Are you thinking about selling your SW Florida home, but considering doing it yourself as a FSBO? Are you ready to list it on Zillow or another For Sale By Owner (FSBO) site?

Before you try to sell your home yourself, you may consider the following questions. Selling a home is a complicated legal matter. Selling a home yourself may not be the best financial or legal strategy.

1. Do you know and understand all Florida Real Estate laws regarding selling your home? Do you have someone giving you good real estate advice? In Florida, the laws when selling a home can be complicated. They involve, safety, hazard, disclosure, discrimination, environmental, tax, title and much much more.
2. How are you going to Market Your Home For Sale? Who is Taking the Pictures? Do you have a Video? 3D Real Estate Tour? Buyers value the pictures of a home the most! How are yours? Do you know how to target market for buyers looking on-line? 90% of all buyers start their home search online? Your home needs to be found and seen. How will buyers see it, and what will they think?
3. Do you have a good relationship with a Title Company or Real Estate Attorney? A home buyer and the buyer's lender are going to require a complete title review of your property as well to ensure the title is fully insurable.
4. Is your home ready to be inspected for repairs and pest control and do you understand what is required by Florida law? What about negotiating repairs with the buyer after the inspection? What do YOU HAVE TO DISCLOSE?
5. How are buyers going to find your SW Florida home? Do you have a pricing strategy? Are you prepared to negotiate with a variety of people during the transaction: Buyer, Inspector, Appraiser, etc. Who pays for what and what are the expected cost for inspections, pest control, HOA documentation, etc.
6. Are You Showing the Home? Are you going to say something that will give the buyer a negotiating advantage or possibly put you in a bad position? Also, buyers are uncomfortable when the seller is there. Do you really want them hurrying thru your home?
7. Who is your Buyer? Who are you letting in your home to preview it? Could there be a safety issue? Are you aware of the different lender requirements and the variety of loan programs? Does your home comply?
8. Are you offering a commission to a buyer's agent to bring you a buyer? If so, how much?

The biggest question to ask yourself is: what are you REALLY SAVING by listing your home for sale by yourself?

Often, FSBO homeowners believe they will save the real estate commission by selling their home on their own.

What do you think the buyer or buyer's agent is thinking?

I should get a lower price because you are not paying commission and they will negotiate as such.

Statistically, according to the National Association of Realtors, a FSBO typically sells their home for price of 16% less than the market value.

The question to ask yourself before you list your home FSBO:

Is the risk REALLY greater than the reward?

We have a free home sellers guide for you to review before listing your home for sale. Take a look and let us know how we can help you.

Looking for a Top Real Estate Agent? Be sure to read our post - Finding a TOP SW FL Real Estate Agent - Important Questions to Ask

Would you like a FREE Market Analysis? Call Ross Winchel with Koffman and Associates and Royal Shell Real Estate - 239-898-1214. Ross will provide you a free market analysis to help you price your home properly - even if you are going to try and sell it yourself.

Not all SW Florida Real Estate Listing Agents are the SAME!

Cape Coral, Ft Myers, Sanibel, and all Southwest FL homeowners thinking about selling their SW Florida home in 2017 face the same question - how to find a good listing Realtor / Real Estate agent to list a home for sale and ultimately sell their home.

Below is a list of very important criteria for homeowners planning to sell their home or condo should consider when selecting a top listing Realtor to sell their home:

• Marketing
• Pictures / Real Estate Photography
• Experience
• Technology
• Home For Sale Sign
• Listing Company
• Negotiating Skills
• Communication

Home sellers should ask important questions and review a potential listing agent's previous listings.

• How does the listing agent's previous listings look on Zillow, Realtor.com, the SW FL MLS, and other important real estate listing sites?
• How is the Real Estate Photography?
• Are the pictures presented in a way to SHOWCASE the home for sale?
• How is the property description - creative and descriptive, free of spelling errors and bad grammar?
• What type of marketing does the Realtor employ to sell a home?
• How does the "Home For Sale Sign" look?
• How is the sales transaction handled once you have a contract?

Click here for a list of important questions to ask when selecting a top listing agent in SW Florida.

Koffman and Associates has a Seller's Page that details what we believe are the most critical criteria for selling a home in the 21st Century.

