Neil G. Blair-Bennett

Are you waiting for the rock bottom pricing before buying a new home? Are you waiting for interest rates to be lowered again? Here are some indicators that you may have been on the fence a little too long.

First, interest rates. To help bolster the economy, the Fed last month lowered a key interest rate by one-quarter percentage point to 2 percent. However, it signaled that may be the last reduction for some time. The Fed is hoping that its powerful rate cuts along with the government stimulus package of tax rebates will help lift the economy out of its funk in the second half of this year.

Secondly, sales are on the increase at a very steady pace. Fort Myers-Cape Coral posted the highest growth in the state-up 41% over last year. And with the average median price now below the statewide average, look for pricing to stay level for now and begin to increase by the 3rd quarter of this year. See the report below.

When it comes to buying or selling any property or a home, two types of ideas may come to the mind. Whether you should appoint an agent for selling your property or should you do it yourself depends on your personal aptitude. If you do it yourself, you are doing it the FSBO way. In FSBO, the idea of negotiating may be intimidating. Negotiating skills are something we all possess, but the onus is on negotiating effectively so that neither you nor your buyer looses. Buyers can move away due to the seller's inflexibility, everything can down hill from there, and truly this should not happen. Sellers should enter into reasonable negotiations.

The best deal is that which both buyer and seller feel like the winners.
Buyers and sellers are not always focused on same points to same degree. For one party price might be more important, and the time to the other. Sometimes negotiation is just to balance things out. Besides negotiation, FSBO is also about obtaining leads. In fact, lead generation is the most difficult facet in real estate FSBO because no lead means no clients. Various methods can be practiced for gaining leads like through your friends and acquaintances and asking for recommendations and referrals.

Personal contacts also can fetch you leads. Through personal contacts, you may have to personally visit prospective buyers. Stay a while, have a little chat with them, know them and let them to know you. You can also use direct or Mass mailing and send your brochure or sales letter to your mailing list. The strategy here should be: avoid describing your skills even offer them with a probable solution according to their interests or worries. Some modern methods may also fuel it as Emails. Send prospects with brochures with offers of an e-book, or subscribing to your weekly newsletter. Newsletters can be a useful method for generating and keeping leads. In the era of internet what can be better than the websites. It guarantees a twenty four hour prospect connection. Be sure to add the informative facts of yourself, display your property listings and provide customer tips. Now, when you get a lead, contact the client with enthusiasm. To keep it you should constantly put yourself in the situation of that client. Please never put your client on hold and take action immediately.

It depends. Simply because a property sells does not make it a comparable. Often a duress sale doesn't accurately reflect true market conditions, such as a foreclosure, short sale, estate settlement, tax sale, divorce, condemnation or other involuntary sale conditions. Professional appraisers use a standard called "arm's length." To qualify, the buyer or seller must not be related to each other or have common interests-they have each other at "arm's length"-that establish a fair market value. In a "non-arm's length" transaction, the relation-ship between the parties may cause one or the other to accept less than they are entitled to or pay more than fair market value. Foreclosures are often considered "non-arm's length" transactions by appraisers and may not be considered a true comparable. On the other hand, foreclosures do impact pricing. Some researchers report as much as a 10% discount in a property's value if a foreclosure is on the market within 250 yards. Although not a true comparable, foreclosures must be factored into establishing the right price for a property in the real world.

So, how do you set a realistic, right price? Here are eight inside tips for serious sellers to price right in today's market:

1. Recent sales. In this fast-changing market, using sales within the last three months, sometimes six months, is important. "Old" records do not reflect today's market. What a property sold for last year is old news. What properties are selling for now is critical. Also, the best comparison is actual closed sales.
   
   
2. True comparables. As real estate professionals, we compare your property with similar, nearby properties. We call these comparables, or "comps." Using true comparables is key to setting the right price. Specifically, we'll compare "apples to apples," looking at homes that are alike in terms of location, total rooms, bedrooms, baths, square footage, style, condition, age, lot size and other factors.
   
   
3. Expireds. We'll also check prices of expireds (properties whose listing contract ran out without a sale) and "withdrawn from market" comparable properties. These properties typically were overpriced, and the market is indicating the listing price was higher than buyers are willing to pay. Expireds provide an excellent ceiling indicator of what price is too high. The right price for your property is somewhere below comparable expireds.
   
   
4. Pending sales. When price information is available we may use pending sales (contracted but not yet settled or closed escrow), because these properties offer a trend indicator to what price active sellers and buyers are agreeing right now is the right price. Serious sellers realize some pending sales fall through, and thus do not become true comparables.
   
   
5. Active listings. Only closed sales truly reflect what buyers in today's market will pay. What other sellers are asking has little relation to the value of a serious seller's property. Using other listings as a guide, however, is a smart way to position your property to beat the competition to the right price, in the right condition and with the right terms.
   
   
6. Appraisal. Another approach is to invest in a paid professional appraisal of value. Although a seller-paid appraisal is often unnecessary, it can be an effective strategy in a situation where the seller wants to list "under appraisal" to position a property as distinct from the competition in the area, especially where many similar properties are already for sale.
   
   
7. Online valuation. Home valuation websites that provide instant price estimates tend to be the least reliable guide to the right price. Often these nationwide services have outdated data or use one-size-fits-all formulas that may or may not apply to your specific property. At best these valuations give a ballpark estimate. As neighborhood specialists we are in the best position to know what your property is really worth in today's market.
   
   
8. New price. Serious sellers know if a home has been on the market for two to four weeks, but has gotten little to no traffic, this indicates the property is overpriced. Also, if there has been traffic but no offers, the price is probably too high. What's more, since the property was listed, other homes may have come on the market with prices positioned better than yours. Bottom line: Time for a new price.
   
   To find out the right price for your home in today's market, contact us. We make it our business to stay ahead of the market in your neighborhood and recognize pricing trends that today's market is establishing right now--and how those trends affect the right price for your home.

The southwest Florida real estate market is showing signs of becoming healthy again, particularly in certain regions. One of those regions is the Gateway area of Fort Myers. Gateway seems to be a well insulated market for several reasons. It is an excellent of mature and new communities, it has an excellent proximity to both the Fort Myers and Naples job markets, it is easily accessible to major shopping and new schools and is well poised for growth.

Here is a snapshot of one of the top neighborhoods in Gateway, Stoneybrook at Gateway.

New Listings

Recent Sales

For more complete information on Stoneybrook at Gateway (YES, I am a resident) or other real estate related matters contact me at Neil@themoneytrein.com or visit themoneytrein.com or call me (239) 823-7704