In this episode, Charlie McDermott interviews SWFL Realtor Billee Silva regarding how the Southwest Florida Real Estate market has changed in 2023 compared to prior years.
To learn more about Billee Silva:
www.SW-FloridaRealtor.com
Jones & Co Realty
(239) 247-2490
In this episode, Charlie McDermott interviews SWFL Realtor Billee Silva regarding how the Southwest Florida Real Estate market has changed in 2023 compared to prior years.
To learn more about Billee Silva:
www.SW-FloridaRealtor.com
Jones & Co Realty
(239) 247-2490
Charlie McDermott 0:00
Welcome to the Southwest Florida relay show with Billee Silva. And here's your host, Billee Silva. Well, welcome everyone, Charlie McDermott, back here, I should say here with Billee Silva. Billee, you usually like just do it all yourself, and bring on the occasional guests, which is awesome. And now I get to play. So thanks for inviting me how you doing?
Billee Silva 0:22
Well, thanks for doing this for me great.
Charlie McDermott 0:25
Yeah, for our listeners, I'm usually in the back side, invisible, muted, which is probably a good thing. Most of the time, I'm producing the show. But today I'm playing co-hosts. And I'm jazz Billee because I've learned so much listening to your podcasts in the background and via all the different platforms like iTunes and Stitcher and Spotify. But boy, it was like last year, it seemed like every day or every week, definitely every month, things have changed. And now, on a year-to-year basis, I mean, 2022 versus 2023. A lot has changed,
Billee Silva 1:02
or has a totally different market than a year ago. Hmm.
Charlie McDermott 1:07
So I thought we were gonna get into a conversation about the differences. And more importantly, you know, hey, how can sellers and buyers really benefit from this information? So what happened if we start with the sellers? And just give us some insight, you know, how are your sellers different this year from last year?
Billee Silva 1:29
Well, for starters, our sellers have to work a little harder than they did a year ago. We have almost twice as much inventory as we did last year at this time. And our finance buyers have a lot less purchasing power than they did a year ago. higher mortgage rates have pushed some buyers to the sidelines, cooling the frenzy. So we're definitely not seeing as many multiple offer situations or home selling for over asking price like we were last year at this time. Yet, a lot of our sellers are still in that mindset, because they've heard stories of their friends and family members getting these fabulous offers within 48 hours of listing their home. So as Realtors I guess one of our jobs is and well it always has been is to educate both our buyers and sellers, and set realistic expectations. Yes, homes are staying on the market longer. So as a seller, you're going to need to have put forth a little more effort than you may have had to the last couple of years. The days of sticking a sign in the front yard and having multiple offers all over asking price within 24 to 48 hours have pretty much gone by the wayside.
Charlie McDermott 2:47
You didn't even get to a point where you could stick a sigh. Freeze before the sun even went
Billee Silva 2:53
up. And be careful what you wish for. Because last year, I was like kind of complaining and going oh my gosh, it's such a feeding frenzy in this year. Oh, I wish we had those days again. At least on the listing side. But we are still seeing multiple offer situations in what I call the sweet spot homes under the $300,000. Mark, because there really isn't anything at that price point. So they tend to go fast and often are multiple offers still. But anything over that pretty much is sitting a little bit longer. The good news for sellers is that the median sales price is still up about 6% from last year at this time. Wow.
Charlie McDermott 3:41
Wow. That's impressive after that appreciation we went through and you know, I guess it was last year 2022. Right.
Billee Silva 3:49
Well, actually the last since the pandemic. I mean, since 2020. We've been in a whirlwind. But I guess my advice to sellers, this spring compared to the last couple of springs would be that if you're wanting to sell your home, you're going to need to go back to the basics. Make sure your home has great curb appeal because you now have competition and they haven't really had competition the last few years. And first impressions are everything. So if you want to get top dollar for your home, you're going to have to plan on spreading a fresh coat of mops to make those flower beds pop and don't neglect the interior. Make sure do as your realtor says Declutter. Remember less is more maybe slap on a fresh coat of paint because paints relatively inexpensive but a nice neutral color really freshens up the home and caulk the tub and the showers but most importantly I guess make sure to hire a realtor that uses a professional photographer and has a strategic marketing plan in place because just putting a sign in the yard Alright, in slapping it on the MLS isn't necessarily going to sell your home in today's market.
Charlie McDermott 5:06
So what about the strategy of, you know, there's some things I need to fix, but I don't have the time. I don't feel like hiring a handyman, you know, let me just put it out there and see what happens. And if I need to fix it up, I do it, what would you? What would you recommend to that seller?
