Waterfront Homes Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Fort Myers Real Estate and Homes For Sale

We were having a one on one training session with one of our agents this week and the conversation came up about summer home sales. He was excited because he thought this summer was going to be good for home sales. And yet, so many agents out there talk about spending summers up north and taking time off because sales are slow in the summer. Their perception becomes their reality.

If they believe sales are slow and take the summer off, sure enough, their sales will be slow to non-existent. And they will be right, and their decision to take the summer off will have been justified. Over the years my mother Sande and I would just laugh, as we raked in sale after sale in the summer. For us, year-round sales were good, and summer was better.

I went back and looked at MLS sales stats from 2000-2003. As you can tell, home sales would begin climbing in Feb and generally peak during the summer. After 2005 we began a steep decline in prices which ultimately led to the foreclosure crisis. This article isn’t about all that. We have plenty of other articles on our Blog about that. During the recovery, the typical home buyer changed.

We see signs that we’re returning to the normal home buyer process. It would be too easy to assume that all home buyers relocated from up north. For a period, it seemed that way, but things are not always as they seem.

Traditionally Southwest Florida homeowners made their moves in the summer. They owned businesses or worked in the service industry and were quite frankly too busy in season to think about moving. Kids were in school, work was busy, and buying or selling a home couldn’t be the top priority, until summer came.

Keep in mind, summer is the busy selling season up north too, so any relocations were dependent on that sale up north.

After the housing correction, many SW Florida homeowners were trapped in their homes. They couldn’t make a move. They lost so much equity they couldn’t afford to sell, and they were busy working on their businesses too that may have suffered. As years have progressed, we’re seeing signs now that many homeowners are choosing to make a move. They finally have equity back in their home. Their incomes have returned to normalcy.

Some wish to downsize, while others have growing families. Many homeowners wish to change lifestyle or prefer a different location. Whatever their reason, summertime is the best time for locals to address their situation.

Our agent was correct. Summertime is a great time for home sales, if you’re present and working the market. The numbers don’t lie. Sales are happening in the summer. The only real question is who’s going to make them.

I remember hearing an agent say years ago that nobody wanted to buy in Lehigh. Really? I looked in MLS and found there were lots of sales in Lehigh, so clearly somebody was buying there. The truth is, that agent didn’t want to sell in Lehigh because they didn’t know the market, it was too far out, or they didn’t like the price point. The reality is that agent found a way to justify why not to sell. It’s like the argument that nobody buys in the summer. If you want to tell yourself that, then indeed sales will be down for you, and you’ll be right.

Many sellers need to sell in the summer. Realize that home sales occur all months of the year, and really any month is a good time to sell if your home is priced correctly and marketed heavily. Sure, a hurricane might disrupt a month here or there, but overall, we have a pretty stable and steady market.

To shop for your dream home, go to www.LeeCountyOnline.com If you have a home to sell, call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4. And don’t forget to vote us Best Real Estate Team in SW Florida in the News Press poll. www.bestswfl.com

Good luck and happy home selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Between McGregor and the River

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

1281 Biltmore Dr

Parker Lakes Pool Home

Open House Sunday 1-3 PM

14941 Lake Olive Dr

Waterfront Condo With Boat Slip Availability

Open House Sunday 1-3 PM

1627 Beach Parkway Unit 208

Home prices in Southwest Florida have been stagnant for the better part of a year now, but nobody believes it because headlines tell us how wonderful homes are appreciating in Florida. We were waiting to see how season went to see if that trend would continue. What we found is more of the same, SW Florida home price gains remain elusive compared to Florida in general.

The Cape Coral- Fort Myers MSA median home prices increased .6% in the 1^st quarter compared to 9.7% statewide. Our condos and townhouses showed no price change whatsoever from last year, compared to 7.8% gain for the state. Cape Coral-Fort Myers is the 6^th largest MSA in the state, and yet each of the 5 larger MSA’s all had gains of 4.8% or better. Some much higher.

We go on listing appointments where the seller believes their home has appreciated 9% in value each of the past few years. Unfortunately, if you interview enough agents you will find one that agrees with you and takes the listing. Getting the listing isn’t the end of the sales process, it’s simply the first step. The seller sets the price and the market determines its value.

If a seller sets the wrong price, one thing happens, doesn’t it? You guessed it, it sits on the market like a lonely school child watching all the other kids play. Oh, it may have some friends. Misery loves company. They hang out with all the other kids who have overpriced their home too. The strange thing is, nobody really wants to be in this club.

