Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2014
Over the last few weeks we have met with a number of potential sellers testing the real estate market. This makes sense – markets have improved, home owners might be eyeing a future move to a new place (bigger or smaller or leaving town ) … but they are not yet ready to move. So how do you test the market to better understand what your place is worth and what your options might be?
The first step might be the traditional way – ask some realtors to come over and give you a comparative market assessment. This analysis – especially done with a number of realtors – is going to give you a decent idea of the value of your place.
Now comes the fun part – ask the realtors what you might do to increase the value of your place. You might be surprised some very simple things would be of great value. You might also receive some more extensive ideas – new windows, new bathrooms, new landscaping etc. Who knows? You might like these projects, complete them and stay in your place even longer.
If you want to leave the realtors out of it, hire a real estate appraiser. Their job is focused on estimating value – that’s it. Hire them for a few hundred dollars, have them spend a few hours at your place and wait for the report. A realtor is going to know how to market the place and estimate the value but the appraiser is singularly focused and might be darn good at estimating.
But what can you do beyond hiring an appraiser or asking a realtor for prices and fix up ideas? You might think about going on the road yourself and looking at open houses. When you are out there don’t’ judge the value of the place by the amount of open house foot traffic. Ask the realtor how many private showings the place is receiving. This private showing statistic is going to give you a better gauge of the place’s market relevance. Remember open houses receive a lot of tire kickers and early searchers educating themselves – they may not be buying. If it is a hot property judge by private showing volume pay close attention to its features, location and price. These points will help you calibrate the worth of your place.
Caution: since you own your place you are less likely to be objective so keep in mind you may over value your place.
A next step might be to let a realtor know you would be interested in selling your place if the right buyer came along. We often ask property owners for their target selling price in these circumstances. You are not going to receive the market exposure of a complete MLS listing by doing this but if you are just testing the market you might try this approach for a while.
If lightning strikes and that ideal buyer shows up with the realtor are you really ready to move? Be sure you know where you are going and not overly focused on what you are selling!
We recommend you work with a good Realtor on any real estate negotiation and we would be pleased to help you. The main reason we recommend a realtor is they do this every day. Their experience, in fact their very recent experience, in your market with similar properties is going to be very valuable to you.
Want to know more about living in Naples, Florida? We have toured and owned property in Naples for thirty-eight years and know we can help you out. Please give us a call at 239.595.3921. Also consider reading our book “Understanding Naples Real Estate” to get you started on your real estate search https://www.naplesbestaddresses.com/offer/ or just give us a call about things to do here.
Hope to meet and talk with you soon,
Mark Goebel PA, Nan Goebel PA and David Goebel, PA
Co-Founders of the Naples Best Addresses team
Coldwell Banker
Mark Goebel, PA and Nan Goebel, PA
REALTOR Coldwell Banker 5th Avenue South
Mobile: 239.595.3921 239.595.3920
NaplesBestAddresses.com
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No legal, investment, or tax advice is being given in this Blog. Consult with legal, financial and tax professionals before acting on any real estate transaction. Actual real estate price and sales results are subject to market forces and are not completely predictable. The writings of this Blog are intended for the sole use of our clients.
We are pleased to announce a portion of our real estate earnings go to support the The Naples Botanical Garden, Habitat for Humanity Collier County, The Race For The Cure Citrus Ride, The Seacrest Country Day School and The Naples Winter Wine Festival.
Some of the data relating to Naples homes for sale and Naples real estate for sale on the NaplesBestAddresses.com website comes in part from the Broker reciprocity program of M.L.S. of Naples, Inc. The properties displayed here may not be all the properties available through the MLS reciprocity Program. This information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. Buyers and sellers are responsible for verifying all information about their purchase prior to closing.
Mark Goebel, PA is a REALTOR with Coldwell Banker on 5th avenue in Naples, Florida with 35+ years of visiting and living in Naples. After 25 years at Accenture, Mark retired as a managing director and spends his time helping non profits and building a Naples real estate team with his wife Nan. Talk to Mark and Nan about life in Naples and why they chose this place to live full-time over all others and enjoy Naples real estate.
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