Reflection Lakes open house Archives - Fort Myers Real Estate and Homes For Sale

The Lee County housing supply demand gap widens to its highest point in years. Supply is rising while demand is falling. This is a sign of a slowly shifting market.

Housing Supply Demand Gap Widens

The Fed raised interest rates at the fastest pace ever in the past year, so it’s no wonder demand has fallen off. In fact, people are wondering how it’s held up so well. The data suggests it only looks like it’s held up so well.

We’ve had such low inventory numbers it masked falling demand. The whole thing worked because, so few sellers had put their home on the market. It appeared that demand exceeded supply, but we know that changed last summer because we track the numbers.

Looking back at the charts, inventory levels still are not bad. Inventory levels are now back to about May 2020 levels but heading higher. The SW Florida real estate market appears to have entered a balanced market. This is normal as markets rarely stay at the exact same place for long. Markets are always moving, and when you apply pressure to them it can begin the move. In this case, the pressure is rising rates, companies calling workers back to the office, and a slowing economy.

Price Direction

Where do home prices go from here? It’s hard to imagine prices rising substantially in the wake of rising inventory and slowing demand. At some point the mask comes off. Perhaps this is why we are seeing so many price reductions in MLS. This past week 423 single family home sellers in Lee County reduced their price. Sellers are not reducing their price because they want to. They are reducing their price because the market has spoken and rejected their current price. They can sit where they are and fall further behind or adjust to the shifting market.

Marketing Matters

The other thing that can most benefit home sellers is an active marketing campaign. Listing it on the MLS is not enough in a shifting market, but unfortunately 85% of Realtors in the market today have never been in a balanced or buyer’s market. This requires more advertising. Many agents didn’t get into the business to spend their own money, they got into it because it looked easy and could make them money.

Folks, this is a normal market, and it is going to require agents to spend money marketing a property. The easy days of listing a property and selling it within 4 hours with 16 offers are gone. Experience matters now. The housing supply demand gap is widening. The agent’s pocketbook matters now. Handling buyer objections once the inspection is completed matters now, because buyers are anxious. To the buyer, everything has gone up. Interest rates, insurance, prices, etc. They feel like they are paying for it all and they want a house with no troubles.

Inspection Formula

We have a formula that helps buyers understand the inspection and repair process. It makes it logical for sellers to come to an agreement over inspection issues. This formula helps reduce things buyers and sellers fight over and keeps more deals together.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, please call Brett and Sande Ellis at 239-310-6500. We have the marketing muscle to get your home sold, and the experience to keep deals together when possible. We also have a program that speeds up the home selling process along with a video that explains how we could do such a thing. If you’d like your home sold for Top Dollar, and quickly, simply email Brett@topagent.com request the video and I’ll email it to you.

Sande and Brett Ellis are here to help. Good luck and Happy Selling!

Be sure to read our “Advanced Home Neogtiationg Techniques” article on how to better sell your home in today’s market, or watch our video below.

Ellis Team Weekend Open House

Reflection Lakes Open House Sunday 1-4 PM

7674 Bay Lake Dr, Fort Myers

Part of any successful advertising campaign should include the ability to identify and target people most likely to buy a product. The Ellis Team uses targeted real estate advertising as an additional way to sell homes for top dollar.

Let’s say your company makes the best dog treats on the planet. You would want to target pet owners, and more specifically dog owners. It would do no good to target cat owners if cats do not like the treat. When we list a property, we try to think like a buyer. If I list an 800 sq. ft home, chances are 8 roommates are not going to buy it.

In the covid-19 era we know many people lost their job, so they are not in the market to purchase right now. Others who kept their job may want to take advantage of the low rates. Still others do not need a job to purchase. It gets complicated. What we do know is an owner has hired us to find a buyer for their property.

As aggressive real estate marketers the Ellis Team casts several nets. Our newspaper, PPC, radio, TV, social media, and direct mail campaigns cast a wide net. We advertise the property to anybody and everybody hoping to find one or more buyers who show interest. We call this the shotgun approach.

