What is the "Best Time" to purchase a single family in PGI? (bank owned, for sale) - Punta Gorda - Port Charlotte - Florida (FL) -Charlotte County - City-Data Forum

nbposter · 03-29-2015, 01:40 PM

Please don't say right now. I have been watching the single family housing market there for the last 6 months and was also there in January of 2015 and looked at probably a dozen homes. Put an offer in on one, but it fell through. Seems like in the later part of February and into March the homes are selling like crazy, but in Nov, Dec of 2014 and January 2015 things were selling, but not at the pace they are now. Is that because people selling are now and ready to dump their places since the snowbirds are going home? I also noticed many of the homes that have not sold are just being taken off the market. Is what I just described typical of the last few years? I am beginning to wonder if now is not the best time buy. I don't want to get in a situation where there are competiting bids on same home, not to mention there appears to be less inventory now!!

SoFLGal · 03-29-2015, 02:29 PM

Here is a graph specifically for the PGI area. As you can see, the highest amount of sales are in April-May. The sales steadily drop off until you reach August, which is the least amount of competition or lowest amount of sales. Keep in mind that while there is less competition, there are also less listings to choose from. Many people list their homes for sale at the beginning of snowbird season, which starts mid January and ends after Easter.

This graph shows the average sales price in PGI for the last year. Overall in the area prices are increasing and listings are decreasing. I would expect this trend to continue.

Hope this helps

lobobuzz · 03-29-2015, 03:28 PM

My suggestion would be to take a macro vs. micro view. The real estate market here is in a recovery phase and the deals will not last long. We bought a saltwater waterfront home in PC about a year ago dirt cheap and restoring and updating. What's nice is that essentially my whole block has been picked by folks over the last 12 months redoing and updating homes for retirement.

Good luck!

mr&mrssunshine · 03-29-2015, 04:18 PM

the ideal time was 18-24 months ago. while the doom and gloom merchants were saying no recovery until 2016 some of us were more positive and saw the factors for recovery. Its always good to buy at the start of an upward curve as you know you are going to be in a good position. Right now we are into the upward curve ,the question is when will it peak ?

the main cause of the last housing bust was so may people losing their jobs, couldn't pay the 100% mortgage and became upside down. so we saw a plethora of foreclosures, cheap homes and bobbled along...as the inventory of bank owned dropped so prices started to rise, the problem then was there were no new homes, demand outstripped supply and prices started to rise faster.

there is still not enough stock and so prices are rising too fast, 10-15-20% is not healthy, a nice 5-7% is...so right now we are in a phase that needs to slow slightly. Until there is more inventory that wont happen.

I truly believe we have AT LEAST 3 more years of growth, probably 5..thats the minimum time, before thing start to slow. whether they then peak and drop back slightly we shall see in a few years.

the housing market has always been cyclical , usually the next peak is higher than the last and the next trough not as low as before. If the next slowdown isn't violent , its livable. what we need now is a steady increase not rampant inflation......

HarborRat · 03-29-2015, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nbposter

Please don't say right now. I have been watching the single family housing market there for the last 6 months and was also there in January of 2015 and looked at probably a dozen homes. Put an offer in on one, but it fell through. Seems like in the later part of February and into March the homes are selling like crazy, but in Nov, Dec of 2014 and January 2015 things were selling, but not at the pace they are now. Is that because people selling are now and ready to dump their places since the snowbirds are going home? I also noticed many of the homes that have not sold are just being taken off the market. Is what I just described typical of the last few years? I am beginning to wonder if now is not the best time buy. I don't want to get in a situation where there are competiting bids on same home, not to mention there appears to be less inventory now!!

I think the snowbirds (who want to buy) have a lot to do with the amount of bids on properties. Now that they are leaving I think the bids will slow a bit. However, I think the prices have plenty of room to rise from here. So I think I'm agreeing with you, it should get a little "easier" as far as competition goes in the next few weeks and months. Don't expect prices to fall much if at all...but at least you won't have as many "phantom bidders" that you have to "blindly outbid".....

SJNE17 · 03-29-2015, 05:24 PM

good question, but context is needed as to intended use since there are so many variables. is it for retirement? if so, here's my $0.02: the best time to buy is when, after a ton of searching, you've found your dream house (or close to it) and can afford it.

in that scenario, it's really not rocket science, as much as the industry and markets make it out to be.

besides, you can't take your house with you.

nbposter · 03-29-2015, 05:31 PM

HarborRat....pardon me for sounding a bit uninformed, but can you explain what you mean by a phantom bidder? There have been several homes of interest to me that all of a sudden are now in a "PENDING" state, but seem to stay in that PENDING status for a very long time. So if the definition of a pending sale is that all contingencies have been removed, and the buyer is moving toward closing, then how long does it take to close the darn home? Seems like some of these places are sitting in PENDING for 3-4 weeks if not longer. So you sparked my interest when you mentioned "phantom bidder."

HarborRat · 03-29-2015, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nbposter

HarborRat....pardon me for sounding a bit uninformed, but can you explain what you mean by a phantom bidder? There have been several homes of interest to me that all of a sudden are now in a "PENDING" state, but seem to stay in that PENDING status for a very long time. So if the definition of a pending sale is that all contingencies have been removed, and the buyer is moving toward closing, then how long does it take to close the darn home? Seems like some of these places are sitting in PENDING for 3-4 weeks if not longer. So you sparked my interest when you mentioned "phantom bidder."

I am probably talking about a different (illegal) type of phantom bidder. In your case 3-4 weeks is nothing as far as closing dates are concerned, so the pending status while under contract could legitimately go on for a while.

What I am talking about is when I make a cash bid on a house only to have the selling agent claim there is another bidder and I must give them my highest bid, sealed, which they will compare to the other "bidder's" highest sealed bid.

I've never had this happen when dealing directly with the selling agent of the house, but it happened a few times when dealing with my own agent....then the selling agent always wanted to bleed me for more. In each case I refused to play the game, and in each case the house ended up selling for less than my original cash offer. Obviously there was no other bidder, as in each case I let my original bid stand, and it sold for less. The selling agent made out better on the lower price though I guess

.

Since then I only deal with the selling agent (the name on the sign). Most agents are reputable (maybe?), but there are many that just don't want to share their commissions unless they have to. And when you deal with the selling agent the deal usually goes through ASAP, even if others are showing interest.

MikMal · 03-30-2015, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJNE17

.... the best time to buy is when, after a ton of searching, you've found your dream house (or close to it) and can afford it....

And that, in a nut shell, is the answer (as long as the house is for your use and not as an investment).

So many people I know get all excited when their house value goes up. When I ask them if they're planning on selling I get a resounding "No!". So I ask, outside of bragging rights what good does that do? It just means the real estate taxes will go up as well. That's when the blank look happens.

Only you know when the time is right, just as SJNE said. Hindsight is always 20/20 and waiting for the future is simply a gamble. You just need to act when the time is right FOR YOU.

quattrohead · 03-30-2015, 07:25 AM

Yes the "multiple offer" situation is very prevalent in south Florida, seems to happen with every property deal I personally know about, only a dozen or so.
I think they should take the first at asking price or have all bids open for everyone to know about, a property will still sell for what the market dictates.