Billee Silva 5:25
I guess it depends on what it is that you're referring to. But for the most part, put in that little bit extra effort because by I'm finding buyers want to move in ready homes, they don't want to mess with the little pesky repairs. And if they do, they want to be compensated for it. So they're going to give you a lowball offer. And I guess it depends if you how badly you want a full price offer or not, or close to full price offer, how important it is to hire a handyman, you know, at $60 an hour, whatever they charge to come in and make the simple repairs, or it will come back in the inspection and they'll ask for it.
Charlie McDermott 6:09
Yeah, that's good point. You're gonna end up paying for it anyway. Why not? ahead of time?
Billee Silva 6:15
Do it up front? Exactly.
Charlie McDermott 6:17
Yeah, you get a better price. Because I guess I guess they're kind of you know, if I could put sellers into two buckets is the bucket up like you shared, you know, Hey, someone who just wants a hassle-free home, walk in, it's pristine, ready to move in? I don't have to spend my weekends fixing things. And then there's the people are looking for deals, right? Hey, this is great. Look at all the the, you know, pieces that need to be fixed or updated in this home that I can take off the listing price. Is that accurate?
Billee Silva 6:49
That's That's exactly accurate. And you know, now that buyers have choices, and they're comparing and contrasting. So you know, they, they have two homes that are in their top three, and comparable price, but one needs a little bit more elbow grease than the other one, more than likely they're going to go with the one that doesn't require as much work on their part. Or like I said, they'll throw in a lower offer and
Charlie McDermott 7:19
hope to get a bargain. Yeah, yeah. So then flipping the switch here from sellers to buyers, how would you define you know, what are buyers looking for this year versus last year? How different are they?
Billee Silva 7:36
Well, I'd say buyers have grown a lot more hesitant. And I think a number of factors contribute to that. Obviously, the increase in interest rates have affected their purchasing power. And when you look at the data that like I said earlier, the median home sale price is still up over last year at this time. But with the increased interest rates, buyers can't afford as much home as they could last year. They have more to choose from because we have twice as much inventory as we did last year. So I guess I'd say the fear of missing out isn't like it was there last year, last spring, in the spring even before that, well actually, since the pandemic, we've been in such a feeding frenzy that when homes came on the market, they were gone in a matter of hours sometimes. So if a buyer saw a home they liked, they need it to be prepared to react almost instantaneously, or the home would be under contract and they miss out everything in the past couple of years was pretty much a multiple offer situations and buyers were offering substantially over asking price with hardly any contingencies in the hope of their offers being accepted.
Charlie McDermott 8:50
Where in some cases, they didn't even look at the house. A lot of cases because
Billee Silva 8:55
There was literally no time. So But this year, the market has returned, I would say to a more stabilized market. It's more like it was pre-pandemic homes are staying on the market longer, we're able to negotiate again, which is fine. And buyers want to make sure the home appraises you know the last couple of years they were willing to pay those appraisal gaps. Now, they're worried about getting it upside down. So they definitely want to make sure the home appraises. And I would say that the fear of missing out has now been replaced with the fear of the unknown. This year's buyers are worried about inflation in the economy rising interest rates in the stock market. Last year, we were seeing interest rates in the low twos. Now we're teetering close to seven, which makes a big difference in one's monthly payment. So the buyer pools a lot smaller than it's been in the last couple of years.
Charlie McDermott 10:00
Yeah, interesting. So how about the market trends how the market trends affecting home values in southwest Florida?
Billee Silva 10:08
Well, contrary to recent news reports, the Southwest Florida real estate market is alive and well. It's not the gloom and doom that you are hearing every time you turn on the news or pick up a newspaper. The median sales price, like I said, for January was still up 6% From last January. We're just seeing the number of close sales down. Because we're not I guess we're not closing as many deals buyers, like I said, are hesitant. However, Florida home prices actually rose 17% Last year, the most of anywhere in the United States. So I don't think southwest Florida is going to be affected by the market trends like the rest of the country. People are going to continue to flak here for our beautiful weather, lack of income tax, political climate, gorgeous beaches, all the reasons we've lacked here. And not to mention, as Fort Myers Beach and the islands rebuilt. Just think about it. Everything's going to be brand-spanking new. Yeah. It's inevitable that home prices will continue to increase. I just don't think we'll see the double-digit growth that we had been seeing the last few years.