So, they turn on each other, and start lowering their prices to get out of the club. Each watch what the other is doing, looking over their shoulder each time they make a reduction. The only problem is, they’re looking the wrong direction. They should be looking at all the kids playing. Wherever that group is, that’s where they should head. While they’re busy looking over their shoulder at where they’ve been, their eye still isn’t on the market. It’s looking backward instead of forward.

The market rarely sits idle. It is moving. While they’re looking over their shoulder, the moving target in front of them just moved someplace else. Wouldn’t it save so much time to just find that group of kids on the playground and get right in there? Skipping a half mile behind them means you did spend time on the playground, but when recess is over, you never had any fun. If you’re going to the trouble of placing your home on the market, you want results. The quicker you get there, the more fun you have. If the market is on the move, you never want to get caught chasing the market.

Chasing will not only wear you out, it can cost you money. When all the overpriced homes figure it out and finally make their move, you now have more competition. Setting your home price correctly upfront and reacting quickly if it doesn’t sell is a recipe for faster to the fun.

If you’re thinking of selling in the next year, check out www.SWFLhomevalues.com You’ll be able to get approximate current values for your home. Of course, to be most accurate, always call Sande or Brett Ellis and we’ll be happy to come out and view your home and tell you what we think it would sell for. You might have some questions about how the process works, timing, or where you would move to. We’d be happy to sit down and discuss all this with you. You’re more than a transaction to us. We’re interested in getting you to your next destination safely. Hopefully you’ll have some fun on the playground while we sell your home for you. Call Brett or Sande at 239-489-4042 Ext 4

Good luck and happy selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Saturday 1-3 PM

Parker Lakes Pool Home $300,000

14941 Lake Olive Dr

Open House Sunday 1-4 PM

13460 Marquette Blvd 3 Bed 2 Bath Waterfront Home

The value of your home is determined by what able buyers are willing to pay for your home and what the appraiser will appraise it for. It is not determined by what your neighbor down the street is asking for their home. Today we’ll explore the dangers of pricing homes compared to neighbors listing.

Often, we go out on listing appointments and we give our opinion of value after studying the property and the comparable sales. It’s not unusual for a seller to say “But the home down the street is listed at X and my home is much nicer.” Then we hear the list of upgrades, and the routine maintenance items the seller has made, like trimming the bushes last week, new light bulbs, new AC in 2005, and new roof 10 years ago.

All these details are important for the MLS sheet, and some are important as selling features, so don’t forget to bring anything up you feel might be important. Just don’t expect extra value for routine maintenance on your home and even some upgrades don’t provide value. It may make the home stand out against another.

Some upgrades do add value. Most upgrades don’t add 100% of the cost though. I blame TV shows for painting the picture of putting $50,000 in upgrades into a home and expecting an increase of $200,000 in value. This isn’t how it works, unless you somehow bought the property for way under value.

We’re watching a few neighborhoods right now where sellers are pricing compared to their neighbors. There are no sales in the last 4 months and yet there are 5 new listings within 4 months and 1 older than 4 months. None have gone pending either. We see price reductions, but they are all still significantly over priced. A few came on the market in the last 2 weeks and they are overpriced as well.

Each seller is convinced that previous sellers have set the market. The reality is the first few sellers are like lost beacons in space, and each new seller follows their light. The problem is they’re going in the wrong direction and their buyers are in another galaxy.

As soon as a seller puts their home on the market at the correct price, it will sell, if marketed correctly. All their neighbors will tell them they priced it too cheap, because they all want a higher price. This is human nature; however, it doesn’t help anybody. Just because everyone is overpriced, and no homes are selling in your neighborhood doesn’t mean a buyer will come along and overpay.

After a while, buyers begin to ask what’s wrong with the neighborhood. All these homes are on the market and there are no sales. We’ve got a decent market here in Southwest Florida. If a home is priced correctly, there is a market.

Unlike towns where a plant closing affects the market, we have buyers. The market has changed from last year. Buyers are ready, willing, and able, but they’re cautious. They don’t want to overpay. This is a sign that our market is fully recovered, as much as it’s going to, and that prices have leveled out. Now market forces take over, like interest rates, incomes, consumer confidence, etc.

We are not in jeopardy of crashing like back in 2006. We will not see rapid price gains either. SW Florida has a balanced market dependent on market forces, and that’s an awesome thing.

