Ocala Real Estate Talk

Sales in December were 374 homes here in Marion County. If you remember my November report I thought sales were oddly low that month with only 266 sales. Apparently it was just a statistical fluctuation. Probably just a result of the time that offers were accepted or the time required to close the transactions.

Just as in previous months, the vast majority of sales are below $200,000- and over half are below $100,000.00. Once again foreclosures and to a lesser extent short sales account for over 50% of all sales.

The total number of listings seem to be pretty constant at around 5,500. As I’ve said many times, our market won’t recover until the number of active listings goes down. If you take 5534 active listings and divide it by the sales in December you get 14.8 months of inventory.

In general 2009 was a huge improvement over the past 2 years.  Prices are down but volume is way up. There were 3224 sales of residential homes in Marion County in 2009 as compared to 2008 with 2453 and 2007 at 3169.

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 not listed on the MLS, commercial properties or vacant land.

Selling a home in Ocala is pretty tough these days. We are in an extreme buyers market with constant competition from short sales and foreclosures driving down prices.

The subject of this blog post is about the images or lack of them as found on the MLS by buyers. I get a lot more buyers than sellers because of my Ocala Real Estate web site and this blog. That’s just how it works. Most internet leads are buyers and not sellers. I’m not complaining because I sell a lot more houses than the average Realtor in Ocala as a result on my internet efforts.

What I am complaining about is the images I see on MLs listings. I will send listings to my buyers through my Ocala Dream Home Finder and they almost never want to see the ones in person that either have only 1 picture or really bad out of focus pictures. That’s unless the house is a foreclosure or priced like one.

Thinking of selling your house in Ocala or anywhere in Marion County? See my Ocala Home Sellers Advice or email me or call me. I would love to list your house and my advice is free.

January 2010 weather has started off the new year with freezing temperatures. It’s not unusual here in Ocala to get a hard freeze. In fact we can get 4 or 5 a year. However this year we have had an entire week of temperatures where the days stay in the low 50’s and the night time temps hover around freezing. From what I’ve seen on the TV weather there is a high over Texas and a low south of New England that combined is some how funneling cold air down to Florida that belongs much further to the north.

Any way January temps should be around 70 with night time temps down to around the mid 40’s. See my Ocala Weather guide on my web site for a chart of highs and lows for every month of the year.

Winter in Ocala only lasts about 8 weeks. By the first of March it’s spring here in Ocala.

This is my 5th winter here in Ocala. I moved here from Maine where it gets seriously cold. I was worried about the summer heat, which is now no problem. Now I don’t like it when the temperature gets much below 70. People are very adaptable.

Questions about Ocala? Use my blog’s comment feature or the contact info in the upper right of this page.

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. 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.

If you would like a list of homes for sale in Stone Creek either email me or use the Dream Home Finder link on the right side of this page.

Read the rest of this entry »

On Top of the World Ocala Florida

On Top of the World is a huge 55 plus retirement community located in SW Ocala Florida.  Sidney Colen, a visionary Florida builder, purchased the 12,872 acre Circle Square Ranch in 1975 and began to develop On Top of the World in 1982. His son is still building new homes here today.

On Top of the World is unique in Ocala real estate for a couple of reasons. This is a leasehold property which is unusual for our area. A buyer also can’t finance more than 80% of the purchase price of their home. Unlike most Ocala 55+ communities all outside maintenance is part of the HOA fees.

In addition to new homes there are quite a few resales here.  Older homes are often attached in groups of 4 to 6 and of concrete block and stucco construction. The newer homes are single detached and also CBS. Sizes range from 1,000 to about 2400 sq ft of living area. Prices start as low as $40,000- and go up to $200,000- for resales.

HOA fees at On Top of the World are high, around $350- per month, because they include all outside maintenance including lawns, painting and roofs as well as property insurance on the building but not the contents. In addition there is a 24 hour guard at the gate and too many amenities to list.

Amenities include the Arbor Club with indoor and outdoor pools, tennis, craft building with a complete woodworking shop, The Spa Ranch and Fitness Center, a library, a dog park, a bus service for shopping  and the Circle Square Cultural Center. There are 2 golf courses, the Tortoise and Hare and The Links.  Golf, the Ranch Spa and Fitness and the Cultural Center all have fees above and beyond your HOA fee.

On Top of the World is also a golf cart community which means you can drive your cart down the street. You can even access 2 grocery stores, small shops and a few restaurants with your golf cart.

If you would like a list of homes for sale in On Top of the World fill out my Dream Home Finder located in the column on the right hand side of this page.

Read the rest of this entry »