Shannon Lefevre Naples, Florida CRS

When I initially went to real estate school (all the way back in 1996) I was trained to believe that Fair Market Value was defined as:

The price a ready, willing and able buyer would pay for a property.

So that's what I lived by for awhile...then I learned when lenders get involved, sometimes appraisers get to determine value. My first experience with this was usually regarding unusual properties that were hard to comp out. The more unusual the property, the harder it was to comp out. That was frustrating.

In 2002 when I moved to Naples, the market was pulling out of the 9-11 slump that most markets experienced during that time so I was able to see first hand that crazy increase in traffic and appreciation that occurred from 2004-2006...let me tell you, it was the craziest market I've ever seen. During that time, buyers would pay UNBELIEVABLE and unproven prices for property and even when I'd tell them, there's no way I'm going to be able to show you the value of the property you're looking at today, they would hop in the car wanting to purchase anyway. A great deal of those purchases were made with cash...not many pesky appraisers to botch the deals. YAEE!

BUT

Now I'm finding a new definition to "Fair Market Value"

I'll just disclose in advance...Naples Florida is a really unusual market. Most of what you know or learned in another market can in many cases be thrown completely out the window down here...it's that different!

So the new definition I'm finding is this:

Fair Market Value is the price a ready willing and able seller will sell their property for. (did I just end my sentence in a preposition???)

How on earth can that statement above be correct? Some sellers down here just don't give a hoot about selling fast. Some don't care if they sell at all ESPECIALLY in some of our more luxurious locations. Seriously, would you sell for less if you could easily carry something with a view like this:

Most sellers say, no. We'll wait and if worse comes to worse, we'll come down and enjoy it next season....how can you argue with that?

Best Regards,

Your Naples Smart Girl

You might miss him but located just a little left of the sun in the water is a dolphin who was playing near the Naples pier when I took this shot. It was a truly magical sunset!

Photo by Shannon Lefevre, PA, Copyright© 2009, all rights reserved. This photo may not be reproduced without the express, written permission of Shannon Lefevre with John R. Wood Inc. REALTORS, Naples, Florida. Permission will be granted with a link back to my website, www.Shannon.com, providing linking site is appropriate for all ages. All violations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Pelican Bay Short Sales & Pelican Bay Foreclosures are just two more topics I've been asked about consistently throughout the last several months. Let's face it, "Short Sale" and "Foreclosure" are two of the most attractive real estate terms of the moment especially if you are a buyer looking for a deal.

Pelican Bay currently has 9 "possible" short sales listed , 3 pending and 2 closed.

Are short sales all they're cracked up to be in Pelican Bay? According to MLS there are only 2 that have sold in Pelican Bay.

Here are the stats:

St. Tropez#602 listed for $549,000 sold turnkey closed for $521,000. It had also been remodeled. It was listed February of last year, pended in June and sold in July...not bad. There's only one other one that has closed in St. Tropez as of January 2008. Unit #203 sold furnished for $410,000 and had been remodeled as well. There were points to consider including #203 had no view and #602 had a great Gulf of Mexico view. This is a big factor!

BUT

There's one on the market now for less than the short sale sold just 10 "short" months ago. I'd tell you more but the agent will not allow me to blog about it. You're welcome to check out the St. Tropez at Pelican Bay portion of my website to see what's currently available. Did that short sale buyer get the deal of the universe? You tell me...

The next short sale looks a little more like a deal!

700 L'Ambiance #202 sold for $484,000 unfurnished. It was listed for $599,000 in December 2009, went under contract in January and closed in April. It sold for 21,000 less than anything else over the last 17 months but wait there's more! The short sale was actually larger and showed MUCH better than the one that sold for more so in this case, yep, the short sale was the better deal!

It's impossible to guess how lucrative or prevelent Pelican Bay short sales will become. The best way to determine if a Pelican Bay short sale is in fact a deal is to look at it on a case by case basis. Do some analysis with your favorite "smart" agent.

At this time there aren't any foreclosures in Pelican Bay but if there were, you'd be able to check those out along with the 9 available Pelican Bay short sales in my next issue of the Pelican Bay Pink Pages!

It's only available by subscription so don't forget to sign up by shooting me a quick email with your name and email address!

Best Regards,

Your Naples Smart Girl!

It's officially post Naples Florida prime real estate season! That means we're amidst the "I want a deal" season as hungry prospects from near and far hope to feast on desperate Naples sellers who didn't get their property sold before Easter.

Aggravation peaks as sellers either hold firm or refuse to be as "negotiable" as some of these buyers were hoping. I'm working with quite a few right now who for all sorts of reasons think they should be getting properties for less than sellers are willing to let them go.

