Ocala Real Estate Talk

Archive for December, 2009

The median home price in Ocala has dropped to $87,800.00 edging out Ft Myers to become the cheapest place to buy a home in the state of Florida according to an article in the Ocala Star Banner.

Median home prices mean that half of all homes sold for more and half of all homes sold for less than $87,800.00 I think this is a little deceptive especially to those looking at this online from outside the area.

There are great deals in the Ocala area. I just think the median home price is a little misleading. It reflects what is selling more than what you get for your money. The Ocala area has a high unemployment rate and a low wage structure and local people are buying what they can afford.

In addition, I suspect investors are buying up really cheap houses looking to fix them up and rent them for positive cash flow. A huge percentage of below $50,000- foreclosed houses are selling for cash, which to me indicates an investor.

Most houses on the Ocala Marion County MLS sell for under $200,000-. In my opinion the real sweet spot in our market is in the $125-200,000- range. It is in this range that you can find a really nice house, in a nice area that needs very little or no work at all.

I specialize in helping people from outside the area find a home here in Ocala and surrounding Marion County. If you have a question email me or use the comment feature below. If you’d like to receive listings email me about what you’re looking for or use my Dream Home Finder in the right hand column.

The weather in Ocala Florida during the winter revolves around cold fronts. Most of the time the temperatures will be in the low to mid 70′s. Then along comes a cold front and the temps drop to the 60′s during the day. In the evenings after a cold front Ocala can get the occasional frost or even a lite freeze. We get several frosts a year which is why we have different plant material than you find further south in Florida.

If you have a question just ask using the comment feature or shoot me an email. My contact info is in the right side column.

Meyers Lemon Tree

Citrus trees fruit in the winter here in Ocala.  Above is my lemon tree.

Buyers seem to be looking for foreclosures in Ocala 55 plus communities. Just before starting this blog post I logged into the MLS and searched on foreclosures. I got 348 hits. When I added 55+ to the search that number went down to 12. As you can see most Ocala area foreclosures are not in the 55+ communities.

Buyers looking for a deal in a 55+ community should also consider estate sales. The unfortunate thing is that there are a lot of vacant homes in the 55+ communities simply because people get old and either pass away or need to go to an assisted living arrangement.  These vacant homes often need to be sold by out of state relatives and can be very good buys and an easier transaction than a foreclosure.

For a list of 55+ foreclosures or 55+ estate sales give me a call, send me an email or use my Dream Home Finder and I’ll set you up a Listing Cart for 55+ estate sales or foreclosures or both. All can be found in the green column to the right of this post.

Much to my surprise sales in November at 266 homes were down from previous months. Sales in Marion County in October were 344, September 302 and August 293. I am really surprised by this and I doubt it is any sort of trend. There are 588 houses listed as Pending but of course not all of them will close. It’s important to realize sales are the result of contracts that take 30 to 45 days to close and often more in the case of foreclosures and short sales.

Once again foreclosures at 95 sales and short sales at 25 sales are an important part of our market. It should be no surprise that about half of all foreclosures are concentrated in just a few subdivisions such as The Shores, Marion Oaks, Rolling Hills, Rainbow Park, The Ocala Waterway and Ocala Park. The rest are scattered around in various areas and price ranges.

Buyers if you are trying to figure out if the market is near the bottom consider the following. Interest rates are at historical lows and may even dip below 5%. There is a federal tax credit but you have to get your house under contract by the end of April. Finally, a lot of buyers are interested in the newer foreclosures in Marion County. There is a finite number of newer foreclosed homes and some day the supply will run out. For example there were a lot more large, almost never lived in, foreclosed homes in Rolling Hills 12 months ago than there are today.

Statistics used for this blog post are from the Ocala Marion County MLS and are deemed to be accurate but are not guaranteed at the time this blog was written and are subject to change

Stone Creek

Stone Creek is a 55 plus, gated, golf course community located in SW Ocala.  Stone Creek is a newer community that is still under construction with both new homes and resales available. The homes here are concrete block with stucco and range in size from 1550 to over 2400 sq ft of living area. Prices range from about $170,000- to almost $300,000-.  In addition to the Stone Creek golf course there is a huge clubhouse with a state of the art fitness center, craft and game rooms, a resort style outdoor swimming pool, an indoor heated lap pool, tennis courts, a softball field and even a fishing pond.  HOA fees are around $175- per month. Stone Creek is conveniently located just north of SR 200 with easy access to shopping, restaurants and health care.

Update 1/10/11 : There were 17 sales in Stone Creek between 6/1/10 and 12/31/10 from $150.000- and $255,000-. There were no foreclosures or short sales. HOA fees remain at $175- per month.

If you would like a list of homes for sale in Stone Creek either email me or use the Ocala Dream Home Finder. I can set you up a Listing Cart on the Ocala MLS for Stone Creek homes.

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