Just wanted to take a minute to give you my perspective and share some insight into this current market, Seller’s side first, Buyers side to follow.
I remember the bad old days of the Eighties when I bought my first home and was LUCKY to get a 9.9% interest rate on my condo in the Everglades, or as the developer Arvida (who brought you Coco Plum) liked to call it “Lakes by the Meadow” for those who are not familiar with Kendall, this is on sw 152 ave and 48st.
No lakes and sure as hell no meadows, I on the other hand called it east Naples (still do).
When we started shopping for our next home (Grove) we decided that it was best to list our property and sell it first, then look to buy (gee, what a novel concept)
We interviewed 3 realtors and like most people went with the best looking oneJ, actually we went with a team “The Linda’s” (again a novel concept)
We discussed our pro’s and con’s and listed the property about 5000.00 over what we had paid for it, at the time there was still new construction going on and we were completing against “developer close outs”, FSBO and other listings. (Sound familiar?)
We were told by all of the pros (our family and friends) that it would take months to sell the place and…………….. It took a week. (Moral of the story hire “The Linda’s”)
All kidding aside, this market is not new and it’s not old, it’s part of the Cycle that happens every 20 years or so and will continue to happen.
So in this market, let’s stay positive and focus on the basics which are;
Price right, show well and make the property stand out; and that’s what we did, plus our goal was to sell (even gave a seller credit for closing) we did not make much, maybe a grand but we did move where we wanted to live (Grove) and have done quite well since then.
Everyone should know about pricing properties correctly in this market and while I feel this will help, it’s not where I am going with this email.
Besides by now you probably have heard so many professional opinions about Real Estate that you’re more confused then when you started; So what the hell, I’ll add another one, I don’t think that reducing price after the fact helps much. Besides, Buyers won’t believe you anyway.
For the time being let’s focus on the following;
You are competing (this is key) for a small group of buyers and you must present yourself in the best possible light, so take a hard look at all aspects of your home and see how you can make it stand out in this “normal” market (it’s as easy as making sure all lights have light bulbs).
Landscaping is another simple one, do you know that when Buyers see dead flowers or plants they feel that if that’s how you keep flowers, it’s also how you keep the home.
There are Buyers out there and all they hear is bad news as to this market yet rates are low, prices stable and properties accessible.
So all they are doing is nibbling and we have to do our best in wowing them.
While most of our listings have gone through this process, maybe it’s time that we revisit our homes and see what other cost effective “add on” we can offer.
If you want to meet and discuss ideas, give me a shout.
Jav