Ocala Real Estate Talk

Posts Tagged ‘Ocala Foreclosures’

Silver Springs Shores is a huge community just east of Ocala. Silver Springs Shores isn’t really a town or sub division. It is technically called a census designated place. There are 3 areas of The Shores, Silver Springs Shores North, Silver Springs Shores South and Silver Springs Shores East. Additionally there are several sub divisions within The Shores. Lake Diamond is a gated golf course community that is not 55 plus.  Crystal Lakes which is a deed restricted community. There are also several condominium communities in The Shores.

Homes in Silver Springs Shores date back to the late 1960′s but most date from the 1970′s through the real estate boom of 2003-08. There are still an almost endless number of vacant lots in this area too.

During the real estate boom years of 2003-08 builders saw that there were a lot of cheap lots on paved roads in The Shores. During this time a huge number of new homes were built and sold to investors hoping to buy at pre construction prices and flip the homes on completion. Most were never sold and went into foreclosure. Silver Springs Shores has more foreclosures than any where in Marion County.

Silver Springs Shores foreclosures are one of the hottest parts of our real estate market. Newer homes built during the boom years are selling as foreclosures for under $100,000-. There are also a lot of short sales in The Shores. As a result of so many foreclosures and short sales traditional sellers have had to lower their prices in order to compete and these traditional sales can be in better condition and a good value.

If you are interested in a list of homes for sale in Silver Springs Shores either call me, email me or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder. Be specific as to the sq ft of living area, age and price range. There are 100′s of homes for sale in this area.

Marion Oaks is a huge sub division just south of Ocala. It was first established in 1973 and comprises 15,000 acres. Like many Marion County sub divisions of that era, Marion Oaks was divided into lots and all the roads were laid out and paved. Also like most sub divisions of that era, most of the lots were never built on and many lots are still vacant today. More on Marion Oaks.

Fast forward to the building boom of 2003-08. Marion Oaks was full of cheap lots with existing roads and utilities. During this period a tremendous number of new homes were built. Many of these homes were sold to investors who thought they could buy a house at a pre construction discount and flip the house once completed for a profit. A huge number of these homes were never flipped and eventually went into foreclosure.

At the time of this blog post Marion Oaks foreclosures represent about 15% foreclosed of home sales in the Ocala Marion County area. There are two types of foreclosures in Marion Oaks. The first type is the  newer homes built after 2003, which are larger homes from 1500-2300 sq ft and of CBS construction. In addition to the newer Marion Oaks foreclosures there are quite a few smaller block homes built in the 70′s and 80′s. Most of these older homes need work but they sell pretty cheap.

Check out my Ocala Foreclosure Guide for more on buying an Ocala foreclosure and other distressed properties.

If you are interested in Marion Oaks foreclosed homes give me a call, send me an email or use the Ocala Dream Home Finder. I will need a price range and a  sq ft of living area range at the minimum. I will set you up a personal account on the Ocala MLS that will show every foreclosure in Marion Oaks and automatically notify you when ever a new foreclosure gets listed.

View larger map

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.

This is my first Ocala Marion County foreclosure report. It is intended to give buyers an idea of what the Ocala foreclosure market looks like.

The total number of foreclosures sold in Marion County during February 2008 was 116.

Homes built between 2004 and 2008 accounted for 56 out of the total or 47%. These were homes built during the real estate boom years and are selling for about half of their original price.

The huge Silver Springs Shores area which is divided into the North, South and East accounted for 49 foreclosures. Of these 49 sales 28 were built in that 2004-08 period.

Marion Oaks had the next largest number of foreclosures at 19. Marion Oaks had 13 of 19 sales built from 2004-08.

The 55+ communities accounted for only 3 sales. Ocala area 55+ foreclosures are hard to find. I sold 2 55+ foreclosures in 2009. One was almost never lived in and the other needed work but had a golf view. So they are available. An alternative that gives a much larger selection is 55+  estate sales.

Two Marion County farm foreclosures were sold in February. There are farms available as foreclosures in the Ocala area. As of the writing of this blog post there are 8 farms for sale as foreclosures ranging from $279,500- to 1.7 million.

If you’d like a list of Ocala foreclosures send me an email, give me a call or use my Dream Home Finder. Be specific in what you’d like to see. There are 316 foreclosures for sale as of today!! I can’t send you every one. I need to know the sq ft of lining area, beds & baths, age range and price range at a minimum.

Check out my Ocala Foreclosure Guide for more about buying a foreclosure.

Its termite swarm season again here in Ocala. As the weather warms up termites go out and look for a new home. You do not want that new home to be yours.

Termites cause $700,000,000.00 in damage each year here in Florida. Despite this scary statistic about half the homes in Florida have no form of protection.

There are 2 types of termites, subterranean and dry wood. The subterranean variety is considered the worst because they have much larger colonies and thus eat more wood. Obvious from the name they live in the ground and prefer moist conditions and wood. The subterranean termites enter your house through a sort of tube that connects their colony to the food source. Dry wood termites like dry wood, like the rafters in your attic. They have much smaller colonies and are harder to detect.

The University of Florida has a great web site dedicated to termites with loads of information and great color images. Take a good look at the pictures and so you can identify the little buggers if you see one.

Subterranean Termites

Read the rest of this entry »

No it’s not a crazy come on or infomercial. Fannie Mae the huge federal agency is offering incentives to buy Fannie Mae owned foreclosures.

Here is how it goes.

You must buy and close on a Fannie Mae foreclosure between Jan 28 and April 30, 2010.

Fannie Mae is offering 3.5% of the sold price that can be used for closing costs or to buy Whirlpool appliances through Fannie Mae or the buyer can do a combination of closing costs and appliances. Buyers must be owner occupants.

According to the Fannie Mae web site. Lenders may impose their own limitations on the use of the 3.5% incentive, so buyers should consult their lenders for guidance.

Many foreclosures in the Ocala area are either homes that never had all the appliances or the homes were burglarized and the appliances were stolen.

If you are interested in foreclosures in Ocala and surrounding Marion County email me or use the Dream Home Finder in the left column of my blog.

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.

Property taxes in Ocala, as in the rest of Florida, are pretty confusing. A lot has to do with the Save Our Homes initiative, also know in real estate as amendment 10. Save Our Homes was supposed to keep seniors from getting taxed out of their homes by capping tax increases on homestead properties by 3% or the rate of inflation, which ever is lower.

The problem with amendment 1o is that you can buy the exact same house as the guy across the street, who has been there for 10 years, and pay twice the taxes that he does. Another example of politicians helping one group at the expense of another.

Now that property values have dropped like a stone here in Florida a new issue has come up with Save Our Homes.  This is called the recapture rule. The recapture rule states that tax assessors must increase the assessed value of a house by up to 3% as long as that it  is less than the homes market value.  This is why most peoples taxes are not going down even though their homes value has gone down.

Now here’s some home work. Below are 2 great links. One is to the Marion County property appraiser. Read the FAQ and check out the tax estimator. If you live in Florida read the portability calculator because you can bring your Save Our Home exemption with you to a new house. The other link is to an article from the Ocala Star Banner which has a detailed explanation about why taxes aren’t going down.

Marion County Property Appraiser

Ocala Star Banner

If you buy a foreclosure or short sale in the Ocala area it is important to understand that you will be assessed at market value and not the amount you paid for your house.

Finally, when you see the taxes on a real estate listing be aware that it is not the amount that you will be paying. Taxes adjust every time a house is sold.