Tag Archives: Kelly Greens

Lee County Sellers Enjoying Inventory Supply Advantage

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It’s a few weeks after hurricane Irma and already we see Lee County sellers enjoying inventory supply advantage the first week of October.  Last week we told you that the hurricane could become a tremendous opportunity for SW Florida home sellers.   Inventory was already low at 4,666 at end of August.  We predicted a possible 10% decrease in inventory which would take us down to 4,200 listings.  This week single family inventory stands at 4,248, so that assumption has come true.

Lee County Sellers Enjoying Inventory Supply Advantage

In the last 24 hours 73 new listings have come on the market, while 76 went pending.  This tells us that early in the week more people are buying than deciding to sell.  If this continues, inventory will fall even further. Each year, many home sellers decide to sell in January.  I guess they think somehow, it’s a better time to sell as more visitors are here beginning in January.

It is true, we will have more people here January through March.  It’s also true that those visitors will have many more listings to choose from than they do now.  So as a seller, is it better to sell in season, or now?

We believe it may be better to sell now.  We have lots of buyers ready to purchase now.  We have low inventory.  Buyers just do not have the choices now that they will have in season.  Sure, there are lots of buyers that do not have to buy now.  They can wait for more choices.  However, some do not have that luxury and need to buy now.  Isn’t it always better to sell when people need to buy and there isn’t much to choose from?

Imagine the stores just before the hurricane.  If you got there late and there were only a few cases of water, did you care what brand it was?  Did you care if it was 50 cents more than the brand you usually buy?  No, you needed water.  You recognized scarcity and what it would mean if you didn’t buy it.

If you are thinking about selling, you are a store right now and the shelves are kind of empty.  Maybe not completely empty, but definitely not full.  In January, those shelves will have more on them.

If prices go up in the next 3 months, many of those potential buyers may become lookers.  If you think there are lookers in this market now, wait until season.  Just because the roads become clogged doesn’t mean everyone here wants to buy.  Many look, and look for years.  If they don’t see SW Florida as a bargain, they may not buy.  If prices go up in the next 3 months, we may not look like a bargain.  And who wins if that happens?  The sellers who decided to sell when the shelves were bare and the buyers needed to purchase.

Nobody knows how the market will be next season.  We do know the market today, and there are opportunities.  The data agrees.  Please call Brett or Sande at 239-489-4042 to see how much we can sell your home for and how much you would net at closing.

If you’re looking at buying, speed is key in this market.  www.LeeCountyOnline.com is the fastest real estate search engine.  It has all the listings and is updated every few minutes, which is key when you’re competing against other buyers to score that dream home.  Always call and Ellis Team agent and we’ll help you locate and close on your dream home.  Finding it is one thing.  Actually buying it and closing it is another, and that’s where our agents shine.

We look forward to helping you buy or sell.  Let us know how we can help you.

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Heritage Cove Open Saturday 1-3 PM

 

Kelly Greens Golf & Country Club Open House Saturday 1-3 PM

View All Reflection Lakes Fort Myers Homes For Sale

See Spotlight on Reflection Lakes

Now may be a good time to sell your Southwest Florida Home.  We have buyers who need housing after Hurricane Irma.

Southwest Florida Realtors Outnumber Home Listings

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Did you know the average Realtor in Southwest Florida sells less than one home per year?  When you combine that fact with the fact that some realtors sell 25, 50, or 100+ homes per year you begin to realize that a large percentage of Realtors sell no homes at all. When looking at recent data I discovered Southwest Florida Realtors outnumber home listings, by a lot.

I called the Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association which is the largest board.  It services Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Estero, the Islands, etc.  They told me they have about 7,000 current members.  This doesn’t include all the members from Bonita/Estero or Sanibel/Captiva.  It does include some of them because some of them are secondary members.

Southwest Florida Realtors Outnumber Home Listings

So, we know there are 7,000+ Realtors in just one Realtor Board in  Southwest Florida.  Currently there are 5,364 single family home listings in Southwest Florida as of May 2017.  That breaks down to each Realtor having .76 listings.   When you factor in that many top agents who sell a lot of property have 10-20 or more listings, you realize a lot of Realtors have no listings.

You might be saying, what about condos and townhomes?  Good point. There were 3,417 of those on the market in May.  You’re still looking at a lot of Realtors with no listings.

To sum it up, the average Realtor sells less than 1 home per year and many sell none.  The average Realtor doesn’t have a listing, or 1 at best.  So how is a Realtor supposed to gain experience?

A Realtor might consider joining an established team with a mentor, leads, and listings.  You can only gain experience by working on deals.  You will make mistakes, and those mistakes will cost your customer a closing, time, or money, and sometimes all three.  By having a team that guides you through the process you can avoid making costly mistakes due to inexperience.

You also will want to join a company with a fantastic training program.  It is mandatory for success.  Lastly, you must have that drive, that indomitable spirit.  When people tell you that you can’t, you know you can.  You must be driven.  You are a leader, either today or in the making.  It is in you.

