What's the Problem with On-site Sales Offices?

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Today I'm going to save you a lot of money when you go to list your home. A lot of sellers lose money when they list their homes through the on-site sales office. The big hook here is that hardly anyone walks in off the street to buy a home. This might have happened when the market was better, but this doesn't really happen anymore.

The second problem is that these on-site sales offices show your property to everyone that walks in the door. Normally there are multiple properties listed with their office, so how can they represent you and sell your property while trying to sell for your competition? It's a very difficult thing to do.
 


Hiring a trained, experienced, and proficient real estate professional is always your best option when you go to sell your home. A Realtor is committed to helping you sell your home for the most amount of money in the least amount of time with as little hassle as possible.

Don't leave money on the table by using on-site sales folks. Contact my team if you want to sell quickly and for top dollar!

Three Steps to a Higher Sales Price on the Emerald Coast


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There are many different ways to increase your final sale price, and some work better than others. Today I'll be showing you what I think are the three best ways to squeeze some extra cash out of your property during a sale.

1. Have your paperwork in order. When you're trying to sell your beach property, people will want to know the rental income on it, and if you have statements from the previous two or three years, that's even better. Know what it costs to own the property. This includes maintenance costs as well as utility costs.
 


2. Make sure that buyers have access to your property. If you rent it out, make sure that the property management companies don't allow early check-ins. If someone is living in the home, then we can't show it and it won't sell. It's easy to schedule multiple showings at one time. This tends to increase your final sale price.

3. Price your home correctly. This is absolutely critical because if you price too high, buyers will ignore your property. This will cause it to sit on the market with little to no activity, and you will not get anywhere close to top dollar for your home. If you price it correctly, you will get a lot of attention from buyers and your chances of selling for top dollar will increase dramatically.
 

If you have any further questions about selling your home on the Emerald Coast, please don't hesitate to contact me!

How the At the Beach Team Helped Nikki Find Her Perfect Home


“We purchased a house from them, it went really really good, they were very friendly they explained all the questions that we asked them, and the process went pretty smoothly. One of the realtors that I worked with, she definitely made an effort [and] made a time for us.”

How John Skinner helped Kim sell her house quickly and efficiently

“Way above and beyond. John came and he was very thoughtful, he was really trying to figure out what [my home] was really worth and how he could market it. He actually decided to market it with a drone, from the air so it focused on our new roof and it focused on how much wind we had compared to everything around us. He also had them zoom out so you can see how close the Gulf of Mexico would look. It was an awesome way to market our home and we had people marching through our house from Day 1, and on Day 6 we sold our house with 3 offers. We appreciate it John!”

What's the Secret to Getting Top Dollar for Your Emerald Coast Property?


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Every seller wants to get top dollar for their beach home. Today, I want to explain how you can do just that here on the Emerald Coast.

Over the last few years, we've sold more condos than anyone else in our area, and we rank in the top 10 in the MLS for combined residential sales (houses, condos, and townhomes). We've helped a lot of people get top dollar for their properties, and we can help you do the same.


Recently, we sold a condo at Bella Reva for $847,000. What's interesting about this sale is that we sold it for $32,500 more than the next highest sale. Additionally, our sale price was $80,000 more than the average in the building!

At Sun Destin, we sold two properties for $391,000 and $380,000, respectively. The next highest sale price for a similar property was only $304,500, about $75,000 less than what our sellers got!

One last example: We recently sold a condo at Gulf Dunes for $350,000. That's the highest sale price in that building in a long time, and it's $53,000 higher than the average sale price in the building over the last 12 months. The seller got a fantastic price!

If you're curious about how the At the Beach Team gets top dollar for our sellers, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

How we helped Matt with his real estate transaction by going above and beyond

 
"They were great! They did everything they said they would do. They kept in contact with me, and they worked real hard to get a very good deal for all interested parties. John put forth a heck of a lot of effort to get the deal through. He did a great job! I think he went above and beyond."

How we helped Leigh with her real estate transactions by going above and beyond


“I got the results that I asked for. I have been dealing with John for over a year and when we first did the evaluation to sell my condo, it was going to bring in too little, and he told me that. This year, I told him the amount I needed and he said he could get it for me, and he did. It seemed like everybody went above and beyond!”

How we helped our customer with their real estate transaction by being professional

 
"Everything seemed to be handled professionally. They all did their jobs very well. We were pleased with the results and the people we worked with!"

How we helped Brian sell his home by handling all the drama

 
"They were exactly the results that we set up to accomplish. We had some very difficult buyers, and they just handled it. That was perfect because they didn’t include me in the drama that they had to go through in order to get the deal done. As a customer, they made me very happy!"

Why Isn't Your Emerald Coast Property Selling?


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Do you have a home that's in good condition and is also priced correctly, but just not selling? I've seen lots of good homes sit on the market, and I think I know why.

The problem here is that not enough demand was created for these homes, and this is because a solid marketing plan was not employed. The real estate agent's objective should be to create a lot of demand for the property in order to bring a high sale price. 


To create demand, you need a specific, written marketing plan for your property. The one-size fits all approach just doesn't do the trick, you need a custom marketing plan. Each property has a different type of buyer, and you need to attract them to your specific property.

When you simply lower the asking price in order to generate interest, the only person that wins is the agent. Instead of doing this, I employ a tailored marketing plan in order to sell your home for top dollar. 

If you need help selling your home in the Emerald Coast, please don't hesitate to contact me!

What Do Recent Emerald Coast Market Trends Mean for You?


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Hello, and welcome to the At the Beach Team's video blog! We service all of the Emerald Coast, from Panama City all the way to Pensacola Beach. Today, we want to give you a market update for the area for June! 

