Although the average “days on the market” for a home in Coconut Grove is running about 5 to 7 months, if you price your home correctly you can get it sold in less than 30 days.  Here are some sales this year that went under contract in less than a month.

• 1624 Tigertail Avenue | 3 Days On The Market | Sale Price: $684,500 | Broker: EWM Realtors
• 3010 Emathla Street | 1 Day On The Market | Sale Price: $1,550,000 | Broker: Coldwell Banker
• 3265 Coacoochee Street | 7 Days On The Market | Sale Price: $754,250 | Broker: EWM Realtors
• 3400 South Moorings Way | 9 Days On The Market | Sale Price: $1,250,000 | Broker: Coldwell Banker
• 3085 Calusa Street | 11 Days On The Market | Sale Price: $405,000 | Broker: Platinum Properties

It is essential to have a local Realtor who knows the numbers, tracks the market and can price your home correctly.  If you are interested in selling your home I would be happy to give you a no pressure home valuation.  Call me on my cell at 305.342.1623 or send me a message here.

There were two Coconut Grove homes which sold today that couldn’t prove my point better.  They came on the market at exactly the same time for a similar price, made almost the same price reductions, sat on the market for the same amount of time and sold for just about the same price.  See the figures for both houses below.

The numbers tell the story.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Coconut Grove and are looking for an experienced realtor please do not hesitate to contact me.  I can be reached on my cell phone anytime at 305.342.1623 or you can send me a message here.

To stay updated with all Coconut Grove real estate information, receive my blog posts via email by subscribing here.  Once you register, you must activate the subscription in a followup email.

Summer is coming to an end which means that real estate in Coconut Grove is about take off.   The months between September and May are always the most active.  The snowbirds are here, the weather is fantastic and buyers seem to come out in force.

If you are thinking of placing your home on the market why not do it during a time when your house will get maximum exposure to potential buyers.  And if you need a realtor please don’t hesitate to call me.  I would be happy to offer you a no pressure home valuation and market analysis. 

Even if you aren’t interested in selling for quite some time but just want a general idea of what your home is worth, it would be my pleasure to stop by and give you my opinion.  

I can be reached anytime on my cell phone at 305.342.1623 or send me a message here.

Looking over my boards this morning, I noticed that the price per square foot figures in Coconut Grove are trending upward.  In my last report (May of 2010) the figure was $259.00 and as of today it is $290.  That is quite a jump in only a matter of months.  If you read my recent post Good Comps In North Coconut Grove you will see a few of the sales that helped to bring that number up. 

This is great news for homeowners who have been waiting for a slight turnaround in the market.  Call me if you’d like a market valuation on your home.  It’s a no pressure (no cost to you) discussion that will let you know your options in this market.  The best number to reach me on is my cell, 305.342.1623.

The homes that were priced correctly (and never had to make a price reduction) sold in an average of 23 days, while those that had to make one or more price reductions sold in an average of 187 days.  That is quite a difference and just goes to show that if you want to sell quickly you can’t sit around and test the market at a high price.

Many people ask “Why Isn’t Our House Selling?” and the answer is pure and simple.  Price.  The numbers speak for themselves.  If you list your house at a compelling price, you will get it sold in a matter of weeks as opposed to months.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Coconut Grove and are looking for an experienced agent please do not hesitate to contact me at 305.342.1623 or send me a message here.

To stay updated with all Coconut Grove real estate information, receive my blog posts via email by subscribing here.  Once you register, you must activate the subscription in a followup email.

The New York Times recently wrote a great article about buyers in today’s market titled  “Demanding Buyers Hinder The Housing Market”   Here in Coconut Grove, we have also noticed an increase in the number of buyers who are looking for a house that is “perfectly perfect in every way”.   Many times they will preview over 50 homes only to come to the realization that they cannot have everything on their wish list AND get the house at a discounted price.   Most of the time these types of buyers end up fading into the deep blue yonder.

The article also mentions the new sense of power and entitlement that many buyers currently have.  Streitfield writes ”Exacting buyers are upending the battered real estate market, agents and other experts say, leading to last-minute demands for multiple concessions, bruised feelings on all sides and many more collapsed deals than usual.”

This article couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time for many of my sellers.    Recently we had buyers request at the last minute that our sellers trim their trees, replace an air filter in the air conditioner and install a new front door (none of the work requested was on the inspection report).   Last month I had a buyer back out of a $600,000 deal after the inspection report came back with $5,000 of repairs.  The sellers were willing to split the cost of the repairs 50/50, but the buyers wanted the sellers to foot the entire amount of the bill.   They decided to walk away.  Keep in mind, houses in South Florida are technically sold “as-is”.

These types of situations can put sellers on an emotional roller coaster and are exactly the reason why you need an experienced agent to help you navigate the process.   Some requests are reasonable and some are not.  It is our job to help buyers and sellers realize what is truly important and to keep them from becoming increasingly frustrated with each other to the point where nothing gets done.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate and looking for a realtor who specializes in Coconut Grove please don’t hesitate to contact me at 305.342.1623 or send me a note here.

Sometimes when buyers may be feeling that they have seen EVERYTHING on the market and are thinking that they will never find “THE ONE”….the stars will align, the skies will clear and the perfect house will land right in their lap. 

Recently my buyers had exactly that moment.

