Real Life & Real Estate in Bonita Springs Florida

Condos For Sale in Rapallo

Last week I had one of my listings host the company breakfast at Keller Williams Elite Realty in Bonita Springs, Florida. I figured I’d have a room full of real estate agents learn about my cute little Spring Run condo listing while filling their bellies with bagels and fruit. If you follow my mobile real estate blog, you saw the photo. I forwarded the blog to the home owners and typed a short note, “If this doesn’t do the trick I’ll be walking 41 with a sandwich board next weekend.

Now, imagine my surprise when someone calls me and leaves a message that says, “Did you drive by Rapallo at Coconut Point today and see the real estate agent wearing a sandwich board?” Seriously, I had heard about it first on Friday but I thought the person telling the story was joking. Turns out it is true.

Rapallo, like a few other communities is experiencing a growing pain or two. The Bonita Springs and Estero real estate market is moving, but inventory is high. There is just so much from which to choose that it takes a lot to get a home for sale noticed. Rapallo is also a gated community with Fort Knox style security. Buyers aren’t going to accidentally get in and find a home for sale on some random Thursday, that’s for sure. It takes extra effort to get buyers into a community like that so that they have to opportunity to fall in love with the neighborhood or even a condo or villa.

Sadly, what some of the residences in Rapallo actually need to get them sold is just a price reduction. The sellers in Rapallo are holding on to their listing prices tighter than G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu Grip.

Here’s the skinny on Rapallo at Coconut Point:

• There are 74 active listings in the Sunshine MLS Service and do not include for sale by owner or builder sales.
• Of the 74 listings, 20 are villas.
• Of the 74 listings, 54 are condos.
• In the last 365 days there have only been 5 villas sold.
• In the last 365 days there have been 36 condos sold.
• There is 1, uno, solo unit pending sale.
• There are three pending with contingencies. They’re still in the crap shoot status area. Anything can happen.

Using the numbers of active listings and closed sale listings to calculate absorption rates:

• The current rate of absorption for Rapallo villas is 48.07 months - That is just over 4 years!
• The current rate of absorption for Rapallo condos is 18 months - That is a year and a half!

To learn more about what an absorption rate is, also read: Absorption Rate.

This is a no brainer. If you own a villa in Rapallo, do the math. Add up your mortgage payment, insurance payment, quarterly assessment for maintenance, utility, management (home watch) costs, real estate taxes, pool costs if you have a pool and any other fee you may have. I picked one random villa and used the maintenance and taxes numbers in their report: $604 maintenance, $409 taxes, $75 pool, $100 electric, $100 insurance. You can use this worksheet to calculate your holding costs.

We’re at about $1,300 per month in expenses not including the mortgage payment. Now if a villa is priced in the mid to high $600,000 like some of the villas I think it’s safe to say that they’re going to be closer to the 4 year absorption rate. $1,300 x 48 months = $62,400 is what it costs to carry and hold that villa (not including the mortgage). If the villa is financed, let’s just guestimate $300,000 total for a mortgage that would be $1,800 per month. That brings the total holding costs for the four years to $148,800. Maybe the seller’s need to do their own calculations and just subtract that carrying cost from their plump listing prices and price their homes to sell before they lose their shirts.

Now, I’m not sure how walking US 41 with a sandwich board is going to fix the absorption rate, questionable ability of some of these homes to even appraise or if a sandwich board reduces holding cost. It’s a valiant effort to sell real estate but it makes more sense to start working basic statistics, holding costs and absorption rates first.

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