When you’re putting your home on the market, you must ask yourself. Am I pricing my home at today’s value, or pricing it compared to what my neighbor down the street is asking? We’d better go find some actual sales and base it off those who have won the home selling game versus those who want a certain number, or think their home is worth a certain number because that’s what their neighbor is asking.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4. We’ll give you the straight scoop. We’ll get you Top Dollar, and we’ll get it Sold. You’ll be moving on while your neighbors wonder if their house will ever sell. You can visit our website www.LeeCountyOnline.com to see all the homes in MLS. Call Brett and Sande and start packing!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Reflection Lakes Gated Community

Open House Sunday 1-3 PM

18 NE 1th Ave Cape Coral

Rising interest rates costs buyers money when purchasing a home. It either increases their payment, or it decreases the amount of purchase to maintain the same payment. Buyers have been warned for some time that rates would go up, and now they’re listening. Buyers flock to beat 2018 interest rate increases in 2018.

If you want to see where rates are headed, one indicator we look at is oil prices. As the economy improves, countries consume more oil. As oil consumption increases, it raises the cost of oil. Simple supply and demand. As oil prices increase, it raises the cost of inflation because so many things are tied to oil. Transportation costs increase, so not only does it cost you more to fill up your car with gas, it also costs companies more to move their product.

Lumber goes up because there is more demand for building plus it costs more to cut it and move it due to oil. Food prices go up because it costs more to plow the fields, and transport groceries to warehouses and eventually the stores. Postage goes up as Fed Ex, UPS, and the USPS pay more to deliver mail and packages. Oil influences a lot of things.

Buyers Flock to Beat 2018 Interest Rate Increases

As you can see from the graph, oil futures have been increasing since June of 2017. The 10 yr treasury yield has been increasing since September 2017. Oil price and interest rates are closely tied as they feed off each other. Oil signifies inflation may rise, and inflation rises, so typically does interest rates.

Mortgages are most closely associated with the 10 Yr treasury yield. Perhaps this is because not all mortgages remain for 15 years or 30 years. The average homeowner typically sells and purchases another home before their mortgage is paid off.

Buyers Flock to Beat 2018 Interest Rate Increases

If you’re on the fence about when to purchase, the recent rise in interest rates may make you move sooner rather than waiting. Even if you own a home, it may be a good time to sell and purchase that next home.

If you sell now, you have more available buyers for your home. As rates rise, you will lose buyers to the increased costs. And, you’ll save when you buy your next home too. Not only will you qualify for more home today than when rates rise, you’ll also pay less when rates are lower.

Presumably you’ll get a higher sale now with more qualified buyers than you might with less qualified buyers later, and you’ll save money on the next mortgage. It’s a double win-win for a seller contemplating a move. Sure, home prices may still go higher, so it’s not automatic you’ll get more for your home today. We’re just saying there will be less competition from other sellers now and more demand from buyers now than when rates rise. It’s always more fun to sell when you’re holding more of the cards.

Rates have already begun to rise, so sellers aren’t holding all the cards they were 6 months ago. We are seeing more inventory, which in a way is good thing because now sellers have more options when they decide to move. Many sellers wouldn’t sell because they had no idea on where they’d go. That’s opened up just a bit, which helps.

Always work with an experienced agent who knows the market. If you’d like to search the MLS for Free like a pro, go to www.LeeCountyOnline.com It has all the listings and is updated instantly. No more wasting your time on properties that sold months ago. And you’ll see all the new listings instantly too.

Or Call Sande or Brett at 239-489-4042 Ext 4 to sell your home. We have a team of experienced agent partners who can help you buy your next home too.

Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty! We’re here to help!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Saturday 11 AM – 1 PM

9793 Deerfoot Dr

South Pointe South Lakefront Home — Lakefront Home in South Pointe South

Open House Saturday 1-3 PM

9825 Wildginger Dr

Ellis Team Weekend Open House South Pointe South — South Pointe South Maplewood Floor Plan

Open House Saturday 1-3 PM

14381 Hickory Fairway Ct

$410,000

9071 Old Hickory Cir

$375,000

Brookshire Condo

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

13235 Whitehaven Ln #1004

$131,000

Open House Sunday 1-4 PM

16804 Colony Lakes Blvd

4 Bed, 4 Bath, 3 Car Garage Pool Home in Colony Lakes

$390,000

Open Sunday 1-4 PM

Cypress Lake Country Club Villa

14401 Patty Berg Dr #101

As predicted local housing inventory rises heading into season in 2018. This cycle repeats each year. One of the things we are tracking is the moment buyers turn on and start gobbling up these properties. Each year we tell people it takes until about January 15^th or so for buyers to turn on.