Additionally, we cast tighter nets. We call this the rifle approach. Lately we have been targeting cities up North where we know buyers are selling and leaving. We talk to agents daily who tell us they have sellers leaving their state and they are not coming back. Florida is one of the areas they are moving to. We have the ability to advertise our listings anywhere in the country.

Targeted Real Estate Advertising

The graphic shows two separate ads we ran this past weekend. As you can see, these two ads generated 40 buyers in just one weekend. Keep in mind, we are showing you just 2 of the out of town ads. We may run more ads than 2, and we also run local ads for buyers who have an interest in real estate. I count 61 buyers signed up just last weekend alone.

By casting multiple nets, we have been able to accumulate a significant amount of people interested in buying property here in SW Florida. This data is useful because our team of buyer specialists can see what they are searching and call them with new properties entering the market.

It works like this. Let’s say Sande or I go on a listing appointment and the seller wants to sell. We know they will have their home ready next week to put on the market. Our buyer agents can begin calling buyers in our database ahead of time letting them know that a seller will be listing their home next week in an area they are looking in.

We May Already Have a Buyer

Our team may already have the buyer for that listing. We acquired that buyer through endless marketing, both during the time of the listing, and even before we took the listing. Sellers benefit from the previous marketing our team has done because we keep the database of buyers. This database is so valuable because it not only includes their name, email, and phone number, it also tells us what they are searching for and what they like. Our agents can search the database and find buyers quickly.

Do not call us if your home is listed with another Realtor. We offer this service for Ellis Team clients only. We already know about the homes listed on the MLS. Our buyers can see your home on our website. The Ellis Team proactively calls buyers when our team lists a new property to MLS. Those sellers hired us, so those are the sellers we spring into action for.

If you’re thinking of selling and want to talk to us about the process, call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4, or visit www.SWFLhomevlaues.com for a Free instant online estimate of your home’s value. Find out how targeted real estate advertising can help your home sell for top dollar too.

Good luck and Happy Selling!

See last week’s article “Total Real Estate Sales Volume Bounces Back for the Year”

Ellis Team Open House

Open House Sunday 1-4 PM

14120 Reflection Lakes Dr

14120 Refletion Lakes Dr — Open House Sunday 1-4 PM in Reflection Lakes Fort Myers

New Listing – Video Walkthru

5259 Skylark Ct

We get calls all the time from discouraged sellers asking for our help. They placed their home on the market with another agent and it didn’t sell. They just can’t understand why their home wasn’t liked enough by a buyer to make an offer. We tell them there are 3 reasons why homes fail to sell.

A home must be marketed everywhere to attract top dollar. Simply placing it in MLS or adding a few yard signs may not get the job done. Even though your home is on MLS, it’s not reaching the whole market. It also doesn’t stand out. Buyers have choices, and if you’re just on a list, your home better stand out as a bargain or offer something they really want. Getting your home out to the right people at the right time in their buying cycle is key. We can’t tell you how many times a buyer has said we wished we’d known about this other home when we were buying. It was on MLS, but it didn’t stand out. It was just a home on a list.
So, you’ve got your home on the MLS. Does the description make the buyer want to call and ask more questions? Are all the fields perfect in MLS. If a Realtor, or buyer for that matter, is searching for a particular field and yours is missing, your home is invisible in that search. Do you have all the required documents uploaded into MLS at time of listing? This isn’t the time to be lazy. Many times, buyers have questions about the HOA, the rules, the finances, etc. and they like to see the answers immediately. If they’re absent, they move on and you lost your chance.
Your home must be priced at market. If it is over the market, it’s not really on the market. Finding the true market price can be tricky, we get it. It takes years of experience and studying the market daily as the market is always in flux. We tell sellers we should receive an offer about every 4-5 showings. If we’re not getting offers, something is wrong. If we’re not getting showings at all, something bigger is wrong. We’ve either got an error in the details, or our price is off more than originally thought. If you’d like to get a pretty good ball park idea of your home’s worth, go to www.swflhomevalues.com It is a computer and does a pretty good job, but it’s no substitute for us looking at your property.

