We have officially entered a Buyer’s Housing Market in Central Florida

2024 was an interesting year in real estate. Between the election season, elevated housing prices & elevated interest rates, buyer confidence was down. Listings began to sit longer and sellers were confused why their beautiful home, which would have sold in hours in the 2021 or 2022 market, was left sitting for a month or more.

Believe it or not, we officially crossed into a buyers’ market in November of 2024, with over 6 months of housing supply in Central Florida

Houses are not selling themselves like they did 3 years ago. You can’t just put a house on the MLS and receive an offer (or 8) in 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, not all Realtors are created equal. So it’s crucial that now, more than ever before, you hire the right agent who understands your local market and has a PLAN to get your house sold.

Here’s how to get your house SOLD in a Buyer’s Market

Let me tell you about 2 canceled listings I took over in 2024 from other brokerages and how I got them SOLD!

Selling 3241 Raiders Run, Winter Park

B tried to sell her home using a flat fee company. What she didn’t realize was that company was simply going to take her money, put the house on the MLS and leave her to market, negotiate, procure a contract, work through contingencies and get to closing all by herself! After 28 days on market, lots of stress and frustration and only 1 showing, she reached out to me. The funny thing is, she had it priced right. But her marketing was off.

I staged the home, mainly utilizing what she already had, got better photography to highlight the assets of her property and put together a marketing plan, including highlighting her home on Zillow Showcase. After over 20 showings in just 18 days, we received a full-price offer!

Selling 554 Granite Circle, Chuluota

My client at 554 Granite originally signed a listing agreement with a popular Realtor from the radio. We’ve all seen the billboards, advertising a “guaranteed cash offer.” That’s a great hook to get sellers to sign a listing agreement. But have you ever wondered how they go about offering those guaranteed cash offers? They go to Opendoor, which any homeowner can do on their own to get a quick, undervalued cash offer. Unfortunately, that leaves sellers on the hook to pay the fees for BOTH the brokerage & Opendoor for this supposed “Cash Offer.” I digress.

This homeowner wisely rejected the undervalued, and very expensive, “cash offer” and instead opted to go to market. The radio agent was not local and due to that she ill-advised on the listing price, over listing the property by nearly $50,000. After 53 days on the market & 3 price reductions, the homeowner fired this agent and called me.

I’m so glad he did. I had just sold the house across the street and came highly recommended by his neighbor (Thank you, S!)

I gave him a plan on what his house needed before going back to market. I spent 60 days helping him schedule and oversee painters, cleaners & a handyman. I staged the property. And after the house was ready to give off a wonderful first impression, we took the listing live, pricing it correctly the first time.

39 days later, we had a wonderful offer! And the best part? I ended up selling his house $81,000 over the Opendoor “cash offer”!

Some are sitting, others are selling. What’s the key to getting your house sold?

These are just two examples of listings I took over in 2024. I suspect, and am hopeful, I will see more in 2025 because we are seeing a rise in expired & canceled listings, with sellers left frustrated that their home hasn’t sold. In fact, 12% of listings in 2024 were either withdrawn from the market or expired. To give you an idea, in 2022, expired & withdrawn listings only accounted for 5% of the inventory.

So as we continue to settle into a buyer’s market, what is the key to getting your house sold?

Well, there are many factors that come into play. Some of the keys I have found to a successful sale are:

I have an honest dialogue about the condition of my client’s home. I help them come up with a plan for cosmetic, sometimes even structural, updates that should be done prior to going to market. I remind my sellers, you only get 1 first impression.
I discuss staging options with my clients. I have a warehouse of staging furniture, and have a third-party staging company I can refer out to if the property requires more than what I house.
I create a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) of the home & educate my sellers on how to price it correctly to get them the most money the market can handle. Remember, we are now in a buyer’s market & your home has competition. Pricing your listing correctly is key. If you overprice the home, you may end up with less than if you would have priced it right to begin with. (You can read more about the pitfalls of over pricing in my Q2 blog here)
Have you heard of Zillow Listing Showcase? I have access to this exclusive program with Zillow that offers premium listing marketing packages and is reserved to only 10% of listings per market area.
I have a plan to open up the property, between buyer open houses & broker opens, with unique themes to hook agents. Foot traffic is vital to get more eyes on your beautiful home.

There is so much more we can discuss on how I can get your house SOLD no matter the market we are in. If you are debating a sale in 2025, let me come over and give you a free consultation! I would love to earn your trust and business.