If the country is in the dog days of summer, then in Florida the dogs are about to pass out. But just because it’s hot doesn’t mean it’s a bad time to either put your house on the market or leave it on the market. You just need to be cool about it.

I uncovered an interesting statistic recently – 60 percent of all homes in 2014 will be bought and sold from May to August. Admittedly, the majority of those sales will be in the North and Northeast, where the summer is prime real estate season. However, with the west coast of Florida quickly becoming a 12-month season we have to assume plenty of those sales will be in Florida, and here’s why.

There were a lot of people here during the winter months, and a lot of them who were escaping the Arctic winter left with a totally different view of living in the Sunshine State. Even folks who would never live in Florida and couldn’t possibly give up their four seasons started thinking, "What’s so bad about sunshine 365 days a year?"

Potential buyers, who left in April and May without finding the right property, are still in the market being kept informed of anything new on the market through their agents or via the Internet. And speaking of the Internet, make every effort to have your property pop off the computer screen by adding an interesting color to the front of the house or decorative item like an outdoor sculpture. Just because you see less people on the beach doesn’t meant they’re not still shopping.

Florida also has a lot of summer visitors since school is out till early September in the North and families visit Florida attractions like Disney World and Busch Gardens. How many of these families will migrate towards the Gulf beaches and take a look around? Probably some. Florida’s low taxes, relatively low housing costs and casual lifestyle has a lot of attraction to northern residents.

We also have experienced a fair amount of buyer activity from year round Florida residents who live in Orlando and Lakeland, as well as communities east of I-75, who are looking for a beach get-a-way. Don’t discount this group of potential buyers which is growing yearly as new high end subdivisions are built out east.

Never-the-less, finding a buyer during the summer months in Florida is definitely more of a challenge, so you may need to be more realistic. As always, pricing matters, and even though you may have less competition during the summer, that’s not a reason to unrealistically price your home. Buyers are very educated and may know the properties that sold during the past six months better than you. Stay on top of the market.

As always, keep the house show ready. Just because its summer, sandy floors and wet beach towels hanging off the front porch give a really bad first impression. Be especially vigilant to remove quickly forming mold and other humidity related issues like peeling paint.

Stay positive during the summer and think of it as being ahead of the curve. Once November comes around, there will be more homes on the market, and yours will have to share the spotlight.

Just remember the real buyers are the ones who are willing to slog through properties during the dog days of summer. So stay cool, keep the air conditioning turned way down and schedule the showings.