Many people say it’s not price, it’s the condition or the location. It’s true, you can’t change the location. You’re locked in by location, and if you’ve got a neighbor that isn’t keeping up their property, it could affect your value.

If your condition isn’t up to par, it too could affect your value. Notice the key words here? Your value. Value is determined by the market. You set the price, the market determines the value. If your price isn’t at value, it will sit. You can improve your condition, and that may help. You may not get dollar for dollar back on improvements, but they may help protect your downside if your home has some objections from buyers.

3 Reasons Why Homes Fail to Sell

It pays to hire a professional. Failing at any one of these 3 critical components can kill a sale, or worse, cause you to sell it for less than it’s worth. Why reach 1 buyer when you can reach hundreds? A Realtor with years of experience can help you price it properly, market it for all it’s worth, and handle all the details so you have a smooth move.

If you’re thinking of selling, Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty 239-489-4042 Ext 4 ask for Sande or Brett. If your home failed to sell the first time, we can help fix that and get you on your way. Good luck and Happy Selling!

If you’re buying, check out www.LeeCountyOnline.com We’ve got all the homes for sale in MLS, and it’s updated instantly. No more looking at homes that aren’t really on the market anymore.

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Sunday 1-3 PM

Reflection Lakes 5 Bedroom 3 Bath Pool Home on Lake

13994 Reflection Lakes Dr

Open House Sunday 1-3 PM

Daniel’s Park 4 Bedroom 3 Bath Home With 3 Car Garage

14077 Danpark Loop

We’re hearing from a lot of sellers who are concerned that their home has been on the market awhile and it didn’t sell this season. They’re calling asking how we market homes and what they can do to get their home sold before their listing expires. This article includes tips on how to sell your Florida home out of season.

How to Sell Your Florida Home Out of Season — Win the Beauty Contest

We get it. Sellers who weren’t successful are frustrated. The sellers who listed and sold are happy, and the ones who listed and sat are not. Putting your home on the market is a lot like entering a beauty contest. Even though your home is beautiful, it may get skipped over by other beautiful homes that compete more favorably. The other contestants take the prize. Two weeks pass by and another bevy of beauties hit the market before you get the chance to reduce your price. Your beautiful home never really got the chance to be the new beauty on the market.

Sometimes a new beauty comes on the market and it attracts multiple offers. Before you know it, it sells for full price, maybe even more. It’s frustrating to watch other homes take the crown while yours is left standing on stage. The good news I guess is that there’s a new beauty contest upcoming, but you’ve got to make some changes, or you’ll suffer the same fate as the last contest. After awhile they’ll start asking what’s wrong with you, why are you still here?

We’d like to help you avoid this madness. Before we begin, let’s just state that we too have some homes that occasionally don’t sell. When sellers take our advice, their home sells. You have to want to be the winner. Here’s our formula to win the next beauty contest.

Hire the right Realtor. Not all Realtors are the same. They don’t advertise the same, have the same number of leads, or have the experience necessary to lead you through the process. You’ve seen very talented teams lose the big game due to coaching mistakes. Hiring the right coach can make all the difference.
Price your home correctly. If the market doesn’t respond, adjust. The market doesn’t stand still, and neither does your competition. New homes enter the market, and existing homes make price adjustments. If you list a home and never change, you may get left on stage.
Make sure your home looks as good as it can. You don’t have to remodel. Simple things can make a big difference. Talk to us and discover how certain minor changes, can make a big difference in the judge’s eyes.
Listen to your Realtor. If you did the research and hired the best Realtor, it’s crazy not to take their advice. If you’re not going to listen to your Realtor, I guess it doesn’t matter who you hire.
Listen to the market. The market speaks to you. If you’re getting lots of showing but no offers, a small price adjustment may be necessary. If you’re not getting showings at all, you either have a large adjustment to make, or something is off with the marketing. Perhaps there is a field wrong in MLS. Is your home being advertised in the paper, online, and to other Realtors? Perhaps a highly advertised open house may be necessary.
Don’t be afraid to make a change. Sometimes owners list with a friend or relative. This is dangerous because they often want to please you. They may be afraid to tell you the market has shifted, or they may miss it because of their love for you. Listing with a friend or relative can destroy your relationship. If that is your situation, give us a call. We have a way of handling this for you and getting your home sold without offending your friend.

