Wakulla County 2011 Homes Sales & Selling Strategies

So far in 2011 Wakulla County has had 141 homes sales. This includes houses, mobile homes, condos, and townhomes. That is 15 units less than what had sold at this point in 2010. The average price per home sold has increased from $132,479 to $137,901….you would think that is a good sign. The truth of the increase is there have been quite a few homes sales in the Shell Point and Panacea areas in the past six months. This would also seem to be a good sign. The problem is that you have what were supposed to be million dollar properties selling between 300K and 400K! Many of these sales were brand new homes that are absolutely spectacular. They only way these homes would sell is that if buyers would come along and feel that they were getting a steal of a deal! <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The same principals apply in Wakulla County, no matter what type of home you are trying to sell. It is no secret that our housing market is not on the upswing. Today’s buyers are more educated and have more information at their fingertips than ever before. You would think in such a buyer’s market we would start to see an increase in the number of sales. The problem is that with the housing market/economy still in such uncertainty we have less qualified buyers and banks not lending. A lot of the able buyers that are out there today are not in a hurry and only want to buy a great deal. So what does this mean for someone that NEEDS TO SELL their home today?

My advice to you is to truly understand the competition that surrounds you. If there are five homes out there similar to yours, and you are priced in the middle you are going to miss out on the sale. If your home is newer, upgraded, has a pool, more square footage, etc……than you have advantages. The advantages will eventually sell your home when you price the home to sell. You must price your home among less attractive homes and use your advantages to capture a buyer. You should notice that in the above paragraph the words “needs to sell” are capitalized. This is not the market to try and see if you are going get what you paid for the home, or try and break even. If your home does not have any advantages than you must price even lower. Today’s buyers are not going to buy a home that they have to sink money into for repairs/upgrades unless they are getting a great deal. They can just go buy the home that is priced the same as yours with the newer roof, paint, more square footage, more land, etc….

Unfortunately what you feel your home is worth has no bearing on what it will sell for. Neither does your current financial position. What really needs to be evaluated is a seller’s personal situation. Do you really need to sell right now? Are you prepared to lose money on your home? Are you willing to do a short sale and have your credit take a hit? These are the questions that must be answered when putting a house up for sale today. This is the situation that is the majority right now. Buyers are deciding what our home values are, and the majority of them are not buying with emotions. They want the best value for their money.