If you want to see the trend here, look down the right-hand sidebar until you see “categories.” There, you’ll see the category “Zip Code of the Week.” Click on the link and you will pull all those records together on one page. Now you can examine Orlando.

The last “Zip Code of the Week – 32804 – tells and interesting story, and illustrates an even better point. Both the least and the most expensive condos sold for significantly less than their original asking price. Two years ago, the same condos would have sold for significantly more than the asking price. “No news there,” you say. And yet, both of those sellers still over-estimated the value of their homes. A lot. They had some idea in their heads of what their condominium was worth, based on either what they thought they deserved, what they paid for it themselves, what it was going for on the MLS 18 months ago, or what they think it ought to be worth right now. None of these are accurate or valid methods of determining the value of real estate.

There is only one valid way of determining what your condo is worth. Any property is only ever worth what someone is willing to  pay for it. In other words, market conditions will always prevail. And the best way to figure out what the market is saying, is to team up with a knowledgeable local real estate agent and get the latest comparables or “comps.” These will tell you what similar condos in your neighborhood recently sold for, and will be your best indicator as to what the current market will bear. Try to outsmart that market, and you’re likely to wait the 160 long days that the condo owner waited in the example below – and then still take the hit. As the old saying goes, “You can’t buck the market.”

Your options as a condo seller are either to wait until the market improves, or get real and sell it for what it’s currently worth. That hurts, I know. But if you’re not prepared to do that, don’t waste your time putting it on the market. You can test the market a lot more efficiently by asking your agent for “comps.”

As a buyer, it’s a great time to make offers to individual sellers, or to take advantage of the amazing incentives offered by condo developers. If you’re a first time buyer – then there’s no better time to buy because you can’t lose money on your old home.  You’ll get all of the upside of the buyer’s market – and none of the downside. If you want to know more about the latest incentives, contact Condo Metropolis. We’ll be happy to talk with you.