THE REALITY CHECK
I have been working on a Real Estate Market Update for November 2008 for the Palm Coast/Flagler County, Florida area and quite frankly am horrified by what I am seeing. I will be posting the results soon...but in the meantime I would like to dig into the cause of this mess from a very local perspective. I am issuing a challenge to all sellers and thier agents to FIX IT!!!!!!
I am sorry to be the one to tell you but "WAKE UP"!!!! Either price your house at or below its current market value or take it off the market and let the serious seller's take the spotlight and get thier houses sold. Why? Because you are part of the problem...not a part of the solution.
The argument may be if your not in the game you have no chance at playing ball...sorry, ask yourself how many times your house has been shown in the last month. People are buying homes..are they coming to look at yours?...if not...it is overpriced!!!!
Are you facing foreclosure? If no, then why are you wasting your time competing with the "Must Sells", "Bank Owned Properties" & "Short Sales"? Rates are coming down..REFINANCE!!!!!
Did you know that there are currently 1538 Palm Coast Homes for sale?
Did you know that there are 61 Bank Owned homes that you are competing against?
Did you know that there are 508 Pre-Foreclosure homes that you are competing against?
Did you know the current absorption rate for Palm Coast Homes is a whopping 14 months?
Are you prepared to wait 14 months to sell your home and then sell it for a 25% discount off of your original listing price? (This means houses priced for $200K are actually, on average, selling for $150,000) If your answer is no...then TAKE IT OFF THE MARKET TODAY!!!!! Because that is what the current market data is showing.
If you are not in a situation where the sherrif is going to show up on your doorstep and throw you out of your home in the next 6 months...then TAKE IT OFF THE MARKET..TODAY!!!!
Is this going to make other Real Estate Agents Mad...YUP!!! Sure will. Do I care...NOPE!!!!
They do not want you to unlist your home with them....but they should certainly be realistic with you about getting it sold. I don't care what they want. I care about clearing out the distressed inventory that is dragging down your property values so that we can get to a normalized real estate market again sooner than later. This is about clearing out the problem properties more quickly so that you will be able to sell your house for more later.
And for the love...stop giving your house listing to your friends and family members because they happen to have a real estate license. What are you thinking? This falls into the catagory of lending money to relatives...this is a NO NO!!!!! If your agent does not have a significant number of successfully closed transactions in thier portfolio...find one that does.
This is not a market to mess around with amatuers or agents without a proven track record of success in properly pricing and marketing Real Estate.
Agents...what is your reponsibility in all this?...Educate your sellers...
If as a real estate professional, you are not able to or prepared to have this conversation with your sellers...then please do us all a favor and find a new profession...you are not doing anyone any favors and in fact may actually be doing damage to your customers.
Is this harsh? NO, it is necessary if we are going to get back to some sort of normal market of buying and selling real estate. So seller's if you are not prepared to dig deep, rip the band-aid, price your home 5% below current market value and get it sold...then move over, take your house of the market and stop clogging up the road!!!!
DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER
Does this make you angry? Good...it should...but I am just the messenger...so I am not the one that you should be questioning or getting angry at. I am providing you with valuable facts and information that will assist you in making educated decisions when it comes to selling your home.
I believe that knowledge is power and I am an advocate of consumer empowerment.
Is your agent going to tell you the truth? Maybe, maybe not...depends on how educated they are about the current market conditions and how desparate they are to get a "Listing"...and there are an awful lot of desparate REALTORS in today's market.
If you want to test your agent and make sure that they are properly trained and educated about how to get your property sold in this market...ask them these vital questions.
1. What have comparable properties to mine sold for in the last two months. Not what is currently listed...what has actually sold.
2. How many closed transactions do you have since you obtained your Florida License.
3. What do you know about short sales and forecloures and how many of them are in my neighborhood?
4. How do you market your listings?
5. What are my net proceeds going to be for at least three price points?
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DON'T GET GREEDY
My broker will probably want to wring my neck over this...but I have turned down numerous listings recently...YES...turned down the life blood of any real estate agent..."The Listings"
...Why? Becasue, I will not list a property that is overpriced and will not sell. I will not lie to you and tell you that your house is different or better than others listed for less...becasue it is NOT!!! It is a waste of your time and of my time. It will cause you stress and and anxiety you do not need or want.
If I agree to take your listing at a price that I know is too high and that a buyer would not pay for your property...I would not be working for your best interests and I am required to do so by law in the State of Florida.
If you are not in a position where you must sell due to pending FORECLOSURE...TAKE YOUR HOUSE OFF THE MARKET!!!!! Here is Why:
Backlog of upcoming foreclosures on the Flagler County Court Docket
Information Is Power - SELLERS
What possesed me to focus on this subject for my latest blogging project? I have been working on reports of current market conditions in Palm Coast/Flagler County, Florida...and the data does not look good for sellers...in fact it looks downright horrible.....in fact...if you are a seller of real estate in Palm Coast/Flagler County right now and you are not a bank...you are not going to like this information at all....BUT IT LOOKS GREAT FOR BUYERS!!!!.
So, sellers and agents, instead of pretending that everything is rosy...I would like to focus on fixing the biggest problem facing our local real estate market...TOO MUCH INVENTORY and OVERPRICED LISTINGS!!!!!
This week, I am going to be providing you with data and information that will help you to understand why your home is not selling and what to do about it.
No, I do not want to hear "But my house is special"...sorry but it is NOT to the buyer. "But my house is better"....uh...no... it is NOT to the buyer! In this market...the only thing that is going to sell your house is price, price, price. If you want to sell your house...you must be the best value in the neighborhood. If your house has been lingering on the market for over 120 days...IT IS OVERPRICED...PERIOD!!!!
Now if you are ready to get your house sold instead of just listed...feel free to contact me...and we will have a frank discussion about what it is going to take to make it happen.
Information for Buyer's
Buyer's there are some amazingly price bank owned properties popping up on the market everyday...and right now is the time to step in and start buying them. I am very experienced with buying bank owned foreclosures. The list above is not all of the currently available bank owned homes..so please contact me for a full list.
If you are instead looking at short sales...I will tell you right now that because of the miserable success rates of these deals actually making it to closing right now...unless I have done my due diligence and research on the odds of coming to an agreement with the bank on the property...I will not write buyer contracts on "Short Sales".
Kristi Ross - REALTOR - With over 12 years of experience in buying, selling, managing & investing in real property personally in addition to being a very active, full time REALTOR in Palm Coast/Flagler County, Florida for 7 years ....I have learned that information is power and I am an advocate for customer empowerment.
Please feel free to search the MLS for free at my website www.Palm-Coast-Hot-Properties.com. You can sign up to be on the list of first to know when properties meeting your ideal criteria are newly listed, go pending or are sold.
*DICLAIMER: The above statistical data was gathered from the Flagler county MLS and is not to be guaranteed reliable or accurate and is for informational purposes only.
**Disclaimer: The search homes information is provided through IDX and Kristi L. Ross PA, Hawk Beach Realty, My Broker or associates are not in anyway responsible for any mistaken information provided.
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