31 lagoon St Archives - Fort Myers Real Estate and Homes For Sale

There is no greater pleasure we receive than to go out to a home and meet with potential sellers. We preview the home and look at ways of increasing its value while evaluating it’s sales potential. And, we get to meet face to face with the seller and speak with them about what they’re trying to accomplish. We’re not here to just sell homes, we solve puzzles.

Selling a home is like putting a puzzle together. You must uncover all the pieces, put the corners together, and identify if there are any missing pieces. Once you’ve laid the foundation, you can make decisions. Once sellers open up about what the goals are and we identify the obstacles, we can begin solving the puzzle.

Virtual Meetings Solves the Puzzle with Sellers and Buyers — Video Meeting

Sometimes there are multiple decision makers, and they can’t always be in SW Florida at the same time, or at all. We can still view the home and communicate over the phone, but it loses that face to face, and getting everyone on the same call can be challenging too.

The Ellis Team has added virtual meetings to help. We can meet with up to 50 people at a time, and we can communicate face to face even if we’re thousands of miles away. A few years ago we sold a home to a couple from Dubai. We didn’t meet them until months after the closing, but we met face to face regularly.

Not only can we meet face to face, but we can share with the entire group listing comparables on screen, ways we will advertise their home, and go over all the details of the listing right on screen. If they have questions we can cover those line by line.

Virtual Meetings Solves the Puzzle with Sellers and Buyers

This is really helpful when we have spouses in two different locations. Many times one is leery of signing all the documents without going over it with their spouse. Now we can all go over everything together. We can show them their net sheet so they know how much they’ll get at closing and they can ask questions. We can even present multiple offers and let the sellers choose the best one.

Buyers love this service too. An Ellis Team agent can go over contracts line by line. We can also view listings together and talk about which ones they like or not. They key word is together. Better communication helps buyers and sellers make better decisions.

We have all the technology and equipment on our end. All the buyer or seller needs is a computer, Internet connection and a web cam if they want us to see them. If they’re missing the web cam, we can still show them everything on our screen and have a conversation.

Most laptops, tablets, and smart phones have web cams, so that’s not really an issue anymore. Yes, a buyer or seller can use their tablet or smart phone with our virtual meeting technology.

While the technology is just one more example of how we help our clients stay one step ahead of the competition, it really just comes back to improving communication. Real estate is a communication business, first and foremost.

Some get lost in the glamour of selling exotic homes or meeting famous people. For us, it’s all about connecting with people and solving puzzles. If technology can help us do that better, then we’re all for it.

It’s not just the first meeting that counts. Listing a home is a process. Sometimes it’s necessary to meet to go over marketing strategy, shifts in the marketplace, evaluate new listings that enter the market, new solds that affect appraisal, or talk about inspection issues. Virtual meeting technology means we can meet just about anywhere, anytime. We don’t have to get everyone to the same location. It makes us more efficient, which means our clients can react faster and make better decisions.

If you’re looking to buy or sell in SW Florida, put our team to the test. We look forward to meeting you face to face, and that can be in person or online. Don’t worry about the details, we’ll take care of that. Call us at 239-489-4042 or visit our MLS Search Site

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Last week we highlighted two listings we felt stood out for value and included them in our Bargain Listings of the Week. We are happy to report both sold last weekend. Today we have another another listing that stands out!

Ellis Team Bargains of the Week

Luxury Waterfront Home seconds to the river — Seconds to the river and just minutes to work in Downtown Fort Myers

31 Lagoon St-5 Bedrooms, 3 Baths-Pool. Waterfront-seconds to River-Private dock

Last week we wrote about sellers in SW Florida who have had their home on the market this season and their home hasn’t sold. We talked about market activity and closing statistics as well as the latest pending stats. In that article we mentioned one sentence that elicited responses from readers “We have a graph we send our sellers that shows typical showing activity.” This week we’ll focus on the question, is your price on target?

We have a lot of information we send our sellers that educates them on how the industry really works and how best to sell their home. We don’t normally share all this information with the public, but in this case we’re going to share the pricing target graph.

This graph is based upon research and showing data over many years in many markets. We know that the seller sets the asking price and the market determines the value. Over time the market speaks to us.

Some sellers place their home on the market and receive lots of showings, while other go on and receive little to no showings. Is the market speaking to you? Perhaps this guide may answer some of those questions?

If you are getting showings but no offers it generally means you are in the range 3-5% above market value.

If your number of showings is low and you’re experiencing a lot of drive-ups but the buyers don’t come in to see the home, your home may be 5-10% overpriced.

If you aren’t receiving showings at all, then your home is likely priced 10% more above what the market will bear for your property.

Many sellers say things like “Well, we can always come down but you can’t go up” , or “They can always make an offer”. The reality is buyers don’t make an offer when a home is overpriced. They make offers on other homes that are priced correctly. Many times they don’t even view the overpriced listings because it’s not what they’re looking for at that price.

