Have you found yourself thinking, “YIKES it is April! Season is almost over and my Pelican Bay home still has not sold! What should I do?”
The first thing I would recommend is that if you really do not have to sell your Pelican Bay home – get it off the market! If you do want to sell your home, you should sit down with your Realtor® and have a frank talk. What should you discuss? I’m glad you asked!
One of the first questions you need to ask your Realtor® is if you are being realistic or out in Fantasyland with your asking price. How many showings has your home had since the beginning of the season? What has the buyer feedback been on your home? If you have had 30 showings and the buyer feedback has been, “Buyers did not care for the view.” The bottom line is that 30 buyers chose not to buy your unit because of the view. What the buyers are really saying is that the price you are asking for the unit is too high for the view. You can not change your view; you can change your price. If you really want to sell your home, you need to have a blunt talk with your Realtor® about price.
What if the buyers’ comments were “The home is too dated.”? Buyers are really saying that they price you are asking for the unit is not in accord to the work they would have to do to update it. It has been my experience that it is the rare buyer who purchases in Pelican Bay who wants to do any remodeling. Buyers would rather be down at our lovely beach, soaking up the sun and drinking Margaritas or their beverage of choice rather then waiting for contractors.
Pelican Bay Sellers, do you still have Formica countertops in your kitchen and baths? Does white builder tile still appear in your home? Do you have almond colored kitchen cabinets? When was the last time you painted? Do you still have the round white builder grade hardware on your kitchen and bath cabinets? Are your bathroom mirrors starting to erode? Do you have lots of wallpaper in your residence? When was the last time you painted the interior of your home? How old is your carpeting? If your carpeting is sea foam green or mauve, it will date your residence no matter how clean it is.
After 31 years in this business, I can not tell you how many times I have had Sellers say to me “I do not want to change anything because the new buyer can change things the way they will want them.” Yes, this is true; however, Buyer will discount your price many times more if they have to do the work themselves.
If after reading this article, you feel that your unit may be a bit dated, call your Realtor® and have them give you a frank assessment of what they think should be done to update your home or what price point you need to be to get your home sold. If you need to do some updating, now may be the time to accomplish this as there are many people in the construction industry looking for work.
The Realtor.org magazine has an excellent article that discusses the cost of an improvement vs. the value received. If your Pelican Bay home has not sold, you may want to read this article. Here is a quick list if you do not have the time to read the entire article.
“Location, location, location”, has always been a real estate mantra. Yes, we live in a fantastic community; however, with sooooooooooo many choices of homes to buy in Pelican Bay buyers also look at “Condition, condition, condition”.
Should you be thinking of selling your Pelican Bay home and would like a candid assessment of what it would take to sell your home in today’s market, I would be happy to help. Feel free to give me a call at 239-594-2780 or E-mail me at Lynn@NaplesBuys.com
Looking for a home in our unique beach community? Search here, once at the search page, you can search by development, save your search and I will send you out new listings to you daily.
Care to share a comment with us? Just click on the comment link at the bottom of this blog entry.
My sellers at 2100 L’Ambiance CIR #101 have instructed me to reduce the price of their home from $699,900.00 to $639,900.00. This unit has a newly redone kitchen and bath with a lovely aquascape view. It has 3 bedrooms PLUS a family room, 2 baths, and an attached 2 car garage. If you know of someone who would like to live in L’Ambiance, this unit is the lowest priced coach home in L’Ambiance.
Should you be in need of a market evaluation on your home, give me a call at 239-594-2780 or e-mail me at Lynn@NaplesBuys.com
Looking for a home in our unique beach community? Search here, once at the search page, you can search by development, save your search and I will send you out new listings to you daily.
Care to share a comment with us? Just click on the comment link at the bottom of this blog entry.
Getting Your Pelican Bay Home to Close Successfully
Will you be down at the Sandpiper restaurant in Pelican Bay celebrating St. Patrick's Day tonight? I know that I will be wearing green tomorrow. There is a touch of Irish in me from my Mother's side of the family. While I might not be able to celebrate tomorrow evening, my husband and I will celebrate by throwing a St. Patrick's Day party for a large number of our friends. For the last several years my darling husband, Don who does not have a shred of Irish in him, except by association, always insists on making corn beef and cabbage. He fell into becoming a corn beef and cabbage expert one year when I was working and unable to cook for a party. He has been in charge of cooking ever since that party. What can I say? Hey! St. Patrick's Day falls in the middle of my busy season!
