As Seen in the Naples Daily News and Bonita Daily News
The season is over, now what? Most of the snowbirds have flocked home to their summer retreats and along with them went their wallets! Every year in SW Florida it’s like clockwork; Easter Sunday comes and shortly thereafter, everyone heads home. No traffic, fifty percent off deals at restaurants with no wait, and parking at the beach! These are all great things, but without our friendly snowbirds dumping money into our economy, it can really affect local businesses and our real estate market! How does this affect you as a buyer? How does this affect you as a seller? Let’s look at some ways to attack this already depressed real estate market when the hot summer humidity sets in.
First of all, as a seller, you are already having a hard enough time dealing with the foreclosures next door that are killing market values. Now that a huge chunk of the population has gone home for the summer, many buyers are out of the picture until the snow flies up north and this is where you cross your fingers and hope to get lucky! Sellers must be realistic on their pricing and try to target more year-round homeowners. Typically in the summer time, the working class population of SW Florida is buying. If you get an offer, working with the buyers is a must. If you lose this buyer, it’s possible you won’t have another one all summer. Some sellers think it makes sense to take the home off the market for the summer so it doesn’t become a “stale” listing. This you need to assess on a case-by-case basis. Keep in mind, if you go fishing but don’t put a line in the water, you’ll never catch a fish. I think an aggressive marketing plan and aggressive pricing is a much smarter play.
Now for you buyers out there, go ahead and start licking your lips – this is your time. The season is over and the sellers who didn’t sell over the winter are now going to start getting anxious. Hurricanes may pop up out at sea and scare everyone. It’s bad enough having fewer buyers, but now dealing with Mother Nature is a force not to reckon with. Buyers, I’d suggest zeroing in on your dream property. Make an offer; you might be surprised at how willing the sellers are to listen to you. The stronger your cash position or approved financing for a quicker close, the better the deal you can strike. Sellers know that summer equals very slow activity and storms, so the quicker they can get the property off their hands, the better. And that means they’ll be more apt to take your offer.
Enjoy your summer, stay cool, and good luck buying or selling!!
