Sellers should think like an appraiser ...not like a seller!

Sellers should think like an appraiser ...not like a seller!

Selling Real Estate in FL can be a nice and pleasant experience or it can become stressful especially if you are just spinning your wheels and go nowhere. All it will get you is plenty of flying mud and you'll most certainly never reach you goal of successfully selling your home.
As of this morning...there are about 40,000 homes available for sale in Broward County FL. Over 22,000 of them are either condo's or townomes.

The rest are single family homes with totals reaching over 17,000. Without going into an into too many details I will be that over 65% of these available properties are considered overpriced and will most certainly never sell unless homeowners start to get realistic by pricing them correctly. Many of these properties are also are available to rent as well. It's basically which ever comes first. The rest of these homes just sit for very long periods with homeowners hoping someone will come see the property and make them an offer.

Now here's the problem.... let's use a condo as an example and say the seller wants to price it at $260,000. I show them that the most recent sales over the last 90 days show that the comparables in their building are at $220,000 and $225,000.

There is one pending sale at $195,000. Although there is no way for us to determine the closing price...in this market it will most likely close at or below their asking price. Just in your area alone...there are over 1600 condo's waiting on line to sell and most of them are sitting empty.
Which line do you want to be on?

Think of it like being on the line at the supermarket. Do you want to be on the longest line or the shortest line?

As your Realtor®.... it's my job to help the homeowner by giving them the most realistic pricing goals.... but if they still don't get then they are sure to sit in limbo and start wondering why there are no offers let a lone any showings.

I've been in this business for over 12 yrs and I've spoken to many appraisers to get their views and how they actually do their job.

Most appraisers will look at 2-3 closed sales within 3-6 months but in this type of market...they tend to look more within the last 90 days since prices continue to drop daily. They also look at 1 pending sale and the available inventory just to review the history on how many times they have reduced the price. A new thing I have noticed that they are looking at is how many homes are on the verge of foreclosure and how many are trying to do a short sale.

There are many new challenges for them to deal with and they need to work harder in order to properly make the right analysis in this ever-changing market.

If I list your condo at $260,000 but there is no way for me to get it to the closing table well then I'd rather turn you down now instead of letting you down in 6-12 months when it doesn't sell. I would love nothing more than to sell your property at the highest price possible.

Let's face it...I do...then you make more money and in most cases I do as well. But wouldn't it make more sense to sell it at a reachable price instead of this false price that you may never get? If you decide to wait for the market to change then that's your decision but if you're expecting a quick turn around then you're mistaken. You might also realize in 6-12 months that you were wrong and now you ask me to price where I originally suggested.... only to find out it's worth even less now.

So if you're looking for a babysitter...then I'm not the one for the job. I'm a Realtor®...that's who I am.

If you think banks were tough then.... you haven't seen anything yet. Guidelines are even tougher now than 6 months ago.

If I list the property at $260,000 like you asked and we get a buyer willing to pay your price then I guess you'll be very happy but what happens when the bank only appraises it at $220,000? Then what will you do? Banks will not lend the buyer money if appraises for less. The only solution is to renegotiate it at the appraised price or back out of the deal.

The only way you will not be required to have your property appraised when you purchase is if you pay cash and even now many smart buyers will appraise it anyway.
It's your choice and you should ask yourself the question..... do you want to own it or do you want to sell it?
For more information please contact:

Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /RE/MAX Premier Associates
2500 Weston Road ,Suite 103
Weston FL 33331
(954)608-5556

The Real Deal tells it Like it is in Real Estate-copyright © 2008-All rights reserved

Weston Florida Real Estate for sale and why is my loan payoff so much higher? I didn't know I had a prepayment penalty

Many buyers across the U.S. are looking for Weston Florida Real Estate for sale. If you give me the opportunity....you will see that you chose the right Realtor® in Weston Florida for the job.
It is our job to help direct the sellers through the process of getting to the closing table and we try to point them in the right direction. Making all the arrangements for the seller is my job and I do it well. When I go on a listing appointment I always ask the seller if they have a mortgage and is there any prepayment penalties on whether they can't sell for the first 2-3 years of ownership or they have the same issue because they didn't realize when they refinanced or they had a penalty as well.

The reason why I make sure I find this information out is from a past experience I had. A few years ago I had a client that had a problem before the closing with her payoff. I always try to get a draft HUD 24 hrs before the closing just to make sure there aren't any surprises. When I saw the HUD 1 I asked the title company why there was an additional $11,000 on top of the regular payoff. They said the client had a prepayment penalty.

I approached my client and she said she was told by the loan officer that there were no penalties. I asked her what happened and she said she needed to get an equity line on their home. She intends she was misled and instead of an equity line the LO refinanced the whole 1st and added the extra to the first instead of just adding a second. She said she never asked for that type of loan. So I asked her if she had it in writing and to check her note. She said she didn't have anything other than the loan officers verbal notification and when I saw her note...it said she had a pre-payment penalty and it was a bad situation. She kept saying said she was misled and that all she wanted to do was take a 2nd ,but as I mentioned earlier the whole first was refinanced instead. When we tried to negotiate with the bank...they refused and the loan officer was no longer working there. Apparently he was fired HUMMM...

