Archive for the ‘Dunnellon Real Estate’ Category
What you want may not exist
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.
Home Inspections
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
Ocala and Marion County Florida deed restrictions
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.
How to establish fair market value
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.
Want to know more about Ocala? Read the newspaper
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.
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
New home sales in Ocala Florida
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 Dunnellon Florida
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.
The Listing Cart is a Custom Ocala MLS Search
Rolling Hills Ocala Dunnellon Florida
Rolling Hills is a large sub division of homes on acre plus lots that is in both Ocala and Dunnellon Florida. Rolling Hills was developed in the 80′s when land was cheap. Today developers avoid acre lots preferring to pack homes together on smaller lots in order to maximize profits. The interior lots in Rolling Hills are 1.16 acres and the corner lots are usually 1 acre. There are a few homes on double lots too.
Many of the roads in Rolling Hills are not paved. The primary roads are Lime Rock which is a hard packed road but they can be bumpy and dusty. Many side roads are dirt roads which can get muddy in heavy rains. Homes on the few paved roads sell for a premium. In our area when the county paves a road the owner pays for the paving either in a lump sum or as part of their tax bill over a 10 year period. Road improvements such as paving require a vote of the land owners in that sub division.
Rolling Hills is a great area for foreclosures. This was an area full of spec homes that investors bought at pre construction prices hoping to flip them on completion. This scheme seldom worked and most of these homes eventually went into foreclosure. Rolling Hills is a great place to find a large foreclosed home on an acre lot built in the last 6 years.
I really like Rolling Hills because of the large newer homes on acre lots and the location which is close to SR 200 and SW corridor shopping, restaurants and health care.
If you are interested in buying or selling a Rolling Hills homes call me, email me or use my Dream Home Finder. I’ll set you up a Listing Cart to show homes in Rolling Hills. I know this area well and I’ve sold several homes here.
Below is my Google Map of Rolling Hills and a few images
Rainbow Lakes Estates Dunnellon Florida
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 . I can set you up a Listing Cart which is a custom MLS search for Rainbow Lakes or any surrounding community.
See images below
