My wife and I are proud to say that we just purchased a single family home in Coral Gables.
Our Home Buying Story…
Many months ago, we started driving to open houses on the weekends to get an idea of the market. This quickly allowed us to start recognizing value when we saw it. Believe it or not, one can literally get the lay of the land in terms of recognizing value within 8-10 property viewings.
The overpriced homes stood out as well as the well-priced homes. The overpriced homes became stale on the market while the well priced homes went under contract within 30 days and closed shortly thereafter close to the asking price.
My goal in the purchase…
To get the absolute BEST deal possible. Short sales and foreclosures were fair game in my book.
My wife’s goal was quite different…
She wanted a home she would be proud of. Getting the absolute best value on a per square foot basis was not her main priority.
Needless to say, this caused some friction between us in the home-buying process. After a few months of looking, we were at an impasse. I wanted to put offers on these terrific short sale and foreclosure values that were being presented during this historical buyer’s market. She did not.
Observation…
Once we were fully aware of every single home on the market, our only focus became new inventory. This is a critical distinction. The only homes on our radar became the brand new entries hitting the market. This is why it is so critical to price a home correctly on day one when it hits the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). We would race to see these new listings within 48 hours to see if we should make an offer. Trust me, competing buyers were doing the same thing. That is why homes that sell in the first 2 weeks sell close to or above asking price.
Question…
Were we going to make a low ball offer on a brand-new listing on the market? Not a chance. We didn’t have that luxury on new listings. On the other hand, we did make offers quite a bit less than market price on the stale listings available in the market.
Lesson learned…
In our situation, at least, I learned that our home search would continue forever if I continued to hold my ground for the best deal now (update it later). I finally acquiesced and she chose an updated home that spoke to her (and myself I might add) . We chose a fairly priced home in Coral Gables that met all our criteria (open floor plan, 2 car garage, quiet street, updated).
Moral of the story for Sellers…
Price your home according to market conditions on day one instead of price reductions later on after the initial 2-3 surge of buyer interest.
Moral of the story for Buyers…
Have a dedicated realtor working for you to keep you abreast of the brand new listings as soon as they hit the mls. Simply watching the new listings on portals such as Realtor.com, Trulia and Zillow is not enough to be in the game. The reason for this is that these portals receive the new listings from MLS several days after they hit the market. The best values are already under contract at that point.
If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Coral Gables or the surrounding areas, it would be an honor to serve you. Call Jason Smith at 786-326-8115.
ShowcaseMiami Realty specializes in assisting homeowners to Sell their Miami home.
(Highest price in the Shortest period of time)
To discuss a strategy for your home, call…
Jason Smith
Broker (Seller Specialist)
ShowcaseMiami Realty
www.ShowcaseMiami.com
786-326-8115