Ocala Real Estate Talk

Archive for the ‘Ocala home buyers’ Category

The Marion County SHIP program has funds available again. This program runs out of money every year so if you are eligible act fast. They are estimating funds for about 60 homes.

The SHIP Program (State Housing Initiative Partnership) was created by the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Act of 1992. It is a housing program funded through the documentary stamp tax and used primarily in Marion County to assist eligible households with the purchase or repair of a home. The State of Florida requires that a least 30% of SHIP dollars received by the County be expended to assist Very Low income households. At least another additional 30% must be spent on Low-income households. This means that applicants with incomes falling within the income category need will receive priority.

HOME (Home Investment Partnership Program) is a HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) entitlement program primarily used in Marion County to assist eligible very-low income households with the purchase of a home and for the demolition and replacement of dilapidated homes.

To learn more about the SHIP program see the link below.

http://www.marioncountyfl.org/CommunityServices/Housing_programs.aspx

If the  SHIP program has run out of money or you don’t want to take their classes don’t give up. If you meet their general lending requirements you may be eligible for an FHA or USDA loan. Give me a call or send me an email and I’ll send you to a local bank to be pre approved for a loan. If you can get approved for a loan, I can find you a house.

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.

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 »

The winter of 09/10 will be one of the coldest on record here in Ocala. The weather guy on the TV station I watch says it is one of the 5 coldest since they started keeping records in the 1800′s. It seems every day has been 10 to 15 degrees below normal. Winters in Ocala are usually a great time of year with temperatures in the low 70′s. This year the low 60′s were the norm.

March is the beginning of spring here in Ocala, although this year is off to a slow start. Temperatures in March should be in the mid to high 70′s, the grass should green up and the azaleas should start to bloom.

Check out my Ocala Weather page on my web site to see weather information for each month of the year here in Ocala

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.

I’ve added a new page to my web site, Ocala House Hunter.com, to help people understand property taxes here in the Ocala Marion County area.

The first thing to understand is that there are several cities in Marion County. Ocala, Dunnellon, Belleview and several smaller ones. Now here’s the difference from other parts of the country. Many sub divisions are not in any city at all and are just within Marion County. This is important when you are trying to figure out your tax rate.

Another thing to be aware of is that the taxes you see online on an MLS listing are probably not what you’d be paying. This is very deceiving.

For more about Marion County Property Taxes see my new web page.

The First Time Buyer Tax Credit has been extended to April 30, 2010. There have also been some changes, the biggest being that the credit has been extended to existing home owners. I have created the chart below to show the differences between the current tax credit and the new one that just got signed into law.

First time buyers can also use their tax credit as part of their down payment.  This is done by a bridge loan that you get through the State Housing Initiatives Program, better known as the SHIP program. Call or email me for contact info. It’s important to realize that there is both a city of Ocala and Marion County SHIP.