Cocoa Beach Condo Market

Cocoa Beach Condo Market
The one certainty with the Cocoa Beach Condo market is that prices are coming down to accommodate the buyer’s market. We are seeing prices that we have not experienced in quite some time. To the inexperienced buyer the prices seem to not have fallen that much. To the agent who is constantly doing their homework on sale prices then it is evident that there are people who are in financial trouble and have to sell now.

A lot of sellers are still in denial with what value their unit is worth in today’s market. These owners do not take into account what the carrying costs are running them on a monthly basis. If you are willing to list your property at a price that is 100,000 higher than similar units in the complex then you are not a serious seller. At these prices they get no phone calls or showings but their neighbors that are priced less get their showings as well as their own. Some of these owners are paying $5000 a month in carrying costs, when your unit stays on the market for 1 year or more then it doesn’t take much to figure out what you are losing by listing at a price that is not going to sell or be shown.

We have talked about the volume listing agent before but when units in the same complex are listed as much as 100,000 apart it makes the agent seem to not know the market or simply do not care except for the listing. They are banking on phone calls and steering the buyer to another unit. This is shameful and takes away all the knowledge they have worked so hard to acquire.

Walker Bagwell Properties
We started this company 2 years ago at the worst possible time in the market. Today we are thriving because of truth and honesty. I could not express in numbers how many listings we have turned down because of price. It only causes ill will to list a property at a price you know as a professional has no chance to sell at a close proximity of the listing price.

My partner and good friend Larry Walker and I meet every morning to discuss the market news and the state of Cocoa Beach Real Estate. Most of the time we share horror stories of what we have been through the previous day with other agents. We started this business with the thought of changing perception of the “Real Estate Agent”. I feel that as a company we have done a great job on putting forth a professional attitude and taking care of our clients. I have had no negative feedback as yet and I don’t expect any forthcoming bad news.

What really concerns me is the fact that a lot of agents are under the gun to make a living in the down market that we are experiencing at the present. I see a lot of behavior that I find totally unacceptable. As an agent when another agent presents an offer you have to look at the rationale of the offer. If there are comparables to support the offer you should receive the offer in good faith without inserting your own unfounded expectations. The listing agent should have prepared the seller for what was likely to come.

There have also been several instances of blatant false presentations. My partner recently had an out of country buyer call to say he had found an ocean front unit at a fantastic price. On examination the unit is in an ocean front complex but there is no view whatsoever. When confronted the listing agent said that he had done one virtual tour for the entire complex. This is a terrible practice and I hope we have corrected this problem.

I hope all the readers can see what we are up against to change our profession but we are very resilient and will persevere.

A top floor condo in beautiful South Cocoa Beach with 1800 sq ft, 3 br, 2 ba, and fantastic views just closed at $350,000. A tremendous deal.
A good time for the well informed!!


Jim Bagwell