Let me start from the beginning.   The buyers, lets call them “Robert” and “Andrea” are a lovely couple who contacted me back in December and were looking to buy their first home.  Their budget was somewhere in the $300,000 price range and they were hoping to buy before the tax credit expired on April 30th.  Day after day, month after month my team member Dominique Duque and myself took these buyers out to see property.   Over the course of 5 months we showed the buyers over 60 houses.   They were looking in all locations from Coconut Grove down to South Miami.   We drew up 5 offers on various homes but due to problems such as roof, appraisal or structural issues the contracts were never executed or were cancelled.  They felt as if they were never going to find the perfect house.

At this point it was April 28th and we were 2 days away from the Tax Credit expiring.   On that Wednesday night, I got an e-mail from a woman in Saint Hugh Oaks – a gated community of single family homes on the corner of Franklin Street and Douglas Road.   This woman wanted to put her house on the market and wanted to sell quickly.  I prepared a valuation of her home and made an appointment to see her and her house the next day. 

When I walked into her house on the evening of April 29th I KNEW that this house was ideal for “Robert” and “Andrea”.  After we signed the listing papers I immediately called Dominique and we scheduled an appointment for them to see it on April 30th.  They fell in love (as I knew they would).  We drew up an offer, accepted her counter offer, and by the evening of April 30th we had a signed contract!  Whew….just in time for them to receive the tax credit!!

Keep your fingers crossed because we still have a few more days left until closing and this is a wonderful couple who really deserve to get this house.

If you or someone you know is interestesd in buying/selling real estate in Coconut Grove and are looking for a Grove Specialist, please contact me on my cell at 305.342.1623 or send me a note here.

I was talking to a seller recently who was holding out for an extra $10,000 during the negotiation process and I was trying to help her to see the light.  I explained that holding out for this money NOW could mean losing much more money LATER.

My seller told me that she was digging in her heels because she had just read an article which said that prices across the country were rebounding.  What she didn’t read was the article on the very same day which predicted falling prices.

Check out these two articles:

Home Price Dips Extends to 4th Month – CNN Money 3/30/10

After a five month run up in home prices starting last spring, prices have now fallen for four consecutive months, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index of 20 cities, a gauge of market values, released Tuesday….The market seems to have pulled the rug out from under housing industry hopes for a sustained early recovery.

Home Price Index Edges Up – Wall Street Journal 3/30/10

The seasonally adjusted S&P/Case-Shiller Index of home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas increased .3% in January from a month earlier, the eighth consecutive monthly increase.  Twelve of the 20 cities saw price gains over the month….The report indicates that the worst of the declines are behind us and we can at least move forward from here,” said Adam York, an economist with Wells Fargo Securtiies.

Which reports should you believe? They are all technically correct because it is just a matter of manipulating the numbers.  The fact is, to get a true market value you need to speak with a realtor.  It is the realtor’s job to educate their clients on the LOCAL market conditions which may be vastly different from what the national studies indicate.

For instance, the average price per square foot in Coconut Grove so far in 2010 is $257.00 per square foot (down from $265.00 in 2009 and $329.00 in 2008).  The tricky part is that even within these figures there are specific price ranges that have not fallen in value.

In order to accurately get a sense for the value of your home you must know the hyper-local numbers.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Coconut Grove and are looking for a local, experienced Realtor please give me a call at 305.342.1623 or send me a note here.

Cross your fingers, knock on wood, pray to the real estate gods, don’t step on a crack and whatever you do don’t walk in front of a black cat!!

Just kidding….now that your home is on the market, follow these simple steps:

1. Keep Appearances Up: Maintain the curb appeal, keep it de-cluttered, open and bright.
2. Wait and See:  Wait to see how many showings you have, what buyers reactions are to the home (and price) and finally wait to see if you get any offers.  If you receive an offer right away, you should counter and try to make it work with these buyers.  I can’t tell you how many times I have seen sellers pass up on the first offer only to settle for a much lower price later on down the line.  If you don’t have much interest or receive any offers it will be necessary to re-evaluate (see next step).
3. Re-evaluate Your Price:  A lack of showings, a lack of interest, a lack of offers is all due to the same thing, price!  My two most recent sellers decided to reduce their price within a matter of weeks after coming on the market because they weren’t satisfied with the amount of interest their home was receiving.  You also need to re-evaluate the market because in a short time period there can be sales in your neighborhood which have completely changed the value of your home.  In this market, houses don’t get stale but prices do.
4. Be Patient: It can take time to find the right buyer.  The average days on the market for single family homes sold this year in Coconut Grove (not including distressed properties) is 12 months!

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Coconut Grove and are looking for a Grove specialist, please contact me at 305.342.1623 or send me a note here.

I had some wonderful clients who purchased 3265 Coacoochee Street back in July of 2009 for $715,000.  In January (only 6 months later) I received a call from them and they informed me that they had just been notified of a job transfer out of state and would need to put their house back on the market.  Yikes!

Of course, our main concern was getting them out clean (i.e. not losing any money).  But in this market it wouldn’t be easy.  Many buyers would not be willing to pay MORE for a house that sold just six months ago, right?  Wrong!

We came up with a list price, drew up the papers, took some new pictures and got the house back on the market priced at $829,000 (remember, they purchased it for $715,000 just 6 months prior).

After only 1 Broker’s Open House and a few private showings we had a signed contract on the house within a week.

With a little luck and a little help from a great Realtor we closed today without the sellers having to come out of pocket.

To stay updated with all Coconut Grove real estate information, receive my blog posts via email by subscribing here.  Once you register, you must activate the subscription in a follow-up email.

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in Coconut Grove and are looking for a Grove specialist, please contact me at 305.342.1623 or send me a note here.