If you have a home to sell, we’d love to help you. Simply go to www.SWFLhomevalues.com and enter your address. We’ll provide you with a free online market evaluation. If you’d like to go to the next step, we can schedule a time to meet your and view your home. Or, you can always call Sande or Brett Ellis at 239-489-4042 Ext 4. Always Call the Ellis Team! We’ll get your home Sold!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Reflection Lakes – Open Sunday 1-4 PM

13994 Reflection Lakes Dr

14016 Shimmering Lakes Ct

Colony Lakes – Open Sunday 1-3 PM

16804 Colony Lakes Blvd

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

Last week we talked about the efficiency of the real estate market. Simply put, the Southwest Florida real estate market isn’t as efficient as the stock market. No real estate market is, because the information isn’t as readily available and we’re not dealing with apples and apples. So why do some homes sell below market Value?

Let’s elaborate. The stock market has what they call the big board. Everybody can look up and see what a stock is trading at this second. If you’re looking at class A common stock for a company, 100 shares of the same stock are exactly the same. There is no difference. Additionally, everybody has access to the same information on the company at precisely the same time.

The real estate market is different. Even if you have two homes with the exact same floor plan, they are different. They are located on separate lots, making potential differences in location value. The upgrades can be different. Their repair and maintenance may differ, and of course the decorating and appearance can affect the value of the homes as well. One home may have a pool. They may not be built the same year with the same materials.

And this assumes it’s the exact same floor plan. We all know most homes aren’t the exact same floor plan. So how would a consumer, appraiser, bank, property appraiser, seller, or agent fairly compare various homes against each other? It’s a complicated process, because you’re not dealing with apples and apples like a stock.

The other component that affects what a home might sell for is the exposure to the market. If the home is fully exposed, presumably everyone who is looking in that price range for those amenities would be aware of the home. This just isn’t the case.

Have you ever driven by a neighborhood and said to yourself, “Wow, I didn’t even know this subdivision was here?” Or open a newspaper and wonder where that home is located? These are two examples whereby if the customer didn’t stumble upon the area or see an ad for the property, they wouldn’t even know it existed.

The agent you hire to expose your home to the market makes all the difference. If you wanted to sell a widget online in an auction, do you think you’d get more if you had 1,000 bidders than just 1 or 2 bidders? Of course, you would. Full exposure equals full market value. Partial exposure equals less than full market value. This is one reason For Sale By Owners net 16% less on average than using an agent.

Not all agents are the same. Some offer limited market exposure, which is better than sell by yourself. Some offer much more exposure. Of course, all this marketing costs money, so every agent can’t do it because they don’t have the money.

Agents get creative and clever and tell you that the home will be listed on 50-100 Internet sites and that’s all you need. This isn’t full exposure. Sure, it’s better than nothing but it’s not full exposure like we’re talking about. Don’t assume all agents are the same, and don’t assume all marketing is the same. It just isn’t!

Your home isn’t just like every other home. It needs to stand out. It needs someone to stand up for it and say Buy Me, I’m special! The Ellis Team can do that for you.

Why Do Some Homes Sell Below Market Value?

Recently while doing some market research I stumbled upon a property that is undervalued. It’s sad because the home should sell for more than it’s currently listed for. It’s been on the market awhile. It could use a few repairs that would make a big difference, but I presume it just may not have been marketed like it could be. This seller will undoubtedly net less than they should simply because they didn’t do a few repairs and because the market doesn’t realize it’s a good deal.