I would like to make a suggestion to anyone working in our industry to check first with the sellers. She told me she really had no idea what was happening and it was unfortunately her responsibility to be aware of this but if she had worked with a Realtor® like me the first time when she initially purchased the home then I would have inquired about it and she probably would not have had to clean up this mess and pay the extra money to the bank.

We usually see clients with these types of penalties if their credit is not sufficient and sometimes they have no choice if they need a loan but I think it needs to be specified in more detail when they apply and make sure the consumer understands all facts pertaining to the loan. I had another property that was a referral and when I mentioned this to them they very happy to find out about it before...rather than after. Please remember that this seller was also a buyer at one time and I like to make sure that all consumers are aware if this possible scenario.

It is a shame that when things change in peoples life and they have no choice but to sell...this problem can occur.

As your Realtor® it is my job to help you make sure the property is always ready to show. Don't forget that your critics are just waiting to see your performance. This market is very unpredictable and anything can happen.



If you are thinking of selling your home in Weston Florida....please contact me for all your Real Estate needs.

Neal "The Real Deal" Bloom
Weston Florida Realtor (954)608-5556 or nealb63@myacc.net
RE/MAX Hometown
2500 Weston Road ,Suite 103
Weston Florida 33331

South Florida Market Price or Wish Price?

Please note that I originally wrote this post on another blogging network back in October 2006. I thought it was good subject to revive here.

Unfortunately for sellers in South Florida ,they are still in that mode of selling and getting that big 25% return we were all getting the last 3-4 years, I ...as well buy property and sell, rent or flip, so I can relate to their disappointment.
But because of rising property taxes and ridiculous reasons insurance companies just drop HO's like a hot potato, the prices are starting to level off, not necessarily dropping, they were just used to the crazy returns, now in a regular market I believe 5-8% return is going to be more realistic for the moment.
I cannot tell you how many price reductions I see in the MLS , wasting time is the new meaning for most price reductions, I tell my clients , we will keep reducing until the market reacts, or if they continue to insist to price too high, then reductions will continue.
If the law for property taxes does not change soon ,and these insurance companies trying to strong arm people by dropping you and then being subject to only Citizens does not soon change, HO's will slowly take their houses off the market and wait if they are not in a rush to sell.
If that happens, the inventory will decrease and maybe change back to a sellers market, I do not believe we are in a buyers market because there are not even alot of buyers out there.
I think someone in the government really needs to hear from both the realtor's and sellers and buyers, because it will effect everyone in the long run

I refuse to leave your home until you let me price it right!

Last week my partner Steve received a call for a listing appointment. It happen to be in Century Village of Deerfield Beach Florida. Now he usually handles all of our buyers. As a matter of fact...we just sold 4 units in there in the last 3 months and they were all cash deals and they closed within 2 weeks to 1 month. We also have closed 4 rentals in there as well. we know pretty much every model in there after having showed over 100 of them to the buyers and renters we worked with so we have a pretty good idea what they want. This particular unit is a bit different from the others. It is only a two story building versus the normal 4 story high-rise. They called us from a postcard we mailed out almost 2 years ago. Most of the postcards we mailed out were delivered but about 50 came back. We never received any calls from this mailing until now. "pretty amazing huh?"
So now we go on this appointment to meet the sellers. They are probably in their 80's to 90's..."god I hope I live that long and can still function." Anyway we go to meet the people and their daughter was present as well....she actually lives there too so she wanted to be involved to protect her parents interests which was fine with us. She was really nice but she was their voice so we had to show her what the property values are in their community. We also knew going in that the property had been listed before.
I always check the history first just in case there are any surprises. The place was in pretty good condition. It also had a water view and a nice private location. We explained to them that there were over 400 units on the market there and only about 200 that closed since the beginning of the year. The range of value was anywhere from $50,000 to $85,000. Originally it was listed at $89,000 for six months.
I wanted to find out what happened and why it did not sell. I asked them how many showings they had..they told me six and no offers. I now knew we definitely had a price issue. We really were trying to convince them to price it in the low $80's range because of the averages we came up with. The daughter said.."I want to price it at $96,000 because my parents need to clear $91,000. I told the women that there was probably no chance it would sell at that price unless there was a change in the market. I feel we have another 24-36 months before we see any change for the better...we just have to suck it up in the meantime. I kept going back and forth with the daughter. I asked her that if 6 months ago you were not making any progress at $89,000 then how in the world would pricing it at a higher price help you? I could not really understand her reasons but I said..."it has been a pleasure meeting you all and we appreciate the opportunity but we have been in your home for almost 3 hours and I refuse to leave here without pricing it right or we leave now without the listing." They finally bought the idea and so after 3 hours of jousting we priced it at $84,500 which hopefully will be a good price to draw offers. They just emailed us the other day that they were very pleased when they saw all the advertising we sent them for their property. Since Century Village is a great place for adult living....... I think we might have to do a little farming there.
It just goes to show you that even though it is not a large deal...persistence pays off and honesty still rules for respect. As Realtors(R) it is our job to guide the clients in the right direction.