Real Estate Trends and Tips

Overpricing vs Underpricing Your Home:  If you are contemplating selling your home, the thought of overpricing your home may have crossed your mind.  After all times are tough and no one wants to lose money.  But, this might not be a good a strategy. Homes sell at a price a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to accept. If a home is priced too low, priced under the competition, the seller should receive multiple offers to drive up the price to market value. In other words, there is little danger in pricing a home too low; the danger lies in pricing it too high.

Why “underpricing” works in the St. Petersburg market:   

• It creates a significantly larger number of prospective buyers interested in your home, while, at the same time, creating competition among other buyers. You will most likely receive multiple offers, and because people aren’t willing to lose something they really want, this will encourage them to bid higher.
• The underpricing strategy will be more effective in a market where inventory is very low like our St. Petersburg real estate market.  .
• As a seller you don’t have to accept an offer even if you receive a bid for the price your home is listed for.

Sold in Minutes! Lured by hopes of a bargain or a quick transaction, more people are braving the auction market to buy and sell high-end properties.  In October, slightly more than 1,000 homes were listed for auction.  That number is double compared with a year earlier, according to listings site Homefinder.com. Yet, auctions comprised less than 1% of total listings, according to Homefinder.  Although the real estate market has improved over the past year, many houses up for auction began foreclosure proceedings years ago and are just now being put on the block and, at the same time, more homeowners are turning to auction houses to sell non-distressed properties to speed the transaction.  This phenomena, however, has not played out in Pinellas County where the average price of a home on auction in December was $64,000.

Landscaping for a Sale:  According to a 2013 National Association of Realtors survey, sellers should keep in mind the importance of curb appeal to most buyers.  It’s the first impression – if buyers don’t like the looks of the front of the house, often they won’t even go inside. A landscaping investment could potentially pay a significant return in your home’s value, but as a seller you should be careful about spending decisions.  With landscaping, consider:

Maintenance:

• Start by cleaning the yard, removing dead branches, doggie droppings, weeds, and anything broken.
• Make sure patios, walkways and fences are level and that roots haven’t pushed up sidewalks or patio stones.
• If your deck has wobbly railing or loose steps, fix them.
• Remove overgrown shrubs encroaching on the sidewalk or any that are too big.

Plants:

• In the front yard, the landscaping should pull your eyes to the front door. Consider placing pots of blooming flowers near the door.
• Trees, bamboo and other screening plants can be used to hide anything unsightly such as your neighbor’s garage or trash cans.
• Don’t buy too many mature plants.

Good News for 2014:  The good news for 2014 is that our real estate market has been steadily improving.  According to the National Association of Realtors, Tampa Bay has been named one of ten housing markets it believes will see a housing turnaround.  The average listing price for Saint Petersburg homes for sale on Trulia was $238,990 for the week ending Dec 25, which represents an increase of 0.6%, or $1,369, compared to the prior week.  The average price per square foot for Saint Petersburg was $120, an increase of 13.2% compared to the same period last year. The most popular neighborhoods include the Historic Old Northeast, Greater Pinellas Point, Disston Heights, and Historic Kenwood.

 

If you are interested in SELLING or BUYING a home, please call me at:

727-686-2859 or visit my website at estelia@estelia.com