Buyers control home market.

Today's tough housing market is pitting neighbor against neighbor in the selling wars."We're not grumpy with them," said Ken Koch, whose Cape Coral home is for sale and sandwiched between two neighbors homes for sale."Although I don't know if they're grumpy with us."
Ken and Wilaiwan Koch have had their home on the market for five weeks and already lowered the price $10,000. Their neighbors to the right, Rachel and Brett Bonham, have dropped their price from $345,000 to $269,900 since November. Their neighbor to their left, Peter Hadden, reduced his home from $344,500 to $309,900."It's frustrating," Ken Koch said. "People have money, but they are waiting for the prices to go down. It's frustrating for all of us."
But getting angry at a neighbor for lowering their price isn't fair, said John McWilliams, Realtor for Coldwell Banker."You can't control the market," McWilliams said. "It sounds good to say, 'Let's all stick together,' but buyers are more sophisticated and shop and compare."
Competition is stiff. Inventory is at an all-time high — 50,000 homes for sale in Lee County, according to McWilliams."Between 2001 and 2005 any Realtor will tell you that there were substantially more buyers than property," McWilliams said. "Now people are taking their time to buy."
Also, every situation is different, he said. While the Koch family can wait a few months to move, the Bonham family already bought another house in another area for a new job. They need to sell quickly."It's not personal," McWilliams said. "You have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone has the same tolerance level for losing money. Some people can hang in there and some can't."
Buyer's remorse
The Gateway community in Fort Myers provides a microcosm of what's happening in the real estate market all over the county, McWilliams said.
You have the typical seller who wants an upgrade, has to relocate or got in over his head financially. There are the speculators who buy for financial gain, and flippers, who want to buy and sell property quickly.Any house that is like yours is competition in today's market, he said.Debbie Elentrio, a Realtor at ERA Falcone Realty Group, has a client in Gateway who has lowered her asking price almost every month since January. Originally, her five-bedroom, 2,881-square-foot home was listed for $569,000. Now it's on the market for $499,900.
"Last year it was so red hot and people were making plans," Elentrio said.Her client bought a bigger house in another development and now owns two houses — one more than she wants.
"There are no stinking buyers around here and these people are panic-stricken — everyone can smell the fear," Elentrio said. "If you don't have to sell, now is not the time."But her client's panic impacts the homes around her. Her neighbors, who live six houses away, dropped their price from $549,000 to $499,900. But homeowner Christopher Jacob, who also is a Realtor for Rawlings Realty, doesn't blame that on his neighbor."I think people who are mad at each other want to make the most money and that's not going to happen right now," Jacob said.
He and his wife moved to their new home in south Fort Myers to be closer to work. If they don't sell the home soon, they will rent it."The market got out of whack," he said "Now it's coming back into reality. Your house is only worth what someone will pay for it."
Watch and wait
Lisa and Shirley Oliver hope the market will adjust in their favor. They put their six-bedroom Gateway home up for sale at the end of March for $529,000.
No bites.Their house sat in a sea of "For Sale" signs in their neighborhood as they watched neighbors repeatedly drop their prices.Last week they pulled it off the market and found renters.
"With everyone dropping prices, it hurts everybody," Lisa Oliver said."I wish they wouldn't because it drops property values. But I know they can't help it."
While the Olivers, who are moving to North Carolina, can wait out the troubled real estate market, other people aren't as fortunate."People have to accept that the market goes through cycles," McWilliams said. "They have to face the harsh reality of the current harsh competition. The fish aren't jumping in the boat anymore."Tara and Chris Williams hope someone will pay the value of their home. They are trying to sell their three-bedroom Gateway home for $360,000 — or the best offer. They keep their eyes on a similar but older model down the street listed at $329,000.
The Williamses are building a home in Estero that will be finished in six months. They listed their home in mid-March and attempted to sell it themselves. The only nibbles were from real estate agents with ominous market analysis.This is in stark contrast to a year and a half ago when they sold their condo after two days and got "multiple offers at full price."
The market is making them "a little nervous" and they've chosen a Realtor to help them sell it."We hope to break even at this point," Tara Williams said.