Real Estate industry researchers have made a discovery, perhaps not so startling, but a discovery nonetheless. An experiment was performed that illustrated the point that photos garner more attention than any other bits of information in a real estate listing. Forty-five potential real estate buyers looked at ten real estate listings, each with six photos of the property, inside and out. Ninety five percent of viewed the first photo – the exterior – for about 20 seconds.
It’s report card time. That time that most students dread, but this report card shows a pretty good grade for real estate in Duval and St. Johns County, both in Residential (Single Family Detached) homes and Condominiums.
The data is taken directly from the Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (MLS), current as of January 2, 2013.
Jacksonville is mentioned as one of the top five metro areas that should show some growth in several economic indicators, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI). Those categories include employment, housing prices and new housing permits. Here are some current stats, which are slated to improve, at least for the first six months of 2013. The data comes from the publication, MLS Newsline:
The market will continue its upward trend into 2013, said Dr. John Tuccillo, chief economist for Florida Realtors, which is holding their Florida Realtors® 2013 Real Estate and Economic Forecast Conference in Orlando this week.
Other experts at the conference we just as upbeat, one reporting that distressed properties are winding down from about 5 million at the height, to about 3 million today.
The median sales prices are rising for single-family homes and condo-townhomes. Other signs of steady improvement includes the fact that 44 percent of sales were cash transactions, from January to October of this year. A good sign that investors are coming back to the table. As for sellers, the experts are predicting rising prices will bring more of them back in 2013.
It’s time for buyers with poor credit to rethink about shrinking from their credit issues. Buyers slink slowly away from the home buying process, without asking the most basic question of the seller, or approaching the listing realtor with the proposition, “would the seller consider owner financing?” Here’s the ironic part – many potential homebuyers can afford to pay for a home, but their credit score is the high barrier to realizing their goal. More after the break...
I've always thought Superman could beat up Batman, but Spiderman could probably take 'em both. Once you get caught in that sticky web stuff, you're a gonner.
So MLS is Superman, with incredible powers. You list on MLS. No dodging a speeding bullet, but (no offense Clark Kent) Superman/MLS is high maintenance. Maybe it can't leap tall buildings, but it's a tried-and-true approach. Patch the holes, paint the bathroom, stage the furniture, hire an agent, and take a huge leap (in this case, a leap of faith). Caviat: I have nothing against MLS - it's a great approach, it's worked for decades, and it'll work when we're all dead and gone. In fact, it is such a known quantity that for most home owners it's simply what you do. It's the home sellers' equivalent of brushing your teeth.