Overpricing a home hurts a seller two ways. Legitimate buyers in that range are used to seeing other homes that offer more than yours. When they view yours, it just doesn’t measure up, so they will never buy it.

The actual buyer for your home never sees it, because it’s not on their radar screen. It’s priced above where they are looking. So you miss the mark 2 ways. Sellers that overprice never had a chance. So when we hear things like “They can always make an offer” we know that they won’t be receiving that offer.

A lot of sellers call us blaming their crappy real estate agent because their home hasn’t sold. It may not be your agent’s fault. Have you listened to your agent and had the pricing discussion?

Now if your agent suggested a higher price and never communicated with you how your home is stacking up against the competition, you might have a point. Many times it’s the owner who wants more than what the agent says, or they Realtor shop until they find one that agrees with them.

You’ve heard of Doctor shopping for pills. That’s a bad thing, and so is Realtor shopping for an agent that will write you a price prescription. That prescription never works and can do you more harm than good.

Our suggestion is call a good Realtor who knows the market. You may not like the medicine he/she recommends, but a bitter pill only last a few seconds while taking the wrong medicine can hurt for months or years.

Plus, we live in paradise. Life’s too short not to move on and get what you want. When you overprice you delay your goals. You’re not moving on to where you should be. You’re trapped in your current circumstance, just because you wanted more than what the market would bear. That’s usually an ego thing. It’s human nature. We all do it. The real question is, are you going to let ego and greed hold you back? Some people do and they regret it for years, and some accept the market, take their medicine, and live their dreams.

If you’re looking for a Realtor that will tell it like it is, call us 239-489-4042. Our marketing is pretty good, and chances are we can get you where you want to be if we work together. You can search the MLS at www.LeeCountyOnline.com

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

This Week’s Featured Listings

31 Lagoon St

6087 Waterway Bay Fort Myers

In real estate we teach Realtors to create their own Unique Selling Proposition to gain clients. When you’re asking customers to work with your team you must ask the question, why should a customer work with us? What makes us Unique? What do we do that’s better than everybody else?

At the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group, we feel we have several things that make us unique. There are several things we do that the average agent doesn’t, and we’re quite sure nobody does everything we do to get a home sold. Every agent should ask themselves this question, and if the answer is nothing is unique, find something that is and offer it. The United States is filled with solid companies that identified a need in the marketplace that wasn’t being met and created a solution or product to meet that need.

If you’re interviewing agents to buy or sell, we think we should definitely be in the conversation.

While the Unique Selling Proposition is true for every agent and every company, it can also be true for every property. When we list a property, we try to identify who the target buyer might be. We also identify all the traits of the property to determine if there is something we can advertise to make this property stand out. Create Your unique selling proposition to sell your property.

Create Your Unique Selling Proposition to Sell Your Property — 31 Lagoon St

You’d be surprised at all the ways a property can stand out. Perhaps you own a property seconds to the water. This is an attractive feature to boaters, and not all properties meet those criteria.

We’ve listed and sold properties that sit inside an air park, so we advertised to pilots and air enthusiasts. We’ve sold horse and ranch properties, so of course we geared our advertising to reach those potential buyers.

Perhaps your selling proposition is value. If your home is the lowest priced, or has the most add-ons and extras per square foot, that is something to mention. Perhaps you live in a golf community with a golf view but golf membership is voluntary. We would market to someone who appreciates a gorgeous view but doesn’t necessarily have to pay to golf. You can go both ways on this one. You can market to avid golfer, or someone who isn’t but wants resale ability later on to someone who is.

Perhaps your condo association offers lots of amenities for a low fee. This is a great way to attract buyers. Maybe you have a very high fee but your association offers one amenity nobody else does. We would definitely advertise that as chances are that’s why you purchased there and most likely is why the next buyer will as well.

Obviously your property must be priced correctly, as that is a value proposition all its own.

Be careful though, as some sellers mistakenly believe certain things are appealing to buyers when in fact they are a turn-off. Some sellers believe they’ve built the perfect home and load it up with all kinds of weird stuff, and for that a buyer should pay a $200,000 premium for it. It pays to consult a professional that can guide you through the process and look at your property objectively.

Watching HGTV doesn’t make you a real estate expert. We watch it for the entertainment, and for the occasional good idea. There’s just no substitute for market knowledge though.

If you’re considering buying or selling, call a professional. There are lots of great Realtors out there. Just pick one with lots of experience and one who will listen to your wants and needs. Pick one that isn’t afraid to tell you the truth and will educate you.

You can search the MLS for free at www.LeeCountyOnlinie.com or call us at 239-489-4042. We’ll be glad to help you.

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Check out our latest- Neighborhood Market Reports-You can create your own too.

Botanica Lakes Market Report

Cross Creek Estates Market Report

River District High Rise Condos Market Report

Reflection Lakes Market Report

Whiskey Creek Market Report

Fort Myers Waterfront Homes Market Report

We’re also adding Single Property Websites to each of our listings. Check back as we’ll be adding a lot more.