Ocala Real Estate Talk

Ocala swimming pool

This is a series of blog posts about living in Ocala Florida. Being from out of state myself I feel the need to try and educate people about various aspects of life here in Ocala. For example I was just talking to a buyer who didn’t want a pool home because he thought pools were too expensive and too much work.

The average Ocala area swimming pool is much like the one pictured above. Around 12 feet wide by 24 feet long. About 6 feet deep just over the drain, surrounded by a cool deck and covered by a screen cage. You do see larger pools but I’d guess that 90% are like the one I describe. A pool like this is about 10,000 gallons.

In Ocala you can use an unheated pool from about early to mid May to the end of October. A heater would of course extend the season. A solar heater is the way to go if you feel the need for a heater. There are gas and electric heaters but they are expensive to operate. The solar heater has only a small circulating pump.

Chemicals aren’t a big deal or all that expensive. I put a 3″ tablet in a floating dispenser once a week. Eight tablets cost me $17.99, that comes out to $117.00 per year. I also dump one half a jug of liquid chlorine shock treatment in every week in the summer and I slack off and only do it every few weeks in the winter. A whole jug of liquid chlorine costs me $4.50. I’m also supposed to put in algaecide but I seldom remember to and my pool never turns green. If you followed the directions a bottle of algaecide is $20.00 and you’d need 2 to 4 a year. I get my water tested for free at Pinch a Penny. The only other expense is the electricity to run the pool pump. Being in Florida you don’t winterize your pool.

The screen cage keeps leaves of of the pool. The screen cage also cuts out a lot of the suns rays that give you a sun burn. I don’t know how it works but you can spend 2  hours in the sun under the screen cage and just get a little pink but if you were in the full sun for 2 hours you’d get a good burn.

If you don’t want to vacuum, like me, then you need a pool cleaner. They aren’t cheap at around $400- but all you do is plug it into an outlet in the pool and it drives around vacuuming all day. I do this once a week in the summer and every few weeks in the winter.

The 55+ communities have large community pools. You will find very few 55+ homes with a private pool and f you do it will be in the upper price ranges by that I mean over $200,000.00

There are plenty of pool homes in the Ocala area but be aware of the following. Most newer foreclosures do not have pools. Most pool homes below $100K will be smaller older homes with a pool and no cage. Most 55+ homes (98%) do not have a private pool.

If you’d like to see listing of Ocala area pool homes call me, email me or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder.

Rainbow Lakes Estates

Rainbow Lakes Estates is a huge sub division of approximately 13,000 acres that was first developed in 1961 by the American Realty and Petroleum Corp. At the time AMREP was one of the largest developers in the US mostly developing large tracts of land in southern states to be sold as vacant lots to northern snowbirds. Land was really cheap in Marion County in the 60′s and 70′s and several huge projects like Rainbow Lakes sprung up around the county at that time. Like several similar sub divisions many lots were never built on and even to this day there is a huge number of vacant lots.

Rainbow Lakes Estates has all paved roads. It also has 3 lakes, Tiger Lake, Lake Bonable and Little Lake Bonable. Lots are either 1/4 acre or 1 full acre. Homes range from smaller, under 1,000 sq ft of living area to quite large homes built in the last few years. Homes date from the 1960′s through  the building boom of 2004-08 to the present. There are all methods of construction with the majority being concrete block. There are very reasonably priced homes here in Rainbow Lakes Estates including a number of foreclosures.

Although there is no HOA or HOA fees there is a community center in Rainbow Lakes Estates with various clubs and activities.

Rainbow Lakes is peaceful and quiet but only a few minutes from Dunnellon and around 40 minutes from Ocala.

If you would like to see listings from Rainbow Lakes Estates email me or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder .

See images below

Read the rest of this entry »

Ocala home sales in April, with 382 sales were pretty similar to March.That comes out to about 19 sales every business day. Although 45% of sales were foreclosures the other 55% were traditional sales by motivated sellers.

A recent Ocala Star Banner article noted that median home prices plunge in the Ocala area. Comparing the 1st quarter of 2010 to the 1st quarter of 09, the Ocala area median home price fell 14.5%. This was the 2nd largest drop in the country exceeded by only Orlando.

Now I think in some ways these statistics are a little deceiving because they show what is selling and not what you get for your money. The median home prices in Ocala are being brought down by a lot of sub $50,000- home sales. A lot of these houses are selling to investors mostly for cash. More importantly these sub $50K sales need work and often a lot of work. They also suffer from functional obsolescence, a real estate term that means out dated in a way that’s either impossible or very expensive to correct. These are often 2 bedroom homes, small square footage, maybe only 1 full bath and not CBS construction. Also included in the sub $50K category are older mobile homes. In total there were 63 sub $50K sales in April or about 16%.

This is not to say that there aren’t great deals here in the Ocala area. In fact I think we have the best homes prices in Florida. It’s just my job to add perspective.

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.

Wild Flowers SW 80 Ave Ocala FL

April was cooler than normal but the first week of May has been unseasonably hot! I look forward to the first 3 weeks of May as still dry and in the high 80′s. So far this month we have been above 90 and the humidity is here early. I like to finish up my yard work by the end of May and sit by the pool for the rest of the summer.

May should be in the high 80′s with the nights in the mid 60′s. That the average any way. You can see average weather statistics at Ocala Weather on my web site.

Candler Hills home for sale

This home is located in the Candler Hills community in SW Ocala. Candler Hills is part of On Top of the World but it is not a leasehold like OTOTW. In Candler Hills you do own your lot. You also have access to all the OTOTW amenities in addition to those specific to Candler Hills. There is a private club house and heated outdoor pool only for Candler residents, a 24 hour guard at the gate and discounts to golf at the Candler Hills golf course. Candler hills is a golf cart community. You can drive through OTOTW to get to shopping using your golf cart. This is the only Ocala area community where you can drive a golf cart to stores. This is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath home with an office or den. It is concrete block ans stucco and was built in 2006. The list price is only $175,000.00

To see statistics and images of this Candler Hills home click here to go to my web site.

