Freddie Mac Summer Special Deal

Posted by Duke Rountree on

GREAT NEWS for Buyers and Sellers!

Freddie Mac is offering a “SUMMER SALES PROMOTION.” Upon qualified closing, HomeSteps will pay up to 3.5% of the purchase price of your home to cover certain closing costs. For instance, if your purchase price is $125,000, and your closing costs are $4,250, HomeSteps will only pay $4,250, an amount equal to 3.4% of your purchase price. Of course, not all homes or borrowers will qualify and the incentive is ONLY good to owner-occupants. You can visit, http://www.homesteps.com/smartbuy for all details.

BUT WAIT? There is more to this sweet deal!

Homesteps SmartBuy Program is also offering a 2 year HomeProtect Home Warranty and HomeProtect Appliance Discount The HomeProtect Home Warranty and HomeProtect Appliance Discount are available only to Participants who purchase and close on a qualifying HomeSteps home during the Program. The HomeProtect Home Warranty begins upon your qualifying home purchase closing date and continues for two years from that date. The HomeProtect Home Warranty has further restrictions and exceptions. Please see the HomeProtect® Home Warranty Terms and Conditions for all of the details. The HomeProtect Appliance Discount provides savings up to 30% savings on new appliances.

HOMES FOR SALE by Freddie Mac?

Where are they? In just about every location across the United States and Puerto Rico

How do you get more information? Contact your REALTOR® or better yet, if you do not have one, please contact ME! Or, you can visit, http://www.homesteps.com/featuresearch.html, and search any state, county or zip code for homes available in the program.

DON’T WAIT!

The offer is only good May 16, 2011 – July 31, 2011 with escrow closed on or before September 30, 2011. Now is a great time buy with low home prices, super low interest rates, and this new program could get you into a new/reseller home with little to no money down.

“Until Next Time.”

“Go Green, Live Rich”

Posted by Duke Rountree on

” Go Green, Live Rich”

by David Bach describes his “50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth & Get Rich Trying.” The book provides many ideas that make you say, “hmmm, that makes sense!” But the idea we  have come to a “tipping or turning point”, I believe is “false!” The sky is not falling and we can all, through education, learn how to live smarter and for less money out of pocket. One of my favorite lines in the book is “GOING GREEN IS ABOUT OUR KIDS, OUR FAMILIES, OUR LIVES.” Whether you believe in the “GREEN” movement, or not. How bad could it be if we could all learn use less, like water! Do you know how many gallons per minute your current shower head uses? You can look on the threaded part of faucet for GPM. Federal regulations recently mandated all faucets by 2.5 GPM or less. A 5 minute shower at 2.5 GPM would use approx. 7-8 gallons of water depending on the water pressure. If you use older shower head(say 4 GPM) you could be using between 20-25 gallons of water per 5 minute shower. Imagine filling up 20 one gallon jugs and placing them in our bathroom, thats a lot of water. We waste 2-3 gallons leaving the water running while brushing our teeth. Aerators can also be installed on all faucets to reduce water usage as well. Can you guess how many gallons of water your toilet uses every time you flush? I’m not going to answer that one(for now), and hope to hear your guesstimates. The worst abuse(my own personal opinion) of water usage is all to “Grow a Greener Lawn or Prettier Plant” and Mr. Bach’s book states up to 7 BILLION, yes 7,000,000,000, gallons of water a year is used on landscape irrigation and accounts for a third of all residential water usage.

In conclusion, water is cheap(many times less than a penny a gallon) and Americans take it for granted, and waste a lot of it. Note: 70 percent of the Earth is covered in water and only 1% is available for human use. We all worry about saving gas because we see the direct result every time we fill up. If you pay for city or community water, by the gallon, it could be possible to use up to 35% less water by making some fairly simple changes in your home. If we all are using less water or any resources, it just makes sense because we can see potential savings. Until next time.

What Does GREEN Mean to You?

