How to Sell Your House

From Fort Walton Beach Mullet Wrapper.

'If you want to sell your house, you have to lower your price,' realtor says
KARI C. BARLOW
2007-04-06

We hear it every day. Northwest Florida?s housing market is stabilizing, returning to normal, slowing to a more reasonable pace.

But what does that really mean? Especially for folks whose ?For Sale? signs have started to grow moss? Or the newlyweds hoping to find a deal?

It means, says broker Richard Bell of Beach Bell Realty, that your price had better be right and your patience intact.

?If I?ve got $400,000 to spend on a house along the Emerald Coast, I?ve got so many choices,? Bell said. ?It?s all about price.?

According to data from the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors, in the fourth quarter of 2006 it would have taken 19.3 months to sell the entire single-family home inventory in the area. It would have taken 54 months to sell all of the condos on the market.

?If you want to sell your house, you have to lower your price,? said Bell, who is based in Atlanta and has experience selling real estate in Northwest Florida. ?Everybody?s got the bells and whistles, but price is that underlying equalizer.?

Early results from the first quarter of 2007 back up his claim.

?We?re seeing a lot of activity on houses that are priced right,? said Ray DiTirro, a Realtor with RE/MAX Southern Realty.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, the average list price for single-family homes was $413,302, and the average sale price was $385,973. So far in 2007, the average list price for single-family homes is $370,594 and the average sale price is $342,064.

When it comes to condos, the market is equally, if not more, crowded, Bell said.

?There?s a huge amount of condos out there,? he said. ?We?re overbuilt, there?s no question about that. We?re waiting for the blood to flow.?

Many condominiums are finally receiving their certificates of occupancy, but Realtors are uncertain about buyers showing up to close the deal.

?There are a lot of people who are just walking away,? DiTirro said. ?They do their cash-flow analysis and they say, ?It?ll cost me less to walk away than to carry this condo.? ?