Ocala Real Estate Talk

Rainbow Springs Country Club is located about 30 minutes west of Ocala in Dunnellon. This is a golf course community that is not 55 plus. Rainbow Springs Country Club started building homes in 1980 and there are still vacant lots for sale today. Lot sizes vary but most are 1/4 or 1/2 acre in size.  There are some wood frame homes but most are concrete block and stucco. Sizes vary from just over 1200 sq ft to well over 3,000 sq ft. In addition to single family homes there are also condominiums.

Rainbow Springs Country Club is a great alternative to the 55+ golf course communities. You get larger lots and more privacy. Unlike 55+ communities you can find pool homes here. Most lots also have mature shade trees. There are also homes with golf course frontage.

Rainbow Springs country Club is a deed restricted community with very low HOA fees of about $110- per year. That’s because this is not a gated community and the fees only cover maintaining the common areas. Joining the country club is optional.

Rainbow Springs Country Club has a clubhouse and golf course.  The Clubhouse features a swimming pool, tennis courts, shuffle board, a fitness center, billiards, crafts and a small library. There are also two restaurants, the Grill adjacent to the pro shop and Juliette’s for more formal dining. Joining the country club is optional and is not part of the HOA fees. There are several types of membership, both golf and social and it’s best to contact the office at Rainbow Springs Golf and Country Club for details.

If you are interested in homes in Rainbow Springs Golf and Country Club email me, call me or use my Dream Home Finder. I’ll set you up a Listing Cart to see homes that meet your needs.

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I often get buyers who are looking for a pool home in a 55+ retirement community.  There are very few homes with private pools in 55+ communities. Retirement communities all have clubhouses with a community pool. Some have outdoor and indoor pools. Others like Oak Run have several pools. If you prefer a private pool of your own then you should be looking in the non 55+ communities because 99% of 55+ listings do not have private pools.

Non 55+ communities usually don’t have a clubhouse and activities but there are plenty of retired residents every where here in Ocala. I live in a non 55+ community and when I go to my HOA meetings I’m one of the younger residents and I’m 56!

Sales were good for February but the big news is a decline in the number of listings. For the first time since I can remember listings went below 5,000. At one time in late 07 and early 08 we were up around 7500. We still have a little over 14 months of inventory but that’s way below the 30 months of inventory during those dark days of 2008.

As you can see we’re still selling plenty of foreclosures most of which are in the Shores and Marion Oaks. Short sales still lag behind foreclosures in the number of sales. Banks still can’t seem to get a handle on short sales and move then in a reasonable period of time. Short sales take from 8 weeks to 6 months or more to close and most buyers can’t or won’t wait that long.

It’s great weather in March in Ocala. The 80′s every day with no humidity and very little rain. Housing prices are the lowest in Florida. Call me, email me or use my Dream Home Finder and I’ll find you a house.

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

It’s March and spring has sprung here in Ocala.  The grass has turned from winter brown to green. An azalea in my yard has a few flowers. The day time temperatures are in the low 80′s. The nights are in the mid 50′s. I don’t need any heat or air conditioning so this is a month of lower electric bills. It’s dry with no humidity. March is one of the best months of the year here in central Florida.

Actually things began to warm up in mid February after a cold January and record cold December. January was unusually wet for the dry season but we saw almost no rain at all in February. We had several hard frosts but not as bad as last year.

If it’s still the dead of winter where you live then think about coming to Ocala. We have the lowest median home prices in Florida. As I always like to say “The hot humid summers are a small price to pay for no winters”

Ocala area home sales for January 2011 were pretty good considering sales were based on contracts written during the holidays. Actually compared to January 2009 sales last month were great. In January 09 there were only 135 sales in Marion County as compared to this year with 282 sales. In January 2010 there were 233 sales: a 20% increase in sales compared to 2010. As has been the case for a couple of years now sales were driven by foreclosures. January 2011 had 119 foreclosures accounting for 42% of all residential sales. Active listings are gradually going down and I expect that they will go below the 5,000 mark in the next month or two. I think home sales will be good in 2011 do to the fact that the Ocala area has the lowest median homes prices in all of Florida.

February in Ocala is the last month of our winter. Average temperatures are in the low 70′s. We can still get a light frost until early March but as I write this in early February the grass is already getting a little green. So far this month we’ve had a exceptional amount of rain and that’s a good thing in the dry season.

January was actually warmer then December or so it seemed. It was also unusually wet. I think the winter of 2010-11 will down in the record books as colder than normal.

If you’re up north dreaming of spring then you need to move to Ocala. I plan to start working in my yard next week. Around Valentines day is the best time to prune Crape Myrtle. I’ll also prune some other bushes and start spreading some mulch. I try to get all my gardening done by mid May before the humidity really gets going.

Remember, no mater how hot or humid the summers get, it’s a small price to pay for no winters.

As I watch the news and see one storm after another dump snow on my home state of Massachussetts I’m just glad I don’t live there any more.  As a matter of fact, I don’t know why I didn’t move south sooner. One of the things that I looked for when I moved from Maine to Ocala was no snow. That’s no snow or ice ever. A recent blog on CNN states that Florida was the only state with no snow. So if you’re sick of the winter. I mean so sick of the winter that you want to move, then Ocala Florida is the place to be. We have the lowest median home prices in Florida. No where in Florida is 100% hurricane safe but Ocala is about as close as you can get. Property taxes and insurance are lower than in other parts of Florida too. The hot and humid summers are a small price to pay for no winters and if you’re worried about the hot summers, I can always find you a nice pool home.

Ocala 55+ Community HOA Fee Chart

Sometimes I think buyers want to shop for a 55+ homes here in Ocala by looking for the lowest HOA fees that they can find. Although I think that the wrong approach, I did create this HOA fees chart. Buyers have to look at what you get for your HOA fees and not just the fees themselves.

What do HOA fees cover? Maintaining the common areas such as the club house and pool. Mowing the drainage areas and along any roadways. Any buildings would need to be insured. Trash pick up is almost always included. Basic, and by that I mean very basic, cable TV is often included. Most communities have a management company to over see daily operations. Communities that are gated would need to pay the guard at the gate. Utilities for the clubhouse and entry. I’m sure that you can see that things can add up quickly in these types of communities.

The 55+ retirement communities are not condo’s. You maintain the home like any single family home. Lawn care is not included in HOA fees but every 55+ community has several lawn care companies and prices are cheap do to their volume. Exceptions are On Top of the World which offers total outside maintenance. Summerglen includes lawn mowing in their HOA fee. Oak Run has homes on maintained lots for a $216- per month HOA fee.

The quality of the amenities will vary from one community to another. Newer communities like Stone Creek boast an almost resort style pool, clubhouse and fitness center. While other communities might have more modest amenities do to the communities age or price point.

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 in Ocala and surrounding Marion County were up in December.  Sales were up by about 10% over October and November. Although December sales appear to be during the holidays, contracts take 30 to 45 days on average to close, so December sales are based on contracts written in October into early November.

I’m not going to get into new years predictions BUT I’m pretty sure prices won’t be going up any time soon. I am concerned that interest rates will go up. The Fed is artificially keeping interest rates low and it can’t last forever. Higher rates will hurt buyers who need financing by wiping out gains from lower prices. However if interest rates go up enough to force prices even lower cash buyers could benefit.

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.