Posted by Duke Rountree on

WHAT DOES GREEN MEAN TO YOU? When I was growing up in the 70’s & 80’s(we will leave the dates in a range to protect my age,LOL), “GREEN” was simply a color and nothing more. We used the term to describe grass, trees or our favorite color. Then we started seeing the ,ever famous, green recycling logo. NOW, everyone has a different thought when they here the word “GREEN”.  Every day Americans are told to live “GREEN” without a clear path or reason to do so. HOW ABOUT TO SAVE $$! Are you aware that simply changing your incandescent light bulbs to “CFL’s” homeowners could save you $297 per year. Incandescent bulbs cost $400 per year to operate compared to $100 per year for “CFL’s” and only $20 per year with LED bulbs. This calculation is based on the cost of replacing bulbs and savings over the life span of the bulb. Ahh! What is the life span of these bulb? I think we all know the incandescents burn out at least once per year, “CFL” bulbs last on average 5 years and it could be possible to never change an “LED” bulb. Unfortunately, the cost of LED bulbs is still a bit high for most to make the transition. Lighting and other appliances consist of approximately 26% of your electric bill. Take the first step to “Going GREEN”, but most importantly, “Save Some $$MONEY$$!” No matter how you feel about the “GREEN” movement, if we can all do little things to help use less energy, less water(water will be discussed in my upcoming blog post) and less garbage in landfills we are helping the Earth and future generations learn to live a different way of life.  Thats what “GREEN” means to me! Please share what “GREEN” means to you.

“Love People & Use Things – Not, Love Things & Use People” Author Unknown

State of Florida & Ocala March Update on Existing Home & Condo Sales

Posted by Duke Rountree on

STATE OF FLORIDA MARKET

Across the state of Florida existing home and condo sales rose in the month of March. Sales on homes increased 12% last month with a total of 18,522 homes sold statewide compared to March 2010 sales of 16,540 according to housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Statewide sales of condos last month rose a whooping 24% compared to last year at this same time.

THATS THE GOOD NEWS!! How about sales price & values?

Florida’s median(means 1/2 sold for more & 1/2 sold for less) sales has decreased 7% from the same time last year with existing homes at $126,300: March median sales price in 2010 was $136,000. The National Association of Realtors® notes that sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to pull sales prices down and distort the median price because they sell at discounted prices compared to traditional homes.

HOW DO WE COMPARE NATIONALLY?

According to NAR, median home sales for existing single-family homes in Feb. 2011 was $157,000, down 4.2% from a year ago. California median sales was $271,320, Massachusetts was $270,000, New York was $245,000 and Maryland was $208,258.  NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says,” Housing affordability conditions have been at record levels and the economy has been improving, but home sales are being constrained by unnecessarily tight credit.” NAR also believes a strengthening economy will continue to bolster the housing sector.

LOCAL MARKET

According to OMCAR 2011 Monthly Sales Trend Indicator for the Ocala Market area, our sales have increased 9% with a total of 373 existing residential home sales for the month of March compared to 342 in the same month for prior 2010. Homes priced between $1-50k comprised of 24% of the sales with the next closest at %13.67, being homes priced between $70-80k. CASH IS KING, right now and YTD(Year to Date) totals accounts for 60% of all sales with conventional sales around 20% and FHA at 10%. Condo sales for the month of March increased 43% from the same time last year, but sales are still very slow with ONLY 10 March sales in 2011 and  7 in 2010. Looking at current 2011 YTD sales from Jan.-March sales compared to same time frame in 2010 sales have increased 76%.

MY THOUGHTS? (Which will not buy you a cup of coffee! LOL!)

Interest rates have remained at all time lows and homes prices are at approximately 2001-2002 values. What does this mean for home buyers? Monthly payments in many cases can be lower than the cost to rent. Also, there are many great programs available to help home buyers including the SHIP, NSP & Rural Development Programs. We are still seeing prices on the decline, but the numbers show the gap is closing. Last year we may have seen a downward adjustment of 1% for each month on the value of a property and this year maybe 1/2% is more in line. Either way it is a great time to buy and start building for your future. Americans need to think of their homes as a place for security, stability and neighborhood friendships! What does this mean for sellers? There are always challenges in a changing market and offering something special or unique may be the key. Are you in a position to offer seller financing or paying some of the buyers closing cost? If you are thinking of selling or simply would like to know the current value of your property, please contact me for a “FREE Comparable Market Analysis.”

Thank you so very much for taking your time to read my blog. Please let others know and share my thoughts. Information is power! I want to provide you with the real estate information you need to be informed.