So far, we haven’t seen it yet. We just pulled fresh numbers as of January 15^th and compared them to October 2^nd, another data point we have saved. We have some from earlier in year as well, and they look similar to October 2^nd, so there is nothing magical about that date.

Local Housing Inventory Rises Heading Into Season January 2018 — January 15, 2018 Market Watch Data

In each data point, sold and new pending sales are similar to new active listings. What’s different about now is new listings have been outpacing sold properties about 3 to 1 and new pending sales 1.6 to 1. At any other time, this would be alarming to see a sudden trend like this.

Because we know the New Year often starts off like this, we’re not sounding alarm bells, or false missile alerts. We have enough of those lately. We are telling sellers that have had their home on the market awhile that new listings are coming, so if their home failed to sell before the run-up in new listings, it may face difficult headwinds now. When selling a home, it’s always important to gauge the headwinds, and as we write this the buyers haven’t turned on just yet.

As the season goes, so goes the rest of the year many times. The fundamentals for Florida are strong as an improving economy, new hiring, pay raises, and lower taxes is a good recipe for the housing market. Add in the fact that Florida looks good compared to other states with the new tax code and we could see more net migration from other high tax states going forward.

When there are few homes for sale, pricing it correctly and getting it out on the market can sometimes be enough. When listing inventory begins to rise, pricing becomes more crucial as does marketing.

It’s not enough to just list it on MLS and hope other agents show it. You must reach the buyer. The buyer has more choices, and often the buyer tells their Realtor which homes they’d like to see. This takes increased advertising.

When we target buyers, we use several media. We use traditional print like the newspaper, yellow pages and mail-outs as they still work. We also use advanced online techniques to reach buyers. Online we can identify buyers from up North that are looking to purchase down here in SW Florida. We can also identify people in Southwest Florida that are interested in purchasing, then serve up ads likely to meet their criteria.

If you only market one way you’re not reaching all the buyers. Of course, you must have a hefty budget as well to reach as many as possible. We had a Realtor from Baltimore call us this past week wondering where we got our database of buyers. He thought perhaps the state of Florida had one we bought into. I told him no, it’s a large database the Ellis Team has garnered from extensive online and print advertising.

They say if a politician wants to win, they must speak directly to the people. In real estate, if you really want to sell your home, you must market directly to the buyers. That’s what our marketing does.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, you should call us and see for yourself. Once you see it, you realize there is no better way to reach your buyer.

If you’re a buyer, you should call us too. We have access to All the listings, not just the ones you see on certain websites. You can reach us at 239-489-4042 or visit www.LeeCountyOnline.com to see All the listings.

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

1465 Argyle Dr

Open Sunday 1-3 PM

13408 Marquette Blvd

Keller Williams #1 in Fort Myers

Keller Williams Realty Fort Myers & the Islands announces that Keller Williams has attained #1 market share in 2017 for Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach. Both units and $ volume.

Ellis Team Seller’s Club January 2018 Update

You’ve probably heard the word “Season” and associated it with the traditional 4 seasons. here is only one real estate Season in Southwest Florida and we’re in it now. People down here don’t think about the changing of the seasons as our weather is nice all 12 months of the year. High season here runs January through April, depending on when Easter is. Some people go home before taxes are due the middle of April.

Each year we know January will be a slower month for closings, and it builds until about June. This makes sense because many June closings happened in April. We expect showing to increase starting mid-January. I just checked showing statistics for our MLS and the average home is receiving 2.2 showings the first 8 days of January in the $200-$450k price range in Fort Myers. Other price ranges vary. Last year showing stood at 2.4 showings the first 8 days.

We have more showings this year because there is more inventory, but it’s down slightly per home. I wouldn’t read too much into 8 days of data. As you can see from the graph, February closings should be slightly higher than January. March is when you’ll really start to see the increase, if 2018 is anything like past years.

If you’re a buyer, you probably want to get your bids in before other buyers start buying all the listings. If you’re a seller, now is the time to get your home on the market, as the rush is coming.

If your home is on the market and not receiving offers, you’ll want to make sure you’re priced correctly by February. Your best chance will be February and March, so you don’t want to miss that market. Even though we have a rush of buyers here in Season, over-pricing is a sure-fire way to make it not sell. Buyers will purchase, but nobody likes to overpay.

