Don’t Sell Yourself Short

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In any buyers’ market, the quest for the best deal is foremost on the property seeker’s mind. But there are many misconceptions about what constitutes a great opportunity.  Just because a home is listed as a “short sale in Trinity!” does not mean it is your best option. And the same goes for bank owned properties; on all fronts, buyers need to be very sure about what they are getting themselves into.

Short Sales in Trinity – Pricing vs. Value

For instance, a “short sale” does not mean it is listed at a better price than other homes in the neighborhood. The lender wants to recover as much of the money owed to them as possible, so the amount they agreed to accept from a buyer is typically pretty much in step with fair market value.

Besides, there are a ton of motivated sellers on the market whose homes are priced as well as any short sale. The difference to the potential buyer is that these sellers are adjusting their prices commensurate with market fluctuations. Today’s short sale property could potentially be worth less after the three, six, twelve months that it can take to get the contract to the closing table.

Property Condition

A short sale property may not be receiving the best care. Since the seller is likely encountering financial difficulties, they may be prohibited from consistently maintaining  it.

And if you go down the road of a bank owned home, you won’t have benefit of a real live seller with whom to negotiate repairs; and the pool, roof, and lawn may not be in the best condition. You are instead dealing with a financial institution that is backed by a battery of attorneys; your list of repairs and your concerns are inconsequential.

Short sale or bank owned — you may not just be capitalizing on someone else’s misfortune; you may very well be inheriting a headache, tread cautiously.

Trinity Foreclosures

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 The homes for sale inventory may offer a large selection of foreclosure opportunities, but sometimes an inexpensive home can cost you plenty.

We’ve heard stories from other agents about home buyers who have had to make offers on a number of different homes because the home inspection reports came back full of high ticket repair items. These issues ultimately made the cost of the home not only prohibitive, but quickly took the “great” out of the “deal.” (Besides, many REO (real estate owned) properties carry an “As Is” status, so you can’t even negotiate repairs.)

Great neighborhoods and gorgeous homes can harbor some overwhelming issues like leaks that have gone unattended creating structural and mold damage, and a host of other little things that turn into big things when a home is abandoned.

Oftentimes a distressed home owner has other priorities that don’t include conducting their property maintenance checklist and spending money on things like gutter cleaning, window caulking, roof repairs, pool upkeep, and other run of the mill repairs.

The other reality is that people who are planning their strategic foreclosure or are filing bankruptcy are not necessarily going to be concerned about the future value of their home. They’ve already deemed it without value as they no longer intend to pay their mortgage; so therefore, they don’t tend to the property.

In this market, sometimes you really do get what you pay for and a $300,000 home for the price of $100,000 may be worth just that and you’ll need to pump a lot of money into the home to repair and restore it to its former glory.

Regardless of an incredible opportunity, always have a thorough home inspection conducted by a trusted professional and don’t start measuring for window treatments until you have assurance that your new home is what it seems.

Trinity Fl Real Estate and Home Inspections

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Revised Front Photo

Before any Trinity Realtors hang a sign on your lawn, you may want to have a reputable home inspector take a look at your property before it goes on the market.

One of three things will happen with pre-listing home inspections:

  1. You’ll find nothing significant
  2. You’ll get a heads up about a possible problem and have time to fix it
  3. You’ll be able to have repair estimates ready to present to the buyer in the contract negotiations

By being proactive you’re more likely to keep your contract on track and get to the closing table on schedule!

Pricing Homes for Sale in Tampa Bay

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Price reductions on a listing are as common as the need for killer curb appeal. Pricing residential real estate in Trinity, Fl for example is a strategy predicated on comparisons with other recent sales in the area and the condition of the home.

Some home sellers want to take the number they have in their head “out for a spin” and see if any offers surface. As negative as this sounds, best practices in this situation would dictate a price reduction schedule be invoked after a period of time on the market at the inflated price. One of the major problems with overpricing a home at the onset is that it sends a signal to potential buyers that something is wrong with the home.

Setting that bar or that price point too high will also soon make your home old news. Plenty of brand new properties are entering the market hourly, particularly from the foreclosure inventory. Your home can really get lost in the shuffle; the best time to strike is early and at the right price.

The National Association of Realtors just reported that “in October and November, when the market was feeling the effect of the tax credit, 26 percent of sellers cut their asking prices.” In addition, NAR also reported that Trulia.com just released the figures that the “prices on 19 percent of homes for sale as of March 1st have been reduced at least once, the lowest percentage in the last year.”

These statistics indicate that more sellers are pricing their homes better. They are therefore spending less time on the market and are not subjecting themselves to multiple price reductions.

Let’s face it, moving inventory faster is essential to the restoration of home values; but it also goes a long way in restoring consumer confidence and ensuring the success of the individual home owner trying to make their move.

Today’s Real Estate Market

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The home purchase tax incentive and incredible home mortgage rates made a huge dent in Trinity’s housing inventory this year; and home prices took a step back from the edge of yet another precipice. 

On the home selling side, two other trends made a big difference in our local markets. In the beginning, when home prices started and continued to decline, home sellers initially remained firm on their sale price. 

Understandably so, selling a home is an emotional experience. When you put time and money into maintaining and beautifying something, you want a proportional gain. But as home sellers began to understand that it is the market that dictates price and adjusted accordingly, their homes starting selling and the inventory began decreasing. 

Another key factor this year was the increase in professional representation. Homes for Sale by Owner, a popular alternative, have not fared well in this market. Besides the challenges of structuring contracts, the most difficult part of a real estate transaction for an unlicensed person is the lack of familiarity with the new legislation governing appraisals, the mandates of FHA and VA loans, and all the nuances of buyer qualification.

These areas have changed so dramatically, that just about anyone selling their home on their own without benefit of an experienced Realtor was, and still is, at a tremendous disadvantage.

Our lives and our market will return to normalcy, it is just a slow and steady rebound. Bottom line, the trend for 2010 is recovery, and buying and selling are back in style.