Do you know what your SW Florida home is worth? Use our free home value estimator for an instant on-line estimate of your homes current market value, or contact Ross Winchel (239-898-1214) for a free, personalized market analysis.

Important Questions EVERY HOME SELLER SHOULD ASK Potential Real Estate Listing Agents

Below is a list of important questions SW Florida homeowners (or anyone thinking about selling their home) should ask when selecting a top real estate agent to sell their SW Florida home. 

Experience

• Is Real Estate your primary, only occupation?
• How many years experience do you have as a full time real estate agent?
• How long have you been with your current real estate company?
• How many homes have you listed and sold in the past year?
• Your average length of time from listing to sale?
• What is your average sales price compared to listing price (%)?

Home Value

• What is our home worth?
• How did you arrive at this value?
• What is the recommended list price?
• What is our net at closing, including all fees?
• Is there anything we need to do to improve our homes value?
• Will these improvements make us more money or allow us to sell faster?

Marketing

• How do you market your listings?
• Do you have a marketing plan for each property?
• What unique feature of our home will you showcase?
• Who will take photos, videos and write listing description?
• What technology do you use?
• Do you advertise on Facebook, Google, Yahoo, etc?
• Do you advertise in local print media?
• Do you advertise in any national publications?
• Do you have Enhanced Listings on Realtor.com?
• Are you a Premier Agent on Zillow?
• Signage - do you use any technology on your "For Sale Signs"?

Showings

• How do you schedule showings?
• How do you permit access to the property?
• Can you track who has seen the property?
• Do you gather showing feedback

Communication

• How often do you contact your clients with listing updates?
• What types of updates do you provide?
• What is your preferred means of communication i.e. text, email, phone?

Listing Company

• Do you have administrative back-up or person(s) you work with?
• What is your commission to be paid by us (seller)?
• What commission will you offer to a buyer’s agent?
• Are there any other fees or commissions we’re responsible for other than the commission?
• How long is your listing contract?
• Can we cancel the listing contract?

A couple of other items to look for - does the potential listing agent have a formal, professional listing presentation? How are they dressed? Are they honest and forthright with you with answers to your questions? Is their recommended listing price reasonable? What information did they use to arrive at the value?

If you, or someone you know is thinking about selling their home in SW Florida, CALL Ross Winchel (239) 898-1214 for a confidential market analysis.

How Do Interest Rates Impact Selling or Buying a Home in SW Florida?

There has been recent talk of interest rates potentially rising. What do rising mortgage interest rates mean to real estate buyers and sellers? Let’s look at a sample $200,000 home in SW Florida. A full mortgage payment can include money for the principal and interest (P & I), taxes and insurance. For this analysis, let’s consider for simplicity just the principal and interest portion of the mortgage payment.

Interest rates have been falling for the past 20 years from 7-8% to about 6% 10 years ago and now most recently under 4%. Last summer an average rate was approximately 3.4% and has recently gone up to about 4.1% for a 30 year fixed rate loan. Let’s look at the effect of those recent rates.

 Sample home $200,000 with conventional 20% down 30 year loan of $160,000.

•     Interest rate 3.4%   P&I $710 a month
•     Interest rate 4.1%   P&I $773 a month
•     Interest rate 4.5%   P&I $811 a month

 These rates sure beat the $1174 per month that 8% rates cost in the past!

The basic P&I rate for a $200,000 home has gone up by just $60 a month since last summer. That extra payment likely would not stop a home purchase.  On the other hand, if a home buyer could just afford the $710 per month, then they could now afford a $184,000 home instead of $200,000.  One effect on the buyer is that there may be less homes to choose from or that the homes they can pick are possibly of lesser value.

For sellers, increasing rates, if they diminish the buying power of some buyers, can tend to affect the prices of homes. Our advice, as always, would be to have your Realtor closely watch the market for price trends and adjust your price accordingly to stay competitive.

Search all the home in SW Florida MLS

Instant home value tool

 Koffman & Associates - Royal Shell Real Estate, has a terrific home seller tool - Seller's Guide - How to Sell Your SW Florida Home Using Great Pictures!

Many times, Cape Coral homeowners thinking about selling their SW Florida home, do not know where to start. For some potential Cape Coral home sellers, it has been years or even decades since they sold a home and they just don't know how homes are sold in today's real estate market.

