From denial to anger

Delay is the deadliest form of denial.
_________C. Northcote Parkinson


This market is getting weirder with every passing day. I presented an offer on a riverfront condo this week with our offering price based on the most recent sale in the same building. I explained to the listing agent that we were offering slightly higher than the sale last week would suggest for this smaller unit. Her response; "That sale doesn't count because those people really had to sell and it had been on the market forever." I suggested that the appraisal of the next unit to sell in the building would certainly use that sale as a comp and the appraiser would not care that they "had to sell" being that it was not a short sale or foreclosure. Her response; "You just don't get it."

She did present our offer to the seller who has had his unit on the market for 274 days with two price reductions. His response to our offer was, and she made sure to quote verbatim, "No, no and hell, no." No counter, he stuck to full asking price. A short while after the agent relayed his response to me, she called back with a new message from the seller who apparently felt he hadn't said enough, "Tell them to go buy another unit." We did just that. Good luck Mr. Seller. You're still overpriced, paying property taxes, insurance, condo fees and interest on an unoccupied unit and the Labor Day precipice is approaching while your neighbors that have come to terms with the market are selling their units.

Fees, utilities, insurance, tax.....+-$700/month
Interest/opportunity costs........+-$1000/month
Reductions so far in asking price...$36,500

Telling a qualified buyer offering a fair price to get lost
.........................................................Priceless

We have had 21 closed sales of condos in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral so far this month. Two notable deals were a 2/2 side ocean view, 3rd floor Chateau by the Sea that closed yesterday for $215,000 and a 2nd floor, direct ocean Sand Dollar 2/2 at Windrush that sold for $310,000. These two sales will have a chilling effect on future sales of units in these buildings. As always, if you're looking, be sure to do your homework and work with someone you can trust who knows this market. You may have to be patient to find the perfect deal as the bulk of the sellers are still deep in da Nile.

"Whoa. Déjà vu."
_______Neo