Another real estate market question (Sarasota, Naples: spring break, sale, to rent)

[Grlzrl]

So after searching online and looking for a few months, we went to Naples over spring break and found a house we loved. We were processing making an offer and of course it sold. There were a few things it didn't have that we wanted but of course you can't get everything that you want. We want to be in a specific school.

So the agent told me that because of the seasonal nature of the market there, people won't list much after May. I think because of how hot the market is, people will continue to list. My house, as an example, sold for about 80% more than it was purchased for only 7 years ago.

The agent has another listing that is going to fall out of 'escrow' (I don't think Florida is an escrow state so I don't know what they call it there). She is encouraging me to make an offer but I don't love the house as much and it doesn't have a few of our must haves. She is encouraging me to settle because of how hot the market is.

I have wanted to move out of our current house for 14 years for reason I won't bore you with, but I don't really want to settle again. But we kind of need to be there by August so I don't know if I should gamble and not find anything. We are so limited by area, school, etc.

BTW, I am not from California.

[JPrzybylski07]

Of course she’s encouraging you to settle, she wants her commission.

Florida is an escrow state.

She’s talking out of her butt, just assuming this year’s market behavior will replicate the years past. Because of the pandemic many people put off listing their homes because they didn’t want people coming inside. With the vaccine now people will start dropping their guards and listing more, especially when they see how much of a seller’s market it is.

Consider renting instead of rushing into a purchase you’ll regret especially in an inflated market.

(Marc please proof read my comments for any grammatical errors, thanks)

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by JPrzybylski07

Of course she’s encouraging you to settle, she wants her commission.

Florida is an escrow state.

She’s talking out of her butt, just assuming this year’s market behavior will replicate the years past. Because of the pandemic many people put off listing their homes because they didn’t want people coming inside. With the vaccine now people will start dropping their guards and listing more, especially when they see how much of a seller’s market it is.

Consider renting instead of rushing into a purchase you’ll regret especially in an inflated market.

(Marc please proof read my comments for any grammatical errors, thanks)

I agree with you on all but one point. I don't think there is any reason that the market will cool off soon. The market is not just heated because of Covid. It's heated because of all the people who now are not tied to metro areas and blues states with high taxes.

[JPrzybylski07]

Originally Posted by Grlzrl

I agree with you on all but one point. I don't think there is any reason that the market will cool off soon. The market is not just heated because of Covid. It's heated because of all the people who now are not tied to metro areas and blues states with high taxes.

The market is high. This will result in places like Venice looking much more attractive. Yes as far as cleanliness and beaches Naples is second to none on the southwest coast of Florida. However, if beaches aren’t that important to you and you’re more into natural landscaping then artificial, then Sarasota County has a lot more bang for you buck especially in the southern portions, lots of new construction and communities happening there.

Florida is very transient and has a lot of 2nd homes here, don’t drop your guard with the market here thinking it’s predictable is what I’m really trying to say.

[SellingNWCape]

Is the agent you're referring to the seller's agent who listed the house you were initially interested in or is this someone you reached out to on your own to use as a buyer's agent? Either way, I agree with JP - that person is just trying to get their $. Don't let someone try to push you into another 14 years of regret. I would never want to work with an agent who was pushing me to make a decision like that. Sure, it's a hot market but this is also your life and your investment, not theirs. Find someone who will work with your best interest in mind, not what works best for them and their pocketbook.

PS - It's not California that people have a problem with. It's the worry that people fleeing their current high-tax state will just move down here and vote people who in who could do the same to Florida. A state doesn't in and of itself just raise taxes and push bad laws down onto people, it's the elected officials who do.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by SellingNWCape

Is the agent you're referring to the seller's agent who listed the house you were initially interested in or is this someone you reached out to on your own to use as a buyer's agent? Either way, I agree with JP - that person is just trying to get their $. Don't let someone try to push you into another 14 years of regret. I would never want to work with an agent who was pushing me to make a decision like that. Sure, it's a hot market but this is also your life and your investment, not theirs. Find someone who will work with your best interest in mind, not what works best for them and their pocketbook.

PS - It's not California that people have a problem with. It's the worry that people fleeing their current high-tax state will just move down here and vote people who in who could do the same to Florida. A state doesn't in and of itself just raise taxes and push bad laws down onto people, it's the elected officials who do.

You don't have to worry about how I vote. I promise you you will like it.

I agree about the agent. It WAS the seller's agent and I am kind of done with her. She asked if I would be interested in building and I told her that she told me that all the remaining lots in the neighborhood were crappy. She sent me the one unsold lot and sure enough, it's practically right next to a highway.

[Marc Middleton]

Originally Posted by Grlzrl

I have wanted to move out of our current house for 14 years for reason I won't bore you with, but I don't really want to settle again. But we kind of need to be there by August so I don't know if I should gamble and not find anything. We are so limited by area, school, etc.

BTW, I am not from California.

You've wanted to move for 14 years and haven't? That sounds like the main problem you're having, can't pull the trigger on a decision. You lost the first house because you had to 'process' making an offer?

In this market, you need to pull the trigger. Sounds like you should just rent this year and just sell your house to capitalize on this hot market.

Forget building, that's a year out unless you get something with permits already done and supplies on hand or next in line to receive. Everything is up -lumber, roof materials , steel, etc. And forget just 'adding a pool' unless you want to pay a premium and have your pool this year.

