Vacant Homes for Sale

Posted at 4:01 AM, Jan. 25, 2007

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 1.9 million homes for sale in the United States are vacant. This equals approximately half of all single-family homes that are for sale. Many of the owners are investors who bought the homes in the hot sellers market of 2005, planning to flip the homes. There are also many sellers who have purchased a new home and are having trouble selling the old one.

The biggest problem now is that many of these sellers have two or more mortgages. Many have reduced the asking prices drastically to try to get the homes sold, and for some to prevent foreclosure. Declining home prices are also causing foreclosure rates to increase since many cannot sell their homes for enough to cover the balance of their mortgage. This is especially true since so many of these homes were purchased using sub-prime loans.

So what can a seller do? If you own a vacant property, make sure your real estate professional (or you if selling as a For Sale by Owner) is creative with the marketing plan. Offer a larger than average incentive to make Realtors want to show your home first, and think about having your home staged. Proper home staging can decrease the amount of time on the market and can result in a higher price. To see firsthand the advantages of home staging view a vacant home, then go to a model home center and see what a few furnishings and simple items can make the home look warm and inviting. In the Tampa area, a great staging company is Tampa Bay Home Stagers. Their website is www.TampaBayHomeStagers.com.

For buyers it is a great time to buy a home as there are some great deals and on top of that some great incentives being offered. Many builders are decreasing the amount of incentives they are offering which is good sign that the bottom may have been reached. I am also offering all buyers an additional incentive. Purchase a new or resale home using me as your Real Estate Professional and I will give you 1% of the purchase price back at closing on virtually all homes. For details call Jeff Launiere, P.A. at 813-469-3163.