Sellers want to make sure their home is properly exposed. We have more buyers here in Season, but if they don’t see or know about your home, it won’t stand out. We take extra measures to make sure our listings stand out. For instance, a sign is not enough to expose a home. We use advanced digital marketing techniques, as well as traditional print marketing like the newspaper and yellow pages.

You might laugh and say traditional doesn’t work, but we have sold some properties directly off these old and proven mediums. As for digital, this encompasses everything on the Internet to email to mobile advertising. We have an advanced way to target buyers looking for exactly what you must sell.

For instance, Google, Bing, Facebook, and others know if you’re shopping for back to school clothes or for curtains for your home. They’ll serve up ads to you because they know that’s what you’re currently looking for. The same is true for housing. We know how to reach waterfront buyers, golf course buyers, condo buyers, first-time home buyers, 55+ buyers, and on and on. Whatever you’ve got to sell, we know how to reach the buyer.

It is quite advanced, and it really works, as long as your home is priced correctly. We can send all the interested buyers your way, but if the home is over-priced it still won’t sell. If you’re shopping for an item online and it’s $85 on one site and the same or similar item is $65 on another, people will purchase the better value. Sellers must turn their focus off what features and upgrades cost and more on the overall value. You must think like a buyer. What would you do if you were the buyer?

We can help you price your home correctly. We offer advanced marketing for your home too, so we can get your home sold for top dollar and faster than the average Realtor. All Realtors are not the same. Call Sande or Brett 239-489-4042 Ext 4 to list your home, or speak with one of our friendly and knowledgeable buyer agents to purchase your next home. Visit www.LeeCountyOnline.com to search the MLS like a pro for Free!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open Saturday 1-4 PM

Cape Coral Lakefront Pool Home

.68 Acres Gated Community

Open House Saturday 1-4 PM

Waterfront Condo With Marina

Thinking of Selling?

Find Out What Your Home is Worth for Free!

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.

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.

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

This past week the over-riding question we get from customers and realtors alike is how will Southwest Florida hurricane affect local real estate market? The answer is, it depends.

First off, we’ve been telling clients that the storm isn’t even here yet. We’ve been focused on protecting life and property this week. Buyers aren’t in the mood to house shop this week. As Realtors, we’ve been assisting clients removing signs, lowering hurricane shutters, closing homes, and evacuating. Our staff has postponed their own plans simply to help others.

Charley hit our area back in 2004 and bolstered our market. It brought reconstruction and attention to our area. You would have thought all the negative publicity would have hurt us, but it didn’t. Renters were sometimes forced to find new rentals and it helped drive the resale and rental market.

One of the things I think about today is the used car market. I hear there were 1 Million flooded cars in Houston area. As insurance companies replace these cars for policy holders I can’t help but think it’s going to drive used car prices higher. Much like the cash for clunkers program, the hurricane may raise used cars prices simply by taking supply out of market.

I’m writing this article days before Irma is scheduled to arrive. Who knows, maybe Irma will shift east and not even hit SW Florida.

Charley was a small storm in size and we did not receive much flooding. It was for us mostly a wind driven event. Houston is primarily a water driven event, and in my opinion, that’s even worse. Not only is flooding water more dangerous, it’s also more damaging over wide spread areas.

We have a low inventory market, so I’m not real excited about a hurricane eating up existing inventory. Already rents are high, and if a tenant is displaced by the storm finding alternatives may be difficult if not impossible to find.

In many price ranges it’s slim picking for buyers, and it could get even slimmer. It could force buyers to buy whatever they can after the storm, much like shoppers at Publix looking for the last truckload of water before the storm.

We’d much rather natural forces drive the real estate market. We don’t need a natural disaster to create demand. Demand is already pretty good. Supply is already limited too.

We suspect it may take a week or two for life to return to normal, and that’s if the storm moves east and does minimal damage here. If the storm were to hit the East coast of Florida hard, you could see many displaced people coming over here and paying cash for homes. Not everyone can do that, but enough can that it could swallow up a lot of our inventory. For years people from Miami have been coming over here and buying property. If they were hit hard by a sudden event, it could spur more to move right now.

How Will Southwest Florida Hurricane Affect Local Real Estate Market?

We could write for days on possible scenarios and how the storm could affect the local real estate market. So much of it just depends. I think for now, we should all just focus on staying safe, executing our evacuation plans or hunkering down, and watch out for each other.

