How To Sell in Todays' Real Estate Market 

Planning to sell a home here? There's good news on the home front: The ever-changing real estate market is moving in a positive direction again! Sales are up and home prices  have started moving up as well in some areas.  

Realtor.com and Trulia (on-line real estate sites) reported that Florida and Sarasota/Bradenton are rebounding faster than other places in the nation.

Realtor.com’s Report

Realtor.com created a formula to rank a city’s turnaround potential based on recent price appreciation, changes in inventory, median age of inventory, number of Realtor.com searches by visitors and area unemployment.

Realtor.com attributes the area's success to year-over-year home price increases, reductions in inventory, lower unemployment rates and an upswing in international buyers.

Approximately one in 10 foreign buyers look in Sarasota-Bradenton for a home, Realtor.com says. Listing prices have increased and inventory has decreased.

Trulia’s Metro Movers Report

Trulia has debuted a new report that analyzed its home searches.

In one study, Trulia looked at the number of people who searched for housing in a city – including renters – and compared it to the number of city residents looking elsewhere for a home. An area with a high number of inbound searches and a low number of outbound searches, Trulia reasons, suggests an increased demand for housing.

According to the study, the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota area had six times more searches by inbound people than outbound people, landing it in the list’s No. 1 position, but four other Florida cities also made the top 10 list:

1. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota
2. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
3. Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC
4. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach
5. Cape Coral-Fort Myers
6. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach
7. Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
8. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
9. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
10. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
    
                                             Price it Right

 To find out what your home is worth in today's market, you have several   options: 

1. Some owners arrive at a value based on the amount of money invested in their property, starting with the purchase price and then adding in the cost of improvements, additions, and sweat-equity.  But as we all know from recent experience, values can change.  So setting a price based on what you want/need to net is not going to work. 
2. You can have your  home appraised by a licensed appraiser. Be sure to tell him that you are considering selling your home, it's an important piece of information. The appraiser will view your property, noting age, condition, size, and location.  Then he'll do some research: what are comparable homes in the area/neighborhood currently selling for?  What are the recent sales? Ultimately he'll arrive at a realistic value and will give you a written report that substantiates his findings.  Keep in mind that when a home sells, a buyer may be financing the purchase - and the lender will have the home appraised.  So it's very important to set a price based on recent sales in your area. 
3. There is another way to establish value: A Realtor can prepare a Market Analysis, which is similar to an appraisal. A Realtor compares the subject home to comparable homes in the area that are for sale and ones that have recently sold. The difference is that a Realtor usually is not also a licensed appraiser, and usually don't charge a fee.