Archive for March, 2012
Ocala and Marion County Florida deed restrictions
I get a lot of questions about deed restrictions here in Ocala and Marion county. Deed restrictions are public records. This blog post will show you how to find deed restrictions here in Marion County.
1. Go to the Marion County Clerk of the Courts web site.
2. In the lower right under Records click on Official Records Search
3. On the right click Search Records Now a blue box
4.Enter party name. You have to get the name exact
5. Under restrict document type by code enter RES which is restrictions and covenants
Deed restrictions can be hard to read. Some were written before computers and are old typed documents that were poorly scanned. Larger older communities can have 100′s of pages mostly of very minor revisions. Typically you will find the important stuff in the largest document.
Ocala real estate report February 2012
| $10,000 to $100,000 | 235 |
| $100,001 to $200,000 | 99 |
| $200,001 to $300,000 | 13 |
| $300,001 to $500,000 | 5 |
| $500,000 plus | 3 |
| Total residential sales | 356 |
| Foreclosures | 85 |
| Short Sales | 45 |
| Farms | 10 |
| Active Listings | 3479 |
February had 356 sales which is an excellent number. This shouldn’t be a surprise though because the winter here in Florida is snowbird season and sales are always good. The total number of active listings is down a little from previous months. I don’t expect the number of active listings to drop as fast as they did this time last year. I do think active listings will continue to go down as the market improves. If we drop about 1000 listings, down to around 2500, prices will beginning to rise. I think prices rising is a year off, at least.
You’ll notice that I’m back to my old format for my market reports due to popular demand. If you read other statistics, like the local paper, you will see a different total number of sales. That’s because I count mobile homes with real property as sales. That is a mobile home where the seller owns the land. Mobile homes in parks that rent a lot are not considered real estate.
I mostly work with buyers. When I show them homes an often asked question is how long has this house been on the market. Some seem surprised when a house has been for sales for several months. The average number of days on the market for the past 12 months is 155 days. I don’t think much of days on the market. A great house can be over priced and sit on the market for a couple of years and never sell but if the seller drops the price down to an aggressive number then the house will sell in a couple of months. A big price drop to the correct market value will also expose the listing to a whole new set of buyers.
Statistics used for this blog post are from the Ocala Marion County MLS and are deemed to be accurate at the time this blog was written but are not guaranteed. All information is time sensitive and subject to change without notice. Home sales are for Marion County only and do not include FSBO, homes sold by builders or by auction that were not listed on the MLS, commercial properties or vacant land.
How to establish fair market value
I spend about 95% of my time as a buyers agent here in Ocala. One question that comes up is “what should I offer?”. I suggest that a buyer look at comparable sales to come up with an offer. A good comparable would meet the following criteria.
same sub division
sold in the last 90 days
within 1 mile of subject property
+/- 10% of the sq ft of living area
same # of beds, baths and size garage
+/- 5 years in age, 10 years if home is over 10 years old
same construction type
All this above can be used by a buyer to come up with an offer on a home or it can be used by a seller to find a proper list price. In the end it doesn’t matter what a buyer or seller thinks a house is worth. What matters is the price that similar homes have sold for in the past 90 days. Sellers should keep in mind that in order for a buyer to get a loan a bank will send out an appraiser who will use very similar criteria for an appraisal.
Ocala weather report March 2012
Azalea March 2012
March is the first month of spring here in Ocala. The grass turns green after a brief winter dormancy and the azaleas come into bloom. Temperatures average in the mid 70′s during the day and the mid 50′s at night. March 15 is considered the last day where there can be a frost and safe to plant your tomatoes in the garden. There is no humidity and very little rain this time of year.
February was unusually warm this year. We did get a strong cold front around mid month that brought a hard frost. The rest of the month was in the high 70′s with a couple of days around 80. The normal for February would be in the low 70′s.
If the weather where you are isn’t as nice as it is here in Ocala then move! I’d be happy to help. Email me, call me or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder.