The real estate market is not as efficient as the stock market. If you’re looking for Top Dollar, Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams! 239-489-4042 or visit www.LeeCountyOnline.com and search the market like a pro.

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

5691 Kensington Loop

$330,000

1561 Cumberland Ct

Open Sunday 1-3 PM

$285,000

13812 Lily Pad Cir

Open Sunday 1-3 PM

$250,000

The problem with real estate agents is they are not all the same and it’s hard to tell the difference without really interviewing them. Agents come with varying experience and from differing backgrounds. There is no requirement for a college degree in Florida and it’s one of the few careers you can step into without any training. So what’s a consumer to do?

The agent you hire does make a difference. Agents with vast experience and marketing can net sellers ten’s of thousands more at the closing table than agents with poor track records. Being locked into a listing agreement with the wrong agent can seem like a lifetime if there is no communication and little activity for your home.

On the buying side, having an agent that works with you is invaluable. This is one reason most buyers do not buy For Sale By Owners. They want their agent advising them on price, inspections, zoning, schools, neighborhoods, etc. If a buyer is going to work directly with an owner they want a huge deal, because they feel like they’re taking a huge risk. The owner knows the home and neighborhood but the buyer doesn’t, so they feel at a disadvantage.

One of the reasons a home owner might sell their own is to save the commission, but the buyer and the seller can’t both save the commission, so it rarely works. Even if they come together on price, the deal rarely closes due to other issues they’re not equipped to handle, like inspections, appraisals, financing, HOA rules, etc.

I’ve seen two separate studies that show For Sale By Owners sell on average for 16% less with than an agent. This is not surprising. An owner desires to sell on their own only until they see the value of paying someone else to do it. When that occurs, it’s a no-brainer.

After that, which agent is the best? Only 4% of all buyers can actually buy right now. Many buyers have to sell something first, so somebody has to solve that issue before they become an actual buyer today. Other buyers don’t qualify for financing right now.

The answer is you need an agent that exposes your home to 100% of the market and can help with these facts about buyers. Imagine if you had an item on e-bay to sell. If there was just one buyer bidding on the item, how much would it sell for? Or, imagine you had 1,000 buyers bidding on that same item. Now how much would it sell for? The answer is, much more than just one buyer.

And this is the difference between finding a buyer and 100% exposure. Since we know only 4% of all lookers can actually buy, we need as much exposure as possible. Not all agents advertise the same. Some agents don’t advertise at all. They employ the 3 P’s. Put a sign up, Place it in MLS, and Pray someone else sells it.

The MLS doesn’t sell homes. Great agents do. If the MLS sold homes, all homes in MLS would sell, and that just doesn’t happen. Sellers need an agent who knows the market, communicates well, advertises extensively, studies changes in the market, and will tell the seller what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

The market rarely stays steady. It changes every year, every month, and by the week. Buyers need an agent that is familiar with financing, knows the market, and will show them homes that meet their criteria. The bottom line is buyers and sellers both need agents that can listen, communicate, negotiate, and help formulate a plan to accomplish a goal. The agent should have experience and wisdom, or access to it at all times. The Ellis Team at Keller Williams has all of this.

Call us at 239-489-4042 if you’re in the market to buy or sell. If you’d like to get an idea of what your home might sell for, check out www.SWFLhomevalues.com If you’re looking to purchase, check out www.LeeCountyOnline.com

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Open House Saturday and Sunday 1-4 PM

13925 Bald Cypress Cir

4 Bedrooms + Den Pool Home Lakefront

Housing Supply Demand Gap Widens

Price Direction

Marketing Matters

Inspection Formula

Ellis Team Weekend Open House

Reflection Lakes Open House Sunday 1-4 PM

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Targeted Real Estate Advertising

We May Already Have a Buyer