Needing Florida Real Estate Advice

[wdrevell]

I have a single family home on a top rated golf course in a 55+ resort community on Florida's west coast. The home value is approx. $260k and has been listed for 3 months with minimal activity. We are building a larger home in the Tampa Bay area and need to determine should we continue to try to sell or move to a luxury rental until the realty market improves as we will be taking a major hit on the sale.

Many ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[rodi]

I'm not familiar with the Florida market... but here in So. Cal. - if a home sits two long there are 2 possible things wrong.
- Price
- It's condition mandates a cash offer because it's not going to qualify for a loan.

Even poorly staged houses can be sold if the price is right. So price is everything.

 

[wdrevell]

Yes price is key and the property is only 7 years and in perfect condition. My main concern is taking a large loss now or rent it and use rent/depreciation until home prices improve.

 

[REWahoo]

I take it you've already begun construction of your new home and can't simply stay and wait for the housing market to improve?

 

[wdrevell]

Yes..I have the process underway. I can afford 2 homes but it is not my first choice.

 

[REWahoo]

If it were me I'd cut the price, sell and get on with life.

For perspective, being a landlord is something I have no wish to experience - too much like work. Others will be along shortly with differing opinions.

 

[Midpack]

It's been 20 years since I lived in FL. I looked at several online lists, most included price as the #1 reason, but not the only one. Here's 10 potential reasons FWIW 10 Reasons Your Home Won’t Sell | Raveis Blog. I'm sure you can easily figure out which are/are not potential reasons, aside from local RE market conditions themselves. And I'd think your realtor would have useful suggestions.

And here's some data that might be helpful, you'll have to pick your specific location. http://tampamoves.com/research/cities/

I looked at Tampa and the good news is prices are rising again and inventory is down, though days on market seems to be increasing again - seems counterintutive vs inventory?

Best of luck...

 

[BreathFree]

I am in Pensacola. I had the same problem. I put my old house up for sale and received very little foot traffic. After watching other houses in my neighborhood I realized the only houses selling were deeply discounted from what my realtor perceived as the current fair market value. Im talking 40% less than my asking price or 1/2 of my original purchase price.

In the past year all but a few homes in my neighborhood were taken off the market. Some are sitting empty, I rented mine out and clear about $6000.00 a year after expenses. I know renting out your property is probably not what you wanted to hear but I would rather make income off of my property than give it away.

You can monitor your mls listings in your neighborhood or go to zillow and pull your neighborhood up. Check out the range of prices for homes in your area based on price per square foot. See what moves. Price your home accordingly.

 

[SJ1_]

Yes price is key and the property is only 7 years and in perfect condition. My main concern is taking a large loss now or rent it and use rent/depreciation until home prices improve.

One thing to consider is if you do rent it out the odds of it being in "perfect
condition" after tenants is closer to zero than any other number. This is from
28 yrs. of owning rentals.
good luck

 

[heeyy_joe]

You only need one buyer, don't panic. The market will pick up considerably after Easter.

 

[Gatordoc50]

Are you aware of Florida's property tax portability? Look at the assessed value of your home on your property tax receipt. Subtract the assessed value from your projected sale price. The difference can be applied to your new homes value to decrease the assessed value up to 500,000.00. This assumes that you are now homesteaded.

 

[Gatordoc50]

Switching property from personal to investment can be tricky. You have to use the FMV on date of conversion as your basis. So if you do convert be sure to get a written assessment of FMV.

 

[enjoyinglife102]

The home value is what somebody will pay for it, not 260k. Too many times one gets stuck on a number; whether it be an "appraisal", what they paid for it or what's outstanding on the mortgage. They're all irrelevant. One of the big issues you have is what I experienced when I sold a home, nearby comps are going to be what a potential buyer will get stuck on. Maybe a few people dumped their home for whatever reason but now that's a hurdle to overcome. Do a realistic analysis of what a sale price is likely to be, along with incorporating other strategies to make the home more appealing, and go from there. By the way, don't know why everyone assumes prices are going up anytime soon. Maybe, maybe not, maybe the market is flat for years. I'd move on as quickly as possilbe, but then again I like an uncomplicated life with minimal worries. Good luck.

 

[Fishingmn]

I'm a Realtor in MN and have 7 rental properties.

I agree with enjoyinglife. If you decide to rent you should analyze it as an investment property from a return/cash flow basis and not count on prices rising.

If you are going to sell you can either improve the property or lower the price. If you can get over the psychological aspect the best way to find the fair market value is to do regular price reductions until you get an offer close to that list price. Do a reduction every 20-30 days and don't accept an offer unless it's within 3-4% of the current price.

 

[wdrevell]

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback. I really appreciate you taking your time to provide me advice. I have decide to sell and not go through the hassle of renting.

 

[tryan]

Probably a better decision to bleed more now and heal (sell) vs bleed slowly (rent with a negative cashflow).

Just curious, why build when there are bank owned mansions to be had below construction costs?

 

[Texas Proud]

One of the question that I would ask is...

Why do you think the RE market is going to pick up


IOW, there was a bubble in prices... that bubble burst... prices are now lower... in some places a lot lower than previous... there is a new 'normal' and it is half from what the OP states...


I sold my old house for 12% less than I thought it would sell for... (we did not have the bubble, but prices still came down)... this was 3 years ago... prices have come down even more in that neighborhood as there has been a number of foreclosures in the last year.... I am glad I sold it and did not rent it out...

 

[Cessna5354]

We have an investment home in SW Fl, which was a seasonal rental, allowing us the 2 weeks use. For the last four years have rented on an annual basis. 30% more rent, plus the tennat pays for lawn, pool maint & utilities.

For us it is a holding pattern till I retire or market improves ?? I am going in 2 yrs, I dunno on mkt improvement.