Although a CMA is an indication of what the market is doing--there are other factors when selling.
The condition or appeal of your home might just get a buyer right away. We have had overpriced homes sell and underpriced homes not sell. We have had homes priced in them middle and get offers right away. It really is hard to forecast what and buyer will want and when. The best thing to do is to spruce up the home, keep the colors somewhat neutral and maybe some color for accents and have curb appeal.

Our company just won the Reader's Choice award for the second year in a row!
I know the Casselberry area and many newcomers to Florida have to be show the area because they aren't that familiar with it and they know Altamonte pretty well and would find it a nice choice when shopping
E-mail me your questions please-- relocateisapieceofcake@gmail.com
If you decide to rent only get good credit rating and no criminal history tenants and big depostis to insure you can fix any pet or other accidents/damage.

Hi Kitty,

Marty's answer is excellent, so let me give you another idea.

Why not rent your house in Florida? From the numbers it looks unlikely that you'll clear anything from the sale, in fact you expect to take a hit, so check out the rental market. With all the foreclosures, there's lots of renters out there these days.

BTW, A 2% reduction is not aggresive pricing these days. If you need to sell quickly, then think double digits.

Best of luck,
Mark LeMenager
Weichert, Realtors - Hallmark Properties

Hi Kitty,

My recommendation would be to get your home on the market as soon as you can given the following two provisos:

1. That you can afford to sell your home normally without doing a short sale.
2. That whatever plan on buying/leasing in D.C. is within your budget. If you are renting, this is probably less important but if you are considering purchasing, make sure the prices of homes in areas that are of interest are within your financial parameters.

According to my initial research on your property, you purchased in 4/05, for 255K, with an initial mortgage of just over 204K. Your home is a 4/2, with approx. 2620 living and an in-ground pool. There is presently little data in English Woods to evaluate your home's worth, so comps would have to be used outside of your community. Presently, there are two homes for sale in English Woods, one is approx. 1850 living area, a short sale for approx. 160K, the other is a little over 2000 living for in the 280's. No sales over the past 120 days and no pending sales from which to evaluate your home.

As an aside, I am from the D.C. area as well. I last resided near the University of Md and my family still lives in various locations through Maryland, so I am pretty well versed on the area as well as real estate values . Please let me know if you would like additional information or if I can be of future assistance.

Sincerely,

Marty Kaiser
Broker/Associate
Keller Williams Realty
407-595-9700
marty@floridasells.com

I'll be happy to do this for you--a market analysis--we listed a home in 3 days we had an offer due to the tax credit and the neighborhood. If you are in an area buyer's like it won't matter as much what the market is doing. Most people are sick of dealing with banks on short sales.
You can e-mail me at relocateisapieceofcake@gmail.com

Kitty -

The best time to sell in Florida is the winter to spring. And I'm going to guess the best time to buy in the DC area is winter when it is cold and snowy. So you just might hit both the selling and buying market at the right time.

Just make sure that when you put your home in Florida on the market that you list it with an agent that has experience giving your home a strong internet presence. Almost all buyers are going to be looking at your home on the internet first and making a decision from that internet presence whether to contact an agent or not about you home. Your home also needs to be staged for sale - very important.

The real estate market and the consumer market in general is changing at the speed of light. Buyers are demanding to be empowered. You and your agent must be ahead of the curve.

I have some new marketing plans for sellers in Lee County Florida only on http://www.FlatRateHomeMarketingPlans.com. This site is full of details and is password protected. If you would like to go onto this site to get some ideas, you are welcome. The user name is speare and the password is sand (I will change the password after this weekend).

Good luck

HI Kitty;

As you know, many people nowadays are in over their head with their mortgage, vs. what the home is presently worth. When you see listings labeled as short sales, this is exactly what it is. The owner owes more than their home is currently worth and is asking the bank to take the loss on the mortgage so they don't lose the home to foreclosure.

Short sales sound like good ideas for many homebuyers that just want to move, and I have had several inquire to me about how to perform one, however what many do not realize is that you must be in dire financial straits to short sale your home. When the contract is sent to the bank to review and accept/reject, the homeowner must also send financial information proving that they are unable to afford their home any longer. Unfortunately someone just wanting to move is not a valid reason for a bank to approve a short sale.

My advice would be to ask a Realtor for a CMA (comparitive market analysis of your property). Depending upon what you owe and what the value of your home is, you *may* be able to sell it traditionally, even if you dont make any profit off of it and move. You never know what a CMA will show until one is completed.
I would be happy to provide you with a free CMA if you'd like to contact me and provide some information on your property.

It will be really hard for anyone to provide you concrete advice until this is done so we know where your financial situation resides. Please contact me if I can be of further assistance. Good luck

Steffani Martino
Realtor
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate
407.361.5657
Steffani.Martino@FloridaMoves.com

Here are a couple of things to consider. It sounds like selling now will get you what you need to move on without bringing money to closing or doing a short sale. What if by waiting the market goes down a little more. You may not be able to get out of the sale what you need at that point. If the market goes up that would be great on the sale, but what you are looking to purchase in DC may go up as well. If you can sell your home now you may be able to take advantage of prices in DC now as well. Good Luck