How to Get the Best Deal in Jacksonville Right Now

 

The ball is officially in the buyer’s court here in Jacksonville. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to make a move, the time is now. The market is shifting in favor of buyers more each day, and there are real opportunities out there if you know how to take advantage of them.

I’ve been working with buyers in Jacksonville who are getting deals that wouldn’t have been possible a year or two ago.

Let me break down four strategies that are working right now.

1. Be aggressive and act quickly. This might sound counterintuitive in a buyer’s market because the assumption is that you have more time. But the people who are winning the best deals are the ones moving fast.

Right now, there are many sellers sitting on vacant homes, paying a mortgage every month on a property nobody is living in. If you’re the first deal that comes in at a fair price, you’re in a strong position to negotiate.

Whether it’s closing costs, a price reduction, or 5% to 10% off the listing price, sellers who are bleeding money every month are motivated to make a deal happen. We always pull comps to make sure the numbers make sense, but speed gives you an edge.

2. Do the zip code drill down. This is a big one, especially for first-time buyers. Jacksonville is a massive city, and one of the places people get stuck is looking at properties in too many different areas and trying to compare them.

The problem is that every area comes with different pricing. Riverside is different than Arlington. Arlington is different than the Southside. St. Johns County is different than Fleming Island. If you know where you want to be, you can figure out where your money goes the furthest, and you will be happier with the result.

It also ties back to strategy one because once you have narrowed your area down, you’re watching four or five properties instead of forty. When the right one comes on the market, you can act immediately.

3. Use the 30-day listing strategy. If you’re really looking for a deal, this one is worth knowing. Statistically, anything listed for more than 21 days is probably not going to sell for the list price.

So what we do is look specifically at properties that have been on the market for 30, 60, or even 120 days. Those sellers are usually in a different headspace. They’re not getting the traffic they expected, and they’re more willing to negotiate on price, terms, or both. If you want a deal, the listings that have been sitting are where the opportunities are.

4. You’re the negotiator. This is less of a specific strategy and more of a mindset shift. In this market, the seller doesn’t have the power they once had. And one of the biggest areas where this shows up is around insurance and roof condition. Everybody has been talking about Florida insurance costs, and one of the biggest factors is roof age.

I just got a buyer under contract recently, where the roof was 14 years old and likely going to need replacement soon. We told the seller we would give them a price, not even the asking price, and they agreed to put a brand new roof on the home. That means my buyer gets a new roof, a more affordable insurance plan, and they got the house at the price they wanted.

You can negotiate those things right now, and sellers are doing it because they want to close.

If you’re a buyer in Jacksonville right now, there are real opportunities. The market is more balanced than it has been in a long time, and the deals are there if you know where to look and how to move.

Whether you’re a first-time buyer, you have a property to sell and want to buy something else, or you’re just starting to explore what’s out there, I’d love to help. Call me at 904-650-3890, email me at matty@pursuitrealestate.com, or visit mattymillerrealestate.com. Happy house hunting.