Posted on Monday, September 12, 2016
For the better part of 10 years Naples Best Addresses has been helping people achieve their real estate dreams. We believe that knowledge is power and the more informed a consumer is the better. During all of these years of business a lot of the same questions keep coming up, so we thought why not start a FAQ blog post segment. In this first post we will take on three important, common questions:
Should I wait until season to list my home?
It’s understandable why a lot of people ask this question. Traditionally in Naples, January-March is the busiest time of year with all of the snow-birds in town. While season is a great time to have your home on the market, the truth is the best time to list is today! As I type this I know it sounds like a cheesy sales line, but it is true. Every year is different with sales. This year our team had a relatively quite season and have been very busy from April through now. Now that fall is here a lot of people are out looking to buy before season as well. One other thing to consider with this is that our market is changing. If you read our “How’s the Market” blog post you will know that our market is beginning to normalize and has slowed down from the 20% plus price increases that brought us out of the ‘08 down turn times. The truth is, in order to sell a home today it needs to be priced well, marketed properly, and shown professionally. Which brings me into our next FAQ question…
Can we list over market price and see how it goes?
I would not recommend it. The last few years we could list a home 10-20% priced over market and wait the few months for the market to come up and sell it. It depends a little on which neighborhood you are in, but in general in Naples right now that is not the case. In order to force a sale, properties need to be priced aggressively. This means pricing at our just below what the last comparable sale went for, not what other listings that have sat on the market for months and months are stuck at. If you are curious about what your home may go for, ask us today for a complete listing presentation. We can go through all of the market statistics and show the numbers of what the market is telling us to get your home sold. This summer we priced a listing well and it went under contract in just 3 days. You don’t want your home to sit, price it well, and get it sold for the top price the market will bare. If you are already listed and your home has been on the market for more than 30 days without an offer, it is time to drop that price to get it sold before this market starts to turn down any more.
Can we just go look at a few homes before getting pre-approved for financing?
We always recommend getting pre-approved for financing before getting very far into the home shopping process for several reasons. First the obvious one, it is important to know how much home you can afford and what fits into your budget. Naples really does have something for almost everyone, but often buyers have to compromise a little bit in order to buy a place that will work well for them and it is importan
t to know exactly where you stand. Second, good properties sell fast in Naples. If buyers go out and see something they really like it is important to already be pre-approved so they can move quickly and get it before it’s gone. Third, this is a cash town. Most of our buyers are actually cash and don’t finance at all. There is nothing wrong with financing and we work with buyers everyday that are planning financing, but sellers love cash offers. The next best thing is an offer that has a pre-approval from a reputable company. I would never recommend submitting a financed offer without the pre-approval as often they are shuffled to the bottom by the seller.
What are some of your questions about the Naples market? Email us your questions and we will answer them for everyone next month. You can also learn more about the Naples market by checking out our Naples Ebook here: https://www.naplesbestaddresses.com/offer/
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