yr loans are at 3.5% which brings the payment down to $1,787,21 That’s a $575.59 difference per month but the law of compounding saves you much more than that.

Over 15 years you’ll pay $575.59 more per month which equals $103,606.20.  However, Hawley Advisors noted that if you finance for 30 years you’ll still owe $162,423.19.  That’s already a difference of $58,816.99.  This assumes you have the money to payoff the mortgage in 15 years.  If you don’t you’ll continue to finance it.  If you do this for the full 30 years you will have paid back the $250,000 original loan plus an additional $186, 184.76 in interest for a grand total of $436,184.76

Had you financed this for 15 years you would have paid back the original $250,000 plus $71,697.14 for a grand total of $321,697.14  That’s a lot less than $436,184.76.  In fact, it’s $114,487.62 less.

If you have the wherewithal to finance for less time you might wish to consider it.  If you’re disciplined you might consider taking out 30 yr loan and paying like it’s a 15 yr loan.  However, you will pay .625% more in the rate and it will require discipline.

The other two factors besides length of loan is the rate and the amount financed.  A good agent can help you with both.  Knowing which lender is best for you requires some knowledge.  Each borrower has a unique set of circumstances.  Some lenders offer better rates on FHA loans than others, while some lenders specialize in conventional loans.

We have lenders that offer bridge loans, construction loans, FHA, VA, USDA, bond programs, lot loans, portfolio loans, investor loans, and foreign national loans.  If all this sounds confusing to you, you need to work with an agent that can point you in the right direction.  Sometimes as agents we don’t know your full situation.  This is why we work with lenders we can trust so we can point you to the right program for you.

Knowing the right people and who you can trust makes all the difference.  An agent might negotiate a few thousand off the purchase price for you, but if you choose the wrong lender you can pay it all back and then some simply by choosing the wrong loan.

Most buyers focus on price of the home.  We like to look at total cost of ownership.  This includes price, rate, taxes, and other fees like HOA or condo fees, CDD’s, etc.  This way you can make a fully informed decision and make that dream home become a reality.  We hear stories where that dream home turned into a nightmare home because the buyer didn’t understand the full scope of the purchase.  We want you fully informed.

You can search the MLS like a pro at www.LeeCountyOnline.com  It’s the best property search website in SW Florida.  However, please talk to an agent on the Ellis Team before you purchase.  Not using us could cost you thousands.  Our agents offer peace of mind.  239-489-4042.

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

13235 Whitehaven Ln

Brookshire  $138,500

 

Huge Opportunity to Sell After Hurricane Irma