Have you had the luck of the Irish and managed to sell your Pelican Bay home? What can happen can possible happen, you think, that your contract might not come to closing? Well, as we all are aware, time have changed. One of the largest changes have been what banks require to give a loan. The pendulum has swung from banks giving everyone a loan to banks asking for mountains of paperwork.
Is your sale is subject to a buyer getting a loan? Your contract will have a date the buyer will have to have his loan approved. Typically a lender will issue a mortgage approval will all sorts of contingencies. Your Realtor® should be working in sync with the selling Realtor® to determine what contingencies must be resolved before the closing date. Note: the key words in the above sentence arebefore closing!
Not too long ago, I had a transaction where the Buyers’ bank required a copy of the property management’s employment contract with the condo association. The property management company did not want to give the lender a copy of the contract. The other Realtor® and I managed to come up with a solution for the lender and the property did close.
Because lenders are requiring so much paperwork, Buyers may have to ask the Sellers to extend the financing contingency date. Our Naples Area Board of REALTORS’® sales contracts specify that if a Buyer fails to give the Seller a financing contingency waiver, the Seller can terminate the contract. Some of you may remember actually obtaining a loan and closing on a property in two weeks. Today, that is not the case.
Remember the real estate boom? Multiple offers were being submitted on a single property. If you were a buyer submitting an offer with a financing contingency, your offer did not stand a chance of being accepted. Buyers started writing CASH offers on properties and obtaining a loan. “What happens?” you ask, “If a home has a cash contract on it and fails to close because the buyers’ lender did not have the loan approved?”
Good questions. Our Naples Area Board of REALTORS’® sales contracts stipulate that if a Buyer does not close on the date indicated on the contract, the Seller could possible keep the earnest money. As the earnest money is the Seller’s only remedy in our contract, typically the Sellers ask for 10% of the purchase price as earnest money. It does not sound like writing a cash offer without having all your financial ducks lined up is such a good idea, does it?
What started me down this path tonight was that pending sales are up a bit from last year in Pelican Bay.
Pelican Bay Pending & Closed Sales 01/01/2009-03/16/2009
# Active Listings
#Pending Sales
#Closed Sales
Low Rises
118
19
6
Mid Rises
33
1
0
High Rises
208
15
17
Villas Attached
22
5
3
Villas Detached
17
5
1
Single Family
50
4
0
While the number of pending are up slightly, we are at day 74 for the year on this chart and look at the number of closed sales!
On this St. Patrick’s Day, I wish you the luck of the Irish and the attentions of an astute Realtor® in buying or selling a home in our lovely community.
Should you be in need of a market evaluation on your home, give me a call at 239-594-2780 or e-mail me at Lynn@NaplesBuys.com
Looking for a home in our unique beach community? Search here, once at the search page, you can search by development, save your search and I will send you out new listings to you daily.
Care to share a comment with us? Just click on the comment link at the bottom of this blog entry.
Just Listed! 8460 Abbington CIR #1822 - $794,900.00
Do you live in Pelican Bay and want to move up to a larger unit? Have you been searching for a large condo in Pelican Bay with a two car garage? This beautiful second floor Covington Row at the Crescent in Pelican Bay could be your answer.
Please remember that whenever you see a high lighted text in this blog, you can use your mouse to double click on the words, as the high lighted Pelican Bay above, and be taken to more information.
With 2,400 square feet under air, this floor plan offers space galore! If you buy it "they" will come.....to visit! A serene golf course view can be yours all day long in this sunny condo. This spacious unit features an open den/family room, eat in kitchen, large lanai, separate guest bedrooms, plantation shutters, newer master bath shower, AND a two car garage! This unit also has space to install an elevator if one is desired. Covington Row at the Crescent is a gated community with pavered driveways that is a short walk to Pelican Bay's North tram stop where you can be whisked away to the pristine beach of Pelican Bay. The Pelican Bay Community Center with its state of the art fitness center, tennis courts and business center, shopping, movie theater, restaurants, and the library are all within walking distance. Covington Row is pet friendly allowing TWO pets less than 25 pounds.
Please enjoy these photos of this lovely unit.
When you own in Covington Row at the Crescent, you also get to enjoy all the amenities of Pelican Bay, including sunsets like this:
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corn beef and cabbage. He fell into becoming a corn beef and cabbage expert one year when I was working and unable to cook for a party. He has been in charge of cooking ever since that party. What can I say? Hey! St. Patrick's Day falls in the middle of my busy season!.jpg)
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