Pricing Real Estate To Sell Before Easter
If you’ve had your Bonita Spring Florida home and condo for sale this winter and you still haven’t found a buyer for it, here’s a startling piece of information for you. Easter Sunday arrives in just five weeks.
I’m not telling anyone this for the benefit of scouting the best Easter egg hunt but to prepare for the northern migration of our snowbirds and vacationing Bonita Springs real estate buyers. The clock is ticking and they’re packing their bags.
It's crunch time for a lot of home owners that absolutely, positively must sell. If you’re a strapped home owner and your goal is to find a buyer before “season” ends you’ll need to reevaluate your home’s price and condition, again. Even if you did it just a few weeks ago, follow up to see if the competing pending sales have closed sale and re-price your home accordingly.
Next, evaluate the all of holding costs for the home for six months. Best case scenario you may not see another bevy of buyers until the fall. If you’re one of the do or die sellers you should consider subtracting the holding costs off of your new improved best price to attract a buyer. If you don’t sell before Easter and end up holding for the summer you’ll end up spending the difference anyway.
Considering the condition of the economy and real estate market you can only sell your home if it’s priced well enough to entice a buyer. It is also a bunch easier to sell a home when the buyers are actually in town.
Here are a few facts that you should have interest in knowing if you’ve been struggling to sell your home by the end of spring. Of all the Lee and Collier home closings in the month of February 2009, about 78% of the total sales were homes and condos priced under $400,000. There are a few ways to look at this information.
If you’re home or condo is priced above $400,000 you’re currently in the position for fewer potential buyers simply because fewer transactions are occurring in the higher price points. The highest priced sale in February was nearly $5.2M which leaves a lot of other homes in the price spread between $400,000 and $5M hopeful for buyers.
If your home is priced below $400,000 you have potential to attract more buyers, buyers who choose FHA financing and first time home buyers. You have to stay on top of market conditions and pricing to make sure those buyers are finding your home.
The first time home buyer tax credit is bringing a lot of buyers priced out of the real estate market back in and they’re on the entry level market like white on rice. In the year 2008 41% of home sales involved first time home buyers. The number is expected to be even higher this year. That’s a huge clue for sellers with homes price $400,000 and under.
The ugly truth remains; until the excess inventory is absorbed selling real estate will continue to be about competitive pricing. The inventory has to be absorbed from the bottom up and sooner we soak up entry level pricing, the better.
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Real Life in Bonita Springs is a project by Chris Griffith dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers about the Bonita Springs, Florida area. Find out what it is really like to live in Bonita Springs, Florida by reading about our fair city. You’ll get the latest in local real estate information, Bonita Springs real estate market reports and a little bit of humor. If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story about the idea, after all, this site is just for you.
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