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Home F. "Cheetah" Currier

F. "Cheetah" Currier

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A History Lesson for Southwest Florida Home Sellers

10-11-10
F. "Cheetah" Currier

How a Poor Sales History Can Affect Your Home Sale.

If a house is on the market in Southwest Florida for a long time and the listing expires without a sale, and then gets re-listed several months or even a year later, this listing and re-listing information doesn't go away. The listing and sales history for every home listed for sale in the Multiple Listing System (MLS) stays in the MLS database and is available to all MLS Realtor® members.

Listing History of Southwest Florida Homes for Sale

When a buyer's agent looks in the MLS for homes to show their buyers, they will look up the Listing and sales history for the homes they choose to show.

Homes that have been listed for sale several times without selling are a red flag to the buyer's agent. The agent will ask themselves the following questions to decide whether or not to show this home to their buyers:

  1. If this owner couldn't sell the home, will that mean that future owners will have the same problem when the time comes for them to move?
  2. Are there major condition issues such as roof, foundation, lack of maintenance, appearance..? If so, was it priced to compensate the buyers for those conditions?
  3. Are there location problems such as a busy street, bad views, commercial area nearby...? If so, was it priced to compensate the buyers for those conditions?
  4. Was the house overpriced against comparable properties? Was the price reduced during the listing period? If so, how many times was it reduced? Did the reduction bring it above or below the price of comparable properties?
  5. If the house is overpriced does this mean the seller has unreasonable expectations? Will this seller be difficult to deal with when it comes to offers and negotiations?
  6. Has the seller made the home available to buyers? Is it available to show on short notice? Can I get an appointment today to show this home?
  7. If the price was right and the condition and location were good, and the home is available to show, what else was wrong? Was it simply not marketed well by the listing agent?

If the buyer's agent determines that the property is worth showing their buyers, they now look at this house as a possible buyer opportunity. From experience they know that this seller is either desperate to sell or completely unmotivated and unreasonable. They'll show the home to their buyer, and if their buyer likes the house, they will make a low offer based on both the house and it's sales history. They will also have back-up properties in line just in case the seller is unreasonable and not willing to negotiate.

This history lesson is to make sellers of property in Southwest Florida aware of the importance of your home's listing history. The decisions you make when you list your home can affect the outcome of your sale. If your goal is to achieve a successful sale, do everything you can to position your home to sell. It might mean being inconvenienced and having to keep your home ready to show at a moment's notice. You might have to spend some time and money on repairs, and you may have to list at a price that is less than what you initially wanted. Listen to the advice of your listing agent, don't take the risk of having your listings expire without a sale, or expire again, if it didn't sell the first time. Each time your home listing expires The sales history gets longer and your subsequent listing price will have to be lower.

For a season or a lifetime.... there's no better place to call home than Southwest Florida.

This post was written by Frances "Cheetah" Currier of Keller Williams Peace River Partners Realty. Real Estate as it should be done, Online and in Person...Quality Services in the coastal communities of Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Pine Island, North Fort Myers, Estero, North Port, Cape Haze, Placida, Englewood and all other areas of Charlotte County, Lee County and South Sarasota County.

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Burnt Store Marina Residents Save golf course

07-11-08
F. "Cheetah" Currier

All was not well in Paradise. Burnt Store Marina is the crown jewel of the Burnt Store corridor. This beautiful gated community contains the largest deep water marina in Southwest Florida, a waterside restaurant, a 27 hole executive golf course, a fitness center, tennis courts, walking and biking trails and more. Its residents enjoy a quality of life that is hard to find anywhere else. The community had successfully recovered from the spate of Hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 but it looked unlikely that it would be able to overcome the even greater devistation in 2006 when their beloved 27 hole executive golf course was unexpectedly closed.

The owner of the Amenities had decided to close the 27 hole executive golf course at Burnt Store Marina without notice. There were several parcels that made the course attractive for development and the owner of the amenities hadn't been running the course with the thought of making it a going business. The costs were kept high to discourage play so that there would be the appearance that the golf club was not supported by the residents which in turn would provide an argument for re-zoning the golf course for residential use. A challenge to the development plan by the residents created a running feud with the owner of the amenities and the future of the golf course at Burnt Store Marina looked bleak at best.

When the rezoning was unsuccessful, the Master Association approached the owner of the amenities with a plan to lease the golf course for 5 years. The lease would be contingent on the residents voting to support a yearly assessment. The subsequent vote ended with the residents supporting the assessment and the golf course re-opened under the management of the Master Association. The residents began to use the club with renewed excitement. However that excitement was not to last. A small group of residents began a series of law suits questioning the legality of the assessments which resulted in over a year of litigation, court cost and legal fees; again the golf course was at risk of closure.

Enter in a group of determined and concerned residents who came up with a plan to form a not-for-profit entity that would run the golf course and use the club house as an activities center. There would be no assessments. Membership to the Golf Club would be voluntary and limited to only those who joined the "activity center". To join, a member would have to agree to pay a one time initiation fee and yearly dues. Only Activity Center members would be eligible to join the golf course as a member. Activity Center members would also get discounts in the pro-shop and in the club house restaurant. The new corporation would rent the facilities from the owner under a lease that was similar to the one the Master Association had negotiated. The only block to the plan was getting enough members to agree to join in advance to make the plan work. With a very short deadline to get this done, the new committee reached out to the local residents and within a very few months had enough commitments to save the golf club!

Thank you everyone, the golf course has been saved. In fact, after only a few months, the activity center and golf course are being well used. Activities are being planned monthly for the club house and the course is in great shape. The biggest benefit to this whole situation is the added sense of community that resulted from everyone getting together to save the course.

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