Our seller's resource page is designed to help home sellers in Cape Coral and Southwest Florida. Here you will find home selling advice and tips based on Koffman & Associates' years of real estate experience and success.

We believe the absolute most important thing a seller should do when finding a top Southwest Florida real estate agent is look at their marketing. Properly marketing a home for sale is the key to selling a SW FL home for top dollar. The most important piece of real estate marketing is the photography and video used to sell a home.

Below are some examples of good real estate photography and good real estate video for marketing a home for sale.

(For more Samples of our real estate pictures - Click here)

If you or someone you know is thinking about selling their Cape Coral or SW Florida home, give Ross Winchel a call. 239-898-1214

We hire professional real estate photographers and have a custom marketing plan to sell homes. We know How to Sell Your SW Florida Home Using Great Pictures!

Cape Coral Real Estate Sales and Market Reports / Charts for November 2016

Koffman & Associates Cape Coral Real Estate Activity Charts for November 2016

Koffman and Associates - Royal Shell Real Estate charts are updated for real estate sales through November 2016 and include the following Cape Coral Real Estate categories (click for details):

• Cape Coral Single Family Home Sales and Inventory
• Cape Coral Gulf Access Homes
• Cape Coral Gulf Access Lots
• Cape Coral Freshwater Homes
• Cape Coral Freshwater Lots
• Cape Coral Off Water Homes
• Cape Coral Off Water (Dry) Lots
• Cape Coral Waterfront Condos
• Cape Coral Off Water Condos

Neighborhood Market Reports

Below, you can find pre-defined Cape Coral Real Estate Market Reports.

• SE Cape Coral
• SW Cape Coral
• NE Cape Coral
• NW Cape Coral
• Yacht Club - Cape Coral
• Cape Coral Gulf Access Homes
• Cape Coral Freshwater Homes

Cape Coral Single Family Home Sales Real Estate Market Report for November 2016

The Koffman and Associates real estate team has been tracking detailed home sale statistics and charting real estate trends in the Cape Coral real estate market since 2004. We have done this to aid our real estate customers and clients in understanding the history and current property values in different segments of our Cape Coral real estate market. See the links below for our latest Cape Coral Real Estate Market Report charts.

Click here to see the latest, updated Cape Coral Single Family Home Sales Monthly Real Estate Trend Chart for November 2016

Southwest Florida MLS Market Report

Monthly Koffman & Associates Real Estate Activity Charts

Koffman and Associates charts are updated monthly and include the following chart categories (click for details):

• Cape Coral Single Family Home Sales and Inventory
• Cape Coral Gulf Access Homes
• Cape Coral Gulf Access Lots
• Cape Coral Freshwater Homes
• Cape Coral Freshwater Lots
• Cape Coral Off Water Homes
• Cape Coral Off Water (Dry) Lots
• Cape Coral Waterfront Condos
• Cape Coral Off Water Condos

Neighborhood Market Reports

Below, you can find pre-defined SW Florida Real Estate Market Reports.

• SE Cape Coral
• SW Cape Coral
• NE Cape Coral
• NW Cape Coral
• Yacht Club - Cape Coral
• Cape Coral Gulf Access Homes
• Cape Coral Freshwater Homes

Fort Myers Beach Sand Sculpting

Today is the last day to see the amazing sand sculptures at the 30^th Annual American Sand Sculpting Championship at Fort Myers Beach. The event is located behind the Wyndham Garden Hotel (6890 Estero Blvd). You can buy a wristband for $7 (4 and under are free). Free parking and shuttle service is available at Lover’s Key (8700 Estero Blvd) but $5 and $10 parking spots are also available near the hotel. Open 10 am - 5 pm.

Award winning completed sculptures, as well as, amateur displays are there to view. Demonstrations, lessons, live music, vendors, food and drink are also available.

This is a great way to cap off the 2016 Thanksgiving weekend. 

Fort Myers Beach Sand Sculpting

If you’re in the market for real estate and want information on buying a home or condo in Cape Coral or Fort Myers Beach, contact Ross Winchel at 239-898-1214 or Jill Winchel at 615-504-1185. We are both Realtors with Koffman and Associates at Century 21 Sunbelt Realty. You may also click on a link to start your search:

Cape Coral Homes for Sale

Ft Myers Beach Homes for Sale

Fort Myers Beach Sand Sculpting

Posted by Jill Winchel