One of the best stories about price per square foot came up when a client and his agent were standing in the driveway of a home on Hilton Head Island.  The buyer could not understand why the home was priced so much higher per square foot than any of the other homes he had seen that day.  He asked his agent for the reason and her reply as she looked at his car was, “How much per pound did you pay for that Mercedes?”  Bottom line, if you like a Mercedes buy the Mercedes and if you like the house, buy the house!

We don’t do that here on Hilton Head Island 

The problem with using price per square foot on Hilton Head Island is that it does not always factor in differences in the land, size differences and condition.  Some homes are being bought as tear downs.  What would the price per square foot be on these? Others have funky floor-plans, some have big square footages, some small, therefore all prices per square foot are not equal.   One agent when told by her buyer that the price per square foot was too high, said “We don’t do that here”.  Meaning the comparison is not always this easy.  Using price per square foot can be confusing to Hilton Head buyers and they can easily miss opportunities trying to figure it out(click here for a timing story).

Determining the value of any Property on Hilton Head

Value cannot be determined by the house next door that sold in 16 days or what the new house in the neighborhood just sold for.  Sorry Zillow, but there is not a “Zestimate” or “automated value method” that will help a buyer or seller determine value.  Zillow might put you in the ball park, but they have never been inside to give an accurate value.  The best way for a seller or agent to determine value is based on showings, second showings and offers.