Have you ever driven through a neighborhood and seen all those real estate signs in front of seemingly every other house?
It probably happens every day in most parts of the United States if you are in the real estate market as a buyer or real estate professional.
But not all of those houses are for sale....
In Brevard County Florida there are 5330 single family homes that are either actively for sale, under contract with contingencies or under contract and awaiting closing. Sounds like a bunch of homes for sale.
Now assume there is a "For Sale " sign in front of each of these properties. How many are actually actively for sale?
Drum roll, please.....
How does 69% sound???
Out of 5,330 properties only 3,681 are actively for sale.
This was really brought to my attention today when a client called me to say she had found the neighborhood she really likes. We had looked at one house in the subdivision earlier this week.
She said there were lots of other signs in the neighborhood.
The neighborhood of Capron Trace in Viera did have 7 properties in the MLS system but only one was active. Six of these properties were under contract!
Point made.....
Just because there are signs out front doesn't mean it is on the market!
Gary L. Waters PLLC, Florida licensed real estate agent, Century 21 Baytree Realty, Rockledge, Florida serving Florida's Space Coast including the cities and communities of Melbourne, Viera, Rockledge, Suntree, Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach and the surrounding region.
Read my blogs Florida Homes for Sale, Moving to Brevard County, Florida, and Brevard County Florida Real Estate Information.
Very true Gary!
Our CREN MLS system has different status codes to indicate the level of "Active", so we can limit these in the search, but as you say it doesn't change the impression the customer gets which is my Realtor isn't showing me all the homes I want to see.
No one wants this. So I usually show them all of them but indicate that these are under contract to whatever extent possible.
Based on your Headline, I thought maybe you were going to talk about the 50% of sellers that aren't really trying to sell their homes because of their asking price. haha
Thanks for the post.
Hi Gary:
Which means that 31% of the homes have a contract on some sort!
Not bad...
Chris - Thanks. You should take that title idea and post your own...Thanks
Toula - Yep, that is a good perspective, thanks.
It makes the neighborhood look like it is going under with foreclosures when really everything is pending. It is just another way a Realtor gets their name out.
Chris- As for the Sellers overpricing, I have been told to do a calendar sheet to show when/how much the house price will be lowered. Then you get them to sign, and hopefully abide by it. ? Anyone had luck with that?
Maybe they need to get some riders on top that say "In Contract" or "In Escrow"....or maybe they just want some more calls.
At least we're there to let them know what is/isn't on the market. :)
Were these Realtor signs? We leave our sings on our listings until the day they close, and don't always hang a "Pending" rider on them, in case the sale falls through. But the MLS tells the truth. If they're Under Contract, they HAVE to placed in that category in our MLS!
Good morning Gary; interesting prospective. I love to put my SOLD sign up. BTW, I just sold my latest in 7 days. Life is good.
Ken 0 Congrats. Things are moving!
Lisa - No one, rarely do I see the pending signs anymore. Guess they want more calls.
Sally - Hey! Like I remarked to Lisa..think it is calls they want.
Christina - All the signs can be misleading. Things are moving. Thanks
Gary,
I always use "Under Contract" sign toppers - because it shows other potential sellers that I'm getting deals done. Too, it shows lookers that homes ARE selling so they better shake a leg. (I do get buyer calls even with the UC sign.)
Many fellow agents view those toppers as bad luck. Me? I've never had a deal go south because of my sign topper...
Irene - I like your reasoning. You know when I posted this my intent was to tell the world that houses are selling, dels getting done. Ended up being a case for toppers! Thanks.
Good point, guess that is way the first question a Realtor always asks, "is it still available?" The public does not know this. Thus the reason so many agents might be slow in putting up the contract pending rider, if at all is, the sign might keep on generating more leads for that listing agent.
Hi Gary! WOW, that's great that 6 of 7 are pending Closing! Like Ken, I love putting those under contract toppers on mine. However, lately, I'm a bit more cautious about doing so--with the lending demands, alot of the homebuyers fall through after a couple of weeks and I don't want to stop showing the home until we're certain that the original offer is going to go through. Here, we have a due diligence period and are able to change the listing from Active to Conditional and Still Showing. That seems to be working well in our market and has brought me more than one back-up offer on multiple properties! That's just extra assurance for my sellers that somehow, someway, we're going to Close on this deal!
Have a wonderful Sunday...
Mary - I don't use riders because listings are the life blood...even if they are not available. Thanks.
Debe - Thanks. Conditional and still showing sounds like something we need here. Have a great Sunday...Football!
Hi Gary, We are running into the same thing here in neighboring Melbourne and Palm Bay. Our buyers call us to tell us they found a great house to look at, only to find that it is under contract already. Well, it's a positive in that buying has picked up and houses are moving off the market.
Sandy - It is a nice change! Thanks...one day we will have to meet - maybe at a closing table!