Jul

14

Long Island Real Estate Market: Let’s Keep It Real

Filed Under Sellers, Sellers & Buyers | 1 Comment

To be…overpriced, or not to be…overpriced, that is the…wait a minute! Is that the question?

Ask yourself this question: What does it mean to be “overpriced”?

What if I were to tell you to take your ideal sale price of your home or what you would prefer to sell your home for and lower it 20%? How would you feel about that? Chances are right about now you’re thinking, “Is this guy nuts?”

Maybe I am, but one of the things about this market that we all need to pay attention to is the overall conditions of the mortgage market. Let’s take the price of a barrel of crude oil. We all know that it’s high, real high. Energy costs are increasing every month with no end in sight for the near future. Couple this with Long Island property taxes.

Where does that leave you? Does it mean that your home is worth what you would prefer it to be? Does it mean that real estate agents don’t market it enough?

Don’t forget how the internet has changed the way buyers look at the real estate market. People look online and see a home for sale on Long Island with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, kitchen, livingroom and unfinished basement with an asking price of $399,000…oh and $8000 annual taxes. Then they just browse another state with 2 clicks of their mouse and find a four bedroom, 2.5 bath brand new colonial style home priced at $220,000…with $800 annual taxes.

Now they don’t want to move to a different state, they were just “browsing”. So the weekend comes and they go to some open houses. They visit 10 homes that all need repairs, are old and have property taxes that all exceed $5000 a year. They get depressed and angry, thinking to themselves, “…these houses are not worth it…” And they wait.

Approximately 34,000 listings are for sale between Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk. Approximately 1500 homes were sold according to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island in the month of June. That means there is one buyer for every 30 houses on the market approximately.

Thirty homes on the market…one buyer. With mortgage rates climbing, it will only get tighter because buyers will be looking at higher interest payments.

At the end of the day, it’s vitally important that you are consulted professionally and are willing to accept the facts of the market. I’m not saying that it’s impossible to sell a home. Indeed, data shows that if a home is priced correctly, it sells.

For a free comprehensive market analysis of your home, feel free to contact me at 631.587.1700, ext. 51.

(c) Copyright 2008 www.tommcgiveron.com

by Tom McGiveron

Mortgage Rates


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1 Comment so far

  1. Tom McGiveron | Long Island Real Estate Market | Suffolk Homes on July 24, 2008 1:53 pm

    [...] in this market, an agent must price the home correctly. Appraisals and how they’re going to effect the Long [...]