Real Estate Market Update from May 2019

Nearly 30 percent of active listings had a price decrease in May. This was most apparent in the City of Naples [34102], which reported a 24.9 percent decrease in its overall median closed prices."
 
Broker analysts reviewing the May report noticed a shift in sales from the traditional high-end market to homes under $500,000 earlier this year. The trend continued to be reflected in the May report, which showed closed sales for homes between $1 million and $2 million decreased 8.9 percent in May, while closed sales of homes between $300,000 and $500,000 increased 10.8 percent. Incidentally, closed sales increased in every price category reported except the $1 million to $2 million price category.
 
The May 2019 report showed closed sales of single-family homes up 12.8 percent compared to a 7 percent increase in closed sales for the condominium market. Interestingly, the decrease in closed sales for the $1 million to $2 million pricm ...

By Tari Ede, REALTOR, GRI, MRP, CNE, ABR, PSA

One of the most important pieces of advice that a Realtor® can provide sellers when they are ready to sell their home is how to price it. Pricing a home to sell is one of the most misunderstood aspects of real estate, and yet, it’s the most important first step in the home selling business. Regardless of how well maintained, how much you paid for it, how many upgrades it has or how beautiful it is, it is going to be a tough sell if your home is not priced correctly. It’s easy to understand why a seller would want at least what they paid for a home when they sell it. After all, isn’t a home supposed to be an investment and shouldn’t that investment always appreciate? In actuality, your primary residence is not an investment and the sale price is dictated by the current market conditions and what a buyer is willing to pay for it.


So how do we determine a probable sales price of a property? We complete an an ...

Real Estate Market Update from March & April 2019

The report showed overall sales were up 17 percent in April over March, and March's sales were higher than February.

 
April's Market Report and showing activity provided by ShowingTime, a REALTOR® resource that tracks agent listing appointments with potential buyers, it took an average of 15 showings for a property to secure a contract in April.
 
The uptick in showings during the last few months are a positive indicator of continued buyer interest in our area. And while April's overall median closed price decreased 5.6 percent to $340,000 in April 2019 from $360,000 in April 2018, April 2019's median closed price was higher than both January and February's median closed prices.
 
The Report also showed nearly 1,000 properties went from active to either terminated, expired, or withdrawn in the Southwest Florida MLS during April, which directly impacted April's ending inventory level as seen in an 11.1 m ...

Trulia and Zillow Naples, Bonita Springs and Estero Florida – What’s wrong with using them to search for homes?
Many buyers are familiar with the big search portals Zillow and Trulia. Inevitably we run into buyers that have used these two sources to search homes for sale in our area. It’s easy to see why buyers find their way onto Trulia and Zillow while searching for homes. Both sites have plenty of engineers working to be sure that when you run a Google search for “Homes for Sale” in your area that they are likely to show up on the first page of the search results. Here’s a quick read for homebuyers searching for homes.
Search South Florida MLS Listings Here
One question we often hear from home buyers:
“What website should I use when looking for homes?”
Why is this even important?
“Can’t I just pick a site that feels best & go with it?”
No, and here’s why.
Where do all of these listings come from! ...

1. Underestimating (or forgetting) the added costs.






Buying a house entails many additional expenses on top of the price of the house itself. There are loan application costs, mortgage insurance, and closing costs, just to name a few. You may also need to spend on renovations once you move in. One tip: a quarter (or better, half) of the price of the house should be stashed in your account in order to cover for these expenses.



2. Not getting a buyer's agent.






Securing your own buyer's agent allows for a critical eye over deals and transactions. Negotiating solely with a seller’s agent who’s legally obligated to work for their client’s interests can be a mistake.



3. Falling prey to “too good to be true” home values.






These advertised low rates are all over the internet, and online home valuation sites can set unrealistic payment expectations. It's good to have an experienced real estate agent explai ...