Summer is here, and this means three things: crowds at the beach, an active real estate market, and unpredictable weather. We've been very fortunate here at the beach for quite a while. The last storm to hit us was tropical storm Claudette, which hit us in 2009; the last hurricane to hit us was Dennis in 2005. So we've been very lucky. However, because it's been so long, we are statistically two years overdue for a storm to actually hit our area. We have to be ready for that! 


There are a couple of things you need to do to prepare for a storm. First, you need to contact your HOA and get on the same page with storm protocol. Next, contact your insurance provider to ensure that you know exactly what will be covered in the event of a storm. If you're waiting until the fall to sell your home, you may need to reconsider. Statistically speaking, September is the time of year the most hurricanes hit our area. To avoid a potentially complicated home sale, listing your home now might be the wise thing to do. 

Now, back to market conditions. The real estate market on the Emerald Coast is still very active. We've had strong sales for condos, houses, and land! New home sales are perhaps the most active, as builders have lowered prices and added a lot of incentives for purchasing new construction. Existing home sales are also very strong. We're getting a lot of showing activity on our existing homes, and in some cases, we're seeing multiple offers and homes selling for above asking price. 

There are a couple new condo developments happening in Panama City and Destin, so if you're interested in these pre-construction sales, just let us know. Currently, there are about 1,400 condos for sale. Each week, about 50 condos come on the market and about 50 sell, so it's a flat market right now for condo sales. This means it's hard to get your condo to appreciate in price, despite the fact that condos are still selling.

Land sales are pretty strong right now. We're still seeing a lot of sales, but the frenzy we saw last year has cooled off a bit. If you're looking to buy or sell land, the market is still active and healthy, so it's not a bad time.

Like the weather, it's hard to predict what market conditions will be like later this year. If you want to stay in touch with current market trends, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to hear from you!

How we helped Julie sell her house by accommodating her schedule

 
"I had great results. Our house sold in under 30 days! We don’t live in Florida, so he met us at our place when we were there for Christmas break. I thought that was nice because he didn’t really have to do that!"

How we helped Joe sell his condo using our great communication skills

 
"My condo sold within three and a half months. His agency had certain clients that he directed towards my condominium, and he worked well with the agency that manages the condo. He kept good communication with them so that the guests weren’t inconvenienced."

How to Sell Now and Capture the High Summer Rent



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Today we're going to be talking about how you can maximize your position as a seller in our real estate market. It's May, and the market is very active right now, so this is your chance to cash in.

Instead of waiting until fall to sell your rental property at the beach, I urge you to get on the market now while prices are higher, buyer demand is peaking and you can still capture the high summer rental income. You have a much better chance to sell high now than if you wait until August or September when the market is floods with sellers. 

List now so you will already have your house or condo sold and captured the lion’s share of the high rental income when Fall rolls around and everyone who waited to sell are scrambling for buyers!

Also, inventory is low right now and we're expecting a lot of buyers to come to town, as they do every summer. Right now you have a great opportunity to maximize your position as a seller.

Please don't hesitate to contact me, or any of our great realtors, if you need assistance selling your home!

April Sales Statistics
Click the links below for detailed information about the specific market segments:


Want a specific report? Simply email me JohnMoran@AtTheBeachTeam.com and I will email you a report for the area you are most interested in.

How Can You Take Advantage of Emerald Coast Real Estate?


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Buying an Emerald Coast Home or Condo? Search all properties for sale

We're often asked how the market is doing, because a lot of the people we work with are second homeowners and also owners of investment propertiesThis is a tough thing to pinpoint exactly, but I have a few pieces of information that I could share with you.

First of all, high end properties are seeing a lot of activity right now. This goes for homes that are valued over $1 million. I believe this surge of activity in these higher price points stems from higher affordability and the fact that CEO's and other business owners are doing quite well in this economy. They're buying homes right now with their extra income. 

At the other end of the spectrum, we're seeing a lot of investors buying up properties in the $300K price bracket and below. These investments will primarily be used as rental properties.

Lastly, the middle price bracket (homes valued anywhere from $300K-$900K) is performing slower than the others. This is probably being spurred on by the fact that the people that would normally buy these homes are a little uncertain as to whether they should purchase. They may be figuring out their 401K or trying to plan a secure retirement. Luckily, interest rates are low and when the economy comes back I think we'll be seeing a lot of activity in this area of the market.

Overall, there are always buyers and sellers for homes that are in good condition and staged well. If you're looking to either buy or sell, then now is the time to do so. We're seeing a busy spring market emerging, and low interest rates will be pushing a lot of buyers onto the market. You don't want to miss out!

Please contact me if you need any assistance with real estate in Emerald Coast!

How You Can Get Multiple Offers and Higher Sales Prices


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The Emerald Coast real estate market is beginning to heat up, and because of this we have been able to secure multiple offers for many of our sellers. As you can imagine, getting multiple offers on your home or condo creates stronger offers, resulting in higher sales prices.

The best way to garner multiple offers is to create value for your property – in the eyes of buyers. Essentially you need to find the sweet spot where you are lower than everyone else on the market but still higher than the last sale.   

For example, if you're selling a condo where the last sale was at $300,000 and now properties are listed at $350K and higher, then you should go ahead and price your condo at $330K. This creates a major incentive for buyers to come in and make offers on your property because it’s such a good deal ($20,000 less) than the other listings. This strategy often leads to more offers and higher prices. In this case a deal of $325,000 ($25,000 more than the last sale) is very likely.  And that is what you want – not the highest list prices but the highest sales price!

This also puts you in the driver seat as the seller because you have the ability to pick and choose from different offers.

If you want a Realtor that understands pricing and knows how to sell real estate in a way that captures you the highest sales prices possible, then feel free to reach out to me at any point in time and we will be glad to help.