This is why re-sales are flying off the market. Inventory is down 68% year over year, even for condos.

Good luck!!

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by Marc Middleton

You've wanted to move for 14 years and haven't? That sounds like the main problem you're having, can't pull the trigger on a decision. You lost the first house because you had to 'process' making an offer?

In this market, you need to pull the trigger. Sounds like you should just rent this year and just sell your house to capitalize on this hot market.

Forget building, that's a year out unless you get something with permits already done and supplies on hand or next in line to receive. Everything is up -lumber, roof materials , steel, etc. And forget just 'adding a pool' unless you want to pay a premium and have your pool this year.

This is why re-sales are flying off the market. Inventory is down 68% year over year, even for condos.

Good luck!!

I didn't move for 14 years because I had built a new house in a new neighborhood and didn't realize how small the yards would be since we were the first build in our area. This was about 2 years after we built. My husband didn't want to move. I looked at houses for many years and never saw one that I loved enough to push it. Finally, one day, I went to see one and loved it. It was about 25% overpriced and I knew it would take the sellers a while to get to that realization so we finally put in a slightly below market offer with some room to negotiate and they still came back at about 23% overpriced. Then we had a situation that we wanted to sell some stock before we bought it and we were in an 8 month blackout period which had never happened in 22 years of working at that company. Since the house was way overpriced, it sat and sat. We made another offer and immediately, they got another offer. I know the realtor called the other interested buyer and shopped our offer. That deal fell through and then we decided we needed to sell our vacation home because we didn't want to carry expenses on two houses. My husband didn't want to buy in Illinois because of the coming financial collapse. I saw us still here for another 6-10 years until at least he retired. Then after we sold our vacation home I said let's go buy it and he said his company was doing a huge round of layoffs and we were lead to believe he would be given a buyout offer by a very credible source. But then they started rioting downtown and people freaked out and started buying up everything they could get in the suburbs and by the time I realized it, the house I wanted had sold. By then, we had found out my husband wasn't being laid off. Now he is able to be fully remote so we are not stuck here anymore. Both my husband and I are on the same page about moving to Florida and I have a buyer who wants to look at my house. If she doesn't buy it, I will probably list it. If we have to rent, we will. It's just such a bummer because I found a house and we just hesitated a second and it sold.

[Lillie767]

OP: Don't worry about finding a new home and don't regret the 14 years you lived in your current house. I spent forty years complaining about the size of each room in my then newly built house. I would say if only each room were slightly larger the house would be ideal. My husband patiently, and sometime not so patiently, listened to this for forty years.

We bought a house a few years ago and guess what: there is also something wrong with this house! The rooms are a good size (so no complaining about room size), but I wish the outside patio were a little wider. The patio at the old house could accommodate much more furniture than the new house. Sigh!!!

As Roseannadanna used to say: "Well, Jane, it just goes to show you, it's always something — if it’s not one thing, it's another."

You will find your new home. Just remember that it's always something.

[wjj]

Just my two cents here since we are from the same general area up north (at least I think we are since we post on the same CD boards up there).


We started looking in SWFL about a dozen years ago. Our only home buying experience was in the northwest Chicago suburbs and that mindset worked against us. We tried several times and lost several houses by moving forward in the manner we learned up north. That was a mistake. We ended up buying a second home in Gateway which is plenty big to become our primary home (but did look all over Lee and Collier Counties). Here is what we learned. It may be different now, but one of the real estate guys on here can chime in.


1. Cash talks. We were originally going to finance 50% not because we had to, but because it made economic sense given the tax laws and interest rates at the time. Once we lost out on several occasions to cash buyers with lower offers, we changed our approach and got a better house than we expected at a price below other offers when we made a cash offer.
2. We also went through the "process" thinking that we had to do that based on our Illinois experience. Florida real estate contracts are very different and in many cases, you can make an offer and have some number of days to back out without penalty for any reason after you inspect the property. 14 days usually. We made our offer one day after the house hit the market sight unseen based on the recommendation of our real estate agent and the pictures he sent. Felt uncomfortable, but it really was okay. Even though we made our offer one day after the property hit the market, there were two other offers in front of us and two more came in the day after. The market is crazy now and if you hesitate, you lose.
3. Many listings we saw were "as is", not because anything was wrong with the property, but to avoid a provision in contracts that allowed buyers to demand that sellers repair any defects found up to 1.5% of the purchase price, or adjust the price downward by that amount. Back then I remember hearing advertisements for inspectors who guaranteed to find enough to get "the full 1.5% you are entitled to". I don't know if that is still the case, but we felt there was little risk making a cash offer sight unseen on an as-is sale since you can back out for any reason during the inspection period (we did that on one house).
4. I don't know specifically where you are now, but schools anywhere in SWFL do not stack up well against suburban Chicago schools. So if you are thinking a "top" SWFL HS would be like Stevenson, New Trier, Deerfield, Libertyville, etc., you need to reset your expectations to say Wheeling, Mundelein, Warren, or maybe in a big stretch, Lake Zurich.


We split our time year round between our two homes and we can (and do) comfortably live in either. I don't blame you one bit for getting out of Illinois. We could change our residency with just a few minor adjustments, but as retirees, there is no big economic reason to do so if we are going to maintain two residences. Cost wise, it is six of one and a half dozen of the other. That will likely change in a few years as personal connections in each area evolve.