Below are a few images of the Candler Hills area and amenities Read the rest of this entry »

There are some great deals in Ocala real estate in addition to Ocala Short Sales and Ocala Foreclosures. For example it’s no secret that Florida is full of older retired people. Often out of state relatives inherit homes that they need to sell. I refer to these as estate sales.

Unlike foreclosures, that are rare in the Ocala 55+ communities, there are an abundance of estate sales. The 55+ estate sales vary from newer homes in very good condition to older homes in need of updating such as paint, carpet or appliances.

There are also quite a few estate sales outside the 55+ communities.

In addition to estate sales there are also vacant homes owned by investors who are unable to do a short sale and homes vacated by people who had to relocate for various reasons.

Benefits of buying a vacant home or estate sale.

• Quick closing
• Excellent prices
• Exist in 55+ communities
• motivated sellers

If you are interested in vacant homes in the Ocala area or an estate sale call me, email me or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder. Be specific, I can’t send you every estate sale on our MLS. There are just too many.

Right now is the opportunity of a lifetime to buy an Ocala home. Here are 12 reasons to invest in Ocala real estate right now.

1. Interest rates are at historical low with no where to go but up.
2. Many Ocala area home sellers will pay part or all of a buyers closing costs.
3. Fannie Mae Homepath Financing doesn’t require an appraisal and also offers renovation loans for their Ocala and Marion County foreclosed properties.
4. USDA offers 100% financing with no Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) on many Marion County homes. Mostly homes that are not in the Ocala city limits.
5. FHA loans allow the seller to pay many of the buyers closing costs.
6. Conventional loans rates are at all time lows. Local banks want to loan money to buyers with good credit. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
7. Foreclosures are selling at a 50% discount from 2005-08 highs.
8. Most Ocala foreclosures are in good condition and easily pass a professional home inspection.
9. Many “traditional sellers” have dropped their prices to better compete with distress sales.
10. In the 55+ communities there are always great deals on estate sales.
11. Estate sales also exist outside the 55+ communities and are a hidden secret often over shadowed by Ocala area foreclosures and short sales.
12. Principle, interest, taxes and insurance are often not much more than renting.

If you are a first time buyer, a renter, a retiree or investor now is the time to buy.

Foreclosures in the Ocala and Marion County Florida area are a major part of our market.  Foreclosures accounted for 38% of all residential sales in March 2010. That is actually down a little from the 46% in February. We are also seeing foreclosures in the farm and commercial industrial sectors.

Ocala Foreclosures Residential

Active 323

March sold 133

Ocala Short Sales Residential

Active 684

March sold 35

Ocala Farm Foreclosures

Active 12 from $162,900- to $2.25M

March sold 2

Ocala Farm Short Sales

Active 18

March sold 1

Ocala Commercial Foreclosures

Active 13

March sold 4

Ocala Commercial Short Sales

Active 26

March sold 1

Ocala 55+ Foreclosures

Active 19

March sold 3

Ocala 55+ Short Sales

Active 31

March sold 2

Foreclosures are still closing at a much higher rate than short sales. Just look at the ratio of closed short sales to active short sales and then compare that to foreclosures.

Foreclosures are every where in the Ocala area but some sub divisions have a large amount such as Silver Springs Shores while all the 55+ communities only accounted for 3 sales.

Don’t let anyone tell you foreclosures are in terrible condition. Some of course are but many if not most will easily pass a professional home inspection.

If you would like a list of Ocala area foreclosures call me, send me an email or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder. DO NOT ask to see all the Ocala foreclosures. I can’t send you 300 listings!! I need a price range, beds and baths, area of Marion County, lot size and anything that will narrow your search down.

You might also want to check out my Ocala Foreclosure Guide

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. All sales are for Marion County only and do not include FSBO or homes sold by builders not listed on the MLS.

Sales in March were way up over the 2 previous months so far this year. January had 227 residential sales and February had 283. Of course both those months were influenced by the holidays when you consider that it takes 30 to 60 days to close.

Short Sales and Foreclosures combined represented 46% of sales. This is a percentage that was pretty constant through most of 2009. As long as these distress sales are such a huge part of our market we will not see home prices rising. This is bad for sellers and great for buyers.

The Fed just recently stopped buying mortgage backed securities from Fannie and Freddie. A lot of people including myself were concerned that mortgage rates would shoot up because the FED was artificially keeping rates low. So far rates have edged up slightly and are up just a little over this time last year.  This is good news for both buyers and sellers but rates need to be watched carefully.

If you are a seller waiting for the market to come back forget it. Prices in 2005-2008 should never have been that high in the first place. The Ocala area never had an economy to support those high home prices and won’t for the foreseeable future.

If you are a buyer interest rates are at historical lows and the type of buyers market that we have currently will only happen once in a life time. If you are a serious buyer you need an agent. Call me or fill out my Ocala Dream Home Finder today.

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.

April azalea

After a freezing winter and an unusually cool March spring has finally sprung here in Ocala.  March didn’t really warm up until the last week of the month. The previous three weeks of March were unseasonably cool.

April in the Ocala area is one of the best months. There is no humidity and the temperatures are in the low 80.s. The grass which tends to go dormant and turns brown for the winter is greening up and the Azalea bushes are in bloom. If you’re up north and April is cold and wet or worse yet an actual winter month then you need to move to Ocala.

Visit my web site to see my month by month Ocala weather guide.