Marketing is one of my passions. I read about it, study it, and take action on it. I stay on the cutting edge of real estate marketing as I think every Professional Jacksonville Realtor should. One of the biggest key ingredients in any successful marketing project is knowing your target customer.
Who will Buy your Jacksonville Home? Key points to consider:
Average age in Jacksonville is 33 Years old. (Gen-X)
Many up-sizers and down-sizers are currently stuck
Based on the info above, you can guess where I’m going with this. The majority of the Buyers for 2009 homes in Jacksonville will be First Time Home Buyers, and the majority of First Time Home Buyers are Gen-X or Gen-Y.
When you are ready to sell your home, make sure your Jacksonville Realtor has a Marketing and Selling Plan that works AND he knows how to market to potential First Time Home Buyers.
Jacksonville Real Estate Agent – Jacksonville Realtors
If you are selling in this market, you are competing against Short Sales, Foreclosures, and Bank Owned Properties in just about every community within Jacksonville. Understand this: It’s about a 99% chance they will beat you on pricing!
So how do you compete? Simple- Be a Better Value!
Jacksonville Real Estate Agent – Jacksonville waterfront homes
Based on a new survey from Zillow, homeowners believe their homes are worth less now than 12 months ago. Zillow’s official numbers point to about 80% of homes ARE worth less now than 12 months ago.
This is not easy for most of us to hear, but most of us do agree. The important information is that your home does have value, but you must price it accordingly when you are ready to sell.
If you are trying to get a value for your Jacksonville home, you have several options:
Zillow for a Zestimate
Jacksonville Realtor for a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis)
Home value estimator from many places on the web.
Licensed Appraiser
In my professional opinion……ALL METHODS ARE FLAWED.
The only true way to value a home is based on what a Buyer is willing to pay for the home. Once under contract, the value is set, and once the home closes, the value goes back to fluctuating.
Pricing your Jacksonville Home For Sale is part science and part strategy. Ultimately, you want the home to sell fast and for the most amount of money with the least amount of stress. Pricing the home correctly from the beginning will help you achieve your goals, but remember prices are down, so be realistic!
Jacksonville waterfront homes have also been hit with value drops. The old saying, “Rising waters raise all boats” should also include “dropping waters drop all boats”. Values are down in waterfront homes, but the demand is always strong.
If you have a Jacksonville Home to Sell, don’t be a chicken!
Fact of life: Life moves on. People accept better jobs, get relocated, lose a loved one, lose a job, have more children, get a better job, etc. There are endless reasons why you may need to sell a home.
If you do need to sell in this market, don’t be a chicken! Get on top of it ASAP.
A look through the long list of homes for sale on MLS today revealed an interesting trend. I’ve started to see listings that state, “Not a Distress Sale”.
I can understand the Realtor wanting to note that the home is not a Short Sale, but in my professional opinion, every home owner who has a home on the market….in today’s market….is motivated to sell!
Those remarks that the Realtors put in MLS often get distributed out to all the Realtor.com, Craigslist, Yahoo Real Estate, and all the other Home Searching web sites. With those remarks, would you want to see the house? Not me!
In this market, I want a FOUR letter word. I want a D-E-A-L!
If you have a home to sell in Jacksonville. Know that the Buyers looking will all want a DEAL. Knowing this, be prepared and heck, market the home as a “DEAL”. If you price it right, have great curb appeal, and are willing to ENTER into negotiations, your home will sell!
If your neighbor is “that guy”. The guy who maintains his home is the best on the block. The best views, the best yard, the best upgrades, etc. He may be right but guess what, he also will scoff at any low offers. “That Guy” becomes irritated with Buyers who want to get a DEAL. And guess what…..his home sits FOREVER!
My professional opinion: If you have a home to sell in this market, understand that you are motivated to sell, and be prepared to negotiate as all Jacksonville Home Buyers want a DEAL!
Jacksonville Realtor and Jacksonville Real Estate Agent
