August 2016

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It was an extremely busy weekend, I personally secured contracts on 10257 Hyannisport Loop, listed at $257,000 and on 29461 Cochiti Lake Dr listed at 217,000.   

My observations, appear to be supported that K-Hovnanian builder is the driving force for buyers at this time. The lookers and buyers are viewing $175,000 and above at the current time and many looking at new homes, are committing to a new home. The down side for these buyers?  Permits and completion dates are dragging and it could be late January before a home can be completed. Some buyers do not want to wait this long and have chose to purchase a home that was built from 2011 to the current date and can provide documentation that it is better than new. Lennar Homes have been favored over K-Hovnanian in my experience this year and last 2 years. Often Lennar offered and stands by it’s 10 year warranty and certainly out weighs a buyers options on a new build. 

I have received a great deal of traffic on many of my other listings in Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club. The feedback however not fully supported says the home is priced well but either too large, or the buyer, especially if represented by a Realtor favors a new K-Hovnanian.

I must say the incentives for a buyers agent are excellent, to steer buyers towards a new home, because the incentives are extremely attractive to buyers agents. K-Hovnanian offers up to 4% commission to a buyers agent referral and guarantees they will care for the buyer exclusively and inform us when closing date is  scheduled. So why wouldn’t many agents favor this opportunity. I still like to work with re-sales, since it’s much more rewarding and the buyer and the seller are more often than not very satisfied with their choice. 

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There is a myth that homes selling in Tampa Bay with upgrades do not receive additional value by appraisers!

I have sales that only new homes were used to establish value for a home in contract.

LET ME BE CLEAR!  Many elements can govern the judgement an appraiser may use. Appraisers will NOT include a Lanai in the square feet of heated space unless it is under a shingle roof. This means a Lanai with aluminum, insulated roof/ceilings will not be used in their evaluation.

Homes that have upgrades, pristine condition, and documented maintenance by a licensed contractor have a great deal of merit when an appraiser looks for comparable sales.  If few re-sales are difficult to find, my experience is the appraiser will use NEW sales in there comparable adjustments.

Location adds significant value; however this element can vary to extremes depending on the location of the property, the condition of the property, and additional factors directly related to the subject property for sale!

Why may appraisals vary so much you may ask?  No two (2) appraisers are a like!

Criteria and ease of access to data can determine the value an appraiser may consider.

The demand and guidelines these professionals are judged by are extremely more difficult than 5 years ago.

The work load often demands assistants that gather the data and the final appraisal may be determined by a walk through or just a drive by.  Thus, the reason 2 appraisals on the same property may be so far apart, or different.

More often than not, a lender ordered appraisal may have strict protocol and without doubt will affect the final accepted value.

July and the beginning of August have all but stopped with buyers. Lots of lookers, however very few actual offers! Very few new homes have been listed on the market, and if priced wisely are not on the market more than 30 days.  Ten (10) homes have gone on the market in the last 45 days. Only four (4) have strong offers and two (2) are Active with a contract.

When searching for homes you may notice they are ACTIVE however this may read as a false positive. Some sellers agents may place the home Active With a Contract.

The offer may have contingencies that the seller does not feel comfortable with.                       The property shows Active in all the websites and can potentially drive additional                   buyers to inquire.

The seller may ask for a kick-out-clause for perhaps and better offer and faster                       closing.   “These are only a few that come to mind at this time.”

Nine homes have closed in the past 45 days. This can be misleading as many of the homes that the buyer chooses to finance can take from 45 to 60 days to close.

Three of these homes sold, were below 1600 Sq. Ft. and average selling price = $104.50 per sq. ft.

The remainders of the homes sold were above 1600 Sq. Ft. Average $114.60 and those with virtually no upgrades and very little maintenance over the years and have sold for $80.00 per Sq Ft and had many repairs to face and/or new appliances and upgrades to meet a buyers satisfaction.

Lots of lookers and not a whole lot of serious buyers, and that’s normal this time of year.  K-Hovnanian is cutting prices to clear out inventory and several models have prices drastically reduced.  They would like to be out of here by October.

I have 2 serious buyers, one showing all day on Monday $200K to $300K, here and Lake Jovita, the other is $140K or less and has rejected two contracts due to inspection issues.