Ocala Real Estate Talk

Posts Tagged ‘Dunnellon FL real estate’

Buyers often come to me looking for a newer home here in Ocala. I often tell them that no one has been building homes here since the market crash in 2007. Of course it isn’t true that no one has built anything since 07 but there has been very little building. Builders simply can’t compete with the prices of resales.

Here are permits for single family homes by the year to illustrate my point.

2004  4,611

2005  5,601

2006  6,026

2007  2,139

2008    933

2009    316

2010    399

2011    325

2012    359

My web site and blog attract a lot of out of the area buyers. It’s not my job to find a buyer exactly what they want. I feel it is my job to show them what is available here in Ocala for their budget. For example there are a lot of people who’d like a $150K farm. Can I find one ? Well that depends on your definition of a farm. If you mean a mobile home on a couple of acres of agricultural zoned land then yes you can get a farm here. I also get buyers looking for a 55+ community with a big lot and almost no HOA fees. Is it impossible ? No but it does eliminate 98% of the 55+ listings. Feel free to contact me about anything to do with Ocala real estate but just be aware that what you want doesn’t always exist.

The purpose of a home inspection is to find a problem so large and costly the buyer might not want to buy the house. Or in some cases so many problems that add up to so much money that the buyer might want to back out of the deal. Home inspections aren’t intended to create a laundry list of repairs to make a home like new again.

One problem I encounter is that home inspectors as a courtesy provide maintenance suggestions in addition to needed repairs. The difference in repairs and cosmetic items is defined in the Florida real estate sales contracts but that doesn’t seem to help with the confusion.

The way that repairs are defined in the Florida RE contract can cause problems. For example a 20 years old roof that doesn’t leak but is at the absolute end of it’s life doesn’t need to be replaced. The same with termites. A seller can make repairs up to 1 1/2% of the purchase price. You might just want to walk away but the contract locks you in.

In certain circumstances like the above examples it’s better to use an AS IS contract that let’s you out of the deal for any reason regarding the inspection or you can use a right to inspect right to cancel addendum.

Link to a good home inspection article. Ocala Star Banner article on home inspections

I constantly get buyers looking for newer homes. The market crashed here in 2007. This is the Great Recession. There has been very little building here since the crash. Why you ask? Resales are priced below what it costs to build new. So far below that builders can’t compete. Land has gone down in price but no new large scale planned communities have been started since 07. Building materials aren’t much cheaper. Most sub contractors have gone bankrupt or cut back to much smaller companies.  A couple of retirement communities that were started before 07 are building but not much else. New home building won’t get going again until prices go up. It’s just a matter of economics.

I get people who want to make a quick pit stop and check out a house or 2 on their way to a cruise ship or Disney. I assume this is unique to Florida but I think it’s a waste of time. A cross country move is a big deal and requires extensive planning. I know I moved all the way to Ocala from the western mountains of Maine. You shouldn’t even bother looking at houses in a city you’ve never been to. You should pick the city fiirst. Then look for few communities in that city. Finally you look at houses.

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.

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.

Horse Topiary photo by Joe Dallorso

Most of the readers of my blog are from outside the Ocala Marion County area. A great way to get to know an area is to read the newspaper. If you’re a younger person you probably think newspapers are like dinosaurs. The reality is that only local newspapers have local news. All the Ocala Marion County newspapers can be read online.

The Ocala Star Banner is Marion County’s daily newspaper. You need to read it daily in order not to miss anything. This is a great source  to get an idea of what different areas of the county are like.

The South Marion Citizen is a great place to find information about the SW corridor retirement communities. If you click on news and then community you’ll fing columns written about the goings on in various retirement communities written by people who there. The South Marion Citizen is a weekly paper.

The Citrus County Chronicle is a weekly paper than covers Dunnellon and west into Citrus County.

The Ocala area also has 2 magazines. That’s pretty extraordinary seeing that Ocala is such a small city. Both magazines are lot nicer in print than online. They are both printed on exceptionally nice glossy paper, in a large format, with great photography.  Even the advertisements have beautiful photography.

Ocala Magazine

Ocala Style

Moving cross country is a huge undertaking. I know, I moved from Maine to Ocala in 2004. You have to do your home work and keeping up on current events is part of the job

I often get buyers looking for newer homes here in the Ocala Marion County area. Many are interested in a new or newer Ocala 55+ retirement home. I end up telling these buyers that there has been very little building here since the market crashed in 2007. The reason for this lack of new construction is that resales are selling at prices below the cost of new construction and in some non retirement communities much less.

The below survey is based on active listings on the Ocala Marion county MLS as of July 7, 2011

Total residential listings 3915

new homes dated as 2011…..19

homes from 2010-2011………32

homes from 2009-2011………55

homes from 2008-2011……..114

homes from 2007-2011……..311

homes from 2006-2011……..571

homes from 2005-2011……..769

What does this all mean? It means that despite the fact that vacant land is available at fire sale prices and Marion County has suspended impact fees on new homes, builders still think it’s not worth trying to compete with newer resales. This is the time to but a house in Ocala.

The above numbers include both 55+ communities and non retirement communities and all types of construction including mobile and manufactured homes. They do not include homes offered by builders that are not listed on the OMCAR MLS.

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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