I feel it's important to disclose that I work primarily in the luxury portion of the market so these words I write are of no direct reflection of the busier lower ended portion of the current Naples Florida real estate market.

I'm amazed at the amount of re-hits I'm seeing. What's a "re-hit". Actually, I just made it up. Someone made the terrible mistake of telling me successful people have their own vocabulary...so I feel compelled to have to invent "Shannon" words every once in awhile just to insure my own success.

A re-hit is when a buyer or even a seller comes back to a party who either submitted an offer or expressed interest in a property. It can go either way. I've seen a bunch of these lately. It's a trend I've never seen before in the 13 years I've been in business but it's just like the trend of people hitting my website who don't know how to spell...I dunno why it is, I just know that it is.

Are re-hits successful? Actually, sometimes they are. I haven't seen too many lately that have been but that doesn't mean they don't evennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntually work. To insure the success of a re-hit, it helps significantly if you're going to hit a past buyer or seller with something NEW on your end. I mean a term that wasn't discussed in prior negotiation. To come back with your same terms later (especially if you're a seller approaching a buyer) is sort of asinine.

If you're a seller coming back to a buyer, it's best if you can say something to the effect of, I wasn't willing to consider this price before but today I will if all the other terms are satisfactory. The best shot at a re-hit when it's from seller to buyer is when a seller comes back within a short period of time and says, "ok, I'll do the deal". That happened last year after a buyer made an offer, seller countered and buyer took off. A few days later the seller came back and said, "if you're still willing to do your deal, we'll accept". Those buyers got a tremendous deal but even then they hesitated a little in accepting. Even with the terms they asked for the deal was not guaranteed.

If you're a buyer coming back to the same seller, it isn't uncommon to pitch same terms...especially this time of year when there is a small percentage of sellers who get a little more anxious. There are times when sellers buckle. I had a seller come back to one of my buyers this morning who came off $50,000 from what was presented about a week ago as final and best counter. On the other hand, I had a buyer come back to a same seller asking for a 19% discount off the sales price which didn't go anywhere at all.

Each deal is different as is each market.

If you're a wheeler dealer buyer, try to avoid chicken little "economy is in the toilet" type scare tactics. I've seen it turn off sellers and listing agents more than help. Try to keep the negotiating strictly geared toward the property if you can. This is going to hit much closer to home with the listing agent and the seller!

If you're a seller who doesn't know your exact bottom line or want more than people are offering, I'd stay away from talking about how busy your traffic is unless you really think you're going to see an acceptable offer within a couple of days. Otherwise, the clock just ticks away until that same buyer re-hits you again...if you're lucky. Try leveraging all of the reasons why your property should sell for the price you want or think about other creative terms you might be able to include like adding furniture you don't really want anyway or offering perks that might just get the buyer to fall into your mercy.

For more information regarding how to get your Naples property sold or how to purchase Naples real estate, contact me direct!

Best Regards,

Your Naples Smart Girl!

Did you know there are still Pelican Bay and Bay Colony agents who refuse to allow IDX capability on their Pelican Bay and Bay Colony listings? That means they won't allow other agents and/or companies to advertise those listings on their websites. This can prove to cause quite an exposure problem since over 86% of all buyers are beginning their search on the Internet these days. Some of the buyers I've worked with during the last couple of years do so much research before they come down they actually send me a list of what they want to see before they get here which will usually eliminate those listings not advertised on my Naples Florida real estate website. Now some might question why those listings need to show up on my site. I actually place quite high on most Pelican Bay and Bay Colony search terms so I do see quite a bit of traffic from potential buyers across the world. If those listings aren't there then that means no exposure for those nonIDX properties.

The reason why this is such a disservice to both consumer and seller is due to the fact that there isn't one company (or agent) who has mastered the ability to place on the front page of each search engine for every Pelican Bay related search term which means that those listings may just go completely unseen. For example, if you search Toscana at Bay Colony in Google right now, there's one listing you just won't find on any of the websites that show on the first page. The agent who has the listing isn't listed there and neither is their listing they've prevented IDX access to.

Today there are 14 Pelican Bay properties that are NOT available through IDX. It doesn't sound like much but that's over 23 million dollars worth of real estate that may not be seen by the majority of buyers out there.

You'll be able to see those listings when you sign up for the Pelican Bay Pink Pages. That's my monthly newsletter available to those who sign up. NonIDX listings, Pelican Bay and Bay Colony buying and selling trends along with tons of other timely content can be found in the Pelican Bay Pink Pages. If you're interested, just send me an email at slefevre@johnrwood.com expressing your interest in the Pelican Bay Pink Pages with your name and email address and I'll add you to the mailing list.

Best Regards,

Your Naples Smart Girl!