Welcome to Duke’s New Website & Blog

Posted by Duke Rountree on

Subscribe Today & Receive Your “FREE Home Market Analysis”

WOW, what a process to revamp and create a new website. PC House Productions handled the design and creation of my new logo and website, but the time it takes to create new content, input all of my properties and add all of the features is very time consuming. Oh well, enough about my trails and tribulations with the new site.

Why did I create a new website and, more importantly, start blogging? Simple, to better inform and connect with my customers, friends and family. It is my goal too provide a fun and informative place to find information about anything and everything the Ocala/Marion County area has to offer. I know, I know, this seems like a lofty goal, but I can only accomplish it with “your” help. Please subscribe to my blog, today, and tell me what information you would like reported. How about local market updates, subdivision information, community events, building and zoning issues, or maybe you want to know about local events and happenings? Sign up today and receive a “FREE Market Analysis” on your home.

How to Use Comparable Sales to Price Your Home

Posted by Duke Rountree on

  • What are comparable sales?
  • Where can you find comparable sales?
  • What do the sales mean and how does it affect the value of my home?

    • These are all great questions and the answers can vary depending on your location. Comparable sales are sold homes similar/comparable to yours. The trick is to find the closest match; including, but not limited too, location (same subdivision would be ideal or within certain radius of miles), home type (single family residential, waterfront, farm, acreage, etc.), upgrades(pool, oversized garage/workshop), sale date (in todays current market we only look at the previous 3 months).

    Comparable sales can be found much easier with the accessibility of the Internet. But, you do need to know where to go. Marion County Property Appraisers has tons of great information @ http://www.pa.marion.fl.us/ including property details, assessed values, legal descriptions, links to court filed document, and so much more right at your fingertips. The coolest part is the spatial mapping data where you can check school & flood zones, utilities, elected officials, previous sales, Sheriff locations and on and on and on. OK WAIT! I got off track, the comparable sales for an area can be found with the above mentioned mapping, and then researching each sale and property carefully. After the data is collected I create a Comparable Market Analysis making adjustments for the differences in each comparable property. You will be left with an Adjusted Recommended Sales Price.

    OR

    visit “zillow.com” for what they call their “Zestimate”. Beware, the “Zestimate” should only be used for general information purposes and other tools should be used in determining your ideal listing price.  The website has some great information about many neighborhood features including schools, sales trends, homes for sale, etc. www.zillow.com

    Pricing of your home should not be taken lightly! It may be best for a seller to view comparable properties for sale in the area before deciding on list price. When selling your home there are 2 choices, #1 is living in Fantasy Land and #2  in Reality land. The fantasy is you can ask anything you want for your home; the reality is, what is a ready, willing, and able buyer willing to pay for your home? More importantly, if an appraisal or bank financing is needed will the comparable homes in the area support your contract price. I always say, “THE PROOF IS IN THE NUMBERS!”

    Comparable Market Analysis are always “FREE of Charge” with me. Contact me today for more details.

    Tips for Buying Foreclosure / REO Properties

    Posted by Duke Rountree on

    Tips for Buying Foreclosure / REO Properties

    BE INFORMED!!!    BE PREPARED!!!    BE READY!!!

    Being informed about the process. Finding a REALTOR with experience in working with buyers on these type of properties can provide a wealth of information. Many REO properties will bring multiple offers in a short period of time. The benefit of a quick market analysis and consultation during negotiations can make all of the difference in a successful  transaction.

    Being prepared is probably the simplest. If you are paying cash you will need a recent letter form your bank stating “proof of funds” and if you are financing the property you will need a pre-qualification letter. The bank/ asset manager will not accept an offer without one of these items. Be ready to look frequently at great priced/location properties. Maybe reading contract and necessary paperwork prior to signing.

    Be ready to act when the time comes. Inexpensive Foreclosure/REO properties have created a huge demand with first time home buyers and investors driving the market. Most desirable properties are only on the market a few days and receive multiple offers during that period. A buyer can expect to pay more than the current list price in many foreclosure and REO sales.

    Remember with Foreclosure / REO properties finding the right property is only maybe 25% of the battle. The other 75% is Offer, Negotiating, Final Signatures, Loan Approval, Inspections, Surveys, Title work and several other task to make it work. HAPPY HOUSE HUNTING!