BEST ANSWER
Aloha, Amy. My name is Katie Minkus and I'm the Broker-in-Charge for Lava Rock Realty, LLC. Of all the transactions we've closed this year in our office, we represented the Sellers 65% of the time, and Buyers 35% of the time. In this Buyer's market that translates into the fact that we know what it takes, and what we need to do, to sell our listings (our client's homes) in this market. Regarding your question about what "brokers are charging" these days, know that we are not allowed by law to discuss what other Brokers seem to be charging, we are only allowed to tell you what WE would charge you in commissions to sell your Pualani Estates home. To discuss other Broker's fees is a violation of the federal anti-trust laws and could send us to Federal Prison! I would be happy to discuss our fees with you privately.
With regard to your home in Pualani Estates... There have been 22 sales of homes in Pualani Estates this year, the last three sales were 1. a 2,000 sf 4bed/2.5bath brand new home sold on Sept. 9th for $570k, 2. a 1680sf 4bed/3bath brand new home sold on June 24th for $530k, and 3. an 1146sf 3bed/2bath resale for $489k on June 30th. It is not good news for sellers that there was only one sale in the 3rd quarter of this year, when usually our summer season is the second best selling season of the year behind Xmas-New Year's/Winter. Out of the 22 homes that have sold this year, only 3 of those sales were resales, the rest were developer sales. There are currently 4 homes in escrow - two are developer homes, 2 are resales. Of the two resales, BOTH sellers are asking about $100k LESS than what they paid for the homes originally in 2005/2006.
When looking at pricing a home to sell, you also have to pay close attention to the "competition" - one big problem you will have reselling a home in this project right now is that the developer has not yet sold all of their homes! I happen to know that DR Horton right has quietly told our office (and perhaps other Brokers in town) that they will take up to $50k off their asking price for any of their remaining homes and they offer a bunch of incentives that quite frankly, are nearly impossible for a resale to compete with. Thus, what it's really going to come down to for you is a. how quickly do you need to sell and b. how low can you go price-wise? Right now the lowest priced home is $379k for an 1146sf 3 bed/3bath home the Seller bought in 2005 for $540k, and the lowest priced 4 bedroom/3 bath 1680 sf home is listed at $455k - the seller bought in 2007 for $542k. Can you offer pricing to equal that - or better yet, be lower than that? In a declining market the worst thing you can do is "chase the market down" - statistically proven by the National Assn. of Realtors that when chasing a market down 95% of the time the seller will sell for lower than had they priced their property appropriately from the start. If you can't beat those prices and you can afford to hang onto your property, don't sell! If you can beat those prices and are motivated to sell in this market, please do contact me, we can help.
We work as a team at Lava Rock Realty and we don't take listings that we cannot sell. Check out our website and if you'd like a more thorough analysis specifically regarding your property, please do contact us. 808-887-2500, or katie@lavarockrealty.com. Best of luck to you, Amy! Warm aloha, Katie Minkus, R(B)
Broker-In-Charge
MA, GRI, ABR, TRC
Member of the Council of Residential Specialists
2007-2008 Kona Board of Realtors Director
Lava Rock Realty, LLC
65-1290 Kawaihae Road, Suite 4
Kamuela, HI 96743
808-887-2500
808-895-4327 (cell)
http://www.LavaRockRealty.com
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Wed Oct 8 2008, 10:49
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