Fort Myers Florida, Thinking of selling your home...Need to Hurry!

Recently, I read an article by "Forbes.  Using data from Economy.com and Equifax, they picked the 11 worst housing markets that are losing equity.  Number 2 is Ft. Myers/Cape Coral, FL.  Of course, this drew my attention since this is where I am a Realtor! 

I have talked with several people recently that are concerned as their equity gets smaller every year.  Locally, many tax assessments have dropped the value of houses significantly.  My advice to home owners, if you are thinking of selling in next few years, do it now.  Not everyone is upside down in their houses.  There are households with no mortgage because the mortgage has been paid off or the original purchase was a cash purchase.  Many Boomers are thinking of retiring soon and for many, this means downsizing.  Young couples are starting to have families and need larger homes.  If either group has equity, now is the time to sell for several reasons.

Reason 1, sell before you lose more equity.  Sitting and waiting is never a good plan if you are in positive position.  Recent clients of mine thanked me for selling their home now.  It was originally a cash purchase.  They lived in it for 7 years and sold it for full asking price for more than they originally paid.  They purchased another home that was considerably smaller but fit their needs better than the large pool home.  Because of lower house values in this market, their new purchase was purchased for 50% less than it would have been several years ago.

Reason 2 was mentioned in my client story.  Everything is relative.  Your house is not the only house where plummeting assessments and a low economy are affecting prices.  The house or condo you will be purchasing will probably be at value pricing also.

Reason 3 was also touched on earlier.  Soon to retire Boomers want to downsize.  New families need to up-size.  Sounds like both groups of sellers have interested buyers.  For these two groups in particular it's a buyers and sellers market.

My next blog will be more about why sellers need to be working with a Realtor in this tough market.  Going it alone has never been harder.  Realtors, please feel free to leave plenty of comments on what trends are happening in your market.