Hurricanes bring out the best and worst in people. We witnessed so many wonderful people helping in Charlie and Wilma. And we saw what stress can do to people as well. Remember, stress manifests itself in many ways. If you see someone lashing out or easily angry this next week or two, it may just be the stress of the storm piled up on other things going on in their life. Lend a helping hand, be kind to one another, and watch out for your neighbor. You’ll feel better knowing you did, and you just might need a helping hand yourself when you least expect it.

If you need help, don’t be too proud to ask. We’re all in this together! We’ll get through this. If you’re looking for the best real estate website, check out www.LeeCountyOnline.com Or call us at 239-489-4042 Most of all, stay safe! Real estate can be replaced. You cannot!

Have you ever had a Realtor call you and say “We have a buyer for your property?” Or perhaps you’ve interviewed agents to sell your home and you asked if they had anybody looking for a home like yours?

Chances are the Realtor said yes. Chances are you weren’t sure you believed them. What if there was a way to know for sure? Would that pique your interest?

I remember a seller in Moody River Estates asking me that question a few years ago. I answered as I typically did at the time “I don’t know, we very well could.” They listed with us and I took the listing back to the Ellis Team and announced that we just got a new listing. One of our buyer agents said he was writing an offer in there as he had just showed there yesterday. It was literally right around the corner from our new listing.

I told him to hold up and go show ours before submitting that offer. Buyer agreed to go see our new listing, and low and behold they liked ours better. We sold our listing in 1 day simply because we did have the buyer, and yet I didn’t promise that. I didn’t want to sound like all other Realtors.

We Have a Buyer For Your Property Reflection Lakes Buyer Search — Reflection Lakes Buyers

As I look through our leads, I realize we do have buyers for just about anything you can imagine. This will be a great tool for our sellers. For instance, let’s say we’re listing a new home in Reflection Lakes. I can now go into our database and see how many registered buyers we have searching in Reflection Lakes. Turns out we have 251 searching in our database. That’s pretty good. When we take the listing we can begin calling those buyers. The buyers will appreciate the heads up on a new listing and so will our seller.

We Have a Buyer For Your Property Cape Coral Buyers — Cape Coral Buyers

I searched Cape Coral. We have 1,015 people actively searching in Cape Coral. That’s a nice stat to know when a Cape Coral seller is interviewing us. I pulled up Town and River for fun. We have 97 people searching for Town and River looking for homes above $400,000. If we listed a property in there for $900,000 I could change the search to Town and River buyers over $850,000. It would give me a list and we could call them. Pretty neat stuff.

We Have a Buyer For Your Property Town and River buyers — Town and River Buyers

Perhaps we’re listing a $400,000 property. When I search our database I see that we have 390 people searching in that price range.

We Have a Buyer For Your Property

Of course, you don’t list with us just because we have a buyer for your property. We’ll create new marketing to get more buyers for you once we have it listed. We spend more money marketing homes than other Realtors. Our present and past marketing can go to work for you on Day 1. Hopefully we can create multiple buyers for your property.

When you interview agents, you want to see marketing success. Yes, Ellis Team listings sell faster and for more money. We can show you that. Our team can also show you how our marketing generates buyers, lot’s of them. We have buyers’ name, email, and phone number. Our team know’s what buyers are searching for and when they want to buy. It’s good data.

So when an agent tells you marketing doesn’t sell homes, price does, end the interview and call the Ellis Team. Marketing absolutely sells homes! Anybody can give your home away. Not everybody can sell it for what it’s worth!

If you’re thinking of selling, you should call the Ellis Team 239-489-4042 Ask for Sande or Brett. Chances are we have your buyer for your home. We’ll still market is as if we don’t. Perhaps we can create multiple buyers, and that would be good! Put our marketing to work for you. We go for top dollar, and we get it. Visit www.LeeCountyOnline.com to see why we have so many happy buyers and sellers. Our website is updated every 5 minutes and has all the listings. It’s more fun to use than other sites too!

Ellis Team Open Houses

Sunday 1-3 PM

1561 Cumberland Ct

3 Bed, 2 Bath 1,738 Sq Ft in Tanglewood

Sunday 1-3 PM

2636 SE 19th Pl

3 Bed, 2 Bath 2,096 Sq Ft Sailboat Access Pool Home

Tune in to our Southwest Florida Real Estate Market Update for Sellers June 2017

Please be sure to vote us as the Top Team in Southwest Florida Real Estate

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