Charlie McDermott 11:23
Yeah, it's almost like it bounced out from the, you know, the real estate debacle and mortgage industry debacle back in, what was that? 2007 Eight, you know, where it was? Crazy depreciation. And now, we've, we saw the other side last year or when COVID hits? I guess there's that, but I don't know if that was a universe saying, you know, hey, Florida needs the other side. Come on, give it to them. But we'll take it.
Billee Silva 11:55
Yeah, we will. We will. We're still very much I'd say a seller's market. It's just not the seller's market that we've grown accustomed to the last few years. But when when we talk buyers market seller's market, we look at months of inventory. And six months is considered a balanced market. Anything less than six months is considered a seller's market, anything over six months, is considered a buyers market. We're teetering at about five months now. So we're getting very close to a balanced market. I'm I don't have a crystal ball. But I'm anticipating by mid-summer, we'll have about six months of inventory if we keep at the pace we're going.
Charlie McDermott 12:44
Okay. And then should rates bumped down a bit. Do you see people kind of sitting on the sidelines coming in?
Billee Silva 12:54
Yes, I do. A lot of people are sitting on the sidelines kind of waiting. Yes. And you know, and it's such a gamble, because last week last Thursday, interest rates bumped up the highest they've been since November. So you know, and now everybody's panicked. And the knee jerk reaction like, Oh, my goodness, are they going to continue to rise? Should we lock in now? Or, you know, we just don't know.
Charlie McDermott 13:19
Yeah, yeah. Better to buy now. Or for that matter? Sell now. So you could buy now? Because as we found, you know, over time, it all works out, right? It does. Finance,
Billee Silva 13:35
sell high and you buy high or Yes, sell low and you buy low? And like you said you can always refinance? Do I think that we'll ever see interest rates in the twos again, I'm not so sure we'll go and you know what, teetering the six 6% is not really bad.
Charlie McDermott 13:56
Oh, my goodness, I always chuckle because my first home and my goodness, my first business that mortgage was in the mid-teens. And I think our first home we were in the, like probably a 10% range. So this I look at this, it's like Hooray, it's only 7%
Billee Silva 14:16
Actually, you know, I remember we we've built our second house and we got 7% We thought we hit the jackpot.
Charlie McDermott 14:25
Yeah, yeah. So it's it's just a question of where you've come from and yeah, to your point it's anything can happen down the road and you stay it's like trying to predict the stock market. Right? You know, hey, sometimes you'll be right sometimes you'll be wrong, but is it worth the stress and all that waiting and go oh, I missed out or, you know, better to just get in the game, as they say and do
Billee Silva 14:53
what's best for you. You know, the market is going to do what it's want. You got to look at your circumstances, you know, Is this the best time for you to buy or sell a home? Or does life circumstances tell you to rent another year? Although rents are sky high? Oh my goodness, that I don't understand. I would rather be paying a mortgage in a home, that may not be my dream home, but look at it as an investment, where you're building equity and you're paying your mortgage rather than somebody else's. And then if it's not your dream home, then in a couple of years, either rent that one and buy your dream home. And yeah, but why? Why pay these astronomical rents? That just is mind boggling to me.
Charlie McDermott 15:41
Yeah, yeah, you're right. It is we were forced into that when we got kicked off a Fort Myers Beach, and it was two things it was the rent, and it was trying to even find a place was very, very challenging, especially, you know, in this market, where you have a lot of seasonal rents, and, and, and I don't blame it, you know, landlords are looking for, you know, big-ticket, big money during the season and put for career Rounders, that's, that's a lot of money.
Billee Silva 16:09
A lot of money. And, and like you said that just so many displaced folks, and then contractors and people coming down to help and then the seasonal, you know, rents just keep going up, up, up, up, up, up.
Charlie McDermott 16:24
Mobilia, this has been really helpful. Any final remarks on the early? What kind of what are we like, mid-first quarter of 2023?
Billee Silva 16:35
I can't believe it's almost it's going to be March soon. And yeah, I'm supplying. No, I just would like to, as always, thank everyone for tuning in today. And feel free to share my podcast with your friends, neighbors or relatives, anybody who's looking to buy or sell real estate.
Charlie McDermott 16:52
Awesome. Get the word out. All right, Bill, you have a great rest of the day. There
Billee Silva 16:58
You too. Thank you so much for hosting with me.
Charlie McDermott 17:01
Thank you for listening to the southwest Florida Realty show with Billee Silva. To learn more about Billee Silva. Go to www dot S W hyphen, Florida realtor.com. That's www dot S W hyphen Florida realtor.com or call 239-247-2490