When is the right time to put my A home on the market in Naples Florida ?

What a million dollar question and what a difficult one to answer. The response has got to be very much dependant on the circumstances of the home owner who is asking it.

For example , if you are looking to just sell your home and not immediatley buy again then the chances are you will lose money from the value your home was 3 maybe 4 years ago and you will never get that back so we have got to factor into your decision,  the thought, is the market going to pick up and are prices going to increase in the not too distant future.

A few months ago a few brave Naples based realtors proclaimed that things were turning around and true enough price increases in town were starting to be recorded for the first time in many years. However you have to look deeper to establish what is driving these prices and not just take things at face value.

Because of the uncertaintly of the first question which you will note I still have not attempted to answer many home owners are holding off and just watching. This means that there is limited property stock on the market and all of a sudden it becomes a sellers market as even in difficult times as we are in, some people just have to move for a variety of reasons......ie two bedroom house , four children doesnt work !!. This pushes the prices up and in my opinion is the cause of the statistics quoted above, a typical demand and supply characteristic.

On  the negative side we are hearing that there are potentially thousands of foreclosures due in a month or so on all types of homes from small condos all the way to the top end houses on Port Royal. If this is the case then when these come to the market place the current demand will become satisfied and there will be excess property stock on the market which will then reverse things to a buyers market again. This will bring prices back down and potentially we could see further decreases in value possibly in double percentage figures maybe even 12 - 13%. So still coming back to that first question ( which I still havent answered ) we have to factor this thought in as well.

Finally we have also got to consider other influences. For example the property market throughout America is struggling and in many states houses are just not selling at all. Yet in Florida we do still see a good number of homes sold every month and it is expected that this coming season will be no exception. WHY ?

Simple its called sunshine. One thing that Florida does have which cannot be taken away by the economy is our glorious weather ( athough as I am writing this it is pooring down with rain ) ..  People pay for sunshine and this is why  a large percentage of homes in Naples are owned by foreign individuals or out of state Americans just so that they have someone in the sunshine to go to when the weather in their home is grey and miserable.

OK so with situation one and the various factors which I have noted here is the answer.....know one knows and if someone tells you an answer ,ignore it and think for yourself as to what suits you best. This is not crytal ball time we cannot see or predict the future of this economy or market you are the only one who can answer this question once you have all of the facts you need in front of you . ie current value, cost of selling etc.

If you need to sell, sell. If you have something better to invest your money in sell. If you want to gamble then hang in there , rent your home out for a year or so and see what happens. But take on board that you could be taking a risk.

I said that this was the answer for someone who is not going to re buy in todays market and there is a major difference and reason.

When you sell a home and buy another one the figure that is important to you ( as long as your mortgage is the right way up ) is the difference in value.

For example if your home was worth $500,000 3 years ago and the home that you want to buy was worth $700,000 at the same time, then the difference is only $200,000. Therefore if you sell for only $200,000 and buy for $400,000 its the same deal. In fact you will pay the realtor less commission so you are actually better off.

Seasons have a bearing on the right time to sell as Summer in Florida is very quiet and the serious buyers are out of town. NOW is the right time to be getting market appraisals and preparing your home for hitting the market in late September ready for the vacation travellers and snow birds who want a second home in our wonderful town.

So who do you use to sell your home

Being the British realtor in Naples gives me the ability to not only utilise the traditional marketing tools in Florida such as MLS but also to maximise our contacts in the UK. We would love to advise you with absolutley not committment and a call or e mail will recieve our immediate attention.
simon@simplythinkusa.com Tel: 239 596 0445

Simply Think Naples Realty is a trading name of Simply Think Florida Realty inc ( A brokerage company )