Fort Lauderdale Home Sale Market Hot, Not ‘Crazy’

To an outsider, the Fort Lauderdale home sale market might seem “crazy.” Home listings in Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, Pompano Beach and throughout Broward County are at record lows, and listing prices are at record highs. When homes do sell, they’re often after limited time on the market – and then selling at thousands of dollars over listing price.

That may be the definition of a white hot market. It may be great news for home sellers. But to the outsider, this hot market doesn’t mean buyers will do or pay anything to get into a Fort Lauderdale home. It doesn’t mean it’s crazy.

This Tuesdays with Gary video describes a recent example of the local market – and how people are reacting. I recently was contacted by a homeowner in the North Andrews Gardens neighborhood, a community between Oakland Park Boulevard and Commercial Boulevard just east of Interstate 95. The widow who owned the home was a hoarder with cats. And the home showed and smelled of it. Though it was a mess, I knew it could list and sell it. I told this to the owner and her cousin, who was a real estate appraiser in Orlando.

So I ran some comparable prices, or “comps.” This is when you look for similar homes in the market that recently sold. Our team’s research showed that a similar home listed and sold for $495,000.

But the differences were stark. The other home had a new roof, impact glass, new quartz countertops and porcelain plank flooring.

This leads to another concept: substitution. When considering your home for a certain price, what can a buyer substitute for your home? What will a home with similar amenities fetch?

We compared several homes. Most at similar pricing were similarly updated. There was no comparison. I didn’t believe the home would sell for $495,000.

Coming from Orlando, the widow’s cousin had heard stories about Fort Lauderdale’s hyper-inflated market. He thought the local market would drive the price higher – much higher. He saw my work, and said that they didn’t need a Realtor to make the sale, just to handle the paperwork.

I saw the writing on the wall. They didn’t want a Realtor and wouldn’t accept my pricing regardless. And I couldn’t accept their demands.

I acknowledged their concerns, thanked them for the chance at their business, and bid them farewell. And I never looked back.

Why no remorse on my part? I’m the local Realtor. I know my market. He came here thinking the local market is out of control, that buyers would overlook a home’s flaws at any price. People reading headlines may think that’s the case. But it’s not. Their home wouldn’t sell, at least not quickly or at the price they expected me to list it for.

More importantly, I’m a professional and a realist. When you hire my team, we bring the team to the engagement. We do professional marketing – videos, photography and copywriting. We place advertisements in New York City. That costs us money. So I’m not interested in taking a listing that is so overpriced that it will not sell, or it will hang around on the market longer than it should. That does no one any good.

Truth is, like any negotiation, a real estate transaction should have a little pain on both sides.

We may be out of control. It may be once in a lifetime. But Fort Lauderdale’s residential and home sales market is not crazy. To think so is crazy.

If you want a fair range of pricing for your home, give me a call.

Gary Lanham is team leader for the Gary Lanham Group at Coldwell Banker Real Estate Fort Lauderdale Beach Office. To learn more, visit instagram.com/garylanhamgroup or call 954-695- 6518.