If you’re a seller, you want an established agent with lots of experience.  Sellers want agents who have seen everything, or enough to see problems coming before they arise and know how to avoid them or dig their way out of the problem to a successful resolution.  If you’re hiring a newer agent to sell your home you definitely want to know they have taken extensive training and have a mentor helping them always.  Your agent must have leads for your home.  They must have a database of buyers ready, willing, and able to buy soon.  Your agent must have marketing to sell your home.  If they have no marketing, how did they acquire all these ready, willing, and able leads?  Marketing and qualified leads go together.

Top Dollar

Experience matters!  If you want Top Dollar, you need a Realtor with leads, marketing, systems, drive, determination, honesty – to tell you the truth, and experience to put your deal together and keep it together.

If you’re thinking of selling, we’d love to talk to you.  Always call the Ellis team at Keller Williams Realty 239-489-4042  The Ellis Team was Voted Best Real Estate Team by News Press Readers.

Search the MLS for Free  You can also see what your home is worth and get neighborhood reports.  Best thing is database is updated every 5 minutes, and has all the homes.

Good luck and Happy House Selling/Buying!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

Kelly Greens Golf Community

12871 Kelly Sands Way

$250,000

1,797 SQ Ft

Corner Lot

Open Sunday 1-3 PM

Provincetown in South Fort Myers

3284 Prince Edward Island Cir Unit 1

Affordable living with garage

Southwest Florida Real Estate Inventory Rises as Sales Grow in March

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Is it possible to have rising real estate sales at the same time as rising inventory levels?  Obviously, it is possible as Southwest Florida real estate inventory rises as sales grow in March.

Most people equate rising inventory levels to lower sales which is usually what leads to the rising levels in the first place.  However, in years past I can think of a few scenarios where this absolutely wasn’t true.

I remember back in the late 80’s and early 90’s talking about a subdivision called Eagle Ridge.  Back then we had discussions that every 3rd home in there was on the market.  Sales weren’t frequent enough to work down that inventory so it stayed relatively constant back then at every 3 houses on the market.

Fast forward to years later and there were very few sales and almost no homes on the market.  When one did come on the market buyers would ask if it was a tough neighborhood to sell in because there were no sales.  The reason there were no sales prior to that is because there was no inventory to sell.  Had there been inventory we would have sold them all.

This is an example of one subdivision at two points in time.  It had few sales, for very different reasons.  One was because of too much inventory and one was because of too little inventory.  You can’t always read too much into inventory levels.  This metric must be considered in perspective.

Southwest Florida Real Estate Inventory Rises

In March inventory levels grew to 6,100, a 5.1% increase over last year.  Month’s supply of inventory grew to 5.7 months, which was a 5.6% increase over March 2016.  We don’t get too excited about any one month numbers.  We like to look at market trends.

Southwest Florida Real Estate Inventory Rises Months Supply

As you can tell from last week’s article, sales were up 18.1% in March and average sales prices were up 19.1%  The Southwest Florida real estate market is strong if the seller has priced the property correctly and it is marketed to the buyer.

Today’s sellers want top dollar.  Today’s buyers just want to buy a home and pay fair market value.  These are not mutually exclusive.  We’ve been selling homes at full price in many cases.  The buyer is happy to land a nice home and the seller is happy because they got more money than their neighbors.

So why is it that some sellers get top dollar and some do not?  We believe it’s a combination of things.  Price, condition, and market exposure.  If an agent tells you that marketing doesn’t sell homes, you should call us.  Marketing absolutely sells homes.  It sells cars, homes, and everything else.  There is a reason a certain auto dealer sells more cars than anybody else.  It’s because he advertises more.

Marketing Works

There’s a reason our team sells homes for top dollar.  It’s not because we price them lower.  We price our homes for all they’re worth.  The reason our sellers receive more in their pocket at closing is because we expose their home to more people with more frequency than other agents.

You’re reading this article right now.  Perhaps you see our weekly newspaper ad, or our online ads.  Quite possibly you watch our videos, tour our 360 degree home tours, or receive targeted ads for a specific property we’re marketing.  Chances are you see our ads and you don’t even realize you’ve been targeted.

When we list a property, we don’t just sit back and wait for agents in the MLS to hopefully bring a buyer.  We don’t give your property away.  If we guaranteed a sale simply because you were priced under the market, we wouldn’t be getting you top dollar, would we?

Anybody can give a house away.  That’s not selling, that’s taking the low hanging fruit.  If you have a property to sell, always call the Ellis Team 239-489-4042  Ask for Sande or Brett.  We’ll show you what full market exposure looks like and help you get Top Dollar.  We’re your Top Dollar Realtors.

Feel free to search the MLS for free or research the market at www.LeeCountyOnline.com

Ellis Team Weekend Open House

Saturday 1-4 PM

Kelley Greens Golf Community

12781 Kelly Sands Way